Here’s the extremely rare 8-track of the album. I found this image online ages ago, and thought I’d share it here:
Great album with some really strong songs. But it didn’t hit the highs of the first two. Loved it when it came out and still have a soft spot for some of these tracks. Looking forward to discussing these!!
"Million Dollar Riff" Single by Skyhooks from the album Straight in a Gay Gay World B-side "Forging Ahead" Released November 1975 Studio TCS Studios, Melbourne Genre Glam rock Length 3:51 Label Mushroom Records Songwriter(s) Greg Macainsh Producer(s) Duke Wilson Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Well there's a thousand guitars all over the land And a thousand drummers and a thousand bands And a thousand agents with their ears to the ground - Gimmee Gimmee They're all lookin' for the riff with the million dollar sound Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Goin' round and round Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff With a solid gold sound It might take three notes it might take four - Oh yeah Or somethin' that sounds like a squeaky door - Oh yeah And you could be ridin' in a limousine - Oh yeah And have your face in every magazine Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Going round and round Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff We gotta get that sound Meanwhile I was still searchin' Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Well I worked it out before I went to bed But in the mornin' it went clean outa my head It's like winnin' Tatts but losin' the ticket You know the tune but you just can't pick it Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff It's going round and round Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff With a solid gold sound Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff I gotta keep on searchin' till I find that sound Million dollar riff Million dollar riff Million dollar riff I won't stop until the sound is found I gotta keep searchin' searchin' searchin'........ Cos I want mmmmmmmmmmoney, that's what I want Gimme Gimme dirty ol' money, that's what I want Cos I want a million - More! I want a billion - More! I want a trillion - More! I want it all! Yeah............... Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Gregory J Macainsh Million Dollar Riff lyrics © Words & Music A Div Of Big Deal Music LLC This is a great uptempo rocker. This was released in October 1975, nearly a year ahead of the album, and it somewhat works as a precursor to Acdc's Let There Be Rock in some ways... Essentially lyrically it's about the need to come up with that big hit as a writer. It almost comes across as a satirical look at the industry, and the way it functions, and also the pressure on the songwriter to produce the goods and get that hit. For the record, the phrase in there about " It's like winnin' Tatts but losin' the ticket". is nothing about tattoos. Tatts, was Tatts Lotto, and I used to hear about it a lot in the seventies, before the Million dollar lotteries were everywhere. The song is an expression of propulsion.... everything is just pushing forward. The guitars, and there riffs, the drums and bass... it is all just pushing forward like a freight train, and I love that about this song, and it suits the idea of the song so well also. The idea of pushing for that big hit to keep the band in the spotlight. But as the band had been so popular from the first single, it is also a little bit of self mockery as well as making fun of the whole industry. Again the arrangement is great, and Wilson has done a great job of the production. Freddie Strauks outdoes himself on the drums here. The drum track is wonderful and we have great groove and again, that forward propulsion, not to mention some wonderful fills that would be sure to inspire ... The verse chorus structure works really well, and then we come to what would traditionally be the lead break, and the band choose to use it as a bridge, of sorts, and we get this layering of Million Dollar Riffs. Horror Movie Satisfaction Smoke On The Water Gloria Day Tripper Then a nice Chuck Berry style double stop riff that breaks into a bit of a breakdown, with another great Macainsh riff to set us back on our path. I don't know if I missed anything there, but fill in the blanks if I did. I reckon it works beautifully. We move into some layered vocal harmonies and then hit another verse. The rhythm accents and the whole way the song is put down is just great. Freddie lays down another beautiful piece of drums, and the band launch into an outro that has this great counterpoint layering of vocals into the big finish, and Shirl leaves us with probably his highest recorded vocal note. I have loved this song since I was a pup.... it was probably one of my favourite Skyhooks singles, then and now.
The Willesee interview.... I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but if I remember rightly it is quite hilarious.
Straight is my fave Skyhooks album. I recall asking Greg about any memories of recording it on radio once and he mentioned the fact that Flo And Eddie were nearby recording their Moving Targets album and thats how Shirley ended up guesting on their track Guns from that album.
