Week commencing 26 March 1990

After last week's mammoth post containing ten new debuts, this week is a more sedate affair, with only two new top 150 entries.   A common thread running through this week's debuts is that three of the four songs are from artists whom we have already seen this year.  Let's take a look at them.

 

Warrant: Dirty rotten filthy stinking rich?  Not with these Australian chart placings.

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 127 "Beautiful Love" by Adeva

Peak: number 109

Peak date: 23 April 1990

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 127-121-110-114-109-121-115

Weeks on chart: 8 weeks

Adeva, real name Patricia Daniels, has previously bubbled under twice, with "Respect" and "Musical Freedom (Free At Last)", and here she is again, with the fifth single from her debut album Adeva! (number 14, February 1990).

 

Unusually for a dance artist, Adeva's album charted much better than the singles lifted from it - a feat that was replicated in the UK, where the album peaked at number 6 in September 1989 - 11 places higher than any of the singles lifted from it.

 

Unlike the previous four uptempo singles, "Beautiful Love" is a ballad.  This soulful song about lurve was quite a change in style for Adeva, but she pulled it off convincingly.  Not that the record-buying public was sold on it, however, as this single also majorly underperformed in the American diva's prime market, the UK, where it stalled at number 57 in December 1989.  Perhaps most people who liked the song already owned the album.

Frustratingly, "Beautiful Love" missed the national top 100 despite reaching the top 100 on four of the five state charts, peaking highest at number 84 in South Australia/Northern Territory.  "Beautiful Love" also performed better on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it reached number 88.

A sixth single from Adeva!, "Treat Me Right", was issued locally in July 1990, but failed to chart.  It did manage to peak at number 62 in the UK, however, in April 1990.

We will see Adeva again in 1992.

Number 148 "Tender Lover" by Babyface
Peak: number 144

Peak date: 9 April 1990

Weeks in top 150: 2 weeks

Chart run: 154-(off chart for 1 week)-148-(off chart for 1 week)-144

Weeks on chart: 3 weeks

Babyface, real name Kenneth Brian Edmonds, bubbled WAY down under in February with "It's No Crime", and here he is with the second single and title track from the Tender Lover album (number 143, May 1990).  Bobby Brown, who Babyface had written and produced for, appears as the featured rapper on this track, to boot.

"Tender Lover" performed much stronger in Babyface's native US, where it peaked at number 14 in February 1990.

We will next see Babyface (as the performing artist) in 1992.

 

 

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 159 "Get Busy" by Mr. Lee

Peak: number 159

Peak date: 26 March 1990

Weeks on chart: 1 week

 

Although I was only 12, had I been living in Sydney and a regular reader of The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper at the time, I might have seen this article from 21 December 1990, written by Helen Marie Dickenson, reviewing her top 10 favourite dance tracks of 1990.  In it, this song by Mr. Lee is listed, along with its ARIA chart peak of number 159 (Spoiler alert: there is a peak outside the top 100 listed for another song from later in the year in the article).  Had I seen this article at the time, I would have been clued in to the fact that the ARIA chart extended beyond number 100 - something I did not discover until 2014!

Anyway, back to the song at hand... Mr. Lee, real name Leeroy Haggard Jr., is an American rapper, hailing from Chicago, who was one of the pioneers of hip-house, merging rap and house music together.  While Mr. Lee had released a string of singles on minor labels dating back to 1986, "Get Busy" was his debut release for Jive Records, and the title track from his debut album Get Busy.

"Get Busy" was a top 20 hit in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, and also registered in the top 50 in the UK and New Zealand.  It also peaked at number 2 on the very dubious US Billboard Dance chart.

While Mr. Lee never scored a top 100 hit in Australia, he will dent the top 150 in September 1990.

 

 

 

Number 161 "Sometimes She Cries" by Warrant

Peak: number 161

Peak date: 26 March 1990

Weeks on chart: 1 week

 

Warrant have graced our presence twice previously, with "Down Boys" and "Big Talk".   "Sometimes She Cries" was the fourth and final single lifted from Warrant's debut album, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich (number 72, November 1989).  As you might have guessed from the title, it's not one of their more 'rockin'' tracks, though it still has some trademark late 80s hair metal guitar licks on it.

"Somtimes She Cried" performed much better in the band's native US, where it peaked at number 20 in March 1990.

Warrant will next pay us a visit in 1992.

 

 

 

Number 170 "I Believe" by Joe Satriani

Peak: number 170

Peak date: 26 March 1990

Weeks on chart: 1 week

 

American guitar maestro Joe Satriani made his debut on the Australian singles chart in 1988 with "Always with Me, Always with You" (number 37, November 1988), from his second album Surfing with the Alien (number 10, November 1988).  "I Believe" was the second single lifted from his third album Flying in a Blue Dream (number 21, February 1990), following "Big Bad Moon" (number 100, February 1990).

 

While I cannot find evidence of "I Believe" charting on any other sales-based charts, it peaked at number 36 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in May 1990.

 

In Australia, "I Believe" was most popular in Western Australia, where it reached number 123 on the state chart.

 

A third single from Flying in a Blue Dream, the title track "Flying in a Blue Dream", was released in Australia in October 1990, but failed to chart.

