I'm sure plenty of people on here can relate. Check it out if the names Wa Wa Nee, The Chantoozies, The Cockroaches and, er, Cattletruck mean anything to you.
Nice site Gavin. I don't remember 1987 too well or fondly (I was 9-turning-10 and had a difficult childhood) but the music always lives on and I have many favourites from that year (which just happens to be 87 singles to be precise!). I'm coming up to my own anniversary in December. 20 years of buying CDs. lol
It's nice to know that you have every ARIA chart from 1987 to 1998. Will you be scanning them all? I wouldn't be surprised if you don't because I scanned all of mine and it was a royal pain in the arse. My collection started in January 1993 and ended in January 2000 but is not complete.
By the way, The Cockroaches should mean something to our younger members, especially, because they went on to form The Wiggles! I told this fact to my housemate a little while ago to his horror. His fond memories of the band were ruined in that one revelation. lol. I wasn't big on Wa Wa Nee but I do like some Chantoozies tunes still. I agree with you about Cattletruck. Baaad band name.
I loooove Breakout from that chart! Awesome track! I really like that Janet track (Let's Wait A While), it's a shame it was one of the last releases from Control because I honestly thought it was one of the best from this album and showcased a great and unique voice.
I'm enjoying the commentary very much Last edited:
Thank you both for the feedback! Yeah, it's been fun going through that week's top 50 - and it was a pretty fantastic week. There's not much from the chart I didn't like.
Grant, not sure if I'll scan them all - in fact I'm not entirely sure what the content of the blog will be week to week. Chart related obviously, but I might mix it up a bit. Watch that space!
Well done there Gavin. That was a great read. I also started seriously following charts in 1987, so I know every song there. The only track I can't recall clearly is Leave Me. I probably haven't heard that song in 20 years.
I remember Leave Me but haven't heard it in ages - it's definitely a forgotten gem. It definitely made my own charts, which I started compiling around the same time, probably because I wasn't happy with some song or other not going as high as I'd hoped.
Awesome to look back at all that Gavin, thanks so much for posting! I started my chart obsession early 1989, Madonnas Like a Prayer was the first single I remember frantically following it's chart progression as a nine year old lol
I remember that feeling well of scanning the chart to see where whatever songs I loved at the time had got to and being so disappointed when they went down instead of up.
I'm just writing my next entry now - will post when it's live.
Glad that you are such a Whitney fan! I can't believe it was number one 25 years ago to the week . Her first number one being the classic track, Greatest Love Of All. She's had so many amazing ones along the way though I love Glad I'm Not A Kennedy haha, but agree with you on Hymn To Her. It's my favourite track from the Pretenders. Love #3 as well. Last edited:
After fail like that it's no wonder we lost the game. Not to mention it was played at Waverley Park and not the MCG. Nice way to celebrate the first ever non-Victorian club to make the grant final. Mehness.
Nice bunch of songs here except for Sally which I never got into. My favourite would be the breaker you mentioned in the blog 'Rhythm Is Gonna Get You'. 'Seven Wonders' still sounds great 25 years on
These were the days. Nearly all these songs of the last few weeks were personal-chart worthy. Except Radio Waves and Living In A Box that weren't quite for me.
Of the last 3 weeks my faves are Wishing Well, Shattered Dreams, Hold Me Now, What Have I Done To Deserve This and Bad. The most forgettable would be the Live! Tour (EP) and Pretty Flamingo. But I do remember them all. Breakout was the track I remember hearing on the radio from the Bon Jovi EP.
Wow. To think i only stumbled across this site at the start of the month!!! I've been following the Aria charts since late 1988 (Fairground Attraction's Perfect was #1), I would love to get all the charts from 1987 to july 1988 from somewhere! I'd also love to now chart details of John Farnham's Whispering Jack album and single You're The Voice.
This was an interesting time on the charts. Icehouse finally get that #1 hit after waiting 5 weeks at #2. Just in the nick of time too, as there's a race on for #1 with Jimmy and Rick climbing strongly. The #1 ambitions for 'Need You Tonight' were seemingly lost too at this point, which at that time I was kind of annoyed about.
22-Nov
15-Nov
8-Nov
1-Nov
ELECTRIC BLUE Icehouse
1
2
2
2
LA BAMBA Los Lobos
2
1
1
1
TOO MUCH AIN'T ENOUGH LOVE Jimmy Barnes
3
6
13
--
NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP Rick Astley
4
7
14
43
NEED YOU TONIGHT INXS
5
3
3
5
Next week's ARIA chart (29/11) was the first one I picked up from the music stores
I found the top of the chart was getting a bit stale around this time with good songs like The Way You Make Me Feel, Mony Mony (live), My Obsession and even Pump Up The Volume missing out on a better peak. It was coincidental, the two 'Say You Will' hits debuting in the same week. The better one did peak higher thankfully.
I recall the colour of that week's chart being horrid Some good entries there, particularly Kylie & George Michael. I remember lots of publicity for Kylie on the morning TV shows which I thought was helping the rapid rise of I Should Be So Lucky and later songs. But with her third #1 later in the year (also to be only the 2nd debuting #1) you had the impression she wasn't going to disappear anytime soon.
Wow, what a flashback. 'Cars And Girls'. Probably haven't heard that in over 10, maybe closer to 20 years. Different to how I remembered it, if that makes sense. 'Suedehead' is kind of a flashback too, but I'm sure I heard that not so long ago. I do recall 'Heart Of Gold' and it snuck in at #46 on my Personal chart, the only other charting hit from Johnny Hates Jazz for me.
Well I didn't know 'Push It' was once a B-side. I also didn't know 'I Owe You Nothing' was actually Bros's first release (or had forgotten that fact). Interesting facts. I do remember that Debbie Gibson song. I did once have her album many many years ago, on cassette.
A big new Australian band, and one of the most enduring Aussie performers of all time. Plus, a song made famous all over again by a shampoo commercial. Last edited:
I just checked my archives. This was only the 3rd time in the 1980s that there were 10 new entries in the Top 50 chart, an equal record with the 25/11/84 chart and 17/8/86 chart. 10 new Top 50 entries wouldn't happen again until the 26/7/92 chart.
The first ARIA chart for 1989 - with debuts from Especially For You, Smooth Criminal, Every Rose Has Its Thorn and Two Hearts, plus the demise of Tiffany.
Now You're In Heaven debuts, Bomb The Bass miss the top 50 and, on the albums chart, Like A Prayer misses the top spot - but what three albums kept her off number 1? Last edited:
Well done Gavin. Loving reading your blog. Brings back sooo many memories and it's good seeing that there are others who are having the same reactions. As I've only just recently discovered your blog, I have a lot to read to go back over the two years your blog has been running. Excellent stuff. Thanks Finn
Edwyn Collins, Deep Blue Something, Babylon Zoo, Tracy Bonham, Donna Lewis (who I'd somehow forgot was a one-hit wonder), Third Eye Blind, Marcy Playground, Stardust and Tal Bachman were the acts in that list I would have most wanted to somehow get another hit. Maybe F.C.B. too, to see what other novelty track they might have potentially had success with. A very good blog there.
'Sometimes' - that's a great flashback! Their 2nd personal chart #1 for me and a good indication of the music style on the Max Q album. I don't think the D-Generation type humour would have even half a chance on today's music charts.
That kind of musical parody was really big at the time with Fast Forward doing a string of them around the same time - especially in 1990 with Dannii, Tina Arena and Wilson Phillips made fun of.
It wasn't a great week for new entries as far as my own tastes went at all!
No, it's not your imagination. I probably should have looked harder to find the Aussie one - but it's discussed in the comments section for that week's post and there's a link to it there.
Wooohooo welcome to the 90's, personally my fave. I'll be following even closer this year but i'll be recapping the whole TOP 100 each week instead (yes I have no life :p).
Anyway this weeks highlights for me was the introduction of 'Living In Sin' even thougth it debuted late November '89 during Jovi's tour of Australia. It's always been a weird one out of their catalouge in which it failed on so many charts around the world, personally it was a fave of mine.
Looking back at NKOTB they really do age really badly for me, especially 'Cover Girl'. It's just so lack luster and predictable but slightly better than what 'Hangin' Tough' has become, what a boring song!
I remember 'When I See You Smile' was still big on Sydney FM radio in the mid to late 90's, I was still hearing it daily on the rock stations. Loved John Waite's solo stuff from the 80's and I too failed to make the connection till years later.
Starting next week, I'll include a section about what else was going on in the top 100 outside the top 50 and breakers. I didn't have the full top 100 for this chart but I have it for next week on.
I really like John's These Times Are Hard For Lovers from 1987 as well. I wasn't a fan of When I See You Smile, though.
Anyway I really like 'Rock and a hard place' infact I actually enjoy that album still to this day.
After all the popalicious fabtabulous Bros had released I really thought this was pretty tame considering, so did the buying public :p
'Enemy of the sun' is and always will be a big steaming turd!
I guess your right about the millions that had already spent their hard earnt on Madonna's album, just feel really bad it just missed our 50 by 1. Oh father!
To me 'Kickstart My Heart' screams bigger hit than 'Dr. Feelgood', Motley Crue really didn't set my world on fire anyway.
'Come Back To Me' is official my fave Obsession track but that ain't rocket science :p
I played the video for 'La Luna' the other week from my collection and nobody in the room remembered it, to it sounds really dated and one of my least faves of hers from the 90's.
Big hit in 'Don't Know Much' still hear it a lot today on the oldie station, like it but don't love it.
As with the previous 'Janie's Got A Gun' is one of those tracks I have mixed feelings on, if I hear it to much I dislike it alot more.
Finally the less we say about the Band Aid offering the better, it's probly the worst version for me.
It really did bug me not knowing why 'I See Red' was still so popular in the mid to late 90's as it pales in comparison to their other hits. I picked up a sealed re-released 7" many moons ago which is worth a small fortune now Not really fussed on the Gipsy Kings or Whitesnake releases this week and i'm glad they missed the fiddy. For ages i really liked 'Sacrifice' but it hasn't aged very well for me, funnily I loathed 'Healing Hands' at first but now it's one of my faves of Sir Elton's. The Alannah Myles story is interesting and her release history is bizarre and then she disappeared from our charts, pity the girl had talent. Personally i have never been a Lisa Stansfield fan and this one is decent but doesn't again really scream hit to me. Wow! I didn't know 'Please Send Me Someone To Love' wasn't included on the debut album (was sure it was until now). For me it's a real sleeper song that I enjoy now even more today than before. That movie though was yuck!
I love Prince and loved the Batman soundtrack but 'Scandalous!' was awful for me and surprised it even made the chart.
The Martika track is very bland and not memorable at all, her worst charting song for me easily.
Recently acquired a box set of original albums of The Angels and was not surprised how great some of their material was and this single is a pure belter. Would've been awesome hearing this in jukeboxes around the country in smoke filled pubs & bars.
Up until recently I was never the biggest Lenny Kravitz fan, sure he has some great tunes but never wanted to go out of my way to hear his back catalogue. Pure genius comes to mind with this period and a better than before thought lead single.
For anyone curious about chart peaks between #51 and #100, I've updated all my posts between June 26, 1988 and the end of 1989 with ARIA peaks and not AMR peaks for all the breakers and singles of the week that didn't crack the top 50.
A great week on the ARIA chart. Truly. Eight - count 'em - new entries from Margaret Urlich, Michael Penn, Milli Vanilli, Technotronic, Paula Abdul, Phil Collins, Peter Blakeley and the ARIA debut of Dannii Minogue.
Janet Jackson's best single, The Church's highest-charting single, Cathy Dennis' debut single, Bad English's other single, plus Boom Crash Opera, Bobby Brown, Lisa Stansfield, Edie Brickell and Lenny Kravitz
Vogue debuts on the chart with only two days' sales - in only two states. Plus, Aerosmith, the demise of Jive Bunny, and third time's not so lucky for Alannah Myles and The B-52's
Balladsville with new entries from Heart, Michael Bolton, Motley Crue, Alice Cooper and Shakespear's Sister. Plus, Joan Jett, Linda Ronstadt/Aaron Neville, Kiss and Hunters & Collectors outside the top 50.
