This week in 1983 saw four new singles bubbling under the Australian top 100. Two are by artists we won't see again, and the other two are by artists we will not see bubble under again until the 1990s. Shall we take a look?
Marcia Hines: heart like a radio... with a chart position like radio never played it.
Beyond the top 100:
Position 4 "Heart Like a Radio" by Marcia Hines
Highest rank: 4th
Peak date: 11 July 1983
Weeks on below list: 1 week
American ex-pat Marcia Hines relocated to Australia in 1970, aged 16, after landing a role in the Australian stage production of Hair. She released her debut single, and first Australian chart entry, "Fire and Rain" (number 17 for two weeks in July 1975) in 1975. Between 1975 and 1982, Marcia placed 14 singles on the Australian top 100, with six of those reaching the top 10. "You" (number 2 for six non-consecutive weeks in December 1977-January 1978) was Marcia's biggest hit.
"Heart Like a Radio" was lifted from Marcia's seventh studio album Love Sides, which missed the Australian top 100. Is that Marcia hitting those whistle register notes in the instrumental intro to this song? If so, I didn’t know she had that range.
Marcia took a break from her recording career in 1983, focusing instead on stage productions and raising her daughter Deni, who would go on to have her own recording career. Marcia would return to recording in 1994 with the album Right Here and Now (number 21, October 1994).
We'll see Marcia next in 1995.
Position 6 "The Sound of Breaking Hearts" by Espionage
Highest rank: 6th
Peak date: 11 July 1983
Weeks on below list: 3 weeks
Oddly, I cannot ascertain which country the band Espionage originate from, though it may be the UK. "The Sound of Breaking Hearts" was the lead single from their debut album Espionage, which did not chart in Australia. "The Sound of Breaking Hearts" was the band's only release to (almost) chart in Australia.
Internationally, "The Sound of Breaking Hearts" peaked at number 125 in the UK in April 1983. Unusually, its peak on the truncated chart, with exclusions below number 75, was number 102, on non-consecutive weeks (one in April 1983, one in May) where the single was ranked lower than number 125 after adding back the excluded titles.
After releasing their second album E S P in 1985, the band split.
Position 8 "So Much in Love" by Timothy B. Schmidt
Highest rank: 5th
Peak date: 18 July 1983
Weeks on below list: 3 weeks
Timothy Bruce Schmidt, shortening his middle name to an initial for his stage name, is an American singer-songwriter. He has performed bass and vocals in Poco, whom we have seen in 1990, and Eagles, replacing Randy Meisner in both groups.
"So Much in Love", Timothy's debut solo single, is a cover version of a song released by The Thymes in 1963. Internationally, Timothy's version of the song peaked at number 59 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks in October-November 1982. The track appears on Timothy's debut album Playin' It Cool, which did not chart in Australia. This single would be Timothy's only release to (almost) chart in Australia.
Position 9 "What Kinda Boy You're Looking For (Girl)" by Hot Chocolate
Highest rank: 7th
Peak dates: 18 July 1983 and 1 August 1983
Weeks on below list: 4 weeks
British soul band Hot Chocolate placed 14 singles on the Australian top 100 between 1973 and 1982, with "You Sexy Thing" (number 4 for two consecutive weeks in April-May 1976) being the highest-charting of those.
"What Kinda Boy You're Looking For (Girl)" was a non-album single released in between the band's sixth and seventh studio albums, Mystery (number 92, November 1982) and Love Shot (did not chart in Australia). Internationally, the single peaked at number 10 in the UK in May 1983, number 4 in Ireland in May 1983, number 17 in the Netherlands in May 1983, number 12 in the Flanders region of Belgium in June 1983, and number 23 in West Germany for two non-consecutive weeks in June-July 1983.
We'll next see Hot Chocolate in 1998.
Next week (18 July): One new entry peaking outside the top 100.
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