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Forum - General: Forum Games - The New ARIA Logo (Part 2)

The glow effect really reminds me of Kim Petras' artwork and I hope ARIA follow suit and make many different coloured versions of it.
Previous:

PartRoundsTimespanLink
11-35Jun 1988 - Oct 1990https://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=58296

Based on and named after a game run here in 2011-12 (link in part 1), this is a rollover game going through every ARIA top 20 hit from 1988 onwards. Each round, there are 10 songs in play, from which you vote your favourite 5. The 3 songs that get the most points survive, and the rest are eliminated - and replaced with the next top 20 hits chronologically. If a song survives 3 rounds, it gets inducted into the Hall of Fame. Rounds are open for 2 days each, with new ones posted by me or Hijinx around 7-9pm AEDT.

Thread for results tables: https://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=58614
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Hall of Fame:

TitleArtistEntryPeakInductedPointsAvgVotes%
Tell It To My HeartTaylor Dayne26/06/881422/12/18109+2.6635/4185%
Fast CarTracy Chapman26/06/88424/12/18156+3.7138/4290%
Better Be Home SoonCrowded House03/07/88224/12/18118+2.8132/4276%
Never Tear Us ApartINXS18/09/881131/12/18148+3.1538/4781%
Push ItSalt-N-Pepa11/09/88331/12/18121+2.5735/4774%
I Want Your LoveTransvision Vamp06/11/88704/01/19112+2.3339/4881%
TeardropsWomack & Womack25/12/88206/01/19131+2.7337/4877%
Orinoco FlowEnya29/01/89610/01/19147+3.0639/4881%
She Drives Me CrazyFine Young Cannibals05/03/89112/01/19128+2.6740/4883%
Like A PrayerMadonna19/03/89114/01/19165+3.4444/4892%
Stop!Sam Brown26/03/89417/01/19132+2.7540/4883%
Eternal FlameBangles23/04/89119/01/19137+2.9141/4787%
Bedroom EyesKate Ceberano21/05/89221/01/19136+2.9638/4683%
I Won't Back DownTom Petty02/07/891623/01/19120+2.6134/4674%
Toy SoldiersMartika24/09/89501/02/19116+2.3739/4980%
If I Could Turn Back TimeCher01/10/89101/02/19115+2.3533/4967%
Miss You MuchJanet Jackson22/10/891205/02/19124+2.4333/5165%
Leave A Light OnBelinda Carlisle03/12/89507/02/19142+2.7845/5188%
Black VelvetAlannah Myles04/02/90311/02/19148+3.0842/4888%
Blue Sky MineMidnight Oil11/02/90811/02/19119+2.4834/4871%
Nothing Compares 2 USinéad O'Connor25/02/90113/02/19160+3.3346/4896%
Summer RainBelinda Carlisle06/05/90617/02/19164+3.3546/4994%
VogueMadonna29/04/90117/02/19142+2.9038/4978%
Infinity (1990's... Time For The Guru)Guru Josh27/05/90419/02/19119+2.4331/4963%
JoeyConcrete Blonde29/07/90225/02/19159+3.0045/5385%
EpicFaith No More29/07/90125/02/19152+2.8742/5379%
Groove Is In The HeartDeee-Lite28/10/90104/03/19160+3.0242/5379%
Black CatJanet Jackson28/10/90604/03/19143+2.7039/5374%
Tom's DinerDNA feat. Suzanne Vega18/11/90806/03/19136+2.5240/5474%
I Touch MyselfDivinyls23/12/90110/03/19147+2.6739/5571%
I've Been Thinking About YouLondonbeat20/01/91110/03/19133+2.4241/5575%
CrazySeal24/03/91916/03/19140+2.6943/5283%
Losing My ReligionR.E.M.05/05/911120/03/19160+2.9644/5481%
3 A.M. EternalThe KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution05/05/91320/03/19149+2.7638/5470%
Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)Roxette09/06/91724/03/19118+2.2335/5366%
Last Train To TrancentralThe KLF23/06/91526/03/19139+2.6239/5374%
TreatyYothu Yindi18/08/911130/03/19152+2.8743/5381%
Enter SandmanMetallica25/08/911030/03/19123+2.3233/5362%
Love...Thy Will Be DoneMartika25/08/91101/04/19127+2.4041/5377%
EmotionsMariah Carey13/10/911105/04/19159+2.9442/5478%
The FlyU203/11/91105/04/19149+2.7640/5474%
Smells Like Teen SpiritNirvana12/01/92511/04/19161+2.9841/5476%
Justified & AncientThe KLF feat. Tammy Wynette19/01/92311/04/19139+2.5740/5474%
AlivePearl Jam22/03/92917/04/19150+2.7841/5476%
StayShakespears Sister05/04/92319/04/19152+2.8137/5469%
OneU229/03/92419/04/19125+2.3141/5476%
WhyAnnie Lennox10/05/921723/04/19126+2.3339/5472%
HazardRichard Marx21/06/92125/04/19198+3.6749/5491%
Damn I Wish I Was Your LoverSophie B. Hawkins05/07/92727/04/19173+3.2053/5498%
I Don't CareShakespears Sister19/07/921829/04/19119+2.2039/5472%
Rhythm Is A DancerSnap!09/08/92301/05/19163+3.0244/5481%
The Day You Went AwayWendy Matthews04/10/92205/05/19184+3.4750/5394%
November RainGuns N' Roses20/09/92505/05/19143+2.7037/5370%

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Round 35 results:

What tends to be the case is that a strong early performance leads to Hall of Fame success. The one roadblock is whether or not an even bigger song will come along to upset the party, but really you need three of them. It would appear for Concrete Blonde & Faith No More that none of these three ever arrived, as they land in the top 2 positions for the 3rd and final time. Australia was an especially lucrative market for Faith No More so they'll have 3 more entries to come along at roughly 2 year intervals. "Epic" is the only hit song to ever include the word 'epic', but that could change in the future as Epic Games continue to expand their portfolio, perhaps Marshmello (who is not yet born in the chronology of this game) will release the *OFFICIAL FORTNITE ANTHEM*. Back to when I was talking about Faith No More before I post-included that shoe-horn, the same could be argued for Concrete Blonde with their Australian chart performance though it never netted them another top 20 hit. The absence of both of these artists is surely tremendously good news for our other qualifier. From the place where life is peaceful and the skies are blue, we've got UK duo Go West, with a song that I feel the average person might struggle to determine the release year of because it sounds somewhat anachronistic in every era. Nevertheless, "[The] King Of Wishful Thinking" was a pretty big hit in most English speaking markets, and manages to see off the other 7 new arrivals to nab a top 3 placing. Given how many of their votes were wedged behind Faith No More, Concrete Blonde and INXS, they have potential to soar even higher next round. On that note, their success means bumping out INXS who were closely behind in 4th place, making "Suicide Blonde" their second song to fall in qualification limbo. For the 6th round in a row, we feature exactly one solo artist who is no longer with us (hopefully by the time I post these results nothing has happened to maintain this pattern), this time it's George Michael, who was last seen 30 rounds ago with "Monkey", which finished in 5th place despite a relatively low score of 15. George is still in 5th place but with a better score on "Praying For Time". It's from his 2nd album which I suspect could net him a bigger hit, all we have to do is take these votes and make them his somehow. He's not alone in 5th place though, as Sinéad O'Connor has made her return via just scraping the top 20 following her big Hall Of Fame entrant "Nothing Compares 2 U". "The Emperor's New Clothes" of course shares its name with the Hans Christian Andersen tale where an emperor is deceived into walking around with no clothes on, which seems appropriate as the director who just won Best Picture today at the Academy Awards has in the past repeatedly exposed himself. How did I get from talking about Irish alternative pop rock music to antics from the set of "Shallow Hal", in the words of Kronk, by all accounts it doesn't make sense. Anyway, that will be the last appearance for Sinéad although she would go on to pick up a pair of Hottest 100 entries a decade later. Arguably the fall of her popular career coincides with her controversial decrying of the pope on TV regarding sexual abuse scandals. Public perception can change regarding these topics as we shall see in a little over 25 years. On the other hand, we've got another artist just behind her who has not at all declined in popularity pretty much ever, which I can personally say as someone who has been entering on average about 3 or 4 AC/DC songs into the Unofficial Catalogue Singles Chart almost every week for the past 3 years. The biggest of those (in Australian terms that is, it's a relatively close race on Spotify worldwide) is actually the most recent one, with "Thunderstruck" seemingly singlehandedly carrying the band through for another decade of popularity. Only landing in 7th place will not bode well for their later entries. In fact you might even expect bigger things from Snap! who are reportedly forming a cult soon. Something that is a little surprising to me is that their first top 10 hit was not "The Power" but rather "Ooops Up" which for a couple of years would remain their biggest hit. Because John Farnham didn't want to disappoint any ARIA Logo compilers by missing out on the chance to write about his 1990 material, he's back for a second round in a row, this time upgrading from 10th place to 9th place with "That's Freedom", which might not bode well for things relating to both 1990 and Freedom in the future but we shall see. Lastly it's the most important thing you've been waiting for, as I have been blessed with the opportunity to write about New Kids On The Block for the 6th time running! For all you know, 392 has very strong opinions about them that he is unable to share in blurb world. Though the band is still going as one would hope, so maybe they'll come back to this game in an even numbered round with a sickening Alison Gold collaboration or something. For the time being they're still being sickos with their multi-transition based final top 20 hit "Tonight", which only scraped the top 20 in Australia but was another top 10 hit in the US & UK. Personally it feels slightly like a precursor to Jordan Knight's solo hit "Give It To You", which sadly was not quite a top 20 hit so we won't get to speculate for another 9 years worth of rounds whether or not it'll turn up on my blurbing table, but of course we know that it obviously would have.

52 - Concrete Blonde - Joey (survived 3; inducted!)
50 - Faith No More - Epic (survived 3; inducted!)
40 - Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking (survived 1)

35 - INXS - Suicide Blonde
21 - George Michael - Praying For Time
21 - Sinéad O'Connor - The Emperor's New Clothes
20 - AC/DC - Thunderstruck
12 - Snap! - Ooops Up
10 - John Farnham - That's Freedom
9 - New Kids On The Block - Tonight
Round 36:

Angry Anderson - Bound For Glory
Betty Boo - Doin' The Do
David A. Stewart feat. Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here
Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
Icehouse - Miss Divine
Janet Jackson - Black Cat
Skyhooks - Jukebox In Siberia
Southern Sons - Heart In Danger
Taylor Dayne - I'll Be Your Shelter

Of these 10 songs, which are the five to get you through the night? Decide and make public this declaration by Wednesday night.
+5 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+3 David A. Stewart - Lily Was Here
+2 Taylor Dayne - I'll Be Your Shelter
+1 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
1. The King Of Wishful Thinking
2. Heart In Danger
3. I’ll Be Your Shelter
4. Jukebox In Siberia
5. Miss Divine
+5 Icehouse - Miss Divine
+4 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+3 Taylor Dayne - I'll Be Your Shelter
+2 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+1 David A. Stewart feat. Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here
+5 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+4 Icehouse - Miss Divine
+3 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+2 Betty Boo - Doin' The Do
+1 Taylor Dayne - I'll Be Your Shelter
I really like this top 5.
I posted tables of all 1988 and 1989's entries, ordered by points, at the bottom of the previous thread if interested

+5: Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+4: Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+3: Betty Boo - Doin' The Do
+2: David A. Stewart feat. Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here
+1: Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+5 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+4 Deee-Lite - Groove Is in the Heart
+3 Taylor Dayne - I'll Be Your Shelter
+2 David A. Stewart feat. Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here
+1 Betty Boo - Doin' the Do
+5 Black Cat
+4 The King of Wishful Thinking
+3 Groove Is In The Heart
+2 Jukebox in Siberia
+1 Doin' The Do
+5 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+4 Taylor Dayne - I'll Be Your Shelter
+3 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+2 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+1 David A. Stewart feat. Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here
+5 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+3 Skyhooks - Jukebox In Siberia
+2 Angry Anderson - Bound For Glory
+1 Betty Boo - Doin' The Do
+5 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+3 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+2 David A. Stewart featuring Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here
+1 Taylor Dayne - I'll Be Your Shelter
5+ Groove Is In the Heart
4+ Black Cat
3+ Jukebox in Siberia
2+ The King of Wishful Thinking
1+ Lily Was Here
+5: Go West - (The) King Of Wishful Thinking
+4: Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+3: David A. Stewart ft. Candy Dulfer - Sheezus Was Here
+2: Taylor Dayne - I'll Be Your Shelter
+1: Icehouse - Miranda Devine
+5 Betty Boo - Doin' the Do
+4 Icehouse - Miss Divine
+3 Go West - King of Wishful Thinking
+2 David A. Stewart & Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here
+1 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In the Heart
+5 Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Jukebox In Siberia
+3 King Of Wishful Thinking
+2 Miss Divine
+1 Black Cat
+5 Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Black Cat
+3 I'll Be Your Shelter
+2 Doin' The Do
+1 The King Of Wishful Thinking
+5 Groove is in the Heart
+4 Black Cat
+3 Lily Was Here
+2 The King of Wishful Thinking (this was another round of the previous round being seemingly too strong to include a solid +1 contender and this round being luckily less impressive all-round!)
+1 Doin' the Do (close decision between this & Taylor Dayne)
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5. King of Wishful Thinking
4. Lily Was Here
3. Black Cat
2. I'll Be Your Shelter
1. Heart In Danger
Round 36 results:

The last 3 rounds were dominated by "Joey" and "Epic", so their induction provided 2 vacant slots, and rather than lifting up "The King Of Wishful Thinking", we've filled them with an all-new duo. These 2 songs actually placed next to each other 7 years ago in the original game too... but at 8th and 9th, behind not only songs we've eliminated here like "Thunderstruck" and "That's Freedom", but also the songs that are 8th and 9th in this round. With very healthy points, the one that came out on top is "Groove Is In The Heart". While it managed to scrape a week at #1 in Australia between 2 #1s reviving artists of decades past, it famously tied for #1 in the UK with another revival, Steve Miller Band's reissued (due to a Levi's ad) "The Joker", and was placed at #2 due to "The Joker" having the greater increase in sales - or so was reported; technically, the tie was only in the rounded/downweighted (to conform to a standard panel size) sales they published, and "The Joker" was about 8 copies (if I recall correctly) ahead in the raw data. "The Joker" was not reissued in Australia, but it was an #8 hit in 1974. Janet Jackson's first of 7.5 "Rhythm Nation 1814" singles "Miss You Much" made our HOF, but none of the next 4 got a chance due to only reaching #56, #25, #100 and #79 in Australia, despite their huge US success (and the first of them, "Rhythm Nation", being possibly one of her signature songs). It's the 6th single "Black Cat" that not only returned her to the top 20, but became the biggest Australian hit from the album and matched her 1986 introductory hit "What Have You Done For Me Lately"'s #6 peak as her highest thus far. I had expected "Black Cat" to be battling for #3 behind Go West, but it managed a slab of high votes - even 5 +5s in a row the first day - bringing it only 3 points behind Deee-Lite, and with even higher points and votes than "Miss You Much" ever got. If the above mentions sound foreboding for Go West though, don't fear as they've retained their #3 spot by a 20-point lead, and with narrowly the most votes of the round (15/17, compared to 14 and 13 for the top 2). Instrumental hits may be rare in the Australian charts (I believe the last fully-instrumental top 10 hit prior was probably 1985's "Axel F"), but The Other Eurythmic and Dutch saxophonist Candy Dulfer managed to one-up the half-instrumental "Infinity" and slowly carry "Lily Was Here", named after the English title of the 1989 Dutch film it originated amongst, to a #10 peak. It scored equally as many points as Taylor Dayne's "I'll Be Your Shelter" which, with Australia doing its own thing opposite to her US or UK peaks (or the songs' Spotify popularity now), became her first top 5 hit, which was later topped by a cover that lead her next album in 1993. Icehouse's final top 20 hit "Miss Divine", or "Miss Devine" if you're [s]nasty[/s] Spotify (and/or don't think you're a man), scored double the points "Touch The Fire" did, just ahead of future Spice Girls prototype Betty Boo's solo debut "Doin' The Do". One of those revivals on either side of Deee-Lite was Skyhooks, who in 1975 had a trio of top 2 hits and the first song ever played on Double J (which later became triple j) via an album track banned on commercial radio, but had been inactive for years until regrouping with the ahistorical roleplay "Jukebox In Siberia", which returned them to #1 and also sent the accompanying Greatest Hits album to #4. It does not mention the North Siberian pig breed. I'm not sure I'd ever heard of Southern Sons before, but "Heart In Danger" is their first of 4 entries. In between albums with his band Rose Tattoo and decades before being a secondary NSW Senate candidate for the "Australian Liberty Alliance" (who received 0.66% of the vote), Angry Anderson (under the 'mononym' 'Angry') followed his 1987 #2 hit "Suddenly" with 1 sole further charter in "Bound For Glory".

56 - Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart (survived 1)
53 - Janet Jackson - Black Cat (survived 1)
44 - Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking (survived 2)

24 - David A. Stewart feat. Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here
24 - Taylor Dayne - I'll Be Your Shelter
17 - Icehouse - Miss Divine
16 - Betty Boo - Doin' The Do
14 - Skyhooks - Jukebox In Siberia
5 - Southern Sons - Heart In Danger
2 - Angry Anderson - Bound For Glory
Round 37:

Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
Janet Jackson - Black Cat
Jimmy Barnes - Let's Make It Last All Night
Technotronic - Megamix
The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
Wendy Matthews - Token Angels
Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight

Alright stop, collaborate and listen to any songs that happen to be from no one you've heard of by Friday evening to get your vote in on time.
1. The King Of Wishful Thinking
2. Tom’s Diner
3. Unchained Melody
4. Token Angels
5. I’m Your Baby Tonight
+5 Dee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+3 DNA - Tom's Diner
+2 Jimmy Barnes - Let's Make It Last All Night
+1 Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight

strong group and vanilla ice
+5 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+4 Deee-Lite - Groove Is in the Heart
+3 DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+2 Wendy Matthews - Token Angels
+1 Technotronic - Megamix
+5 Unchained Melody
+4 Black Cat
+3 Groove Is In The Heart
+2 I'm Your Baby Tonight
+1 Tom's Diner
+5: DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+4: Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+3: Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+2: Technotronic - Megamix
+1: Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

Very strong top 5! Would've liked to have room for Whitney too.
+5 Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
+4 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+3 The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
+2 Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight
+1 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+5 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+4 Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight
+3 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+2 Wendy Matthews - Token Angels
+1 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart


+5 Wendy Matthews - Token Angels
+4 DNA featuring Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+3 Go West - King of Wishful Thinking
+2 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In the Heart
+1 Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight


392414 - in case you didn't know, Janet's 'Alright' was not released as a single here until mid-1996, to promote 'Design of a Decade', which is when it peaked at #100. So the chronology's a little different there with those peaks. Also, 'Black Cat' was the fourth single from 'Rhythm Nation 1814' here, as we got 'Come Back To Me' in 1991 after 'Love Will Never Do (Without You)'.

Interesting fact about 'Lily Was Here' - the single was released in Australia on 2 April 1990, so it took 2 months to reach the top 100, 4 months to crack the top 50, and over 7 months to reach the top 10!

'Black Cat' was another slow burner... released here 25 June 1990, took a month to reach the top 100, nearly 3 months to make the top 50, and over 4 months to make the top 10.
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+5 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+4 Wendy Matthews - Token Angels
+3 Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight
+2 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+1 Jimmy Barnes - Let's Make It Last All Night
+5 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+4 DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+3 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+2 The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
+1 Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
+5 Tom's Diner
+4 Groove is in the Heart
+3 I'm Your Baby Tonight
+2 Black Cat
+1 Megamix

Wendy would be top 5 in other round
+5 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+4 The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
+3 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+2 Jimmy Barnes - Let's Make It Last All Night
+1 Technotronic - Megamix

+5 Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Tom's Diner
+3 Ice Ice Baby
+2 The King Of Wishful Thinking
+1 Megamix
@Nugs I actually didn't know, thanks! Kind of surprising then that we got "State Of The World" (which I don't think was released as a physical single anywhere but here and Japan) rather than belatedly releasing "Alright", though curiously I see Discogs has a 1990 Australian cassingle of "Alright" (that 0 people have in their collections). I'd had the idea in mind that it was an Australian tour that made "Black Cat" do so well and the album hit #1, but it seems she didn't tour here until 1995. Also interesting that "Black Cat" made the top 100 about 6 weeks before it hit the US chart, so Australia was actually ahead for once.
+5 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+3 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+2 DNA featuring Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+1 Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight
+5 DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+4 The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
+3 Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
+2 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+1 Technotronic - Megamix
+5: Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
+4: Technotronic - Megamix
+3: DNA ft. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+2: Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+1: Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight
392414, I used to listen to a weeknight radio countdown, supposedly voted for by listeners, the 'top 8 at 8', hosted by John Peters, in 1988-90. It aired on Triple M in Vic, and may well have been broadcast in NSW too on the equivalent station/possibly other states. I mention this, as I definitely heard them play 'Alright' in 1990 (I don't own the album and wouldn't have heard it anywhere else), as I think I also heard 'Come Back To Me' there. The top 8 mostly consisted of new release tracks, sometimes long before they had been released locally, which is probably how 'Alright' made it. But yeah, the release schedule in Australia is a bit confusing.

I find that discogs often goes by the publication/copyright date rather than the actual year it was released. This is particularly evident for singles that were released near the start of the year, but may have e.g. had overseas releases the previous year. If you don't know the exact release date/month, the copyright date is often all you have to go by. I haven't seen that 'Alright' cassingle, but will check it out.

(4, 3, 2, 1...) edit - OK, I've had a look at the discogs page, and my hunch is that that is a New Zealand cassingle. It says 'Australasia', which also covers NZ. But Australian Polygram cassingles at that time were all housed in card slip cases (no hard plastic case). The text lower down on the page says 'Made in New Zealand.', so that looks about right.

