Week commencing 3 February 1992

There isn't a common thread I can identify linking this week in 1992's new entries peaking outside the top 100 I can identify, other than there are several (for me, anyway) unexpected entries among them.  Shall we take a look? 

 

Donna Summer's hair stylist tried to work some magic on that hair.

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 121 "Sisters Keep on Doin' It" by Dimples D & Lady Spice

Peak: number 116

Peak date: 10 February 1992

Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 121-116-129-131

Weeks on chart: 6 weeks

 

Crystal Smith, better known by her stage name Dimples D, burst onto the chart in early 1991 with "Sucker DJ", which topped the chart for two weeks in March.  The I Dream of Jeannie theme-sampling track would become Dimples' only release to trouble the top 100 in Australia.

"Sisters Keep on Doin' It" was lifted from Dimples' only album Dimples & Spice, which was released in Australia in December 1991 but failed to chart.  This time, the "Peter Gunn Theme" forms the basis of the track, and Dimples D teamed up with Lady Spice, whose real name is Tawana Ramsey.

 

I hadn't heard this one before.  Vocally, it sounds quite different to me than "Sucker DJ" - I can't even really identify Dimples D's voice on it; though maybe that's because the vocals for "Sucker DJ" were recorded in 1983 for the track's original release "Sucker D.J.'s (I Will Survive)", and she was younger then.

I cannot find evidence of "Sisters Keep on Doin' It" charting elsewhere.  On the state charts, "Sisters Keep on Doin' It" performed equally-strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory and Queensland, where it reached number 105 on both state charts.

 

 

Number 131 "Just Another Girlfriend" by Hi-Five

Peak: number 107

Peak date: 10 February 1992

Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 131-107-120-127-119

We last saw American R&B vocal quintet Hi-Five in 1991.

"Just Another Girlfriend" was issued as the third (in Australia) and final single from the group's debut album Hi-Five (number 102, July 1991).

 

Internationally, "Just Another Girlfriend" peaked at number 88 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in November 1991.

I don't normally care much for this sort of music, but found this track OK.

 

Hi-Five will next join us in 1993.

Number 141 "Rockwell Street" by Colour Blue

Peak: number 102

Peak dates: 24 February 1992 and 2 March 1992

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 141-133-107-102-102-127-129-(out for 1 week)-150

Colour Blue were an Australian group who only released two singles.  Their debut release "Peace" (number 82, July 1991) dented the lower region of the ARIA top 100.

It sounds to me like Colour Blue were a couple of years ahead of their time.  This track could have done better on the Australian chart had it been released in 1994-5, when R&B was gaining popularity locally.

Number 147 "Work That Magic" by Donna Summer

Peak: number 147

Peak date: 3 February 1992

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Top 150 chart run: 147

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

Donna Summer, born LaDonna Gaines, commenced her chart career in Australia in 1976 with "Love to Love You Baby" (number 4, April 1976).  Between then and 1992, she placed a further 19 singles on the Australian chart, with "I Feel Love" (number 1, October 1977) and "Hot Stuff" (number 1, July 1979) topping the chart.

Donna's last real hit in Australia was the Stock Aitken Waterman-produced "This Time I Know It's for Real" (number 40, October 1989), which took seven months to reach its eventual modest peak, after debuting at number 150 in March 1989.  She followed that up with "Love's About to Change My Heart" (number 71, November 1989), also from the Stock Aitken Waterman-produced album Another Place and Time (number 93, September 1989).

 

In the interim, Donna placed a compilation album outside the top 100 in Australia with The Best of Donna Summer (number 124, February 1991).  A remixed version of "Breakaway", from Another Place and Time, was released as a single to promote the compilation in Europe, but not in Australia.  It's a pity, because I really like the single version of that song!

 

"Work That Magic" was the second single lifted from Donna's fifteenth studio album Mistaken Identity, which was released in Australia in November 1991 but failed to chart.  It followed "When Love Cries" (released in Australia in October 1991, did not chart), which was released with no accompanying music video, owing to Donna's sister Andrea dying around this time.

Internationally, "Work That Magic" peaked at number 74 in the UK in November 1991.

Domestically, "Work That Magic" performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 136.

I didn't hear this one until a couple of years ago, but really like it.  I think it could have become a hit if Donna was able to promote it effectively.

As you probably know, we lost Donna in 2012 aged 63, from lung cancer - an illness that also claimed the lives of her mother and sister.

