Cha (album)
Cha is the seventh studio album by Australian band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, but first and only to be credited as Jo Jo Zep. It is also the final studio album by the band until Ricochet in 2003. The album was released in November 1982 and peaked at number 28 on the Australian Kent Music Report. David Nichols called Cha primarily a "latin-based dance record".[1]
| Cha | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 22 October 1982 | |||
| Recorded | June 1982 | |||
| Studio | Richmond Recorders | |||
| Genre | Rock, pop | |||
| Label | Mushroom, A&M | |||
| Producer | Peter Solley | |||
| Jo Jo Zep chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Cha | ||||
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In a 2014 interview with Carol Duncan, Camilleri reflected on the album saying "I had this really beautiful 13-piece band and we went around the country and we had two hit singles... but I wasn't very happy with the record. It could have been so much better and it was my fault that it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but anyway, it yielded these two songs and we got to play and I got to do something that I wanted to do which was play with the cha band and six horns and high-heeled boots and gay cavalier and all that nonsense, but it just left me wanting. It was nice, but it wasn't what I wanted to do."[2]
Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons disbanded in 1983.
Reception
Cha was reviewed in January 1983 (Volume 7) of the Countdown Magazine, in which they said the album sees Jo Jo Zep "breaking away from his R&B base and exploring reggae, jazz, techno-pop, Joe Jackson-type big ballads, Caribbean rhythms and more. The result is a heady potpourri, a frothy brew of style and substance." adding "The strong vocal contributions of Jane Clifton give this work a dimension"[3]
Track listing
Australian track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Walk On By" | Burt Bacharach, Hal David | 3:51 |
| 2. | "Taxi Mary" | Jeff Burstin, Joe Camilleri, Tony Faehse | 4:02 |
| 3. | "Sherrie" | Camilleri, Paul Kelly | 3:50 |
| 4. | "Slave For Love" | Camilleri, Kelly | 4:39 |
| 5. | "You're Gonna Get It Boy" | Burstin, Camilleri, Simon Gyllies | 3:11 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Lonely Man" | Arthur Harris | 3:36 |
| 2. | "Man is Just a Boy" | Camilleri, Kelly, Gyllies | 4:24 |
| 3. | "Spirit of the Land" | Martin Kellock | 4:30 |
| 4. | "Can't Decide" | Camilleri, Kelly, Gyllies | 3:55 |
International track listing [1983] (A&M Records)
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Losing Game" | Joe Camilleri, Simon Gyllies, Stephen Clarke | 4:12 |
| 2. | "Walk On By" | Burt Bacharach, Hal David | 3:51 |
| 3. | "King Kong" | Camilleri | 4:01 |
| 4. | "Taxi Mary" | Jeff Burstin, Camilleri, Tony Faehse | 4:02 |
| 5. | "Flexible" | Camilleri | 1:59 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sherrie" | Camilleri, Paul Kelly | 3:50 |
| 2. | "Man is Just a Boy" | Camilleri, Kelly, Gyllies | 4:24 |
| 3. | "Spirit of the Land" | Martin Kellock | 4:30 |
| 4. | "Competition" | Camilleri, Lawrence | 4:20 |
| 5. | "Slave For Love" | Camilleri, Kelly | 4:39 |
| 6. | "Can't Decide" | Camilleri, Kelly, Gyllies | 3:55 |
Charts
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report[4] | 28 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[5] | 33 |
References
- Nichols, David (2016). Dig: Australian Rock and Pop Music, 1960-85. Verse Chorus Press. p. 307. ISBN 9781891241611.
- "Joe Camilleri - not afraid to fly". ABC. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- "Jo Jo Zep And The Falcons". Rock on Vinyl. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 156. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
- "Charts.nz – Jo Jo Zep – Cha". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 October 2017.