If you look at the New Zealand cassingle for Cathy Dennis' 'Touch Me (All Night Long)', it looks similar - https://www.discogs.com/Cathy-Dennis-Touch-Me-All-Night-Long/release/6363747 . Contrast that with the Australian pressing (through Polygram) - https://www.discogs.com/Cathy-Dennis-Touch-Me-All-Night-Long/release/6381307 .
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+5 Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Unchained Melody
+3 Black Cat
+2 I'm Your Baby Tonight
+1 Tom's Diner
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+5 Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Ice Ice Baby
+3 Black Cat
+2 Unchained Melody
+1 Token Angels
5. King of Wishful Thinking
4. Token Angel
3. Unchained Melody
2. Black Cat
1. Let's Make It Last All Night
Round 37 results:

It was not a lopsided affair. This means that despite hitting a new record for voters in this game of 19, all of last round's survivors have lost some points. Not tremendously much though, so Deee-Lite can still safely claim the #1 spot (no doubt thanks to the contribution from Q-Tip of highly acclaimed trio and sometimes quartet A Tribe Called Quest). Janet Jackson also retains the #2 spot though with a little less ease, and there was quite a battle mainly between 4 songs to fit into 3 spaces. Taking that last spot in this instance is the relatively lesser known UK electronic duo DNA. They are somewhat pioneers for trip hop as we're a long way from seeing Massive Attack in this game, and I also have a lot of respect for them with one half of the duo contributing significantly to Goldfrapp's first three albums. On the topic of female singer-songwriters who are in their 50s, their relevance here comes via Suzanne Vega, who had a string of success in the 1980s with her unique brand of folk rock. Nowadays her most famous song is probably "Tom's Diner", which thanks to its simple but memorable hook has been revived by many future alumni of this game including Britney Spears, Fall Out Boy, David Guetta, Ava Max, The Black Eyed Peas & Nicole Scherzinger. Time will tell if we've got loyalty towards our DNA and whether that will translate to Hall Of Fame royalty. As you can imagine, there's an omission here as something had to give, and that is what has happened to the other UK duo here, Go West. Surviving an additional round after landing in 3rd place might be wishful thinking, so instead we should look back at their time spent in 3rd place for two rounds only to fall down to 4th with the highest ever 4th place points and remark that they can perhaps be considered...The King Of Limbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URcvdDtnM_0 What more can a poor boy do but consult the rest of the results for now? As noted, it was quite a tough round to the point that we've even got the untouchable Righteous Brothers rendition of "Unchained Melody" landing only in 5th place. That's not to say many haven't tried to touch it, as we'll be seeing this very song two more times in this game. It's actually managed to sell a million copies in the UK with 3 different versions of it, the highest selling version coming from a duo of actors which includes Bronn from "Game Of Thrones". Their version blocked "Common People" from #1. Next up we have a duo of singers who start with the letter W, as Whitney Houston gives us her first entry into this game with "I'm Your Baby Tonight". We won't see her again for a little while but she'll probably make her appearance more distinguished when that happens next. Depending on how rounds pan out, it could very well be up against Wendy Matthews who also scored a very big hit at the same time, but before we get to that, we're still dealing with her rise to fame as she scores her first hit absent of her friends, Absent Friends. "Token Angels" just narrowly scraped the top 20 but that's still enough to land ahead of an ARIA #1 hit from Vanilla Ice. Given that he was quick to score a solitary #1 hit in his chart history, he could be seen as the G-Eazy of his time, it probably differs from person to person who of the two is being disrespected in this comparison. Returning to the game is Technotronic who after having scored 3 hits (not counting "Spin That Wheel") here ("This Beat Is Technotronic" was a top 30 hit so it was not seen here) saw fit to release a "Megamix". If you're like me and your knowledge of Technotronic lines up pretty evenly with their contributions to this game then you're in luck because "Pump Up The Jam" and "Get Up!" are both mixed into the set twice so you never go two tracks in a row without some familiarity. The group would go on to score a handful more chart entries here, including many with Ya Kid K in case you thought they changed their name to disassociate from her, but this was their last top 20 hit. For the last track here we've got the return of Jimmy Barnes with "Let's Make It Last All Night", a song which was actually co-written with Diane Warren so it's another 10th place finish for her, and her last appearance for a decent while. Jimmy Barnes will have many more entries to come in that time.

53 - Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart (survived 2)
46 - Janet Jackson - Black Cat (survived 2)
44 - DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (survived 1)

37 - Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking
30 - Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
21 - Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight
20 - Wendy Matthews - Token Angels
17 - Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
11 - Technotronic - Megamix
6 - Jimmy Barnes - Let's Make It Last All Night
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Round 38:

Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
Janet Jackson - Black Cat
John Farnham - Burn For You
Jon Bon Jovi - Miracle
Kylie Minogue - Step Back In Time
Madonna - Justify My Love
Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven
Nelson - (Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection
Warrant - Cherry Pie

I'm not asking for a miracle, but I am asking for your top 5 votes. Because of the aus-charts combined countdown on Sunday, you instead have until Monday night to get them in.
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+5 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+3 DNA - Tom's Diner
+2 Kylie Minogue - Step Back In Time
+1 Warrant - Cherry Pie
1. Cherry Pie
2. Tom’s Diner
3. Burn For You
4. Show Me Heaven
5. Step Back In Time
+5: Madonna - Justify My Love
+4: DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+3: Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+2: Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart (keeps getting pushed down further! such a strong top 4)
+1: Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven (narrowly over Cherry Pie)
+5 Show Me Heaven
+4 Burn For You
+3 Black Cat
+2 Groove Is In The Heart
+1 Tom's Diner
+5 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+4 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+3 DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+2 Nelson - (Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection
+1 Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven
+5 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+4 Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven
+3 Kylie Minogue - Step Back In Time
+2 Nelson - (Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection
+1 Madonna - Justify My Love
+5 Madonna - Justify My Love
+4 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+3 Deee-Lite - Groove Is in the Heart
+2 DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+1 Kylie Minogue - Step Back in Time
+5 John Farnham - Burn For You
+4 Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven
+3 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+2 Madonna - Justify My Love
+1 Jon Bon Jovi - Miracle
+5 DNA featuring Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+4 Kylie Minogue - Step Back In Time
+3 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In the Heart
+2 Warrant - Cherry Pie
+1 Nelson - (Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection
+5 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Kylie Minogue - Step Back In Time
+3 Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+2 DNA featuring Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+1 Madonna - Justify My Love
+5 Groove is in the heart
+4 Tom’s Diner
+3 Justify My Love
+2 Cherry Pie
+1 Step Back in Time
+5 The Emperor's New Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Step Back In Time
+3 Justify My Love
+2 Black Cat
+1 Tom's Diner
+5 Justify My Love
+4 Tom's Diner
+3 Groove Is in the Heart
+2 Black Cat
+1 Step Back in Time
+5: DNA ft. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+4: Janet Jackson - Black Cat
+3: Kylie Minogue - Step Back In Time
+2: Nelson - (Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection
+1: Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
+5 Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Tom’s Diner
+3 Black Cat
+2 Burn for You
+1 Justify My Love
+5 Groove Is In The Heart
+4 Black Cat
+3 Step Back In Time
+2 Burn For You
+1 Justify My Love
5. Burn For You
4. Love And Affection
3. Show Me Heaven
2. Black Vat
1. Tom's Dinner
Lucky the error loading threads got fixed in time! Wasn't sure what to do if not; I considered waiting, or creating a temporary new thread to vote in (to be hopefully merged back together), or creating an 'announcement' thread to help direct everyone to the hitparade.ch link where it was still working

Round 38 results:

Inductions have felt a little slow lately (probably due to Beats International and Go West taking up top 3 space with their unfulfilled runs), but we've got a double this round - with the very songs that replaced our last double of "Joey" and "Epic". Deee-Lite have won all 3 of their rounds (last achieved with ties by "Nothing Compares 2 U" and "Summer Rain", but not without ties since "Orinoco Flow") with over 50 points each time, adding up to a total of 160, the =3rd-highest so far (close behind "Like A Prayer"'s 165 and "Summer Rain"'s 164). Madonna and Belinda Carlisle were also the first artists to get a 2nd song into the HOF, and Janet Jackson now joins them with recurring 2nd-placer "Black Cat". As Belinda and Janet have only had 2 entries so far, they both currently hold a 100% induction rate; Janet's will be tested with a 3rd appearance very soon. And the top 3 this round was pretty decisive with #4 landing as close to #8 as to #3, the survivor being "Tom's Diner", again just behind "Black Cat". While this wasn't the first round we've had Madonna and Kylie together (see "Express Yourself"/"Hand On Your Heart" and "Vogue"/"Better The Devil You Know"), this one is more special as "Justify My Love" and "Step Back In Time" were actually released the same week, debuting at #14 and #8 respectively before both ascending to the top 5. Furthermore, "Justify My Love"'s parent album, her massive-selling "The Immaculate Collection", was released the same week too, and debuted at #1. The 2 songs on the other hand are worlds apart, but that didn't stop them scoring the exact same number of points, tying for #4. For Kylie, that carries on "Better The Devil You Know"'s momentum by also comfortably outdoing all her entries before it, maybe proving Wikipedia's quote of the 4 "Rhythm Of Love" singles being referred to as the 'Golden Quartet' accurate. For Madonna, while she may not have come close to her 2 inductees, #4 probably isn't too much of a disappointment for the song that kicked off her most controversial era - its video notably being banned on MTV, and resultingly, released as a VHS single. I also found it interesting that just after "Tom's Diner" brought trip hop vibes to the top 20, we got "Justify My Love" the very next round. John Farnham's first 2 "Chain Reaction" hits ranked low, but "Burn For You" brings him back to the top 6 heights of "Age Of Reason" and "Two Strong Hearts". You might think his 3 #5-#6 hits in quick succession would've made another top 20 hit likely, but the 4th single, months later, only reached #49. Previously part of the 'post-punk alternative country' (in her words) band Lone Justice, Maria McKee's "Show Me Heaven" came about from the film "Days Of Thunder", and was handed to her with lyrics 'something like "secret fire, take me higher, my desire"' that she found 'appalling' and was given just 24 hours to write an alternative to, which luckily she managed and they accepted. It was actually tied for 3rd place near the beginning, but slipped all the way to 7th. Nelson's "...Love And Affection" only scraped #20 in Australia (interestingly breaking up an otherwise 14-song streak of top 20 entries reaching the top 10) but was a US #1, and furthermore, the 2 members' father Ricky Nelson had the first-ever #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1958. Warrant also scored a US top 2 hit - but that was with the ballad "Heaven" in 1989, which only reached #54 in Australia, before the much-better-enduring "Cherry Pie" broke them into the top 10. If you have $20 burning a hole in your pocket, there's a mug on Amazon with the text "arguing with a warrant officer is like wrestling a pig in mud - sooner or later you'll realize the pig likes it". Jon Bon Jovi's "Blaze Of Glory" follow-up "Miracle" scored only 1 point, and his solo career will now be on hiatus until a brief entry in 1997.

51 - Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart (survived 3; inducted!)
44 - Janet Jackson - Black Cat (survived 3; inducted!)
43 - DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (survived 2)

27 - Kylie Minogue - Step Back In Time
27 - Madonna - Justify My Love
21 - John Farnham - Burn For You
20 - Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven
11 - Nelson - (Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection
10 - Warrant - Cherry Pie
1 - Jon Bon Jovi - Miracle
Round 39:

Bette Midler - From A Distance
Divinyls - I Touch Myself
DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
Iggy Pop - Candy
Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
MC Hammer - Pray
Robert Palmer & UB40 - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Scatterbrain - Don't Call Me Dude
Southern Sons - Always And Ever
The Soup Dragons - I'm Free

You're free to vote what you want, any old time, until Wednesday evening.
1. Candy
2. I Touch Myself
3. Tom’s Diner
4. I’m Free
5. I’ve Been Thinking About You
+5 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+4 MC Hammer - Pray
+3 Robert Palmer & UB40 - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
+2 Southern Sons - Always And Ever
+1 Iggy Pop - Candy
Weakest round yet for me, I only really like the top 2.

+5 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+3 Robert Palmer & UB40 - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
+2 Southern Sons - Always And Ever
+1 Bette Midler - From A Distance
+5 DNA - Tom's Diner
+4 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+3 The Soup Dragons - I'm Free
+2 Scatterbrain - Don't Call Me Dude (ok this is one of the most abrasive top 20 hits I've ever encountered )
+1 Iggy Pop - Candy
+5: DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+4: Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+3: The Soup Dragons - I'm Free
+2: Scatterbrain - Don't Call Me Dude
+1: Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+5 Iggy Pop - Candy
+4 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+3 Southern Sons - Always And Ever
+2 The Soup Dragons - I'm Free
+1 Robert Palmer & UB40 - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

+5 I Touch Myself
+4 Tom's Diner
+3 Don't Call Me Dude (yeah it's simultaneously bad and good)
+2 Candy
+1 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
+5 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4 DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+3 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+2 Scatterbrain - Don't Call Me Dude
+1 The Soup Dragons - I'm Free
+5 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+3 MC Hammer - Pray
+2 DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+1 The Soup Dragons - I'm Free
+5 From A Distance
+4 I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
+3 Toms Diner
+2 I Touch Myself
+1 I’m Free
+5 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+4 DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+3 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+2 Robert Palmer & UB40 - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
+1 Bette Midler - From A Distance

+5 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4 DNA featuring Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+3 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+2 Iggy Pop - Candy
+1 The Soup Dragons - I'm Free
+5 I Touch Myself
+4 I've Been Thinking About You
+3 Candy
+2 Tom's Diner
+1 I'm Free
+5 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+4 DNA featuring Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+3 The Soup Dragons - I'm Free
+2 Iggy Pop - Candy
+1 Bette Midler - From a Distance
+5 Iggy Pop - Candy
+4 MC Hammer - Pray
+3 The Soup Dragons - I'm Free
+2 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+1 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
5. Southern Sons - Always And Ever
4. Bette Midler - From A Distance
3. Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
2. MC Hammer - Pray
1. Scatterbrain - Don't Call Me Dude
+5 Tom's Diner
+4 Candy [s](stream Slayyyter!)[/s]
+3 I've Been Thinking About You
+2 I Touch Myself
+1 Pray
+5: Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4: DNA ft. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
+3: Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+2: MC Hammer - Pray
+1: Scatterbrain - Don't Call Me Dude
Round 39 results:

Welcome to 1991! Battling for the #1 spot on this list is not remotely important except for bragging rights. In the end though that turned out to be the only thing that was really happening this round because the clear top 3 settled into place very quickly. As we've had happening a few times lately. The top 2 songs from last round went to the Hall Of Fame leaving only the 3rd place song, and what we've gotten moving up is not that incumbent track but two newer tracks. Just narrowly taking the lead is the first entry for Australian '80s icons Divinyls, who instantly scored the biggest hit of their career here in the '90s with "I Touch Myself". Any Fembots in the area should avert their eyes. Just 1 point behind Divinyls is the first top 20 hit that debuted in the top 50 in 1991, and another #1 hit from Londonbeat in "I've Been Thinking About You". Whether or not their big success here is helped by cross-forum game meta is anyone's guess. For the last surviving song for this week, it's the incumbent DNA whose loyalty has indeed been converted to royalty as "Tom's Diner" manages an induction, with a rare instance of being in 3rd place in all 3 rounds. Don't think that they were in danger though because they still cleared well ahead of the rest of the competition. Faring the best of the rest was Iggy Pop's only ARIA top 20 hit (though Jet's cover of him did sneak in), "Candy" which he himself has described as the one good pop song he's written. It also features Kate Pierson of The B-52's. Though the band are finished in this game, she will turn up on another top 20 hit from a different alt rock stalwart in the near future. Beating the trend of poor performances of '60s covers we have Scottish group The Soup Dragons taking on The Rolling Stones' "I'm Free" with a more modern style and landing in the top half. I assume they call themselves Soup Dragons out of a desire to be dragon butlers, like Manfred from "The Messenger". It's not the only '60s cover here as a little behind them is also Robert Palmer & UB40 both returning to the game with a cover of Bob Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", which was incidentally first released as a B-Side to "All Along The Watchtower" which itself was made more famous by a cover version. Between these we have a different form of inspiration from the past as MC Hammer has a prominent sample of Prince's "When Doves Cry" on "Pray", which was actually his highest charting single in the US. Southern Sons return with their #16 hit "Always And Ever" actually performing better than their #5 hit "Heart In Danger". Meanwhile you should never throw litter out of your car because Bette Midler is watching you "From A Distance", and then while you may(?) lament the lack of Beaverloop in this game, we've got the next closest thing with thrash metal band Scatterbrain and their song "Don't Call Me Dude" which scores in the double digits despite coming in last place. I do not know where their car is.

53 - Divinyls - I Touch Myself (survived 1)
52 - Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You (survived 1)
49 - DNA feat. Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (survived 3; inducted!)

30 - Iggy Pop - Candy
21 - The Soup Dragons - I'm Free
16 - MC Hammer - Pray
14 - Robert Palmer & UB40 - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
12 - Bette Midler - From A Distance
12 - Southern Sons - Always And Ever
11 - Scatterbrain - Don't Call Me Dude
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Round 40:

2 In A Room - Wiggle It
Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)
Black Box - Fantasy
C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
Divinyls - I Touch Myself
Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time
Ratcat - That Ain't Bad [from "Tingles" EP]
The Simpsons - Do The Bartman

Voting takes time, but try to get yours in by Friday night or it could close any minute purple monkey dishwasher.
1. such a great ep
2. I Touch Myself
3. I’ve Been Thinking About You
4. Do The Bartman
5. Love Takes Time
+5 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+4 Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)
+3 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+2 Black Box - Fantasy
+1 C+C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
+5 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+4 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+3 Black Box - Fantasy
+2 Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
+1 2 In A Room - Wiggle It
+5 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad [from "Tingles" EP]
+4 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+3 The Simpsons - Do The Bartman
+2 C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
+1 2 In A Room - Wiggle It
+5: Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+4: Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)
+3: Black Box - Fantasy (single remix)
+2: 2 In A Room - Wiggle It
+1: C+C + C & C&C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)

Such a strong round, particularly sad to not have room for Londonbeat (+4 last round) or Janet (and I like all 10 songs). Also funnily the last round had 7 songs I'd never heard before, while this round has only 1 (Black Box)
+5 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+4 Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
+3 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+2 Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time
+1 The Simpsons - Do The Bartman

+5 Love Takes Time
+4 Love Will Never Do
+3 I Touch Myself
+2 Fantasy
+1 That Ain’t Bas
+5 Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
+4 Black Box - Fantasy
+3 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+2 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+1 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+5 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+4 2 In a Room - Wiggle It
+3 Black Box - Fantasy
+2 Adventures of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)
+1 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+5 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4 Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
+3 Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time
+2 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+1 Black Box - Fantasy
+5 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+3 Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)
+2 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+1 C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)

Really good round & one of the hardest ones to decide my vote as a result, +4 to +1 were changing constantly with Janet also being in contention. This also marks the first time that I've known all 5 songs in my vote prior to them coming up in this game although I only know That Ain't Bad because certain people from here mentioned it in the past.
+5 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+4 C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat
+3 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+2 2 In A Room - Wiggle It
+1 The Simpsons - Do The Bartman
+5: Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4: Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
+3: Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+2: C+C Music Factory ft. Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
+1: Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time
+5 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4 C & C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
+3 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+2 Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time
+1 Black Box - Fantasy
+5 Dirty Cash (Money Talks)
+4 Love Will Never Do (Without You)
+3 Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
+2 Love Takes Time
+1 That Ain't Bad

Disappointed to let Londonbeat go & to not be able to include Fantasy
+5 The Simpsons - Do The Bartman
+4 Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
+3 Black Box - Fantasy
+2 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+1 Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)

Good round (only 2 songs I didn't consider for the top 5)! Here's hoping Deep Deep Trouble is eligible too

+5 I Touch Myself
+4 That Ain't Bad
+3 Love Will Never Do (Without You)
+2 Gonna Make You Sweat
+1 I've Been Thinking About You
5. Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
4. Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time
3. Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
2. Divinyls - I Touch Myself
1. Black Box - Fantasy
+5 I Touch Myself
+4 Dirtee Cash
+3 That Ain't Bad
+2 Gonna Make You Sweat
+1 Do The Bartman
Round 40 results:

You may have noticed Ratcat receive +5s from all of the first 6 voters, and then none of the remaining 13. So where did they land? It was very close, but in some kind of musical tortoise and hare tale, the recurring top 2 pattern won out: after 3 rounds of "Joey" and "Epic" top 2, and 3 rounds of "Groove Is In The Heart" and "Black Cat" top 2... we've ended up with a 2nd round of "I Touch Myself" and "I've Been Thinking About You" top 2. "I Touch Myself" actually only reached the top of the list on the 3rd-last and last votes, so maybe next round we'll manage to place someone above Chrissy Amphlett. When I say Ratcat were close though, I mean literally 1 point behind. Lead by "That Ain't Bad", their "Tingles" EP enjoyed a 28-week (if you include the Christmas break weeks) climb to the ARIA #1 spot, which I believe remained a record until Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" hit #1 in its 40th week in 2017 ("Pumped Up Kicks" also took 27 weeks in 2011-12, which beats Ratcat without their Christmas weeks). Though already having spent weeks at #3 and #4, it was the release of a duet version with Beyoncé that gave "Perfect" the final push to #1; coincidentally, Beyoncé has a very slight connection to Ratcat, in that one of the songs on "Tingles" and her 2013 single "XO" both sample a recording from the 1986 NASA Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. So the top 3 may have been too strong for Janet to sustain her 100% induction rate, but "Love Will Never Do" actually did really well - it got many +4 votes in particular, helping it land closer to #3 than to #5, and with equal-record-high #4 points (alongside Go West's ill-fated 3rd round). It seems Australia did a good job selecting which "Rhythm Nation 1814" singles to turn into hits, after all. Now for all I know there may be a total reversal soon (I avoid looking at the charts directly ahead in advance, to maintain suspense), but this round felt like a turning point with 5 dance songs at once (7 at a stretch if you count kind-of-housey single mixes of Janet and The Simpsons), and little in the way of rock and/or adult contemporary (though not to ignore Ratcat also sounding like little in the charts before them). It was also interesting to see a genre preference divide enumerated, with some people voting as many as 4/5 (hello) or as few as 1/5 of the dance quintet. Londonbeat were of course the most popular of them, but the next 3 landed almost equally: "Dirty Cash", which eventually reached #18 here after being a #2 UK (blocked by Adamski's "Killer", regrettably only a #112 ARIA hit) and even #25 US hit in 1990; "Fantasy", a cover of a 1977 Earth, Wind & Fire song which returned Black Box to the ARIA top 3 after their previous single stalled at #35; and "Gonna Make You Sweat", the debut hit from a duo we'll be seeing quite a bit of, both as their Factory and as producers for other artists. Further notable among this round's dance songs is that 3 of them were sampled into new hits 15-18 years later: "Dirty Cash" became Dizzee Rascal's 2009 UK #10 hit "Dirtee Cash", "Gonna Make You Sweat" became Bob Sinclar's 2006-7 ultra-long-charter "Rock This Party", and the last one, "Wiggle It", became a 2008 #11 ARIA hit for Ricki-Lee (which I certainly didn't know was a sample/cover until much later). Also notable is that "Fantasy" and "Gonna Make You Sweat" both feature uncredited vocals from Martha Wash. As for the other songs in this round, Mariah (whose next album featured C+C production - everyone is connected!) scored a very respectable 20 points (the first time that 8 songs have done so) with her 2nd single "Love Takes Time"; the album's next 2 singles, the uptempo anomaly "Someday" and the return-to-scheduled-programming "I Don't Wanna Cry", only reached the 40s despite being US #1s, but her next lead single came very promptly afterwards. In a very amusing twist of fate, I, the person who has honestly never seen a full Simpsons episode (unless you count the movie), am the one who gets to write about them. The most interesting fact I have to regurgitate is that "Do The Bartman" hit the charts about a month before The Simpsons actually started airing in Australia. I do appreciate The Simpsons though, because if there's one song from it I know, it's Spider-Pig. Finally, 2 In A Room's "Wiggle It" landed at the bottom, but it shouldn't be too disappointed as for only the 2nd time, every song got at least 5 votes (and for only the 4th time, at least 10 points).

