Week commencing 30 October 1989

Although I can't identify a thread linking all nine of the songs I write about this week, I can tell you that four of them are by Australian artists, which is something.   Er, let's take a look at them.

Gipsy Kings: Gracias por la música

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 117 "Careless" by Paul Kelly and The Messengers

Peak: number 116

Peak date: 20 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Weeks on chart: 10 weeks

Paul Kelly and The Messengers, who we formerly The Coloured Girls, were a favourite on FM radio playlists in Australia throughout the mid-late 80s.  So it comes as a bit of a surprise that - two notable hits aside, "Before Too Long" (number 15, September 1986) and "To Her Door" (number 14, December 1987) - this did not translate into much chart success.  In fact, Paul has only ever notched up 7 top 40 singles in Australia, including with The Dots, The Coloured Girls, and solo.  To add insult to injury, all but the aforementioned two and "Darling It Hurts" (number 25, November 1986) peaked between numbers 36 and 40.  Paul's tenure with The Messengers (who were really just The Coloured Girls re-branded with a more palatable name for the US market) produced precisely zero top 50 hits.  The biggest hit Paul scored with The Messengers was "Sweet Guy" (number 53, August 1989).  But did any of this really matter when your albums still did OK?  Probably not a whole lot.

 

"Careless" was the second single lifted from So Much Water So Close to Home (number 10, August 1989).  This release would start a trend of Paul Kelly singles peaking outside the top 100, although his 1988 single with The Coloured Girls, "Don't Stand So Close to the Window" also missed the top 100.  I am unable to give you a chart position for that one, as it is from the period where the ARIA chart stopped at number 100.  "Careless" fared better on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it peaked at number 92.

 

"Careless" peaked within the top 100 on four of the five ARIA state charts, only falling short in Victoria/Tasmania.  The single performed strongest in Queensland, reaching number 75.

Paul will visit us on numerous occasions over the coming years - the next time being in August 1990.

 

 

Number 119 "Picture" by Janz

Peak: number 119

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks

 

I really wasn't expecting to find a video (even though it's just the audio) for this track on YouTube... but I was pleasantly surprised to see that one exists!  I remember seeing the music video for "Crime" (number 70, May 1989) a few times on TV, but not this one.

Janz were an Australian band hailing from Melbourne, fronted by David Janz (real name David Fernandez).  Going by a comment posted on YouTube by a band member, the group disintegrated shortly after the release of this single.

 

 

Number 122 "Get Smart" by Bachelors from Prague

Peak: number 118

Peak date: 6 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks

 

The group name Bachelors from Prague sounds vaguely familiar to me, but I don't recall hearing any of their music before.  Their Wikipedia article mentions they promoted their music on Hey Hey It's Saturday - that's probably where I heard of/saw them.  An eight-piece Australian group hailing from Melbourne, the jazzy "Get Smart" was the lead single from the band's second album, Birth of the Fool (number 61, October 1989).  We shall see Bachelors from Prague again at the end of 1991.

 

 

Number 131 "Tokyo Nights" by Bee Gees

Peak: number 124

Peak date: 27 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

 

The fourth Australian (depending on your definition) act in a row this week, Bee Gees returned to the top 150 for the third time in 1989, with this track, the third single released from their One album (number 29, January 1990).  It follows earlier flop singles "Ordinary Lives" and "One".   This single performed strongest on the South Australia/Northern Territory state chart, where it peaked at number 84.  We will next see Bee Gees (no The) in 1991.

 

 

Number  135 "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Randy Crawford featuring Eric Clapton and David Sanborn

Peak: number 116

Peak date: 4 December 1989

Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks

 

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door", written and originally recorded by Bob Dylan in 1973, was covered by Randy Crawford, together with Eric Clapton and David Sanborn, for the soundtrack to the 1989 movie Lethal Weapon 2.  Unfortunately, that exact version does not appear to be on YouTube... so, instead, we'll make do with this live rendition by Randy below, to give you the general gist.  Randy (real name Veronica Crawford) placed three singles in the Australian top 100, with the biggest of those being "One Day I'll Fly Away" (number 29, April 1981).  This track also appeared on Randy's album Rich and Poor (number 107, December 1989).

We'll next see Randy in 1992.