I Need Your Body, It Must Have Been Love, This Beat Is Technotronic, Dub Be Good To Me, Club At The End Of The Street, plus the demise of Milli Vanilli and more
NKOTB return, as does Sam Brown, plus Soul II Soul's highest charting Australian single. Also, top 50 misses from NWA, Jane Child, The Beloved, Girl Overboard, David Bowie and Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy
This is cool stuff,some of which i never knew.This is a period where i was obsessed with the top 50 chart and lower 50 chart positions that would continue for at least the next 15 years so i find this fascinating.You got me coming back on a weekly basis,gavin!
Thanks for checking it out, Jesse! I've discovered lots of things I didn't know at the time as well. The period from 1985-1992 is still my all-time favourite era for music.
I would probably agree with you on that,gavin.Certainly of the years i grew up in(i was born in 77 as one can work out)85-92 would be some of the best of the best music wise.Even a little bit here and there in 1993 but that's when things change quite a bit.
I never felt we were "stuck" with heart at #1 But that's the fun thing about life,different people have different tastes.Looking at that top 50 from memory i think there's quite a few #1's in that top 5 alone with both kylie and roxette having got there.
1990 was the year I got into music and it is because of the great standard of music. Every song is a gem and screams classic.
Looking back all these years every song is recognisable. If I were to look back on more recent music in 25 years time I am sure I would be stumped with some tunes as I already am showing signs of that.
It also helps that music from 1990 (bar a minor few) are set in stone unlike recent years where too many songs crossover between years and it's hard to tell the years apart.
I remember watching Rage every Saturday and being excited for the weekly countdown.
A few notes regarding some songs.
Tell Me A Story is a brilliant song. Was always on the radio. Definately an under rated tune.
Better The Devil You Know had a weak year end rank (not making the top 50) for a song with a high debut (at the time).
Hold On is pure class. What a gem. I used to love the song and still do.
The Power was always a fun hit.
1990, what a year. Still ranks as my all time favourite year in music.
@Jesse - I guess someone had to like that Heart song for it to stay at #1 for so long! I find that when I trash a song, someone always defends it - which makes for a more interesting blogging experience. Yep, Roxette is the next #1 after Heart, but Kylie didn't get to #1 with BTDYK. If only!
@K8 - I love 1990 as a year for music as well - although my taste was just as influenced by the UK and US chart as the ARIA one by then, since American Top 40 and UK Chart Attack were both airing on 2DayFM in Sydney. Still, so many great songs made the ARIA chart and it's fun recapping them all. I think the issue with BTDYK was that it debuted high but only stayed in the top 50 for 13 weeks. Agreed re Hold On!
Gav,you think 4 weeks at no.1 for heart is pretty bad,wait'll next year when we reach bryan adams spending 11 weeks at the top! Ponderings on some of those entries; Never knew katrina and the waves had released other singles before they won eurovision. Gary moore can't seem to get a break,one hit wonder i guess(though what a hit it was)
K8, (I uploaded that video) that was the week the Martika track debuted in the top 50, and if I remember correctly, rage didn't air the video for it until a couple of weeks later. I remember seeing it at #40 straight after a rage interlude, and wondering what it was (before the artist/title superscript appeared). It's odd that rage didn't have the video when it debuted, as the track was originally released in Australia in March/April 1989 (I have a copy of it from a monthly Australian promo video series dated April 1989).
The video for 'Sacrifice' wasn't aired until a couple of weeks into its top 50 chart run (possibly its second, but I'm not an Elton fan so can't recall precisely).
There was no proper video for 'Just Like Jesse James'. A compilation one was put together I think for its UK release, but I never saw it on TV here. A friend from school at the time claimed to have seen a video airing on Video Hits' Sunday top 30 program (which I didn't watch routinely), but he said that it featured 'shots of Jesse James' and I was inclined not to believe him. I've only seen the video on youtube once or twice and from memory it doesn't. UK record companies must've felt compelled to put together compilation videos where none was made/available, as I've seen UK videos for Madonna's 'Angel', 'Rescue Me', 'One More Chance', 'Fever' (before the real video was made), and Donna Summer's 'Breakaway', to name just a few.
Back in those days, rage seem to have cleared out their library regularly; and there are many videos missing from the 1988 end of year top 50 chart (which I uploaded a similar video from recently https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OotZklX8BPI ) - presumably they discarded of them once their original top 50 run ended. That didn't happen with subsequent annual top 50s though, so maybe they were just gung-ho in 1988. Last edited:
That is awesome mate. Sucks so many clips weren't shown in the 1988 year end.
I have most year ends from 1991 and have really wanted to get my hands on the 1990 one.
I know most of the songs from the 1988 one but was surprised to see Perfect at #6 ahead of some better known and more popular hits. That was one of the few songs I wasn't familiar with.
Love these vids. Will have to watch your others and I hope you have the time to upload a few from the 90s.
RAGE (or I should say the ABC archive team) unfortunately were notorious for destroying or re-dubbing tapes back in the early days of airings up until the mid 90's. The ABC archive also lost a significant amount of material in the early 00's due to a fire in the archiving department.
Speaking of Rage not showing clips, I do recall for a period in early to mid 1991 where Rage didn't show a number of clips and not sure of the reason. I assumed it was to do with the record label.
All of the songs that weren't shown at the time featured on the compilations at the time Yo Let's Go and Do It Now (both which were the last compilations before the 100% Hits series would kick off) and not the opposing compilations of Wiggle n Sweat 91 or Here We Go 91 hence why I assumed it had to do with record companies.
Some of the clips that weren't shown in the weekly countdown included: That Ain't Bad, Don't Go Now, Better, Just Another Dream, Let's Kiss Like Angels Do, Wicked Game, Blue Hotel.
There were a few others but I can't remember now. Just The Way It Is Baby, More Than Words Can Say and Operra House could have been too but not 100% on them.
One week Ratcat held positions #2 and #3 and The Screaming Jets were at #4 and all three songs were not shown.
Oddly enough once That Ain't Bad left the top 60 (as it was at the time) the clips started to be played again in the weekly countdowns. Last edited:
K8 - I've got the end of year rage charts from 1990 through to 1996 inclusive; though the 1990-1992 ones I digitised using a faulty audio cable (left speaker audio-only) in 2005, so I need to re-do those (thankfully I kept my original VHS tapes) before uploading anything from them. My 1990 one isn't in too great shape (wobbly picture and lots of TV signal static throughout). I also remember that period in 1991 when there were several charting videos that didn't air (Amy Grant's 'Baby Baby' and Ratcat's 'Don't Go Now' were 2 I recall... I think they were both Polygram releases, so maybe it was something to with the record label) in the top 60 chart (though it went back to being a top 50 between March & June 1991).
There was a period in late 1995 (I think from late September through to the end of the year) where rage aired pretty much the same videos over and over, with very few new releases being shown. That was, I believe, due to the main programmer being on long service leave during those months. They also stopped airing the top 50 during that period, and it didn't resume until the first week of 1996. The first Friday night (new release) episode of 1996 I remember well, as they played a lot of new release videos from the last few months, starting with Smashing Pumpkins' 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings', which rage would normally have aired as soon as it was released. A new summer music video show, Pepsi Rock-It (sp?) hosted by the Chocolate Starfish singer popped up in late '95 on Saturday nights, and I remember seeing several new release videos there for the first time, rather than on rage.
'Perfect' was huge at the time. I hated it back then, but grew to love it some years later. I thought it would've been well-known still, as it was used in a TV ad many years ago too (though I forget what for now).
BeansterBarnes - wow, I never knew the ABC archives were affected by a fire in the early 00's! That is sad. I know that rage had regular clear-outs of their library though until at least early 1997 (they had to re-acquire Tracy Bonham's 'Mother Mother' video to air in 2009), though I thought they'd stopped culling things since then (e.g. they still had some obscure Yazz video they aired once in May 1997, which they surely would have culled in years earlier, when I got to program an hour of rage in 2010). Last edited:
Only one new entry on the top 50 - but it was possibly my least favourite song for the year. Plus, Shakespear's Sister, Webb Wilder, D*A*D (again), Seven Stories and Peter Blakeley
Not a bad idea, Gavin (re: the cooordination). That will give me a few more months to procrastinate with re-converting that video. I just hope it's still in working order, as it was in pretty fair-at-best shape when I digitised it in 2005.
Oh I like Joey. Had a different sound but was still cool.
A lot of these songs were covered on Fast Forward with parodies. I recall seeing a parody on: If I Could Turn Back Time Eternal Flame Sweet Dreams Wind Beneath My Wings Black Velvet Nothing Compares 2 U Opposites Attract Vogue I Need Your Body Hold On Crying In A Chapel Love & Kisses Joey All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You Roam Mona Heart In Danger Black Cat
In 1991: From A Distance Read My Lips Grease Megamix Cream I Touch Myself I've Got To Go Now You Could Be Mine The Shoop Shoop Song It Takes Two Unforgettable More Than Words
in 1992: Be My Baby Amigos Para Siempre Achy Breaky Heart Save The Best For Last
By then The Late Show kicked in and I don't remember which show the parodies I saw were from. Last edited:
The heart parody is so funny.Gina reilly captures ann wilson's look from the video to a tee.They also did a parody of the bangles 'eternal flame' which is also very funny. Once again i agree with K8 re: concrete blond,gav's gonna write that he got in trouble again on next weeks blog lol. I understand the vocals sound dreary,but i think given the subject there's a reason.Anyone singing that song would want to make the listener feel something and i think it works. Concrete blonde never had any major hits after 'Joey' which was a pity.
I don't remember a Southern Sons parody; I'll have to look that up (if it's on youtube).
One of my favourites was Full Frontal's Whigfield 'Sexy Eyes' parody in 1997; but that doesn't seem to be on youtube.
Fast Forward repeats periodically (usually not every week though - I think it's a back-up filler) on ONE, but I haven't seen it there for several months, and it was still on 1989, where there were no music parodies yet. Last edited:
Southern Sons parody was called Hair in Danger and it made fun of their long hair. From what I remember the drummer got his hair tangled in his sticks and the lead singer had his hair stuck in the fan. I thought it was pretty funny at the time.
Faith No More change the face of rock, Craig McLachlan trades in Mona for another chick, and should've been bigger singles from Boom Crash Opera and Margaret Urlich.
Plus top 50 misses D Mob, Exploding White Mice, The Church, Was (Not Was) and Michael Bolton.
From your teases of next week i can guess almost all of those entries mostly cause i remember the music so well of this era.I think margaret urlich was one of the underrated singer australia had in the 90's. 'Escaping' is a really good song.Would be a while before a lot of those below 50 artists had great success again,if at all.
Random duet between Japanese star Seiko and New Kid Donnie Wahlberg, new Jimmy Barnes, scandalous Madonna (so, no surprise there), solo Jeff Lynne, one of SAW's last great singles plus The Angels.
Bobby Brown helps Glenn Medeiros sex up his image, Maxi Priest returns, Turtle Power hits the chart and Bust A Move finally becomes a hit in Australia.
Plus, Lily Was Here, a solo single from former Goanna singer Shane Howard and top 50 misses from Louie Louie, Aerosmith, The Black Crowes and No Justice.
Mariah Carey arrives, plus singles from Sinead O'Connor, Paul Norton, Gloria Estefan, Icehouse, The Black Sorrows, and top 50 misses from Hothouse Flowers and Iggy Pop.
I am surprised Vision Of Love wasn't a bigger hit here.
i had never seen Sinead's film clip until now and lol at her dancing. I am also surprised this wasn't a bigger hit.
When looking at some of these chart runs it makes you wonder what happened in 1990 in the year end chart. Vision of Love ranked in the 60s and She Ain't Worth It failed to crack the top 100 and had a very similar if not better chart run at pretty much the same time.
I Need Your Body also seemed to place strongly at #17 with a rather average chart run for a #3 peaking song compared to Blaze Of Glory coming in at #20 and spending 6 weeks at #1 and Bust A Move coming in at a low #50 for a #1 single that had a decent chart run in the top 50. Even Hold On at #11 doesn't seem right compared to Blaze Of Glory.
