Kylie Minogue’s debut album gets placed in the context of its time in the fascinating study of the era.
Feature image credit: Bloomsbury Publishing
Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series has been running for many years and now has editions categorised by their country or region of origin. This volume is part of the Oceania series, which has already published volumes on classic albums by John Farnham, The Church, and Regurgitator.
Minogue’s self-titled debut is hardly a pop classic, either from the standpoint of pop music of the 1980s or indeed as part of her own vast catalogue. Churned out by the hit-making team of Stock, Aitken, and Waterman — who gave us artists like Rick Astley, Bananarama, and Mel and Kim, amongst many others — Minogue’s first long player contains a reworked version of her first Australian number one “The Loco-Motion” as well as other smashes like “I Should Be So Lucky,” “Got To Be Certain,” and “Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi (I Still Love You).” The rest of the tracks are what can only be described as filler. The authors fully acknowledge this and warn the reader that this book will not attempt to add meaning where there is none or to pretend that it is some hidden masterpiece.
What Renzo and Giuffre achieve is an excellent breakdown of the era in which “Kylie” was released. It paints a vibrant picture of the music scene in Australia in the 1980s and how “Kylie” spoke to the many unheard fans that had not had a pop star to really latch onto. Loud, masculine pub-rock dominated the charts and there was, to put it simply, no expectation that this petite 19 year-old with an average voice would have any kind of success. That Minogue proved all her critics (and there were many) wrong over the next few decades is something of an achievement. Minogue paved the way for future pop acts (both male and female) to proudly wear their pop threads with pride.
This volume rockets along in its brief 100+ pages and shows a meticulous amount of research (over 11 pages of references are listed at the end of the book). There is a genuine interest and affection for this music (and, it must be said, almost a begrudging respect) from the authors who, while not exactly embracing the album itself, appreciate the tenacity of the young star in pursuing her dreams.
Aside from the chapter devoted to breaking down the music, there are substantial chapters on gay culture and Minogue’s place in it, a history of Stock, Aitken, and Waterman and how they became the biggest pop producers of the ’80s, and a look at pop culture in Australia.
This is a fascinating and entertaining read for anyone with an interest in Minogue and her beginnings, although there are several parts that require some musical understanding of keys and form in order to fully appreciate the narrative. Renzo and Giuffre also have an annoying habit of pre-empting (“This can be found in chapter …) and back-announcing (“as we said in chapter …”) far too many times, which becomes repetitive and disrupting of the flow to the narrative.
These minor quibbles aside, this will undoubtedly have many readers reaching for their preferred streaming service of their choice or dusting off their CD or cassette of the album to give this almost forgotten debut a listen.
Reviewed by Rodney Hrvatin
Twitter: @Wagnerfan74
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Released: April 2023
RRP: $24.99
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