After the bands initial success, original manager and bassist Jeremy Paul left. He was replaced on bass, briefly by Ken Firth (ex-The Ferrets) and more permanently by Rick Grossman (ex-Matt Finish). Grossman left in 1987 to replace Clyde Bramley in Hoodoo Gurus. By early 1988, Divinyls consisted of Amphlett and McEntee with augmentation by additional musicians when recording or touring. Over the decade Divinyls released the albums, 'Desperate' on Chrysalis Records in 1983, 'What a Life!' in 1985 and 'Temperamental 'in 1988. The latter two albums were also released by Chrysalis in the US.
They had hit singles in Australia with, "Science Fiction" in 1983 (#13), "Good Die Young" in 1984 (#32) and "Pleasure and Pain" (#11) which was written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman (The Best, Love Is A Battlefield) in 1985. Their later manager Vince Lovegrove (ex-The Valentines) organised Divinyls' transfer from WEA to Chrysalis and their first tours of United States. They established a fan base there, without achieving major commercial success.
Divinyls also had hits with cover versions of Syndicate of Sound's "Hey Little Boy" ("Hey Little Girl" with the gender switched) which reached #23 in 1988. Amphlett became a controversial and highly visible celebrity for her brash, overtly sexual persona and subversive humour in lyrics, performances and media interviews. At the start of their popularity, Divinyls were considered to be a hard rock band. At some point many fans referred to Amphlett as the female Angus Young, as both had similar mannerisms on stage and wore black and white school uniforms while performing in the early 1980s.
The band's image gradually changed after the release of the 'What A Life!' album when the band began wearing elaborate clothing and producing more songs in the pop music genre. By the time of the release of their 'Temperamental' album, the Divinyls' image had changed to a glamour fashion style where they produced modern pop music. In 1991 Divinyls released 'diVINYLS' on Virgin Records and the single "I Touch Myself" which became their only Australian #1 single. The song reached #4 in the US and #10 in the UK. The majority of Divinyls' hits were co-written by Amphlett and McEntee, but in this case they wrote with Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg. 'diVINYLS' reached #5 on the Australian album charts and #15 on Billboard Top 200.
The drummer for the 'diVINYLS' sessions was Charley Drayton, who became romantically involved with Amphlett: they married in July 1999, and from 2000, lived together in New York. A disagreement with Virgin Records stifled future development outside Australia where they released popular albums and achieved two more top twenty singles with "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" #19 in 1992 and "I'm Jealous" #14 in 1995. During the 1980s and 1990s Amphlett collaborated as a songwriter with other artists including Chrissie Hynde and Cyndi Lauper, and both Amphlett and McEntee worked on solo projects.
A live album, 'Divinyls Live', was released in 1991 but Divinyls did not provide another studio album for five years. In the early 1990s they recorded a series of cover songs for various movie soundtracks, including the Young Rascals' "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), the Wild Ones' "Wild Thing" for Reckless Kelly (1993), and Roxy Music's "Love Is the Drug" for Super Mario Brothers (1993). The song "I Touch Myself" caused such a controversy it had trouble getting airplay in many US area markets; so much to the point that while performing their song live in Texas at Austin Aqua Fest 1991 the plug was pulled on the band mid set by organizers. This song is also mentioned in The Guide to Getting it On by Paul Joannides.
It wasn't until 1996 that 'Underworld', their fifth studio album, was released in Australia by BMG. Despite the success of 'diVINYLS' Virgin had not kept them under contract and BMG did not release 'Underworld' in the US. As with 'What A Life!' they worked with three producers, beginning with Peter Collins recording "I'm Jealous" in Nashville, followed by Keith Forsey for "Sex Will Keep Us Together" and "Heart of Steel". Although "Heart of Steel" was chosen as a single, Divinyls discontinued working with Forsey because according to Amphlett "he was a bit too 'pop' for us" and remaining tracks were produced by their drummer Drayton.
By the end of 1996, Amphlett and McEntee had a falling out and separated without formally disbanding Divinyls. Following 'Underworld' Amphlett pursued a stage career, in 1998 she played the role of Judy Garland in the Australian stage production of the life story of entertainer Peter Allen, titled The Boy from Oz. The production was a success and Amphlett's interpretation of Garland, during her final troubled years, brought her critical acclaim: she was nominated for the Helpmann Award for 'Best Female Actor in a Musical'. Amphlett and McEntee concentrated on solo projects and collaborations with other artists. Amphlett and Drayton lived in New York City from 2000, while McEntee ran a clothing label, Wheels and Doll Baby, in Perth with his partner, Melanie Greensmith.
