Bubbling under the Australian top 100 singles chart this week in 1982, we have two acts who you might assume performed better on the Australian charts, and another act who I'd never heard of before. Shall we take a look?
Sheena Easton's machinery only operated spasmodically on the Australian chart.
Beyond the top 100:
Position 7 "Perpetual Motion" by Billy Miller & The Great Blokes
Highest rank: 7th
Peak date: 11 October 1982
Weeks on below list: 1 week
Billy Miller & The Great Blokes were, of course - with that band name, an Australian band. This is their only release listed on discogs.com, and they never troubled the Australian top 100. As seen in the embedded clip below, "Perpetual Motion" was performed on the iconic Australian music TV program Countdown - not that it helped this song to chart.
While I probably saw this performance on a repeat of Countdown aired during rage retro month, I have no recollection of it. The song is alright, if not great, and I could see it having become a top 40 hit if it had received adequate radio support.
Billy Miller had previously been the lead singer of the Australian band The Ferrets, who landed two Australian top 40 hits during the 1970s, with "Don't Fall in Love" reaching number 2 in September 1977. The Ferrets split in 1979.
Position 8 "Machinery" by Sheena Easton
Highest rank: 3rd
Peak date: 18 October 1982
Weeks on below list: 3 weeks
Scottish singer Sheena Easton landed a number one single in Australia with her first chart entry, "9 to 5 (Morning Train)", in April 1981.
As often seemed to be the case with artists in the early 1980s - particularly female ones - one minute you could be on top of the charts, and 6 to 18 months later, you could be flopping big time... only to then bounce back (usually temporarily) a couple of years later! Sheena Easton's chart career in Australia followed this up-and-down trajectory.
While Sheena landed another top 10 hit locally with her Bond-theme "For Your Eyes Only" (number 6, February 1982), nothing from her second album You Could Have Been with Me charted in Australia. "Machinery" was lifted from Sheena's third studio album Madness, Money & Music, which missed the top 100 locally.
Internationally, "Machinery" peaked at number 38 in the UK in August 1982, number 29 in Ireland in August 1982, number 48 in the Netherlands in September 1982, number 15 in Sweden in September 1982, number 18 in Austria in September 1982, number 57 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in September 1982, number 28 in the Flanders region of Belgium in October 1982, and number 6 in Norway.
Sheena would next bubble under on the Australian chart in 1989, dueting with Prince, and on her own in 1991.
Position 10 "Let Me Tickle Your Fancy" by Jermaine Jackson
Highest rank: 3rd
Peak date: 25 October 1982
Weeks on below list: 2 weeks
As a solo artist, separate from The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons, Jermaine Jackson only achieved moderate success, with his highest-charting single "Let's Get Serious" (number 24, September 1980) denting the top 30.
"Let Me Tickle Your Fancy" was the lead single and title track from Jermaine's ninth studio album Let Me Tickle Your Fancy, which did not chart in Australia.
Internationally, "Let Me Tickle Your Fancy" peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in September 1982.
I have previously written about Jermaine bubbling under in 1989.
Next week (18 October): One new entry bubbling under the top 100.
I can't identify any clever theme running through this week in 1991's ARIA chart debuts outside the top 100.
Before we dive in, on a sad note, I received news that a regular reader of my blog, Craig MacGregor, passed away this week, following a long illness. When I started writing these chart recaps, I never imagined that I would end up having several long phone conversations with one of its readers, but that's what happened with Craig and I. We both shared a keen interest in the ARIA charts and flop music of yesteryear, among other commonalities. I had planned to meet Craig when he returned to Australia from New Zealand for a period in May 2021, but COVID and border closures put an end to that.
While Craig was preparing to die, he sent me his copy of Joel Whitburn's Billboard Hot 100 Charts - The Eighties book, a New Zealand chart book, and some printed ARIA top 50 charts from the 1990s with Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia/Northern Territory state charts on the reverse that I did not have (I am in Victoria), as he wanted these to go to someone who might use them. RIP Craig (or 'kool beanz', as he might have said).
Ric Ocasek rocked away from the ARIA top 100 this week in 1991.