 

We'll next see Joe in 1992.

 

Next week (2 April): four new top 150 debuts, including one from a band who've been around since the 60's, and another from a band who would have to wait until 1996 to score their only real hit in Australia.  There is also one bubbling WAY down under entry.  You can also follow my posts on instagram, facebook and twitter.

< Previous week: 19 March 1990                                              Next week: 2 April 1990 >

Week commencing 19 March 1990

This week, there are ten new top 150 debuts, which is the second-highest number of new entries within the top 150 we shall see for the year, tied with 21 May 1990 and 17 September 1990.  Of the ten new entries, six of them are from Australian artists.  Shall we take a look?

 

Max Q's Michael Hutchence predicts the Clinton-Lewinski affair: "You stained my chair, I stained your dress".  Ooh er!

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 107 "Monday Night by Satellite" by Max Q

Peak: number 107

Peak date: 19 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks

Chart run: 159-107-109-123-128-121-120-122-121

Weeks on chart: 9 weeks

 

Max Q was INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence's side-project with Ollie Olsen.  Their Max Q album (number 13, October 1989) spawned three singles, of which "Monday Night by Satellite" was the last.  It followed "Way of the World" (number 8, September 1989) and "Sometimes" (number 31, November 1989).

While I enjoyed "Monday Night by Satellite", it sounded less like a 'single' to my ears than the album's earlier releases.  I would have gone with "Ghost of the Year" instead, although there weren't many tracks left on the album that sounded like 'hits'.

It probably doesn't fit the timing, and the track was written solely by Ollie Olsen anyway, but I like to think that the "Monday Night by Satellite" lyric 'people say we're brats, but I think we're pretty smart' aptly describes Michael Hutchence and his then-new beau Kylie Minogue, with their short-hair (a wig, in Kylie's case) new-look public appearances in late 1989.

On the state charts, "Monday Night by Satellite" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 77.  The single fared better nationally on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it peaked at number 93.

'Hutch' would be back to INXS after this, with their X album released in October 1990.  Ollie Olsen would also score his own minor 'hit' single with his band Third Eye in 1990, with "The Real Thing" (number 76, October 1990).  Third Eye will bubble under in 1991, and INXS will bubble under in 1994.

Number 128 "She Bangs the Drums" by The Stone Roses

Peak: number 128

Peak date: 19 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 128-147-(out for 1 week)-145-133

Weeks on chart: 6 weeks

"Fools Gold" (no apostrophe), The Stone Roses' first and biggest hit down under (number 13, May 1990), debuted at number 143 last week, and climbed to number 100 this week, spawning enough interest in their previous single "She Bangs the Drums", released locally in November 1989, for it to also make the top 150.  Prior to this, "She Bangs the Drums" spent a week on the ARIA singles chart in December 1989 at number 167.

Lifted from their The Stone Roses album (number 36, May 1990), "She Bangs the Drums" was the Roses' second single released in Australia, following "Made of Stone" in June 1989, which failed to chart in its own right.  Although I can't now find any evidence online, if I remember correctly, "Made of Stone" was packaged together with "Elephant Stone" (number 86, July 1990) in a 2-for-the-price-of-1 deal, which is why it is listed as a double A-side with "Elephant Stone" in The ARIA Report, despite not being a B-side on that single.

 

"She Bangs the Drums", which I (perhaps wrongly) assume is rhyming slang for an orgasm ("see how she comes"), was the Manchester band's first UK top 40 single, originally peaking at number 36 in July 1989, before reaching number 34 there in March 1990 when re-issued.

 

Within Australia, "She Bangs the Drums" was most popular in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it peaked at number 109 on the state chart.  "She Bangs the Drums" also performed better nationally on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it peaked at number 96. 

 

I caught the video embedded below for "She Bangs the Drums", compiled from footage from an August 1989 gig, at least once on Countdown Revolution and it didn't really grab me... but I love the song now, particularly for its piano bass lines.  A different, low-budget slow-motion video was used to promote the single for its original UK release.

 

As an aside, you should check out this UK live TV performance of "Made of Stone" if you've not seen it before, even if you don't particularly like The Stone Roses.  Spoiler alert: Ian Brown, the band's vocalist, drops an F-bomb and shouts "amateurs!" at the program's producers before walking off.  Calamity ensues just under a minute after they start playing, when their sound gets cut off for exceeding the maximum volume threshold.

The Stone Roses will join us again in 1991.

Number 138 "Leningrad" by Billy Joel

Peak: number 115

Peak date: 26 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Chart run: 138-115-127-120-125-138-135

Weeks on chart: 7 weeks

 

Given how much FM radio loved Billy Joel in the 80s and early 90s, I must have heard "Leningrad" before, but have no recollection of it.  Maybe the chorus "blast the Yellow Reds to hell" lyric was a little too risqué, even for the probably pro-war, socially conservative-types who were making the decisions at the radio stations in 1990.  I've got to say, listening to the song now, that it's very, very boring.

Issued as the third single from Storm Front (number 1, November 1989), "Leningrad" followed "We Didn't Start the Fire" (number 2, November 1989) and "I Go to Extremes" (number 48, February 1990).

 

"Leningrad" is another one that peaked higher on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it reached number 93.

