Tales of the City (album)

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.[2][3] The band shared the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Award for 'Best Debut Album' in 1988 with 1927's album ...ish.[4]

Tales of the City (album)
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 1988
GenreRock
LabelTrue Tone/Polygram
ProducerRobin Smith
Rockmelons chronology
Tales of the City (album)
(1988)
Form 1 Planet
(1992)
Singles from Tales of the City
  1. "Rhymes"
    Released: July 1987
  2. "New Groove"
    Released: November 1987
  3. "What's It Gonna Be"
    Released: February 1988
  4. "Thief"/"Boogietron"
    Released: 4 July 1988[1]
  5. "Jump"
    Released: October 1988
  6. "Boogietron"
    Released: December 1988

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 edit

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.[5]

Track listing edit

All songs written by R. Medhurst, B. Jones, J. Jones, R. Smith except where noted, according to Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).[6]

  1. "New Groove" – 4:39
  2. "What's It Gonna Be?" – 4:46
  3. "Jump" – 2:31
  4. "Thief" (R. Medhurst, J. Jones, B. Jones) – 3:21
  5. "Dreams in the Empty City" (R. Medhurst, J. Jones, B. Jones) – 3:45
  6. "Get Back on the Groove" – 4:56
  7. "Rhymes" (A. Green, M. Hodges) – 4:43
  8. "Boogietron" (J. Jones, B. Jones) – 4:22
  9. "Money Talks" – 3:59

Personnel edit

Credited to:[7]

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 edit

Weekly charts edit

Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 14

Year-end charts edit

Chart (1988) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] 31

References edit

  1. ^ "Australian Music Report No 727 – 4 July 1988 > Singles: New Releases". Imgur.com (original document published by Australian Music Report). Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Maree Hamblion. "Profile on Rockmelons". EMI Music Publishing Australia. Archived from the original on 19 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
  4. ^ "ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
  5. ^ David Nichols (29 June 1988). "Albums". Smash Hits, Australian edition.
  6. ^ "Australasian Performing Right Association". APRA. Retrieved 12 February 2009. Note: requires user to input song title e.g. NEW GROOVE
  7. ^ "Tales of the City album credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
  8. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Rockmelons – Tales of the City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  9. ^ "End of Year Charts – ARIA Top 50 albums – 1988". ARIA Charts. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 5 June 2016.