Once again I cannot identify a common theme linking this week in 1992's debuts peaking outside the top 100, so let's just dive straight in...
Take That: this marketing strategy didn't quite work...
Top 150 debuts:
Number 110 "Out of Control (Round and Round)" by Beatfish
Peak: number 110
Peak date: 16 March 1992
Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks
Weeks on chart: 9 weeks
Beatfish was a collaboration between James Freud, whom we last saw in 1989, and Martin Plaza from Mental As Anything, whom we saw in 1990. The pair recorded only one album, Beatfish (number 79, November 1991). Unlike the pair's previous solo/band work, the Beatfish project was electronic in sound.
"Out of Control (Round and Round)" was the third single lifted from the Beatfish album. It followed "Wheels of Love" (number 26, September 1991) and "All Around the World" (number 58, November 1991).
"Out of Control..." was most successful on the Western Australia state chart, where it reached number 54.
Beatfish will join us again in August.
Number 133 "Tell Me What You Want Me to Do" by Tevin Campbell
Peak: number 116
Peak date: 6 April 1992
Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks
American R&B singer Tevin Campbell started his recording career in 1990 as a 13 year-old, when he was the featured vocalist on Quincy Jones' "Tomorrow (A Better You, A Better Me)". That single was released in Australia in June 1990, but failed to chart.
"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do" was Tevin's solo debut single in Australia, lifted from his debut album T.E.V.I.N., which initially peaked at number 134 in Australia in April 1992, but reached a new peak of number 98 in April 1994, following renewed interest after the success of Tevin's "Can We Talk" (number 12, April 1994).
Internationally, "Tell Me What You Want Me to Do" peaked at number 9 in New Zealand in February 1992, number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1992, number 63 in the UK in April 1992, and number 31 in the Netherlands in May 1992. It was Tevin's best-charting single in both the US and the UK.
I don't recall hearing this one before. The chorus melody reminds me a little bit of Whitney Houston's "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" (number 48, May 1988) - both tracks were produced by Narada Michael Walden.
Tevin will next join us in 1996.
Number 148 "Not Like That" by Club Hoy
Peak: number 106
Peak date: 27 April 1992
Weeks in top 150: 9 weeks
We last saw Australian band Club Hoy in 1991.
"Not Like That", which became the Club Hoy's biggest 'hit', was lifted from the band's only album Thursday's Fortune (number 96, March 1992).
I don't recall hearing this one before. It has nice harmonies and could have become a hit with better promotion.
While we won't see Club Hoy again, lead singer Penny Flanagan will appear in 1995.
Number 149 Water EP by Def FX
Peak: number 149
Peak date: 16 March 1992
Weeks in top 150: 1 week
Weeks on chart: 14 weeks
Australian band Def FX formed in Sydney in 1990. I became aware of them through seeing them perform "Surfers of the Mind", which is the lead track on the Water EP, on MTV. To me, their sound seemed to be quite avant-garde for Australia at the time, merging the genres of dance and rock/alternative. "Surfers of the Mind" samples one of the keyboard riffs used on Black Box's "Ride on Time" (number 2, January 1990), to boot.
The Water
EP debuted at number 191 on 22 July 1991, taking almost eight months to
dent the ARIA top 150 singles chart for a solitary week. The EP's chart life was quite protracted, as it was still lurking around in January 1993, when it peaked in Queensland.
I caught the video for "Surfers of the Mind" several times in 1991 on Coca-Cola Power Cuts, where it seemed to always be featured in the Alternative top 10. The track does not appear on Def FX's debut album Light Speed Collision (number 96, December 1992).
Def FX will next join us in 1996.
Number 150 "This Is Hip" by John Lee Hooker with Ry Cooder
Peak: number 150
Peak date: 16 March 1992
Weeks in top 150: 1 week
We last saw John Lee Hooker in 1990.
"This Is Hip" was originally a 1963 song recorded by John Lee Hooker. He re-recorded the track with Ry Cooder for his 1991 collaborations-with-other-artists album Mr. Lucky (number 22, October 1991). I cannot find evidence of this single charting elsewhere.
We shall next see John Lee Hooker in 1993.
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 176 "Marilyn Dean and James Monroe" by John Kilzer
Peak: number 176
Peak date: 16 March 1992
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
American singer-songwriter John Kilzer last graced our presence in 1989.
"Marilyn Dean and James Monroe" was lifted from John's second album Busman's Holiday, which was released in Australia in March 1992 but missed the ARIA top 150.
John's biggest hit in Australia came with "Red Blue Jeans" (number 57, October 1988), which performed much stronger in South Australia/Northern Territory than other states, where it reached number 13.
On the state charts, "Marilyn Dean and James Monroe" was most successful in Western Australia, where it reached number 146.
John died from suicide in 2019, aged 62. John had struggled with alcohol addiction for much of his life.
"Marilyn Dean and James Monroe" was John's final single to chart in Australia.
Number 188 "Once You've Tasted Love" by Take That
Peak: number 188
Peak date: 16 March 1992
Weeks on chart: 1 week
British boy band Take That formed in Manchester in 1990. I first heard of them in an artists-to-look-out-for article in the Australian edition of Smash Hits at the end of 1991.
It took Take That four single releases to land a proper hit in their native UK. "Once You've Tasted Love", their third UK release, was the group's Australian debut. I hadn't actually heard this one until listening to it to write this post. Gary Barlow's fright peroxide hair really stands out (in a not good way) from this era... If you haven't seen it before, it's worth checking out the trying-desperately-to-appeal-to-the-gay-market video for Take That's first UK release "Do What U Like".
"Once You've Tasted Love" was lifted from Take That's debut album Take That & Party (number 104, May 1993). The single peaked at number 47 in the UK in February 1992.
Domestically, "Once You've Tasted Love" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 178.
Take That would eventually go on to land some chart success in Australia, but before then, we'll see them again in July.
Number 191 "Am I Right?" by Erasure
Peak: number 185
Peak date: 23 March 1992
Weeks on chart: 3 weeks
We last saw synthpop duo Erasure in 1990.
"Am I Right?" was the third single from Erasure's fifth studio album Chorus (number 93, November 1991) in their native UK, but was the second single in Australia, following the title track "Chorus" (number 77, October 1991). It appears that we skipped the "Love to Hate You" single.
Internationally, "Am I Right?" peaked at number 15 in the UK in December 1991, number 9 in Ireland in December 1991, number 46 in the Flanders region of Belgium in December 1991, and number 21 in Austria in January 1992.
In Australia, "Am I Right?" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 162 on the state chart.
Erasure scored a major (for them, in Australia) hit later in the year with Abba-esque (number 13, August 1992), an EP of four ABBA cover versions, from which "Lay All Your Love on Me" is my favourite.
We shall next see Erasure in November.
Number 193 "Every Kinda People" by Robert Palmer
Peak: number 157
Peak date: 23 March 1992
Weeks on chart: 6 weeks
We last saw Robert Palmer in 1991.
"Every Kinda People" is a track that originally appeared on Robert's 1978 album Double Fun (number 75, June 1978). The single peaked at number 82 in Australia in August 1978.
"Every Kinda People" was remixed for inclusion on Robert's "Addictions" Volume 2 (number 167, April 1992) compilation album. The 1992 remixed version of "Every Kinda People" peaked at number 43 in the UK in March 1992, and number 26 in Canada in July 1992.
Within Australia, the 1992 remix of "Every Kinda People" was most popular in Western Australia, where it reached number 124.
Next week (23 March): Three new top 150 entries, and four bubbling WAY down under debuts.
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