Back to the Wall (song)
{{More citations needed|date=January 2012}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Back to the Wall
| cover = BacktothewallDivinyls.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Divinyls
| album = Temperamental
| B-side = {{ubl|"Fighting"|"Out of Time"}}
| released = 8 February 1988{{Cite web |title=Australian Music Report No 706 – 8 February 1988 > Singles: New Releases |url=https://i.imgur.com/ny5CD2P.jpg |access-date=19 June 2020 |publisher=Australian Music Report |via=Imgur.com}}
| recorded = 1988
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Rock
| length = 4:38
| label = Chrysalis Records
| writer = Chrissy Amphlett
Mark McEntee
Richard Feldman
| producer = Mike Chapman
| prev_title = Heart Telegraph
| prev_year = 1986
| next_title = Hey Little Boy
| next_year = 1988
}}
"Back to the Wall" is a song by Australian rock band Divinyls. Released in February 1988 as the lead single from their third studio album Temperamental, the song made the top forty on the Australian singles chart.
Background
By October 1986, Divinyls had been reduced to the duo of Christina Amphlett and Mark McEntee. Their third studio album Temperamental was in the recording stages and their label Chrysalis Records informed them that it would be make-or-break record, largely depending on whether it received attention internationally such as in the US.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}
Legacy
The song was played in the 1988 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and is on the soundtrack to the film.
In 2018, the song was covered by Tropical Fuck Storm and appeared as the b-side to their single "You Let My Tyres Down". The cover garnered praise and has been called "a spine-tingling take on an underrated Divinyls classic [...] [T]he vocal delivery of Fiona Kitschin and Erica Dunn, at once fierce and vulnerable, lends a prescient edge to Chrissy Amphlett’s lyrics: "We are living in desperate times / These are desperate times, my dear"." Kitschin herself called it "a really timely song [...] written and sung by a woman, so it made sense to be performed by the women in the band."{{Cite web |date=February 2018 |title=Tropical Fuck Storm Announce Debut Album, 'A Laughing Death in Meatspace' |url=https://www.therockpit.net/2018/tropical-fuck-storm-announce-debut-album-a-laughing-death-in-meatspace/}}{{Cite web |last=Farnell |first=Guido |title=Live Review: Tropical Fuck Storm, Sugar Fed Leopards, School Damage | theMusic.com.au | Australian music news, gig guide, music reviews |url=https://themusic.com.au/reviews/tropical-fuck-storm-howler-guido-farnell/n_Ows7K1tLc/14-05-18 |website=themusic.com.au}}
Track listing
;Australian 7" single
- "Back to the Wall" - 4:38
- "Fighting" - 3:45
;Australian 12" single
- "Back to the Wall" - 4:38
- "Fighting" - 3:45
- "Out of Time" - 5:46
Charts
| class="wikitable" |
| align="left"|Chart (1988)
!align="left"|Peak |
|---|
| align="left"|Australia (Australian Music Report){{Cite web |title=Australian ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart – Week Ending 22nd May, 1988 |url=https://i.imgur.com/DLTfIFp.jpg |access-date=19 June 2020 |publisher=ARIA |via=Imgur.com}} N.B. ARIA licensed the Australian Music Report chart between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988.
| style="text-align:center;"|33 |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Divinyls}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Song recordings produced by Mike Chapman
Category:Songs written by Chrissy Amphlett
Category:Songs written by Richard Feldman (songwriter)