48 - Divinyls - I Touch Myself (survived 2)
45 - Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You (survived 2)
44 - Ratcat - That Ain't Bad (survived 1)

37 - Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
23 - Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)
23 - Black Box - Fantasy
22 - C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
20 - Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time
13 - The Simpsons - Do The Bartman
10 - 2 In A Room - Wiggle It
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Round 41:

Betty Boo - Where Are You Baby?
Dimples D - Sucker DJ (A Witch For Love)
Divinyls - I Touch Myself
Enigma - Sadeness (Part I)
George Michael - Freedom! '90
Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do
Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
Rod Stewart & Tina Turner - It Takes Two
Stevie B - Because I Love You (The Postman Song)

Électeurs, ces chansons sont-elles diaboliques ou divines? Tell me by Sunday evening.
1. That Ain’t Bad
2. I Touch Myself
3. I’ve Been Thinking About You
4. What Do I Have To Do
5. Freedom ‘90
+5 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+4 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+3 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+2 Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do
+1 Betty Boo - Where Are You Baby?
+5 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+4 Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have to Do
+3 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+2 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+1 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+5 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4 Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do?
+3 Dimples D - Sucker DJ (A Witch For Love)
+2 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+1 Enigma - Sadeness (Part I)
+5 Enigma - Sadness (Part 1)
+4 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+3 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+2 George Michael - Freedom '90
+1 Stevie B - Because I Love You (The Postman Song)
+5: Enigma - Sadeness (Part I) (one of my absolute favourite entries in the game so far! like Dub Be Good To Me before I'd been thinking ahead to it for a while, and I was really hoping it wouldn't land in this round where it has to somehow depose one of Divinyls/Londonbeat/Ratcat to make it through )
+4: Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+3: Dimples D - Sucker DJ (A Witch For Love)
+2: Betty Boo - Where Are You Baby?
+1: Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
So close for Janet in the end.


+5 Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do
+4 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+3 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+2 Enigma - Sadeness (Part I)
+1 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+5 Freedom 90
+4 I Touch Myself
+3 Because I Love you
+2 What Do I Have To Do
+1 It Takes Two
+5 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+3 Enigma - Sadeness (Part I)
+2 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+1 Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do
+5 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+4 Betty Boo - Where Are You Baby
+3 Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do
+2 Enigma - Sadeness (Part 1)
+1 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad

Some more retro chart trivia for you, 392414 - on the topic of long climbs to #1, two more that spring to mind are:

Seal - Kiss From a Rose
Released in Australia (originally) - 22/8/1994. Peaked at #87 in September 1994. Re-entered the top 100 in January 1995, peaking at #92.
Re-released in July 1995, with a new video, after appearing on the Batman Returns soundtrack.
Reached #1 on 21/8/1995 (chart survey date; 27/8/1995 printed top 50 chart week ending date), 52 weeks after its original release.

Merril Bainbridge - Mouth
Released in Australia 24/10/1994. Debuted at #228 the following week.
Peaked at #1 on 15/1/1995 (week ending 21/5/1995), 29 weeks after its release.

The 'Tingles' EP was released on 1/10/1990, so also took 3 weeks to make the top 100.
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+5 Londonbeat
+4 Dimples D
+3 George Michael
+2 Divinyls
+1 Enigma
I actually only noticed a few months ago that "Kiss From A Rose" came and went as a #20 UK hit a year earlier, and I hadn't realised it charted here too (in 1994). It was surprising to me because having only known it 15 years later (I was born in 1997) when it was long-established, it sounds to me like such an obvious hit that it couldn't have ever not been one, with any ounce of exposure. I just noticed the 1994 release was seemingly 'The Adamski Remixes' without the original version, which I suspect probably didn't help. Kind of funny that an Adamski/Seal team-up failed in Australia all over again 4 years after "Killer".
392414 - I've never heard any of the Adamski mixes of 'Kiss From a Rose'. The original release used the same version the track as was the '95 single version to my knowledge; it was at least used in the original video (I was 'there' at the time, being born in '78).

It's also surprising that the original version of 'Killer' did so poorly here, though I suppose it wouldn't have received much mainstream exposure. Seal's own re-recording of 'Killer' was also released as a single, bizarrely, and only made it to #95 near the end of '91.
I was looking at this release: https://www.discogs.com/Seal-Kiss-From-A-Rose-The-Adamski-Remixes/release/9236546 , which is what the catalogue number on the ARIA chart (at least in the spreadsheet I have a copy of) corresponds to, and is the sole Australian release Discogs has marked as 1994. Though on second thought, given that it calls itself 'CD2' and looks the same as the UK CD2, maybe the CD1 was released here too and ARIA just listed the CD2 for some reason. Discogs doesn't have an Australian release for the better-charting "Prayer For The Dying", so the "Kiss From A Rose" CD1 being missing too is believable.
+5 Sadeness (Part I)
+4 What Do I Have to Do
+3 Where Are You Baby?
+2 Freedom! '90
+1 That Ain't Bad
+5 Freedom '90
+4 I Touch Myself
+3 That Ain't Bad
+2 Sucker DJ (A Witch For Love)
+1 Sadeness
+5: Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+4: Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+3: Dimples D - Sucker DJ (A Witch For Love)
+2: Betty Boo - Where Are You Baby?
+1: Enigma - Sadeness (Part I)
+5 I Touch Myself
+4 Freedom '90
+3 That Ain't Bad
+2 What Do I Have To Do
+1 I've Been Thinking About You
+5 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+4 Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do
+3 Divinyls - I Touch Myself
+2 Betty Boo - Where Are You Baby?
+1 Dimples D - Sucker DJ (A Witch For Love)
5. Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
4. Rod Stewart & Tina Turner - It Takes Two
3. George Michael - Freedom! '90
2. Stevie B - Because I Love You (The Postman Song)
1. Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do
392414 - discogs, obviously, does not contain every release and pressing, unfortunately. Though it is being added to all of the time.

Two different CD singles are listed for the release of 'Kiss From a Rose' in The ARIA Report, where it is listed as as a new release for 22 August 1994. The catalogue numbers are:

4509971172
4509971162 - this has the same catalogue no. as the non-Adamski remixes UK pressing listed on discogs.

A cassingle is also listed.

I think the only place I heard/saw the Adamski version of 'Killer' at the time was on rage, before the top 50 began, as a new release video. It may have also aired on Countdown Revolution and MTV.
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Yeah, Discogs usually seems relatively complete for sizeable chart hits, but I've definitely noticed gaps (such as NKOTB's "Tonight" not having an Australian release there, though likewise it had the same catalogue number as a European release anyway). Thanks for looking that up
+5 Stevie B - Because I Love You (The Postman Song)
+4 Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
+3 Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You
+2 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+1 Dimples D - Sucker DJ (A Witch For Love)

Round 41 results:

Things have heated up considerably. This round has 4 different #1 hits represented, all of which come with at least a reasonable amount of love. So who goes on top with that in mind? Why a #18 hit of course! Mind you, it's a #18 hit that you might have thought was bigger, not just given the artist's tenure but for the song's career defining status. I am needlessly being vague about the fact that it's George Michael's "Freedom! '90" which newly entered the competition and has taken the top spot. The peculiar title refers of course to the fact that Wham! already released a song called "Freedom" 6 years earlier which was a massive top 10 hit across the world. Unlike certain other artists in this round, George was clearly aware of his back catalogue and didn't want to accidentally release two songs with the same title. To credit the enduring status of the song, when George Michael passed away 2 years ago, it was his 3rd highest returning entry (or 4th highest if you want to include "Last Christmas" [though that technically was already on the chart]). Obviously I am expending as many words as possible on this one song qualifying because there's not much else to note about the other two, as it's kind of become their wheelhouse. We simultaneously see off the last 1990 entry and the first 1991 entry as Divinyls and Londonbeat both simultaneously get inducted. Both artists will have more to come in the future with arguably slightly not-as-notable hits. That's not to say it was an affair of certainty however, in fact an hour ago at the time of writing, Londonbeat were looking to go west as a manner of speaking. Perhaps their endurance is on their own merits, but more likely it's on the forever disappointing Kylie Minogue who is now 0/10 for top 3 finishers, with the latest "What Do I Have To Do" feeling particularly prophetic in its title. It might even feel worse for her that she actually did beat one of last round's qualifiers, with Ratcat falling down to 5th in their 2nd appearance for "That Ain't Bad". They'll be back not long from now so maybe they can redeem themselves, otherwise they'll just have to appreciate that Marvin Shields was in the audience for the first time they played it, and relayed the guitar solo over the phone to his cousin Kevin. Not far behind them we have a new artist, Romanian-German musician Michael Cretu's new-age musical project Enigma. Enigma uses a logo which looks remarkably like the Greek alphabet character 'sigma', which is possibly a combination of the fact that it looks a bit like 'E' and also rhymes with Enigma, but I like to imagine it's in solidarity with the protagonist of Virtue's Last Reward. Despite being rather at odds with what we understand hit singles to sound like, Enigma's first single "Sadeness (Part I)" was a tremendous success all around the world, hitting #1 in over 15 countries. As Luis Fonsi has been particularly silent on his creative process regarding sequels to certain hit songs, you should know that "Sadeness (Part II)" was released 26 years later, in 2016. Enigma's return to this game will not come via that however, instead via more guilt-free passages. Speaking of very strange hit songs, we've got rapper Dimples D.. In the early '80s she released the song "Sucker D.J.'s (I Will Survive)", written not in response to Gloria Gaynor, but to Run-D.M.C. and their "Sucker M.C.s (Krush-Groove 1)". You probably never heard this song until Ben Liebrand got a hold of it. We have already seen his work in the game before, as he provided the 1990 hit remix of Ram Jam's "Black Betty", adding more of a dance groove to the classic rock staple. This time, like any normal person would, he added the theme music to "I Dream Of Jeannie" to the Dimples D. track which sent it all the way to #1 in Australia, whether or not the fact that an addition DJ was required to make the song a hit undercuts the message is up to your interpretation. Speaking of Betty (I now realise that the reason the antagonist of "Kung Pow" changes his name to Betty is purely to give more pay off to the use of "Black Betty" in the film and my head is spinning), we've got the return of Betty Boo, who is recent enough that her prior performance was in this thread and not the prior one. Her top 10 hit "Doin' The Do" landed in 7th place, so it could be seen as impressive that "Where Are You Baby?" only performed marginally worse as it only scraped by as a #19 hit. Next we enter the adventures of Stevie B, originally a freestyle artist in the '80s who found his highest level of success via an adult contemporary ballad in "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)", noted as being one of two US #1 hits in 1991 by relatively obscure artists with similar names. Timmy T will not even get one try in this game unless history shapes in crazy ways in the next few years. And lastly we have two former entrants teaming together to...less effect than when they were apart. It is however very appropriate because I now learn that "It Takes Two" is yet another '60s cover to land at the bottom of the list, originally by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston. It bears no relation to the Rob Base song of the same name which I keep finding ways to bring up for some reason.

50 - George Michael - Freedom! '90 (survived 1)
46 - Divinyls - I Touch Myself (survived 3; inducted!)
36 - Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You (survived 3; inducted!)

34 - Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do
31 - Ratcat - That Ain't Bad
26 - Enigma - Sadeness (Part I)
17 - Dimples D. - Sucker DJ (A Witch For Love)
14 - Betty Boo - Where Are You Baby?
11 - Stevie B - Because I Love You (The Postman Song)
5 - Rod Stewart & Tina Turner - It Takes Two
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Round 42:

Cher - The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
Daryl Braithwaite - The Horses
George Michael - Freedom! '90
Julee Cruise - Falling
Madonna - Rescue Me
Malcolm McLaren pres. The World Famous Supreme Team Show - Operaa House
Roxette - Joyride
The Screaming Jets - Better
Seal - Crazy
Vanilla Ice - Play That Funky Music

Now you can see the reason why not every vote's the same, and you don't have to please everyone, but try hard to save your fave...5 songs by Tuesday night.
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+5 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+4 Julee Cruise - Falling
+3 Seal - Crazy
+2 The Screaming Jets - Better
+1 Roxette - Joyride

extremely stacked round, all of my vote feel like they deserve a +4 and I also really wanted to vote Malcolm McLaren.
1. Better
2. The Horses
3. Joyride
4. Falling
5. Crazy
+5 Better
+4 Crazy
+3 Joyride
+2 Freedom 90
+1 The Horses
+5 Screaming Jets - Better
+4 Seal - Crazy
+3 Roxette - Joyride
+2 Daryl Braithwaite - The Horses
+1 George Michael - Freedom '90
An incredibly disappointing past round for me results-wise I knew Enigma would have a hard time from the start, but I really thought Ratcat (who are also in my top 5 entries so far) would be safe (and certainly didn't expect them below Kylie).

+5: Julee Cruise - Falling
+4: Malcolm McLaren pres. The World Famous Supreme Team Show - Operaa House
+3: The Screaming Jets - Better
+2: Seal - Crazy (I like how Seal appeared immediately after discussing Kiss From A Rose)
+1: Madonna - Rescue Me (until now I'd given 3 Madonna songs at least 1 +5, and the other 3 no points )
What were the two songs with the same name by one artist?

VERY surprised that Ratcat fell short this round after the strong start last round. Pleased with the top 3, though it would have been nice if Kylie finally cracked it.
+5 Seal - Crazy
+4 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+3 Julee Cruise - Falling
+2 Malcolm McLaren presents The World Famous Supreme Team Show - Operaa House
+1 Madonna - Rescue Me
+5 Julee Cruise - Falling
+4 Malcolm McLaren pres. The World Famous Supreme Team Show - Operaa House
+3 The Screaming Jets - Better
+2 Seal - Crazy
+1 Madonna - Rescue Me
I don't like to give out specific spoilers as one of them will be an entry in this game in 11 chart years
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Good round, I would have given any of them points except Mr Ice.

+5 Roxette - Joyride
+4 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+3 Seal - Crazy
+2 The Screaming Jets - Better
+1 Julee Cruise - Falling
Yay, I'm so glad 'I've Been Thinking About You' made it. It was up against some stiff competition.

+5 Seal - Crazy
+4 Malcolm McLaren pres. The World Famous Supreme Team Show - Operaa House
+3 Daryl Braithwaite - The Horses
+2 Julee Cruise - Falling
+1 Madonna - Rescue Me


In contrast to the last two rounds, this one, other than Seal, was a fairly weak round for me.
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+5 The Horses
+4 The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
+3 Freedom 90
+2 Falling
+1 Crazy
villages and I this round are the first time any 2 people have had identical votes!
it was very nice of you to do this considering the quote was 'why not every vote's the same' and not 'why every vote's not the same'.
always asks 'what are your votes' never asks 'how are your votes'

+5 Falling
+4 Freedom! '90
+3 Crazy
+2 Better
+1 Rescue Me
+5 Freedom '90
+4 Crazy
+3 Falling
+2 The Shoop Shoop song
+1 Opera House
+5 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+4 Seal - Crazy
+3 The Screaming Jets - Better
+2 Roxette - Joyride
+1 Cher - The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
+5: Malcolm McLaren pres. The World Famous Supreme Team Show - Operaa House
+4: The Screaming Jets - Better
+3: Seal - Crazy
+2: Cher - The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
+1: Roxette - Joyride
+5 Roxette - Joyride
+4 The Screaming Jets - Better
+3 Cher - The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
+2 Daryl Braithwaite - The Horses
+1 George Michael - Freedom! '90

+5 The Screaming Jets - Better
+4 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+3 Daryl Braithwaite - The Horses
+2 Madonna - Rescue Me
+1 Malcolm McLaren pres. The World Famous Supreme Team Show - Operaa House

was not my vote prior to re-listening! surprised that i couldn't find room for Julee, Seal, or Cher
+5 Rescue Me
+4 Falling
+3 Crazy
+2 Operaa House
+1 Freedom! '90
5. Horses
4. Crazy
3. Falling
2. Better
1. Joyride
Round 42 results:

It's a momentous round for a particular reason, and not just because it's the meaning of life. But first, there's one song that led the pack throughout this round, and if you weren't studying the votes, it may not be who you expect. Receiving 16/18 votes, the most since "Joey"'s first round, was not George Michael's last-round winner, or The Screaming Jets, or any of the 3 ARIA #1s... but rather, Seal's "Crazy". Released as his debut solo single following his UK #1 with Adamski "Killer", it became his first and only top 10 hit in Australia (and most places) until "Kiss From A Rose", and foreshadowed accompanying-remixer William Orbit's future productions that will be seen in this game (but, devastatingly, "Barber's Adagio For Strings" will not be). "Crazy"'s high amount of votes is offset by a low amount of +5s, however: it only received 2, whereas most round winners have had at least 4 or 5 (the last one with only 2 was "Toy Soldiers"). Maybe this will make "Crazy" more vulnerable next round? The Screaming Jets also did very well in 2nd place with "Better", which alongside Ratcat's "Tingles" EP gave the independent label rooArt 2 artists in the top 5 at once. But here's the big thing, if you haven't guessed or scrolled down already. It's taken 42 rounds - I'm amazed at that - but for the first time, we've actually ended up with a tie for #3. Like in the original game, that means both songs get to continue to the next round - leaving only room for 6 new songs, as there are no inductions. The first of the 2 is "Freedom! '90", at quite a decline from the previous round, despite this round having the exact same 18 voters. The 2nd is one of the 3 ARIA #1s... but not one of the 2 that made the original game's HOF. Rather, it's the one that placed 9th back then, and was voted #99 in a '90s #1s countdown here (well, kind of 'here', as it included votes from other sites as well) back in 2014: Julee Cruise's "Falling", a track from her 1989 album that became (in instrumental form) the theme to the TV show "Twin Peaks", and when reaching #1 in 1991, became the 3rd TV-related #1 in a row (following The Simpsons, and "Sucker DJ" with its "I Dream Of Jeannie" theme sample). It's probably one of the most unusual #1s ever (I was amazed at it being a #1 when I heard it via listening for that #1s countdown), but back then that was all part of it, that was okay. As the decade progressed, some may say the charts would get wilder and wilder and wilder. It was completely fine to collaborate with somebody else; in fact it was perfectly fine to collaborate with your best friend, in front of the other person. Ring all the bells. The flower has come. Not quite receiving our prayers of gladness, however, is "The Horses", a 1989 Rickie Lee Jones album track that after being 'heard by accident' and recorded by Daryl Braithwaite, with guest vocals from Margaret Urlich (previously in the game with "Escaping"), built on his 1988-89 comeback and became his first #1 since the '70s, though he never hit the top 20 again afterwards. Then somehow about 25 years later it became a meme and eternal iTunes charter and placed him on a major festival line-up and spawned a #55 hit tropical house cover and basically I'm glad the votes agree that there are countless songs more worthy of this. Roxette have faced tough competition with almost every entry of theirs, but "Joyride", their 3rd and final ARIA #1, still continues a top 6 streak for them (outside of "Dressed For Success"'s 3rd round). As if "Sadeness" wasn't enough for incredibly-unique hits in early 1991, "Operaa House" brought the merging of... opera and hip-house to the top 20 only 2 weeks later, and with a backstory that could fill paragraphs: it came from former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and the "World('s?) Famous Supreme Team" hip hop radio show crew/recording group, who had previously collaborated for a 1983 album including the single "Buffalo Gals" (which you may know for being sampled by Eminem's "Without Me" lyrically [in 'round the outside', though I believe that originally came from an Appalachian square dance song in the first place] and Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance" musically), and built on the track "Aria On Air" Malcolm made with new age composer Yanni, itself sampling "Flower Duet" from the opera "Lakmé", which had been used in a British Airways ad in 1989. And a cover-heavy round continues with "The Shoop Shoop Song", first released in 1963, then made into a 1964 #6 US hit by Betty Everett, and then a 1975 #6 UK hit in a disco version by Linda Lewis, before part-time pig-determiner Cher covered it for the 1990 film "Mermaids", becoming her first solo UK #1. Madonna followed "Justify My Love" with a single release for the other new track on "The Immaculate Collection", "Rescue Me", and though it didn't manage to match the points of "Hanky Panky" let alone all her other entries so far, both still did attract 7 voters. Only a single 1990 entry (Andrew Ridgeley's "Shake") failed to get any points, but 1991 hasn't had to wait too long thanks to Vanilla Ice's take on "Play That Funky Music", a song in which he thought comparing himself to a Nazi would be a good idea, at least until re-writing much of the lyrics for the single version. Out of 10 songs in total that have scored 0 points, it's the 8th that's (to some degree, and including Jive Bunny) a cover.