Top 150 debuts:
Number 108 "You Can Swing It" by Sheena Easton
Peak: number 107
Peak date: 5 August 1991
Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks
Chart run: 174-108-107-113-128
Weeks on chart: 5 weeks
Scottish singer Sheena Easton burst onto the Australian chart in 1981 with "9 to 5 (Morning Train)" (number 1, April 1981), which was re-named so as to avoid confusion with Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" (number 9, April 1981) from around the same time.
Between 1981 and 1991, Sheena amassed 10 Australian top 100 singles, with "For Your Eyes Only" (number 6, February 1982) and "What Comes Naturally" (number 4, June 1991) also reaching the top 10. We saw Sheena bubble under with Prince in December 1989.
"You Can Swing It" was the second single lifted from Sheena's tenth studio album What Comes Naturally (number 38, July 1991). Internationally, "You Can Swing It" peaked at number 54 in the Netherlands in August 1991.
Within Australia, "You Can Swing It" was most successful in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 84.
A third single from What Comes Naturally, "To Anyone", was released in Australia in September 1991, but failed to chart.
Sheena had greater, albeit modest, success on the ARIA albums charts in the ensuring years, with No Strings (number 160, September 1993), Fabulous (number 95, March 2001), The Best of Sheena Easton (number 596, November 2008) and Original Album Series (number 1060, February 2015) all charting.
I don't recall hearing "You Can Swing It" before. My take is that it was a bit too American-sounding to be a large hit in Australia in 1991. "What Comes Naturally" was American-sounding too, but had a Prince-esque pop sensibility that "You Can Swing It" lacks.
While "You Can Swing It" was Sheena's last single to peak outside the top 100 in Australia, she will appear on a 1982 post coming up in October.
Number 118 "This Is the Way to Heaven" by Mark Stevens
Peak: number 118
Peak date: 29 July 1991
Weeks in top 150: 9 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 118-134-139-133-(out for 7 weeks)-132-132-147-140-150
In the week in which the 37 year-old Australian soap opera stalwart Neighbours is ending, it is fitting that we have a debut from an actor who played the role of Nick Page on the show. Mark joined the cast of Neighbours in July 1988, which was after I - and probably a good chunk of the Australian audience - stopped watching it, opting instead for Home and Away. That being said, Mark looks familiar to me - he was probably a pin-up in Smash Hits magazine a few times when I was a reader. Prior to Neighbours, Mark was on Young Talent Time for three years; but, again, it was after I stopped watching it.
In the tradition of Kylie Minogue and all who've come after her, Mark was yet another soap-actor-turned-popstar hopeful. But how did it pan out for him? Not too well, going by the number 118 peak of this single, which would be Mark's only release to make the ARIA top 150. Nonetheless, this single spent a respectable 9 weeks in the top 150.
I hadn't heard this one before. It doesn't stand out as anything special to me, despite being written and produced by Nik Kershaw, whom we saw writing for another artist earlier in 1991.
Mark's Wikipedia biography is a bit of a depressing read. He became addicted to drugs in the 1990s and, after overcoming the addiction, became a born-again Christian who is now affiliated with the lucrative Hillsong church.
Number 125 "Kozmik" by Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers
Peak: number 105
Peak date: 12 August 1991
Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks
Chart run: 125-118-105-112-123-125
Weeks on chart: 6 weeks
David Nesta Marley, better known as Ziggy, is the son of reggae legend Bob Marley and his wife Rita Marley. Ziggy, together with his band The Melody Makers, placed two singles on the ARIA top 100 in the late 1980s, with "Tomorrow People" (number 36, June 1988) being their biggest hit in Australia. The group landed a second top 100 'hit' in 1989 with "Look Who's Dancing" (number 69, October 1989), and two albums Conscious Party (number 34, July 1988) and One Bright Day (number 68, October 1989) made the top 100. A mini-album Look Who's Dancing (number 111, June 1990) also registered on the albums chart.
"Kozmik" was the lead single in Australia from Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers' fifth studio album Jahmekya (number 111, August 1991). Internationally, "Kozmik" peaked at number 11 in the Netherlands in July 1991, and number 44 in the Flanders region of Belgium in August 1991.