 

 

Number 148 "Sold Me Down the River" by The Alarm

Peak: number 148

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

 

The Alarm were a Welsh group, formed in 1981.  In their native UK, the group notched up seven top 40 singles and five top 40 albums between 1983 and 1991.  In Australia, it was a different story, with their sole top 100 appearance being the album Eye of the Hurricane (number 91, March 1988).  After that, a solitary week in the top 150 with "Sold Me Down the River" was as good as it got.  "Sold Me Down the River" fared better in the band's homeland, where it peaked at number 43 for two weeks in September 1989.  The Alarm will join us again in May 1990.

 

 

Number 150 "Djobi, Djoba" by Gipsy Kings

Peak: number 131

Peak date: 27 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks

 

Gipsy Kings burst onto the Australian charts with "Bamboleo" (number 19, September 1989), and  "Bem Bem Maria" (number 71, September 1989) followed it up in quick succession.  Their third Australian single, "Djobi, Djoba" continued the act of diminishing chart returns, landing outside the top 100, but did it really matter when parent album Gipsy Kings (number 2, September 1989) went double platinum?  Probably not.  Striking while the iron was hot, the French group (although they sung in Spanish) released another album locally (Gipsy Kings was released in Europe in 1987) on 1 January 1990, Mosaique (number 23, January 1990).  My dad bought both albums on cassette, and had it not been for that exposure, I may not have heard "Djobi, Djoba" before, though I do remember a snippet of it being used in a TV commercial for the album.

Although Gipsy Kings will not make another top 150-peaking appearance in their own right, they will accompany an unlikely act, Bananarama (!), on a single that bubbles WAY down under in 1991.

 

 

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 161 "Sugar Daddy" by Thompson Twins

Peak:  number 155 

Peak date: 6 November 1989

Weeks on chart: 4 weeks 

Between 1983 and 1986, Thompson Twins (no The) placed eight singles in the Australian top 100 singles chart, with the biggest of those being "Hold Me Now" (number 3, April 1984).  Their last hit in Australia was "King for a Day" (number 17, February 1986), and nothing from their 1987 album Close to the Bone, nor the album itself, charted (when the chart stopped at number 100).  Roll on to 1989, and "Sugar Daddy" was the lead single from their sixth studio album, Big Trash (number 135, October 1989).  I remember seeing "Sugar Daddy" probably twice on Countdown Revolution, but couldn't remember how it went.  The group were perhaps too closely-tied to the early-mid 1980s (big hair and a zany look, a la Cyndi Lauper) to sustain commercial success throughout the latter part of the decade, when music and fashion styles had changed.  Nevertheless, we shall see the group on two more occasions, with the next one being in February 1990.

 

Number 163 "If You Asked Me To" by Patti LaBelle

Peak: number 163

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

 

One thing I noticed when trawling through the liner notes (as you do) of my parents' copy of Céline Dion's 1996 album Falling into You is how many of the songs were cover versions.  And I'm not talking about covers of obscure flops or deep cut album tracks that Céline's people brought to her as they were good songs that needed a wider audience; I'm talking about covered-a-zillion-times tracks you never need to hear again, like "River Deep, Mountain High".  The kind of thing that might be tacked onto an album by a new and upcoming artist as Plan B to salvage the album's commercial success should the original tracks fail to connect with an audience.  Quite why Céline's people (because, let's face it, I doubt she was the one making these decisions) felt a need to include such beyond basic covers on a new album by an established artist with three hit albums under her belt was a choice.  But, I digress...

The reason for all of that Céline rambling above is that here we have the original version of a track that would be later recorded by Céline, for her 1992 self-titled album.  Written by beige songwriter extraodinaire Diane Warren, Céline's version peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in July 1992, and number 52 in Australia in September 1992.

 

Patti first came to notice on the Australian chart as part of the group LaBelle, who scored a number 13 hit (their only charting single) in 1975 with "Lady Marmalade".  As a solo artist, she scored two top 100 hits down under, with the biggest by far of those being her duet with Doobie Brothers singer Michael McDonald, "On My Own" (number 12, June 1986).  Patti's version of "If You Asked Me To" didn't fare nearly as well as Céline's, peaking at number 79 on the Hot 100 in October 1989.  Not even the inclusion of the song on the soundtrack to the 1989 Bond movie Licence to Kill helped.  This was Patti's final appearance on the Australian singles chart.

 

Finally, on the topic of Céline, we will see the original version of another song she later turned into a hit in a mere fortnight's time!

 

 

 

Next week (6 November): A quieter week, with three top 150 debuts and two bubbling WAY down under entries.  You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.

