Deckchairs Overboard - Walking In The Dark Reaction

[@JamesDickson-vs5of]

I agree a nice contrast, dark and light, I like it , it's the first time I've ever heard of them, if this is anything to go by I'm surprised, I dig the whole vibe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿✌️

[@iankearns774]

Forgot about them, blast from the past. They weren't as big as they should have been. Good tune.

[@BelindaHazeldorf]

It's been a long time since I heard this one! I bought the single back in '84 when I was 10.

[@OnceWasRStrathfield]

*Eurogliders - Heaven (Must Be There) (1984) ClassicVideos80s*

[@babyboomer6372]

I did a bit of work for these guys when they were Cheks earlier in the decade. Their drummer was an 18 year old kid named Paul Hester, who would move on to Split Enz and then Crowded House. Cathy McQuade wasn't in Cheks, but another Melbourne band called The Ears, who were very eccentric post-punk band and were more an important part of the Melbourne underground scene in the early 80's. I can't say I was too impressed with them as Deckchairs Overboard. They were a lot more interesting when they weren't chasing the charts. I had some conversations with Cathy McQuade and she always struck me as a bright graceful person.

[@liveitup67]

I liked this song at the time. As my old friend Autoberry said, they were a band we hoped would do better. They were a hard band to love because they didn't have a song that really hooked us in. 🐶

[@ScottHindle-qv6mq]

Try listening to nick cave and the bad seeds live at Austin City limits on stage with jubilee street. It'll blow yer socks off seeing him live.

[@BostonAndProud]

An Aussie friends introduced me to the lesser-known groups from his country, and these guys were one of them. I kinda get why these guys didn't explode. ''That's The Way'' was their most interesting tune.

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

I really liked this, great track and great band, it's a pity that they didn't make it over to the U.K. We had quite a few Antipodean artists which did but this band didn't which I think was our loss.

[@autoberry1]

They might have done better in the UK if they tried breaking in to that market, but I don't think they even tried reaching the UK. The thing with Deckies is that they were competing in a market steeped in stiff competition. The most succesful Australian bands were dominating the Top 10 singles chart, and often the 5 best selling singles of a month in 1984 would be Australian (Icehouse, INXS, I'm Talking, Eurogliders, Real Life, Kids In The Kitche, Pseudo Echo, etc). Deckchairs Overboard were one out of 100's of bands that were on the periphery of the Australian mainstream music market. They got a reasonable amount of exposure on TV and radio, and they did Countdown a few times, but Countdown kids (me being one of them) were not buying into them. It's not to say they weren't good at what they did, but they just didn't have that thing that we wanted to push. There's a big difference between this song, and the great stuff that Machinations, Models and Eurogliders were bringing out. This song didn't even chart in Australia. Personally, I wanted Cathy McQuade to do more lead singing, because she was unusual looking and had some striking features. Another thing that went against them was that they didn't seem very Countdown friendly, which was important. They were from the Melbourne underground/post-punk/inner city sound scene, and they approached us Countdown kids with dead eyes and a tired too-cool-for-school approach. I'm Taking had a huge advantage because their lead singer, Kate Ceberano, was one of us - a Countdown kid. The Deckies were from the anti-Countdown world, and we picked up on that.

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

@@autoberry1 Right, thank you, I get it now, the problem is we didn't get enough artists and bands from your part of the world, which I feel is a shame, we got the odd one here and there, I think that the U.K. missed out a bit because of that, I feel sorry that it's taken so long to hear about many of them and to appreciate what they had to offer.

[@autoberry1]

@@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis. The Australian music industry was very busy in that time, and a lot of bands fell by the wayside, including Deckchairs Overboard. It beats me why a lot of groups failed in the UK and US, but it might just come down to preference for familiar territories. Australia was a very new country, and we were excited and optimistic and we had potential. But nobody was interested in an Australian invasion unless it looked like Dam Edna Everage or Crocodile Dundee. I've watched Aussie bands being interviewed by Dick Clarke on American Bandstand, and he often asked why so many groups were coming out of Australia and if there's going to be an Australilan invasion. It could have happend, because there was quality in the material which is why it was dominating the Australian charts for a while. We had it and then we lost it.. 🤷‍♀

[@iankearns774]

Heres a few bands from this time period you could have a crack at: Computer One - Dear Enemy, Send me an Angel - Real Life, Hop, Skip, Jump - The Orphans, God is a shield - The Spaniards, I work at my machine - Strange Tenants, Kabuki - Geisha, v Spy v Spy - Injustice and Harrys Reasons would be good starts, A not so well known Tasmanian band called Bang the Drum had one great album songs Passion & Only you are good tracks. A great time for Aussie Music in the 80's and there were plenty of bands that didn't make it big but cut some good tracks. All worth a listen.

[@toddfield4744]

Good memories. Reminds me of Sweet and Sour on a Saturday and there was a connection - just can't recall it.

[@autoberry1]

Cathy McQuade sang on some songs, and Deborah Conway sang on others.

[@DogInSpace]

This was around the time the people I did drugs with were moving towards big hair and shoulder pads. It was the period where great post-punk groups were making that awkward transition into commercialism. This was a fine song for its era, which is why I requested it. The mid 80's was a tricky time for Aussie music because you were damned if you did and damned if you didn't try being commercial. The pursuit of an artistic identity and experimentation was sort of being weeded out. Long standing underground bands like Laughing Clowns were beginning to feel the pinch. This song reminds me of ''Shake This City'' by Non-Stop Dancers, which was released around the same time. A hit on the charts, but not a hit as far as nostalgia goes...