 

It was unusual for Billy to score only one Australian top 40 hit from a new album - not that the record company didn't try.  No fewer than five more singles were released from the Storm Front album, four of which peaked in the the 101-150 region of the chart.  Their run will extend all the way to early 1992.  I thought only the Jacksons released 7+ singes from an album during this era.

We will next see Billy in May.

Number 141 "The Sun" by Wildland

Peak: number 107

Peak dates: 23 April 1990 and 14 May 1990

Weeks in top 150: 12 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 141-123-117-116-116-107-114-113-107-108-119-124

Aussie band Wildland bubbled under back in January, and here they are again in the same region of the chart with "The Sun", the third single lifted from their only album, In This Lifetime (number 80, June 1990).

I can't tell you much about this one, other than I remember seeing the video with its striking orange sun backdrop a few times on TV at the time.  I had completely forgotten about this song, however.  It's nice, but not what I'd normally listen to.  Their lead singer, Noel Zammit, reminds me a little bit of a pre-shades Bono.

Wildland will join us for one last visit in July.

Number 143 "Michael Medley" by Replay

Peak: number 143

Peak date: 19 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Top 150 chart run: 143

Occasionally, I am faced with the dilemma (I know, first world problems...) of how to credit an artist or song title correctly, and this release is a prime example of that.  You see, the artwork for the single, going by what I see on discogs.com, has 'Michael Mania' written on the cover... but when you look at the rear sleeve, it lists the main track as being "Michael Medley" (it is not an EP).  It doesn't help matters that the UK pressing has on the cover, rear sleeve and label "Michael Mania Medley", or that the Australian 12" pressing (the only Australian pressing listed on discogs) comes in a generic sleeve with a sticker on it that reads: "MICHAEL MANIA!" in all-caps, with "A Tribute to Michael Jackson Medley" in smaller font.  Hmm.

Obviously, if you're still reading, this track is a budget Michael Jackson sound-a-like covering his songs, which are mixed into a medley.  Still, if you want to be able to listen to Michael's music guilt-free without the ick factor, you may enjoy this.

Listening to this as I write, the medley consists of 'Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough', 'Another Part of Me', 'Billie Jean', 'Working Day and Night', 'Bad', 'Rock with You', 'I Want You Back', 'The Way You Make Me Feel', 'Thriller' - at least in the 7" version I have linked below.

Australia always seeming to be behind the rest of the world with dance music at the time.  This single peaked at number 76 in the UK in August 1989.

Number 144 "New Head" by The Trilobites

Peak: number 132

Peak date: 26 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 144-132-134-142-140-137-142

 

Trilobites, in case you didn't know, are an extinct group of marine animals that existed for almost 300 million years and died out 252 million years ago.  The Trilobites, on the other hand, were an Australian band hailing from Sydney that existed for an eight-year period, between 1984 and 1992.

 

During that time, The Trilobites released five studio albums.  They never managed to dent the Australian top 100 charts, however.  "New Head" was the group's only single to register in the top 150.

"New Head" was the second single lifted from the band's fourth studio album - and second on the rooArt label, Savage Mood Swing (number 105, April 1990), following the... interestingly-titled "Fuck = Love" in September 1989.

The band's lead singer, Mike Dalton, returned to journalism after exiting the group in 1991, working on programs such as The Midday Show with Ray Martin and Today, and he is currently part of Channel 9's News team in Sydney.  Yes, really.  I thought I'd heard his name before somewhere.

I'm not sure whether a music video exists for "New Head", but I felt compelled to upload the Countdown Revolution performance of it from my collection, embedded below, as there was otherwise no footage of the band on YouTube performing the song.

Number 145 "So Easy" by De Mont

Peak: number 124

Peak date: 21 May 1990

Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 145-135-133-130-136-125-130-145-137-124

Another Sydney band who didn't have much luck on the Australian charts are De Mont.  That being said, the band placed two singles within the ARIA top 100 in 1989: "I Want Your Body" (number 84, June 1989) and "Close to the Edge" (number 89, October 1989).  Both of those singles, and "So Easy", were lifted from the band's Body Language album (number 100, October 1989).

 

"So Easy", a mid-tempo ballad, was more sedate-sounding than the previous two singles, and is fairly nice, I must say, as someone who doesn't normally listen to rock.  "So Easy" spent 10 weeks climbing to its peak of number 124, before falling out of the top 150 the following week.

The band would not dent the top 150 singles - or albums - chart again after this release.

Number 148 "Only Love Will Set You Free" by Tracey Arbon

Peak: number 105

Peak dates: 4 June 1990 and 11 June 1990

Weeks in top 150: 14 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 148-(out for 1 week)-144-(out for 1 week)-131-127-119-118-123-113-114-105-105-120-129-123

 

I think I remember the name Tracey Arbon, another Australian artist, but don't have any recollection of this song, despite it narrowly missing the top 100 and spending three months on the chart.

This track was included as a bonus track on Tracey's belated 1996 album Colours.

While Tracey never made the top 100 ARIA chart, this single peaked at number 82 on the Australian Music Report singles chart.

 

Tracey will visit the top 150 again in 1993.

