Song:Under The Milky Way
Album:Under The Milky Way: The Best Of The Church
The Australian group The Church had their only US top forty hit with Under The Milky Way in 1988. They are from Sydney, Australia. Lead singer, bassist and main songwriter Steve Kilbey played in The Tactics and Baby Grand. While in the mid-70s band Precious Little, he met guitarist Peter Koppes and by 1980, they decided to form a band with drummer Nick Ward. Guitarist Marty Willson-Piper joined and they were called The Church. A demo got the attention of producer Chris Gilbey and he got them a deal with EMI Australia. Their debut album Of Skins and heart was released in 1981. Ward was replaced by Richard Ploog. Gilbey produced the album with renowned recording engineer Bob Clearmountain. They had some success in Australia. The Church released three more albums and signed a US deal with Warner Bros. But they seemed to stall in 1984 and went on hiatus until the 1986 album Heyday. The album was critically acclaimed but was a commercial disappointment. They left Warners for Arista and in Austraila they left EMI for Festival. So with a fresh start, The Church recorded the 1988 album Starfish in Los Angeles with producer Waddy Wachtel. The album was their most successful to date and Under The Milky Way reached #24 on the Billboard Hot 100. Unfortunately, subsequent albums did not turn out well and the band started having personnel problems. Koppes left in 1992 and that led to The Church being dropped by Arista and splitting up in 1996. But they were so happy with a 1997 farewell concert, they decided to reform and continue today. This budget comp is a good intro to The Church's music. Under The Milky Way got a boost when it was used in the 2001 film Donnie Darko. Here's the video for Under The Milky Way by The Church.
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