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Man of Colours

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Man of Colours
Studio album by
Icehouse
Released21 September 1987 (1987-09-21)
RecordedFebruary – May 1987
Studio
Genre
Length44:36 (AUS 1987 LP)
56:45 (AUS 1987 CD)
Label
ProducerDavid Lord
Icehouse chronology
Measure for Measure
(1986) 		Man of Colours
(1987) 		Great Southern Land
(1989)
Singles from Man of Colours
  1. "Crazy"
    Released: 8 June 1987
  2. "Electric Blue"
    Released: 31 August 1987
  3. "My Obsession"
    Released: 23 November 1987
  4. "Man of Colours"
    Released: 8 February 1988
  5. "Nothing Too Serious"
    Released: 16 May 1988
Man of Colours
1988 Black-sleeve release (Regular Records)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Record Mirror[2]

Man of Colours is the fifth studio album by Australian rock/synthpop band Icehouse, released locally on 21 September 1987 on Regular Records / Chrysalis Records.[3][4][5]

Cover art

The cover artwork, designed by Iva Davies and Robert Kretschmer, depicts a human figure holding three different coloured flowers.[6] An alternate Limited Black Sleeve release depicted the cover art on a reversed background from Regular Records in Australia but had the same track listing.

Release and reception

The album peaked at No. 1 on the Australian album charts for 11 weeks from 5 October 1987[7] and has sold over 700,000 copies.[5] "Electric Blue" was their only Australian No. 1 single,[7] the release of the album and its five singles marked the zenith of Icehouse's commercial success, both locally and internationally. Several other songs from the album also charted well.

It was the first Australian album to supply five top 30 hit singles "Crazy" (No. 4 in July), "Electric Blue" (co-written by Davies and John Oates of US band Hall & Oates)[8] (No. 1, October), "My Obsession" (No. 12, December), "Man of Colours" (No. 28, February 1988) and "Nothing Too Serious" (No. 29, May 1988).[7] With US chart success for "Crazy", which reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 10 on its Mainstream Rock chart, and "Electric Blue" (No. 7 Hot 100, No. 10 Mainstream), the album Man of Colours reached No. #43 on the Billboard 200.[9][10]

The album won the ARIA Award for Album of the Year and ARIA Award for Highest Selling Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 1988;[11] the associated song "Electric Blue" won 'Most Performed Australasian Popular Work' at the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Music Awards for its writers Davies and Oates.[12]

Reissues

Different versions of the album have been released, the initial Australian release by Regular Records (see infobox above right) was as a ten track vinyl LP or as a music cassette or as a twelve track CD with two additional mixes of "Crazy". The US / UK release by Chrysalis Records had a different track order from the Australian LP, and the track lengths for the two big singles ("Crazy" and "Electric Blue") are longer on this version of the album. The 1997 Japanese CD version released by For Life Records had two different tracks added. In 2002, Warner Music Australia re-released Man of Colours, with Davies and Ryan Scott digitally remastering, including five bonus tracks.[6] In Australia, the album was also offered on three limited edition coloured vinyl pressings, which were the colours of the flowers that the human figure on the cover was holding.

Track listing

Songwriters according to Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).[13]

