Cold Chisel Breakfast at Sweethearts

COLD CHISEL
Breakfast at Sweethearts


Breakfast at Sweethearts
Was the second studio album by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel,
released in February 1979. It spent 32 weeks in the national charts,
reaching a peak of number 4

"Sweethearts" was a cafè in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia in the 1970s
and 1980s, but has since been demolished. It was located where the
present-day McDonald's is now, in the middle of Kings Cross. The song
"Plaza" refers to Sydney's Plaza Hotel, where Don Walker was living in
Kings Cross at the time. Walker later said, "As a whole set of songs, it
painted a picture of a certain time and a certain place which is very close
to my heart. And in many ways that set of songs is quite personal to me
rather than any of the other guys because all moved out of the Cross
within three weeks. It was a good time of my life." Author Louis Nowra
described the song "Breakfast at Sweethearts" as, "the most immediately
identifiable song about the Cross."

The first single, "Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)" preceded the album by some
months, and was recorded when demos were being done for the album.
Reaching number 65 on the national charts, the single is markedly
different from the later album version.

Although reviews were generally positive and some of the songs were
later live staples, the members of Cold Chisel were unhappy with sound of
Breakfast at Sweethearts and the production methods of Richard Batchens.
Batchens would later admit that this was an unhappy period of his life,
and the band felt he was overly critical and the recording suffered from
lack of spontaneity. Barnes said of the album, "Breakfast at Sweethearts
stunk, and you can spell that f-u-c-k-e-d."

The recording took place over a period of more than 6 months. Don Walker
said, "It was a very bad low point for the band. We were constantly touring
and when we got a weekend off we were thrown into the studio and
expected to be creative." Barnes said, "There are really great songs on that
record, but it wasn't the most enjoyable recording process. We wanted to
go into Studio One at Alberts, where AC/DC and The Angels were doing
great records. We booked, but couldn't get in, so we ended up in Studio
Three, which was a new studio and didn't have the same atmosphere."
Cold Chisel
Is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It had chart success from the late 70s up until their most recent album releases since 2011, with nine albums making the Australian top ten. Cold Chisel are regarded as having a distinctly Australian popularity and musicianship, exemplifying "pub rock" and highlighting the working class life in Australia.
Originally named Orange, the band formed in Adelaide in 1973 as a heavy-metal cover-band comprising bassist Les Kaczmarek (died December 5, 2008), keyboard player Don Walker, guitarist Ian Moss and drummer Steve Prestwich (died 16 January 2011). Seventeen-year-old singer Jimmy Barnes— called Jim Barnes on the initial run of albums— joined in December 1973, taking leave from the band in 1975 for a brief stint as Bon Scott's replacement in Fraternity.

The group changed its name several times before settling on Cold Chisel in 1974 after writing a song with that title. Barnes' relationship with other band members was volatile; as a Scot he often came to blows with Liverpool-born Prestwich and he left the band several times. During these periods Moss would handle vocals until Barnes returned. Walker soon emerged as Cold Chisel's primary songwriter. Walker spent 1974 in Armidale, completing his studies and in 1975 Kaczmarek left the band and was replaced by Phil Small. Barnes' older brother John Swan was a member of Cold Chisel around this time, providing backing vocals and percussion but after several violent incidents he was fired.