Beautiful
In late 1982, having signed a new contract with the RCA Records label, The Reels scored an unexpected hit with a wry, languid cover of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song, originally recorded by Herb Alpert, "This Guy's In Love With You", which reached No. 7. They followed this with a one-off album for K-tel, which was known for its licensed pop hit compilations and budget 'golden oldie'. Although the tracks on Beautiful walked a fine line between sincere tribute and gentle parody, it proved to be the biggest success of their career, selling in excess of 40,000 copies and reaching No. 32 on the album chart. The album was later released through RCA.
In 1983 the band travelled to the United States and United Kingdom, released another five track EP, Pitt Street Farmers (the title is an old Sydney satirical expression referring to wealthy rural landowners who never leave the city). This was followed by a new version of "Quasimodo's Dream" in December 1983, which demonstrated the band's faith in the song, although it failed to chart on its second release. At this point Mason was forced to give up performing after contracting hepatitis, which effectively ended the group. Hooper joined The Church as keyboard player, and later joined The Mullanes, the original incarnation of what became Crowded House.
By late 1985 Mason had recovered and The Reels was revived (with the line-up of Mason, Hooper, Bliss and Newham) and completed their commitments to RCA with a single, a cover version of Etta James's "It Must Be Love".
Read more about this topic: The Reels