Of the ten new entries I write about from this week in 1991, six of them did not make the top 40 anywhere that I can ascertain (and none of these are Australian artists). Before we take a look, I have updated the following earlier posts with the following:
- 10 April 1989 - a new bubbling WAY down under entry from Tony Llewellyn;
- 23 October 1989 - new bubbling WAY down under entries from Tony Llewellyn and Scary Bill;
The Farm: all together in ARIA chart no man's land.
Top 150 debuts:
Number 118 "Mad About You" by Sting
Peak: number 109
Peak date: 29 April 1991
Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks
Weeks on chart: 7 weeks
We last saw Sting bubble WAY down under in November 1990. "Mad About You" was the second single issued from Sting's third solo studio album The Soul Cages (number 3, February 1991). It followed "All This Time" (number 26, February 1991).
Internationally, "Mad About You" peaked at number 56 in Sting's native UK in March 1991, number 44 in the Netherlands in March 1991, and number 59 in Germany in May 1991.
Within Australia, "Mad About You" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 80.
I don't recall hearing "Mad About You" before, but, presumably it received some airplay, as Australian FM radio loved Sting and his former band The Police during this period.
Few would have predicted that "All This Time" would become Sting's final solo (non-collaboration) top 40 hit in Australia, at the time.
"Mad About You" dented the Australian Music Report top 100 singles chart, peaking at number 95.
We'll next see Sting in June 1991.
Number 122 "Melt in Your Mouth" by Candyman
Peak: number 118
Peak dates: 29 April 1991 and 13 May 1991
Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks
American rapper John B. Shaffer III, better known as Candyman, scored a number 9 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 in November 1990 with "Knockin' Boots", a song I became acquainted with via the American Top 40 radio show. The single did not perform as well in Australia, peaking at number 58 in January 1991.
"Melt in Your Mouth" was the second single from Candyman's debut album Ain't No Shame in My Game (number 142, January 1991). The single peaked at number 69 in the US in February 1991, and at number 41 in the Netherlands in April 1991. Candyman effectively became a one-hit wonder, or, in Australia, a not-quite one-hit wonder.
I hadn't heard "Melt in Your Mouth" before. The song's chorus and melodic hook are lifted from The Spinners' "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" from 1972.
"Melt in Your Mouth" peaked higher on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it reached number 94.
Number 140 "Loose Fit" by Happy Mondays
Peak: number 117
Peak date: 6 May 1991
Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks
Weeks on chart: 10 weeks
We last saw English band Happy Mondays in August 1990. "Loose Fit" was the third single lifted from the band's third studio album Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (number 98, March 1991).
"Loose Fit" peaked at number 17 the UK in March 1991, and at number 71 in the Netherlands in May 1991. It's interesting (or so I think) how the peak positions for "Loose Fit" in various countries are all combinations of the numbers one and seven.
Domestically, "Loose Fit" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 53.
I have heard "Loose Fit" before, and like it, but could not remember how the song went until listening to it again to write this post.
Owing to the Gulf War taking place in early 1991, the "Gonna buy an airforce base, gonna wipe out your race" lyric was edited out of "Loose Fit" for the single's release in the UK. I remember reading about sillier censorship decisions by the BBC around the time of the Gulf War, such as banning Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian" (number 1, February 1987). That's the kind of censorship you might expect from the US.
Happy Mondays will join us next in 1992.
Number 142 "All Together Now" by The Farm
Peak: number 102
Peak date: 6 May 1991
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
English band The Farm last graced us with their presence in January 1991. "All Together Now" was the second single from the band's first studio album Spartacus (number 106, May 1991).
An early version of "All Together Now", titled "No Man's Land", was written after the band's singer Peter Hooton, who had trained as a history teacher, read an article about the unofficial Christmas truce between British and German soldiers during the first World War in 1914. The troops ditched their weapons to play a game of football on 'no man's land', the space between their trenches. The song was performed live on John Peel's Radio 1 show in 1983. When recording the song in 1990, producer Suggs (from Madness) suggested the chorus lyric should be "all together now". The song interpolates German baroque composer Johann Pachelbel's "Canon in D".
"All Together Now" crept into the Australian Music Report top 100 singles chart, peaking at number 96.
I don't recall hearing "All Together Now" in 1991, but became familiar with the song via a 1995 happy hardcore cover version from German eurodance band Intermission.
We will see The Farm again in 1992.
Number 149 "Temple of Love" by Harriet
Peak: number 149
Peak date: 22 April 1991
Weeks in top 150: 1 week
Here's one I had never heard of before. Harriet, whose full name is Harriet Roberts, is a soul singer from Sheffield in the UK. Interestingly, this track was her only release to dent the UK top 100, spending a solitary week at number 100 in August 1990.
"Temple of Love" was lifted from the album Woman to Man; Harriet's only album release. A much dancier version of the track, which I prefer, was released as the single version in Germany and Japan.
Bizarrely, "Temple of Love" was released in Australia in October 1990, taking six months to scrape into the top 150. In the interim, Harriet released another single locally, "Woman to Man", in January 1991, but it missed the top 150.
Number 150 "Funk Boutique" by The Cover Girls
Peak: number 150
Peak date: 22 April 1991
Weeks in top 150: 1 week
Weeks on chart: 3 weeks
The only song by New York-based freestyle group The Cover Girls I had heard before is one that we will see in 1992.