We shall next see Donna in 1997.  Before then, Donna had another compilation peak outside the top 100 in Australia, with The Donna Summer Anthology (number 144, January 1994).

 

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 152 "Places That Belong to You" by Barbra Streisand

Peak: number 152

Peak date: 3 February 1992

Weeks on chart: 3 weeks

 

We last saw Barbra Streisand in 1989. 

"Places That You Belong To" was a track recorded for the soundtrack to the movie The Prince of Tides, which Babs directed herself as well as starred in.

While that soundtrack missed the ARIA top 150, Babs had a recent compilation album that peaked outside the top 100: Just for the Record (number 126, November 1991).

 

Internationally, "Places That You Belong To" peaked at number 17 in the UK in March 1992, and at number 29 in Ireland during the same month.

 

Locally, "Places That You Belong To" 'belonged' most in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 141.

 

Barbra will next join us in 1993.

 

 

Number 161 "Six O'Clock" by The Tyrrel Corporation

Peak: number 161

Peak date: 3 February 1992

Weeks on chart: 1 week

English duo The Tyrrel Corporation were made up of Joe Watson and Tony Barry.  "Six O'Clock" was the pair's debut release, lifted from their album North East of Eden (number 273, December 1992).

 

Internationally, "Six O'Clock" peaked at number 101 (number 90 on the compressed chart) in the UK in November 1991.

 

In Australia, "Six O'Clock" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 137 on the state chart.

 

The Tyrrel Corporation would go on to have a couple of other charting singles in Australia, though none would dent the top 150.  I wasn't aware of the group until about a decade ago, when one of their songs turned up on a music video compilation I'd bought.  I like the combination of soulful vocals and dance music on this track.

 

We'll next see The Tyrrel Corporation in May 1992.

Number 162 "The Air You Breathe" by Bomb the Bass

Peak: number 162

Peak date: 3 February 1992

Weeks on chart: 3 weeks

 

Bomb the Bass last graced our presence in 1991.

"The Air You Breathe" was issued as the third single from the second Bomb the Bass album Unknown Territory (number 172, September 1991).  Internationally, the single peaked at number 52 in the UK in November 1991, and number 54 in the Netherlands in December 1991.

 

Within Australia, "The Air You Breathe" was most popular in Western Australia, where it reached number 138.

 

This would be the final Bomb the Bass single to peak outside the top 100 in Australia, although their third album Clear peaked at number 122 in May 1995.   Two later Bomb the Bass singles released locally that failed to chart were "Keep Giving Me Love" (September 1992) and "1 to 1 Religion" (June 1995).

 

 

Number 164 "Keep It Together" by Madonna

Peak: number 158

Peak date: 6 December 1993

Weeks on chart: 6 weeks

 

We last saw Madonna in 1991. 

"Keep It Together" was one of six singles (five in Australia) lifted from Madonna's fourth studio album Like a Prayer (number 4, March 1989).  The track was given a Soul II Soul-esque remix from the album version for single release, and issued as a single in North America and Japan.  "Keep It Together" was not originally released in Europe or Australasia, other than as the double A-side of "Vogue" (number 1, April 1990).

 

Despite not having a music video (the one embedded below is fan-made), "Keep It Together" peaked at number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in March 1990, and at number 8 in Canada in April 1990.

"Keep It Together" was one among a bunch of earlier Madonna singles released on CD single format in Australia in July 1991.  I am not sure what spurred it to eventually chart almost seven months later, but here we are...

"Keep It Together" in its own right did not peak in Australia until December 1993, amid the frenzy accompanying Madonna's first tour of Australia, with The Girlie Show.  Spoiler alert: a couple of earlier Madonna singles will also re-chart (lowly) in the last few months of 1993.

 

On the ARIA state charts, "Keep It Together" performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 105.  The single peaked in 1992 in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory and Queensland, and in 1993 on the remaining state charts.

 

Madonna will next join us in 1993.

Next week (10 February): Seven top 150 debuts and two bubbling WAY down under entries.

< Previous week: 27 January 1992                       Next week: 10 February 1992 >

Week commencing 5 August 1991

This week in 1991's debuts peaking outside the top 100 are about as diverse a bunch of songs as you could get, with everything from hair metal, new jack swing, electronic, alternative, soul-pop, downtempo, and... er, an Australian football song sung by a 68 year-old.  Shall we take a look?

 

Nelson: L-R Kim Carnes & Fabio.

