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 >

Kent Music Report beyond the top 100: 12 October 1981

Of the three acts peaking outside the Australian top 100 this week 40 years ago, two are regarded as electronic music pioneers, and the other achieved commercial success by incorporating elements of electronic music into their otherwise 'rock' sound.  Two of this week's debuts were also the only single released from their accompanying albums.  Shall we take a look?

 

Kraftwerk: calculators are for dummies.

 

Beyond the top 100:

 

Position 32 "Pocket Calculator" by Kraftwerk

Highest rank: 14th

Peak date: 19 October 1981

Weeks on below list: 4 weeks

 

German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk formed in Düsseldorf in 1969, although the band was initially just singer and keyboardist Ralf Hütter and multi-instrumentalist and backing singer Florian Schneider.

 

While their first two albums Kraftwerk and Kraftwerk 2 were moderate successes in their homeland, the group's major commercial breakthrough came in 1975, with the release of their fourth album Autobahn.  The album peaked at number 9 in Australia in August 1975, and the album's title track reached number 30 during the same month, becoming Kraftwerk's highest-peaking single in Australia.

Kraftwerk would not land a second top 100 single in Australia until "The Model", backed with "Computer Love" (my favourite Kraftwerk track), peaked at number 33 in May 1982.  This single topped the UK singles chart in February 1982.

 

In the interim years, Kraftwerk placed another two albums on the Kent Music Report albums chart, with Radio-Activity reaching number 96 in February 1976, and The Man Machine peaking at number 56 in September 1978.  Another album, 1977's Trans Europe Express did not chart in Australia until its 2003 re-issue, when it reached number 437 on the ARIA albums chart in February 2003.

Computer World, the album containing "Pocket Calculator" and "Computer Love", peaked at number 51 in Australia in October 1981.

 

In its German language incarnation as "Taschenrechner", which just translates as 'calculator', "Pocket Calculator" peaked at number 63 in West Germany in July 1981.  The single reached number 30 in the UK in May 1981.  Check out this unusually-animated-for-Kraftwerk live Austrian TV performance of the track.

 

Although "The Model" became a big hit for the band in 1982, it had actually been released four years earlier on the album The Man Machine, suggesting that Kraftwerk's sound really was ahead of its time.  Even today, the band's recordings from this era sound somewhat futuristic, as do some of the themes explored in the lyrics.

 

The success of "The Model" as a single in 1982 spurred The Man Machine to re-enter the Australian top 100 albums chart, reaching number 65 in June 1982, falling short of its peak of number 56 in 1978.

Kraftwerk would only land one other top 100 single in Australia, with "Tour de France" (number 60, September 1984).  They will bubble under a few times again, though, in the 1990s and 2000s, with the next occasion being in 1991.

Two Kraftwerk singles I enjoy that were released in Australia but did not chart locally are "Radioactivity" (1976) and "Musique Non Stop" (December 1986).

Kraftwerk founding member Florian Schneider passed away from cancer in April 2020, aged 73.

 

 

Position 34 "She's Got Claws" by Gary Numan

Highest rank: 14th

Peak dates: 26 October 1981 and 2 November 1981

Weeks on below list: 4 weeks

 

From one electronic music pioneer to another, English artist Gary Numan first came to fame as the lead singer for Tubeway Army.  Their single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" peaked at number 12 in Australia in October 1979.  It was swiftly followed by Gary's debut solo single "Cars", which reached number 9 in Australia in January 1980.  Although "Cars" and Gary's later singles would be credited solely to him, Gary retained the same musicians as in Tubeway Army, and it was essentially the same band, in which Gary was the singer, songwriter and producer.

While Gary had an enduring chart career in the UK, notching up 23 top 40 singles - 6 of which made the top 10, in Australia, Gary landed only two other top 100 hits - "We Are Glass" (number 15, July 1980) and "I Die: You Die" (number 86, October 1980).  Gary had slightly more success on the Australian albums chart, with five albums registering within the top 100 between 1979 and 1985; although none of these peaked higher than number 24.

"She's Got Claws" was the only single lifted from Gary's third studio album Dance (number 85, October 1981).  "She's Got Claws" peaked at number 6 in the UK in September 1981, and at number 12 in Ireland during the same month.

Gary still records and releases new albums, with his twenty-first studio album Intruder peaking at number 78 on the ARIA albums chart in May 2021.

 

 

 

Position 42 "The American" by Simple Minds

Highest rank: 42nd

Peak date: 12 October 1981

Weeks on below list: 1 week

 

Simple Minds formed in Glasgow in 1977.  Although they would later be known as a stadium rock band, at this point in their career, Simple Minds were incorporating elements of electronic music into their sound.

 

Simple Minds landed a few minor UK singles chart entries between 1979 and 1981, but none of these peaked higher than number 47.  Surprisingly, Simple Minds landed their first top 40 single anywhere in the world in Australia!  "Love Song" (number 17, February 1982) entered the Australian top 40 on 25 January 1982, which was almost three months prior to their first UK top 40 single, and a couple of weeks before "Sweat in Bullet" entered the Swedish chart.  Performing "Love Song" on the iconic Australian music television program Countdown no doubt helped with the band's earlier Australian chart success.

 

But prior to "Love Song", "The American" was the sole single from Simple Minds' fourth studio album Sister Feelings Call, which was later combined with their following album Sons and Fascination (number 31, February 1982).  "The American" became the band's first single to almost register on the Australian chart.  "The American" peaked at number 59 in the UK in May 1981.

Interestingly, Simple Minds had greater singles chart success in Australia than in the UK during the synth-pop period of their career, with singles such as "Love Song", "Promised You a Miracle" (number 10, July 1982) and "Glittering Prize" (number 9, October 1982) achieving higher peaks locally than in their homeland, where they peaked at numbers 47, 13 and 16, respectively.

We shall next see Simple Minds bubble under in 1984.

 

 

Next week (19 October): Another three singles bubbling below the top 100. 

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