The Boys Light Up

The Boys Light Up
Studio album by
Australian Crawl
ReleasedApril 1980
RecordedAugust 1979 – February 1980
StudioAAV Studios (Melbourne, Victoria)
GenrePop/Rock
Length38:25
LabelEMI
ProducerDavid Briggs
Australian Crawl chronology
The Boys Light Up
(1980) 		Sirocco
(1981)
Singles from The Boys Light Up
  1. "Beautiful People"
    Released: August 1979
  2. "The Boys Light Up"
    Released: March 1980
  3. "Downhearted"
    Released: May 1980
The Boys Light Up
1992 Re-release
The Boys Light Up 1992 CD cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

The Boys Light Up is the debut album from Australian pub rock band Australian Crawl,[2][3] which was released in 1980 and contains the title track, "The Boys Light Up", "Indisposed", "Downhearted" and their previously released debut single "Beautiful People". The album reached #4 on the Australian album charts and remained in the charts for an unbroken 101 weeks,[4] eventually selling over 280 000 copies (five times platinum).[5]

Various band members were involved in songwriting, often with relatives or former bandmates. Rhythm guitarist Brad Robinson's father James Robinson was a Federal Arbitration Court Justice and co-wrote two songs for this album.[6] Reyne's bandmate from Spiff Rouch, Mark Hudson co-wrote their first single, "Beautiful People" (1979).[7] "Downhearted" was written by Bill McDonough and his bandmates from The Flatheads, Guy McDonough (his brother, who later joined the Crawl) and Sean Higgins.[7] Producer, David Briggs (Little River Band guitarist), co-wrote "Hoochie Gucci Fiorucci Mama" with Reyne.[7]

The album was re-released in 1992 in CD format (see cover right below), and as a 2-CD set with follow-up album Sirocco in 1996.[3] In October 2010, Boys Light Up was listed in the top 50 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.[8]

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ "1996: 10th Annual ARIA Awards". ARIA. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  3. ^ a b Holmgren, Magnus; Warnqvist, Stefan; Draper, Oliver; McDonough, Bill. "Australian Crawl". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "Love is in the air Episode 5: "National Anthems"; transcript of interview with James Reyne". ABC-TV. 9 November 2003. Archived from the original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
  6. ^ "Memorable TV Oz Rock: Australian Crawl entry". Memorable TV / Little Acorns Publishing. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
  7. ^ a b c "APRA". Archived from the original on 24 January 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  8. ^ O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.