Number 149 "The Deeper the Love" by Whitesnake

Peak: number 149

Peak date: 19 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 1 week 

Chart run: 155-149

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

The 1980s decade had been over for nearly three months at this point, but English hair metal band Whitesnake were still notching up hits on the ARIA chart...  OK, well, not quite.  But there was still enough interest in them for their latest single to scrape into the top 150.

Whitesnake's biggest hit on the Australian charts was "Is This Love" (number 12, January 1988), although they are perhaps best known for "Here I Go Again" (number 24, December 1987).  "The Deeper the Love" was the second single released from the Slip of the Tongue album (number 39, February 1990), following "Fool for Your Loving" (number 69, January 1990).

Whitesnaske had greater success with this single in their homeland, where it peaked at number 35 on the UK singles chart in March 1990.

On the ARIA state charts, "The Deeper the Love" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 131.

This would be Whitesnake's final single to make the Australian top 150.  As it's extremely unlikely I will be recapping these charts when it gets to the 2010s, due to my lack of interest in charts/music from that time onwards, I may as well reveal here that Whitesnake did, in fact, have one other single that charted in Australia.  "Hey You (You Make Me Rock)" peaked at number 1,537 (you read that right) in April 2019.  We will see Whitesnake front man David Coverdale bubble under in 1993, collaborating with another artist.

Number 150: "Break Up Fall Out" by Steve Hoy

Peak: number 136

Peak date: 9 April 1990

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 150-137-(out for 1 week)-136-143-143-144-148-148

 

We saw Australian artist Steve Hoy bubble under in June 1989, and here he is again, precisely nine months later, with the second single from his Life Next Door album (number 119, July 1990).

This one sounds familiar to me, to my surprise.  Perhaps it was used as background music on Home & Away.

I can't tell you much about Steve, unfortunately, other than a third single, "Where I Come From", was issued in June 1990, but missed the top 150.

 

Next week (26 March): A mere two top 150 debuts, but they will be joined by three bubbling WAY down under entries.  You can also follow my posts on instagram, facebook and twitter.

< Previous week: 12 March 1990                                     Next week: 26 March 1990 >

Week commencing 12 March 1990

Among this week's meager three new top 150 and one bubbling WAY down under entry we have... a veteran Aussie band petering out, a Canadian punk with a nose chain (!), a British hip house act, and a Canadian country/folk singer.  That's quite a diverse bunch.  Let's take a look at them.

 

Jane Child welcomes you to the steel world.  You wouldn't want to look at her the wrong way, hey?

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 138 "Overwhelmed" by Mental As Anything

Peak: number 108

Peak date: 16 April 1990

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks

Chart run: 138-117-111-116-121-108-133-128

Weeks on chart: 8 weeks

 

At this point, Sydney band Mental As Anything had placed 24 singles within the Australian top 100 chart, since scoring their first hit in 1979.  Their biggest hit, "Live It Up" (number 2, July 1985), was also an international success, reaching the top 20 across Europe, and number 3 in the UK in March 1987.  Both that song and "Overwhelmed" were sung by Greedy Smith, real name Andrew McArthur Smith.  While I don't typically like when bands split lead singing duties between various members, I can say that it doesn't  bother me when it comes to the Mentals.  I can equally enjoy their songs when sung by either Greedy or bandmate Martin Plaza.

Depending on whether you count their 1988 Young Einstein soundtrack single "Rock and Roll Music" (number 5, January 1989), "Overwhelmed" was the third... or fourth single released from the Cyclone Raymond album (number 34, October 1989).  It followed "The World Seems Difficult" (number 19, October 1989) and "Baby You're Wild" (number 79, November 1989).  I didn't know this until now, but another track from the album, "Love Comes Running", was planned to be the first single (ignoring "Rock and Roll Music") from Cyclone Raymond.  The single was pressed, but its release was cancelled, other than in New Zealand, oddly.

It seemed at this point that Mental As Anything were perhaps running out of steam, with the underperformance of Cyclone Raymond and the singles lifted from it (again, ignoring "Rock and Roll Music") on the chart.  That's something that seemed to happen to a number of '80s acts' once 1990 clocked over.

 

"Overwhelmed" was most popular in Western Australia, where it reached number 61 on the state charts.

Following "Overwhelmed", Mental As Anything went on hiatus, and would not release new material again until 1995, when they scored another (for me) surprise hit with "Mr Natural" (number 27, April 1995).

Greedy Smith sadly passed away in December 2019, aged 63.

 

We will see the Mentals again in 1995.

Number 141 "Welcome to the Real World" by Jane Child

Peak: number 123

Peak date: 16 April 1990

Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 141-137-130-142-132-123

I remember Jane's "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" (number 97, May 1990), and her distinctive nose chain image, but not this one - other than the title.  Both tracks were lifted from the Jane Child album, which missed the top 150 locally, but peaked at number 49 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart in April 1990.

Canadian Jane Child, real name Jane Richmond Hyslop, scored a minor hit in her homeland (number 59) and the US (number 49, July 1990) with this track, and a top 5 hit in both countries with "Don't Wanna Fall in Love".  Jane's only other chart success, however, was a number 80 single in Canada in 1994 with "All I Do".