51 - Seal - Crazy (survived 1)
45 - The Screaming Jets - Better (survived 1)
39 - George Michael - Freedom! '90 (survived 2)
39 - Julee Cruise - Falling (survived 1)

25 - Daryl Braithwaite - The Horses
24 - Roxette - Joyride
23 - Malcolm McLaren pres. The World Famous Supreme Team Show - Operaa House
12 - Cher - The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
12 - Madonna - Rescue Me
0 - Vanilla Ice - Play That Funky Music
Round 43:

Cathy Dennis - Just Another Dream
Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
Elisa Fiorillo - On The Way Up
George Michael - Freedom! '90
Hoodoo Gurus - Miss Freelove '69
Julee Cruise - Falling
Seal - Crazy
Snap! - Mary Had A Little Boy
Southern Sons - Hold Me In Your Arms
The Screaming Jets - Better

It's strange what desire will make foolish people vote, but you won't have to worry about seeming foolish if you get your votes in by Thursday evening. (QLVG is also open if the 2018 Hottest 100 is your thing. This is not in fact sponsored text.)
1. Better
2. Wicked Game
3. Hold Me In Your Arms
4. Miss Freelove ‘69
5. Falling
+5 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+4 Julee Cruise - Falling
+3 Seal - Crazy
+2 The Screaming Jets - Better
+1 Chris Isaak - Wicked Game

this round is exactly as cruel as last round
+5 Freedom 90
+4 Falling
+3 Crazy
+2 Better
+1 Mary Had A Little Boy
+5 Screaming Jets - Better
+4 Seal - Crazy
+3 George Michael - Freedom '90
+2 Julee Cruise - Falling
+1 Cathy Dennis - Just Another Dream
+5 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+4 Seal - Crazy
+3 Julee Cruise - Falling
+2 Elisa Fiorillo - On the Way Up
+1 Cathy Dennis - Just Another Dream
+5: Julee Cruise - Falling
+4: The Screaming Jets - Better
+3: Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
+2: Seal - Crazy
+1: Snap! - Mary Had A Little Boy
+5 Seal - Crazy
+4 Cathy Dennis - Just Another Dream
+3 Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
+2 Snap! - Mary Had a Little Boy
+1 Julee Cruise - Falling
+5 Julee Cruise - Falling
+4 Elisa Fiorillo - On The Way Up
+3 The Screaming Jets - Better
+2 Cathy Dennis - Just Another Dream
+1 Seal - Crazy
+5 Wicked Game
+4 Miss Freelove Nice
+3 Falling
+2 Freedom ‘90
+1 Better
+5 Seal - Crazy
+4 Hoodoo Gurus - Miss Freelove '69
+3 Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
+2 The Screaming Jets - Better
+ 1George Michael - Freedom! '90
+5 George Michael - Freedom! '90
+4 Seal - Crazy
+3 The Screaming Jets - Better
+2 Elisa Fiorillo - On The Way Up
+1 Hoodoo Gurus - Miss Freelove '69
This round having not one but TWO songs used in David Lynch's filmography makes the Wellington hipster in me squee with delight

+5 Freedom '90
+4 Crazy
+3 Wicked Game
+2 Falling
+1 On The Way Up
+5 Better '91
+4 Freedom '90
+3 Miss Freelove '69
+2 Wicked Game '89
+1 Crazy '91
5. Wicked Game
4. Crazy
3. Falling
2. Just Another Dream
1. Better
+5: The Scraeming Jets - Better
+4: Seal - Crazy
+3: Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
+2: Snap! - Mary Had A Little Boy
+1: Elisa Fiorillo - On The Way Up
+5 Falling
+4 Wicked Game
+3 Crazy
+2 On the Way Up
+1 Freedom! '90
Round 43 results:

A wise poet once said that we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy. Last round we proved that such a thing was possible because there was a tie in 3rd place to allow for 4 songs to progress instead of 3. In what turned out to be a very close battle between 5 songs, we've actually managed 2 ties just in that subset. None of those ties are relevant however because it's a tie between two songs for 2nd place and a tie between two songs for 4th place. In that sense, if you had read Umineko no Naku Koro ni, you might be inclined to compare this outcome to the Eternal Witch Beatrice's power to merely temporarily hold together something that has been broken. This is an extremely roundabout way to say that after luckily surviving the last round, George Michael falls just narrowly short of an induction for "Freedom! '90", and it also perhaps means that Julee Cruise should know to live in fear, particularly since none of her Kenneth Bager collaborations were top 20 hits so "Falling" looks to be her sole representation in this game. Seal & The Screaming Jets will have more entries in the future so their survival in the next round might not be as crucial. Seal is in the best position however as he safely leads the pack for a second round. Perhaps the source of a lot of the chaos in this round can be traced to the one other song that received a substantial amount of votes. It comes from the king of delayed hits Chris Isaak, with his 1990 single from his 1989 album "Wicked Game" being in an unlucky position to tie for 4th place while being twice as close to #1 as he was to #6. Perhaps this is an early look into the pecking order of The Voice and The X-Factor, as Seal & Chris Isaak have both had stints as coaches on the respective shows. There will be more doses of Chris Isaak in the relatively near future, and more doses of "Wicked Game" in the very far away future. One such artist without the same luxury is Hoodoo Gurus, though not through lack of trying. They did have a small handful of top 20 hits in the mid '80s, most notably "What's My Scene?" which was of course the theme song to Channel Ten's "Thank God You're Here" because that show was all about walking into scenes with no initial context...except no for some reason it was "Come Anytime". Following that big commercial breakthrough though, they would continue to score hits for a good decade afterwards, though the Australian public was only nice enough to send "Miss Freelove '69" to the top 20 after that fact. A little lower profile but with the same output in terms of having a single top 20 hit that peaked at #19, we've got Elisa Fiorillo. If like me, you weren't aware of her before this, you should know that she has extensively worked with Prince as well as future alumni Savage Garden, the former who wrote this very entry, "On The Way Up". Elisa celebrated her 50th birthday a couple of weeks ago, and Cathy Dennis will do the same in a couple of weeks. If she's lucky, she might even be in the running on said day with her second top 20 hit, but she doesn't quite strike out with her first, "Just Another Dream". While many may see dance music as a faceless genre, it's something of a curiosity here that so many of a small handful of artists just keep popping back up in this game. Case in point, Snap! are now up to their 3rd entry with "Mary Had A Little Boy". Unfortunately they cannot replicate Technotronic's feat of getting a megamix into this game as theirs which was their next single only peaked at #28. Perhaps they needed one more big hit on it. Lastly we arrive at the 3rd entry for perennial Spotify enemies Southern Sons. "Hold Me In Your Arms" returned them to the ARIA top 10 for a second time, but they wouldn't be able to replicate it again for a while, having to write an ode to LCD Soundsystem to do so.

47 - Seal - Crazy (survived 2)
38 - Julee Cruise - Falling (survived 2)
38 - The Screaming Jets - Better (survived 2)

36 - Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
36 - George Michael - Freedom! '90
14 - Hoodoo Gurus - Miss Freelove '69
12 - Elisa Fiorillo - On The Way Up
10 - Cathy Dennis - Just Another Dream
6 - Snap! - Mary Had A Little Boy
3 - Southern Sons - Hold Me In Your Arms
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Round 44:

Bingoboys feat. Princessa - How To Dance
C+C Music Factory pres. Freedom Williams & Zelma Davis - Here We Go
EMF - Unbelievable
Julee Cruise - Falling
The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
Ratcat - Don't Go Now
R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
Rick Astley - Cry For Help
The Screaming Jets - Better
Seal - Crazy

That's me in the corner, that's 392 in the spotlight, waiting for your votes until Saturday night.
Damn, I wish I had've given 'Wicked Game' 5 now so it would still be in this. Shocked at how poorly Cathy Dennis did

+5 Seal - Crazy
+4 The KLF feat. The Children of the Revolution - 3 a.m. Eternal
+3 Bingoboys - How To Dance
+2 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+1 EMF - Unbelievable
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+5 Losing My Religion
+4 Unbelievable
+3 Falling
+2 Better
+1 Don't Go Now
+5 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+4 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal
+3 Julee Cruise - Falling
+2 Seal - Crazy
+1 Ratcat - Don't Go Now

hurts to leave out EMF/Screaming Jets
1. Don’t Go Now
2. Better
3. Unbelievable
4. Losing My Religion
5. Cry For Help
Such a close round; would've happily taken another tie to get Wicked Game across too (which I had expected to win the round; I can't believe Falling has survived *twice*!).

+5: The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal (I'm expecting it to place 7th or maybe 6th amongst this round, but it's at least top 3 of everything so far for me [with Sadeness and Dub Be Good To Me]!)
+4: Julee Cruise - Falling
+3: The Screaming Jets - Better
+2: EMF - Unbelievable (would've been higher in almost every round! 1991 has been on a roll)
+1: Seal - Crazy
+5 Falling
+4 Unbelievable
+3 Crazy
+2 Cry For Help
+1 Don't Go Now
+5 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+4 Seal - Crazy
+3 Ratcat - Don't Go Now
+2 Julee Cruise - Falling
+1 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal
+5 Julee Cruise - Falling
+4 The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+3 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+2 The Screaming Jets - Better
+1 EMF - Unbelievable

*Screaming Jets voice* it's just not FAAAAAIIIIRRRRR (how good this round is). Very good argument for this being the strongest round yet, I would have voted How To Dance in most rounds I think.
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I missed a round due to computer issues. Apologies to George Michael and Chris Isaak who my vote would have gotten over the line

+5 EMF - Unbelievable
+4 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+3 Seal - Crazy
+2 Julee Cruise - Falling
+1 The Screaming Jets - Better

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Ah I was wondering what happened because you'd never missed a round, and kind of encouraged Hijinx to wait as long as possible as I knew you'd likely have changed the result (even if the result we got probably lines up with my votes better, unless a mass tie was an option). Glad you're back anyhow
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Thanks. Life goes on, and I do like the songs that got through.
+5 EMF - Unbelievable
+4 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+3 Seal - Crazy
+2 Ratcat - Don't Go Now
+1 The Screaming Jets - Better

This is the 1st round, since I've joined in, that I've had to leave out a song I actually like due to having more than 5 vote worthy songs.
+5: The Screaming Jets - Better
+4: Bingoboys ft. Princessa - How To Dance
+3: Seal - Crazy
+2: R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+1: Ratcat - Don't Go Now
+5 Screaming Jets - Better
+4 Seal - Crazy
+3 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal
+2 Ratcat - Don't Go Now
+1 Bingoboys feat. Princessa - How To Dance
+5 Losing My Religion
+4 Crazy
+3 3 A.M. Eternal
+2 Falling
+1 Don't Go Now
+5 Better
+4 3am Eternal
+3 Losing My Religion
+2 Unbelievable
+1 Don't Go Now

this round is ridic, hoping for a massive tie so 5 or 6 songs go through
+5 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal
+4 Seal - Crazy
+3 Screaming Jets - Better
+2 EMF - Unbelievable
+1 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
Yep my condolences to Chris Isaak he would've got 5 from me aswell
work schedule got in the way as per usual

+5 Rick Astley - Cry For Help
+4 The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+3 The Screaming Jets - Better
+2 Julee Cruise - Falling
+1 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion

+5 3 A.M. Eternal
+4 Falling
+3 Losing My Religion
+2 Crazy
+1 Unbelievable
5. Ratcat - Don't Go Now
4. Seal - Crazy
3. Rick Astley - Cry For Help
2. R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
1. Julee Cruise - Falling
Round 44 results:

In one of the most brutal rounds we've had, you'd have been well-reasoned in hoping for another tie to bring more than 3 songs across the line. I was too. Unfortunately, and surprisingly, a decisive top 3 actually formed towards the end. But with which songs in the spotlight? Positions #2 and #3 shifted a lot throughout, but in the lead for almost the entire time was "Losing My Religion". R.E.M. were previously in play with "Orange Crush" which made the top 3 twice (ultimately losing out to a stacked top 3 of Enya/Madonna/FYC), but "Losing My Religion" received points from, except me (oops), everyone who ever voted "Orange Crush" and several who didn't. While "Losing My Religion" may not have been their biggest chart hit at the time, it's by far their most popular song on Spotify and YouTube nowadays - and in fact, its 324 million Spotify plays are 3rd to only "Sweet Child O' Mine" (505 million) and "Thunderstruck" (337 million) of all our entries so far. It's been a good run for Seal with 2 round wins, and his support hasn't evaporated; he managed to surpass 40 points again, sending him through to the Hall of Fame. "Crazy" follows Londonbeat to be the 2nd 1991 entry inducted, and with its #9 peak, is actually the lowest to do so since late 1989's "Miss You Much". I personally predicted those 2 and "Better" to be the top 3, and could've seen "Unbelievable" as a plausible alternative, or even "Falling" at a stretch... but all of that would've been incorrect, because the actual 3rd song is no other than "3 A.M. Eternal", the song I'd essentially accepted defeat on before it began. Behind the 15/18 and 13/18 votes R.E.M. and Seal received, the next 5 songs all got 11/18; what pushed The KLF ahead was 8 top 2 votes, the most of any song this round. Ever fond of repeatedly refining their own songs, The KLF originally released "3 A.M. Eternal" in 1989 as part of their 'Pure Trance' series, then heavily reworked it into a 1991 single - as the 2nd part of their 'Stadium House' trilogy - that became their first and only UK #1, and their first of 3 Australian top 5 hits (or 2nd of 4 if you count "Doctorin' The Tardis" under one of their many aliases, The Timelords). While the single was subtitled 'Live At The S.S.L.', it's not actually a live recording (though the crowd noise may give it the feel of one), nor is the S.S.L. a real place; all 3 of the Stadium House singles were billed as 'live' from imaginary locations, and 'S.S.L.' actually refers to a Solid State Logic mixing desk. The feature of 'The Children Of The Revolution' was a collective credit used on 2 KLF singles for guest vocalists and instrumentalists, and for "3 A.M. Eternal" it includes the singer Maxine Harvey and rapper Ricardo Da Force, the latter of whom later featured on N-Trance's ARIA #1 "Stayin' Alive". As for the rest of the songs? "Better" and "Falling" both managed to survive 2 rounds, and oust other very popular songs in the process, but neither could reach the level of this top 3. Among 1998-1990's entries, 30/41 songs that reached a 3rd round made it to the HOF, but in 1991 so far, the 3rd-round misses ("Freedom! '90", "Better" and "Falling") actually outweigh the 2 inductions. In the battle for the best 'Better' song, "Better" totalled 117 points, just 1 less than "Better Be Home Soon". A testament to the strength of this round is that #6 cracked 30 points for the first time - that song being EMF's "Unbelievable", which was actually in 2nd place as late as the 11th vote, but was then overtaken step-by-step by 4 others. "Unbelievable" actually features an obscured sample of a prior entry we've had: the word 'one' in its instrumental hook comes from Ya Kid K on Hi Tek 3's "Spin That Wheel". Ratcat's 2nd ARIA #1 "Don't Go Now" received almost as many votes as "That Ain't Bad" did, but whereas "That Ain't Bad" began with 6 straight +5s, "Don't Go Now" only received 2 of such, and 6/11 of its votes were mere +1s. In 2012, "Don't Go Now" was played on rage on the same night as a Pig Destroyer song. With SAW's chart fortunes having tumbled after 1989, Rick Astley made his 3rd album entirely without them, and the ballad "Cry For Help" became a #13 hit in Australia and #7 hit in both the UK and US - his last single to reach anywhere near those heights. Bingoboys' "How To Dance" also features a minor sample from a prior entry (among various other samples): the phrase 'dance now!' comes from Tom Jones' 'think I'd better dance now!' in The Art Of Noise's "Kiss". And with all the big songs in the round, nobody found room for C+C Music Factory's "Here We Go" - subtitled ", Let's Rock & Roll" on the album but removed for the single, presumably due to having 'The Rock & Roll Radio Mix', 'The R&B Radio Mix' and other versions - which followed "Gonna Make You Sweat" to the top 3 in the US, but only limped to #20 in both Australia and the UK. One sample it includes is of Chic's "Le Freak", turning 'ahhh, freak out' into 'ahhh, Freedom', and while "Le Freak" is obviously not a prior entry, Snap!'s "Ooops Up" does include a very similar-sounding 'ahhh'.

47 - R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (survived 1)
42 - Seal - Crazy (survived 3; inducted!)
42 - The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal (survived 1)

34 - The Screaming Jets - Better
33 - Julee Cruise - Falling
30 - EMF - Unbelievable
23 - Ratcat - Don't Go Now
11 - Rick Astley - Cry For Help
8 - Bingoboys feat. Princessa - How To Dance
0 - C+C Music Factory pres. Freedom Williams & Zelma Davis - Here We Go
Round 45:

James Reyne - Slave
Jimmy Barnes - When Your Love Is Gone
John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - The Grease Megamix
Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
Rod Stewart - Rhythm Of My Heart
Simple Minds - Let There Be Love
The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
Transvision Vamp - (I Just Wanna) B With U
Wendy Matthews - Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)

Let's vote, like the angels do, by Monday evening.
Yay, Seal & The KLF got through.

+5 The KLF feat. The Children of the Revolution - 3 a.m. Eternal
+4 Transvision Vamp - (I Just Wanna) B With U
+3 Pet Shop Boys - Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+2 Wendy Matthews - Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)
+1 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+5: Jimmy Barnes - When Your Love Is Gone
+4: Rod Stewart - Rhythm Of My Heart
+3: Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+2: R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+1: Transvision Vamp - (I Just Wanna) B With U
+5 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+4 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal
+3 John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - The Grease Megamix
+2 James Reyne - Slave
+1 Pet Shop Boys - Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+5 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+4 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal
+3 James Reyne - Slave
+2 Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+1 Transvision Vamp - (I Just Wanna) B With You
+5 The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+4 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+3 Wendy Matthews - Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)
+2 Transvision Vamp - (I Just Wanna) B With U
+1 John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - The Grease Megamix
+5 Transvision Vamp - (I Just Wanna) B With U
+4 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+3 Wendy Matthews - Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)
+2 Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+1 James Reyne - Slave
1. Losing My Religion
2. Rhythm Of My Heart
3. Grease Megamix
4. When Your Love Is Gone
5. Let’s Kiss (Like Angels Do)
+5 Let There Be Love
+4 3 A.M. Eternal
+3 Rhythm Of My Heart
+2 When Your Love Is Gone
+1 Where The Streets Have No Name...
+5 The Grease Megamix
+4 Rhythm Of My Heart
+3 Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)
+2 Where The Streets Have No Name
+1 3AM Eternal
+5 Losing My Religion
+4 Where The Streets Have No Name
+3 Slave
+2 (I Just Wanna) B With U
+1 Let There Be Love
+5: The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+4: Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+3: R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+2: Transvision Vamp - (I Just Wanna) B With U
+1: Wendy Matthews - Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)

Outside of The KLF, this is one of the weakest rounds for me; my +3 would've struggled to make my vote in any of the last... 22 rounds.
+5 REM
+4 Wendy Matthews
+3 KLF
+2 Grease
+1 Simple Minds
+5 Losing My Religion
+4 3 A.M. Eternal
+3 (I Just Wanna) B With U
+2 Let There Be Love
+1 Slave
+5 The KLF featuring The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+4 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+3 Wendy Matthews - Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)
+2 Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+1 Transvision Vamp - (I Just Wanna) B With U
+5 Wendy Matthews - Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)
+4 The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+3 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+2 Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+1 James Reyne - Slave
+5 3 A.M. Eternal
+4 Losing My Religion
+3 (I Just Wanna) B With U
+2 Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
........+1 The Grease Megamix [a toss-up between that, Wendy & James Reyne but neither feel qualified at all to make my vote because I feel pretty apathetic to both, to not exactly offer new information this round sucks :p]
5. Losing My Religion
4. Rhythm of My Heart
3. Let There Be Love
2. Slave
1. I Just Wanna Be With U
+5 Jimmy Barnes - When Your Love Is Gone
+4 James Reyne - Slave
+3 The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+2 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+1 Wendy Matthews - Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)

Round 45 results:

This round features one of the most bizarre point distributions to date. It was thought last round that whoever gets through the previous one would be free to glide this round, and as it turns out, last round's survivors have done that and then some. R.E.M. & The KLF might not have much in common apart from 3 letter initialisms, but they have both supremely held off all comers this time. R.E.M. notably have matched Madonna's record with "Like A Prayer" by scoring 62 points in a single round, while The KLF still have an impressive 52 to boast as well. #2 and #3 this round were split by 24 points, meanwhile #3 and #10 were only 16 points apart. This has resulted in one of the lowest ever qualifying scores to date (only Underworld in the first round went lower). That's not to say it didn't come with fierce competition, and there were a couple other songs in striking distance. In the end, it went to the first ever entry for the Pet Shop Boys. Though it would be amusing to think that their breakthrough hit was a gimmick mash up of U2 and Frankie Valli, they of course had several noteworthy hits before the time frame of this game. "Always On My Mind" and "Heart" were both currently on the first ARIA Chart on the tail end of their chart runs, and they had a handful of top 50 hits in-between then and now. This track is the start of a relative hit streak for the duo who we will be seeing more regularly in the future. Just missing out due to these face value new upstarts, we've got some relatively regular company. Wendy Matthews returns with her 3rd entry in the span of about a year, scoring as of yet her biggest solo hit with "Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)". Also getting a 3rd entry are Transvision Vamp, who managed to squeak out one more top 20 hit after a bonanza of late '80s hits. This means that they've fallen narrowly shy of scoring another Hall Of Fame inductee to join "I Want Your Love", as "(I Just Wanna) Be With U lands in 5th, just 3 points short. Next we've got the rock stalwarts, a phrase I did not intentionally coin because it looks a fair bit like Rod Stewart. Nonetheless he's here with his biggest solo hit of the '90s, "Rhythm Of My Heart" which got all the way to #2 on the ARIA Chart. His next single peaked in the top 30 so we won't see him again for a little while. James Reyne meanwhile is perhaps on a mission on behalf of the boys to light up every individual position as his 3rd entry "Slave" (a song which has no relation to the complex structures of species/class in terms of slave labour in NieR:Automata) lands in a new rank for him at #7. This round featured just the solitary #1 hit, of which the credited artists had nothing to do with. "The Grease Megamix" in the manner of Jive Bunny, could closely be described as just playing the three big songs from some movie called "Grease" with some slight crossfade action. "You're The One That I Want" was already a #1 single in its own right and over a decade later it was back at the top. The final two songs this week deserve to be commended nonetheless as it's a rare case of all the songs making it to double digits, and this round's #10 scored more than last round's #8. In the Notepad file I'm typing this up in, it looks particularly visually pleasing because the artists' names line up perfectly and thus so do the titles, which look like a nonsensical proverb. In the words of Jimmy Barnes & Simple Minds: "When Your Love Is Gone, Let There Be Love". I also urge that you don't (forget about Simple Minds) as they're not going to be returning to this game. Jimmy Barnes has much more to lay down in the near future.

62 - R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (survived 2)
52 - The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal (survived 2)
28 - Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You) (survived 1)

26 - Wendy Matthews - Let's Kiss (Like Angels Do)
25 - Transvision Vamp - (I Just Wanna) B With U
19 - Rod Stewart - Rhythm Of My Heart
17 - James Reyne - Slave
15 - John Travolta & Olivia-Newton John - The Grease Megamix
14 - Jimmy Barnes - When Your Love Is Gone
12 - Simple Minds - Let There Be Love
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Round 46:

AC/DC - Are You Ready
Amy Grant - Baby Baby
Black Box - Strike It Up
The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
Roxus - Where Are You Now?
Sheena Easton - What Comes Naturally

What what rox rox the the most most to to you you?? Vote vote your your top top 5 5 by by Wednesday Wednesday night night..
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+5 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+4 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal
+3 Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+2 Roxus - Where Are You Now? (really like the chorus)
+1 Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
Amy & Sheena both very close.
+5 Baby Baby
+4 Rush Rush
+3 Where The Streets Have No Name
+2 Strike It Up
+1 3AM Eternal
+5 The KLF feat. The Children of the Revolution - 3 a.m. Eternal
+4 Roxette - Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+3 Pet Shop Boys - Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+2 Sheena Easton - What Comes Naturally
+1 Paula Abdul - Rush Rush

Hijinx, there were a few flop Pet Shop Boys singles in between this and their next top 20 hit - none of them made the top 100 (Jealousy, DJ Culture, Was It Worth It?).
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fair
+5 The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+4 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+3 Sheena Easton - What Comes Naturally
+2 Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+1 Amy Grant - Baby Baby
+5: The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+4: Amy Grant - Baby Baby
+3: Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+2: Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+1: Sheena Easton - What Comes Naturally
+5 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+4 Roxette - Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+3 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal
+2 Black Box - Strike It Up
+1 Pet Shop Boys - Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+5 Sheena Easton - What Comes Naturally
+4 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+3 Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
+2 Amy Grant - Baby Baby
+1 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion

Excellent round where I would have thrown votes to everyone but AC/DC.
1. Roxus
2. R.E.M.
3. Amy Grant
4. Paula Abdul
5. Roxette
+5 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal
+4 Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
+3 Amy Grant - Baby Baby
+2 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+1 Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+5 Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
+4 Amy Grant - Baby Baby
+3 The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+2 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+1 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion

+5 Losing My Religion
+4 3 A.M. Eternal
+3 Baby Baby
+2 Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+1 Strike It Up
+5 REM
+4 KLF
+3 Roxette
+2 Black Box
+1 Sheens Easton
+5 Losing My Religion
+4 Where The Streets Have No Name
+3 Are You Ready
+2 Rush Rush
+1 3 A.M. Eternal
+5 The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+4 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+3 Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+2 Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
+1 Sheena Easton - What Comes Naturally
I didn't think the last round was as weak as everyone said, but this round is fantastic. My +3 and +2 are both nowhere near my vote this round. A big step up.