Locally, "Kozmik" was most popular in Queensland, where it reached number 84.
I don't recall hearing this one at the time, but the music video was on a tape I digitised about a decade ago.
We will next see Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers in 1995.
Number 133 "Sexdrive" by The Rolling Stones
Peak: number 133
Peak dates: 29 July 1991 and 12 August 1991
Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks
Chart run: 133-143-133-135-146-137
Weeks on chart: 6 weeks
We last saw rock fossils The Rolling Stones in June 1991. "Sexdrive" was the third single, and one of only two studio recordings on the otherwise live album Flashpoint (number 12, April 1991). Curiously, "Sexdrive" was not issued as a single in the band's native UK.
Internationally, "Sexdrive" peaked at number 31 in Sweden in September 1991, and number 24 in the Netherlands during the same month.
Within Australia, "Sexdrive" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 101.
We shall next see The Rolling Stones in 2002 - assuming I am still writing these chart recaps in 2033.
Number 139 "Rockaway" by Ric Ocasek
Peak: number 139
Peak date: 29 July 1991
Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 139-141-141-140
Together with his former band The Cars, in which Ric shared lead vocal duties with Benjamin Orr, Ric Ocasek (born Richard Theodore Otcasek) placed 12 singles on the Australian top 100 between 1978 and 1987. Although it was not the band's biggest hit, the highest-peaking Cars single Ric sang lead vocal on was "Shake It Up" (number 10, February 1982). My favourite Cars single with Ric vocals is "Tonight She Comes" (number 16, February 1986).
Ric enjoyed solo success on the Australian chart with the single "Emotion in Motion" (number 8, November 1986), which reached the top 10. His only other solo top 100 entry, however, was "True to You" (number 100, February 1987). I like both of these tracks a lot.
"Rockaway" was issued as the lead and only single from Ric's third studio album Fireball Zone (number 119, August 1991). The single peaked at number 46 in Canada.
I don't recall hearing "Rockaway" before. It doesn't compare to Ric's earlier solo releases, or those of The Cars, in my book.
"Rockaway" would be Ric's last solo single before his death in 2019, aged 75.
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 172 "My Book" by The Beautiful South
Peak: number 172
Peak date: 29 July 1991
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
We last saw British band The Beautiful South in July 1990. "My Book" was released as the second single from the band's second album Choke (number 69, April 1991), following "A Little Time" (number 72, May 1991), which was their biggest 'hit' in Australia.
Internationally, "My Book" peaked at number 43 in the UK in December 1990, and number 25 in Ireland in January 1991. "My Book" missing the top 40 in the UK is notable, as previous single "A Little Time" had gone to number 1 there.
Domestically, "My Book" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 138.
I hadn't heard this one before. It's not bad, but I can see why it was not a huge hit.
Now in the final month of 1989, the chart year is drawing to a close, with this week's chart being the third-last one for the year. Unusually, of the ten songs I write about this week, I only knew two of them at the time - and they are both from the bubbling WAY down under section. At least one of this week's new entries does not have a music video, and two of the songs I write about were not even on YouTube until creating this post! Shall we take a look?
Olivia Newon-John: The charts weren't the only thing she was on the 'fringe' of in 1989.
Top 150 debuts:
Number 108 "The Arms of Orion" by Prince with Sheena Easton
Peak: number 108
Peak date: 4 December 1989
Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks
Chart run: 165-108-121-115-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-124-126-118-115-117
Weeks on chart: 11 weeks
Prince, under the pseudonym Alexander Nevermind, first collaborated with Sheena Easton through writing the infamous "Sugar Walls" (number 87, June 1985), recorded for her A Private Heaven album (number 88, March 1985). The pair then recorded a duet, "U Got the Look" (number 90, October 1987) for Prince's Sign "☮︎" the Times album (number 20, May 1987). While neither of these collaborations had much chart success in Australia, both reached the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100.
"The Arms of Orion" was released as the third single from Prince's Batman soundtrack (number 4, July 1989), without an accompanying music video, which probably hindered its chart success. The single performed stronger on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it peaked at number 88. "The Arms of Orion" also peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1989, and number 27 in the UK during the same month.