I do miss the days when year ends were more representitive of the year in music compared to these days where each year blends into each other. But i do like an accurate year end too and 1990 doesn't appear to be completely accurate. Last edited:
I don't know how accurate the year-end chart was, but I always assumed the overall sales during the weeks when Blaze Of Glory (which is coming up in next week's post) was #1 must have been lower for it to wind up so far down the annual tally. Likewise, the other songs you mentioned.
But perhaps I was giving the year-end chart too much credit.
I think the success of whispering jack to this day being the highest selling album in australia is a testament to how great a songwriter farnham is,however i don't think 'chain reaction' as a single was one of his best. 'That's freedom' was certainly pure farnham.
It was almost like one of those taster promo/hype singles that get released these days before the real first single. Whack something new and a little bit different out, get people excited and then hit them with the official single. Even the rapid turnaround is similar.
Wonder if the record company planned it all along like that or panicked when Chain Reaction didn't get to number 1 straight away.
Was 'Burn for you' off that album as well? Another example of excellent farnham songwriting. A song that's so incredibly moving. Commenting on other chart movers,is interesting motley crue did so bad with a power ballad as they're the kind of group that could pull it off(from memory i think other rock artists had trouble with ballads charting too,alice cooper comes to mind)At least soon the crue would be back up the charts with 'kickstart my heart'
Yeah Burn For You was that album as well. Three very different singles - although That's Freedom and Burn... were more typical Farsney material.
For Motley Crue, it was back to back ballad flops - they and Alice Cooper had ballads on the May 6 chart. And Kickstart was on the Jan 14 chart. Australia never really took to Motley Crue they way we did Poison, Bon Jovi or Guns 'n' Roses.
Cheers,gav. Am not on FB so it might have to be the latter. You do really good work I have to say i don't remember a lot of those entries.I really only remember southern sons though i was not a fan
A lot of #16 peaks in this weeks chart, and a number of songs that i thought went higher. My memory must be awful because i had for years thought that new kids and george michael both went top 10 with these tracks. I know in the UK they both did (new kids getting to #3). No real surprise to see collette tanking. Even her soapie career wasn't a great success.
It's not really 25 Years Ago related, but I posted about my 80s and 90s one-hit wonder lists here before so here are the links to the 1HWs from the 2000s:
I don't remember a lot of those because by around 2001 i'd stopped being interested mostly in modern music cause of the whole idol thing. I will say even though i'm not familiar with the name kayne taylor looks a bit hot lol.The fact that a lot of these artists had even one hit is embarassing!
Normally when i read your thoughts on some songs gav i do think to myself that you might just be a teensy bit wrong,but on the two top 50 entries this week i agree 100%. Bound for glory is one of those songs that sticks out in my memory,and not in a bad way. I have a recollection of the song being quite popular when i was in high school and it being used in a play that i was in.I can't even remember what the play was about but i recall disliking the song back then and even more so now!
K8 i tried googling but couldn't find any results. VH's charts back then were quite different from ARIA's as they were still using charts compiled by the australian music report (from memory anyway) and they didn't start using aria to compile their charts for a year or so
Not wrong - just a different opinion! But I welcome people telling me they disagree. I get most of my feedback when I trash a song.
Re the 1990 EOY chart. The AMR top 25 singles and albums are available in David Kent's yellow book - and MC Hammer was the #1 single of the year, with Sinead down at #3.
I wouldn't be surprised if the full AMR list is on this site somewhere?
Jesse77, I'm pretty sure Video Hits used the Kent/Australian Music Report chart right up until it ceased publication in (from memory) early 1998. Although by that point Video Hits was largely plugging their very questionable Interactive Top Ten, supposedly voted for by viewers (courtesy of a 0055 or 1902 number), although the 10 songs were already chosen by Video Hits - the viewer only determined the ranking of those 10 (though I think the bottom 2 were eliminated each week). I remember Daniel Amalm's 'Honey Dip' being #1 on it for months on end despite its ARIA peak somewhere in the 80s.
Take 40 Australia used to air a different end-of-year chart to ARIA's too, even after they began airing the ARIA chart (from some other chart that wasn't AMR's either) in early 1989. I remember 'Kokomo' was the #1 single for 1989 on it, rather than 'Like a Prayer'.
I also remember a 'top 90 of 1990' radio show airing on Melbourne station Fox FM at the end of 1990, but it wasn't based on ARIA either.
David Kent's green (weekly top 20 charts) book has end of year and end of decade charts in it as well, except I thought it was rather questionable 'Love Shack' ended up in the top 20 of the 80s chart (from memory) when it only spent about 5 weeks in the top 50 by the end of the 1980's (and hadn't reached #1 until the first chart of 1990, notwithstanding that being a 'for the 3 weeks ending' chart); even if it was based on chart-runs rather than actual sales.
You're right gav. I think the use of the word wrong was incorrect but yeah difference of opinion is right. Most times i pretty much agree with you! I gotta ask who daniel amalm is...was he the guy from home and away? I didn't even know he had a single! I liked some of the picks from the interactive top 10. I liked seeing The Hamsterdance Song at #1 for a few weeks (another of gav's hated tracks i suspect lol) Then you had some of the odd ones that never seemed to even get a physical release..like i think there was a group called the star girls. Am i misremembering?
I'm not ashamed to say that I liked the Hampsterdance Song. It's easily my favourite of the Cotton Eye Joe/5, 6, 7, 8 country-inspired novelty dance genre.
Yes, Daniel Amalm was Jack in Home and Away.
I never really watched Video Hits for the chart (rage easily surpassed it on that front), but used to watch the Saturday morning show for new releases/stuff they'd play from the lower half of the top 100. I pretty much stopped watching Video Hits altogether in '95, once I figured out how to dub from VCR to VCR (allowing me to keep new release videos I'd recorded from rage without having to watch it live), so I missed most of the Interactive top 10 era.
Video Hits started to become very dodgy, I thought, as soon as they introduced the 0055 competitions (presented by some random model/aspiring actor) around early '95. When they introduced hosts some time in 00's I thought it was awful. Last edited:
Hampsterdance... yep, up there with Crazy Frog for me. And 5,6,7,8 is the only Steps single I don't like.
And Star Girls - gosh, I'd blocked them from memory. They were around when I worked at Smash Hits. How we used to laugh about them. Then again, we put Mercury 4 on the cover...
The guy who ran Video Hits was very powerful. And as soon as he got the boot, they brought hosts on. He'd always been against it.
Sorry i think we're in danger of overlooking something very important here and that is the fact that gav worked at smash hits. This is the first i've ever heard of it,do tell more gav! Mercury 4 i've not heard that name for a while,though i don't remember them at all. Would the guy who ran video hits be garry dunstan? I recall he was exec producer for quite some time. Getting the hosts was a bad idea. It's like that show on digital tv now 'The Loop' hosted by a bimbo and a bogan..you play music videos,you don't need hosts! lol
It was kind of amusing seeing Dylan Lewis host Video Hits, after previously hosting the 'alternative' Recovery. I'm sure he hated pretending to be interested in the acts they interviewed, but I guess the money was good. Just as it was amusing seeing Louise from Eternal appear on Recovery in 1997... so not the audience who would have been interested in her.
I'm pretty sure I've never heard of the Star Girls. The name alone sounds dodgy. I just had a look at 'Girls Like Me' on youtube. Cheeky Star... Dream Star. Very poor-man's-Spice-Girls looking. Aimed at 4-7 year olds by the looks of it (and not in a good way).
I think I probably would have wanted to work for Smash Hits when I was a kid; but of course, by the time I would have been old enough to do so, I wouldn't have been interested in any of the artists featured in it. Last edited:
Like you say in your blog gav,i too had no interest in the skyhooks reunion but i remember liking 'Jukebox In Siberia' a lot. I was pleased to see it hit no.1. not surprised aerosmith didn't chart,since the version of 'Walk This Way' with run-dmc is much better
To answer questions above - yes, it was Gary Dunstan. He had record companies jump through hoops and those prize slots were very coveted.
And yep, I worked for Smash Hits for 4 years. I mention it a bit in my year-end charts for 2001-2005 on my blog since it was that era. All Eminem, Avril and Australian Idol front covers.
The tell all book of the millenium. Gavin Scott: My life at smash hits, a series of 5 books covering the years 2001-2005. Coming to bookstores..never Last edited:
The Video Hits 1990 year end went something like this:
1. U Can't Touch This 2. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You 3. Nothing Compares 2 U 4. Don't Know Much 5. Girl I'm Gonna Miss You 6. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You 7. Opposites Attract 8. must Have Been Love 9. Blaze Of Glory 10. Vogue
11. Love Will Lead Back 12. 13. Joey 14. Lambada 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Bust A Move
21. Close To You 22. 23. I Don't Want to be with Nobody But You 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. Groove Is In A Heart
31. Hold On
That is all I can remember. Not sure if the Kent report is the same? Last edited:
There used to be a site called Oz chart which had the top 25 of every year followed by the top 10 Aussie songs of the year.
This site used to list the #1 song in America, UK and Oz every week and year and had a top 30 of the year based on how many weeks a song spent at #1 in all three countries.
Surprises me that Absent Friends would be so high as #23. I'm not saying they aren't accurate,but even #4 seems a little dubious.Must've got high airplay.
We were talking groups that video hits seemed to take a personal interest in (star girls etc) another one came to mind..i don't remember the year may have been early 2000's..but anyone remember girl thing. they had a song called 'last one standing'.They were british and i remember video hits playing them practically every week,and even at one point puttin them in the interactive top 10 probably to get them more exposure.
12. Black Velvet 15. Epic 16. Love Shack 17. Lay Down Your Guns 18. Ride On Time 19. Crying In the Chapel 22. Show No Mercy 24. Pump Up The Jam 25. Janie's Got A Gun
Jesse77, the girl group you're thinking of is Girl Thing. They appeared on the second (and final to date) season of the UK 'The Big Reunion' TV series in 2014.
I didn't know 'Pure' until rage aired it recently.
Changing of the guard in the hair metal stakes with Poison on the way out and Warrant on the way up. Also, Whitney Houston returns, Margaret Urlich, Allanah Myles, Iggy Pop and Hothouse Flowers.
Plus, top 50 misses from Duran Duran and Sweet Sensation.
Love when you do these charts,gav! Looking at some of those releases,i feel margaret urlich was a very underrated singer. same as someone like jenny morris.Both those deserved a lot more success.That whitney song is one of my favourites of hers. great video for it too!
I actually went to a strip club a few weeks ago on a bucks night and the show the girls put on to the song was pretty bloody good and fitting to the song.
In one of the earliest (I think maybe even the first) episodes of 'Crank Yankers' (an American show from the early/mid 00's with actual recorded prank calls re-enacted by puppets), there's a hilarious skit where a blind stripper with a seeing-eye dog calls up a strip club to see if she can organise an audition as a dancer there (with her dog in tow - which, as she asserts, she has every right to according to the Americans with Disabilities Act). Anyway, playing in the background during the call is a re-worked version of 'Cherry Pie' with the lyrics:
"Please let me put my fingers in your apple pie Tastes so sweet, I just wanna eat your hot apple pie"
So I think you're onto something, K8, with 'Cherry Pie' being a classic 'strip joint' song.
I think of the Crank Yankers version every time I hear 'Cherry Pie' now... Last edited:
No action below the top 50 then? In response to a previous week's chart,i *have* heard holy smoke by iron maiden and while it wasn't anything terrible,it wasn't anything memorable either. It debuted in the UK at #2 and if my memory is accurate it was held off the top spot by 'The Joker' by Steve Miller Band.
Jesse77, I was thinking the same thing about the lower half of the top 100, but when I checked the chart for that week saw that all the new entries in that range enter the top 50 eventually.
And I just noticed that The Black Sorrows' 'Angel Street' spent 3 consecutive weeks at #100. Surely that must be a record; the 'for the 3 weeks ending' Christmas break charts notwithstanding. Last edited:
The number would fluctuate each week, but from memory you needed to sell about 700 copies of a single in one week to dent the ARIA top 100 singles chart in the early 00's, which is actually more than I would have thought. It's probably higher these days, with downloads.
