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"I don't want anybody else,
When I think about you, I touch myself.
Ooh, I don't want anybody else,
Oh no, oh no, oh no."
— "I Touch Myself"

Divinyls were an Australian band who were quite popular... in Australia! Outside of the Land Down Under, however, they're one-hit wonders. That being said, as one-hit-wonders go, theirs, "I Touch Myself" is certainly... memorable, to say the least, due to its topic of female masturbation, and still incredibly popular—so all in all, not a bad result.

They formed in Sydney in 1980, and initially continued until 1996. In 2006, they reformed for three years and recorded some new songs, before finally dissolving permanently in 2009. Its original two members were Christina Amphlett and Mark McEntee, with a huge number of rotating band members. Their other hits include "Love School", "Make Out Alright", "Science Fiction", "Good Die Young" and "I'm on Your Side".

They had a total of five albums, all of which made it onto the top 50 of the Australian album charts, and three of which were in the top ten.

Singer Chrissy Amphlett died of breast cancer on 21 April 2013. She was 53.

Albums:

  • Desperate (1983)
  • What A Life! (1985)
  • Temperamental (1988)
  • DiVinyls (1991)
  • Underworld (1996)


"I don't want anybody else. When I think about you, I use these tropes":

  • Batty Lip Burbling: The second chorus of "Boys In Town", after the line "I must have been pretty slow".
  • The Cover Changes the Gender: "Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore"
  • The Cover Changes the Meaning: A year afer Chrissy Amphlett's death from breast cancer, Olivia Newton-John released a PSA for breast cancer awareness featuring several breast cancer survivors singing "I Touch Myself". What was originally just a racy song about masturbation became a somber reminder to check for lumps, with Chrissy Amphlett being the subject rather than the singer.
  • Epic Riff: Invoked and deliberately averted - in Long Way to the Top: Stories of Australian Rock & Roll, Amphlett talks about how both she and guitarist Mark McEntee hated guitar solos.
  • Fiery Redhead: Chrissy Amphlett. She took the Australian music world by storm with her image of a strong, confident, sexual woman who gave as good as she got and refused to be intimidated or censored.
  • Intercourse with You: Guess. Go on.
  • Love Is a Drug: Divinyls' cover of Roxy Music's "Love Is the Drug" for the soundtrack of Super Mario Bros. (1993).
  • Obligatory Bondage Song: "Pleasure And Pain".
  • Precision F-Strike: In the closing moments of the original version of the song "Elsie" on the Monkey Grip film soundtrack. (In which the band supplied the music as the Australian film also featured Chrissy Amphlett portraying a troubled singer known as "Angela".)

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