 

< Previous week: 23 October 1989                                         Next week: 6 November 1989 > 

Week commencing 23 October 1989

All three of this week's top 150 debuts are singles that only registered a chart placing in Australia.  What is interesting is that only one of the three acts in question is Australian.  Let's take a look.

 

Cyndi Lauper: A chart position to forget

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 127 "I Know You by Heart" by Bette Midler featuring David Pack

Peak: number 118

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Weeks on chart: 7 weeks

"I Know You by Heart" was an Australian-only single, and the third release from the Beaches soundtrack (number 1, June 1989), following "Wind Beneath My Wings" (number 1, May 1989) and "Under the Boardwalk" (number 26, August 1989).  Quite why this single was an exclusive release to Australia, I don't know - other than, possibly, because previous single "Under the Boardwalk" does not appear to have charted anywhere else.

"I Know You by Heart" was a duet with David Pack, who was the lead singer of the rock group Ambrosia.  While Ambrosia only managed to score one top 100 single in Australia ("How Much I Feel" - number 30, February 1979), this was Bette's thirteenth single to register on our chart.  "I Know You by Heart" was co-written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who as Boy Meets Girl scored a number 35 hit in Australia with "Waiting for a Star to Fall" in March 1989, and had penned big hits for Whitney Houston with "How Will I Know" (number 2, April 1986) and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (number 1, June 1987).

 

On the state charts, "I Know You by Heart" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 58.

 

We will see Bette again in 1991.

 

 

 

Number 140 "Running in the Shadows" by The Bombers

Peak: number 130

Peak date: 13 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

 

The Bombers were an Australian band, hailing from Sydney.  Going by their facebook page bio, the group morphed out of The Party Boys, and included members of The Angels and Status Quo.  This track appears on their Aim High album, which peaked at number 93 in April 1990.  This was their only single to enter the top 150.  That's about all I can tell you.

 

 

 

Number 145 "A Night to Remember" by Cyndi Lauper

Peak: number 145

Peak date: 23 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Weeks on chart: 4 weeks

Things started off reasonably well on the singles charts with Cyndi's third album, A Night to Remember (number 17, June 1989), with "I Drove All Night" peaking at number 11 for four weeks in July 1989.  Second single, "My First Night without You" (number 47, September 1989), didn't perform nearly as well, and now poor Cyndi was relegated to peaking outside the top 100 with the third release and title track from the album.  Unfortunately for Cyndi, this would become the new norm for her on the Australian chart, and she would not see inside the top 100 again until 1994, despite two studio albums being released in the interim.

"A Night to Remember" appears to have only received a commercial single release in Australia, the United States, and Canada, with Australia being the only country it registered a chart placing in.  The single performed stronger on the Australian Music Report chart, where it peaked at number 96.

We will see Cyndi bubble under again before the year is out.

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

Number 153 "Heart of America" by Tony Llewellyn

Peak: number 153

Peak date: 23 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

We saw Tony Llewellyn in April 1989 with the second single from The News (number 135, November 1989), and here he is with the third and final single lifted from the album.  Although "Heart of America" missed the top 150, it was Tony's highest-charting single.  On the state charts, "Heart of America" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 135.

Number 164 "Fine Time" by Scary Bill

Peak: number 160

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

We saw Australian band Scary Bill in June 1989, and here they are with their second, and final, single to make the national chart.  "Fine Time" was the third single lifted from the band's only album Scary Bill (number 107, August 1989).  The first release from the album, "Crossroads", missed the national chart (when it stopped at number 100), but peaked at number 42 on the South Australia/Northern Territory state chart, where Scary Bill seemed to be most popular, in December 1988.

A fourth single, "Planet X", was issued locally in January 1990, but failed to chart.  The band then split up.

Next week (30 October): A bumper week with 7 new top 150 debuts and 2 singles bubbling WAY down under.  You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.

 

< Previous week: 16 October 1989                                    Next week: 30 October 1989 >

Week commencing 16 October 1989

A loose theme tying this week's new entries together is second chances... that don't amount to much.  Whether that be a re-issued single (currently or in the future), a new musical venture, or having your 15 minutes (seconds in this instance?) of 'fame' still being written about years later, you can't knock this week's artists for giving it another go.  Let's take a look.

 

Jesus Loves You: If it was good enough for Kiss to ditch (most of) the make-up...

