After 45 years in the music business Russell Morris has scored his first ever Top 10 album with ‘Sharkmouth’. The album will land at number 10 on the ARIA chart on Sunday.
Russell Morris, Sharkmouth
“I never knew the album would do this. I knew I liked the album but I wasn’t sure the public would like it,” Russell said this morning after hearing the news.
‘Sharkmouth’ is a blues album about Australia’s notorious and colourful characters of the 1920s and 30s like gangsters Melbourne’s Squizzy Taylor and Sydney Shark Jaws. It is now sharing the Top 10 with Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, Pink and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, all artists at least 30-years younger than the 64-year old Australian rock star.
Russell’s biggest album prior to ‘Shark Mouth’ was ‘Bloodstone’. It reached number 12 in 1971. In 1969 he had two number one hits ‘The Real Thing’ and ‘Part Three Into Paper Walls’. ‘Sharkmouth’ has gone Top 10 45 years after his first single ‘Heat Wave’ with Somebody’s Image in 1967. “You can’t predict these things,” he says. “It is sometimes a combination of planning and fortuitous accident”.
And how will Russell celebrate his benchmark success today? “I’m going to have a cup of tea,” he said.
The ARIA Chart is updated every Sunday at 6pm.