Always been a top track. I had it on a cassette that played at least a semitone too fast, although I didn't know it at the time... it gave the track an extra edge of frenetic energy, and that last high note with the laugh after it was unreal.
A slight deviation today.... This is the b-side to Million Dollar Riff Forging Ahead. I got no gun in my pocket Just got my suitcase in my hand I walk right up to the window I got my speeches all planned 'Cause every boy must make his fortune Get in your car and cruise Every stop light's just a caution Take care 'Cause you might lose I watch the suit in the background He's got a phone stuck to his ear Another suit joins into listen And then they turn round and stare The teller looks at my number The teller looks me in the eye He sees my lips are faintly twitching He sees my heels as I fly 'Cause every boy must make his fortune Get in you car and cruise Every stop light's just a caution If that's the law you choose If I can do a trick or two It's gotta get you in And if you think I'm thinking That you haven't seen a thing But this time I'm gonna hang I let my suit do the talking Don't wanna give myself away My plea is please sir please sir I'm just a child gone astray But don't you ask for a whisper Because you'll get not a word Yeah I already made my statement And now I'm forging ahead 'Cause every boy must make his fortune Get in you car and cruise Every stop light's just a caution If that's the law you choose If I can do a trick or two It's gotta get you in And if you think I'm thinking That you haven't seen a thing But this time I'm gonna hang on to my skin Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Redmond Symons Forging Ahead lyrics © Words & Music A Div Of Big Deal Music LLC I have never heard this song before, and we have another Red Symons song, with Red giving us the vocals, I guess. I never even knew about this song's existence to be honest, and I just happened across it this morning while doing Million Dollar Riff, and to some degree it may go somewhat to paving the reasoning for Red leaving the band. It is terribly hard to be a good songwriter in a band with a great songwriter ... just ask George Harrison..... This sounds very different for Skyhooks, and to some degree that shows just how much the band's fame was built in Greg Macainsh's songwriting. This is a pretty solid seventies track, and could have been on pretty much any album by most Australian bands of the day. I'm not sure if this is a look at a bank robbery, or just the idea of heading into the world of the business man in order to make one's "fortune". Red gives us a very percussive vocal, and although not on par with Shirl's dynamic vocals, I think it suits the song well. Musically it is actually really good. Red uses several really nice writing tricks to get the interest up, and we have some really nice instrumental sections linking the verses and choruses. I actually like this song quite a bit. Good stuff Red.
Yeah agree - this is a pretty good song! But so different to what Greg was writing. I wonder if they played it live??
Given the song's title I wonder if it's about a forger depositing fake notes? Hard to tell, although I do like Red's oblique lyrical style, even if I don't always understand it.
Is This America?. Breaker, Breaker, have a good day today And a better day tomorrow Well keep your shiny side up and your dirty side down Get the pedal to the metal gonna leave this town The black girls are fighting in the streets And the white guys are givin' me the creeps I thought the Ivy League had died But it got loaded it got wired Went out playing for keeps Is this America Is this what I see Is this America Won't you show it to me One day in New York Sunlight hits the streets I thought I heard the sound of the second coming But I listened again and heard the subway humming Then one night in Dayton In a drunken haze I thought I saw the star of Bethlehem But it's just the light on a Holiday Inn Is this America That's trickin' me Is this America Is this what I see Is this America Black, red, white and blue Is this America Yeah, I wonder too You serve yourself in Philly oh yes you do No one around is gonna do it for you You look after yourself and clean up your own trash Cos Philly don't deliver till Philly gets the cash Philly don't deliver till Philly gets the cash The hometeam is loading all the bases Everybody's getting on everybody's cases I've seen the evil and the good But was I misunderstood When I yelled out for a smile on their faces How about a smile on your faces Is this America That's trickin' me Is this America Is this what I see Is this America Black Red White and Blue Is this America Yeah I wonder too Greg Macainsh Published by Doo Dah As has often been the case when Aussie bands head to the US and fail to get any attention, we get a song about it. Though this isn't specifically about the tour, just some observational writing. Lyrically it really is just observational writing... to be honest, for the most part it seems somewhat cryptic in its style, and we have some mentions, seemingly, of class, race and religious issues. The last verse may well be a reaction to the US's reaction to Skyhooks, with the "The hometeam is loading all the bases" line, but otherwise I don't really have much of a point of context. Musically it is very good. We open with a nice instrumental version of the chorus, and I like the melodic flow and the accents, and then we drop into a bit more of an edgy verse structure, with a switch into a rock mode. When the chorus proper comes around we get a sort of faux ska/reggae feel come in on the guitars. We then get a bridge of sorts that is the vocals sitting on a synth chord. I think this is musically a very good track, but I am not exactly sure what we're looking at with the lyrics.
