Week commencing 13 November 1989

One thing all five of the songs I write about this week have in common is that I didn't know any of them in 1989.  Perhaps they are new to you, too?  Although I think you'll probably know one of them - but not this particular version.   Let's take a look.

Babs Streisand: she's not makin' hits anymore

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 122 "We're Not Makin' Love Anymore" by Barbra Streisand

Peak: number 111

Peak date: 8 January 1990

Weeks in top 150: 11 weeks 

Chart run: 122-125-125-115-124-123-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-111-119-120

Weeks on chart: 11 weeks

 

Barbra Streisand, whom we saw bubble under in February 1989, was a name I knew, though I wasn't familiar with very much of her music, as a just-turned-11 year-old in November 1989.  My impression of her was - it's sappy ballad music for your mother.  I don't think I've heard this one before.  Checking its Wikipedia page, I am not surprised that it's the work of Diane Warren, who I recently dubbed 'beige songwriter extraordinaire'; though Michael Bolton also had a hand at inflicting this upon the world... er, sorry, writing this.  In fact, Michael recorded his own version of the song for his 1991 album, Time, Love & Tenderness.  It sounds, to me, like Barbra's version would have made a nice soundtrack for the closing scenes of a 1980s made-for-TV movie.

"We're Not Makin' Love Anymore" was released as a single to promote Babs' latest 'hits' compilation album, A Collection: Greatest Hits... and More (number 22, December 1989).  Despite its songwriting pedigree, "We're Not Makin' Love Anymore" failed to set the charts alight anywhere, peaking at number 85 in the UK in November 1989, and at number 89 in the Netherlands in the same month.  While making number 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (not a real chart, IMO), it failed to enter the Hot 100.

On the ARIA state charts, "We're Not Makin' Love Anymore" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 74.

Babs will next join us in 1992.

 

 

Number 140 "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Pandora's Box

Peak: number 133

Peak date: 8 January 1990

Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks 

Chart run: 140-141-143-147-150-139-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-133-142

Weeks on chart: 10 weeks

 

Just a fortnight ago, I wrote about a song that was later turned into a hit (though not so much in Australia) by Céline Dion, and here we are again with another flop that Céline would add her Midas touch to in 1996, when her version peaked at number 8 in November of that year.

Written by Jim Steinman, who penned big hits for Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler, Pandora's Box - a female quartet plus Jim on keyboards - performed the original recording of "It's All Coming Back to Me Now".  Meat Loaf wanted to record the song, but Jim felt it was better-suited to a female vocal.  The dispute over recording the song between the two even led to a lawsuit, preventing Meat Loaf from recording it... for the time being, at least.  Meat eventually released his own version as a duet with Marion Raven in 2006.

 

The Pandora's Box version, which peaked at number 51 in the UK in October 1989, was accompanied by a rather... bombastic music video, complete with what looks like an s&m-themed orgy and medical resuscitation scenes.  Skip to 0:58 on the embedded link below if you want to skip the spoken word part, which I'd not heard until now.  Video aside, I think I prefer this version of the song, without Céline's vocal histrionics.  While parent 'concept' album Original Sin (number 127, December 1989) was a flop (except in South Africa - I am reliably informed by the Wikipedia article), it is notable for containing the original version of this song, as well as others that were later recorded by Meat Loaf and even Taylor Dayne.

 

Pandora's Box released one further single in Australia, "Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)" in February 1990, but it failed to chart in Australia.

 

 

Number 146 "I Live by the Groove" by Paul Carrack

Peak: number 105

Peak date: 18 December 1989 (chart repeated 25 December 1989 and 1 January 1990)

Weeks in top 150: 11 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 146-114-109-110-115-105-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-108-112-112

Weeks on chart: 12 weeks

 

Paul Carrack scored a trio of solo top 40 hits in Australia in 1987-1988, with the biggest of those being "When You Walk in the Room" (number 7, September 1987).  We also saw him bubble WAY down under in June 1989, on a duet with Terri Nunn.  Released as the lead single from Paul's fourth studio album Groove Approved (number 116, January 1990), "I Live by the Groove" just fell short of the top 100 on the ARIA chart, though it peaked at number 90 on the Australian Music Report singles chart.  On the state charts, "I Live by the Groove" performed much stronger in South Australia/Northern Territory and Western Australia, where it peaked at numbers 48 and 57 respectively.  In Paul's native UK, this song failed to chart, though it entered the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 31 in December 1989.  We shall see Paul again next year.