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 114 "Up There Cazaly '91" by Louie the Lip

Peak: number 105

Peak date: 19 August 1991

Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 114-111-105-121-126

 

If you live in Victoria, or have the slightest interest in Australian Football League, you will know the Mike Brady song "Up There Cazaly".  This track, which does not appear to be available anywhere online to listen to and I have not heard before, is a cover version of that track, performed by former Victorian Football League (as it was then known) player Lou Richards.  Lou died in 2017, aged 94.

 

Short of paying $34 for the CD single on eBay (which I am not prepared to do for this track), we are probably not going to hear this one.  I even messaged someone who owns the CD on discogs to see if I could get a rip of the track, but have not yet heard back.  I will embed the song here if I can manage to get my hands on a copy.  In the meantime, I have posted the single sleeve below.

 

 

 

Number 138 "Playground" by Another Bad Creation

Peak: number 138

Peak date: 5 August 1991

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Top 150 chart run: 138

 

American teen (and tween?) new jack swing/r&b vocal sextet Another Bad Creation landed a number 17 hit in Australia in June 1991 with their debut single "Iesha", which is probably the first song to chart in Australia that name-checks the gaming console Nintendo.  "Iesha" is notable for also featuring backing vocals from Boyz II Men, before they had released their first single.

 

"Playground", the second single from Another Bad Creation's debut album Coolin' at the Playground Ya Know! (number 80, July 1991), did not perform nearly as well as "Iesha" in Australia, missing the top 100.

 

In the US, it was a different story, as "Playground" gave the group their second top 10 hit, peaking at number 10 in June 1991.  It was, however, to be Another Bad Creation's last single to register on the Billboard Hot 100.  Boyz II Men again provided backing vocals on "Playground".

There are two different music videos for "Playround"; I have embedded the one uploaded on the band's Vevo YouTube channel below.  Another video, labelled the original version, has been uploaded on an unofficial YouTube channel here.

I can see why "Playground" was not the hit that "Iesha" was in Australia, as it lacks the latter's melodic hooks.  A third Another Bad Creation single, "My World", was released in Australia in April 1992, but missed the ARIA top 150.

 

Number 146 "Planet of Sound" by Pixies

Peak: number 128

Peak date: 12 August 1991

Weeks in top 150: 3 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 146-128-142

Weeks on chart: 9 weeks

 

We last saw American band Pixies in November 1990.  "Planet of Sound", the band's fourth single to chart in Australia, was their biggest 'hit' locally, peaking at number 128.  "Planet of Sound" was the lead single from the band's fourth studio album Trompe Le Monde (number 61, October 1991).

 

Internationally, "Planet of Sound" peaked at number 27 in the UK in June 1991, and number 35 in New Zealand in August 1991.

 

Within Australia, "Planet of Sound" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 93.

A music video does not appear to have been filmed for "Planet of Sound", but a lyric video, embedded below, appears on the band's official YouTube channel.

I hadn't heard this one before.  I can't say I enjoyed it; it just sounds like noise to me.

Given my interest in charts and new music falls off a cliff in the very late 90s/early 2000s, it is unlikely I will be writing these chart recaps when it comes Pixies' next charting single in Australia, in 2016.

 

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 159 "Everyday People" by Aretha Franklin

Peak: number 159

Peak date: 5 August 1991

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks 

Aretha Franklin hardly needs an introduction, as the queen of soul.  Her last major chart hit in Australia, however, was her duet with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", which spent four weeks at number 1 in March and April of 1987.  Until her death from neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer at age 76 in 2018, Aretha's last top 100 single in Australia was "Through the Storm" (number 60, June 1989), a duet with Elton John.  Aretha's voice was prominently sampled, however, on 49ers' "Touch Me" (number 18, July 1990), though she was not credited.

 

"Everyday People", a cover version of the 1968 Sly and the Family Stone song, was the lead single from Aretha's thirty-third studio album What You See Is What You Sweat, which missed the ARIA top 150 albums chart.

 

Internationally, Aretha's version of "Everyday People" peaked at number 69 in the UK in July 1991.  I don't count them as 'real' charts, but "Everyday People" also made number 13 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in August 1991, and number 33 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart during the same month.

Domestically, "Everyday People" was most popular in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 151.

Aretha will join us next in 1994.

 

 

Number 171 "The Robots" by Kraftwerk (1991 version)

Peak: number 161

Peak date: 12 August 1991

Weeks on chart: 5 weeks

We saw German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk in 1981.  The original version of "The Robots", which I prefer to this 1991 re-recording, appeared on Kraftwerk's seventh studio album The Man Machine (number 56, September 1978).

