Divinyls
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DivinylsAlbumcover.jpg
Divinyls are an Australian rock music band. The core of the band is and has been vocalist Christina Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Amphlett had impeccable pop credentials, being the cousin of Sixties Australian pop icon Little Pattie and thus closely related to pioneer Aussie rocker Col Joye and his brother, leading promoter Kevin Jacobsen.
The duo formed after meeting at a Sydney Opera House concert in 1980, and for the first two years they performed in pubs and clubs in Sydney's Kings Cross. They provided the soundtrack for the movie Monkey Grip (1982) with Amphlett also acting in the film. She received a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Australian Film Institute for her performance and the group had two hit singles, "Boys In Town" and "Only Lonely" from the soundtrack.
Over the next decade they released several albums, and had hit singles in Australia with songs such as "Science Fiction", "Good Die Young", "Pleasure and Pain" and "Sleeping Beauty". Their manager Vince Lovegrove was the former co-lead vocalist of popular 60s pop band The Valentines with Bon Scott.
They also had hits with their cover versions of The Easybeats's "I'll Make You Happy", and the Syndicate of Sound's "Hey Little Boy" (Hey Little Girl with the gender switched). Amphlett became a controversial and highly visible celebrity, known for her brash and overtly sexual persona, and for the subversive humour in both her lyrics and her performances. They toured and performed in the United States and established a fan base there, without achieving major commercial success.
Original bassist Jeremy Paul (ex Air Supply) left the group in 1982. He was replaced by Rick Grossman (ex Matt Finish), who left in 1987 to replace Clyde Bramley in Hoodoo Gurus.
In 1991 they released the single "I Touch Myself" which became their only Australian number one single, and it reached number 4 in the US, and number 10 in the UK. A disagreement with their record company in the US stifled their future development, however in Australia they continued to release popular albums, and to achieve several more hit singles. During the 1980s and 1990s Amphlett began to collaborate as a songwriter with such artists as Chrissie Hynde and Cyndi Lauper, and she and McEntee worked on solo projects.
In 1998, Amphlett played the role of Judy Garland in the Australian stage production of the life story of entertainer Peter Allen, titled The Boy From Oz. The production was a huge success, and Amphlett's interpretation of Garland during her final troubled years, brought her critical acclaim.
Divinyls as a recording and performing entity still exists, but from the late 1990s, Amphlett and McEntee have concentrated largely on solo projects and their collaborations with other artists.