Number 149 "Just Keep Rockin'" by Double Trouble and The Rebel MC

Peak: number 149

Peak date: 12 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Chart run: 149

Weeks on chart: 1 week

 

Double Trouble and Rebel MC had teamed up previously for "Street Tuff" , which was a number 3 hit in their native UK in October 1989.  Surprisingly, because it seemed to get a reasonable amount of exposure, "Street Tuff" only managed to reach number 85 on the ARIA singles chart, in February 1990.

 

"Just Keep Rockin'" was released prior to "Street Tuff" in the UK, peaking at number 11 in July 1989.  Remixed versions of both tracks appear on Rebel MC's Rebel Music album (number 98, July 1990).

Despite these two collaborations, Double Trouble, who were a production and remixing trio, and Rebel MC (real name Michael Alec Anthony West) were separate artists.

 

On the ARIA state charts, "Just Keep Rockin'" performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 121.

We will see Double Trouble again in October 1990.  Rebel MC (minus the 'The') will join us next in July 1990.

Bubbling WAY down under:

Number 157 "The Music's Going Around Again" by Rita MacNeil

Peak: number 157

Peak date: 12 March 1990

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

Canadian songstress Rita MacNeil landed a minor hit in Australia with "Working Man" (number 56, February 1990), which spent 25 weeks in the top 150 despite peaking outside the top 50.  "The Music's Going Around Again" was lifted from Rita's second studio album Reason to Believe (number 17, May 1990), and appears to have only been released as a single in Australia, where it was most popular in South Australia/Northern Territory, reaching number 107 on the state chart.

Unfortunately, I cannot find this song online to listen to anywhere.

We will next see Rita in September 1990.

Next week (19 March): A bumper edition with no fewer than ten new top 150 entries.  Among them, we have the last release from an interesting Australian side project, and the latest UK indie darlings.  You can also follow my posts on instagram, facebook and twitter.

 

< Previous week: 5 March 1990                                                Next week: 19 March 1990 >

Week commencing 5 March 1990

I thought that this was going to be a dull week to write about, based on my personal music tastes (I mean, I like some Duran, but this?!), but I was pleasantly surprised by one of this week's entries.  To quote the wisdom of the French woman in Kylie Minogue's "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi" music video - do not be so sure.  I re-discovered a track I really like and hadn't heard in years.  One, er, other interesting thing about this week's debuts is that they are all at number 145 or below, which probably hasn't happened before.  Let's take a look at them.

 

The Triffids: decked out like this, you'd think they worked in a bank, rather than being favourite Australian indie darlings.
 

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 145 "Burning the Ground" by Duran Duran

Peak: number 145

Peak date:  5 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 2 weeks

Chart run: 156-(off chart for 3 weeks)-145-148

Weeks on chart: 3 weeks

Up until this point, Duran Duran had placed 17 singles within the top 100 on the Australian charts, with the most recent of those being "All She Wants Is" (number 74, January 1989).  Eight of the band's singles had reached the top 10 in Australia, with the highest-peaking of those being "The Wild Boys" (number 3, December 1984).  However, by this point in their careers, the band were perceived as being a bit old hat, despite modernising their sound for 1988's Big Thing album (number 46, November 1988).  Duran Duran had not had a top 20 single in Australia since "Notorious" (number 17, December 1986).  Their last single, "Do You Believe in Shame?", released in Australia in July 1989, did not even chart.

So... what does a band do when their career is a bit in the doldrums?  Release a greatest hits package.  And that's exactly what Duran Duran did, issuing Decade (number 89, February 1990) towards the end of 1989.  "Burning the Ground", whose title was lifted from "Hungry Like the Wolf" (number 5, July 1982), was a megamix - of sorts - of earlier hits.  It was issued to promote the compilation, which peaked at number 5 on the band's native UK albums chart in November 1989.  "Burning the Ground" fared less well on the UK singles chart, where it peaked at number 31 in December 1989.  Oddly, "Burning the Ground" was not included on Decade.

I said that "Burning the Ground" was a megamix 'of sorts', because it consists mainly of instrumental elements of the band's hits, including "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Rio" (number 60, October 1982), "Save a Prayer" (number 56, September 1983), "The Reflex" (number 4, June 1984), "The Wild Boys", "A View to a Kill" (number 6, July 1985) and the camera shutter sound from "Girls on Film" (number 11, February 1982).  Vocal samples from "Planet Earth" (number 8, August 1981), "The Reflex", "Notorious" and "I Don't Want Your Love" (number 23, November 1988) are layered on top of this.

Duran Duran would spend a few more years in the wilderness on the Australian charts, with "Violence of Summer (Love's Taking Over)" (number 59, October 1990) being the biggest hit from their 1990 studio album Liberty (number 86, October 1990).  The band would eventually have a resurgence in 1993, scoring two further top 20 hits down under.

 

We shall next see Duran Duran in 1991.

Number 147 "Save Me" by 21 Guns

Peak: number 129

Peak date: 19 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 147-150-129-(out for 2 weeks)-134

You may, if you're old enough, recognise 21 Guns' lead singer Andy McLean (thanks discogs - I would never have remembered his surname) from co-hosting Countdown Revolution in 1989... as part of a trio of hosts who were all a bit too enthusiastic, if you ask me.  It's doubtful you'll remember his music - that is, if you were even aware of it in the first place.  Though I do recall a later 21 Guns single, which I won't name, as I'll come to write about it in August this year.

