"I gave my manager a long list, cause he's much more objective than I am and I always trust his judgment. I said to him, I can't believe these words are coming out of my mouth – but I'm willing to do Beautiful People and Boys Light Up."

 

James Reyne's refusal to rest on his laurels is an integral part of his style, and of his success. His old Australian Crawl hits are undeniably iconic, but he wrote and performed rings around them in his later solo years, which comprise the lion's share of Ghost Ships, his second album for the Liberation Blue Acoustic label.  

 

His first, . . . And the Horse You Rode In On, was a tearaway success in 2005, and remains one of the most popular albums in a series that now spans 30-odd releases and the cream of Australia's singer-songwriters.

 

"It surprised me," he says. "That album seemed to make people more interested in the acoustic gigs, cause they've been going down a storm. People I would never have expected to listen to my records have come up and told me they really like the acoustic versions, so it makes sense to continue in that vein."

 

Fall Of Rome and Motor's Too Fast are among this year's superb rediscoveries. Poignant and powerful 12-string versions of Burning Wood and Always the Way complete a substantial reappraisal of his triple-platinum solo debut album of '87. 

 

Way Out West, the Dingoes song that he and James Blundell took to #2 in '92, reappears as a fast and furious ramble that tilts dextrously at bluegrass.

 

Then there's a cross-section of a vast and varied career, from his Company of Strangers project with Daryl Braithwaite in the early '90s to faithful nods to some of his underexposed classics, Design For Living and Speedboats For Breakfast. 

 

"I still love the originals and in my heart of hearts I felt a little disappointed those albums were overlooked to some extent," he says. "So here's another chance for people to hear them. It might turn them on to the original versions."

 

As for those old Oz Crawl crowd-pleasers, well, it's amazing how a man can make peace with his past with nothing but an acoustic guitar, a microphone, a simpatico collaborator in co-producer Scott Kingman, and a modicum of invention.

 

"Beautiful People is really good fun to do live now," James says. "We managed to mess around with it in the studio, give it some of the rhythm it needs, some percussion. And for a song that has almost become a millstone around my neck, I actually really like this dubbed-up version of Boys Light Up."

 

TIMELINE

 

1978   Australian Crawl play first gigs around Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

 

1979   Beautiful People is a Top 40 hit.

 

1980   The Boys Light Up LP hits #1: charts 2 years, 3 hit singles, 4 x platinum.

 

1981   Sirocco tops album chart, again sells 4 x platinum.

 

1982   Sons of Beaches, another #1, is band’s first US release.

 

1982   Semantics EP yields Reckless, the band’s first #1 single.

 

1983   Makes his screen debut in cult TV melodrama, Return To Eden.

 

1984   Between A Rock and a Hard Place LP reflects troubled times.

 

1986   The Final Wave live LP commemorates Oz Crawl’s last show.

 

1987   Recorded in LA, self-titled solo debut scores 3 x platinum; 5 hit singles.

 

1989   Tougher Hard Reyne LP is another smash.

 

1991   Electric Digger Dandy LP debuts at #2.

 

1992    Company of Strangers LP (with Daryl Braithwaite) and Way Out West single (with James Blundell), both highly successful side projects.

 

1993    Fourth solo LP, The Whiff of Bedlam.

 

1996    Massive South American tour commemorated on Live in Rio LP.

Australian Crawl inducted into ARIA’s Hall of Fame.

 

1997    Boys Light Up named in Rolling Stone’s Top 100 albums of all time.

 

1998    Design For Living LP greeted by stunning reviews.

 

2001   Reckless named in APRA’s Top 20 Australian songs of all time.

 

2004     Composes score for film The Postcard Bandit.

Composes music for Bell Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Speedboats For Breakfast, first album under new Liberation deal.   

 

2005     …And the Horse You Rode In On, Liberation Blue Acoustic album

Records April Sun in Cuba with Mark Seymour during hugely successful joint headlining tour.

 

2006     Makes debut as a music television presenter with digtv.

Every Man A King, second original album for Liberation.

2007     Ghost Ships, second Liberation Blue Acoustic album.

Co-headlining acoustic tour with Mark Seymour.

 

1 Beautiful People 2 Bug 3 Way Out West 4 Burning Wood 5 Always The Way 6 Little Criminals 7 Rainbow's Dead End 8 The Boys Light Up 9 Daddy's Gonna Make You A Star 10 Don't Get Out Much Anymore 11 Goin' Fishing 12 Fall Of Rome 13 Motor's Too Fast 14 Red Light Avenue 15 Water Water