20 February 2020

Week commencing 20 February 1989

We're only into the fourth top 150 chart, and this week we have two returning acts already.  Who was 'lucky' enough to score back-to-back top 150 'hits' in the opening months of 1989?  Read on to find out!

Blondie's Deborah Harry: Once more into the lower region of the top 150.

Top 150 debuts:

Number 137 "Cyclone Season" by Graeme Connors
Peak: number 135
Peak date: 6 March 1989
Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks

Another track from his North album, this gave Connors his second single peaking within the 101-150 region of the Australian singles chart in early 1989.  I recapped the first one in the very first chart recap I posted.




Number 138 "Jack to the Sound of the Underground" by Hithouse
Peak: number 129
Peak date: 13 March 1989
Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks 
Weeks on chart: 12 weeks

With a small number of exceptions, the Australian charts generally weren't ready for this kind of music yet, hence the low peak for one of the more notable acid house tracks from the time.  Of note is that the song samples Kelly Charles' "You're No Good for Me" from 1987, which was also prominently sampled on The Prodigy's "No Good (Start the Dance)" in 1994.  On the state charts, "Jack to the Sound of the Underground" performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 80.

Peter Slaghuis, the man behind Hithouse, died in 1991 when his car, traveling at 220km/hour crashed into an oncoming truck.  Hithouse will score another top 150 'hit' in 1990.



Number 139 "Lost Soul" by Ordinary Mortals
Peak: number 139
Peak date: 20 February 1989
Weeks in top 150: 2 weeks

Ordinary Mortals were an Australian band, and "Lost Soul" was their 'sole' top 150 entry.  However, this is quite a reasonable feat, as, according to band member John Gordon whom I contacted, "Lost Soul" was only distributed in the Brisbane area!  He was surprised that the single registered a place on the national chart.  John also managed to track down a copy of the music video, which I have embedded below.


Number 140 "Don't Worry Baby" by The Everly Brothers with The Beach Boys
Peak: number 114
Peak date: 10 April 1989
Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks

Due to the way they have been entered onto the ARIA database, this, along with the plain ole Everly Brothers without The Beach Boys version of the track, charted simultaneously for a few weeks, as the same title, so it is technically impossible to know which is which, and which one peaked higher.  Given the higher profile of the duet version, I am going to assume that it was this which had the higher peak of the two.


Number 148 "Denis (The '88 Remix)" by Blondie
Peak: number 139
Peak date: 6 March 1989
Weeks in top 150: 3 weeks 
Weeks on chart: 6 weeks

Recently enjoying top 150 'success' with "Liar, Liar", which I recapped in my second top 150 chart post, Debs was back already, but with her old pals in Blondie, in this remixed version of their number 12 hit from 1978, from the Once More into the Bleach remix album.  One thing I didn't know, until now, was that this version was remixed by Danny D of D Mob.  I've had to resort to uploading the video below, as it is blocked on YouTube.  On the state charts, the 1988 remix of "Denis" performed much stronger in South Australia/Northern Territory than anywhere else, where it reached number 64 (it missed the top 100 on the other state charts).

 
 
Bubbling WAY down under:

Number 154 "After the War" by Gary Moore
Peak: number 151
Peak date: 27 March 1989
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
 
Northern Irish guitar maestro Gary Moore had placed five singles on the Australian top 100 chart at this point, although only one of those, a cover version of The Easybeats' "Friday on My Mind" (number 25, September 1987) had troubled the top 40.
 
"After the War" was the lead single and title track from Gary's seventh studio album After the War (number 62, March 1989).  The single peaked at number 37 in the UK in January 1989, number 14 in Ireland, number 12 in Sweden in January 1989, number 4 in Norway, number 17 in Switzerland in March 1989, and number 36 in New Zealand in March 1989.
 
On the ARIA state charts, "After the War" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 87.

I hadn't heard "After the War" until writing this post, and enjoyed it.

Gary will join us next in April 1989.



Number 156 "All I Ask of You" by Barbra Streisand
Peak: number 156
Peak date: 20 February 1989
Weeks on chart: 3 weeks
 
At this point in time, Barbra Streisand had placed 15 singles on the Australian top 100, with "Woman in Love" (number 1, November 1980) being her biggest hit down under.
 
"All I Ask of You", a song from the Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera, was recorded by Cliff Richard and Sarah Brightman in 1986, peaking at number 24 in Australia in March 1987.  Their version would bubble under again later in 1989.

Barbra's version of "All I Ask of You" was issued as the second single from her Till I Loved You (number 21, January 1989) album, following the title track, which reached number 34 in January 1989.
 
Internationally, "All I Ask of You" peaked at number 77 in the UK in February 1989, and number 56 in the Netherlands during the same month.

On the ARIA state charts, "All I Ask of You" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 95.
 
We will see Barbra next in November 1989.


Next week (27 February):   Another five new entries, including a return act, plus three other singles that were bubbling WAY down under.

< Previous Post: 13 February 1989                                     Next Post: 27 February 1989 >

7 comments:

  1. wow, a few of those chart entries really define the term Obscure. Kinda fun to see Graeme Connors actually scraped in a couple of minor-minor "hits" on the top 150, i liked his country-lite music back then (please don't hit me!!) I remember seeing him at a barrage carousel at sydney airport back in the 90s, should've asked him to sing us a song :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think I'd ever heard of Graeme Connors - or had at least forgotten about him - until getting hold of these charts. I don't hate country music; it's just not normally what I listen to.

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  2. "Jack To The Sound Of The Underground" is a benchmark track, although I only heard it a couple of years ago. Sad to know the dude behind it is dead -- 220km/h, WTF!

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  3. 20/02/1989

    Hello,

    What was the Peak Date for these songs:

    "Cyclone Season" by Graeme Connors

    "Jack to the Sound of the Underground" by Hithouse

    "Don't Worry Baby" by The Everly Brothers with The Beach Boys

    "Denis (The '88 Remix)" by Blondie

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My guess with the Ordinary Mortals band is that the songwriter John Gordon is this guy from QLD. www.johngordon.com.au
    I played a couple gigs with him around 20 years ago but I really cant find any mention of the band.
    His wikipedia page has him as active from 1989

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the info! If you still have contact with him, please mention that he should get this song onto YouTube!

      Delete

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