ARIA did print the full top 100 charts in the ARIA report, available through subscription, from January 1990. e.g. this scan of a photocopy: http://i.imgur.com/4M3kUBs.jpg . I too wish the top 100 would have been available in stores back then, though.
I always remember the hilarious send up gina reilly did of chrissie amphlett in the video for 'ITM'. I think honestly if that's the song you are most known for then you're in the wrong business. No surprise that the skyhooks thing was a fluke.Thanks as always for posting these gavin!
Despite not using FB,i can actually view your page Gavin. It's very diffcult for anyone growing up in the 90's to not associate the video for ITM with the fast forward parody. I like 'Unchained Melody' but i can understand why people may dislike it.It's a very slow song,a bit long and 7 weeks at no.1 is a bit excessive.
Now this is interesting. Reading this thread prompted me to check my 'chart book' from 1990, where I wrote down the top 50 (or top 60 as it was at the time) from rage. And for this week's chart, I too have 'She's My Baby' at #45 (see the scan below; forgive my strange 'small and squished together' handwriting phase):
Actually, now that I think of it, I don't recall rage airing a video for 'She's My Baby' when it was in the top 60 (though a video exists and is on youtube). They didn't air the 'I Touch Myself' video when it was in the chart, presumably due to the 'racy' lyrics. Maybe it was rage who stuffed up and mistakenly put up the superscript for Traveling Wilburys rather than Divinyls, during the interlude they used to air for singles that had no video (or where the video wasn't deemed suitable to air within that time slot). That would explain it.
But then the author of this site must have obtained their top 50 charts from this era from someone who copied them down from rage, rather than sourcing the printed charts directly?
I can only imagine rage got it wrong.Perhaps rage susbstituted 'She's My Baby' for 'I Touch Myself' since the latter wouldn't get played anyway,and then a decision was made to allow the song into the top 60 but just not play the video.ARIA do get things wrong,but i'm not sure that this is one of those times.Is an interesting puzzle,nugs
^ The other possibility is that it was me who got it wrong. It happened very rarely, but a couple of times I remember rage aired an interlude for a missing video but did not put up any superscript on what it was. If this happened, I may have just assumed it was 'She's My Baby' (which was #58 the previous week and no video aired in the top 60). But that would mean the author of the site got that chart placing from me, and I don't remember helping him with any charts for the site; though he did contact me early on to ask if I had any 1988 charts.
I remember one time this happened for Skid Row's 'B Side Ourselves' on rage, and I had to get up on Sunday morning as well (when they repeated the chart) to see if they aired an artist/title superscript during the interlude (between 51-60, so it wouldn't have appeared on the printed top 50 chart). Thankfully they did. Last edited:
^ I still have my old rage tapes, but the only full chart countdowns I kept (even back then) were the end of year charts, from 1990-1996 inclusive. I still have other, individual videos I recorded from it through the years, though; but sadly recorded over 2 of my tapes from 1989/90.
I had all the year ends from 1990 until 1997 and floods destroyed my tapes. That was a sad day.
I did manage to get parts of 91, 92, 94 and 96 back off friends but not my two favourite years in 90 and 93. my 96 tape has also lost the sound for some reason.
I have the top 50 year ends from 98-05 cept part of the 99 countdown was accidently recorded over between Weir and Waiting For Tonight.
I miss the Rage countdowns especially as some of the Foxtel countdowns are rubbish.
^K8, I can copy you mine if you want, though I have to first re-encode them, as back when I originally digitised them in 2005, I didn't realise that one of my audio-in cables was faulty, resulting in left-channel only audio. Just as well I still kept the VHS tapes after doing this. It might take me a few months to get around to doing them, though, but I have to re-encode them anyway for my own collection if nothing else.
Some of them (the 1990 one in particular, and to a lesser extent, 1991) aren't in particularly great shape, though, with signal interference throughout for most, and some tape wobble on the 1990 one. All of mine have two-channel mono audio, too, I'm pretty sure, as I didn't have a stereo VCR back then. I used BASF tapes for the '92 one onwards; the cheaper brand tapes certainly haven't held up as well. Last edited:
I miss the top 60/top 50 too. I sometimes look at the countdowns that MAX(which i think is on the aforementioned foxtel) does when i'm at the gym and they can often get pretty rubbish.
I could be wrong as you are the master when it comes to these charts,gavin.But i recall that 'Polka Dot Bikini' spent 2 weeks at #1 in the U.K not 3,but as i said i may be wrong and will apologise if so. A big thank you from me for doing this all this year(even though i only started following around mid year)It's been fascinating reading about the hits and misses from a year where i was very heavily into the charts.
And it's quick apology time as you're right,it was three weeks lol Last edited:
While i do like the 'Love Will Never Do Without You' video to me it's another of the so so singles from janet. The song just doesn't have enough bite,it's a little dull. Janet does ballads quite well 'Let's Wait A While' being one of em.
Been waiting for 1991, along with 1990, my two favourite years of music!
Janet's 'Love Will Never Do' is probably one of my all time favourites of hers, but all singles from Rhythm Nation were/are classics (except maybe State of the World). I still think she could have released The Knowledge as a 9th single and it would have charted.
It's a pity Dannii was all but ignored on the Australian charts after Love + Kisses and up until This Is It, I Don't Wanna Take This Pain I agree is one of her best of the early years.
I agree with Bretticus that 1990 and 1991 are two of my favourites in terms of music.
It was around this time 25 years back I would start to get up early on a Saturday morning to watch Rage.
This is the version of Throw Your Arms Around Me I Love. I have been looking for it on ITunes but always get other versions. This is the version on the Wiggle n Sweat compilation.
I like Love Will Never DO Without You. Would rank in Janet's top 10.
Agree with Bretticus, Janet's 'Love will Never Do' was definitely a favourite of mine at the time of release, and is still now. I liked that the single version was different to the album version. Most of the other singles were excellent, and it was disappointing that 'Rhythm Nation' single and 'It's Alright' single didn't really chart here in Australia. The reworked single versions and remixes are excellent.
On the chart that I have it doesn't have the Cliiff Richard entry but everything else is correct. At #97 is The Traveling Wilburys with 'She's My Baby' down from #86.
Also just noticed that some of the numbers are like this 100, would they be guestiments? Last edited:
I'm pretty sure 'Alright' wasn't actually released as a single in Australia until 1996. Though I think the video aired during a 1993 rage Janet Jackson special.
Beanster Barnes, Cliff Richard was definitely #97 that week - it was in a thread on something else (I think the ARIA EOY charts from the 90s, maybe) recently. Yes, those Italic numbers are guestimates. I went through my version of that document to correct all of those guestimates, and something like less than 20% of them were right.
Re Throw Your Arms... - I'm surprised Collected Works isn't on iTunes. And I'm also surprised the recent Anthology release doesn't include both versions, especially since the 1990 recording performed better.
Re Janet - I probably should've mentioned that Alright and Come Back To Me were skipped over in favour of other singles here. I might amend the post. Glad those in favour of Love Will Never Do outnumber the ambivalent among us.
The 1990 'Throw Your Arms Around Me' seems all but erased from history. I never heard it when I listened to Triple J in the mid/late 90's, and rage never air it - always opting for the 1986 video instead.
I have a copy on Wiggle n Sweat 91 but it is pretty scratchy. Maybe I will buy another copy from Ebay seeing as I am after that one particular version of the song.
I wonder why that Hunters & Collectors album is missing from ITunes.
I got the spreadsheet from someone on here. When I say "my" spreadsheet, I mean "my copy of it". Easier than flipping through physical printouts all the time.
I did have Collected Works but got rid of it when Crucible came out since it had the early 90s singles like Holy Grail on it too.
K8, I just realised I still have the Collected Works version in my iTunes since I didn't rip the Crucible version when I switched CDs. Send me your email address in a memo and I can email you the MP3.
Well i've decided that 1991 will be the year I start re-visiting my personal charts (Even though I don't have any information on hand until mid '96 and even then it's scratchy till the start of '98 ). Your probly asking why not start back in '88 to sync with this site or better still start last year? TBH my knowledge on everything obscure pre '91 is really sketchy and my memory failed me way too many times in the last 2 and a bit years following GavinScott and his magical time machine
As for this weeks new entries, the Cliff Richard track is nothing new for him and is bland and unforgettable.
I actually enjoy the UB40 track, disappointed it didn't crack the TOP 50 here in Aus.
From Out Of Nowhere still sounds very dated to me, it sounded that way when I first heard it and is not a favorite of mine from their back catalogue.
Dannii still didn't do anything for me at this point so this one didn't surprise me.
Never heard the Boxcar track till tonight and it's pretty cool on first listen.
LOVED That Ain't Bad. used to own that EP but for some stupid reason I offloaded it a few years back on Ebay
Throw Your Arms Around Me has grown on me immensely over recent years and for a long time I really didn't get what the fuss was in this track. I remember first stumbling upon it during the 1998 BEST OF ALL TIME on RAGE and thinking, really? Now I personally regard up their as one of their best behind When The River Runs Dry.
As you all probly know N.W.A. have been prominent on our charts in the past 12 months or so, so i've been revisiting a lot of their back catalogue aswell. 100 Miles & Runnin' still doesn't do anything for me and it's really disappointing that they have really no chart success here in Australia because they do have some great tracks.
After Black Cat, Love Will Never Do (Without You is Janet's second best from the album and that sexy vibe with the killer video makes it even more irresistible.
Hippychick is pretty cool with the sample but apart from that it's got nothing going for it.
Had a look at your chart beanie,and it made me think how under rated a musician jenny morris was back then. She had a great voice. Even though this was the time when i was watching rage regularly i've never in my life heard of 'Miracle' by jon bon jovi.
I love how you can identify which songs you really love or really hate. clearly Show Me Heaven isn't a song you are a fan of so I imagine it will be #13 again next week.
Freedom 90, Fantasy, I've Been Thinking About You, Little Darling and Anything Is Possible.
Plus, top 50 misses from Debbie Gibson (another Anything Is Possible), Public Enemy (again), New Kids On The Block, James Ingram, Aztec Camera, Stray Cats and Steve Winwood.
That new kids song is as you say pretty bad. Practically dripping with more cheese than a toasted cheese sandwich,but they were riding off some pretty big success. The self imposed exile george michael had from his clips i don't think lasted long which kinda makes his decision to seem a bit pointless. It would take i think until 1994 for public enemy to crack the top 50 again. Thinking on the clues for next weeks chart,the martha wash controversy makes me think C + C Music Factory as they were around this time. Thanks,as always Gavin.Love reading these rundowns!
Up until today I had no idea that the Steve Winwood track charted I still hear it on AM radio quite often and is a great track.
Never was fussed with Stray Cats and Cross Of Love is no exception.
Good Mornin' Britain is a bit of a struggle to sit through, as is i Don't Have The Heart.
I liked Debbie's newy more than Icehouse's
The Public Enemy track is pretty cool as was most of their releases around this era
New Kids really never captured me anyway and as i've said before their sound and songs all sound dated and tired imo.
I still enjoy Little Darling by Jimmy as I don't hear it much anymore.
Classic! is I've Been Thinking About You who doesn't love this track?
I do enjoy Freedom but only whilst enjoying the fabulous video as when I hear it occasionally on radio I get the Robbie Williams version in my head, which I hate!
Unfortunately except for Ride On Time I never warmed to Black Box.
My PERSONAL CHART for this week in 1991 is below, enjoy
I too prefer the original/UK video for the Londonbeat track. Despite it's cheapness, it's much more interesting than the US one (which also aired here in the rage top 50/60 during the latter part of its chart run).
I barely remember Steve Winwood's 'One And Only Man'. It obviously wasn't picked up much on Aussie radio stations, maybe a couple of particular ones. George Michael must have been struggling with the stardom by this time. Too many public appearances would have become draining. Fortunately, his music was still good and there was more to come later in the '90s. The NKOTB track is literally quite forgettable. Yes, Icehouse were fading by this time It was their last 'current hit' ARIA Top 50 singles appearance ... but I didn't find 'Anything Is Possible' all that exciting either (just a little catchy). Better than Debbie's though and I was quite a DG fan back then. Will have to check out that other Londonbeat video to remind myself of its existence.