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 156 "Call of the Wild" by Guy Pearce

Peak: number 156

Peak date: 13 November 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

 

Actor Guy Pearce is probably best known (to me, anyway) as 'Mike' from long-running (and long past its use-by date if you ask me) Australian soap opera Neighbours.  While Neighbours launched successful pop careers for many of its 'stars', such as Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, Guy Pearce would not have such luck with his foray into music.

 

"Call of the Wild", which I remember seeing in the record stores but never heard or saw the video (assuming one exists) anywhere at the time, performed equally-strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia, where it reached number 139.  The song was recorded for the 1990 Australian movie Heaven Tonight, which Guy also starred in.

Guy would only have one other charting release in Australia, with "Storm" (number 817, September 2014).

 

 

Number 166 "Blow the House Down" by Living in a Box

Peak: number 166

Peak date: 13 November 1989

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

 

Living in a Box were an act I remember reading about in UK pop magazine Number One, but don't recall hearing any of their music at the time.  "Blow the House Down" was the second of three UK top 10 singles for the group, reaching number 10 in March 1989.  It was the group's final charting single in Australia.

On the state charts, "Blow the House Down" was most popular in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 132.

 

 

Next week (20 November): Seven new top 150 entries, including the understated arrival of a new hip-hop group, and five bubbling WAY down under debuts.  You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.

 

< Previous week: 6 November 1989                                      Next week: 20 November 1989 >

Week commencing 6 November 1989

Two of this week's four new top 150 entries are side projects or one-off collaborations - one is the sole release of the artist's discography, and the other is one of many releases from a group who majorly underperformed on the Australian charts.  Shall we take a look?

 

Steve Stevens: Atomic Playboys?  Or just boys who like to lick their fingers and stick them in power sockets?

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 129 "Oh Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison and Friends

Peak: number 112

Peak date: 27 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 9 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 129-114-117-112-128-128-140-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)

Weeks on chart: 10 weeks

 

Roy Orbison's music - whether part of Traveling Wilburys (no The) or solo - was seemingly inescapable in 1989, following his untimely death in December 1988, and the success of his posthumous Mystery Girl album (number 1, February 1989).  "Oh Pretty Woman", a song I'm sure most people would assume was just titled "Pretty Woman" with no "Oh", was one of those songs you just absorbed through cultural osmosis, and was certainly one I knew from an early age, despite being born 14 years after it topped the chart in 1964.

Following the increased interest in Roy's music following his death, naturally it seemed logical to issue this live recording, from September 1987, that Roy performed together with 'friends' including Bruce Springsteen, k.d. lang, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jennifer Warnes, and others.  An album of the live set, A Black & White Night Live (number 28, November 1989), was also released.  Despite peaking outside the top 100 in Australia, somehow this track made its way onto the various artists compilation album Hits of 1990 Volume 1.  That makes me wonder if these below number 100 charts - or at least, the relevant placings from them - were made available to record companies, at the time.

 

On the state charts, "Oh Pretty Woman" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 74.

Roy will bubble down under again in 1992.

 

 

 

Number 138 Steve Stevens Atomic Playboys "Atomic Playboys"

Peak: number 138

Peak date: 6 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week 

Top 150 chart run: 138

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

 

Steve Stevens (real name Steven Bruce Schneider) was best known for being Billy Idol's guitarist and songwriting collaborator, with prominent roles in his music videos such as "Rebel Yell" (number 7, April 1984).  He also famously played guitar on Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" (number 26, June 1988).  This track was Steve's first foray with his group, Atomic Playboys.  As far as I am aware, the single did not chart anywhere else, and the group's only album, Steve Stevens Atomic Playboys, peaked at number 67 in Australia in October 1989, and number 119 in the US.  When asked in a 2001 interview whether there was any possibility of the group reforming, Steve replied: "Absolutely not. That group was a very expensive hobby."

 

"Atomic Playboys" performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 99.

 

We will see Steve Stevens Atomic Playboys again in February 1990.

 

 

 

Number 150 "Casanova Baby" by Dora D

Peak: number 150

Peak date: 6 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Top 150 chart run: 150

 

Now here's one I had never heard of before.  Going by the artist name and song title, I assumed that Dora D might be Dora D-Cup, and the song might be a tacky but brilliant Sabrina-esque pastiche.  Listening to it now, while it doesn't quite live up to those expectations, it is fairly pleasant.  Dora D also appears to be an Australian artist, with the music video uploaded to the YouTube channel VisionlinkAustralia.  Having listened to this track twice now, I hear synths during the intro that are rather similar to those used during the intro of the single version of Kylie Minogue's "Shocked" - although that was out nearly two years after this.  Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything else about Dora D, other than the track was mixed by Mike Duffy (who produced the original, pre-Stock Aitken Waterman version of Kylie's "Locomotion"), and this appears to have been her only release.  Shame about that.