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 143 "Sit Down" by James

Peak: number 141

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 3 weeks

Weeks on chart: 13 weeks 

I first became acquainted with James - who, for those unfamiliar, are a Mancunian group and not a mononymous solo artist - in 1992, via their number 28 hit in May of that year, "Sound".  Although it was not their highest-peaking single, I assume their most well-known song down under would be "Laid" (number 40, June 1994), which spent 26 weeks on the chart.  Prior to both of those hits, James bubbled under with "Sit Down"- their debut single locally, but they had been releasing material as far back as 1983 in their homeland.

Although "Sit Down" went on to become a number 2 hit for the group in the UK in April 1991, one thing I didn't realise until now is that this original 1989 release was a different recording to the 1991 re-issue, and that it also had a different music video (embedded below).  Oddly, the 1991 music video is not currently on James' official Vevo YouTube channel.  The 1989 release of "Sit Down" peaked at number 77 in the UK in July 1989.  The re-recorded version of "Sit Down" appears on the group's Gold Mother album (number 174, August 1991).

 

As the ARIA database usually conflates separate releases of the same title into one entity, and the 1991 re-issue of "Sit Down" (issued locally in June 1991) failed to reach the top 150, I cannot give you an Australian peak for its 1991 release.  I can tell you, however, that some of "Sit Down"'s 13 weeks on the chart are from 1991, as it peaked on the Queensland state chart in July of that year.  Also, interestingly, "Sit Down" performed much better on the Western Australian state chart than in other states, where it peaked at number 38 in October 1989.  "Sit Down" also performed stronger on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it registered at number 88.

We will next see James in 1992.

 

 

 

Number 146 "Tell Him I'm Your Man" by Marcus Montana

Peak: number 146

Peak date: 16 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

I'm pretty sure I've never heard of Marcus Montana before, but some quick research reveals that he hails from Sydney.  In quite a stroke of luck, some kind soul uploaded a video of the 7" vinyl single playing just the other week - without which I would not be able to hear the song or embed a video for it into this post.  It sounds, to my ears, like a throwback to an earlier era, a la Shakin' Stevens' rockabilly-'inspired' hits from earlier in the decade.

 

Somehow, despite having no hits, Marcus has a wikipedia page, from which we can glean the following 'facts': this single was launched with a poster campaign proclaiming "Marcus is here!", which apparently didn't go down well with music journos; that he promoted the single's release with a number of live performances, including at Westfield (did they exist then?) shopping centres; and that he is "long remembered" after this one single, and was still being written about years later in the Sydney press (I guess you have to be from there).  Make of that what you will.

 

 

Number 148 "The Downtown Lights" by The Blue Nile

Peak: number 148

Peak date: 16 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week 

Another act I didn't hear of at the time, but have become acquainted with in recent years, is The Blue Nile.  Hailing from Glasgow, The Blue Nile seem - to me, anyway - to be one of those acts who are under-appreciated at the time, but maintain a loyal, devoted fan-base and are viewed favourably by critics in retrospect.  Although the group had three singles, plus a re-issue of one of those ("Stay"), released locally in between May 1984 and April 1985, "The Downtown Lights" was their first single to register a chart placing in Australia.

 

The Blue Nile had greater, albeit modest, success on the UK singles chart, where this track peaked at number 67 in September 1989; but they managed to notch up three top 20 albums there.  This track was lifted from the album Hats, which peaked at number 12 in the UK in October 1989, and number 101 in Australia in November 1989.

 

 

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 160: "After the Love" by Jesus Loves You

Peak: number 160

Peak date: 16 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 4 weeks

 

Jesus Loves You were an act I had heard of at the time, but didn't hear any of their music until this track appeared on a various artists VHS compilation I bought in 2006.  Until then, I had wrongly assumed that the music would be religious in nature, owing to the band's name - although a later single, which will bubble down under in 1991, has a Hare Krishna theme.

 

Jesus Loves You, fronted by Boy George under the pseudonym of 'Angela Dust', was formed in the aftermath of the commercial failure George's two most-recent albums, Tense Nervous Headache (number 145, February 1989) and High Hat (number 126, June 1989).  Jesus Loves You's releases were issued on George's More Protein label (on which the recent E-Zee Possee bubbling under 'hit' was released), and the music was not primarily focused on making the charts.  Just as well, really, as "After the Love" peaked at number 68 in the UK in November 1989, and almost 100 places lower in Australia.  Despite not being a huge commercial success, the song was an artistic triumph in my view, with serious lyrics and an intense, brooding mood.  George wrote the song with former partner and Culture Club bandmate Jon Moss, who also appears briefly in the music video.