@Beanster - I find George's original way too overpowering compared to Robbie's later cover which I barely remember and haven't heard in ages. So that hasn't tarnished it for me. I wouldn't say I like Warrant's 'Cherry Pie' as much as you but it is ok and was about right for it's time before rock started fading from the mainstream. Yes, 'Miracle' is great and I have fond memories of friends playing it in the car. in fact the 'Young Guns II' album went on high rotation there for a few weeks. I'm glad to see 'Always And Ever', 'Disappear', Janet Jackson and George Michael charting better than average for you.
Score 1 nerd music point to me for guessing C + C Music Factory from one of the clues Martha Wash was certainly the flavour of the day back then,but that said she has a great voice. I saw 'Gonna Make You Sweat' on one of those foxtel music channels and it made no real impact on me now as it did then
Wasn't really familiar with the track by Breathe so no biggie it didn't do great things here.
I too am surprised Knockin' Boots didn't do better here as with Wash Your Face In My Sink, really think both could've done big things with proper radio backing.
It was always gonna be hard for me to take Deee-Lite seriously as I find Groove Is In The Heart a really tacky novelty song, it's probly the most played song from this era on RAGE imo. So linking any sort of follow up was gonna be a hard stretch and unfortunately for them it's all forgettable to me.
Like last week with Londonbeat's entry who in the world doesn't know this jam by C + C Music Factory? I would think Things That Make You Go Hmmm would be a more well known track but Gonna Make You Sweat just screams JAM!!! to me and is still enjoyable today.
Well we know why TTMYGH was so popular as it was sort-of used in an advertising campaign for a well known fast food business.Of the two i prefer GMYS. Surprised me that nothing exercise related used 'Gonna Make You Sweat'
Funny you mention exercise Jess77, two things come to mind with that song. Firstly Aerobics Oz Style was using it in their promo's in the mid 90's and I distinctly remember Gladiator also used it on their promo one year. Last edited:
Being Boring is an aptly named title for the track but it's probly a stand out for me from this era, surprised it didn't do better on the charts.
Tony! Toni! Toné! debut isn't something I remember and I wasn't expecting it to be so repetitive and weak in comparison to their big hit If I had No Loot!.
After The Rain is really MOR fodder and an attempt to sound serious which unfortunately for them bombed and rightly so.
Out of all the hard electronic acts that came from this era I really liked a lot of The KLF's stuff and What Time Is Love? is no exception.
Movies to me doesn't sound like a single and is probly an afterthought? It's a nice track and all but I never knew it was released or even charted until today Loved the album it comes from and know the track well so chuffed it did
For years I've been chasing a Cure clip with them performing underwater in an aquarium situation and now i've found out what it was (thanks GavinScott ). The track it's self in original form is a classic but this was pointless.
Never got anything out of Woman's Gotta Have It in all honesty.
Giving You The Benefit is decent enough to be a TOP 20 hit in this era, wonder what went wrong? Lack of exposure i'm assuming...
Stephen Cummings I'm not familiar with so this track is very obscure to me so i'll pass on judgement on this one and won't be so harsh. It's ok but I wouldn't lose any sleep if I didn't hear it again.
I hated Doin' The Do so I wasn't expecting to like the follow up which is a really cute and poppy delight I still enjoy today.
Hahahaha Do The Bartman, it really is a bit of harmless fun but it really is a horrible #1 meaning their are worse, it just doesn't scream #1.
I was first exposed to 'being boring' on their discography greatest hits album and it didn't do much for me at first but over the years it's become one of my favourites. Does anyone know if it's dusty springfield doing backing vocals on that track? I've thought it was for years,but have found nothing in searches to suggest that was the case.
Also related to last week's chart it looks like Freedom Williams and a host of other 90's acts are touring australia soon
I'll join the consensus I am reading here that Pet Shop Boys' 'Being Boring' has been a slow improver. I also think I first heard it on their greatest hit album. I would not have been aware of The KLF at this early stage (except the knowledge of 'Doctorin' The Tardis' released by The Timelords in 1988, of course). I found the original of 'What Time Is Love?' to be quite ordinary.
lol, I hadn't seen the video of 'Close To Me (Remix)' before.
On 'Do The Bartman', it would probably have to be described as iconic today, but it's not a typical icon
Beanster, you should check out some of Stephen Cummings back catalogue, there are a few goodies there in the early/mid '80s, but not blockbusters by any means. You may remember the chorus of 'Gymnasium'. Certainly The Sports have a few good songs beyond 'Who Listens To The Radio'. By the way, I agree with 'Where Are You Baby?' being better than 'Doin' The Do' 'Home' is a superb album from Hothouse Flowers, so expect some chart action from there for me soon.
@ your chart Beanster - good to see 'I'll Be Your Baby Tonight' get a turn at #1. On a recent listen, it is better than I remembered. So long since I'd previously heard it. I observe that you like 'Thunderstruck' significantly better than 'Moneytalks'. Only 'Moneytalks' made the Billboard Top 40, so I'm not sure how that happened. Actually I now see 'Moneytalks' is their highest ever USA charter at #23 (as Gavin mentioned on the blog a few weeks back)
Wow you were fired up this week,Gavin! You are 100% right about warrant though. Don't try and pull the wool over people's eyes when you release a song like 'Cherry Pie' and then try and establish yourselves as a group that can write powerful rock music. Sisters of mercy were quite successful in the UK and two of the members left to form The Mission in 1986,and i don't know that the SoM ever reformed with the original line up. NKOTB were fooling no-one. This was the beginning of a steep decline for them.
I enjoy The Sisters Of Mercy a lot but More has really done nothing for me over the years but i'm glad they at least visited our charts finally!
Lock It is a very tired and boring attempt at being clever, like most of their material.
I also agree on Warrant, there was no way the buying public was going to fall for that and a majority of the time since it's been relatively the same with that kind of set up. EVERY rock band goes through this stage, strange ain't it! I Saw Red isn't the worst thing but it's much to be desired and even though it sounds nothing like a famous Split Enz song it lacks it's atmosphere.
I know i've said in the past that NKOTB sounds dated... Well imo i've always liked Games and tbh is probly my favorite.
I also understand why Wiggle It was so popular but i'd like to think if it were released a couple of years later (say '94) or now it'd hopefully bomb. It's not horrible, it's just corny and icky.
'Games' is not really as I remember it and I did struggle to enjoy it on my listen just before. 'More' must have been forgettable for me too. I'm really not familiar with The Sisters Of Mercy's discography. 'Wiggle It' however was fun, even if dated now.
@Beanster - nice to see Janet Jackson and Ratcat going strong. Deee-Lite's 'Power Of Love' would have to be the most forgettable song for me on that chart.
I am not a Rod Stewart fan at all but I don't mind It Takes Two. 1991 was a decent year for him. I am surprised It Takes Two wasn't a bigger hit as it is pretty catchy and memorable and I would even call it a classic. I remember at the time it was always on the radio.
Wow! That Rocky track is rather cheesy ain't it, although i'm not familiar with it I do recognize it from somewhere else and it has been bugging me all week.
After 7 only had the one 'decent' track imo, which was their hit here Til You Do Me Right.
The Monie Love track doesn't interest me be but the follow up did
It still surprises me the lack of chart success Whitney had here before The Bodyguard soundtrack. Or should I say chart flops?
Been recently discovering or re-discovering (depends on which way you look at it) Queen's back catalog recently and this era really doesn't do much for me at all. Nor does the self titled lead single.
Big miss for me was Heart Of Stone, it'd been done before Taylor.
I also agree with It Takes two being more 'classic' than first thought and I still hear it regularly on AM radio here. On a side note I really dislike Tina's vocal here.
I am a rod stewart fan,and i don't think the song was one of his best but it's alright. Of course the song was used again much later in the reality tv 'dancing with the stars' clone that i think seven also did also called 'It takes two'. The song would have helped rod's profile in australia as he did have a couple more hits in the 90's that he may not have had before his duet.
I think you'll find that Whitney had lots of success before The Bodyguard soundtrack. I'm looking at her singles from 1985 to 1992 and she was certainly successful. Not all reached the top 50, but it certainly wasn't 'a lack of chart success' as you say.
^ 'Love Will Save the Day' peaked at #84 and 'One Moment In Time' peaked at #53 on the ARIA chart. The peaks for those two you've listed are AMR peaks.
The thing with Whitney is that while she had 4 big top 10 hits pre-Bodyguard, she had a lot of mid-table singles and a lot of flops, especially compared to that run of #1s in America.
And, only 1 of her 4 big hits was a ballad. Didn't We..., Where Do Broken..., One Moment..., You Give Good Love and All The Man... were all chart disappointments, despite being massive hits in the US and/or UK.
I always thought Australia rarely embraced the slow RnB ballads that were successful in America. Even Mariah had a few chart toppers in the early 90s that were average charters.
Whitney actually did better as an albums artist with her first two albums. The first album spent more than two years on the top 100. The second did more than one year. Both were #1s.
True K8 - a lot of big US ballads under-performed here. And that was true across all genres - pop, R&B, rock. All those Bon Jovi/Warrant/Motley Crue/Poison ballads that were US top 10 hits did much worse here. Of course, Heart's All I Want To Do... was one exception.
Heh heh!! Going by the stats, I think she had better success (higher placed singles) in the 80's than she did latter on. Latter on they weren't quite as high, but there were a few more to choose from. But then maybe I'm simply being nostalgic and remember those songs more fondly!!!
Once the bodyguard faded from people's memories so did Whitney sadly. She's a great artist and sadly missed to this day but i mean look at what she did for the rest of the 90's. She did 'The Preacher's Wife' with denzel washington which i don't recall being a great hit box office wise. And then she changed her music style and there were less and less power ballads like IWALY.
One question for Gavin if i may. How good is your memory when you compile these blogs? When you look at the debuts for the week as you are writing them up do you re-listen to some of the songs to jog your memory or is it mostly crystal clear?
Jesse, it differs from week to week. I tend to re-listen to everything anyway and sometimes it's a case of "what was that sample again?" or "what was the controversy about this song" and sometimes "how have I never heard this song from 1986 before?". But often it's crystal clear.
Weeks ago we had Warrant trying to convince the public that despite 'Cherry Pie' they were a serious rock band who could do rock ballads and still be successful..the public didn't believe them. Now we David Lee Roth,a man who is no stranger to music trying to convince his fans that even though it is 1991 that we are back in 1985 and that the public isn't any smarter when they bought the idea for the video for 'California Girls' back then and he attempts to do it 6 years later. Once again the general public are no fools and it shows in the limited success he had with this single. David Lee Roth is a showman,i get it. He does things that are over the top but no one is gonna buy an idea that had been done 6 years ago and is being used again. We'd seen it before,it was interesting back then for about 5 seconds,we're over it and i think people became over DLR.
Thought I commented on last weeks chart, oh well i'll do a double since it's a quiet one this week
Pop Will Eat Itself were a total waste of time imo, I know they had a huge underground following and their track Can U Dig It? was pretty popular amongst RAGE guest programmers in the early days.
I also agree with your comments about Coming Out Of The Dark, great track in hindsight as I over looked it for many years. Also had no idea about Gloria's situation so thanks for sharing that GavinScott
To this day I still have not heard the Will To Power cover
After all these years I finally got around to hearing A Lil' Ain't Enough and yes I can hear the old stale '85 banter but to me it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.
Absolutely love Because I Love You, has been one of my favorite love song/ballad for as long as i've been interested in pop music.
On the flip side I really think Play That Funky Music (even the original) is terribly immature and stupid, god knows why Vanilla Ice even touched it
Just the 2 debuts in the Top 50. At least they were good ones. That Lee Aaron song is rather forgettable (and I have heard it before). Not much different to other cheesy rock tracks of the era. The second Vanilla Ice track is quite dire now (aged terribly!) but I'll have to give it a minor chart run as I think I didn't mind it too much at the time. 'Burn For You' falling too fast.
