The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, 22 July 1997
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COLD HARD CASH THEY'RE fortysomething, well-behaved and sober, butthat hasn't stopped Cold Chisel from becoming the most sought after band in the country. Three of Australia's biggest record companies -- Mush- room, Warner and BMG -- are waging a money war for the first new studio recording in 13 years from the former wild boys of 1980s rock. The Daily Telegraph has learned bidding for the new deal -- which will include an album of new songs, a tour and a film documenting the reformation -- started at $600,000. Other major labels, including Sony and EMI, put in early offers but have since pulled out of the negotiations which are now approaching the $1 million mark. A $1 million deal would equal the amount the five members of Cold Chisel received in 1990 -- six years after the band's break up -- as an advance for the release of a greatest hits package called Gold Chisel. That album sold 450,000 copies, recouping the band's advance with in a month of release. The band -- Jimmy Barnes, Don Walker, Ian Moss, Phil Small and Steve Prestwich -- Have become enduring favourites on radio station playlists since their break-up. Following secret rehearsals at Sydney Opera House recently, the band plans to begin work on the new album in September. The record will be in stores by Christmas and a tour will follow next year. Cold Chisel and long-time manager Rod Willis want to retain control over every aspect of the reunion. Rather than simply handing over a new album, the band wants to go into partnership with a record label to keep costs down and ensure profits get evenly distributed. The starting figure of $600,000 was conceived as a better-than-break-even amount in a worst case scenario where the new album sold only 200,000 copies. Considering Cold Chisel has sold more than 1.8 million albums since its break-up and old CD continue to sell in excess of 120,000 copies a year, that would appear an extraordinarily conservative estimate. At this stage, Mushroom Records, the label which has handled Barnes's solo albums since the break-up, is the favourite to win the contract. One source said Michael Gudinski -- Mushroom Records boss and long-time manager of the singer -- wouldn't let the reunion happen if it wasn't on his label. Both Gudinski and Willis wouldn't offer a comment on the reunion yesterday. Warner's main card in the negotiations is that it has handled Cold Chisel's albums for the past two decades. Warner management remains quietly confident it can lure the reformed Cold Chisel back to its old home. BMG are the rank outsiders. Sources close to Cold Chisel management say the ultimate decision of who gets the band is in the hands of Walker, its main songwriter and keyboardist. It was Walker who held out longest on the idea of a reunion, and it's his strategy the band is now following in its negotiations with the record companies- Rumours suggesting the band would relaunch itself with a pre-game performance at the AFL grand final in September were denied yesterday by the event's organisers.