 

Oddly, "After the Love" appears to have been released in Australia (11 September 1989) before it was issued in the UK, and also entered our chart a couple of weeks before it did there.  I'm not sure why, but "After the Love" was re-issued in Australia in November 1991.  The track was lifted from the group's only studio album, The Martyr Mantras (number 136, June 1991).  We will see Jesus Loves You next in 1990.

 

 

Next week (23 October): Three new top 150 debuts, including an Australian-only single from a soundtrack album that was big in 1989, and one bubbling WAY down under entry.  You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.

 

< Previous week: 9 October 1989                                          Next week: 23 October 1989 >

Week commencing 9 October 1989

This week in 1989 we have not one, but two obscure Australian bands, as well as an Australian... children's entertainer.  We also have an ex-Go Go who is not Belinda Carlisle or Jane Wiedlin.  Let's take a look...

 

The Graces: Lay down your arms... but not your sultry looks.

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 125 "Chopsticks" by Peter Combe

Peak: number 125

Peak date: 9 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks

 

It's not often that children's songs make the national chart.  Just as well, I say.  "Chopsticks" is one of those songs that you might learn to play before/without actually taking piano lessons, which is something I took in my teens - though I was never explicitly taught to play "Chopsticks", it's fairly easy to work out.

 

 

 

Number 141 "Turn to Fantasy" by Ice Tiger

Peak: number 121

Peak date: 23 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks 

You know a recording act is pretty obscure and/or an Australian act of yesteryear who had limited success when they don't even have a Wikipedia article, and (as I write this), Ice Tiger don't.  Naturally, I assumed they must therefore be Australian, and that hypothesis was indeed correct.  An act I'd never heard of before getting hold of these charts, Ice Tiger hailed from Perth.  What is interesting about this release is that the group released it independently, as in not on a major (or even an established minor) label.  Such actually 'indie' releases were a rarity on our charts in the 1980s.  An album containing this track, Love 'n' Crime, was also issued independently, peaking at number 142 in October 1991.  "Turn to Fantasy" performed a lot better on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it peaked at number 63.  Ice Tiger will pay us another visit in November.

 

 

 

Number 146 "Lay Down Your Arms" by The Graces

Peak: number 127

Peak date: 6 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks

The Graces were fronted by former Go-Go's member Charlotte Caffey, and also contained Meredith Brooks (she of "Bitch").  Coincidentally, this track was later covered by former Go-Go Belinda Carlisle for her 1993 album Real.  Belinda's version was also released as a single, and similarly bubbled under on the Australian chart in early 1994!  The Graces' version peaked at number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was lifted from their only album, Perfect View.  This would be the only occasion The Graces 'graced' our charts.

Number 149 "Time and Motion" by Hippos

Peak: number 128

Peak date: 16 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

 

Hippos - no "The" on this release, but on their debut album and its singles - were an Australian band who previously scored a minor hit with "Dark Age" (number 45, September 1988).  "Time and Motion" was the lead single from their second album, Hippocalypse (number 101, October 1989).  I didn't think I'd heard this before, but it actually sounds vaguely familiar - I assume, therefore, that it must have received some airplay.  This would be the last time the group troubled the top 150 singles chart.

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 164 "Be My Baby" by Anita Ward

Peak: number 164

Peak date: 9 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

Earlier in the year, Collette scored a number 5 hit with a cover of Anita's big (and only) hit from 1979, "Ring My Bell" (number 3, August 1979).  Anita returned with this track, her second 'hit' (?) down under, which didn't chart anywhere else.  I was expecting this to be a cover of the Ronettes' song, but it is an original.  "Be My Baby" does not sound contemporary at all for 1989, and instead sounds like it might have been a contender for the 1983 Flashdance soundtrack.  Surprisingly, Anita will bubble under again... in 1999.

Number 169 "Passionate Kisses" by Lucinda Williams

Peak: number 169

Peak date: 9 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

Another track that didn't chart anywhere else is this one from Lucinda Williams, who hails from the US.  I am familiar with this one, after it has been chosen by a couple of guest programmers on the Australian music video TV program rage in recent years.  "Passionate Kisses" is lifted from the Lucinda Williams album (number 117, December 1989).  We last saw Lucinda back in August, and she will visit us next in 1992.

Next week (16 October): Three new top 150 debuts, and one bubbling WAY down under entry.  Among them is a new group fronted by an artist who bubbled under less than 6 months ago as a solo artist, and who was also involved behind the scenes on a more-recent top 150 debut.  You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.

