Things Don't Seem

"Things Don't Seem"
Single by Australian Crawl
from the album Sirocco
A-side"Things Don't Seem"
B-side"Big Fish"
ReleasedMay 1981
GenrePop/rock
Length3:55
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Guy McDonough, Sean Higgins[1]
Producer(s)Peter Dawkins
Australian Crawl singles chronology
"Downhearted"
(1980)
"Things Don't Seem"
(1981)
"Errol"
(1981)

"Things Don't Seem" is the first single by Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl from their 1981 album Sirocco.[2] It was produced by Peter Dawkins[2] The song features one of the band's most complex pieces of lead guitar work, thanks to the skills of guitarist Simon Binks.

"Things Don't Seem" was released in May 1981 and reached #11 on the Australian Singles Charts.

Guy McDonough re-recorded the song for his solo album, My Place, which was released posthumously in 1985, by his brother, Bill McDonough.[3] It was also included as the 'B' side to the first single, "My Place", taken from the album.[4] The original Australian Crawl version featured James Reyne on vocals.

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Things Don't Seem" was ranked number 78.[5]

Track listing[edit]

  1. "Things Don't Seem" (Guy McDonough, Sean Higgins) - 3:55
  2. "Big Fish" (James Reyne) - 2:42

Personnel[edit]

Credits:[2]

Band members
Recording process
  • Engineer – Dave Marett ("Things Don't Seem"), Ross Cockle ("Big Fish")
  • Producer – Peter Dawkins ("Things Don't Seem"), David Briggs ("Big Fish")

Charts[edit]

Weekly Charts[edit]

Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australian (Kent Music Report)[6][7] 11

Year-end charts[edit]

Year-end chart performance for "Things Don't Seem"
Chart (1981) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 78

References[edit]

  1. ^ "'Things Don't Seem' at APRA search engine". Australian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Holmgren, Magnus; Warnqvist, Stefan; Draper, Oliver; McDonough, Bill. "Australian Crawl". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  3. ^ Holmgren, Magnus. "Guy McDonough". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  4. ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (doc). Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Musicfeeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  6. ^ a b "National Top 100 Singles for 1981". Kent Music Report. 4 January 1982. p. 7. Retrieved 11 January 2022 – via Imgur.
  7. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 21. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.