+5: Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+4: Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
+3: Amy Grant - Baby Baby
+2: Black Box - Strike It Up
+1: Roxus - Where Are You Now?

I was shocked by the Sheena Easton song, only really knowing her from Nine To Five before this. It's... quite different from that and I'm sad I couldn't fit in my vote as it's great!
+5 The KLF featuring The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal
+4 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
+3 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+2 Pet Shop Boys - Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
+1 Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
5. Amy Grant - Baby Baby
4. R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
3. Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
2. Roxus - Where Are You Now?
1. Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
+5 3 A.M. Eternal
+4 Losing My Religion
+3 Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+2 What Comes Naturally
+1 Strike It Up
Round 46 results:

Though not as much of a landslide as last round, I don't think it'll be a surprise to say that R.E.M. and The KLF have held onto the top 2. What may be a surprise, however, is that The KLF actually outscored R.E.M. this time! Only 1 person lowered "3 A.M. Eternal" in their vote, whereas "Losing My Religion" fell out of 3 votes and was lowered in another 4. While not enough for "3 A.M. Eternal" to overtake in total points (thus I'm placing R.E.M. above in the HOF post), both are in the top 10 highest totals so far, "Losing My Religion" even in a 3-way tie for #3. "Losing My Religion" is also the first non-top 10 hit to make the HOF since "Miss You Much" 21 rounds ago, comfortably beating the 2 songs that kept it at #11: "When Your Love Is Gone" and "Unbelievable". "3 A.M. Eternal" has also beaten all 4 songs that held it at #3 (on 2 separate weeks): "Don't Go Now", "The Horses", "The Grease Megamix" and "Rhythm Of My Heart" (I can only imagine how jarring it would've been hearing "3 A.M. Eternal" on a chart countdown among those songs). The main battle this round was for 3rd place and for once, luck has actually fallen on Roxette's side! Among 7 entries (only Kylie has had more, with 10; Madonna has also had 7), 5 have gotten stuck in 4th-6th place, often in particularly strong rounds (and "It Must Have Been Love" came only 1 point short); only "Dressed For Success" had made the top 3, until now. "Fading Like A Flower" is particularly lucky being the last of their major hit streak - particularly in the US where 6/7 singles had made the top 2, then they never made the top 30 again, but it's also their last Australian top 10 hit (with 5 more top 20 hits to come). A dance version credited to 'Dancing DJs vs. Roxette' also made #18 in the UK in 2005 but didn't chart in Australia. Releasing her debut album in 1977 as a teenager, Amy Grant became highly successful in contemporary Christian music through the '80s, but outside of a Peter Cetera debut that was a US #1 in 1986 (and a couple minor US charters of her own), her major crossover moment came in 1991 with "Baby Baby" and the accompanying album "Heart In Motion", which produced 4 US top 10 hits. As far as I know she returned to Christian music soon after, her career no doubt culminating in voicing a 2005 children's DVD called "On The Farm: The Prodigal Pig" alongside country artists Randy Travis and Vince Gill (I promise I didn't make this up). Like the prodigal pig, I needed to run. Also someone with many US top 10 hits is Paula Abdul, but her relatively-brief moment of doing so in Australia - with her debut album's 6th(?) single "Opposites Attract" and 2nd album's lead single "Rush Rush" - was over about as quickly as it began, with only a later 1995 single keeping her alive in this game. "Opposites Attract" and "Rush Rush" both placed 5th, but the latter with about 1.7x as many points and voters. Scraping through last round, Pet Shop Boys have fallen to 6th place which doesn't surprise me at all - in fact, what does surprise me is that they barely dropped in points, and moved up in numerous people's votes. With 54 points across 2 rounds, "Where The Streets Have No Name" is tied with "Love Will Lead You Back" for the least total points among songs that lasted a 2nd round. Having hit #1 in Australia in 1981 with "9 To 5 (Morning Train)", "What Comes Naturally" actually gave Sheena Easton her 2nd-ever top 5 hit, while charting fairly unremarkably everywhere else - and its Australian success is just as isolated as her next single reached #107, and she only scraped the top 100 again in 2001. It seems Australia got Black Box's success right, as their top 3 hits "Ride On Time" and "Fantasy" have also performed best here, whereas "I Don't Know Anybody Else" and "Strike It Up" could only muster up #9 and #8 finishes. Their US peaks on the other hand look completely incongruous; "Strike It Up" was one of 2 top 10 hits they had there, following the single this game skipped over, "Everybody Everybody". But both charts do agree on "Strike It Up" being their final top 50 hit. Named after lead singer Juno Roxas, the band Roxus - or "Roxus Band" if you're whoever uploaded them to Spotify (or presumably "roxustheband" if they were 25 years younger) - supported Poison, Bon Jovi and Warrant on their Australian tours before releasing their first and only album, which produced a single top 20 hit in "Where Are You Now?". The 3rd single from The Album With "Thunderstruck", "Are You Ready" may not have had the honour of sharing its name with another simultaneous hit (I'm talking "Moneytalks" and "Dirty Cash (Money Talks)", which I meant to mention at the time but forgot), but it did reach #1 in NZ somehow (I would look at its chart run for possible context but charts.org.nz is down once again), becoming apparently their only #1 single ever anywhere.

55 - The KLF feat. The Children Of The Revolution - 3 A.M. Eternal (survived 3; inducted!)
51 - R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (survived 3; inducted!)
37 - Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave) (survived 1)

33 - Amy Grant - Baby Baby
30 - Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
26 - Pet Shop Boys - Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
15 - Sheena Easton - What Comes Naturally
10 - Black Box - Strike It Up
10 - Roxus - Where Are You Now?
3 - AC/DC - Are You Ready
Round 47:

Another Bad Creation - Iesha
Cathy Dennis - Touch Me (All Night Long)
Crowded House - Chocolate Cake
De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
Kylie Minogue - Shocked
Living Colour - Love Rears Its Ugly Head
Melissa - Read My Lips
Noiseworks - Hot Chilli Woman
Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral

Leave your name and your votes, and Hijinx will get back to you with the results on Friday evening.
1. Chocolate Cake
2. Love Rears Its Ugly Head
3. Hot Chilli Woman
4. Shocked
5. Fading Like A Flower
+5 Cathy Dennis - Touch Me (All Night Long)
+4 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+3 Roxette - Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+2 Another Bad Creation - Iesha
+1 Kylie Minogue - Shocked

And yes, 392414, 'Opposites Attract' was Paula's 6th single released here. In the US, '(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me' was released twice - once before 'Straight Up', and again following 'Cold Hearted'. The order of release in Australia was: 'Straight Up', 'Forever Your Girl', 'Knocked Out', 'Cold Hearted', '(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me' and 'Opposites Attract'.

Many years before 'Baby Baby', this Christian television ad sung by Amy used to air here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNIO9KH3UC8 . I think I caught it a couple of times in 1986, though I believe it was made in 1984. It used to air sometimes as a gap-filler between programs, at least in Victoria.

The version of 'Everybody Everybody' that made the top 10 in the US was the Le Freak Mix, whereas the Love Unlimited Edit was the single version here and in Europe.

Finally - charts.org.nz has been superseded by https://charts.nz/ . The former site has been down for a while. Annoyingly, the old URL's cited from there on wikipedia do not redirect to the new site, and so need to all be replaced
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+5 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+4 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+3 Crowded House - Chocolate Cake
+2 Living Colour - Love Rears Its Ugly Head
+1 Noiseworks - Hot Chilli Woman

By the way, we've been discussing it, and though nobody has actually done this yet, something we'd like to note is that if we discover that somebody has edited their vote long after making it, in the hopes of slightly adjusting the results (forcing a tie, breaking a tie etc), only the original vote will be taken and not the edit. We'd like to keep these results as organic as possible!
+5: The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral (continuous KLF +5 streak *.*)
+4: Cathy Dennis - Touch Me (All Night Long)
+3: De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+2: Living Colour - Love Rears Its Ugly Head
+1: Melissa - Read My Lips

Strong round; Roxette and Another Bad Creation were very close. Very pleased for 3 A.M. Eternal making the HOF also!! Maybe I should predict all my favourites in 7th place

@Nugs thanks, I looked at the 1990 ARIA spreadsheet and her Wikipedia discography references (probably there courtesy of you, I imagine) and it seemed like they all pre-dated "Opposites Attract", but it gets complicated with the 1989 51-100 positions and I didn't want to be too quick to assume none had a belated release like Janet And that explains why I thought the NZ site was working sometimes on and off! I hadn't noticed the changed URL.
Don't really think much of anything here but...

+5 Fading Like A Flower
+4 Shocked
+3 Touch Me (All Night Long)
+2 Chocolate Cake
+1 Last Train To Transcentral
Not a very good round for me.

+5 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+4 Cathy Dennis - Touch Me (All Night Long)
+3 Melissa - Read My Lips
+2 Kylie Minogue - Shocked
+1 Crowded House - Chocolate Cake


+5 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral (I definitely like 3 A.M Eternal more though)
+4 Cathy Dennis - Touch Me (All Night Long)
+3 Crowded House - Chocolate Cake
+2 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+1 Kylie Minogue - Shocked
+5 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+4 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+3 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+2 Melissa - Read My Lips
+1 Kylie Minogue - Shocked
+5 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+4 Noiseworks - Hot Chilli Woman
+3 Crowded House - Chocolate Cake
+2 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+1 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+5 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+4 The KLF - Last Train to Trancentral
+3 Living Colour - Love Rears Its Ugly Head
+2 Roxette - Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+1 Kylie Minogue - Shocked
+5 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+4 Noiseworks - Hot Chilli Woman
+3 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+2 Cathy Dennis - Touch Me (All Night Long)
+1 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+5: Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+4: Another Bad Creation - Iesha
+3: De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+2: The KLF - Last Train To Transvision Vamp
+1: Kylie Minogue - Shocked
+5 Love Rears Its Ugly Head
+4 Chocolate Cake
+3 Shocked
+2 Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+1 Last Train to Trancentral
@392414 yep, I added those 51-100 ARIA Paula Abdul peaks to her wikipedia discography page, though the release order is not Australia-specific there. Ah, the olden days where different countries had different release schedules and region-specific releases.
+5 Noiseworks - Hot Chilli Woman
+4 Another Bad Creation - Iesha
+3 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+2 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+1 Kylie Minogue - Shocked

+5 Kylie Minogue - Shocked
+4 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+3 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+2 Crowded House - Chocolate Cake
+1 Living Colour - Love Rears Its Ugly Head

+5 Last Train To Trancentral
+4 Ring Ring Ring
+3 Love Rears It’s Ugly Head
+2 Shocked
+1 Chocolate Cake
+5 Last Train to Trancentral
+4 Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+3 Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+2 Touch Me (All Night Long)
+1 Read My Lips
5. Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
4. Kylie Minogue - Shocked
3. Living Colour - Love Rears Its Ugly Head
2. De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
1. Crowded House - Chocolate Cake
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Round 47 results:

Finishing at the top of the results, this is what KLF is about. Also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, furthermore known as the JAMs. This comment only works because of the last round results so the massive R.E.M. fan in me can make lemonade out of lemons. But yes, excellent timing (which given The KLF's background, may well have been an intentional plot 28 years in the making) means that the instant "3 A.M. Eternal" makes the Hall Of Fame, they have a new song to take its place...at the top of the table again no less! That new song is "Last Train To Trancentral", the 2nd song from their Stadium House Trilogy although chronologically it's the last of the 3. R.E.M. narrowly missed out on also replacing their Hall Of Fame entrant, which left an empty place in the top 2 for Roxette to take, giving "Fading Like A Flower" a 2nd success and the potential to be their first Hall Of Fame entrant, depending on how the next round of entrants are received. It was a close battle however for the #2 spot. Sitting right behind Roxette are an artist with just one entry here to their name. Since I've already mentioned R.E.M., it's time to mention another beloved group of mine whose tenure of acclaimed releases almost entirely pre-date my existence on this world. I regret to say I'm not talking about De La Soul because their distribution of music makes it difficult to dive into their music. They are however a member of the Native Tongues collective which means that they will often draw many comparisons to the also associated A Tribe Called Quest. Arguably ATCQ are the more revered of the two, but De La Soul have what they don't which is a top 20 hit. It's another case of jumping on what was at the time a very recent song and taking it much further. Curiosity Killed The Cat released the song "Name and Number" just 2 years earlier, but instead of that we have De La Soul's interpolation via "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)". Depending on your definition, this is the first '90s hip hop track that has managed to make the top 3. These three songs easily led the pack meaning that the rest were not really in contention and need not be lamented quite as much. Obviously I'm saying this because perennial seat-filler Kylie Minogue is back with her 11th failure in "Shocked". I guess you could say she's getting closer as she's made 4th place for the 4th time in a row. For an Australian icon that could perhaps do with a little more entries in this game, Crowded House are back for the first time since "Better Be Home Soon" made the Hall Of Fame. That was 3 years ago which may or may not over-reach your definition of 'soon'. But now we enter the world of their acclaimed album "Woodface", featuring such beloved hits as "Weather With You", "Fall At Your Feet" and "Four Seasons In One Day". I mentioned all of those because they will not be appearing in this game (as it stands at least), as it seems fans of those songs instead opted to just buy the album. A fortunate omen is that there was a single that was released before the album, which might have helped "Chocolate Cake" make the top 20 where those songs didn't. Any hopes of a perfect run in this game for them is broken as it lands at #5. I guess the cake really is a lie. A week ago I remarked that Cathy Dennis's birthday is approaching, as was her 2nd entry in this game. The two could have possibly coincided if she was able to last for 3 rounds, and in truth she made a fair effort at it scoring more than double the points of "Just Another Dream" with "Touch Me (All Night Long)". Now we return to one hit wonderland, with Living Colour and their song "Cult Of..., wait no I mean "Love Rears Its Ugly Head". Indeed their best known track by far didn't even reach the top 50 in Australia. Instead they reached the ARIA top 10 with "Love Rears Its Ugly Head". This was largely thanks to a remixed version of the song which gave it a less rock-influenced production style. Incidentally the seeming anonymity of that remix means that the song is probably better known now in its original version, so whichever version you ride for, you got it to #7 here at the bottom of a pretty crowded (and Kylie & Cathy) section of the list. Noiseworks seem to now be best known for their song "Take Me Back", which reached #4 recently on my Unofficial Catalogue Singles Chart. Surprisingly, it's actually tied with "Hot Chilli Woman" as their equal highest charting single, but that song only reached #20 on the Bubbling Under variant of that chart. This perhaps leads some creedence to my theory that there's a big chunk of classic Australian rock audiences whose canon stops right around "Better"/"The Horses". Here it performs slightly worse than their prior entry "Touch" and is their last entry here. Next we have Another Bad Creation and their song "Iesha". "Iesha" samples "There's a Place in France" briefly, just like how a song by an artist whose name is similar to the name of this song. It has very little to do with Death In Vegas's similar named "Aisha" except for the fact that their song features one time Logo entrant Iggy Pop and Another Bad Creation will not be appearing again, unless you count their appearance in an upcoming video for a mega chart hit. Speaking of which, we've got only one ARIA #1 hit here, with Melissa Tkautz's biggest hit "Read My Lips". It has the dubious honour of being just the 3rd ARIA #1 hit to land in 10th place, following "Got To Be Certain" and "Swing The Mood", which perhaps suggests that Melissa Etheridge is more deserving of the mononym.

52 - The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral (survived 1)
43 - Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave) (survived 2)
41 - De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) (survived 1)

28 - Kylie Minogue - Shocked
25 - Crowded House - Chocolate Cake
24 - Cathy Dennis - Touch Me (All Night Long)
23 - Living Colour - Love Rears Its Ugly Head
17 - Noiseworks - Hot Chilli Woman
10 - Another Bad Creation - Iesha
7 - Melissa - Read My Lips
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Round 48:

Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...
Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine
Johnny Diesel - Love Junk
The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole - Unforgettable
R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People
Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)

Everything you do should be for your top 5 songs, just please don't sex them up because I promised myself I wasn't going to make apology videos after last year's thing. Voting is expected to close on Sunday night.
1. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
2. Shiny Happy People
3. Fading Like A Flower
4. You Could Be Mine
5. Love Junk
+5 Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+4 I Wanna Sex You Up
+3 Unforgettable
+2 (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
+1 Things That Make you Go Hmmmm...
+5 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+4 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+3 R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People
+2 Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine
+1 C+C Music Factory - Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...
+5 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+4 Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine
+3 R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People
+2 C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...
+1 Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole - Unforgettable
+5 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+4 The KLF - Last Train to Trancentral
+3 Roxette - Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+2 R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People
+1 C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...
+5 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+4 R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People
+3 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+2 Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
+1 Johnny la gente está muy Diesel - Love Junk
+5 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+4 Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine
+3 C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...
+2 Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
+1 Johnny Diesel - Love Junk

+5 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+4 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+3 Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
+2 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+1 C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...
+5: The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+4: De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+3: C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Things That Make You Go Hmmmm... 🤔
+2: Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
+1: Johnny Diesel - Love Junk
+5 Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
+4 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+3 Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine
+2 Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
+1 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+5 Shiny Happy People
+4 Unforgettable
+3 Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+2 Last Train To Trancentral
+1 Love Junk
+5: Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+4: De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+3: R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People
+2: The KLF - Last Train To Transcendental
+1: C+C Music Factory ft. Freedom Williams - Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...
+5 Last Train to Trancentral
+4 Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+3 Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+2 Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...
+1 Shiny Happy People
+5 Last Train to Trancentral
+4 Ring Ring Ring
+3 Shiny Happy People
+2 I Wanna Sex You Up
+1 Fading Like A Flower (Every Time)
+5 C + C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams - Things That Make You Go Hmmm....
+4 Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
+3 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+2 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+1 Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine
+5 Ring Ring Ring
+4 Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...
+3 Shiny Happy People
+2 Last Train To Trancentral
+1 Unforgettable
5. Everything I Do (I Do It For You)
4. Unforgettable (In Every Way)
3. Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
2. Shiny Happy People (Shiny Happy People)
1. Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
Round 48 results:

This round made The KLF the first artist to be in 5 rounds in a row (Traveling Wilburys and Madonna had previously done 4, with 3 rounds of "Handle With Care" and "Like A Prayer" respectively then 1 round of their follow-ups), and they've kept up their consistent spread of votes with "Last Train To Trancentral" winning a 2nd round. It actually ended up close though, with De La Soul moving from 11 points behind to only 2 behind, which may make The KLF less safe than you'd expect next round, with a couple potentially-big songs joining. As for 3rd place, it might've seemed like there were numerous contenders when the round opened, but the top 3 settled in by the halfway mark and never budged afterwards - and that top 3 is the same 3 songs that were carried over, meaning: Roxette have actually done it! Only took them 7 tries, but whereas the previous time they hit a 3rd round, "Dressed For Success" crashed to 9th place (albeit with still the highest #9 points to date), "Fading Like A Flower" barely fell and becomes their first HOF entry. That said, it's been quite lucky to get through; its +2.23 average points takes the anti-crown for the lowest among HOF songs (previously held for quite some time by "I Want Your Love" with +2.33). The closest competition came from "Shiny Happy People", not receiving quite the same devotion as "Losing My Religion" or even "Orange Crush", which would probably please R.E.M. considering their vocal dislike of the song, it even being left off their 2003 Greatest Hits album "In Time" (noticeably or not). With "Shiny Happy People" containing guest vocals from Kate Pierson of The B-52's, all 4 of Kate's appearances ("Love Shack", "Roam" and Iggy Pop's "Candy" previously) have placed 4th (and all with 30-33 points), so Kylie clearly isn't the only golden quartet around. C+C Music Factory were a bit of a surprise star this round, for a while having as many votes as the top 2... but with less than half as many points. Nonetheless, "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm..." has not only reversed their trajectory from "Here We Go" scoring no points at all; it's even outscored and outranked "Gonna Make You Sweat", though some may say the latter was in an especially strong round. Something feel missing so far? Back in 2012 in the original game, 1959-born Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" not only made the HOF; it won all of its 5 rounds along the way, as well as being one of the longest-running #1s of all time probably everywhere and all that. But now, it only managed to attract 5 votes altogether, providing a prime example of how much prevailing tastes (and/or active users) on this site have changed over the years. We've sorted through 17 original HOF-ers so far and only 6 have made our HOF (despite our HOF having twice as many songs; 35 to be precise), including none since "Vogue" (the original picks since then were "It Must Have Been Love", "The King Of Wishful Thinking", "Unchained Melody", "Joyride", "The Horses" and "Everything I Do") - and in fact, "Everything I Do" has done the worst of the 17; all the others managed at least 23 points. In 1991 Guns N' Roses chose to release 2 albums the same day - "Use Your Illusion" I and II - and 2 months earlier, "You Could Be Mine" was the first single plucked from the 2. It may not necessarily be one of their most enduring songs (5 songs across the 2 albums are bigger on Spotify, 4 of which we'll be seeing), but its #3 ARIA peak was the highest they ever reached, and it spent an impressive (well, maybe not comparatively...) 3 months in the top 10. However, it couldn't match the #5 rank or 20+ points we gave "Patience", let alone one-time #3-maker "Sweet Child O' Mine". Color Me Badd's career began with "I Wanna Sex You Up", featured in the film "New Jack City" as the single cover very much wants you to know, and was obviously their definitive hit... except that in the US, it actually got blocked at #2, while their next 2 singles managed to reach #1 (followed by numerous more top 30 hits, of which I feel obligated to say several are rather good as the one person who happens to be more familiar with them than "I Wanna Sex You Up"). 25 years after his death, Nat King Cole's 1951 song "Unforgettable" was turned into a duet with his daughter Natalie Cole (previously seen in round 1 with "Pink Cadillac"), and according to the Grammys it was the pinnacle of artistic achievement in its year. Previously here 4 times with his band The Injectors, Johnny Diesel dropped them for his solo debut "Love Junk", before also dropping the 'Johnny' and going by just 'Diesel' from his next single onwards. Though "Love Junk" is his 3rd #10-placer ("Cry In Shame" did the best at #7), its 5 points came from 5 different voters, making it his most-voted song so far, and the first song to receive 5 +1s and nothing more (the previous record was the "Black Betty" remix with 4).

47 - The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral (survived 2)
45 - De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) (survived 2)
38 - Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave) (survived 3; inducted!)