 

 

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 164 "Drama!" by Erasure

Peak: number 157

Peak date: 4 December 1989

Weeks on chart: 4 weeks

 

Things started out relatively promisingly for Erasure on the Australian singles chart, when "Oh L'amour" peaked at number 13 in September 1986, and became the 75th biggest hit of the year.  In contrast, "Oh L'amour" peaked at just number 85 in the group's native UK, in May 1986, where it was released as their third single.  Interestingly, Australia was the second country to give Erasure a top 40 hit, when "Oh L'amour" crept into the top 40 in August 1986, only being beaten by Sweden in June of that year.  In contrast, the group did not enter the top 40 in the UK until November 1986.

Despite this auspicious start, the group only ever scored one other top 40 single down under: 1992's ABBA-esque EP, which, led by "Take a Chance on Me", also peaked at number 13, in August 1992.  Their top 100 Australian singles chart tally wasn't much better, notching up a meagre five entries.  The group did, however, place a string of singles outside the top 100 in Australia, with this one being the first of 12 between 1989 and 2000.

Exclamation marks were obviously in vogue for the group, with "Drama!" being the first single lifted from the album Wild! (number 107, January 1990).  Within Australia, "Drama!" performed strongest on the Western Australia state chart, where it reached number 101.  In the UK, "Drama!" performed much better, peaking at number 4 in October 1989.

 

Erasure will next visit us in May 1990.

 

 

Number 168 "When I Looked at Him" by Exposé

Peak: number 168 

Peak date: 6 November 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

American Latin freestyle group Exposé scored their sole ARIA top 100 single earlier in the year with "What You Don't Know" (number 65, October 1989), and here they are, just over 100 places lower, with the follow-up release.  Both tracks are lifted from their What You Don't Know album (number 117, November 1989).

I can see why this single didn't perform as well as the last one, though it's not that bad.  "When I Looked at Him" performed much better in the US, becoming the sixth of eight Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits for the group.

 

In Australia, "When I Looked At Him" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 121 on the state chart.

 

Exposé scored another semi-'hit' in Australia with "Seasons Change", which was ranked seventh on the Australian Music Report's list of 'singles receiving significant sales reports beyond the top 100' for one week in March 1988.

One earlier single from the group I like that you should check out if you don't know it already is "Point of No Return", which was issued locally in August 1987 but failed to chart.  It peaked at number 5 in the US in July 1987, however.

We shall see Exposé again in 1990.

 

 

Number 172 "This Waiting Heart" by Chris de Burgh

Peak: number 162

Peak date: 20 November 1989

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

 

We last saw Chris de Burgh in April 1989.

 

"This Waiting Heart" was released to promote Chris' compilation album Spark to a Flame: The Very Best of Chris de Burgh (number 90, December 1989).  Internationally, the single peaked at number 15 in Ireland in October 1989, number 59 in the UK in October 1989, number 27 in Switzerland in November 1989, and number 36 in Germany in November 1989.

Domestically, "This Waiting Heart" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 104.

Chris will join us next in 1990.

 

 

 

Next week (13 November): another three new top 150 debuts, including the original version of a track that would become a big hit in 1996, and two bubbling WAY down under entries.  You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.

 

< Previous week: 30 October 1989                                        Next week: 13 November 1989 >

Week commencing 30 October 1989

Although I can't identify a thread linking all nine of the songs I write about this week, I can tell you that four of them are by Australian artists, which is something.   Er, let's take a look at them.