< Previous week: 2 October 1989                                     Next week: 16 October 1989 >

Week commencing 2 October 1989

Although we only have four new entries this week, three of them have somewhat interesting music videos, involving X-ray specs, video game animation, a band deliberately making it obvious they are miming, and... Maggie Thatcher being dunked into a tank of water.  Shall we take a look?

 

Fischer-Z: so long to the top 100!

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 129 "The Invisible Man" by Queen

Peak: number 118 

Peak date: 16 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Weeks on chart: 7 weeks

As I write this, I am listening to - and viewing the video for - "The Invisible Man" for the very first time.  I was aware of the single's existence, though, at the time, as my local K-Mart's music department seemed to have bulk-ordered copies of it in, which was always a bad omen.  Other releases my local K-Mart seemed to stock by the truckload included Kim Wilde's Close and Love Moves albums, which peaked at numbers 82 and 126 on the ARIA albums chart, respectively.

The third single released from The Miracle (number 4, June 1989), "The Invisible Man" followed "I Want It All" (number 10, June 1989) and "Breakthru" (number 45, August 1989).  The video for "The Invisible Man" incorporates video game animation and Freddie wears a nifty set of X-ray vision specs.  The single peaked at number 12 in the UK in August 1989, and within Australia performed strongest on the Western Australia state chart, where it peaked at number 79.  Queen will pay us another visit before the year is out.

Number 146 "God Is a Bullet" by Concrete Blonde

Peak: number 146

Peak date: 2 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Weeks on chart: 5 weeks

Concrete Blonde first registered on the Australian singles chart in 1987 with "True", which peaked at number 91 in June of that year.  They wouldn't get their big break until 1990, when "Joey" reached number 2 in August.  "God Is a Bullet" was the lead single from the group's second album Free (number 90, March 1990).  Interestingly, the ARIA chart is the only 'real' (i.e. sales-based) chart that "God Is a Bullet" registered on.  The single performed the strongest on the South Australia/Northern Territory state chart, where it reached number 86.  Concrete Blonde will bubble under again in 1992.

Bubbling WAY down under:

Number 156 "Here Comes Your Man" by Pixies

Peak: number 156

Peak date: 2 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

American alternative rock band Pixies (no 'The') formed in 1986, and are still going today, although the band split for 11 years in 1993.

"Here Comes Your Man" was the band's first single released in Australia, and is lifted from their second album Doolittle (number 104, August 1989).  In North America and Europe, "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was issued as the first single from Doolittle, but it does not appear to have been released in Australia.

Internationally, "Here Comes Your Man" peaked at number 54 in the UK in July 1989.  It also reached number 3 on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart, for what that is worth (not a lot in my book).

On the ARIA state charts, "Here Comes Your Man" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 128.

The "Here Comes Your Man" music video is notable for featuring the band's singer, Black Francis (also known as Frank Black - real name Charles Thompson IV), and bassist/singer Kim Deal opening their mouths but not enunciating any of the lyrics when their vocal lines appear.

While Pixies landed seven top 100 albums on the ARIA albums chart to date, with the most recent of those being in 2019, the band never scored a top 100 single on the ARIA chart.

We shall next see Pixies in 1990.

Number 168 "Say No" by Fischer-Z

Peak: number 168

Peak date: 2 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

Fischer-Z, hailing from the UK, were another act having more commercial success in Australia than in their homeland, where their best-charting single, "The Worker", peaked at just number 53 in June 1979.  In Australia, the band were essentially two-hit wonders, eight years apart, with "So Long" (number 15, December 1980) and "The Perfect Day" (number 12, August 1988).  In the time between their two hits, the line-up of Fischer-Z had completely changed, with lead singer John Watts being the only constant.

"Say No" was the first single lifted from the band's Fish's Head (there's a clue on what the band's name means) album, which peaked at number 139 on the ARIA albums chart in October 1989.  While the album reached number 56 in Germany in June 1989, the single failed to chart anywhere else.

The music video for "Say No" is worth noting for the Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Colonel Gadaffi real-face look-a-likes being prodded into a tank of water from around 2:50 in, and then having their heads submerged.  Ooh-er!  Fischer-Z will, surprisingly, pay us another visit in 1993.

Next week (9 October): four new top 150 entries, and two bubbling WAY down under debuts.  Among them we have a version of... 'Chopsticks'.  Yes, you read that correctly.

 

< Previous week: 25 September 1989                                Next week: 9 October 1989 >