Tales of the City (album) explained
Tales of the City is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Rockmelons. It was released in May 1988 on True Tone Records and peaked at number six on the Australian album charts.[1] [2] The band shared the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Award for 'Best Debut Album' in 1988 with 1927's album ...ish.[3]
It was re-issued in 1992 by Mushroom Records.
The first single, "Rhymes", was a cover of Al Green's song, from his 1974 album, Al Green Is Love.
Reception
Smash Hits said, "The plucky little Rockmelons finally come across with the goods, delighting their thousands of fans, confounding the doubting thomases, and failing to convert anyone else. You have a remarkably commercial album that's slightly muzak-ish and a little too jazzesque for me, but certainly like nothing else being done in Australia at the moment.[4]
Track listing
All songs written by R. Medhurst, B. Jones, J. Jones, R. Smith except where noted, according to Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).[5]
- "New Groove" – 4:39
- "What's It Gonna Be?" – 4:46
- "Jump" – 2:31
- "Thief" (R. Medhurst, J. Jones, B. Jones) – 3:21
- "Dreams in the Empty City" (R. Medhurst, J. Jones, B. Jones) – 3:45
- "Get Back on the Groove" – 4:56
- "Rhymes" (A. Green, M. Hodges) – 4:43
- "Boogietron" (J. Jones, B. Jones) – 4:22
- "Money Talks" – 3:59
Personnel
Credited to:[6]
Rockmelons
- Raymond Medhurst – keyboards
- Byron Jones – keyboards, bass guitar, vocals
- Jonathon Jones – keyboards, guitar, drums
- John Kenny – vocals
- Mary Azzopardi – vocals
- Wendy Matthews – vocals
Recording details
- Producer – Robin Smith
- Engineer – Barry Rudolph
Charts
Year-end charts
Notes and References
- Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
- Web site: Profile on Rockmelons . Maree Hamblion . EMI Music Publishing Australia . 2007-09-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070919232558/http://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/artist_profile/rockmelons_profile.html . 2007-09-19.
- Web site: ARIA Awards . Australian Recording Industry Association . 2007-09-27 .
- Smash Hits, Australian edition . Albums. David Nichols . 29 June 1988.
- Web site: Australasian Performing Right Association . . 2009-02-12 . Note: requires user to input song title e.g. NEW GROOVE
- Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r59771/credits|pure_url=yes}} ''Tales of the City'' album credits]. . 2009-02-17.
- Web site: End of Year Charts – ARIA Top 50 albums – 1988. ARIA Charts. Australian Recording Industry Association. 5 June 2016.