@Beanster - Great to see Janet Jackson going well and 'I'm Free' grab a decent new peak. 'All This Time' is travelling well do. I'll have to give it a bump this week. I don't mind the 'I'm Not In Love' remake, but I agree that 'Doin' The Do' had outstayed its welcome by this stage. I also liked 'Because I Love You' quite quickly. From memory I was familiar with the song by this time as I was occasionally listening to the American Top 40 chart on radio where it had already charted strongly.
A huge week - with 9 new entries, including The Horses, Sucker DJ, The Shoop Shoop Song, Operaa House, Miss Freelove 69, Just Another Dream, Here Comes The Hammer, On The Way Up and Bitter Tears.
Plus, top 50 misses from Elton John, Happy Mondays, The Real Milli Vanilli, Margaret Urlich and a charity ensemble cover of Give Peace A Chance.
Big week compared with last weeks but some damn good songs entering the ARIA chart this week in 1991
Up until today I had no idea Guilty People actually charted so it was a pleasant surprise as it was a great album track up until today
I have no recollection of the Give Peace A Chance remake, I do like the original but this was rather blah.
The Milli Vanilli track is terrible, always has been, always will be!
Never got into the whole brit-pop psychedelic scene so Happy Mondays were always going to be hard pressed impressing me seeing The Stone Roses failed previously. Kinky Afro was one of those tracks RAGE played heaps of in the late 90's but never really grabbed me.
You're right about Easier To Walk Away being a mediocre album track, it really is a poor offering and long forgotten in Elton's back catalog (to me anyway).
Yet another INXS track I liked but bombed on the ARIA chart
Really like On The Way Up, would be interesting to hearing what else she came out with because the Prince influence is very strong with this track.
Here Comes The Hammer is an absolute atrocity! It's worse than I remember and is easily his worst charting single for me.
Loved Cathy Dennis when I first got into chart music but after awhile she disappeared, or so I thought. Pity because I really thought she had the stuff to be huge like the Kylie's and Madonna's.
Miss Freelove '69 is easily my favorite Gurus track, loved it from the first time I saw the film clip
It still baffles me even today Australia's obsession with The Horses. Daryl's output at this point in his career imo was sublime, so many other tracks deserved the success this track had. The original is rather icky and tbh it's one of those tracks that sound that way by whoever does it except Daryl, Daryl owned it still does.
My ex loved Mermaids (I have no memory of it other than a very young Christina Ricci) so this one got an absolute flogging from memory. I actually was still consistently playing it quiet regularly around 10 or so years ago, don't as much now but still a joy.
One of my very first introductions to video clips was the track Operaa House. It was a Saturday morning on Video Hits and I remember being transfixed to the screen watching this. The track itself to me doesn't work without the clip.
Sucker DJ was a favorite of mine to play when I was DJing at parties in my teens in the mid 90's, daggy yeah but good times and memories. Always peeved me when I ever heard the edited radio version though
A great time on the charts with plenty of Top 50 debuts. Some were better than others. Also some notable Top 50 misses, such as from Whitney Houston and Gloria Estefan. I don't recall 'Walking On A Wire'.
@Beanster - wow you must have good nostalgia for the 'Do The Bartman' track. Hoping Ratcat will continue to improve. The Soup Dragons are still going strong. I agree to some extent with your comments on 'The Horses'. It is a great track but not my fave of his solo stuff around that time and shouldn't take all the spotlight from the great listens to be had from his 'Edge' and 'Rise' albums. I was quite the Milli Vanilli fan, but yes, that new track from The Real Milli Vanilli did not compare (not even close). The Stone Roses I didn't mind but never really got into any of the Happy Mondays material.
Before Gavin gives us this weeks look back at 1991 i'll give you mine from last
Hard To Handle is such an iconic track in The Black Crowes catalog that it surprises me it failed on the charts, I can only imagine it was exposure because it really is a cool track and fits the period of time really well.
Bat Out Of Hell eh! Such an over rated piece of garbage!
"The things, you say, your purple prose just gives you away, the things, you say, you're unbelievable!" still an awesomely fun track.
JOYRIDE Yes! The moment I instantly fell in love with music video and Roxette, will always be my favorite Roxette track and an instant reminder of this era.
Another icon track but to me doesn't feel as old, or is it just because he really had a scattered discography? Anyway it's still a gem of track. "But we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy"
Rescue Me definitely is one of many 90's tracks that get lost in her vast catalog, it's a not a particularly bad track and does have it's great moments especially post chorus when the rhythm lifts. It just gets looked over unfortunately.
Out of all the Snap! madness Mary Had A Little Boy was a train wreck in my opinion. It had no vibe and was very childish in all honesty.
Better would have to be one of the most recognizable Australian rock tracks of all time and is probly the pinnacle of Screaming Jets career. Personally not my fave of theirs but it's still a great ball tearing rock song.
I have such mixed feelings about 1991. On the one hand it gave us Prince's excellent 'Diamonds and Pearls' album,but on the other hand it was a very much soapie lead chart year. I dread when we get to Melissa (tkautz) and those awful songs she did. Does anyone know when the whole eurodance thing became massive? I know snap had hits as early as 1990,but not till 'Rhythm Is A Dancer' did they become huge. I'm thinking maybe it began to be big in 1991.
I think Eurodance kicked off with the likes of 2 Unlimited followed by Corona and Culture Beat. Eurodance was also big at the time the Colossal megamixes came out which from memory was 1993?
Songs like James Brown Is Dead probably contributed to some hype too.
C + C would have been one of the leading dance acts of 1991. Most dance acts in 1991 where pop infused unless you look at songs like I Wanna Give You Devotion which was a dance gem back in the day.
Does anyone remember in 1991 when Rage didn't show multiple video clips during the weekly top 60 countdown?
Happened for about a month.
Songs which were not played included Better, Wicked Game, Don't Go Now, Just Another Dream, That Ain't Bad and Let's Kiss Like Angels Do.
Once That Ain't Bad left the countdown these songs were played again.
I assume it was a record company thing?
I remember one week where Better, Don't Go Now and That Ain't Bad were consecutively in the top 5 in positions 2, 3 and 4 and weren't shown. The Horses was #1 that week and was shown so I was happy. Last edited:
Vaguely now you mention it,K8. I do seem to recall 'That Ain't Bad' being skipped. Why a tv show that plays the top 60 songs per week would skip much of the top 5 confuses me.
K8, yes that happened on rage in '91. I think it was discussed in another thread here a couple of months ago. The clips affected were mostly, if not all, Polygram artists. The 'Grease Megamix' and Amy Grant 'Baby Baby' videos were also not played, and they were both on Polygram/Polydor too, from memory.
If I remember correctly, the video for 'Don't Go Now' wasn't shown the week it was #1.
Rage reverted back from the top 60 (which they'd been airing since September 1990) to a top 50 this week, due to finishing at 9am instead of 10. This continued until about the second week of June, when the top 60 came back.
I was gutted, as I loved seeing these 'not on the printed ARIA chart' positions, and always found the lower end of the chart more interesting.
These singles all peaked between 51-60 during those months:
Bleeding With the Times
ANGELS
My Side of the Bed
SUSANNA HOFFS
Highwire
ROLLING STONES
All the Man That I Need
WHITNEY HOUSTON
Won't Get You Loved
NICK BARKER & The REPTILES
Never Say Die
JON BON JOVI
High Enough
DAMN YANKEES
One Country
MIDNIGHT OIL
Been Caught Stealing
JANE'S ADDICTION
Mea Culpa (Part 2)
ENIGMA
Deeper Shade of Soul
URBAN DANCE SQUAD
Snap!'s 'Rhythm Is a Dancer' was technically eurobeat, and was the really the first big hit of its kind. The people behind Snap! were quite innovative with bringing new sounds to the charts. Although it wasn't a hit here, their '94 single 'Welcome To Tomorrow' had the sound that Tokyo Ghetto Pussy used 6+ months later.
2 Unlimited was branded 'techno' at the time, and yes LA Style would have been another of the earliest chart crossovers of that genre here.
'Quadrophonia' by Quadrophonia peaked here in the 70's later in '91, and has a 2 Unlimited-esque sound to it, but pre-dates them.
I remember seeing the 'Rhythm Is a Dancer' video on rage just before the top 60, as a new release, on the Queen's birthday (Vic) weekend in '92, and thinking it had a different sound. Given their previous single, 'Colour of Love' flopped, I wasn't expecting it to chart here at all, and was pleasantly surprised when it did. Last edited:
There's a few on this latest blog entry I don't recall and are disappointing.
The Bell Biv DeVoe song isn't bad as such, but will be unmemorable and I'd describe as album-track filler. I'd never heard Scatterbrain's follow-up single. It's quite a mess, very bad cohesion. Maybe the only fun part is to try to identify the different guitar riffs thrown in along the way.
I feel rock songs had to offer something special around this time after the many classics of the preceding years to rate well. 'Bleeding With The Times' and 'Shelter Me' don't live up to that in my opinion. 'Shelter Me' is quite boring and it is songs like these that could be thought to have contributed to the turning tide of rock not having as much mainstream prominence. Rock wasn't dead of course as the Gunners would soon show, and grunge was on its way too near this time. It was just that other genres were clearly taking centre stage.
Rick Astley's different comeback with 'Cry For Help' was a good one, but I did have to adjust to the change at the time. 'Wicked Game' and 'Falling' are welcome debuts even if belated.
Been a bust few weeks for myself so I've got a two week recap to do
From last week:
B.B.D. (I Thought It Was Me)? by Bell Biv DeVoe has always been horrible but I had no idea it charted here.
Down With The Ship (Slight Return) by Scatterbrain is even worse than Don't Call Me Dude is that even possible?
Bleeding With The Times by The Angels is a decent track for them but unfortunately long forgotten in their back catalog.
I'm probly gonna get some hate for saying this, but I love Rick Astley's Cry For Help. It really is a brilliant ballad and so different from his previous chart successes. On ya Rick.
Shelter Me by Cinderella is vile, even if it at the time was endorsed by mr Jon Bon Jovi himself.
Here's a little bit of trivia about myself for ya's, I actually do a pretty good Chris Isaak impersonation and Wicked Game by far my most requested song to sing whenever I do karaoke locally. I've always loved the track anyway so that's just a bonus
Falling by Julee Cruise is one of those tracks that I forget how great it really is and is also one of those tracks that gets lots of exposure then suddenly disappears to return a few years later to remind me how great it is again.
This weeks chart is a pretty non event for me in terms of the tracks outside of the TOP 50, all of them are really tracks that if I never heard them again I wouldn't be bothered. No quality at all in this lot so i'm not gonna waste any more time on them
More Than Words Can Say by Alias, your probly thinking i'm gonna love this track... wrong! It's just your average run of the mill rock track of it's time.
I'm starting to warm to A Better Love and the more I hear it the more i'll like it, unfortunately it gets no exposure after these chart recaps unless I play it randomly.
I really liked Never Let Me Go and really thought it performed better than the poultry #30 on ARIA.
Again it's another miss for me with The Slow Club and Rosalie.
Predictably I loved Hold Me In Your Arms and still is an awesome ballad.
A quiet time for new debuts on that latest chart. The #1 was dodgy but that happens sometimes. 'Falling' continued to surprise me with its high placing and while 'Joyride' was climbing fast, I kind of recall thinking it didn't seem to be rising fast enough. I wouldn't have known how well 'The Horses' would do after its fairly slow climb so far. 'The Total Mix' I'll have to replay as I forget how they assembled that medley. Technotronic's 'Turn It Up' is not one I recall and is very subpar. It's like a promo release. They could never have seriously thought it would light up the charts. On R.E.M. it was surprising in hindsight that 'The One I Love' wasn't a better success chartwise. I do recall it being a fairly regular radio track back in 1987.
Looking at the ARIA chart posted brought back a very specific memory. I remember listening to this chart when it was broadcast on Take 40 Australia and i remember Barry Bissell commenting that EMF's Unbelievable with the 1500th hit to appear,and Total Mix was hit 1501. I love The Total Mix as a song even though i don't like all the songs that are featured. 'Sucker Dj' is a song i'd rather forget as it's just so dated now and i liked it 25 years ago which is embarassing. 1991 is not a good year for me though when roxette reach the top,things get awesome.