 

Kraftwerk released an album containing re-arranged and re-recorded versions of some of their older songs, The Mix (number 132, September 1991).  The 1991 version of "The Robots" was released as a single to promote it, along with a new music video depicting a robotic version of the band.

The 1991 recording of "The Robots" peaked at number 20 in the UK in June 1991, number 26 in Ireland in June 1991, and number 18 in Germany in July 1991.

In Australia, "The Robots" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 145.

A 1991 version of "Radioactivity" was released as a second single from The Mix in Europe, but not in Australia.  I much prefer this to the 1991 version of "The Robots".

We shall next see Kraftwerk in 2000.

Number 174 "Winter in July" by Bomb the Bass

Peak: number 174

Peak date: 5 August 1991

Weeks on chart: 3 weeks

 

Although sounding like a group name, Bomb the Bass is actually just English producer and musician Tim Simenon, with different featured vocalists.  Bomb the Bass had placed one single in the ARIA top 100 at this point in 1991, with "Say a Little Prayer" peaking at number 54 in April 1989.  The first Bomb the Bass album Into the Dragon (number 100, April 1989) also crept into the ARIA top 100.

 

"Winter in July" was the second single from the second Bomb the Bass album Unknown Territory (number 172, September 1991).  It followed "Love So True", released locally in March 1991, which failed to chart in Australia.

 

"Winter in July" peaked at number 7 in the UK in August 1991, number 21 in Ireland in August 1991, number 6 in the Netherlands in September 1991, number 37 in the Flanders region of Belgium in September 1991, number 21 in Switzerland in October 1991, number 39 in Germany in October 1991, and number 32 in Sweden in October 1991.

Within Australia, "Winter in July" was most successful in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached  number 154.

 

I remember catching the video for "Winter in July" on the SBS music video programs M.C. TeeVee and The Noise in 1991, but, despite liking the song, forgot how it went.  "Winter in July" is quite a good song that deserved to do much better in Australia.  I love this kind of 'downtempo' stuff.

Bomb the Bass will next join us in 1992.

 

 

Number 177 Australian Tour Souvenir EP by PIL

Peak: number 177 

Peak date: 5 August 1991

Weeks on chart: 1 week

 

We last saw PIL/PiL/P.I.L./Public Image Ltd/Public Image Limited (take your pick!) in 1990.  This EP, which obviously was an exclusive Australian release, contains four of the band's previously-recorded songs: "Bad Life" (released as a single in Australia in June 1984, did not chart), "The Order of Death" (from their 1984 album This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get), "This Is Not a Love Song" (number 17, January 1984), and "Public Image" (their debut single from 1978).

 

On the state charts, the Australian Tour Souvenir EP performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 167.

 

PIL would have one further charting single in Australia, with "Cruel" (number 87, March 1992).  PIL vocalist John Lydon would go on to feature on Leftfield's "Open Up" (number 39, February 1994), and his previous band, Sex Pistols, will bubble under in 1992.

 

 

Number 191 "More Than Ever" by Nelson

Peak: number 191

Peak date: 5 August 1991

Weeks on chart: 1 week

Along with Warrant, Nelson would have to have been one of the last 'hair metal' acts to score a decent-sized hit in Australia, with "(Can't Live without Your) Love and Affection" (number 20, November 1990).

American Twins Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, who look like they go to same hairdresser as Kim Carnes, topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for one week in September 1990 with "...Love and Affection".  The follow up single "After the Rain" also made its way into the top 10 in the US, peaking at number 6 in February 1991.  In Australia, however, "After the Rain" only reached number 75 in January 1991.

"More Than Ever" was the third single lifted from Nelson's debut album After the Rain (number 100, October 1990).  The single peaked at number 14 in the US in May 1991, and number 30 in Canada.

Within Australia, "More Than Ever" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 178.

I wasn't expecting to know "More Than Ever", but the chorus rang several bells... I could sing along to it (if I wanted) on first (re-)listen, even.  Damn, now I'm going to have this song in my head all day, if not the coming week - it's such an earworm!  I guess I must have heard "More Than Ever" on the American Top 40 radio show in 1991.

 

We will next see Nelson in September 1991.

 

Next week (12 August): Seven new top 150 debuts, including another Australian sport-related song that I probably won't be able to source a copy of (it has been on my eBay watch list for months, to no avail).  There are also two bubbling WAY down under entries.

< Previous week: 29 July 1991                                            Next week: 12 August 1991 >