I haven’t heard this track in a while and it’s surprising how punchy it is! The chorus is softer but the verses are really quite hard edged. I reckon it is stream of consciousness. The usual songwriter’s dilemma of having to write new material on the road. I don’t mind it, but far from their best.
Blue Jeans. Label: Mushroom – K-6542 Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single Country: Australia Released: Aug 1976 Genre: Rock A - Blue Jeans Written-By – Greg Macainsh 2:30 B - Mumbo Jumbo Written-By – Red Symons 3:20 This song seemed to be on the front end of a few Blue Jeans songs. David Dundas had Jeans On, and Dr Hook had Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk, and before that we had Skyhooks with the Aussie number 12 and New Zealand number 3, Blue Jeans. Everybody's wearin' blue jeans Everybody's got their own scenes Everybody's lost in daydreams But everybody's wearin' blue jeans Everybody's wearin' blue jeans Everybody's got their own schemes Everybody cheers their own teams But everybody's wearin'' blue jeans We're all reading the same books We're all getting the same looks Everybody's got their own views But we're all reading the same news Everybody's wearin' blue jeans Everybody's got their own scenes Everybody's lost in daydreams But everybody's wearin' blue jeans I'm singin' in my own band I'm tryin' to play the right hand I'm livin' by my own means And I'm wearing my blue jeans Everybody's wearin' blue jeans Everybody's got their own scenes Everybody's lost in daydreams But everybody's wearin' blue jeans Greg Macainsh Published by Doo Dah When this came out it seemed very different for the band, and yet it was a big hit for them also. Macainsh said, "Blue Jeans is more of what you'd call social comment. We used to do it when we first started. Ross Wilson has always tried to get it recorded, but we've never been real keen on the idea til we got stuck for a song on this album. We wanted a couple of laidback tunes to round it off rather than have an album of ravers and up stuff. So we tried it and it came out well." Being an older song, Wilson's Doo Dah Music owned the publishing. Singer Shirley Strachan accused producer Wilson of wanting the song included for his own profit, asking him, "So why do you get so much money? You're not even in the band." This is really a pretty straight social observation.... Denim has been used in the United States since the mid-19th century. Denim initially gained popularity in 1873 when Jacob W. Davis, a tailor from Nevada, manufactured the first pair of rivet-reinforced denim pants. The popularity of denim jeans outstripped the capacity of Davis's small shop, so he moved his production to the facilities of dry goods wholesaler Levi Strauss & Co., which had been supplying Davis with bolts of denim fabric. By the time we get to the 1970's denim blue jeans seemed to be the uniform of choice for many people... and we ended up with jean jackets and all that good stuff, and sometimes it seemed like a sea of blue was everywhere, and so we got all these songs about blue jeans. Essentially lyrically we are just looking at the fact that folks from every walk of life were wearing blue jeans, and even the singer is... This is a very cool little song, and it is like a marriage of old rock and roll and country, and we get this bouncy little number that moves along smoothly. The verses have a really nice melody and Shirl puts it across really well. The lead break is great and sort of brings to mind something from long before, not specifically, but in its style and delivery. I probably appreciate this song more now than I did back then..
Lyrics might be repetitive at times, but this is probably one of the most underrated from this album.