Australian release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Crazy"Iva Davies, Robert Kretschmer, Andy Qunta3:24
2."Electric Blue"Davies, John Oates4:24
3."Nothing Too Serious"Davies3:28
4."Man of Colours"Davies5:12
5."Heartbreak Kid"Davies, Kretschmer5:19
6."Kingdom"Davies4:52
7."My Obsession"Davies4:09
8."Girl in the Moon"Davies, Kretschmer4:01
9."Anybody's War"Davies4:05
10."Sunrise"Davies, Kretschmer5:45
CD version bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Crazy" (12" version)7:21
12."Crazy" (Midnight Mix)4:48
2002 remaster bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Shakin' the Cage"Davies, Kretschmer, Qunta, Simon Lloyd4:00
14."Over My Head"Davies, Kretschmer, Qunta, Lloyd3:47
15."Touch the Fire"Davies3:46
16."Jimmy Dean"Davies, Kretschmer4:00
17."Electric Blue" (Extended Mix) 7:34
US/UK release
No.TitleLength
1."Crazy"4:48
2."Electric Blue"4:38
3."My Obsession"4:07
4."Man of Colours"5:09
5."Heartbreak Kid"5:18
6."The Kingdom"4:51
7."Nothing Too Serious"3:25
8."Girl in the Moon"4:00
9."Anybody's War"4:05
10."Sunrise"5:44
CD bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Crazy" (12" mix)7:22
12."Crazy" (Midnight Mix)4:49
Japanese release
No.TitleLength
1."Crazy" 
2."Electric Blue" 
3."Nothing Too Serious" 
4."Man of Colours" 
5."Heartbreak Kid" 
6."Kingdom" 
7."My Obsession" 
8."Girl in the Moon" 
9."Anybody's War" 
10."Sunrise" 
1997 remixes
No.TitleLength
11."Man of Colours" (6 am Mix) 
12."Shakin' the Cage" (D. Lord Mix) 

Personnel

Icehouse members

Additional musicians

  • Andy Cichon – bass guitar
  • Stuart Gordon – strings
  • David Lord – additional keyboards
  • Glenn Tommey – guitar, percussion
  • John Oates – backing vocals on "Electric Blue"
  • Shena Power – backing vocals
  • Tommy Dassolo – triangle
  • Karl Chandler – tuba

Recording details

  • Producer – David Lord
  • Engineer – David Hemming, David Wright
    • Assistants – Carrie Motzing, Greg Henderson
  • Studio – EMI Studios 301 and Trash Studios, Sydney, Australia and Crescent Studios, Bath, Somerset
  • Mixer – David Lord, assisted by Raine Shine @ Crescent Studios, except:
    • "Crazy", mixed by David Lord, assisted by David Hemming @ E.M.I. Studios 301, Sydney
    • "Man of Colours" mixed by Iva Davies, assisted by David Hemming @ Albert Studios, Sydney
    • "Electric Blue" and "My Obsession" mixed by Michael Brauer @ Sigma Sound Studios, New York City, United States
  • Mastering: Don Bartley, assisted by David Hemming @ E.M.I. Studios, Sydney
  • Digital remastering (2002) – Iva Davies, Ryan Scott

Art work

  • Artwork – Iva Davies, Robert Kretschmer
  • Art direction and layout – Sue Goff
  • Photography – Hugh Stewart

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1987–1988) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7] 1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] 41
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[16] 93
US Billboard 200[17] 43

Year-end charts

Chart (1987) Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[18] 18
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 33

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[20] 7× Platinum 490,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[21] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Page, Betty (27 February 1988). "Albums". Record Mirror. p. 15.
  3. ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (doc). Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  4. ^ Grech, Jason (23 July 2004). "An interview with Iva Davies". Countdown Memories. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Artist: Icehouse". Warner Music Australia. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  6. ^ a b "Man of Colours (import bonus tracks) credits". allmusic guide. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  7. ^ a b c d Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  8. ^ ""Electric Blue" search result". Australasian Performing Right Association. Retrieved 25 June 2008. [dead link]
  9. ^ "Billboard singles charts". Allmusic. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  10. ^ "Billboard albums charts". Allmusic. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  11. ^ "ARIA Awards winners by artist". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  12. ^ "APRA Music Awards – winners 1988". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  13. ^ "Australasian Performing Right Association". APRA. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2008. Note: requires user to input song title e.g. CRAZY
  14. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Icehouse – Man of Colours" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Charts.nz – Icehouse – Man of Colours". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Icehouse Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  18. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 438. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  19. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1987 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  20. ^ "ABC Countdown: Icehouse". Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  21. ^ "Canadian Recording Industry Association – Search Certification Database". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2008. Note: User must define search parameters as "Icehouse."
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