Within Australia, "The Arms of Orion" performed equally-strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory and Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 77 on the state charts. However, despite peaking highest in the two most-populous states, it didn't boost the single into the top 100, as it peaked peaked eight weeks apart on both state charts.
While I saw this single in the shops, I never heard the song until looking it up on YouTube out of curiosity a few years ago. That is, unless it is featured in the 1989 Batman movie, which I saw at the cinema, but can barely remember anything about (was there actually a plot?).
Sheena will pay us another visit in 1991, and Prince will join us again in 1996.
Number 114 "The Time Warp (PWL Remix)" by Damian
Peak: number 114
Peak date: 4 December 1989
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 114-125-130-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-116-128
The original version of "The Time Warp", by The Rocky Horror Picture Show Original Cast, like the 1975 film that spawned it, had a 'rocky' start, eventually peaking at number 3 in December 1980, spending 15 weeks in the Australian top 10. Damian, hailing from Manchester in the UK, in a similar fashion, kept re-releasing his version of the track until it became a hit - well, in the UK, anyway. Originally peaking at number 94 in the UK in September 1986 (after debuting on the chart in March of the same year), it was re-recorded and re-released as "The Time Warp II" - having two separate chart runs between December 1987 and September 1988, peaking at number 51 there in January 1988. Finally, Damian's version of "The Time Warp" was remixed by Pete Hammond at PWL (home of hit-makers extraordinare Stock Aitken Waterman), and his Midas touch propelled the single to number 7 in the UK, for two weeks in September 1989. Phew!
In Australia, we got "The Time Warp II", released in November 1988. The PWL remix of "The Time Warp" was released locally in early November 1989. Judging by the embedded music video, Damian moonlighted as a clown/stilts walker. Sadly, he died from cancer in 2017, aged 52.
Number 123 "Our Children's World" by Oz Art for Ozone
Peak: number 123
Peak date: 4 December 1989
Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 123-130-127-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-143-140-134-140-141
This track was (obviously) a charity record, by an ensemble of Australian artists - presumably to raise funds for environmental causes. Artists participating in this project included: Andy McLean (21 Guns), Brian Canham (Pseudo Echo), David Janz (Janz), Grace Knight (Eurogliders), Jim Keays (Masters Apprentices), John Swan (Swanee), Juno Roxas (Roxus), Lisa Edwards, Lisa Schouw (Girl Overboard), Matthew De La Hunty (Tall Tales & True), and Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & The Rocketts). I have no recollection of hearing this track before, so lack of exposure/promotion might have been a problem. Like almost all charity records, it kind of... sucks.
Going by the rear sleeve used as an image still for the (audio-only) video below, there was a music video filmed for this one - but no-one has yet uploaded it to YouTube.
Number 133 "Pretending" by Eric Clapton
Peak: number 106
Peak dates: 18 December 1989 (chart repeated 25 December 1989 and 1 January 1990), 8 January 1990 and 25 January 1990
Weeks in top 150: 11 weeks
Chart run: 133-119-106-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-106-107-110-106-114-133
Weeks on chart: 11 weeks
Up until now, Eric had placed eight singles within the top 100 on the Australian singles chart, with the biggest of those being "I Shot the Sheriff" (number 11, November 1974). "Pretending" was the lead single from his Journeyman album (number 27, December 1989). "Pretending" performed better on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it peaked at number 85. "Pretending" peaked at number 55 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 1989, and at number 96 in Eric's native UK in July 1990.
In Australia, "Pretending" was most popular in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 46 on the state chart. The single peaked within the top 100 on all five state charts, but this was not enough for it to dent the national top 100.
Chart run: 176-134-140-143-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-142-139-146-139
Weeks on chart: 10 weeks
Zan, real name Suzanne Abeyratne, was co-lead vocalist in the Australian band I'm Talking, who placed five singles in the Australian top 40 between 1985 and 1986, with the biggest of those being "Do You Wanna Be?" (number 8, June 1986). Of the singles the band released, Zan only sang lead on one of them, "Holy Word", which peaked at number 9 in September 1986.