33 - R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People
24 - C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams - Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...
19 - Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
16 - Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine
15 - Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
13 - Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole - Unforgettable
5 - Johnny Diesel - Love Junk
Round 49:

Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)
De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
Extreme - More Than Words
LaTour - People Are Still Having Sex
Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis
Metallica - Enter Sandman
The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
UB40 - Here I Am (Come And Take Me)
Yothu Yindi - Treaty

Have you noticed that people are still posting votes? All the site errors had absolutely no effect. When you see them viewing the thread, they're making future plans to engage in the activity of voting by Tuesday evening; do you understand me?
Thank god Roxette snuck through, I don't think I'd have been able to handle another +5 of mine being 4th Also this round looks incredibly strong so it got home just in time!
1. Walking In Memphis
2. More Than Words
3. It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over
4. Enter Sandman
5. Treaty
+5 Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)
+4 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+3 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+2 The KLF - Last Train to Trancentral
+1 Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
+5 UB40 - Here I Am (Come And Take Me)
+4 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+3 Extreme - More Than Words
+2 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+1 Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)
+5 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+4 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+3 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+2 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+1 Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
+5 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+4 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+3 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
^ extremely ahead of the pack
+2 LaTour - People Are Still Having Sex
+1 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+5 Here I Am (Come And Take Me)
+4 It Ain't Over Til It's Over
+3 Treaty
+2 Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)
+1 Walking In Memphis
Glad Roxette got through too.

This is the worst round yet for me, I barely wanted to give points to any of them, (and) there are three I'd give negative points to if I could!

+5 Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)
+4 Extreme - More Than Words
+3 Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis
+2 Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
+1 UB40 - Here I Am (Come And Take Me)
+5 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+4 Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
+3 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+2 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+1 Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis

+5: The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+4: Metallica - Enter Sandman
+3: Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+2: LaTour - People Are Still Having Sex
+1: De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)

Tough round; The KLF almost lost their +5 streak for me. Crystal Waters would've made my vote in most rounds so far!
+5 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+4 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+3 Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (La Da Dee La Da Da)
+2 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+1 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
this is a killer round for me, my top 5 all could have gotten +5s in different rounds, my #6 was a +3 two rounds ago lol

+5 Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis
+4 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+3 Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
+2 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+1 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+5 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+4 Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)
+3 Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis
+2 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+1 Extreme - More Than Words

+5 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+4 Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)
+3 De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+2 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+1 UB40 - Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
+5: Yothu Yindi - Treaty (<3)
+4: De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
+3: Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)
+2: Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis
+1: The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
+5 Last Train To Trancentral
+4 Enter Sandman
+3 Ring Ring Ring
+2 Treaty
+1 Walking In Memphis
+5 Treaty
+4 Enter Sandman
+3 Ring 3X
+2 Last Train to Trancentral
+1 It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over
+5 Treaty
+4 Last Train to Trancentral
+3 Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)
+2 [s]LaTour of France -[/s] People Are Still Having Sex
+1 Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)

Enter Sandman was really close, what a round
5. Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis
4. Extreme - More Than Words
3. Yothu Yindi - Treaty
2. De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
1. Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
Round 49 results:

Sometimes I need to drag myself away from Dunedin's greatest exporter of reggae/dubstep/drum & bass fusion to deliver you these results. After all, when it comes to music we can't forget our roots. This is especially true when regarding the history of Australia where it is not a bold statement to say that race relations have never been as particularly strong as they could be. In 1988 on the bicentennial of the First Fleet landing in Australia, then prime minister Bob Hawke visited the Barunga Festival and met with former Australian of the Year Galarrwuy Yunupingu with the promise of a treaty being made with Indigenous Australians by 1990. This never really came into fruition, but Galarrwuy's brother Mr. Yunupingu was fronting the band Yothu Yindi at the time, who came together to write "Treaty" as a sort of anthem to push the message further. It's quite possible that you've never heard the original version of the song which is much more direct in its message of frustration and disappointment, because the song tends to be best known by a remixed version which was made with goal to not remove the Yolngu aspect of the music, and in fact it's largely just the English lyrics that are removed instead. With the help of this remix, "Treaty" is in fact the most played song of all time on triple j, and this enduring Australian has topped the table in its first appearance here. After a near miss last round, it's the first and possibly only time that the round number and top score have matched. Now it's time to talk about the other behemoth arriving this round. In the 1980s, Metallica had a growing reputation as one of the most exciting bands in the underground thrash metal scene releasing some kind of monstrous acclaim with their first four albums. Given their stark contrast with the popular music scene of the time, they weren't exactly a chart force understandably, but that would change towards the end of the decade. After going their whole career never making music videos, they made one for their single "One", which in combination with their growing fanbase, was enough to take their aggressive song about a war veteran whose life and body has been destroyed by the conflict, into top 40 charts alongside Debbie Gibson & Daryl Braithwaite. This would only be a taste to come as we shall especially see in this game with Metallica becoming a commercial behemoth with a fanbase ready to push almost everything they every release from this point forward into the top 20 for years to come. A lot of that owes to the tremendous popularity of the album we are just now embarking on, their self-titled 5th album. Depending on who you ask, it's either the last good Metallica album or the first bad Metallica album, but it is by a wide margin their biggest, and in fact it's the highest selling album in the US of the last 30 years. The first single from that album, "Enter Sandman" is a big single in its own right. Alongside another single from this album which we'll get to later, it's one of only about 25 songs to have charted on my Unofficial Catalogue Singles Chart for over 2.5 years worth of weeks, and incidentally, it's the song that blocked "Treaty" from the ARIA top 10. In the context of this game though for the time being, the two get to share their success as they both make the top 3 in this round, and will carry on together as the other top 3 entrant tonight is The KLF's "Last Train To Trancentral". It slips from the top spot for the first time, but gives the group their 2nd consecutive Hall Of Fame entrant. They have one more song to come in the future to potentially give them a trio. With these new songs coming through, it was always going to be tough for our carry overs, and De La Soul are the ones who have had to surrender in what was always going to be their final appearance. They narrowly hold off the rest of the competition in 4th but were a decent way away from the top 3 this time. Because this write up hasn't been heavy enough in multiple ways, it's time to talk about homeless people again. Except this time it's not about how the middle class should be expected to solve these problems, but rather about how Crystal Waters used to see a homeless woman singing on the street who still wore full make up and in that sense, looked just like the not as home-bereft people of the world, causing her to have an existential revelation about the reality that homelessness can really happen to anyone. This wasn't why the song was a hit, which Crystal Waters was not particularly pleased about which is why the title as you see it now shows as "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)". For this game it's the start of a very varied career for Crystal Waters both in style and when she will be appearing. She can claim a relatively impressive feat of having all of her top 50 hits in fact being top 20 hits so there aren't any near misses in the bunch. This is something that cannot be said of Marc Cohn, who is perhaps seen as a prime example of the Grammy Best New Artist Award and the curse that it carries with it. With its timeless piano sound and story telling lyrics, it's a song that feels like it could have existed in any point in time, and gave him a big breakthrough which could never be replicated. But to contrast this, right behind him we've got Lenny Kravitz whose biggest years are yet to hit. He's been poking around in the charts for a couple of years already but makes his entry now with the pop-soul stylings of "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" which became his first top 10 hit. Surprisingly despite a seemingly endless supply of hits for most of the decade, he will have only 1 more appearance overall in this game than Crystal Waters. But because we've spent most of these results tipping back and forth between long running careers and one off hits, it's natural that Extreme are next on the chopping block. Given a certain game-changing album which was released in the midst of this song's top 10 run, it was always going to be hard for a band like Extreme to sustain a successful pop career. Perhaps though that's never what they really wanted, given that their hit song "More Than Words" was an extreme departure for the band's usually much heavier repertoire. I almost wonder if the people who liked "Enter Sandman" and the people who liked "More Than Words" should have both bought the other band's album instead. That was in fact the highest charting song in this set, which might be a little jarring with all these #10 & #11 hits riding at the top of the results. Just to add to this, we've got one of UB40's biggest hits "Here I Am (Come And Take Me)" up next which peaked at #3. For the 2nd time in a row, it's UB40 as we all know them, the band who won't stop doing cover versions. This time they're doing a take on Al Green, possibly to the disdain of roughly 6 month old future Australian indie pop musicians, with "Here I Am (Come And Take Me)". The band have more cover versions of varying notoriety to come in this game. Finally, among all of this rock & dance canon is a song I don't think I'd ever heard before this week. Obviously following in the wake of disc jockey turned chart star Rick Dees, US musician LaTour had a similar transition of career, and in fact returned to the radio, perhaps after his music career never quite took off in a big way. In saying that, he did have one brief stint at fame with the success of his song "People Are Still Having Sex", a top 40 hit in the US, and a top 20 hit in Australia and UK. Nowadays the song is most associated with Tonya Harding who chose to figure skate to the song at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games (if that year feels weird to you, it's because it's the last time the Summer & Winter Olympics were held on the same year). The song expresses confoundment at the fact that people still choose to engage in intercourse in the midst of the AIDS epidemic, presumably because nobody has talked about sex just yet. As someone who was not yet conceived at the time this song was a hit, it's probably a terrible thing that the song never quite took off in a massive way. LaTour released the song 28 years before Baba Is You came out, in which case all he'd have to do is move one word from the phrase PEOPLE IS SEXING, thus solving the problem forever and making the human race go extinct in roughly 100 years or probably sooner given the dramatic ramifications of such a prospect.

49 - Yothu Yindi - Treaty (survived 1)
40 - The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral (survived 3; inducted!)
40 - Metallica - Enter Sandman (survived 1)

31 - De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
30 - Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)
26 - Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis
20 - Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
16 - Extreme - More Than Words
12 - UB40 - Here I Am (Come And Take Me)
6 - LaTour - People Are Still Having Sex
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Round 50:

Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat
Deborah Conway - It's Only The Beginning
Dire Straits - Calling Elvis
Heavy D & The Boyz - Now That We Found Love
Icy Blu - Pump It (Nice An' Hard)
Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
Metallica - Enter Sandman
Scorpions - Wind Of Change
Toni Childs - I've Got To Go Now
Yothu Yindi - Treaty

Once you've decided your top 5 songs, post it (nice an' hard) by Thursday night.
1. Wind Of Change
2. It’s Only The Beginning
3. Every Heartbeat
4. Love Thy Will Be Done
5. Enter Sandman
+5 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+4 Toni Childs - I've Got To Go Now
+3 Dire Straits - Calling Elvis
+2 Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat
+1 Scorpions - Wind Of Change

+5 I've Got To Go Now
+4 It's Only The Beginning
+3 Treaty
+2 Wind of Change
+1 Now That We Found Love
+5 Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat
+4 Icy Blu - Pump It (Nice an' Hard)
+3 Scorpions - Wind of Change
+2 Toni Childs - I've Got To Go Now
+1 Martika - Love... Thy Will Be Done
+5 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+4 Scorpions - Wind of Change
+3 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+2 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+1 Deborah Conway - It's Only the Beginning
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+5 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+4 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+3 [s]The Cure - Just Like Heaven[/s] Deborah Conway - It's Only The Beginning
+2 Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat
+1 Heavy D & The Boyz - Now That We Found Love
+5 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+4 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+3 Deborah Conway - It's Only The Beginning
+2 Heavy D & The Boyz - Now That We Found Love
+1 Toni Childs - I've Got To Go Now
+5: Metallica - Enter Sandman
+4: Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done (very close top 2 again!)
+3: Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+2: Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat
+1: Toni Childs - I've Got To Go Now (narrowly over Heavy D & The Boyz)
Now that's a much better round! It's a shame only one other song will scrape through behind the surviving behemoths, which I can't stand at all.

+5 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+4 Toni Childs - I've Got To Go Now
+3 Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat
+2 Scorpions - Wind Of Change
+1 Deborah Conway - It's Only The Beginning
+5: Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat (this is my favourite (re-)discovery in a long time, it reminds me so much of Madonna's Cherish!)
+4: Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+3: Icy Blu - Pump It (Nice An' Hard)
+2: Martika - Love... Thy Will Be Done
+1: Scorpions - Wind Of Change

What a strong round! I'd say one of the strongest yet. Sad to leave out Deborah Conway and Heavy D & The Boyz.
+5 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+4 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+3 Heavy D & The Boyz - Now That We Found Love
+2 Deborah Conway - It's Only The Beginning
+1 Scorpions - Wind Of Change

+5 Enter Sandman
+4 Treaty
+3 Love... Thy Will Be Done
+2 Every Heartbeat
+1 It's Only The Beggining
another tough round, had better memories of Heavy D than it sounded today but still wanted to vote for it (and also Toni Childs, and even Scorpions wasn't bad!)

+5 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+4 Deborah Conway - It's Only The Beginning
+3 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+2 Icy Blu - Pump It (Nice An' Hard)
+1 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+5 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+4 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+3 Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat
+2 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+1 Deborah Conway - It's Only The Beginning
+5 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+4 Dire Straits - Calling Elvis
+3 Toni Childs - I've Got To Go Now
+2 Heavy D & The Boyz - Now That We Found Love
+1 Yothu Yindi - Treaty (Remix)
5. Dire Straits - Calling Elvis
4. Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat
3. Deborah Conway - It's Only the Beginning
2. Yothu Yindi - Treaty
1. Toni Childs - I've Got To Go Now
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+5 Treaty
+4 Enter Sandman
+3 It’s Only the Beginning
+2 Calling Elvis
+1 Love Thy Will Be Done
+5 Treaty
+4 Love... Thy Will Be Done
+3 Enter Sandman
+2 Every Heartbeat
+1 Wind of Change
Round 50 results:

Happy round 50! We've had a total of 824 votes (an average of 16.5 per round) so far, from 23 different voters, including 18 current regulars - which feels especially impressive against this forum's trend of often having little going on in recent years; thank you everyone for making this a success. Here's an Excel screenshot of the first 50 rounds' winning songs with who voted each round (grey-filled cells) and how many points they gave the song: https://i.imgur.com/ZsQY5Lb.png Considering the comfortable top 3 last round, it's probably no surprise that the 2 continuing songs "Treaty" and "Enter Sandman" have dominated this round too, the latter even gaining an extra 2 voters. The 3rd spot is where my eyes were perched, on the other hand; at one point it seemed like 5 songs were viable contenders, and at the 2nd-last vote, there were still only 3 points separating #3 and #5. The song that won out? It's one with a successful track record behind it, with both the artist and songwriter having past HOF contributions... I'm talking Martika, who switched up her sound for her 2nd album with the Prince-(co-)written-and-produced lead single "Love...Thy Will Be Done". "Unforgettable" and "More Than Words" had gotten stuck at #2 on ARIA behind the 11-week #1 run of "Everything I Do", but "Love...Thy Will Be Done" was the song that managed to finally topple it... albeit with the help of a deletion that sent Bryan falling 1-6-30-69-out. Following "Nothing Compares 2 U", it became Prince's 2nd ARIA #1 as a writer/producer, while he'd only had a solitary #1 of his own ("When Doves Cry") thus far. Unlike in Australia where "Love...Thy Will Be Done" was Martika's highest charter though, it didn't really match "Toy Soldiers" anywhere else (even New Zealand; "Toy Soldiers" was her #1 there), and it was the last sizeable hit she ever had, the follow-ups peaking at #29 and #39 in Australia - after which she left the music industry due to burnout and pressure of fame (not that the declining success would've helped in the label's eyes either). Amy Grant's biggest hit placing 4th may have seemed like a bad omen for the follow-up "Every Heartbeat", but it actually did no worse at all - literally so, as it scored the exact same number of points (and even got 1 more voter). Her Wikipedia discography page may want you to believe she never charted outside the US and UK, but I see the next 2 singles, the ballad "That's What Love Is For" and uptempo "Good For Me" (both just as good as "Every Heartbeat" in my opinion), went on to peak at #68 and #65 respectively in the first quarter of 1992. Formerly part of the band Do-Ré-Mi who scored a 1985 #5 hit with "Man Overboard" (which also placed at #98 in the first, all-time Hottest 100 in 1989), Deborah Conway made the top 20 once with her debut solo charter "It's Only The Beginning", produced by Richard Pleasance of Boom Crash Opera (who'd also recently had a #49 hit of his own). Deborah Harry's "I Want That Man" placed 6th, so Ms. Conway has the strongest Deborah finish so far. Back after her pair of 1988 #17 hits, Toni Childs scored her biggest - or at least highest-peaking - Australian hit with her song of escaping an abusive relationship "I've Got To Go Now", though like Martika, it seemingly matched her earlier hits nowhere else, not even charting beyond AU, NZ and Germany. It's fallen just short of the rank and points we gave "Don't Walk Away" ("Stop Your Fussin'" on the other hand placed 10th, albeit in a round with a very high floor), though I'd say "Don't Walk Away" got easier competition. Thanks to a cover that returned her to the top 20 as a once-off in 1996, Toni Childs is actually the only artist in this round apart from Yothu Yindi and Metallica who'll appear again. I have nothing nice to say about "Wind Of Change". The lead single of Dire Straits' 6th and final album, "Calling Elvis" tales an Elvis fan attempting to call him but not getting through (one wonders if De La Soul were actually Elvis' answering machine operators), naturally so as he'd been dead for 14 years. Luckily, the song ends up with the fan having killed neither his pregnant girlfriend, himself nor any swine friends. Speaking of the departed, Heavy D, who had previously contributed a guest rap to Janet Jackson's US hit "Alright", hit the top 10 across Europe and Australia with "Now That We Found Love", the chorus being a cover of a 1973 O'Jays song (also covered by the reggae fusion band Third World in 1978, which hit #10 in the UK). Though only reaching #78 in her home country, US rapper Icy Blu hit the AU & NZ top 10s with "Pump It (Nice An' Hard)", heavily sampling Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" (and to my ears, kind of picking up where Betty Boo's hits left off). She only ever released 1 album, featuring "Pump It" and the follow-up "I Wanna Be Your Girl", a spoken-verse love song that surprisingly reminds me of a completely-unrelated song from 26 years later, Wolf Alice's "Don't Delete The Kisses". I stumbled on Icy Blu's page on the blog 'The Isle Of Deserted Pop Stars' which has possibly one of the most dramatic comment sections I've ever read; she's had struggles and seemingly ended up with numerous enemies in the decades since, but she's still alive and well.

51 - Yothu Yindi - Treaty (survived 2)
46 - Metallica - Enter Sandman (survived 2)
37 - Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done (survived 1)

33 - Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat
30 - Deborah Conway - It's Only The Beginning
21 - Toni Childs - I've Got To Go Now
20 - Scorpions - Wind Of Change
14 - Dire Straits - Calling Elvis
9 - Heavy D & The Boyz - Now That We Found Love
9 - Icy Blu - Pump It (Nice An' Hard)
Round 51:

Big Audio Dynamite II - Rush
Bryan Adams - Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Guns N' Roses - Don't Cry
Jenny Morris - Break In The Weather
Jimmy Barnes - I Gotcha
Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
Melissa - Sexy (Is The Word)
Metallica - Enter Sandman
Prince & The New Power Generation - Gett Off
Yothu Yindi - Treaty

Vote (is the word). Saturday (is the deadline). 23 (is the number of positions in a one night stand).
+5 Don't Cry
+4 Treaty
+3 Break In The Weather
+2 Love...Thy Will Be Done
+1 Enter Sandman
1. Break In The Weather
2. Rush
3. Love Thy Will Be Done
4. Can’t Stop This Thing We Started
5. Enter Sandman
+5 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+4 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Gett Off
+2 Big Audio Dynamite II - Rush
+1 Bryan Adams - Can't Stop This Thing We Started

(kinda wanted to vote Barnesy too )
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+5 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+4 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Gett Off
+2 Jenny Morris - Break In The Weather
+1 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
Strong round, couldn't make room for Rush & Sexy (Is The Word) unfortunately.
+5 Jenny Morris - Break In the Weather
+4 Big Audio Dynamite II - Rush
+3 Guns N' Roses - Don't Cry
+2 Martika - Love... Thy Will Be Done
+1 Yothu Yindi - Treaty

392414 - an update on Icy Blu, she ended up in the slammer (again?) and was in it as recently as last year. Someone I knew via a forum, originally from New Zealand but now living nearby in the States. was actually exchanging (snail mail) letters with her. I think she was due to get out soon (I no longer have contact with this person).
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+5: Metallica - Enter Sandman
+4: Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done (very glad it made it!)
+3: Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+2: Big Audio Dynamite II - Rush
+1: Jenny Morris - Break In The Weather

Would happily vote Guns N' Roses, Prince and Melissa too!

Edit: oh that's a shame, the comments thread seemed to end relatively well.
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+5 Guns N' Roses - Don't Cry
+4 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+3 Jenny Morris - Break In The Weather
+2 Bryan Adams - Can't Stop This Thing We Started
+1 Melissa - Sexy (Is The Word)
+5 Treaty
+4 Enter Sandman
+3 Get Off
+2 Don’t Cry
+1 Rush
+5 Big Audio Dynamite II - Rush
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Gett Off
+3 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+2 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+1 Guns N' Roses - Don't Cry
+5 Rush
+4 Treaty
+3 Enter Sandman
+2 Gett Off
+1 Love Thy Will Be Done
+5 Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+4 Metallica - Enter Sandman
+3 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+2 Jenny Morris - Break In The Weather
+1 Jimmy Barnes - I Gotcha
+5 Enter Sandman
+4 Treaty
+3 Love... Thy Will Be Done
+2 Gett Off
+1 Break In The Weather

As hard it was, I wasn't able to squeeze Big Audio Dynamite into my top 5, very good round this one
+5 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+4 Jenny Morris - Break In The Weather
+3 Melissa - Sexy (Is The Word)
+2 Bryan Adams - Can't Stop This Thing We Started
+1 Yothu Yindi - Treaty (Remix)
ffs, another +5 of mine being #4 at least Martika's song is great so kinda makes up for it but annoying nonetheless.

