Can't Help Myself (Flowers song)

"Can't Help Myself"
Vinyl single label with word Regular Records written at top. Single title, Can't Help Myself is written across lower half followed by songwriting credit, Iva Davies. Bottom has artist name, Flowers, followed with Produced by Cameron Allan.
"Can't Help Myself" by Flowers
Single by Flowers
from the album Icehouse
B-side"Send Somebody"
Released13 May 1980 (1980-05-13)
Recorded1980
Genre
Length3:10
Label
SongwriterIva Davies
Producers
Flowers singles chronology
"Can't Help Myself"
(1980)		 "We Can Get Together"
(1980)
Music video
"Can't Help Myself" on YouTube
"Can't Help Myself" by Flowers
Alternative cover
Band name, Flowers, at top, four men are shown diagonally across the middle, with title, Can't Help Myself, at bottom.
10" version (July 1980)
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"Can't Help Myself" by Icehouse
Alternative cover
Single title across top, followed by five separated photos of band members diagonally down to right. Band name, Icehouse, displayed step-wise at bottom left.
Chrysalis Records (US / UK 1981 release)
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"Can't Help Myself" is the first single released by the Australian synth-pop/rock band Flowers, later known as Icehouse.[1][2] The song was written by the band's lead guitarist and vocalist Iva Davies.

The song was released in May 1980 as a 7" vinyl single on independent label, Regular Records, five months ahead of debut album Icehouse. A 10" vinyl single was released in July and had a picture sleeve cover depicting individual images of band members diagonally across the band's name and the single's title (see infobox at right middle). The song peaked at #10 on the Australian Singles Charts.[3]

At this time a 7" single was also released by Flowers in New Zealand under the Interfusion label (no picture sleeve), peaking at #29.[4].

The music video was filmed in 1980 in a car park in Chatswood, Sydney.[5]

The version of "Can't Help Myself" on the Flowers debut album Icehouse was a different and longer re-mix.[6][7] Reissues of the album on compact disc (CD) (1987 onwards) and vinyl (2017) have the original 7" version.[8]A 2011 CD reissue of the album Icehouse includes a bonus track "Can't Help Myself (Original 10" Single Mix)", which at 3:40 duration is different in length to the two 3:10 and 5:51 versions on the 1980 released 10" vinyl.

After Flowers in mid-1981 changed their name to Icehouse, Iva Davies and Ed Thacker remixed the debut Icehouse album for Chrysalis Records. In addition to being on the album, this further mix of "Can't Help Myself" was released in various international markets as both 7" and extended 12" vinyl singles (see infobox at right below).[9][10]

A remix version by Australian Trance DJ, beXta, was released on the Icehouse album Meltdown in 2002.[11]

The two 2013 Icehouse CD albums The Extended Mixes Vol.1[12] and The Extended Mixes Vol.2[13] each contain one of the Chrysalis Records extended versions from 1981. The longer version from the 1980 Flowers 10" single was released on CD in 2017 on a compilation album of various artists titled 12 Inch Dance: Australian 80s Pop.[14]

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Can't Help Myself" was ranked number 85.[15]

According to Davies, "Can't Help Myself" was in part inspired by the guitar work sounds towards the end and fade out of the Michael Jackson hit song "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".[16]

Reception

In a single review Cash Box magazine called it "a quick stepping rhythm embellished by both guitar and synthesiser, draws the listener in."[17]

Track listing

All tracks written by Iva Davies (as Ivor Arthur Davies) unless otherwise indicated.[18][19][20]

7" single (Australian & New Zealand release)

  1. "Can't Help Myself" - 3:10
  2. "Send Somebody" (Iva Davies, Michael Hoste)[19] - 3:42

10" single (Australian release)

  1. "Can't Help Myself" - 3:10
  2. "Send Somebody" (Davies, Hoste) - 3:40
  3. "Can't Help Myself" (Extended version) - 5:51

7" single (UK, Netherlands & Spain releases)[21][22][23]

  1. "Can't Help Myself" (album version) - 3:47
  2. "Fatman" (album version) - 3:50

7" single (UK & Canada releases)[24][25]

  1. "Can't Help Myself" (Club Mix 1) - 3:27
  2. "Fatman" (album version) - 3:50

12" single (UK & Spain releases)[26][27]

  1. "Can't Help Myself" (U.S. Club Mix 1) - 6:05
  2. "Can't Help Myself" (U.S. Club Mix 2) - 5:41
  3. "Fatman" (album version) - 3:50

Personnel

Credits:[28]

Flowers members
Recording details
  • Engineer: David Cafe
  • Producer: Cameron Allan, Iva Davies
  • Studio: "Can't Help Myself" and "Send Somebody" recorded at Paradise Studios, Sydney
  • Chrysalis Records (album) Re-Mix: Iva Davies with Ed Thacker
  • Chrysalis Records (7" & 12") Club Re-Mix: Daniel Coulombe & Ed Thacker

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1980) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[29][30] 10
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[31]29

Year-end charts

Chart (1980) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[30] 44

References

  1. ↑ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Icehouse'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on May 17, 2003. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  2. ↑ Magnus Holmgren (ed.). "Icehouse". Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Archived from the original on 5 December 1998. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  3. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  4. ↑ "Search the Charts by artist, title etc". Official Aotearoa Music Charts. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
  5. ↑ "IVA DAVIES & ICEHOUSE - 1994 Mum & Dad Davies Interview". Spellbound-icehouse.org. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  6. ↑ Flowers - Icehouse, 1980, retrieved 2026-08-10
  7. ↑ "Flowers Interviewed". 'Tharunka' newspaper; Trove, NLA. 12 August 1980. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Flowers - Icehouse, 1980, retrieved 2026-08-10
  9. ↑ "Can't Help Myself". Connolly & Company. 2004. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
  10. ↑ Icehouse - Can't Help Myself, 1981, retrieved 2026-08-10
  11. ↑ "Meltdown > Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  12. ↑ Icehouse - 12 Inch Versions & Remixes Vol. 1, 2013, retrieved 2026-08-11
  13. ↑ Icehouse - 12 Inch Versions & Remixes Vol. 2, 2013, retrieved 2026-08-11
  14. ↑ Various - 12 Inch Dance: Australian 80s Pop, 2017-02-09, retrieved 2026-08-10
  15. ↑ "Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Musicfeeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  16. ↑ Adams, Cameron (24 August 2011). "Icehouse's biggest hits".
  17. ↑ "Single Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 7 November 1981. p. 13. Retrieved 1 December 2021 – via World Radio History.
  18. ↑ ""Can't Help Myself" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  19. 1 2 ""Send Somebody" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  20. ↑ ""Fatman" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  21. ↑ Icehouse - Can't Help Myself, 1981, retrieved 2026-08-11
  22. ↑ Icehouse - Can't Help Myself, 1981, retrieved 2026-08-11
  23. ↑ Icehouse - Can't Help Myself = No Puedo Evitarlo, 1981, retrieved 2026-08-11
  24. ↑ Icehouse - Can't Help Myself, 1981, retrieved 2026-08-11
  25. ↑ Icehouse - Can't Help Myself, 1981, retrieved 2026-08-11
  26. ↑ Icehouse - Can't Help Myself, 1981, retrieved 2026-08-11
  27. ↑ Icehouse - Can't Help Myself, 1981, retrieved 2026-08-11
  28. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus. "The Flowers / Icehouse". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  29. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 147. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  30. 1 2 "National Top 100 Singles for 1980". Kent Music Report. 5 January 1981. Retrieved 17 January 2022 – via Imgur.
  31. ↑ "Flowers – Can't Help Myself". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
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