I'm Talking bubbled under on the Kent Music Report's list of singles receiving significant sales reports beyond the top 100 with "How Can It Be", which reached fifth place on the list in November 1986.
I'm Talking disbanded in 1987, prompting both of its vocalists - Zan and Kate Ceberano - to launch solo careers. Zan's debut single, "It's Your Move", peaked at number 82 in April 1989, and this was its follow up. On the state charts, "Good Love" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 104.
Zan released one further solo single, "Nobody Else", in January 1991, but it failed to chart.
As this song was not previously on YouTube, I've had to resort to uploading the video below, which is just the audio of the 12" mix - the only version I was able to source.
Number 141 "Radar Love" by White Lion
Peak: number 117
Peak date: 8 January 1990
Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks
Chart run: 151-(off chart for 1 week)-141-142-133-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-117-120-139-129-129
Weeks on chart: 11 weeks
A cover version of the Golden Earring classic (number 10, September 1974), "Radar Love" was released as the second single from the Danish/American band's third album, Big Game (number 119, August 1989), and became their third single to bubble under in 1989, after we saw the band debut in May. White Lion's version of the track peaked at number 59 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Locally, "Radar Love" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 77.
Number 142 "Guitar Concierto de Aranjuez" by Tommy Emmanuel
Peak: number 138
Peak date: 18 December 1989 (chart repeated 25 December 1989 and 1 January 1990)
Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 142-146-138-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-139-141-142
Guitar maestro Tommy Emmanuel's first foray onto the Australian charts came in 1988, when the album Up from Down Under peaked at number 48 in July 1988. "Guitar Concierto de Aranjuez" was a version of "Concierto de Aranjuez", composed in 1939 by Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo, and lifted from Tommy's Dare to Be Different album (number 13, August 1990). Tommy will join us again in 1990.
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 155 "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty
Peak: number 155 (in 1989); number 59 in 2017
Peak dates: 4 December 1989 (1989 chart run); 9 October 2017 (2017 chart run)
Weeks on chart: 40 weeks (1989 and 2017 chart runs combined)
Sometimes, some of an artist's most well-known songs are not their biggest chart hits, and here we have a prime example of that, with Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'". Despite peaking at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in January 1990, becoming his biggest hit there, "Free Fallin'" stalled outside the top 150 in Australia in 1989. Tom's biggest chart hits in Australia had been "I Won't Back Down" (number 16, July 1989), and, with The Heartbreakers, "Refugee" (number 24, May 1980) and their duet with Stevie Nicks, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (number 10, September 1981).
"Free Fallin'" was lifted as the third single from Tom's Full Moon Fever album (number 13, June 1989), following "I Won't Back Down" and "Runnin' Down a Dream" (number 68, September 1989).
Following Tom's death in October 2017, "Free Fallin'" re-entered the ARIA singles chart, and peaked at number 59 during the same month. "Free Fallin'" was Tom's highest-peaking single to re-enter the ARIA chart in the week following his death, placing higher than "I Won't Back Down" at number 78 in the same week. This would suggest that "Free Fallin'" could now be regarded as being Tom's 'signature' track in Australia, despite its low peak of number 155 in 1989.
London Boys nudged the lower end of the top 150 back in September, and here they were with the second single lifted from their The Twelve Commandments of Dance album (number 137, August 1989) in Australia. "London Nights" fared much better in the UK, where it became the duo's highest-charting single, peaking at number 2 in July 1989. London Boys will visit us again in 1992.
Number 178 "Reach Out for Me" by Olivia Newton-John
Peak: number 153
Peak date: 15 January 1990
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
Here's one I hadn't heard before. As Olivia explains during the spoken intro to the embedded music video, this one was written for her daughter, Chloe, who was almost 4 years old at this point. Olivia recorded an album of children's songs, Warm and Tender (number 109, February 1990), from which this track is lifted. "Reach Out for Me"'s two weeks on the chart were non-consecutive, with the single re-entering and reaching its peak in mid-January 1990. Disregarding the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (which I don't consider a 'real' chart), Australia was the only place this single charted.
Next week (11 December): a quieter week, with three new top 150 entries, and one bubbling WAY down under debut. You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.
