“Talking to a Stranger” by Hunters And Collectors

"Talking to a Stranger" was how Hunters & Collectors introduced themselves in 1982: the Australian band's first single and the only one taken from their self-titled debut. The whole sprawling crew wrote it together, from Mark Seymour on lead vocals and guitar and Ray Tosti-Guerra on guitar and vocals to John Archer's bass, Doug Falconer's drums, Greg Perano's percussion, Geoff Crosby's keyboards and even Robert Miles, who ran their live sound. They first unleashed it at Melbourne's Crystal Ballroom in May 1981.

Tony Cohen, engineer for the Birthday Party, taped it at Richmond Recorders that October and found the band impossible to pull apart: too many bodies, horns blasting, people bashing tin cans. That clanging, tribal throb is the whole thrill. Richard Lowenstein directed the video, and the Avalanches later reworked it as "Stalking to a Stranger."

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.