page_title: Paul Kelly (Australian musician)
section_title: 1985–1991: Coloured Girls to Messengers
hierarchical_section_title: Paul Kelly (Australian musician) / 1985–1991: Coloured Girls to Messengers
caption_attribution_description: PaulKellyLongBay - photo taken and uploaded by Paul Moss, Photographer, Artist, Paul Moss Photographer Artist NZ Paul Moss has supplied further information on the creation of this image in response to my questions via email: 1) Were you involved in making the video of PK&amp;tCG's performance at Long Bay Gaol? 2) Were you an employee of Stuart Coupe or Paul Kelly Management in 1985? 3) Was the photo taken from a TV program/VHS tape, if so which? 4) How was the image released into the public domain? 5) Is there a clearer print of the scene? Answers from Paul Moss: 1/ YES. I was the only video-grapher, the footage was made on my own equipment, at my own cost. (Sony HVC4000P and F1) 2/ I was asked to make the video by and for Stuart Coupe, while he was PK manager. 3/ The photo was taken from my original video tape, it was sony betamax format, by me. I took a 35mm film photo of the screen in 1987, played directly, and subsequently scanned the print. 4/ I uploaded the file to Wikipedia, I claimed the right to release the image. 5/ I don't know if the vhs copy is still existant, but if it is I could make a clearer copy. I could certainly make a new file without the text on it. I thank Paul Moss for supplying this additional information.shaidar cuebiyar (talk) 08:40, 12 May 2010 (UTC) Recent Documentary played on ABC Television. On demand here: My Long Bay Jail Footage (Dec 24th 1986) was requested for this doco, but no one could find a copy.. Paul Kelly - Stories of Me charts the remarkable life of one of Australia's most gifted and beloved singer-songwriters. ABC TV / http://ab.co/HeO9ch
context_page_description: Paul Maurice Kelly AO is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor Ratbaggy and Stardust Five. Kelly's music style has ranged from bluegrass to studio-oriented dub reggae, but his core output straddles folk, rock, and country. His lyrics capture the vastness of the culture and landscape of Australia by chronicling life about him for over 30 years. David Fricke from Rolling Stone calls Kelly "one of the finest songwriters I have ever heard, Australian or otherwise." Kelly has said, "Song writing is mysterious to me. I still feel like a total beginner. I don't feel like I have got it nailed yet".
  After growing up in Adelaide, Kelly travelled around Australia before settling in Melbourne in 1976. He became involved in the pub rock scene and drug culture, and recorded two albums with Paul Kelly and the Dots. Kelly moved to Sydney by 1985, where he formed Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls.
context_section_description: Paul Kelly stayed with Don Walker (Cold Chisel) in Kings Cross – Walker had lived with Hilary's sister – and wrote new songs on Walker's piano. Kelly then moved into a flat with Paul Hewson (Dragon) in Elizabeth Bay. Both Walker and Hewson encouraged Kelly to continue with his song-writing. By January 1985, he recorded the self-funded album—at a cost of $3,500—Post. Session musicians included Michael Barclay (Weddings Parties Anything) on harmonies, guitarist Steve Connolly (The Zimmermen), and bass guitarist Ian Rilen (Rose Tattoo, X). They spent two weeks recording at Clive Shakespeare's studio. Shakespeare engineered the album and co-produced with Kelly. It was released in May 1985 on the independent label White Records, and licensed to Mushroom Records.
  Kelly dedicated Post to his former flatmate, Hewson, who had died of a heroin overdose in January. According to McFarlane: "[it's] a stark, highly personalised collection of acoustic songs that showcased the extraordinary breadth of Kelly's songwriting skills." Rolling Stone (Australia) hailed Post as the best record of 1985. AllMusic's Mike DeGagne felt "While he focuses on life's daily tragedies and tribulations, there is a missing element in the music, as it lacks any vigor or flash". A single, "From St. Kilda to King's Cross", was released from the album, but did not chart. Russell Crowe, during his first trip to the US, visited the tourist venue of Death Valley and used Post to refocus himself: "[his] concise insights and acerbic wisdom are exactly the music for strolling the bottom of ancient oceans, both literal and metaphoric". After recording Post, Kelly established a full-time band, which included Armiger, Barclay, and Connolly, bass guitarist Jon Schofield, and keyboardist Peter Bull.
  Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls were named through a joke based on Lou Reed's song "Walk on the Wild Side". Armiger soon left, and the Coloured Girls line-up stabilised in late 1985 as Barclay, Bull, Connolly, and Schofield. Stuart Coupe, Kelly's manager, advised him to sign with Regular Records due to difficulty re-signing with Mushroom's Michael Gudinski. Michelle Higgins, Mushroom's public relations officer, was a Kelly supporter and locked herself into a Sebel Townhouse Hotel room—at Mushroom's expense—for nearly a week in mid-1986, and refused to leave until Gudinski had signed Kelly to a two-album recording contract. Kelly performed for The Rock Party, a charity project initiated by The National Campaign Against Drug Abuse, which included other Australasian musicians. The Rock Party released a 12" single, "Everything to Live For", which was produced by Joe Wissert, Phil Rigger, and Phil Beazley.
  In September, Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls released a 24-track double LP, Gossip. The album included remakes of four songs from Post, and also featured "Maralinga (Rainy Land)", a song about the effects of British nuclear tests on the Maralinga Tjarutja (indigenous people of Maralinga, South Australia). Gossip peaked at No. 15, with singles chart success for "Before Too Long" which peaked at No. 15, and "Darling It Hurts" which reached No. 25. A single LP version of Gossip featuring 15 songs was issued in the United States by A&M Records in July 1987. DeGagne noted that "[it] bursts at the seams with blustery, distinguished tunes captivating both the somberness and the intrigue thrown forward from this fine Australian storyteller".
  Gossip was co-produced by Kelly and Alan Thorne (Hoodoo Gurus, The Stems) who, according to music journalist Robert Forster (former The Go-Betweens singer-songwriter), helped the band create "a sound that will not only influence future roots-rock bands but, through its directness, sparkle and dedication to the song, will also come to be seen as particularly Australian. Ultimately, it means the records these people made together are timeless". Due to possible racist connotations, the band changed its name for international releases to Paul Kelly and the Messengers. They made a US tour, initially supporting Crowded House and then headlining, trave
caption: Paul Kelly & the Coloured Girls,
  Long Bay Gaol, Christmas Eve, 1985
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