Gipsy Kings: Gracias por la música

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 117 "Careless" by Paul Kelly and The Messengers

Peak: number 116

Peak date: 20 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Top 150 chart run: 117-120-117-116-122-119-134

Weeks on chart: 10 weeks

Paul Kelly and The Messengers, who we formerly The Coloured Girls, were a favourite on FM radio playlists in Australia throughout the mid-late 80s.  So it comes as a bit of a surprise that - two notable hits aside, "Before Too Long" (number 15, September 1986) and "To Her Door" (number 14, December 1987) - this did not translate into much chart success.  In fact, Paul has only ever notched up 7 top 40 singles in Australia, including with The Dots, The Coloured Girls, and solo.  To add insult to injury, all but the aforementioned two and "Darling It Hurts" (number 25, November 1986) peaked between numbers 36 and 40.  Paul's tenure with The Messengers (who were really just The Coloured Girls re-branded with a more palatable name for the US market) produced precisely zero top 50 hits.  The biggest hit Paul scored with The Messengers was "Sweet Guy" (number 53, August 1989).  But did any of this really matter when your albums still did OK?  Probably not a whole lot.

 

"Careless" was the second single lifted from So Much Water So Close to Home (number 10, August 1989).  This release would start a trend of Paul Kelly singles peaking outside the top 100, although his 1988 single with The Coloured Girls, "Don't Stand So Close to the Window" also missed the top 100.  I am unable to give you a chart position for that one, as it is from the period where the ARIA chart stopped at number 100.  "Careless" fared better on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it peaked at number 92.

 

"Careless" peaked within the top 100 on four of the five ARIA state charts, only falling short in Victoria/Tasmania.  The single performed strongest in Queensland, reaching number 75.

Paul will visit us on numerous occasions over the coming years - the next time being in August 1990.

 

 

Number 119 "Picture" by Janz

Peak: number 119

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 119-125-131-132-140-149

 

I really wasn't expecting to find a video (even though it's just the audio) for this track on YouTube... but I was pleasantly surprised to see that one exists!  I remember seeing the music video for "Crime" (number 70, May 1989) a few times on TV, but not this one.

Janz were an Australian band hailing from Melbourne, fronted by David Janz (real name David Fernandez).  Going by a comment posted on YouTube by a band member, the group disintegrated shortly after the release of this single.

 

 

Number 122 "Get Smart" by Bachelors from Prague

Peak: number 118

Peak date: 6 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 122-118-126-134-129

 

The group name Bachelors from Prague sounds vaguely familiar to me, but I don't recall hearing any of their music before.  Their Wikipedia article mentions they promoted their music on Hey Hey It's Saturday - that's probably where I heard of/saw them.  An eight-piece Australian group hailing from Melbourne, the jazzy "Get Smart" was the lead single from the band's second album, Birth of the Fool (number 61, October 1989).  We shall see Bachelors from Prague again at the end of 1991.

 

 

Number 131 "Tokyo Nights" by Bee Gees

Peak: number 124

Peak date: 27 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Chart run: 131-136-136-130-124-136-127

Weeks on chart: 7 weeks

 

The fourth Australian (depending on your definition) act in a row this week, Bee Gees returned to the top 150 for the third time in 1989, with this track, the third single released from their One album (number 29, January 1990).  It follows earlier flop singles "Ordinary Lives" and "One".   This single performed strongest on the South Australia/Northern Territory state chart, where it peaked at number 84.  We will next see Bee Gees (no The) in 1991.

 

 

Number  135 "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Randy Crawford featuring Eric Clapton and David Sanborn

Peak: number 116

Peak date: 4 December 1989

Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks

Chart run: 154-135-122-121-118-117-116-137-149-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)

Weeks on chart: 11 weeks

 

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door", written and originally recorded by Bob Dylan in 1973, was covered by Randy Crawford, together with Eric Clapton and David Sanborn, for the soundtrack to the 1989 movie Lethal Weapon 2.  Unfortunately, that exact version does not appear to be on YouTube... so, instead, we'll make do with this live rendition by Randy below, to give you the general gist.  Randy (real name Veronica Crawford) placed three singles in the Australian top 100, with the biggest of those being "One Day I'll Fly Away" (number 29, April 1981).  This track also appeared on Randy's album Rich and Poor (number 107, December 1989).

 

On the state chats, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 61.

We'll next see Randy in 1992.

 

 

Number 148 "Sold Me Down the River" by The Alarm

Peak: number 148

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week 

Top 150 chart run: 148

Weeks on chart: 7 weeks

 

The Alarm were a Welsh group, formed in 1981.  In their native UK, the group notched up seven top 40 singles and five top 40 albums between 1983 and 1991.  In Australia, it was a different story, with their sole top 100 appearance being the album Eye of the Hurricane (number 91, March 1988).  After that, a solitary week in the top 150 with "Sold Me Down the River" was as good as it got.  "Sold Me Down the River" fared better in the band's homeland, where it peaked at number 43 for two weeks in September 1989.  The track was lifted from the album Change (number 155, December 1989).

