| "Can't Help Myself" | ||||||||||||||
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"Can't Help Myself" by Flowers |
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| Single by Flowers | ||||||||||||||
| from the album Icehouse | ||||||||||||||
| B-side | "Send Somebody" | |||||||||||||
| Released | 13 May 1980 | |||||||||||||
| Format | 7" vinyl single, 10" vinyl single | |||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||||||||||||
| Genre | rock, synthpop | |||||||||||||
| Length | 3:10 | |||||||||||||
| Label | Regular Records Chrysalis Records |
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| Writer(s) | Iva Davies | |||||||||||||
| Producer | Cameron Allan, Iva Davies | |||||||||||||
| Flowers singles chronology | ||||||||||||||
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"Can't Help Myself" is the debut single released by Australian synthpop / rock band Flowers, later known as Icehouse.[1][2] It was released in May 1980 as a 7" vinyl single on independent label, Regular Records, five months ahead of debut album Icehouse. A 10" vinyl single was released in July and featured a cover depicting individual images of band members diagonally across the band's name and the single's title (see infobox at right middle). It peaked at #10 on the Australian Singles Charts.[3]
The music video was filmed in 1980 in a car park in Chatswood, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. (http://www.spellbound-icehouse.org/howtoraisearockstar.html)
It was also released in the UK on Chrysalis Records in October 1981 as the second single under the band name Icehouse (see infobox at right below) as both a 7" and 10" vinyl single and later in the U.S. as a 7" and 12" single.[4] A remix version by Australian Trance DJ, beXta, was released on the Icehouse album Meltdown in 2002.[5]
Contents |
Flowers were formed in Sydney in 1977 by Iva Davies (vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, oboe), a classically trained musician, and their main creative force; with bass player Keith Welsh.[1] Davies was working as a part-time cleaner at a squash court managed by Welsh's mother, they lived nearby and were both interested in forming a band.[6] Additional musicians used by Flowers in 1978 were Anthony Smith, who was some times called Adam Hall, on keyboards and Don Brown on drums.[2] The band built up a strong following as a live act around the pub circuit, providing distinctive cover versions of songs by Roxy Music, David Bowie, Lou Reed, T-Rex, Ultravox and Brian Eno.[1]
By mid-1979 John Lloyd (ex-Paul Kelly and the Dots) replaced Brown on drums and Michael Hoste replaced Smith on keyboards.[2] After signing to the independent Regular Records label, distributed by Festival, Flowers released their debut single in May 1980, "Can't Help Myself", written by Davies,[7] which hit the Australian Top 10 in June 1980.[3] This was followed by their debut album Icehouse, which reached #4 on the National albums chart[3] and became one of the year's biggest selling albums in Australia.[1] Further singles "We Can Get Together" (October, 1980) and "Walls" (January, 1981) from Icehouse also hit the Top 20.[3]
Following their signing with Chrysalis Records in early 1981 for the European, Japanese, UK and US releases Flowers had to change their name due to legal restrictions preventing confusion with a Scottish group The Flowers.[1][8] Therefore when this single was released on the international markets, in October 1981 by Chrysalis, it was released under the band's new name, Icehouse.[1]
All tracks written by Iva Davies (as Ivor Arthur Davies) unless otherwise indicated.[7][9][10]
Flowers members
Recording details
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