[@Sandy-dd4le]

I never really got how some Australian bands were treated like royalty by the UK, and some weren't. Bands like The Triffids and Hoodoo Gurus were all over the UK music press at the time, and were pretty successful bands in an indie kind of way here, but these guys were not......if they had been, id have been interested

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

I totally agree, Sandy, I wish they had made it over here.

[@Sandy-dd4le]

@@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis. probably something as simple as not being considered cool enough by NME hacks!

[@SPKdesign1]

@@Sandy-dd4le Probably.

[@OnceWasRStrathfield]

Deckchairs Overboard - Fight For Love (I'll work on it) would be a good song to try next, and perhaps finalize. It's a lot more uplifting. There's also a very good and rare picture of the group I'll send you.

[@autoberry1]

This didn't chart in Australia, in spite of all the play it got on radio and the many appearances the band did on TV. There were so many bands in Australia that were coming and going - usually doing their odd appearance on Countdown, and releasing their singles and EP's in a vain attempt to appease the kids. You really had to write world class songs to get into the Australian Top 40 back in those days.

[@leavemealone344]

Yeah, great song! Had a good night on this video. I suppose you're still in the process of unpacking. Never answered my question.

[@hanierfamily]

Sorry, what question? We are still in the process of settling in and catching up with the comments we missed.

[@leavemealone344]

@@hanierfamily I understand. You'll be settled in no time. I was wondering if you remember a Brut 33 commercial from the 80's. It was shot in Melbourne and I was part of the film crew. We had a great time making this ad, and then word came around that it had gotten international distribution. Fabergé, Inc. enjoyed the jovial ''Australian'' approach (whatever that means). kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6WsZomrnqynlas

[@OnceWasRStrathfield]

Hey guys, ''Fight For Love'' on nzoz1985 is just fine. It's not a song nor video that I need to work on. Deckchairs Overboard - Fight For Love nzoz1985

[@VolumeEleven]

I thought this was a chart hit, but according to the comments, it didn't even chart! Right place, right time, right look, no hits..

[@Win_Lose116]

I wanted to hear more Cathy McQuade on Deckchairs track rather than John Clifton or Ken Campbell. Nothing against those dudes., but she's one of those people that could drew the crowd's attention. She had cool hair, cool demeanor, s, easy to talk to, modest and engaging, carried no airs.. Catherine McQuade and Wendy De Waal of Globos were people you wanted to see more of, but for some reason they never shined as brightly as one hoped. And I thought they could have been a lot more original than the output suggests. Good song though! Thanx for checking it out.

[@Parta4gfg]

Cathy McQuade was the only member of the band that I cared for...She was coolest one in the band. Dark and mysterious to my relatively young mind (I was about 24 when this hit the charts). Melbourne was good at making sexy dark haired pale women. For some reason, they all seem to come from the southeastern area of Australia ... and she was great on the four string too. 👍

[@carebear-fm4pe]

DCO had the look and style, but never had the hook to get them high on the singles chart. Eurogliders, INXS, Pseudo Echo, Kids in the Kitchen, Models, I'm Talking, Real Life, et al. were topping the charts in Australia and getting international deals. If you weren't doing that in 1984, you were going to be in the 3rd-tier basket of Australian pop along with The Tribe, Pel Mel, Strange Tennants, etc. This was a good song, but it couldn't hold a flame to the great stuff released by Eurogliders or INXS. We (the countdown kids) wanted them to win, but they just didn't seem to have the ability.

[@I_was_a_Countdown_Kid-75-83]

Fight For Love should be the last song you check out by this band. I suppose they have some interesting tracks from their early EPs, but my attitude towards this band hasn't changed in 40 years. They began with a lot of promise. They looked great on stage, on TV and in magazines and they had a cool semi-funk post-punk sound going on, as heard on ''That's The Way''. I was hoping they would live up to their promise (or the promise I was projecting on to them) with each release, but found there was too much of a gap in between releases. And what was released wasn't really worth the wait. What's very odd about your reactions to this band is that you did each song 40 years after their initial release. That's the way - released as a single in March 1983 and reacted by the Haniers in *March 2023* Shout - released as a single in *September 1983* and reacted by the Haniers in *August 2023* (close enough) Walking In The Dark - released as a single in *June 1984* and reacted by the Haniers in *July 2024* (close enough) Your reaction to each single has been the same as mine back in the 80's, so you're getting a feel as to what the journey was like with this band in almost real time. In my opinion, every band that made it big in Australia in the 80's was a fan of Countdown and were probably Countdown kids at one stage. Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel and The Birthday Party are perhaps the exception to this rule, though Midnight Oil were excited about coming on Countdown before they were turned away. Even Models were closet Countdown fans, which is why they found it easy to shed their post-punk skin. I always felt Deckchairs Overboard were applying the ingredience, but failing to master the art of being a convincing pop band and I think that boils down to the fact they just didn't like Countdown and its culture, and probably failed to even understand this. The perfect pop band that knew how us Countdown kids thought were The Eurogliders. Cheers, Hayley

[@SPKdesign1]

No my thing but I'm sure there are plenty oot there that will Like them.

[@Leah91au]

Both singer and song lack personality 🤷‍♀ The journey they take us on feels as dark as 6pm on a Wednesday night, and there's nothing compelling in the lyrics. Some boring guy that's thinking about making some changes because he has a kid on the way? What a snooze!