04/08/2026
ON THIS DAY in 1986 - 40 years ago exactly - Melbourne pop-rockers I'm Talking released their debut (and sole) album 'Bear Witness' on Regular Records. The band - featuring a young Kate Ceberano as co-frontwoman alongside Zan Abeyratne - had formed in 1983 from the ashes of acclaimed experimental funk band Essendon Airport, quickly establishing themselves as pivotal players on the packed live scene with their dance-ready vibe. They'd already had significant success in 1985 with their first singles 'Trust Me', 'Lead The Way' and their cover of 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore', and for their debut had recorded between New York studios François Kevorkian's and AAV in Melbourne, assisted by producers Fred Maher (of Scritti Politti) and Martyn Webster. Featuring songs penned by guitarist Robert Goodge and saxophonist Ian Cox, the album spawned three singles in 'Do You Wanna Be?', 'Holy Word' and 'How Can It Be?', and came out to positive reviews - many of which concentrated on the charismatic Ceberano - with the Canberra Times describing 'Bear Witness' as having "a very strong disco sound, and while disco is not my preference, I have a feeling one day [Ceberano] will rise above it, the sound is good. It is a Countdown audience sound though, and if measured on a simple danceability criteria is energetic and dominated by Ceberano." The album rose to #14 on the Australian albums chart and was nominated for Best Debut Album at the 1986 Countdown Australian Music Awards (losing out to Crowded House's eponymous effort). It would remain I'm Talking's only album as the band splintered by 1987 - with Ceberano immediately embarking on a solo career having taken out 'Most Popular Female Performer' for 1986 at the final Countdown Awards held in 1987 - but 'Bear Witness' remains an important album in Australian music history: in the 2010 tome '100 Best Australian Albums' it was ranked #93 (with the authors explaining that "[it] remains a definitive Australian pop album, stocked with single after impressive single" and that its legacy "inspired a new generation of electronic artists and DJs who would make their mark in the 1990s and beyond") while in 2021 it was ranked #162 on Rolling Stone Australia's list of the 200 Greatest Australian Albums Of All Time, with the magazine offering, "Too often ignored in our musical history, I’m Talking were pioneers, even beyond being a live band more inspired by Chic than Cold Chisel. Fronted by two women of colour (Kate Ceberano and Zan Abeyratne), I’m Talking deliberately pushed boundaries while navigating the blokey Oz pub rock circuit in the Eighties. They merged the escapism of Studio 54 dance music with the experimentalism of Melbourne post-punk/post-funk act Essendon Airport (who featured I’m Talking’s guitarist Robert Goodge, saxophonist Ian Cox, and bassist Barbara Hogarth) to create world-ready, sophisticated pop. 'Holy Word' would have been a global number one had Madonna recorded it - a cruelly forgotten local pop classic. 'How Can It Be?' channelled the slow-burn jazz tunes the wildly talented Ceberano sang before I’m Talking, and returned to after they disbanded. The palpable mixture of youthful excitement, a desire to kick against the establishment and creative input from seven members that made their sole album so vital, would also drive them apart by 1987. This album is a snapshot of Australian pop being changed forever, for the better".
