Australian Crawl – “Downhearted” (US 12 in) (EMI America) 1982

Written by Sean Higgins, Brian McDonough and Guy McDonough. Produced by Mike Chapman.

This version is from the American promo 12 inch release, “Downhearted”/”Runaway Girls”

Hailing from the Melbourne area in Australia, the band reportedly took their name from a particular style of swimming known as the Australian crawl. They first charted in Australia in 1979 with “Beautiful People”, a track from their successful first album, “The Boys Light Up”. “Downhearted” was originally a track on that album and also released as a 45, reaching #12 in Australia.
In spite of their quality recordings, US and UK success eluded the group, which may be why their third album, “Sons Of Beaches” was recorded in Hawaii with Mike Chapman (who is also Australian) producing. Mike had produced a string of hits for Smokie, Exile, Blondie and The Knack.

“Downhearted” was rerecorded for the “Sons Of Beaches” album, which topped the Australian album charts for five weeks in 1982. Alas, the album didn’t chart in either the US or UK.

Brian McDonough and Guy McDonough were members of the group at the time of this album. Tragically, Guy passed soon after this album was released. Front man, James Reyne went on to have a successful solo career in Australia, making some fine records along the way.