I'll probably get in trouble for this,but what puzzles me gavin is what you consider basic and simplistic about 'How To Dance' by Bingoboys. Is it the song,is it the melody,is it the samples,is it the instructional video part? Cause i'm just not comprehending. I'm sure someone who probably understands your mind a lot better than me will comment lol. The thing is dance music at this time was very basic and simplistic. There was no edge to it. Look at songs like 'Gonna Make You Sweat' and 'Ride On Time' to name just a few. Just as simplistic to my (possibly) deaf ears. I'm not criticising you gavin and i apologise if it comes across that way i'm just confused as to what part of that song is simplistic. Please don't feel that you have to justify your opinions,as it's not that i'm questioning
I just find it kind of cheap and tacky with the novelty spoken sample. It's not very sophisticated.
Whereas I think C&C Music Factory and Black Box were a lot more inventive with their records, and their tracks pushed music forward more than Bingo Boys.
But I know, like Heart's "All I Wanna Do..." that people are going to disagree with me - and that's the best part about writing my blog, everyone has different opinions that they're welcome to share in comments etc.
OK i understand more of what you were trying to say now and i like the song (i don't love it) but it might have been a better song without the spoken sample. I was listening to a 1991 uk chart (W/E 6 april) over the weekend and there was a good deal of stuff that never made it successfully here,like james and chesney hawkes in the top 2.
I've never had a problem with the Bingoboys song. The spoken sample in my opinion adds to the song. I've never considered it novelty, perhaps because I've never taken my music that seriously. If anything the spoken bit makes it stand out compared to a lot of dance music at the time, which seemed to come out of europe (You've only got to listen to the Deep Heat compilations which came out of the time to hear the style of music). That particular song is the first song on the Do it Now compilation and it still gets a spin on my mp3 player.
Not a great bunch of "Off The Chart" songs two posts ago. The 2 In A Room song is completely forgettable and surprisingly even Jon Bon Jovi's 'Never Say Die' is too, despite much listening of the album back then. 'Someday' hasn't aged well for me. But wow, with my recent listening of the 1991 hits, I realise how similar that start is to 'Do The Bartman'. 'When Your Love Is Gone' was a surprise high peaker for Jimmy, considering it was a 4th release from the album and also that not even a 3rd released single ever went as high as Top 10 for solo Jimmy before (or Cold Chisel most likely, who only had 2 Top 10 hits in the '80s period). Of the latest post I did like 'How To Dance' and that would be my favourite of all the songs listed in detail there. Fun vibe but not a classic. I agree with 'Here We Go' having an inferior quality about it. The chorus isn't convincing and I'm sure I was enjoying listening to many of the other charters more around that time.
Ah Do It Now. I always thought that was a rather boring compilation. My mum bought it because it had Falling on it and she liked the song and my brother convinced her to buy that CD. I believe that was the last compilation before the 100% series commenced.
1991 had some great compilations. Wiggle n Sweat was my favourite and we also had Take 40 Australia and Yo! Let's Go and I always wanted Here Wo Go but I wasn't allowed that one because my brother wanted Daryl Braithwaites Rise instead so we got that one.
^ Sometimes the 'hits' compilations had to resort to including a lot of non-hits, and I think 'Do It Now' was one of those. Although I generally prefer non-hits, so that was fine with me; but I hated how the various artists compilations suddenly stopped having the year in the title around this time.
I can't remember what I bought it for now, but I bought 'Do It Now' on CD on eBay about 10 years ago, presumably to get the single edit of something on it. I didn't know (or had forgotten) The Beautiful South's 'A Little Time' on it, but that was a pleasant surprise I discovered through buying it.
The compilations peaked for me in 1988, when I was 9-10. By 1991 I'd stopped buying them, but resumed doing so again when I got my first CD player later in the year.
Been a very busy few weeks for me so i've been busily updating my '91 database in the past day and so here goes my review of the past 3 weeks
31/03/1991
Turn It Up by Technotronic is rather forgettable and by now I was getting rather tired of their sound.
Mondo Rock and Ross Wilson in particular were laughable by this time and were purely riding on the coat tails of all the other Australian artists doing well in the charts. So it was no surprise I didn't find I Had You In Mind not appealing at all.
Highwire by The Rolling Stones is rather average but the live album it comes from (Flashpoint) was probly my first Stones live experience and I still enjoy it today.
Losing My Religion has been a cult classic on RAGE since it's release but it took me years to realize it's beauty.
Another mega-mix, this time from Black Box and for me it was the worst of the bunch released around this time.
7/4/1991
She's Got Me Going Crazy was pretty cool and I prefered it over the dribble that was Wiggle It.
Meh at Night And Day.
I only discovered Never Say Die was released as a single when I stumbled across this site, so you could imagine my excitement in trying to find more stuff on the track. My efforts were fruitless, NO video was ever made and from what i'm seeing on trade sites like EBAY & Discogs. There must've been only a limited amount of copies made because a 2 track cardboard sleeve CD retails for over $60. The track itself is good but far from the best off Blaze Of Glory.
Someday was a step down from here previous releases for me.
Absolutely love When Your Love Is Gone. up there as one of his best ever releases.
14/04/1991
Call It Poison is ok but nothing special.
Come Back To Me was always going to struggle this late as a release and in my mind was a poor choice for a single.
I still struggle with politically bland Midnight Oil, I like rocking angsty Midnight Oil more aka Beds Are Burning. One Country is ok but like Janet it's release was rather pointless.
I enjoyed Damn Yankees and would've liked for them to of done better on the charts. But I guess your right, we were moving away from that 80's hard rock sound.
Won't Get You Loved like most of their material i've heard is rather bland, rock for bogans me thinks.
While your at it you can throw the Choirboys in the same group (though I still enjoy their two big hits Run To Paradise, Boys Will Be Boys). Rendezvous is rather blah in comparison.
Junior Tucker was indeed hanging around, following your weekly it felt as it would never make the 50. Thankfully it did as I like the original immensely, this doesn't do it any harm I just don't like it's style as much.
I like How To Dance but I can understand it's simplicity. To me it was something different to just being a tiring house hit and I can appreciate that.
Megabass is just a total mess but not the worst of those big mash ups that have been released over the years.
Here We Go is awesome in my opinion and probly behind Things That Make You Go Hmmm as their best.
Going back to something you've said before,gavin. You mention how you don't like 'All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You' by Heart,well i watched an interview with the wilson sisters last night and Ann Wilson doesn't like it either so you're in good company ;-)
Where Is The Love had been and gone from number 1 by the time Shut Up made the top 10.
Same with BBP and IGF.
The situation with Ratcat was that neither Tingles nor Don't Go Now had yet reached number 1 but both were in the top 10 simultaneously before that happened.
Perhaps it's a one-off since Tingles was unusual in that it took so long to actually get to number 1.
Thankfully the atrocity that was the Night Fever Megamix never made an impact on out charts. That megamix alone put me off them forever as it brings back bad memories of my first year of high school, it used to get flogged in Drama.
I must admit I do enjoy a big ballad from Celine Dion and Where Does My Heart Beat Now is no exception.
Another surprising flop from Farnsey, thought In Days To Come was again a great offering to commercial radio. Heard it a fair bit up until the mid 00's but not so much now.
In my review for Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do) I stated that it reminded me of ex North Sydney and QLD rugby league Les Kiss. I still have a chuckle and sing the line 'Les Kiss' instead of.
Divinyls I thought were really unlucky in their chart life and Love School is another example, shits all over I Fuck Myself.
Recently been hearing a LOT of Simple Minds and liking a LOT at the same time. To me Let There Be Love sounds very dated for this era but it's still another chart gem for them.
I never got the fuss over The KLF until I heard and saw 3am Eternal! What A Jam! Easily their best work!
Hold You Tight was a song I was only familiar with by listening to the American TOP 40 with Rick Dees (I Think?). Good to see it charted, at least. And to hear it again after all these years.
Another song I thought should've been bigger than it obviously was. The Beautiful South do have a cult following but i'm unfamiliar with them in general. A Little Time however is probly their most known track being a former UK #1.
I sometimes cringe that Ice-T has so many TOP 100 entries because by himself he just doesn't do much for me. New Jack Hustle is just an example of this.
Hummingbirds are boring
Been Caught Stealing still gets flogged on music television because of that iconic video. The song itself is mediocre imo.
Chantoozies' cover of Love The One You're With is pretty good considering their previous efforts for me. I still do prefer the original though.
Sorry but I like crooning Rod Stewart and liked Rhythm Of My Heart.
Don't Go Now was still getting flogged well into the 00's, don't hear much these days. I still think (but am undecided depending on mood) I like That Ain't Bad more. But I think it's only because I still hear that a lot more than this. It's a cool track but the video still shits me, wished they'd put more effort into that and made it more memorable.
I'm fairly certain I knew of Tara Kemp's 'Hold You Tight' originally from the American Top 40 radio show as well. It is the 2nd best of the two songs from her I know well. 'A Little Time' sounds ok but is not as memorable as it could be. I don't know Ice-T's back catalogue so well but 'New Jack Hustler' has a reasonable groove to it. It sounds right for early '90s. I liked some of the 1989-90 releases from The Hummingbirds. Unfortunately 'If A Vow' didn't deliver any catchy hooks for me. 'Been Caught Stealing' has slight fun elements but is kind of annoying to be honest. It is not one I took much attention of back then. 'Love The One You're With' was a last-time good comeback for The Chantoozies, showing off a happy vibe. Then and now I'm not overly familiar with the original. I wasn't aware of that recent cover of 'Baby It's You'. They should have left that one alone.
'Rhythm Of My Heart' is good. I don't think I was aware it was a cover? I would have preferred that at #1 to the Grease Megamix. The movie Grease was great but the times between views are much longer (by choice) for me these days. 'This Is Ponderous' blows. But it is a good example of how nearly anything can be a hit. 'I’ll Be By Your Side' sounds like a nice song from Stevie B, but unfortunately is not that memorable. Monie Love & Adeva's 'Ring My Bell' is another that I struggle to remember by sound. I couldn't even remember it has a beat nearly identical with 'Vogue'. There were plenty of better raps featured in hip hop songs around that time. Pet Shop Boys' 'Where The Streets Have No Name (Can't Take My Eyes Off You)' is sublime. A great flashback!
@Beanster - Quite nice to see 'Hold Me In Your Arms' having a very strong run for you. 'Cry For Help' is highly regarded for you too I see. 'Wicked Game' is also performing well and 'Losing My Religion' seems to be making early gains. They're both songs that took a while to grow on me. I like those releases from The Black Sorrows and Alias too, but they're being kept at bay on my retro chart due to too many quality releases at that time.
I think I would rule on the side of Michael Bolton in that case, the verdict and amount of money awarded does seem a bit unjust. "Love is a wonderful thing" would be a fairly common expression to any teenage romantic poetry writer, doesn't necessarily mean you copied it from a decades old song that wasn't even a hit single. Nice song though.
Read My Lips, Love Rears Its Ugly Head, Chocolate Cake, Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey), Shiny Happy People, Touch Me (All Night Long), Always On The Run, Right Here Right Now and 1000 Miles Away all debut.
More Than Words, You Could Be Mine, People Are Still Having Sex, Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless), (I Wanna Give You) Devotion, Treaty, It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over and Love And Understanding all debut.
Plus top 50 misses from Janet Jackson, Betty Boo and The Twins.
Wow I never knew Troy Newman charted on Billboard. Where did he peak?
I also didn't know he passed away.
I always loved his song.
A lot of these songs were quite under-rated. Jo Beth, Cebrano, Rhythm Syndicate, Amy Grant, Troy Newman and a future Craig McLachlan song to name a few.
^ Still, that's pretty good for an Aussie 'one-hit wonder' (although he doesn't technically meet Gavin's definition of that) whose sole 'hit' peaked in the 20's.