Sounding like the kind of non-descript 'pub rock' you could hear in just about any live venue at the time, "Save Me" doesn't exactly boast a '90s' sound.  Granted, the catchy chorus redeems this one a little bit.

"Save Me" was the first of three singles lifted from the 21 Guns album (number 140, August 1990).  Nothing the band released dented the top 100.  I assume that they split soon afterwards.

Number 149 "Melt" by The Someloves

Peak: number 119

Peak date: 16 April 1990

Weeks in top 150: 9 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 149-(out for 1 week)-132-129-128-126-119-121-124-133

The Someloves were another Australian band.  They had previously 'charted' on the Australian Music Report 'singles receiving significant sales reports beyond the top 100' lists (before the ARIA chart extended beyond number 100) with "Know You Now", where they reached tenth place on this list in November 1988.

 

Despite the '(1989)' tag added by the YouTube uploader of the music video embedded below, I can inform you that this single was not released until 19 February 1990.  That's about all I can tell you about this track, other than it performed better on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it reached number 98.  The band's bass player, Christian Houllemare, died in 2014, aged 53.

I wasn't previously familiar with this one, though have a copy of the video in my collection.  The chorus is catchy.  "Melt" is lifted from the album Something Or Other (number 80, April 1990).

We will see The Someloves again in July.

Number 150 "Falling over You" by The Triffids

Peak: number 150

Peak date: 5 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Top 150 chart run: 150

Australian band The Triffids, originating from Perth, appear to have been youth-orientated 'alternative' radio station Triple J (or Double J, as it was probably then known) darlings during the 1980s.  Accordingly, commercial success largely eluded them, although they placed four singles within the national top 100; the biggest of those being "Bury Me Deep in Love" (number 48, March 1988), which was used as the theme song for Harold and Madge's wedding on Neighbours (yes, really!  Skip to 4:25).  That's one way to shatter your 'indie' credibility...

Although it wasn't their biggest chart hit, The Triffids are probably best known for their rousing 1986 single "Wide Open Road" (number 64, April 1986).  The band last visited the ARIA singles chart with "Goodbye Little Boy" (number 83, July 1989).  Both that single and "Falling over You" were lifted from their The Black Swan album (number 52, July 1989).

OK... I have to ditch the train of thought I was on, as I now just pressed play on the video embedded below, and am having an "Oh my goooooddddddd!  It's that song!  I love that song!" moment.  I had forgotten that this song was by The Triffids... though I didn't actually know "Falling over You" at the time.

 

I discovered this song via the now sadly-defunct Home and Away: The Early Years repeats on Channel 7TWO, in June 2012 (I sourced the date from my downloads folders), on a repeat of a 1990 episode of Home and Away where this was used as background music.  The song grabbed my attention, and I paused my recording (I used to record it and view it when I got home from work, you see) to google some of the lyrics, and found it.  I don't think I had listened to the track since about 2014, so it's nice to re-discover it.   Ah, that's one of the reasons I write this blog...

Band member David McComb sings lead vocal on this track, and, sadly, he passed away in 1999 at the age of 36.  This would be The Triffids' last proper single.  Their Wikipedia discography tells me that the band released a promotional single in 2007, titled "Save What You Can".

Bubbling WAY down under:

Number 155 "Whitlam Square" by Died Pretty

Peak: number 155

Peak date: 5 March 1990

Weeks on chart: 1 week

We last saw Australian band Died Pretty in April 1989.  "Whitlam Square" was issued as the lead single from the band's third studio album Every Brilliant Eye (number 79, April 1990).  "Whitlam Square" performed strongest on the New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory state chart, where it reached number 148.  We will next see Died Pretty in 1991.

Number 163 "Whenever God Shines His Light" by Van Morrison with Cliff Richard

Peak: number 163

Peak date: 5 March 1990

Weeks on chart: 1 week

Northern Irish singer-songwriter and guitar maestro Van Morrison, real name George Ivan Morrison, began his solo career on the Australian chart in 1967.  Between then and 1990, he amassed nine top 100 singles in Australia, with "Wild Night" being the 'biggest' of those, though only peaking at number 66 in 1972 on the calculated-years-after-the-fact (so I don't consider them official charts, as they weren't published at the time) Kent Music Report charts that pre-date May 1974 (when the Kent Music Report was first published).  Van's biggest hit in Australia would come in 1993, with his solo version of "Gloria" (number 22, July 1993); originally recorded by his former band Them in 1964.  Van was last on the chart with "Have I Told You Lately" (number 93, August 1989).

"Whenever God Shines His Light", a collaboration with God-botherer Cliff Richard, was the second single from Van's nineteenth studio album Avalon Sunset (number 30, July 1989).  Internationally, the single peaked at number 89 in Canada in July 1989, number 20 in the UK in December 1989, and number 3 in Ireland in December 1989.

In Australia, "Whenever God..." performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 136 on the state chart.

We shall next see Van in October 1990, and Cliff in April 1990.