 

This one performed much stronger in South Australia/Northern Territory than anywhere else, where it reached number 71 on the state chart.

 

The Alarm will join us again in May 1990.

 

 

Number 150 "Djobi, Djoba" by Gipsy Kings

Peak: number 131

Peak date: 27 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks 

Chart run: 150-141-133-140-131-132

Weeks on chart: 6 weeks

 

Gipsy Kings burst onto the Australian charts with "Bamboleo" (number 19, September 1989), and  "Bem Bem Maria" (number 71, September 1989) followed it up in quick succession.  Their third Australian single, "Djobi, Djoba" continued the act of diminishing chart returns, landing outside the top 100, but did it really matter when parent album Gipsy Kings (number 2, September 1989) went double platinum?  Probably not.  Striking while the iron was hot, the French group (although they sung in Spanish) released another album locally (Gipsy Kings was released in Europe in 1987) on 1 January 1990, Mosaique (number 23, January 1990).  My dad bought both albums on cassette, and had it not been for that exposure, I may not have heard "Djobi, Djoba" before, though I do remember a snippet of it being used in a TV commercial for the album.

Internationally, "Djobi, Djoba" peaked at number 15 in France in November 1987, and number 34 in the Netherlands in August 1988.

 

In Australia, "Djobi, Djoba" was most popular in Western Australia, where it reached number 107 on the state chart.

We will next see Gipsy Kings in 1991.  They will also accompany an unlikely act, Bananarama (!), on a single that bubbles WAY down under in 1991.

 

 

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 161 "Sugar Daddy" by Thompson Twins

Peak:  number 155 

Peak date: 6 November 1989

Weeks on chart: 4 weeks 

Between 1983 and 1986, Thompson Twins (no The) placed eight singles in the Australian top 100 singles chart, with the biggest of those being "Hold Me Now" (number 3, April 1984).  Their last hit in Australia was "King for a Day" (number 17, February 1986), and nothing from their 1987 album Close to the Bone, nor the album itself, charted (when the chart stopped at number 100).  Roll on to 1989, and "Sugar Daddy" was the lead single from their sixth studio album, Big Trash (number 135, October 1989).  I remember seeing "Sugar Daddy" probably twice on Countdown Revolution, but couldn't remember how it went.  The group were perhaps too closely-tied to the early-mid 1980s (big hair and a zany look, a la Cyndi Lauper) to sustain commercial success throughout the latter part of the decade, when music and fashion styles had changed.  Nevertheless, we shall see the group on two more occasions, with the next one being in February 1990.

Internationally, "Sugar Daddy" peaked at number 97 in the UK in October 1989, and number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

On the state charts, "Sugar Daddy" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 116.

 

Number 163 "If You Asked Me To" by Patti LaBelle

Peak: number 163

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

 

One thing I noticed when trawling through the liner notes (as you do) of my parents' copy of Céline Dion's 1996 album Falling into You is how many of the songs were cover versions.  And I'm not talking about covers of obscure flops or deep cut album tracks that Céline's people brought to her as they were good songs that needed a wider audience; I'm talking about covered-a-zillion-times tracks you never need to hear again, like "River Deep, Mountain High".  The kind of thing that might be tacked onto an album by a new and upcoming artist as Plan B to salvage the album's commercial success should the original tracks fail to connect with an audience.  Quite why Céline's people (because, let's face it, I doubt she was the one making these decisions) felt a need to include such beyond basic covers on a new album by an established artist with three hit albums under her belt was a choice.  But, I digress...

The reason for all of that Céline rambling above is that here we have the original version of a track that would be later recorded by Céline, for her 1992 self-titled album.  Written by beige songwriter extraodinaire Diane Warren, Céline's version peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in July 1992, and number 52 in Australia in September 1992.

 

Patti first came to notice on the Australian chart as part of the group LaBelle, who scored a number 13 hit (their only charting single) in 1975 with "Lady Marmalade".  As a solo artist, she scored two top 100 hits down under, with the biggest by far of those being her duet with Doobie Brothers singer Michael McDonald, "On My Own" (number 12, June 1986).  Patti's version of "If You Asked Me To" didn't fare nearly as well as Céline's, peaking at number 79 on the Hot 100 in October 1989.  Not even the inclusion of the song on the soundtrack to the 1989 Bond movie Licence to Kill helped.

 

Locally, "If You Asked Me To" was most popular in Western Australia, where it reached number 121 on the state chart.