+5: Yothu Yindi - Treaty
+4: Big Audio Dynamite II - Rush
+3: Martika - Love... Thy Will Be Done
+2: Prince & The New Power Generation - Gettttttttttttttttttt Off
+1: Melissa - Sexy (Is The World)
+5 Gett Off
+4 Love...
+3 Enter Sandman
+2 Rush
+1 Break In The Weather

Another strong round for me, with Treaty unlucky to miss out
5. Can't Stop This Thing We Started
4. Break In The Weather
3. Treaty
2. Don't Cry
1. Rush
+5 Treaty
+4 Love... Thy Will Be Done
+3 Gett Off
+2 Enter Sandman
+1 Sexy (Is the Word)

Bryan & Jenny were very close! others were decent too
Round 51 results:

To the joy of fans and haters alike, Yothu Yindi and Metallica are no longer taking up the limited top 3 real estate as both tracks are inducted into the Hall Of Fame. "Treaty" is the 6th song to date to land at the top of the table in all 3 of its appearances, and also the 6th non-top 10 hit to be inducted (also the 2nd song to do both of these things, following "Never Tear Us Apart"). This of course means that "Enter Sandman" never got a chance to top the table, though incidentally it's not the runner up this time around as Martika has further solidified her placing with "Love...Thy Will Be Done" moving up to 2nd place, and perhaps a likely induction next round. As was noted last round, we have nowhere close to a shortage of future Metallica appearances, while Yothu Yindi just have one more entry to show relatively soon, and additionally a member of the band will have his own entry over 20 years in the future. As for the rest of this round's contestants, we've got 4 immensely popular artists and an offshoot of another one...and ahead of all of those is Jenny Morris. Jenny Morris follows in the wake of last round's entrant Deborah Conway who first had success as a member of an '80s band before breaking out as a solo artist, and also follows another last round entrant in Toni Childs, in the stakes that I forgot she'd already appeared in this game. This time he's here with her highest charting single "Break In The Weather", which was co-written with her brother. Incidentally, this song was in the top 50 exactly 10 years before future brother-utiliser and Logo alumni Billie Eilish was born. Jenny Morris was blocked from the top spot on the ARIA Chart by Big Audio Dynamite II, but in this game, she's beaten them by 1 point. Big Audio Dynamite is of course a group formed by Mick Jones shortly after he was kicked out of The Clash. Though that would suggest some amount of bad blood between the groups, their song "Rush" was actually released alongside The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" in the UK when it was re-released there because of the song's inclusion in a Levi's ad. Reportedly when asked getting fired from The Clash after feuding with Joe Strummer, Mick Jones said "If I had my time again, I would do it all the same" [citation needed]. "Rush" is anything but simple. In the game's fully three dimensional levels, players need to guide cubes to color coded exit points using Conveyor belts, Warps, Stop Signs, Splits and more! Next we have Prince back for a 3rd entry, and now starting his run of hit singles along with The New Power Generation which will run for a very productive 12 or so months. I regret to inform you that despite there very clearly being 23 positions in a one night stand as outlined in the thesis statement of "Gett Off", the song itself has scored 27 points. This perhaps bodes well for future flute solos, pun not intended. Next is Guns N' Roses who last appeared with a single from "Use Your Illusion II", and so of course now 3 rounds later, they have a single from "Use Your Illusion I". Neither album had been released when "Don't Cry" debuted in the top 10. Perhaps luckily because enough fans were too impatient to wait one more week for the albums to come out, it became their 2nd top 5 hit shortly after their first. Though not reaching as high as "You Could Be Mine" on the ARIA Chart, it has slightly surpassed it in this game, ending the band's run of diminishing returns which in all honesty was never going to last much longer. In the world of still pending returns, recent Australian tourist Bryan Adams is back with his second entry. Contrary to the name of the song, shortly after "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" was released, his prior single "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" (which was still at #1 on the chart of course) was deleted and quickly descended down the chart, proving that this thing they started was very much within their ability to be stopped. Just slightly before that previous Bryan Adams entry, we also saw the chart debut of Melissa Tkautz whose ARIA #1, "Read My Lips" finished in 10th place. This time around she has upgraded to 9th place with "Sexy (Is The Word)", though with a lower point tally. This perhaps is more owing to Jimmy Barnes' lacklustre performance, as he scores his 3rd 10th place finish from 5 entries. Rather than trying to re-capture the rock & roll vibe of Cold Chisel as he has done with prior entries, his latest entry is a calling towards the future of his career, even moreso than his prior cover entry. "I Gotcha" is of course a cover of the Joe Tex song from 1972. While Jimmy's cover has much more prominent guitar & percussion than the original, it's definitive sticking relatively close to the soul delivery of the original, coming from the first of many soul & R&B cover albums that he's released since.

52 - Yothu Yindi - Treaty (survived 3; inducted!)
41 - Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done (survived 2)
37 - Metallica - Enter Sandman (survived 3; inducted!)

31 - Jenny Morris - Break In The Weather
30 - Big Audio Dynamite II - Rush
27 - Prince & The New Power Generation - Gett Off
18 - Guns N' Roses - Don't Cry
12 - Bryan Adams - Can't Stop This Thing We Started
6 - Melissa - Sexy (Is The Word)
1 - Jimmy Barnes - I Gotcha
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Round 52:

Color Me Badd - All 4 Love
Mariah Carey - Emotions
Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch feat. Loleatta Holloway - Good Vibrations
Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy
Robbie Nevil - Just Like You
Roxette - The Big L.
Salt-N-Pepa - Do You Want Me
U2 - The Fly

I'm too sexy for your top 5 votes, which is why 392 will count them instead after Monday night.
+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+3 Robbie Nevil - Just Like You
+2 Salt 'N' Pepa - Do You Want Me
+1 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
1. Love Thy Will Be Done
2. Just Like You
3. Emotions
4. The Big L
5. The Fly
+5 Good Vibrations
+4 The Fly
+3 I’m too Sexy
+2 Love Thy Will Be Done
+1 All 4 Love
+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
+3 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+2 Roxette & Swae Lee - The Big L.
+1 Salt-N-Pepa - Do You Want Me
Thank god Yothu and Metallica are retired now. I don't begrudge them qualifying as they did earn the majority of votes regardless of whether I liked them or not, but it will be a relief to see at least two new songs in with a chance now (and hopefully Martika to qualify, hope that doesn't curse her).


+5 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+4 Robbie Nevil - Just Like You
+3 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+2 Roxette - The Big L.
+1 Salt-N-Pepa - Do You Want Me
lol, it's relieving for me to finally be able to expand my vote out a bit more than just '3 other songs'
+5 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+4 Color Me Badd - All 4 Love
+3 PM Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
+2 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+1 Robbie Nevil - Just Like You
+5 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+4 P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
+3 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+2 U2 - The Fly
+1 Salt-N-Pepa - Do You Want Me
+5: Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+4: Mariah Carey - Emotions (hope this does well, one of my favourites of all her entries!)
+3: U2 - The Fly
+2: Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch feat. Loleatta Holloway - Good Vibrations
+1: P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss

Another quality round; Right Said Fred, Color Me Badd and Salt-N-Pepa were close.
+5 P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
+4 Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch feat. Loleatta Holloway - Good Vibrations
+3 Martika - Love... Thy Will Be Done
+2 Robbie Nevil - Just Like You
+1 Salt 'N' Pepa - Do You Want Me
+5: Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch ft. Loleatta Holloway - Good Vibrations
+4: Mariah Carey - Emotions
+3: Color Me Badd - All 4 Love
+2: Martika - Love...Thy Will be Done
+1: Robbie Nevil - Just Like You

another wonderful round, the last part of 1991 has really picked up in quality. I would have voted at least 8 of these songs in most rounds in 1990/1.
+5 P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
+4 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+3 Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy
+2 U2 - The Fly
+1 Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch - Good Vibrations
+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+3 Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
+2 Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch featuring Loleatta Holloway - Good Vibrations
+1 Robbie Nevil - Just Like You
+5 The Fly
+4 Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
+3 Emotions
+2 Love... Thy Will Be Done
+1 Do You Want Me
+5 Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
+4 I'm Too Sexy
+3 The Fly
+2 Emotions
+1 Do You Want Me
...+5 Emotions I guess?
+4 The Fly
+3 Love...Thy Will Be Done
+2 All 4 Love
+1 Just Like You
Happy Enter Sandman made the grade

+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch feat. Loleatta Holloway - Good Vibrations
+3 Robbie Nevil - Just Like You
+2 Roxette - The Big L.
+1 Salt-N-Pepa - Do You Want Me

Things have weakened considerably with the double induction, bring those late '91/early '92 entrants!

+5 Love...
+4 Just Like You (forgot about this song, and couldn't remember it by name, tune!)
+3 Good Vibrations (we're gonna have to have that 'cancelled' conversation v v soon )
+2 Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
+1 Emotions
5. Mariah Carey - Emotions
4. Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done
3. U2 - The Fly
2. Robbie Nevil - Just Like You
1. Roxette - The Big L.
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Round 52 results:

After a 7-song streak of top 10 hits, Roxette...took quite the L with the fittingly-titled "The Big L." reaching only #20, but the same won't be happening here if we have any say in the matter, as "The Big L." follows on from "Fading Like A Flower"'s HOF success to become the first time they've won a round since "Dressed For Success"... ok not really. But the actual winner is also someone who's taken a few tries to succeed: after placing 5th and 8th with her first 2 entries, Mariah Carey has leveled-up all the way to the top with her 2nd album's lead single "Emotions". Written and produced with Clivillés & Cole (aka C+C Music Factory), hence being one of her danciest singles, it only reached #11 in Australia, but was her 5th consecutive #1 in the US, making her the first (and still only) artist to have their first 5 singles reach #1. The remaining 2 singles from the album, "Can't Let Go" and "Make It Happen", broke that streak and couldn't reach the AU top 20 either (peaking at #2 and #5 in the US, and #63 and #35 here), but once we reach her next studio album, the hits will come flooding. "Emotions" was also revived in 2018 when Drake sampled its 12" club mix for his album track "Emotionless", which debuted at #12 on ARIA, probably due to a combination of being early on the album's mammoth tracklist and being where Drake first acknowledged the existence of his rumoured child; it fell out of the chart 3 weeks later. Narrowly behind Mariah is the song responsible for blocking her from the top 10, Martika's "Love...Thy Will Be Done", which has come from a relatively close first round to a safe finale, sending her to the HOF for a 2nd time - joining Belinda Carlisle, Madonna, Janet and The KLF as artists with 2 inductions. While "Love..." never won a round like "Toy Soldiers" did, "Love..." scored more points and a slightly higher average overall (before the last vote they were both on +2.37 averages, but "Love..." got bumped up to +2.40). And narrowly behind Martika is the 3rd song in what turned out to be a pretty safe top 3: U2's "Achtung Baby" lead single "The Fly". It's not the first time they've made the top 3 - "All I Want Is You" did so behind Roxette and Sinitta, before all 3 were thrown out in the next round - but it's easily the most points they've scored in a round so far. Described by Bono as 'the sound of four men chopping down "The Joshua Tree"', "The Fly" was the UK's equivalent of Martika in that it ended Bryan Adams' 16-week #1 run when it debuted at #1; it also debuted at #1 in Australia, becoming I believe the 3rd release to ever do so (after Midnight Oil's "Species Deceases" EP in 1985 and Kylie's "Got To Be Certain" in 1988), and was even certified gold in its first week. On the other hand, it only reached #61 in the US (well below the following singles), nor could you guess it was once a big deal from its current Spotify popularity, where its mere 6 million plays are only the 7th-highest on the album. But it's certainly the only song I've ever read to have (supposedly) had a promotional event, on a main street in Auckland, where the cassette single was given away to anyone who 'donned a velcro suit and jumped from a trampoline onto a high velcro wall, thereby becoming a "human fly"'. First turned down by US hip hop label Tommy Boy Records for being 'too much like De La Soul' and 'not hardcore or ghetto', long album title aficionados-to-be P.M. Dawn received greater initial attention in the UK, managing a #36 hit quickly followed by the Spandau Ballet "True"-sampling "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss", which sent them into the top 10 around the world and even #1 in the US - the first #1 from when Billboard began using sales and airplay data tracked by Nielsen SoundScan, as opposed to less-accurate manual reports of sales and radio playlists. Their next major US hit was the 1992 "Boomerang" soundtrack ballad "I'd Die Without You" which only reached #42 here, but they'll be back in 1993 with a song I'm very pleased scraped a #20 peak. We had 5 entries from NKOTB, along with a side duet from Donnie Wahlberg, but all of them landed in odd-numbered rounds, leaving Hijinx writing about them every round. It is finally (indirectly) my time!! Donnie's younger brother Mark was actually part of NKOTB in the early auditioning stages, but left to pursue other...life choices...such as repeated violent racist attacks, that got him charged with attempted murder. But in some twisted "Fragment 7" case, that didn't stop him forming a group to co-opt the culture of the people he hated so much, and "Good Vibrations" - produced by Donnie, making 1991 a big year for brother utilisation, and sampling Loleatta Holloway's "Love Sensation" only 2 years after Black Box's "Ride On Time" did the same, but with Loleatta getting a feature credit this time - became the smash single NKOTB themselves were now struggling to achieve, even reaching #1 in the US. Their next single "Wildside", sampling Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side", reached #28 in Australia and they barely charted again afterwards, Marky Mark going on to have a longer career as an actor. By placing 5th, "Good Vibrations" has matched NKOTB's best performance (with "You Got It (The Right Stuff)"). Robbie Nevil hit #4 in Australia in 1987 with "C'est la vie", and though he never matched that success again elsewhere, he got a 2nd #4 hit here with "Just Like You", which thankfully is not about how he's just like anyone else despite having a net worth of £42 million. He later co-wrote a hit for Jeremy Jordan in 1993, and resurfaced into the charts in the '00s with writing credits on a hit each from Jesse McCartney, Kate DeAraugo and Jordin Sparks. While Color Me Badd followed "I Wanna Sex You Up" with the ballad "I Adore Mi Amor" in the US before releasing "All 4 Love" third, the order was switched for Australia (and the UK), and "All 4 Love" became their 2nd and final top 10 (and 20) hit. A more iconic song on the other hand, "I'm Too Sexy", the debut single of Right Said Fred (who named themselves after a 1962 novelty hit by Bernard Cribbins, about 3 men trying to move a furniture-like object in a building without success and giving up after having dismantled the object and part of the building), was blocked at #2 for 6 weeks in the UK behind Bryan Adams, but did reach #1 in Australia and the US. Finally, Roxette's title was in fact proven prophetic, with low points from a few reliable Roxette voters but little more; apart from "Dressed For Success"'s 3rd round, all their first 7 entries had done no lower than 5th place and at least 20 points. Salt-N-Pepa (no relation to Peppa Pig) had been kind of in the wilderness after "Push It" as far as the Australian charts go, and their 3rd album "Blacks' Magic" was actually released in March 1990, but had no single enter the Australian charts until "Do You Want Me", with a remix done by Ben Liebrand to make it more ~international-friendly~, began creeping up in August 1991. Despite the fairly small size of their discography thus far, a Greatest Hits album (including the remix of "Do You Want Me") was released in the wake of it and their next single, which reached #2 on the albums chart while seemingly none of their original albums had charted. "Do You Want Me" scored a +2 and seven +1s - as many votes as "Good Vibrations", and 5 more than "I'm Too Sexy" despite the latter (marginally) outscoring it.

51 - Mariah Carey - Emotions (survived 1)
49 - Martika - Love...Thy Will Be Done (survived 3; inducted!)
47 - U2 - The Fly (survived 1)

33 - P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
26 - Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch feat. Loleatta Holloway - Good Vibrations
26 - Robbie Nevil - Just Like You
10 - Color Me Badd - All 4 Love
10 - Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy
9 - Roxette - The Big L.
9 - Salt-N-Pepa - Do You Want Me
Round 53:

Belinda Carlisle - Live Your Life Be Free
Jimmy Barnes & John Farnham - When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
Mariah Carey - Emotions
Metallica - The Unforgiven
Michael Jackson - Black Or White
Natural Selection feat. Niki Haris - Do Anything
Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
Stevie Nicks - Sometimes It's A Bitch
Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits (The 90's Version)
U2 - The Fly

This is it. It's time for these songs to go to the wire. But be sure to get in by Wednesday evening or I'll have to dub thee unforgiven.

(This is the "Nutbush City Limits" remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg7qrYqJ9ns It's also on Spotify on her "Simply The Best" compilation.)
+5 Emotions
+4 Black or White
+3 When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
+2 Live Your Life Be Free
+1 Cream
+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+3 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+2 Michael Jackson - Black Or White
+1 Metallica - Thee Unforgiven
+5 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+3 Michael Jackson - Black or White
+2 U2 - The Fly
+1 Metallica - The Unforgiven
+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+3 Belinda Carlisle - Live Your Life Be Free
+2 Metallica - The Unforgiven
+1 Stevie Nicks - Sometimes It's A Bitch
+5 Belinda Carlisle - Live Your Life Be Free
+4 Stevie Nicks - Sometimes It's A Bitch
+3 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+2 Natural Selection feat. Niki Haris - Do Anything
+1 Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits (The 90's Version)
+5 Stevie Nicks - Sometimes It's a Bitch
+4 Belinda Carlisle - Live Your Life Be Free
+3 Prince - Cream
+2 Metallica -The Unforgiven
+1 Natural Selection - Do Anything
1. The Unforgiven
2. Emotions
3. The Fly
4. Live Your Life Be Free
5. Sometimes It’s A Bitch
+5: Mariah Carey - Emotions
+4: Metallica - The Unforgiven
+3: Belinda Carlisle - Live Your Life Be Free
+2: Stevie Nicks - Sometimes It's A Bitch
+1: Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+5 Metallica - The Unforgiven
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+3 Jimmy Barnes & John Farnham - When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
+2 Michael Jackson - Black Or White
+1 U2 - The Fly
+5 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+4 U2 - The Fly
+3 Belinda Carlisle - Live Your Life Be Free
+2 Metallica - The Unforgiven
+1 Michael Jackson - Black Or White

+5: Metallica - The Unforgiven (even stronger than Enter Sandman for me)
+4: Mariah Carey - Emotions
+3: Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream (excellent top 3, would love to see them all survive!)
+2: U2 - The Fly
+1: Natural Selection feat. Niki Haris - Do Anything
+5 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+4 Metallica - The Unforgiven
+3 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+2 U2 - The Fly
+1 Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits (The 90's Version)
+5 Jeff Goldblum - The Fly
+4 Metallica - The Unforgiven
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+2 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+1 Belinda Carlisle - Live Your Life Be Free
+5 Michael Jackson - Black Or White
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+3 U2 - The Fly
+2 Jimmy Barnes & John Farnham - When Something Is Wrong With My [s]Transistor Radio[/s] Baby
+1 Metallica - The Unforgiven
+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+3 Prince And The New Power Generation - Cream
+2 Michael Jackson - Black Or White
+1 Stevie Nicks - Sometimes It's A Bitch
+5 The Fly
+4 Emotions
+3 The Unforgiven
+2 Cream
+1 Sometimes It's a B-I-C-T-H (in that order) [takes one to know one]
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+5 The Fly
+4 Emotions
+3 Nutbush City Limits
+2 Cream
+1 The Unforgiven
5. Mariah Carey - Emotions
4. U2 - The Fly
3. Metallica - The Unforgiven
2. Belinda Carlisle - Live Your Life Be Free
1. Stevie Nicks - Sometimes It's A Bitch
Round 53 results:

I made the offhand comment last round that it was very much *NZ a-c intensifies*, given the simultaneous appearance of a certain two artists. Not much can be done in this game if you're the only fan of something, but that is not something that should concern those two artists (at this stage of their career at least?) because Mariah Carey & U2 are united at the top of the table. It's actually the same margin between them again, but without Martika In The Middle to disrupt them, and of course they have slightly higher scores so you might argue that in another way, they're slightly closer. It is not of great concern though as it will just be a question of how "Emotions" and "The Fly" can fair in their final appearance. The battle for who would join them proved mighty close though. After all, we had some pretty big names entering the fray, including two former Hall Of Fame entrants. One of those came very close but were held out by the smallest of margins, by an artist that has never made the top 3 before...Prince. Okay well that's not entirely true as he's written two Hall Of Fame entrants but in terms of songs he performed himself, he's previously finished at #4, #5 & #6. Hitting a new peak for him is "Cream", one of his biggest ever chart hits, and actually the only one we cover that lasted 20+ weeks in the ARIA top 50. "Cream" in fact entered the top 20 exactly 2 years before the release of "Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" which would divulge more information regarding "Cream" and being on top. This is all good news for Prince but it's unfortunate news for Metallica who miss out by 1 point with "The Unforgiven". They might be okay though because unlike the most watched and liked piece of video content on the entire internet of all time, Metallica gave the fans what they wanted and wrote a sequel. And then another one. Based on the gradually slowing trend, we are due "The Unforgiven IV" pretty soon, and I'm sure we all can't wait to see how they awkwardly shoehorn the title in then. The other former Hall Of Fame entrant (though a fair way away in terms of points) was Belinda Carlisle. Her perfect record in this game has been soured as latest single "Live Your Life Be Free" falls a fair way short of her past two appearances. She'll have one more to come quite a way away, and I'm sure she'll be trying to keep up above in the top 3, instead of going under. Next we have Michael Jackson actually appearing in this game for the first time ever, as it seems that while his sister was doing rather well in the charts (and in this game with two Hall Of Fame entrants), his singles just couldn't manage to crack the top 20. I was going to remark that it's because of his album sales but apparently "Bad" fell out of the top 50 less than a year after it was released! Mind you, we will eventually cover "Bad"'s material posthumously, but in terms of this game, the first top 20 single for this era for Michael Jackson is in fact "Black Or White". I hinted at this song a while back regarding Another Bad Creation as they appear in the video. I'm not sure at all many people at the time would have thought "Black Or White" would be his last ever #1 single given how dominant it was. In the United States, it was actually the fastest climber to #1 since The Beatles, though Michael's last #1 hit would get there even faster. I am not here to make a stand or judgement on what you do with his material in 2019, whatever that may be it arrives with us ranking the song 6th this round. As you know we're nearing the end of 1991, so the new decade's stars are very established in the charts right now which is why Stevie Nicks lands in 7th place with "Sometimes It's A Bitch". A surprising fact is that for her solo career, Stevie had as many top 10 hits as Fleetwood Mac did, which is to say she had exactly one, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. With most of that success confined to the '80s, she only has one entry here, which was perhaps helped in the charts here by the co-sign of Jon Bon Jovi who co-wrote & produced the track, and in turn it was helped in this game by his immense Dutch fanbase. Speaking of '90s icons, I expected to be talking about how Jimmy Barnes has scored yet another last place finish, except this time he seems to severely benefit from lack of competition as he scores less than everything did last round, but lands above two songs in 8th. John Farnham has not yet retired from being credited for the final time so I should also mention he's on this song. Just like before, "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" is from Jimmy Barnes' first soul/R&B covers album, covering the Sam & Dave classic which was written by Isaac Hayes & David Porter. When Isaac Hayes will step in front of the microphone himself for a future Logo entry, it will be a decidedly different affair. But on the topic of hip young artists for the post-MTV Generation X we have of course Tina Turner, with a new version of one of her most famous songs "Nutbush City Limits". It's not The Nutshack but it does follow in the trail of Ram Jam's "Black Betty" which also appeared recently via a remix, having already been a top 20 hit in its own right in the 1970s. Maybe the most noteworthy thing about it is that it does not include Ike Turner so it might be considered the #metoo-positive version. He was in fact in prison when this remix was a hit and so when Ike & Tina Turner were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, the much more reputable and innocent Phil Spector accepted the award on his behalf. Now that's all a bit too heavy-handed for my liking so let's talk about the much less controversial topic of Charles Darwin. Okay not really but we do have a group called Natural Selection here. They actually formed in Minnesota which is incidentally where 2019's Summer Games Done Quick speedrun marathon is being held, so maybe I'll bump into them at the airport or something. "Do Anything" was actually held from the #1 spot in the US by Mariah Carey's "Emotions", and you could perhaps make the argument that it was held from the #1 spot in this game by "Emotions" but it probably won't hold as much water even if it is technically true.