Next week (12 March): The quiet weeks continue (don't worry, we'll be making up for that soon), with just three new top 150 debuts - although they couldn't be more different from one another if they tried, and one bubbling WAY down under entry.  You can also follow my posts on instagram, facebook and twitter.

< Previous week: 26 February 1990                                    Next week: 12 March 1990 >

Week commencing 26 February 1990

The 1990s decade had only just begun, but this week, we have two top 150 debuts from two acts most closely-associated with the 1970s, and a bubbling WAY down under entry from a band primarily thought of as being an 80s act.  Interestingly, all three singles peaked on the chart during the same week.  Let's take a look.

 

Iggy Pop: Livin' on the edge of a corporate, 9 to 5 image.

 

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 111 "Livin' on the Edge of the Night" by Iggy Pop

Peak: number 101

Peak date: 26 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 9 weeks 

Known chart run: 157-111-104-116-113-101-111-115-120-130

Weeks on chart: 12 weeks

Iggy Pop, real name James Newell Osterberg Jr., bubbled under in January 1989, on the first chart recap I wrote for this blog, and here he is again, with the lead single from his Brick by Brick album (number 65, February 1991), which I have previously written about in a special post on singles peaking at number 101.  Interestingly, all but one of "Livin' on the Edge of the Night"'s 9 weeks in the top 150 were spent between numbers 101 and 120.

 

Iggy's biggest chart success to date in Australia was "Real Wild Child (Wild One)", which peaked at number 11 in May 1987, and can still be heard as part of the theme for the nearly 34-years-running Australian music video TV program rage.  Iggy would better that peak, though, with the third Brick by Brick single, "Candy" (number 9, January 1991), a duet with Kate Pierson from The B-52's.  In the interim, "Home" peaked at number 95 on the ARIA singles chart in August 1990.

Iggy's two major hits aside, he is probably best known in Australia for his infamous 1979 Countdown TV performance of "I'm Bored" (number 68, August 1979), which still receives regular airings on rage.

I don't recall hearing "Livin' on the Edge of the Night" at the time.  I found the first verse boring, but it picked up with the chorus, and I like this.  Iggy's image in the video seems a lot tamer than usual - he keeps his shirt on, for starters.  It's almost as if the record company told him to wear a suit and slick back his hair, as part of an image overhaul.  The shirt was off again, though, by the time they got to "Candy" later in the year.

 

Iggy had more luck with this track on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it just scraped into the top 100 at number 99.   "Livin' on the Edge of the Night" peaked at number 51 in the UK in February 1990, and number 47 in the Netherlands in March 1990.

Domestically, “Livin’ on the Edge of the Night” was most popular in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 81.  The single peaked within the top 100 on all of the state charts other than South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 106.

Iggy will join us again in 1991, with another duet.

 

 

 

Number 143 "Bad Love" by Eric Clapton

Peak: number 125

Peak date: 26 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Chart run: 153-143-133-128-131-125-126-131 

Weeks on chart: 8 weeks

 

More than a decade before Madonna was latching onto other (and in her case, a lot younger) artists to maintain relevance, it seemed that Eric Clapton was roping in some of his pals to help him score hits at this point in career.  "Bad Love" is co-written by Eric with Mick Jones from Foreigner, and Phil Collins plays drums on the track and appears in the video.  Around the same time, Eric returned the favour to Phil, playing guitar on and appearing in his video for "I Wish It Would Rain Down" (number 15, April 1990).

"Bad Love" was issued as the second single from Eric's Journeyman album (number 27, December 1989).  We saw the first single from the album bubble under back in December.

 

Internationally, "Bad Love" peaked at number 25 in the UK in February 1990, number 83 in the Netherlands in March 1990., and number 88 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in March 1990.

 

On the state charts, "Bad Love" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 56.

 

We will next see Eric in July 1990.

 

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 153 "Bombers in the Sky" by Thompson Twins

Peak: number 152

Peak date: 26 March 1990

Weeks on chart: 6 weeks

 

Thompson Twins (no The) bubbled WAY down under back in October 1989.  Here they are in the same region of the chart again, with the second single lifted from their Big Trash album (number 135, October 1989). 

I don't recall hearing this one before, yet it peaked three places higher than the previous single - which I heard/saw on TV numerous times.  Unusually for this period, where the chart does not seem to have extended to/beyond number 200, this single spent 6 weeks on the chart, despite its number 152 peak.  "Bombers in the Sky" does not appear to have charted anywhere else.

We shall see Thompson Twins again in 1991.

 

 

 

Next week (5 March): Next week there are four new top 150 debuts, including a megamix from a band who were quite successful during the 1980s, and two bubbling WAY down under entries.  You can also follow my posts on instagram, facebook and twitter.

 

< Previous week: 19 February 1990                                          Next week: 5 March 1990 >

Week commencing 19 February 1990

After two weeks of 10 or more new entries to write about, this week there are a mere three.  One thing this week's debuts have in common is that they each spent 8 weeks in the top 150.  They also peaked within 4 positions of each other.  Interesting.

 

But before we take a look at this week's debuts, I have updated some earlier posts with newly-uncovered bubbling WAY down under entries:

- 10 April 1989: with a new entry from They Might Be Giants;

- 7 August 1989: with a new entry from The House of Love;

- 21 August 1989: with a new entry from Gladys Knight.