 

This was Patti's final appearance on the Australian singles chart.

 

Finally, on the topic of Céline, we will see the original version of another song she later turned into a hit in a mere fortnight's time!

 

 

 

Next week (6 November): Three top 150 debuts and three bubbling WAY down under entries.  You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.

 

< Previous week: 23 October 1989                                         Next week: 6 November 1989 > 

Week commencing 23 October 1989

All three of this week's top 150 debuts are singles that only registered a chart placing in Australia.  What is interesting is that only one of the three acts in question is Australian.  Let's take a look.

 

Cyndi Lauper: A chart position to forget

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 127 "I Know You by Heart" by Bette Midler featuring David Pack

Peak: number 118

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks

Chart run: 127-118-126-134-135-135-138

Weeks on chart: 7 weeks

"I Know You by Heart" was an Australian-only single, and the third release from the Beaches soundtrack (number 1, June 1989), following "Wind Beneath My Wings" (number 1, May 1989) and "Under the Boardwalk" (number 26, August 1989).  Quite why this single was an exclusive release to Australia, I don't know - other than, possibly, because previous single "Under the Boardwalk" does not appear to have charted anywhere else.

"I Know You by Heart" was a duet with David Pack, who was the lead singer of the rock group Ambrosia.  While Ambrosia only managed to score one top 100 single in Australia ("How Much I Feel" - number 30, February 1979), this was Bette's thirteenth single to register on our chart.  "I Know You by Heart" was co-written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who as Boy Meets Girl scored a number 35 hit in Australia with "Waiting for a Star to Fall" in March 1989, and had penned big hits for Whitney Houston with "How Will I Know" (number 2, April 1986) and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (number 1, June 1987).

 

On the state charts, "I Know You by Heart" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 58.

 

We will see Bette again in 1991.

 

 

 

Number 140 "Running in the Shadows" by The Bombers

Peak: number 130

Peak date: 13 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 140-136-144-130-138-142-143

 

The Bombers were an Australian band, hailing from Sydney.  Going by their facebook page bio, the group morphed out of The Party Boys, and included members of The Angels and Status Quo.  This track appears on their Aim High album, which peaked at number 93 in April 1990.  This was their only single to enter the top 150.  That's about all I can tell you.

 

 

 

Number 145 "A Night to Remember" by Cyndi Lauper

Peak: number 145

Peak date: 23 October 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Known chart run: 157-145

Weeks on chart: 4 weeks

Things started off reasonably well on the singles charts with Cyndi's third album, A Night to Remember (number 17, June 1989), with "I Drove All Night" peaking at number 11 for four weeks in July 1989.  Second single, "My First Night without You" (number 47, September 1989), didn't perform nearly as well, and now poor Cyndi was relegated to peaking outside the top 100 with the third release and title track from the album.  Unfortunately for Cyndi, this would become the new norm for her on the Australian chart, and she would not see inside the top 100 again until 1994, despite two studio albums being released in the interim.

"A Night to Remember" appears to have only received a commercial single release in Australia, the United States, and Canada, with Australia being the only country it registered a chart placing in.

 

On the state charts, "A Night to Remember" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 127.  The single performed stronger nationally on the Australian Music Report chart, where it peaked at number 96.

We will see Cyndi bubble under again before the year is out.

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

Number 153 "Heart of America" by Tony Llewellyn

Peak: number 153

Peak date: 23 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

We saw Tony Llewellyn in April 1989 with the second single from The News (number 135, November 1989), and here he is with the third and final single lifted from the album.  Although "Heart of America" missed the top 150, it was Tony's highest-charting single.  On the state charts, "Heart of America" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 135.

Number 164 "Fine Time" by Scary Bill

Peak: number 160

Peak date: 30 October 1989

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

We saw Australian band Scary Bill in June 1989, and here they are with their second, and final, single to make the national chart.  "Fine Time" was the third single lifted from the band's only album Scary Bill (number 107, August 1989).  The first release from the album, "Crossroads", missed the national chart (when it stopped at number 100), but peaked at number 42 on the South Australia/Northern Territory state chart, where Scary Bill seemed to be most popular, in December 1988.

On the state charts, "Fine Time" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 108 on the state chart.

A fourth single, "Planet X", was issued locally in January 1990, but failed to chart.  The band then split up.

Next week (30 October): A bumper week with 7 new top 150 debuts and 2 singles bubbling WAY down under.  You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.

 

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