In November 2005 Amphlett published her autobiography Pleasure and Pain: My Life co-written with Larry Writer; she detailed her achievements, drug and alcohol abuse, love affairs and triumphs while a member of Divinyls. On 16 August 2006, Divinyls were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and made their first performance for 10 years at the award ceremony. They reformed shortly afterwards and a compilation, 'Greatest Hits', was released by EMI Music Australia in August 2006. The band recorded four new songs via a satellite link: Amphlett and Drayton at Palm Studios in Las Vegas, and McEntee in Perth.
A single and B-side, "Don't Wanna Do This / Asphyxiated", was released in November 2007, with a third track, "All Pretty Things", released on a compilation album for the Homebake Festival. Amphlett stated that the band would return to the studio to record a full album provided they "survived" their Homebake headline gig and national tour. They performed during the Australian Idol grand final at the Sydney Opera House, on 25 November 2007, although their performance of "Boys in Town" (also performed by Idol winner Natalie Gauci) had to be repeated after Network Ten's transmission feed was interrupted.
A national tour of Australia followed in December 2007 with a touring band featuring Drayton on drums, Jerome Smith on bass, Charlie Owen on guitar and newest member Clayton Doley on keyboards. Amphlett revealed on 7 December 2007 that she had multiple sclerosis in an interview with Richard Wilkins on Network Nine's A Current Affair nevertheless she was looking forward to touring with Divinyls. The next day, Divinyls headlined the Homebake music festival where Amphlett displayed an emotional fragility when attempting to get the crowd to sing along with her.
In August 2009, Amphlett announced that Divinyls were finished, and she had a new band in New York. Aged 53 years, Amphlett died on 21 April 2013 at her home in New York City after a protracted battle with breast cancer. Amphlett had been unable to receive radiation treatment or chemotherapy as treatment for the cancer due to the multiple sclerosis from which she suffered concurrently—the frontwoman had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007 and breast cancer in 2010. Amphlett's cousin Patricia Thompson announced the news in an official public statement: "Our beloved Chrissy peacefully made her transition this morning. Christine Joy Amphlett succumbed to the effects of breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, diseases she vigorously fought with exceptional bravery and dignity''. In 2014, some of Australia's leading female artists came together to reincarnate Amphlett's anthem, "I touch myself". Each provided their own interpretation and distinct style to the song in an effort to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer.
In 2017, the band performed a one-off show in Perth with The Preatures' Isabella Manfredi and Jack Moffit joining as guests on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, respectively. McEntee, Grossman and Harvey completed the line-up. In December 2018, McEntee announced he would be reforming the group with new singer Lauren Ruth Ward, ex-Divinyls guitarist Frank Infante and a new rhythm section for an Australian tour, to begin in 2019. However, this announcement was criticised by Drayton and several fans as an "ultimate disrespect", with Drayton stating that anyone other than Amphlett who fronted the Divinyls should "seek some trustworthy advice". On 6 February 2019, the Australian tour was cancelled. In early January 2021, former band drummer Warren McLean died. Original drummer Richard Harvey died on 19 July 2022; his passing announced on social media by his bandmate from The Party Boys Paul Christie.
Members
Chrissie Amphlett (vocals), Mark McEntee (guitar), Bjarne Ohlin (keyboards, guitar),
Richard Harvey (drums), Jeremy Paul (bass), Richard Grossman (bass), Frank Infante (guitar),
Charlie Drayton (drums, percussion), Charlie Owen (guitar), Jerome Smith (bass),
Clayton Doley (keyboards)
Clayton Doley (keyboards)
SINGLES
Boys in Town
| 5 OCT '81 | #8 |
Science Fiction
| 17 JAN '83 | #13 |
Siren (Never Let You Go)
| 11 APR '83 | #45 |
Casual Encounter
| 19 SEP '83 | #91 |
Good Die Young
| 6 AUG '84 | #32 |
In My Life
| 10 DEC '84 | #47 |
Pleasure and Pain
| 23 SEP '85 | #11 |
Sleeping Beauty
| 13 JAN '86 | #50 |
Heart Telegraph
| 26 MAY '86 | #90 |
Back to the Wall
| 29 FEB '88 | #33 |
Hey Little Boy
| 4 JUL '88 | #23 |
I Touch Myself
| 2 DEC '90 | #1 |
Love School
| 31 MAR '91 | #43 |
I'm on Your Side
| 13 OCT '91 | #92 |
I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore | 18 OCT '92 | #19 |
Wild Thing
| 4 APR '93 | #39 |
I'm Jealous
| 12 MAR '95 | #14 |
Hard on Me
| 31 MAR '96 | #94 |
Human on the Inside
| 1 SEP '96 | #59 |
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinyls
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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