 

 Sonia: don't listen to the charts!

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 134 "Love" by Chosen Few

Peak: number 122 

Peak date: 9 April 1990

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 134-145-143-126-133-126-132-122

We saw Australian band Chosen Few back in May 1989, with the original version of "Rise" - a track that would become a number 23 hit for Daryl Braithwaite in December 1990.

 

I hadn't heard this one before, and can't tell you much about it... except that the single spent 8 weeks climbing to its peak of number 122 - and then fell out of the top 150 the following week.  Both this single and "Rise" are lifted from the album Friends, Foes & Firewood (number 128, July 1990).

Chosen Few will join us again in 1991.  In the interim, they released a single in June 1990, "Days Like These", which missed the top 150.

Number 138 "Listen to Your Heart" by Sonia

Peak: number 119

Peak date: 5 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks

Chart run: 157-138-144-119-121-135-133-136-127

Weeks on chart: 9 weeks

Sonia Evans, known as just 'Sonia', scored a number 1 in the UK in July 1989 with her debut single, "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You", an ode to stalking (check out this fan-made video using footage from the 1993 film The Crush!) written and produced by hit-makers extraordinaire Stock Aitken Waterman.  While this success was not replicated in Australia, it did nonetheless give Sonia a respectable number 29 hit in October 1989.

Although a fan-favourite, Sonia's second single, "Can't Forget You" did not fare nearly as well, peaking at number 17 in the UK in October 1989, and number 98 in Australia in December 1989.

Sonia's third release, "Listen to Your Heart", came out in the UK towards the end of November 1989, and slowly (for their chart at the time) made its way to number 10 in January 1990, in the quieter sales post-Christmas period.

 

Being a Sonia fan, I bought "Listen to Your Heart" on cassingle... before I'd actually heard it!  In fact, I bought all five of Sonia's singles lifted from her debut album Everybody Knows (number 144, September 1990) on cassette.  I have wondered before if I was the only person in Australia to do so.

Despite her promising chart debut in the UK, Sonia couldn't maintain the same level of success (though no-one did) as fellow Stock Aitken Waterman-produced artiste Kylie Minogue.  However, Sonia became the first British female artist to score five top 20 singles from one album.  That didn't stop her record label, Chrysalis, from dropping her, despite Everybody Knows peaking at number 7 and selling more than 100,000 copies in the UK.

 

Sonia also parted ways with Stock Aitken Waterman, who were themselves by this point on the way out, towards the end of 1990.  There is speculation that the reason for Sonia's departure from the team was because she asked Pete Waterman for a large advance for a second album, so that she could buy her parents a house.  Her request could not be obliged.  However, Sonia successfully sued for royalties she was owed from the album.

 

While Sonia continued notching up UK top 20 hits until 1993, including a stint at Eurovision, she was largely relegated to becoming a covers act after parting ways with Stock Aitken Waterman.  As a Stock Aitken Waterman fan, it's a shame that there wasn't a second album produced by them, as Sonia was one of the more-capable singers they worked with.  Everybody Knows is considered by many fans to be one of the production trio's best.  Ah, what might have been...

Sonia's previous two singles, "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" and "Can't Forget You", had performed strongest on the Victoria/Tasmania state charts, where they peaked at numbers 15 and 74 respectively.   "Listen to Your Heart" performed strongest on the South Australia/Northern Territory state chart, where it peaked at number 72.  "Listen to Your Heart" also cracked the Australian Music Report top 100 singles chart, where it peaked at number 96.

While Sonia never set the Aussie charts alight, "Listen to Your Heart" is the first of four visits Sonia will make to this region of the chart in 1990!  We will next see her in May.

Number 149 "The Eve of the War" by Ben Liebrand

Peak: number 118

Peak date: 19 March 1990

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 149-149-144-124-118-122-140-123

 

Dutch DJ and remixer Ben Liebrand was responsible for updating several older hits with a contemporary 80's sound for their remixed re-releases, such as Hot Chocolate's "Every 1's a Winner" in 1987.  He was also behind Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight '88", which became a belated number 47 hit in Australia in June 1989, and the Rough 'n Ready Remix of Ram Jam's "Black Betty" (number 17, May 1990).

"The Eve of the War" was originally released by Jeff Wayne in 1978, lifted from his concept 'rock opera' album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (number 1, October 1978).  Given that this version of the track is, I assume, a remix and not a completely new recording, I am not sure why Jeff Wayne is not credited on this release.

That being said, "The Eve of the War" appears again in the number 101-150 region of the ARIA chart in September 1991, credited this time to Jeff Wayne (and not Ben Liebrand) - and betters its 1990 peak.  But I'll treat that as a separate release, given the different artist credit, when we get to it next year...

This version of "The Eve of the War" peaked at number 9 in the Netherlands in June 1989, and number 3 in the UK in December 1989.

We will see Ben again twice this year - once in his own right, and credited as a remixer on another release.

Next week (26 February): The relative paucity of new entries continues next week, with just two new top 150 debuts - one of which I've already featured in a special post.  In addition, there is one bubbling WAY down under entry.  You can also follow my posts on instagram, facebook and twitter.

< Previous week: 12 February 1990                                    Next week: 26 February 1990 >