Talking to a Stranger (song)

{{Infobox song

| name = Talking to a Stranger

| cover = H&C - Talking To A Stranger.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| type = single

| artist = Hunters & Collectors

| album = Hunters & Collectors

| A-side = Talking to a Stranger (Michael's Version)

| B-side = Talking to a Stranger (Our Version)

| released = 12 July 1982

| recorded = AAV

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Post-punk, art rock

| length = 4:39 (Michael's Version)

| label = Mushroom

| writer = Mark Seymour, John Archer, Geoff Crosby, Doug Falconer, Robert Miles, Greg Perano, Ray Tosti-Guerra

| producer = Hunters & Collectors

| prev_title = World of Stone

| prev_year = 1982

| next_title = Lumps of Lead

| next_year = 1982

}}

"Talking to a Stranger" is the debut single of Australian rock band Hunters & Collectors, released in 1982.[http://www.45cat.com/record/k8754 45cat – Hunters & Collectors – Talking To A Stranger] The only single from the band's self-titled debut album, it was accompanied by a music video directed by Richard Lowenstein.[https://mossfilm.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/sound-visions-50-best-ever-music-videos-talking-to-a-stranger/ SOUND VISIONS – 50 Best Ever Music Videos: ‘Talking To A Stranger] at mossfilm The song reached number 59 on the Australian chart.[https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Hunters+%26+Collectors&titel=Talking+To+A+Stranger&cat=s Australian Charts – Hunters & Collectors – Talking To A Stranger]{{cite book |title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |last=Kent |first=David |author-link= David Kent (historian) |publisher=Australian Chart Book |location=St Ives, NSW |year=1993 |isbn=0-646-11917-6 }}

A remix of the song, "Stalking to a Stranger", was released by the Avalanches in 2013.

Background

"Talking to a Stranger" was co-written by band members John Archer on bass guitar, Doug Falconer on drums, Ray Tosti-Guerra on guitar and vocals, Robert Miles on live sound, Mark Seymour on lead vocals and guitar, Greg Perano on percussion, and Geoff Crosby on keyboards. The band debuted the song live at Melbourne's Crystal Ballroom venue on 15 May 1981.[https://humanfrailty.com.au/?page_id=11981 Hunters and Collectors – Raw Material #01 1981 05 15 Crystal Ballroom], Human Frailty. Retrieved 20 September 2024. Recording took place at Richmond Recorders in October 1981, with Tony Cohen, sound engineer for The Birthday Party. He considered Hunters & Collectors' sound and approach to recording innovative, saying:{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=Tony |author-link=Tony Cohen |date=2023 |title=Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia's Most Legendary Music Producer |url= |location= |publisher=Schwartz Books Pty. Limited |page= |isbn= 9781743823088}}

{{quote|I always make an effort to separate instruments, ... but for Hunters & Collectors it was impossible. There were so many members, I couldn't find space to isolate them all. There were brass players, jokers hitting tin cans. Random people just seemed to get up and play things.}}

The single was released on 12 July 1982, ahead of the band's debut studio album,{{cite web |url=http://idiot-dog.com/music/hunters.and.collectors/indexh.html |title=Hunters and Collectors Discography: Hunters & Collectors |last=Relph |first=John |publisher=Idiot-Dog.com |date=26 October 2013 |accessdate=9 April 2014}} Hunters & Collectors, which appeared later that month.{{cite news | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131705269 | title = The Good Times: Music from Kitchens and Bedrooms | last = Sutton | first = Pollyanna | newspaper = The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995) | date = 22 May 1986 | accessdate = 9 April 2014 |page=10 Supplement: a Supplement to The Canberra Times |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Richard Lowenstein and shot mainly in St Kilda, Melbourne. Thematically abstract, It has been described as ground-breaking and "completely unique" due to Lowenstein's use of various in-camera effects and cinematic techniques, as well as the video's allusions to Australian and European cinema, including the post-apocalyptic aesthetic of Mad Max 2 (1981).{{cite book |last=Creswell |first=Toby |author-link= |date=2017 |title=Shine Like it Does: The Life of Michael Hutchence |url= |location= |publisher= |page= |isbn=9781760407377}}

It was one of the first music videos championed on America's MTV channel, and featured in the debut episode of its program The Cutting Edge, broadcast in March 1983.Billboard (26 Mar 1983), p. 10 According to Lowenstein, "The band were seriously arty, none of them wanted to make a commercial video. Ironically it became a commercial video because it got so much attention".[http://media.news.com.au/nnd/T3Interactives/2016/hit/20160317/25_VIDEOS/index.html "Behind the scenes"], news.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2024.

Reception and legacy

According to Rock Express, "Talking to a Stranger" exemplified the band's "abrasive brand of industrial funk". Some European critics incorrectly assumed that its "raw pulsating sound" was derived from Indigenous Australian music.Anne Wagner, Richard K. Sherwin (2013). Law, Culture and Visual Studies, Springer Netherlands. ISBN 9789048193226, p. 366

At the 1982 Countdown Music Awards, the song was nominated for Best Debut Single.{{Cite web | url = http://users.ncable.net.au/~ronjeff/top40/oz_king.htm | title = Australian Music Awards | publisher = Ron Jeff | accessdate = 16 December 2010 }}{{cite web|url=http://1970scountdown.atspace.com/1987.html|title=Final episode of Countdown|website=1970scountdown|accessdate=23 October 2020}}

"Talking to a Stranger" was voted 9th in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1989.

In 1992, Filthy Lucre remixed the song and it peaked at number 141 on the ARIA charts.{{cite web|url=https://www.bubblingdownunder.com/2024/10/week-commencing-26-october-1992.html | title=Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 26 October 1992 |website=Bubbling Down Under|access-date=26 October 2024}}

In 2021, Double J ranked "Talking to a Stranger" as the 35th best debut single of all time, writing that it "[followed] in the footsteps of Germany's Krautrock pioneers": "With huge horns and metallic percussion, Hunters & Collectors showed few signs of emerging beyond Melbourne's underground. ... It was a seven-and-a-half-minute epic with jagged guitars, a thundering rhythm, a barking vocal, and an opening line nicked from Charles Baudelaire."{{cite web| work= Double J| title=The 50 Best Debut Singles| url=https://www.abc.net.au/doublej/music-reads/features/50-best-debut-singles/13532112|author=Richard Kingsmill}}

The song featured in the 1984 American horror film Disconnected and the 1986 Australian dystopian action film Dead End Drive-In. It was covered by Birds of Tokyo[https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/birds-of-tokyo-cover-talking-to-a-stranger-for-hunters-collectors-tribute/ Birds Of Tokyo Cover ‘Talking To A Stranger’ For Hunters & Collectors Tribute] and remixed by fellow Melbourne group the Avalanches under the title "Stalking to a Stranger".