Funny how mammoth Aussie hits that were out in the same year (3 of which were in the top ten best sellers of 1991) failed to chart on Billboard yet Love Gets Rough and Higher Than Hope both did and failed to even crack the Aussie top 20. Last edited:
Some of the "misses" are really good too - I like that Transvision Vamp song, and the Seal and James Reyne songs are underrated imo. Richard Pleasance is... pleasant.
Set Adrift On Memory Bliss, Love Sick, Something Got Me Started, Sometimes It's A Bitch, Hole Hearted, Nutbush City Limits (90s Version) and Give It Away debut.
Plus, top 50 misses from Bonnie Raitt, Erasure, Public Enemy and AC/DC.
Oh wow, I forgot about the Tin Lids. They did well to crack the top 40 with such a dreadful song. Chorus is decent enough.
C & C's hit was decent. I remember it being in the Sister Act movie.
Mysterious Ways is a great track. Shame it didn't chart longer.
I found Live and let die a boring song.
I remember having to sing Saltwater at school for the choral festival which was an annual event all year 5 and 6 students in the community had to take part in. Schools were getting behind the message back then. I always found the video odd and was surprised it only ended up #14 in the 1992 year end and wasnt higher.
It's pretty funny seeing I Wanna Sex You Up censored back then and much worse songs in later years not censored at all (Eamon and Frankee in particular come to mind).
Video Hits used to play I Wanna Sex You Up where Rage censored it. I can't remember if it was the same for I Touch Myself?
Also does anyone have the Video Hits year end for 1991?
I asked this after Gavin posted the 1990 year end last year so will ask it again this year.
How many artists in the 1991 top 100 year end have passed away?
Natalie Cole & Nat King Cole (who had already passed away in 1991) Divinyls (lead singer) The KLF (the male singer) Yothu Yindi (lead singer) Michael Jackson The Righteous Brothers (one of the singers) Heavy D Robert Palmer Prince PM Dawn
From memory the lead singer from Warrant passed away but I am not 100% sure on that one?
K8, rage never aired 'I Touch Myself' when it was in the top 60. Now they air it on a Saturday morning without any qualms. The same has happened with 'I Wanna Sex You Up'.
And yes, Jani Lane from Warrant died in 2011.
One of EMF (Zac, the bass player) died a couple of years ago, too. edit - yes, it was him, and it was in 2002.
And Malcolm McLaren, who was behind the World Famous Supreme Team Show.
I don't have Video Hits' end of 1991 chart, but if you meant more generally the Australian Music Report end of year chart, the top 25 is published in David Kent's 1970-1992 book (the yellow one). Surprisingly, 'Grease Megamix' topped the AMR end of year chart, but then David Kent's end of year charts were based on chart runs/a points system rather than actual sales. Bryan Adams (who is only #3 on the AMR chart!) clearly outsold it. Last edited:
I could've used the break between chart flashbacks to have a break from blogging. Instead, I've compiled a list of all the number 2 hits on the Australian chart from the 80s.
Remember The Time, Black Or White (C&C remix), Tip Of My Tongue, Diamonds And Pearls, I Can't Dance, Do You Feel Like I Feel? and Once Bitten Twice Shy debut.
Plus, top 50 misses from Cathy Dennis, Latin Alliance, James Reyne and Ned's Atomic Dustbin.
Jump, I Can Feel It, Cry, Friday I'm In Love, Remedy, Even Flow and Innocence debut.
Plus, top 50 misses from Billy Bragg, Tall Tales & True, Metallica, Nathan Cavaleri, Crash Test Dummies, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, The Hummingbirds, Tommy Emmanuel and Scatterbrain.
ABBA-esque, Please Don't Go, I'll Be There, Heaven Knows, Heaven Sent, Midlife Crisis, The Disappointed, You Won't See Me Cry and Always The Last To Know debut.
Plus, top 50 misses from Kylie Minogue (!), The B-52's and Annie Lennox.
I am currently watching a top 20 countdown on Max called this week in 1992.
So far.
#20. Fathers Day #19. Smells Like Nirvana #18. Midlife Crisis #17. Please Don't Go #16. Mistadobalina #15. Djapana (not the film clip I remember. They are in snow) #14. Man Alive #13. Take A Chance On Me #12. Remedy #11. To Be With You
Max seems to play iconic songs or iconic artists so don't expect to see Twilight Zone, I can Feel It or Cry in the top 10.
That Word, Ordinary Angels and Take It From Me will all make it as they are often played on Max. I expect Under The Bridge and Jump in the top 10 too. Possibly Hazard, Too Funky, Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover and Save The Best for Last also to make the top 10. Last edited:
I predict the top 10 songs based on what I have seen played on Max previously. INXS' inclusion is no surprise as they seem to play iconic songs, artists or big aussie songs. Mistadobolina might scratch your heads as it doesn't really tick any box but Max plays this regularly especially in 90s countdowns.
#10. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover #9. Heaven Sent #8. Heaven Knows #7. Even Better Than The Real Thing #6. Take It From Me #5. Ordinary Angels #4. Too Funky Last edited:
The top 3 should be consistent with the ARIA top 3. Surprised no That Word or Under The Bridge as they get regular plays on Max.
Last week they had the 1990 countdown and they played Opposites Attract which wasn't even in the top 20 and made me think they would play Under The Bridge for sure.
#3. Hazard #2. Save The Best For Last #1. Jump Last edited:
Rhythm Is A Dancer, Jam, Life Is A Highway, Everything's Alright, Warm It Up, Girl's Life, Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg, My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It), Knockin' On Heaven's Door and Four Seasons In One Day debut.
Plus, top 50 misses from Nirvana, The Dukes, Sonic Youth and Craig McLachlan.
White Men Can't Jump, Digging In The Dirt, Success Has Made A Failure Of Our Home, Without You, Lead Me To Water, Who Is It, Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad and Don't You Want Me debut.
I did this after both the 1990 and 1991 year ends and I don't claim to know them all but a mention of those who made the top 100 year end chart and have since passed away. This one seems like a longer one compared to previous years.
#12. Kris Kross (one of the members) #17. Whitney Houston #19 & #57. George Michael #24, #51 & #73. Euphoria (one of the female members) #30. Charles & Eddie (Charles) #39. The KLF featuring Tammy Wynette (rapper Ricardo Da Force and featured artist Tammy Wynette) #46. Nirvana (lead singer Kurt Cobain) #49. The Wonder Stuff (a few members have passed away) #53, #77, #80 & #83. Michael Jackson #58. Yothu Yindi (lead singer) #59. Queen (lead singer Freddie Mercury) #63, #82 & #85. Prince #90. Felix (female vocalist) #98. Cilvilles & Cole (member Cole)
I haven't yet looked at the '92 end of year chart again to check, but one I know off the top of my head you've missed is Holly Garnett from Euphoria (the blonde one) (#24, #51, #73). She took her own life in 1998.
I wasn't aware that any Wonder Stuff members had died though
edit - OK I'm looking now. Does James Brown actually being dead now (#61) count?
The then-drummer from Kiss, Eric Carr, died in 1991, before 'God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You II' was a hit here, funnily enough (though he appears in the video), of heart cancer (!), the same day as Freddie Mercury.
While not a part of 'Felix', the singer of the female vocals sampled for 'Don't You Want Me' (#90), from Jomanda, died circa 2003 from memory. Last edited:
^ K8, her suicide was reportedly (well, according to sources cited on the Euphoria (Australian band) wikipedia page) at least partly due to her brother's incarceration in a Thai prison for drug smuggling. He spent over 20 years behind bars and holds the record (according to a Banged Up Abroad episode on his story I saw a few months back) for the Australian who has spent the most time in prison overseas. Holly wasn't mentioned in the episode, though.
At least two of The Wonder Stuff have died, I skim-read on wikipedia after seeing your post last night.
Interestingly, the original drummer of KISS (Eric Carr replaced him) has also dealt with a rare-ish cancer - male breast cancer. But he has survived.
Thanks for the info. I have updated the above list not including Kiss. Was Eric Carr the drummer for God Gave Rock n Roll to you or was he replaced before the song came out do you know?
Also was Euphoria ever parodied on Fast Forward or The Late Show? They seem like they could have been an easy target to be made fun of much like Frente? For some reason Fast Forward parodies that I remember well are the 1990/1991 ones and the Late Show ones are the 1993 ones pretty much. 1992 is a bit of a blur but I do remember Prince, Teen Queens, Jimmy/Tina and Sarah Brightman/Jose on Fast Forward but not much else from 1992.
Eric was the drummer for 'God Gave...'. He also appears in the video, which was filmed in July 1991; virtually a year before it became a hit here! He died 4 months later. He's wearing a wig in the video. I don't even remember his death being mentioned here at the time; though I'm not a Kiss fan.
I agree that Euphoria would have made great fodder for parody; if it's possible to look more ridiculous than they did in the 'One In a Million' video (those dresses! ). I'm thinking they could have done a good job of 'Love You Right' with the lip syncing and all the pouting and gyrating model extras.
'92 is also a bit of a blur for me when it comes to Fast Forward parodies, though I don't even remember watching it that year. I assume the great ABBA one they did for 'Mamma Mia' ("ABBA's Here") is from '92, or early '93, as it's all about their 'comeback'. It's on YouTube if you haven't seen it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR80tnIz5r4
As a side note, speaking of parodies, I wish the Full Frontal parody for Whigfield's 'Sexy Eyes' was on YouTube. I believe it's from a 1997 episode that has been blocked (someone has uploaded full episodes, but some are missing). I remember it going "goo goo ga ga" for the 'ooh ooh ah ah sexy eyes' bit, and I think it also had "making songs is a piece of piss" and "you sing the words you learnt when you were three". It also ended with a rubbish truck dumping the woman playing her in a bin Last edited:
It still amazes me to this day that Gangsta wasn't a bigger hit in the US and was bigger in Oz. More so because they were a known group from the early 90's in America.
I remember it came in at #44 in the Video Hits 1993 Year End Countdown. Speaking of the 1993 Year End Video Hits played #60 to #31 on the Saturday and displayed the numbers each song ranked and on the Sunday counted down from #30 to #1 However, they must have stuffed up as they played more than 30 songs which were in the ARIA top 60 Year End and they only displayed the song title and artist and no number for every song they played on the Sunday. I remember at the time writing down every song that was played and writing its position and there was definitely more than 30 songs from 1993. Does anyone else remember this? Sonia Dada was the last song they played so I assume that came in at #1 but I had already got to #1 so he got no number. Last edited:
Mrs Robinson, Are You Gonna Go My Way, In The Still Of The Nite (I'll Remember), Stand Up, Daddy's Gonna Make You A Star and Wherever I May Roam debut.
Plus, top 50 misses from Def FX, The Black Sorrows and Alice In Chains.
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I did this after both the 1990 to 1992 year ends and I don't claim to know them all but a mention of those who made the top 100 year end chart and have since passed away. This one seems like a longer one compared to previous years.
#2 & #61. Whitney Houston #14. The Four Seasons (I don't know how to define this group but I recall at least one member had passed away at the time of release) #32. Michael Jackson #35. Urban Cookie Collective (lead singer) #73. Charles & Eddie (Charles) #79. AC/DC (band member) #85. Blind Melon (lead singer) #99. PM Dawn
'93 had a more unknown list of artists so there could be more but these are the ones I know of. Not as many as '92. If there are more please share.
The Power Of Love (by Beverly), I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind Of Thing, Time, Is There Any Love In Your Heart, Nails In My Feet, Relight My Fire and Open Up debut.
Plus, top 50 misses from Robin S, Frente!, Paul Kelly, Ice-T, Teenage Fanclub, Funky Poets and Bjork & David Arnold.
Closer, Secret, Eighteen Strings, Walkaway Lover, I Miss You, (I Could Only) Whisper Your Name, Yesterday, When I was Mad and Compliments On Your Kiss debut.
Plus, top 50 misses from Roxette, Green Day, 2 Unlimited and The Truth
Total Eclipse Of The Heart, Pure Massacre, Soul Feeling, Run To You, Out Of Tears and Supernova debut.
Plus, top 50 misses from Midnight Oil et al, Sister Bliss with Colette, R.E.M., James Reyne, Died Pretty, Ween, Technotronic, Baby D and Wendy Matthews.