"Funk Boutique", which is quite sparse in lyrics, appears to have been an in-between albums release that was eventually included on the group's third studio album Here It Is (number 236, September 1992) in 1992.
"Funk Boutique" peaked at number 55 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in March 1991.
Domestically, "Funk Boutique" was most popular in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 144.
The Cover Girls will make their second and final appearance on the ARIA singles chart in 1992.
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 154 "All I Want Is You" by Surface
Peak: number 154
Peak date: 22 April 1991
Weeks on chart: 1 week
You can tell from the first few seconds of this track that it's going to be a slickly-produced r&b lurve ballad... and that's exactly what it is, listening to this track for the first time.
Surface last 'surfaced' (ho ho) on the ARIA top 150 in February 1991. "All I Want Is You" was another single from the group's third studio album 3 Deep (number 146, April 1991).
Surprisingly, "All I Want Is You" did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100. It did, however, reach number 8 on the US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in April 1991... for what that's worth.
Locally, "All I Want Is You" was most successful in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 147.
"All I Want Is You" would be Surface's last single to chart in Australia.
Number 158 "G.L.A.D." by Kim Appleby
Peak: number 158
Peak date: 22 April 1991
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
We first saw Kim Appleby in January 1991. "G.L.A.D.", short for good lovin' and devotion, was the second single lifted from Kim's debut solo album Kim Appleby (number 159, April 1991). The song was co-written with Kim's late sister Melanie, who was the other half of Mel & Kim, and Craig Logan, the former Bros member who Kim was dating at this time.
G.L.A.D. was going to be the title of Mel & Kim's second album, which never eventuated, following F.L.M. (number 2, August 1987) and sticking with the alphabet letters theme. Kim launched her solo career nine months after Mel's passing in January 1990. She was driven to showcase the songs she and Mel had written during Mel's illness, as a tribute to her sister.
"G.L.A.D." was remixed from the original album version for its single release by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow, the B-team at Stock Aitken Waterman (who produced the F.L.M. album). The track features a rap from Aswad's Brinsley Ford.
Internationally, "G.L.A.D." reached number 10 in the UK in February 1991, number 7 in Ireland, number 6 in the Flanders region of Belgium in April 1991, and top 20 in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Within Australia, "G.L.A.D." performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 138.
Unlike Kim's previous single, I heard "G.L.A.D." at the time, catching the video on Channel 10's short-lived Coca-Cola Power Cuts as a new release.
A third single from the Kim Appleby album, "Mama", was released in Australia in June 1991, but failed to chart. It did, however, give Kim a third and final solo top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 19 there in July 1991.
A fourth single, "If You Cared", was issued from the album in the UK in October 1991, but did not receive a local release. Mel & Kim performed a live a cappella excerpt from "If You Cared" in their April 1988 interview on UK TV show Wogan.
We shall see Kim Appleby again in 1993.
Number 180 "Now That We've Found Love" by Love in Effect featuring Jazzie B
Peak: number 180
Peak date: 22 April 1991
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
This track is a cover version of The O'Jays' "Now That We've Found Love" from 1973. Another version of the song, by Heavy D. & The Boyz, peaked at number 6 in Australia in September 1991.
Love in Effect was an ensemble of artists who came together to release this single and nothing else. I assume the track was recorded for charity, as these things usually are, but cannot find any evidence of such.
The artists featured in Love in Effect include Soul II Soul's Jazzie B (the only one to receive a featuring credit), Ben Vopeliere-Pierrot from Curiosity Killed the Cat, Ruby Turner, Diana Brown and Barry K. Sharpe, The Wee Papa Girl Rappers, Jeninne Levy, and Jay Williamson.
This version of "Now That We've Found Love" missed the UK top 75, and peaked at number 80 in the Netherlands in March 1991. The single was most-successful in New Zealand, where it reached number 25 in May 1991.
Within Australia, "Now That We've Found Love" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 167.
Number 191 "Don't Hold Back Your Love" by Daryl Hall & John Oates
Peak: number 161
Peak date: 29 April 1991
Weeks on chart: 5 weeks
We last saw Daryl Hall & John Oates in December 1990, with the lead single from the duo's fourteenth studio album Change of Season (number 137, February 1991). "Don't Hold Back Your Love" was the second and final single released from the album in Australia.
Internationally, "Don't Hold Back Your Love" peaked at number 41 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1991.
In Australia, "Don't Hold Back Your Love" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 108.
Australian singer Daryl Braithwaite would go on to score a bigger 'hit' with this song later in 1991. His version of "Don't Hold Back Your Love" peaked at number 55 in October 1991, and spent 23 weeks on the chart.
As it is unlikely I will be writing these chart recaps by the time it gets to 2010 (as my interest in new music drops off sharply by the turn of the century), I can reveal now that Hall and Oates landed one further charting single in Australia - "You Make My Dreams", which originally peaked at number 40 in October 1981, re-entered the ARIA singles chart in March 2010, peaking at number 106 during the same month. Despite the low peak, "You Make My Dreams" has gone on to spend 167 weeks on the chart and has been certified triple platinum by ARIA in December 2019. Don't you just love these anomalies of the streaming era?
We will next see Daryl Hall, sans John Oates, in 1994.
Next week (29 April): Two top 150 debuts and four bubbling WAY down under entries. Also, my 1981 Kent Music Report beyond the top 100 recaps will resume on Wednesday (27 April) next week.
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