After making his name as a guitarist, songwriter and co-vocalist in Cold Chisel, Ian Moss released his debut solo album Matchbook in 1989.
As Moss prepares for a massive run of Australian tour dates between June and November 2018, Matchbook will be reissued on limited edition white vinyl, and is available to pre-order here.
While the album featured direct links to his Chisel past thanks to the appearance of Moss’ former bandmates Steve Prestwich (on drums) and Don Walker (on bass and keyboards, as well as a songwriter for many of the album’s 10 tracks), it was also a massive success on its own terms. Upon its release in January 1989, lead single "Tucker’s Daughter" went to number one, sat in the ARIA Singles top 10 for 11 weeks and sold platinum.
“Like Chisel’s Bow River, the song ended up being an amalgam of three seemingly unrelated parts, at some point, I realised they were all part of the same song struggling to emerge.”
Ian reveals his rough demo lyrics would never have allowed "Tucker’s Daughter" to become the radio staple it remains to this day.
“Don asked me to send a rough demo depicting music, the melody and phrasing. It didn't matter what I sang. Just make anything up to give me the gist," he said. ”The very first line of my improvised nonsensical lyric ended in the word ‘Motherfucker’. I can only presume this tickled Don and inspired the name ‘Tucker’. Within two weeks he had a complete set of great lyrics.”
A co-write between Moss and Walker, "Tucker’s Daughter" was the second best-selling Australian single of the year, with the follow-up single "Telephone Booth" also hitting the top 10.
When parent album Matchbook followed in August 1989, it debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums chart and sold more than 185,000 copies. Moss won five ARIA awards for the album, including Best Australian Album, Best Australian Male Artist and Best Australian Single and Australian Song Of The Year for Tucker’s Daughter.
Tracklist:
Side A
- Tucker's Daughter
- Telephone Booth
- Out Of The Fire
- Rain
- Matchbook
Side B
- Such A Beautiful Thing
- I've Got You
- Pretty Face
- Tangletown
- I'll Remember You
TOUR DATES
JUNE 22
WREST POINT SHOWROOM, HOBART, TAS
PH: 136 100
JUNE 23
COUNTRY CLUB SHOWROOM, LAUNCESTON, TAS
PH: 136 100
JUNE 29
THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE, QLD
PH: 136 100
JUNE 30
THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE, QLD
PH: 136 100
JULY 6
THE PALMS AT CROWN, MELBOURNE, VIC
PH: (03) 9292 5103
JULY 7
THE PALMS AT CROWN, MELBOURNE, VIC
PH: (03) 9292 5103
JULY 13
CANBERRA THEATRE PLAYHOUSE, CANBERRA, ACT
PH: (02) 6275 2700
JULY 14
ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY, NSW
PH: 136 100
JULY 20
THEBARTON THEATRE, ADELAIDE, SA
PH: 136 100
JULY 21
ASTOR THEATRE, PERTH, WA
PH: 132 849
See ianmoss.com.au/tour for more regional dates.
