Black Stick

"Black Stick" is a 1993 song from Australian rock band The Cruel Sea. The song was released in March 1993 as the lead single from the band's third studio album, The Honeymoon Is Over. It peaked at number 25 on the ARIA Charts.

"Black Stick"
Single by The Cruel Sea
from the album The Honeymoon Is Over
B-side
Released14 March 1993[1]
RecordedSeptember 1992
StudioPlanet Studios, Perth
GenreRock
Length4:58
LabelRed Eye
Songwriter(s)
  • Tex Perkins
  • Dan Rumour
Producer(s)
The Cruel Sea singles chronology
"This Is Not the Way Home"
(1992)		 "Black Stick"
(1993)		 "The Honeymoon Is Over"
(1993)

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994, the song was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Song but lost out to "The Honeymoon is Over".[2]

"Black Stick" was polled a number 21 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1993, the second highest placing by an Australian act after their own song, "The Honeymoon is Over".[3]

Tony Cohen said, "I was mixing the same song for three days, perfecting it, and it worked. It was a hit. They [later] said, 'Sorry, now we understand what you were trying to do.' I was just trying to make it so radio friendly, they had to play it, and it worked. The apologies were gracefully accepted."[4]

One song on the B-side, "Crab Stick", is an instrumental version of the A-side. "High Sheriff of Calhoun Parish" is a cover of a Tony Joe White song that spent 18 weeks in the Australian charts in 1970.[5] "Momma Killed a Chicken" is John Lee Hooker's arrangement of a traditional blues song most commonly known by the title "Bottle Up and Go". Both covers were produced by The Cruel Sea and Brett Stanton, who was the assistant engineer on the main song.[6]

Reception

Reviewed in Australian rock magazine Juke at the time of release, it was claimed that, "Adding a syncopated rhythm groove to their already stunning, subtle, string-driven post-spaghetti-western soundscape, this unique musical entity continue their evolution into excellence."[7] The Age called it, "a rap-surf gem."[8]

Woroni said the song, "swaps Tex's usually aggressive sexual persona for an ambiguous, possibly auto-erotic tour over his body (legs like towers, heart as a muscle etc). Meanwhile, the band's usual lean guitar lines are fleshed out with a semi-Latin twist and a swinging rhythm which makes them sound like the house band at the Copacabana. This, by the way, is a compliment."[9]

Track listing
  1. "Black Stick"
  2. "High Sheriff of Calhoun Parish"
  3. "Momma Killed a Chicken"
  4. "Crab Stick"

Charts
Chart (1993) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[10] 25

References
  1. "New Release Summary – Product Available from: 14/03/93 (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 162)". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  2. "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 1994: 8th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  3. "hottest 100 1993". ABC. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  4. Clinton Walker (1996). Stranded: The Secret History of Australian Independent Music 1977–1991. Pan MacMillan. p. 202. ISBN 0-7329-0883-3.
  5. "ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts - 1970". Australian Charts. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016.
  6. Black Stick (Media notes). 1992.
  7. "Cruel Sea - Black Stick". Juke Magazine. March 1993. p. 42.
  8. Patrick Donovan (7 August 1998). "Sticky Carpet". The Age. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  9. "Crazy Dog". Woroni.
  10. "Australian-charts.com – The Cruel Sea – Black Stick". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
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