55 - Mariah Carey - Emotions (survived 2)
51 - U2 - The Fly (survived 2)
44 - Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream (survived 1)

43 - Metallica - The Unforgiven
25 - Belinda Carlisle - Live Your Life Be Free
19 - Michael Jackson - Black Or White
16 - Stevie Nicks - Sometimes It's A Bitch
8 - Jimmy Barnes & John Farnham - When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
5 - Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits (The 90's Version)
4 - Natural Selection feat. Niki Haris - Do Anything
Round 54:

Arnee And The Terminaters - I'll Be Back
Gang Starr - Lovesick
Kylie Minogue - Word Is Out
Mariah Carey - Emotions
Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - Ain't No Sunshine
Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex
Tomislav Ivčić - Stop The War In Croatia
U2 - Mysterious Ways
U2 - The Fly

Hasta la vista, baby. 392 will be back on Friday night to count your top 5 votes.
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+5 Emotions
+4 Mysterious Ways
+3 Let's Talk About Sex
+2 Cream
+1 Ain't No Sunshine
1. Mysterious Ways
2. Emotions
3. The Fly
4. Let’s Talk About Sex
5. Lovesick
+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 U2 - Mysterious Ways
+3 Gang Starr - Lovesick (I never thought I'd see Gang Starr in this game, I'm still learning things I never knew about the ARIA Charts )
+2 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+1 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+5 Mysterious Ways
+4 The Fly
+3 Emotions
+2 Lovesick
+1 Cream
Really sad for The Unforgiven It's the first time a song has missed out with over 40 points too (the previous record was 37 points, done by The King Of Wishful Thinking in its 3rd round and Love Will Never Do). At least they've got another great one around the corner... and then out of their 11 further entries, I currently know 1 or 2 at best

+5: Mariah Carey - Emotions
+4: Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+3: Gang Starr - Lovesick (particularly for the Upbeat Mix but really impressed by both)
+2: U2 - The Fly
+1: U2 - Mysterious Ways

Did not expect to get to 2 U2 songs voted this fast. Salt-N-Pepa were super close, would've liked to vote Kylie too.
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This round is terrible imo, even the best would struggle to make the top 5 in most previous rounds. I can't even muster up any points for Kylie's worst single (and video) to date.

+5: Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - Ain't No Sunshine
+4: Mariah Carey - Emotions
+3: Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex
+2: U2 - Mysterious Ways
+1: Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+3 Gang Starr - Lovesick
+2 U2 - Mysterious Ways
+1 Kylie Minogue - Word Is Out
this round is terrible sorry

+5: Mariah Carey - Emotions
+4: Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+3: Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex
+2: Tomislav Ivčić - Stop The War In Croatia
+1: Kylie Minogue - Word Is Out
+5 U2 - Mysterious Ways
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+3 Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex
+2 U2 - The Fly
+1 Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - Ain't No Sunshine

+5 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+3 Gang Starr - Lovesick
+2 U2 - The Fly
+1 Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex
+5 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+4 Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex
+3 U2 - Mysterious Ways
+2 Gang Starr - Lovesick (Upbeat Mix)
+1 Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - Ain't No Sunshine

probably my quickest vote ever lol, that top 3 is v v solid, then the next 4 are fine, the last 3 are... various levels of interesting
Agree with Meglos that this round isn't so great, and choosing 5 songs worthy of receiving points is difficult.

+5 Kylie Minogue - Word Is Out
+4 Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - Ain't No Sunshine
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+2 Arnee And The Terminaters - I'll Be Back
+1 Gang Starr - Lovesick
+5 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+4 U2 - The Fly
+3 Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - Ain't No Sunshine
+2 Gang Starr - Lovesick
+1 U2 - Mysterious Ways

+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+3 Prince And The New Power Generation - Cream
+2 U2 - Mysterious Ways
+1 Rockmelons featuring Deni Hines - Ain't No Sunshine
+5 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+4 U2 - The Fly
+3 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+2 Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - Ain't No Sunshine
+1 U2 - Mysterious Ways
+5 The Fly
+4 Emotions
+3 Cream
+2 Ain't No Sunshine
+1 Word Is Out
+5 U2 - The Fly
+4 U2 - Mysterious Ways
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+2 Mariah Carey - Emotions
+1 Gang Starr - Lovesick
5. U2 - The Fly
4. Mariah Carey - Emotions
3. U2 - Mysterious Ways
2. Gang Starr - Lovesick
1. Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - Ain't No Sunshine

Terrible round indeed
Round 54 results:

Just like last round, this round quickly took shape as a 4-horse race. 3 of those took stints falling to #4 over the course of the round, but one was safe the entire time (and in the lead from the 6th vote onwards) - and it's the same one that won the last 2 rounds, Mariah Carey's "Emotions". Topping 50 points all 3 times (the last song to do that was "Groove Is In The Heart"), it becomes her first HOF entry, and the 3rd consecutive one by an artist beginning with M, so no matter what the radio stations may claim, over here Triple M refers to a mix of Metallica, Martika and Mariah. "Emotions" is the 3rd 1991 #11 hit inducted, after "Losing My Religion" and "Treaty", but not only that - those 3 #11 hits are the 3 highest points-scorers of 1991 (maybe that's partly why our results are so different to the original top 10-only game). The other #11 hits of 1991 - "What Do I Have To Do", "Gypsy Woman" and "Walking In Memphis" - while not making the top 3, did well too, so it would seem 1991 was a big year for #11 hits all around. With "The Fly"'s single seemingly deleted, supposedly for wanting to have 2 singles out before Christmas, "Mysterious Ways" hit the chart only 6 weeks later - hence U2 having 2 songs in the same round (only previously done by Tiffany, Martika and Alannah Myles), although "Mysterious Ways" was the last song chronologically in this round, meaning if last round had gone slightly differently and produced a #3 tie, it would've been held off. I had assumed "The Fly" would remain the more popular U2 song, but "Mysterious Ways" hit off to a great start and remained ahead for most of the round... until "The Fly" overtook it with the 15th vote, and reached 2nd place at the very end. Thus, they're spared the potential of their songs eating at each other and neither making the HOF; "The Fly" becomes their first entry, following Divinyls, Londonbeat and Martika among ARIA #1s during 1991. Between the 2 U2 songs, 11 people voted both (8 with "The Fly" higher, 3 favouring "Mysterious Ways"), 5 voted only 1 (2 for "The Fly", 3 for "Mysterious Ways"), and 2 voted neither. And so, the suspended 3rd-place reveal - its outlook was looking a bit bleak to me halfway through, but "Cream" managed to rise up and survive a 2nd time, and narrowly got the most votes this round (15/18). But it's no unceremonious loss for "Mysterious Ways", because only 1 round after "The Unforgiven" became the first song to crack 40 points without surviving, "Mysterious Ways" has done the exact same thing. Despite not being forced down the chart like "The Fly" and being more radio-friendly, "Mysterious Ways" didn't spend as long in the top 10, but probably largely because the album had been released; it spent the Christmas season in the top 3 alongside Michael Jackson and Jimmy Barnes. "Mysterious Ways" did have greater comparative fortunes in the US, where it reached #9, their highest peak outside of "With Or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found..." and "Desire" (#1, #1 and #3 respectively). In 1990, we entered the decade of the Guru. Some may think his prediction was overconfident and didn't quite pan out, yet only a year later, the US hip hop duo Gang Starr got an unprecedented hit, and what was the rapper's name? MC Guru. Coincidence? I think not. The Guru prophecy is all-knowing. Unfortunately though it was possibly cursed as well, as both Gurus passed away in the 2010s. "Lovesick" came from Gang Starr's 2nd album, and for its single release was transformed with an acid jazz remix (creatively titled 'Upbeat Mix') by John Waddell, a year before any fantasias had been flipped. It reached #13 in Australia, their only top 100 entry, and scraped a couple European charts, but in the US they stayed confined to the rap chart until 2 minor charters later on - and nowadays, they've got a few songs with a solid 25-50 million Spotify plays, but "Lovesick" barely registers with 1.3 million. In the '80s, the Rockmelons had produced a couple hits (the highest at #21) and worked with Peter Blakeley and Wendy Matthews before they went solo, but they outdid all that in 1991 when they recruited then-backing vocalist Deni Hines, daughter of '70s hitmaker and future Australian Idol judge Marcia Hines, for a cover of Bill Withers' 1971 classic "Ain't No Sunshine". You'll be glad to know that rockmelon is safe for pigs to eat. Following on the heels of "Do You Want Me", Salt-N-Pepa pushed out "Let's Talk About Sex" after it had been quietly sitting on their album for about 20 months; once again with a single remix (the True Confessions mix) produced by Ben Liebrand (and if you're listening on Spotify, the remix strangely appears on the album instead of the original album version). The 5th 'sex'-titled song to hit the top 20 in the 2nd half of 1991, it was hardly off-trend, and became their first and only Australian #1, and scored the most points here out of the sex quintet. In 2016, it probably rolled in its grave when Cheat Codes & Kris Kross Amsterdam sandpapered it into their #17 dance hit "Sex", with the song's entire purpose of talking about sex lost, but don't take that as a diss from me because I'm 1 of about 2 people who actually likes that song. After 3 albums of mostly recognisably-SAW-sounding singles, Kylie produced quite a switch-up with "Let's Get To It" lead single (and sole top 20 hit) "Word Is Out" - still written and produced by Stock and Waterman, but taking on a new jack swing beat in the album version, and still an R&B-ish sound in the Summer Breeze mix chosen for the Australian single release. However, while the "Rhythm Of Love" era really upped her performance here with all 4 singles placing 4th, "Word Is Out" regressed right back to her old #7-#9 ways, marking 13 consecutive failures; truly dismal. Constructed by BBC Radio 1 afternoon show 'posse' member Richard Easter, 'Arnee And The Terminaters' was a one-off identity created for the novelty single "I'll Be Back", based on Arnold Schwarzenegger in the "Terminator" films, particularly "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" which had been the highest-grossing film worldwide of 1991. "I'll Be Back" reached #5 in the UK, and #20 in Australia 3 months later. Not having seen the film(s), I cannot understand it in context, but I admire the cacophony of the sound effects. In July/August 1991, about a month after Croatia declared its secession from Yugoslavia, Croatian singer (and future politician, had he not died in a car accident a few weeks before he was due to take office in 1993) Tomislav Ivčić recorded "Stop The War In Croatia", written anticipating a response similar to the 'Live Aid' concerts, and it was broadcast around the world. It doesn't seem it was released as a single anywhere else but Australia (and to whatever extent it was distributed in Croatia; very unusually, there's no trace of it on Discogs other than a Croatian issue), but became a #7 hit here, despite the lyrics being addressed to Europe not Australia. I found from a couple archived newspaper articles that the cassette supposedly sold over 10,000 copies in 2 days before it was withdrawn by the retail chain Brashs, due to opposition from Serbian community leaders, one of whom deemed it Croatian propaganda that 'gave the impression there were only casualties on one side'. The president of the Australian Croatian Congress said that 'generated a lot of publicity' and they went on to find other retailers, and claimed they raised $120,000 for hospital equipment through it.

53 - Mariah Carey - Emotions (survived 3; inducted!)
51 - U2 - The Fly (survived 3; inducted!)
49 - Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream (survived 2)

42 - U2 - Mysterious Ways
23 - Gang Starr - Lovesick
21 - Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - Ain't No Sunshine
19 - Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex
8 - Kylie Minogue - Word Is Out
2 - Arnee And The Terminaters - I'll Be Back
2 - Tomislav Ivčić - Stop The War In Croatia
Round 55:

Diesel - Come To Me
Euphoria - Love You Right
George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Guns N' Roses - Live And Let Die
Julian Lennon - Saltwater
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
Roxette - Spending My Time
The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
UB40 - Kingston Town

Here it is now. Entertain me with your votes by Sunday evening.
1. Saltwater
2. Smells Like Teen Spirit
3. Love You Right
4. Spending My Time
5. Come To Me
+5 Justified & Ancient
+4 Kingston Town
+3 Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
+2 Come To Me
+1 Live And Let Die

A lot of quality here - would give points to 9/10 if possible.
+5 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 The KLF - Justified & Ancient
+3 Guns N' Roses - Live And Let Die
+2 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+1 UB40 - Kingston Town
Yes, it's a better round.

+5 Roxette - Spending My Time
+4 Euphoria - Love You Right
+3 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+2 George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
+1 Diesel - Come To Me
+5 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+4 George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
+3 Julian Lennon - Saltwater
+2 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+1 Roxette - Spending My Time

+5 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+3 Euphoria - Love You Right
+2 Roxette - Spending My Time
+1 Julian Lennon - Saltwater
+5 Euphoria - Love You Right
+4 Julian Lennon - Saltwater
+3 The KLF featuring Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient (Stand By the JAMMs)
+2 Roxette - Spending My Time
+1 UB40 - Kingston Town

Personally, I can't stand the George Michael/Elton John duet, but expect it will do well.

Regarding 'Stop the War In Croatia', the ARIA Report Chartifacts column for the week it debuted says:

No.39· STOP THE WAR IN CROATIA- Tomlalav lvclc. The proceeds of this independently distributed charity single will be used to purchase medical supplies for the victims of the war in Croatia. Despite being reported by only a small number of stores, the sales were sufficient for it to debut in the top 20 in both New South Wales and Western Australia

It reached #2 on the NSW/ACT state chart in its 4th week.

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+5: Euphoria - Love You Right
+4: Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+3: Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+2: Guns N' Roses - Live And Let Die
+1: Roxette - Spending My Time
+5 George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
+4 Euphoria - Love You Right
+3 Julian Lennon - Saltwater
+2 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+1 Roxette - Spending My Time

This round should be pleasingly competitive, as there are already 7 songs within reach of the top 3.
+5 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+4 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+3 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+2 Roxette - Spending My Time
+1 Euphoria - Love You Right
@Nugs thanks, interesting to know the state chart stats.

+5: Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4: The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+3: Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+2: Euphoria - Love You Right
+1: UB40 - Kingston Town

Unlike most recent rounds, this one really has only 5 I wanted to vote for. Great top 3 though. Before counting the points myself, I'm surprised if it's competitive because I honestly expected my top 3 to win by a landslide.
+5 Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 Saltwater
+3 Don’t Let The Sun Ho Down On Me
+2 Live and Let Die
+1 Cream
+5 Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 Saltwater
+3 Justified & Ancient
+2 Cream
+1 Live And Let Die
+5 Smells Like Teen Spirit (didn't expect for this to age so well!)
+4 Cream
+3 Justified & Ancient (Stand By the JAMs)
+2 Love You Right
+1 Live and Let Die (definitely a toss-up between it and... basically everything else except Diesel )
+5 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient (easily the best of the 3 KLF singles for me)
+4 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
+2 Euphoria - Love You Right
+1 Julian Lennon - Saltwater

probs only 1-2 songs i didn't really enjoy this round, sad i couldn't fit George, Diesel, or GnR in my vote (and lbh Saltwater was def a nostalgia vote than anything else lol)
+5 Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 Cream
+3 Love You Right
+2 Justified & Ancient
+1 Saltwater
+5 Euphoria - Love You Right
+4 Prince And The New Power Generation - Cream
+3 The KLF featuring Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+2 Julian Lennon - Saltwater
+1 George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
5. Saltwater
4. Smells Like Team Spirit
3. Justified & Ancient
2. Spending My Time
1. Love You Right
Round 55 results:

If you know anything about my interests in music you know what I'm going to say. The early '90s were a time of massive upheaval, where new styles & genres would take hold of a massive audience and thoroughly shape the course of music to come for I suppose the next 3 decades. 1991 in particular is a year that saw many noteworthy albums released that are still very much beloved today. One such album of those was the sophomore release from a trio (though sometimes quartet), released on September 24th, 1991 which would far surpass the popularity of their first. A skeptic would say that the untimely death of a key member of the group artificially inflates their legacy, but that would be entirely dismissive of just how much fanfare they achieved while still alive. They already had a US #1 album after all. But I'll cut the excessive adieu because you all know that I'm talking about A Tribe Called Quest's "The Low End Theory" because I heard 2 of their songs last night, sorry if you think this distracts from the point of the thread. As far as that goes, some band called Nirvana are at the top. It is something of a bizarre coincidence that this round was opened on April 5th, 2019, which is exactly 25 years to the day after Kurt Cobain committed suicide. The inconvenience of the cut off rank on this game means that Nirvana actually only have 2 entries to show in this game, the first of which is "Smells Like Teen Spirit". By the time it had entered the ARIA top 20, it had already been declared the greatest song of all time by triple j listeners, a title it has retained as recently as 2009. By scoring exactly 55 votes, we have the top song matching the round number for the 2nd, and though I think I said it before, it's most likely the last time. Making waves for a decidedly different audience in the early '90s were The KLF. I'm sure you're well acquainted with them at this point as they have very recently entered the Hall Of Fame with two tracks from their Stadium Trilogy. It'd be really convenient if that trilogy made up their 3 entries here, but alas there is no appearance here for "What Time Is Love". Instead we get "Justified & Ancient", which for the time being is making its bid for them to become the first 3 time Hall Of Fame entrant as it sits in 2nd place. As I write this, many people are trying to make heads or tails of the bizarre notion of a country singer from decades ago who only had one major hit outside of their format, teaming up with a decidedly modern artist to jarring effect. Indeed I can draw a connection to the second last confirmed Logo entry as it stands because The KLF took 1960s country singer Tammy Wynette aboard for what would end up being their last single before they decided to delete themselves from existence, making it rather difficult to stand by the JAMs after this point all things considered. Something that is also noteworthy is that those two songs are our first two surviving songs to have entered the top 20 in 1992. We have just one more 1991 top 20 hit carrying through, and in a manner that is uncharacteristic of this game prior, an Australian artist whose chart history is perhaps best noted by the amount of #1 hits contained in it has made the top 3! In fact short-lived bands seems to be the theme of this round, where in a shocking twist, Nirvana would be the last group in the top 3 to split (ignoring KLF reunions). Indeed, Euphoria would score a #1 hit with their first single "Love You Right" and about 18 months later split. They were quite lucky to get here though as there was a very drawn out battle between them and Prince which finally settled once the two were tied on first except then the last vote provided no help to Euphoria but made it so "Cream" could not be inducted. So with no ties we get a creamy sandwich made with #1 hit bread, because the other #1 hit in this set came from Julian Lennon, with his song "Rich & Sad", I mean "Saltwater". Being the son of John Lennon, Julian Lennon's contribution to musical canon peaked around when he was just old enough to start school, considering that The Beatles' "Hey Jude" was inspired by him with the original working title "Hey Jules". It is something to be said of The Beatles' impact on music which was so monumental that after they split up, all 4 members would end up scoring at least one #1 hit, and over a decade after John passed away, his son was at the top of the charts with a song that is not very far removed from his father's oeuvre. Julian did not write "Saltwater" by himself which is probably why the lamented situations are largely of an environmentalist tilt and not about his abusive, neglectful father. "Saltwater" also follows Gyan's "Wait" & James Freud's "Hurricane" as the 3rd song we've encountered that shares its title with a future Owl Eyes song. Most of the rest of the upcoming examples will be the same two song titles multiple times. "Saltwater" was frequently mentioned in interviews as her favourite song on her debut album. Next up we have #1 hit making artists working together...to reach #3 in the charts. I place blame on the fact that "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" is a collaboration between George Michael & Elton John that does not remotely deliver on the fact that the title explores the notion of doing down on someone. Again though, it's a song that has held up to the ravages of time considering it was also one of the exclusive handful of George Michael singles to re-enter the Australian charts after he passed away. Fresh from laying the foundation to confuse Swae Lee in 27 years time, Roxette return to slightly more fanfare, which makes sense because "Spending My Time" was a slightly bigger hit than "The Big L.". It was the penultimate single from "Joyride" but the last we see here as the next single "Church Of Your Heart" couldn't crack the top 50. Guns N' Roses also continue to be very prolific in this era with their two albums worth of singles overlapping each other a bit. They have however decided to stick with the same album for two singles in a row though with "Live And Let Die" coming from "Use Your Illusion I" just like their last entry here "Don't Cry". It's also a second Beatles connection in this round because "Live And Let Die" was of course originally written by Paul & Linda McCartney and performed by Wings, as included on the soundtrack "Live And Let Die", from the film "Live And Let Die" which was of course based on the Ian Fleming novel, "Live And Let Die". Speaking of covers, UB40. For the 3rd time in a row, they appear here with a cover, this time the song performed by Lord Creator who was actually born in Trinidad & Tobago before making a big influence on the Jamaican music scene. It would take UK band UB40 to take the song to a bigger audience. Granted, it had been nearly a decade since "Red Red Wine" so the band's commercial clout was starting to wane, it would be hard to expect them to do much better than just scraping the top 20. Incidentally despite UB40 being named after a legal form, they had no involvement in the legal controversy surrounding the song, when 15 years later, a future entry in this game from Paris Hilton was sued by the rights holders for "Kingston Town" for its similarities to the song, which was eventually settled out of court. The last song here comes from frequent entrant Johnny Diesel, and is his first entry under the name most of us (probably) best know him as, just Diesel. Because he forgot to hack into the internal computer files to delete the rest of his competition, he receives the least love in this round, with "Come To Me" in last place. I have a sneaking suspicion his next entry will do a little better.

55 - Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (survived 1)
46 - The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient (survived 1)
40 - Euphoria - Love You Right (survived 1)

39 - Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream
33 - Julian Lennon - Saltwater
18 - George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
18 - Roxette - Spending My Time
10 - Guns N' Roses - Live And Let Die
7 - UB40 - Kingston Town
4 - Diesel - Come To Me
Round 56:

Baby Animals - One Word
Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
CeCe Peniston - Finally
Euphoria - Love You Right
Hammer - Addams Groove
The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
Michael Jackson - Black Or White (The Clivillés & Cole Remixes)
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)

They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky. They're all together very very frightening, the round 56 entrants. Everybody's free to vote their top 5 songs by Tuesday night.
We're including the remix set of "Black Or White" because it charted separately from the original (while the original was still in the top 10, no less). Track 1 on it was the Clivillés & Cole House/Club Mix, which you can hear here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Ad9wSdCtU , or in less-lengthy form here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZSZ4_uwJKk

The full Australian tracklist, if curious, is:
1. Black Or White (The Clivillés & Cole House/Club Mix)
2. Black Or White (The Clivillés & Cole House/Dub Mix)
3. Black Or White (House With Guitar Radio Mix)
4. Black Or White
5. Black Or White (Instrumental)
6. Black Or White (Tribal Beats)

Also poor "Cream" coming painfully close I'm really surprised it managed to beat the Metallica and U2 songs yet succumbed to Euphoria. It's finally broken "New Sensation"'s record for total points without making the HOF:

TitleArtistPointsAvgVotes%
CreamPrince & The New Power Generation132+2.4441/5476%
New SensationINXS126+3.0037/4288%
Freedom! '90George Michael125+2.4036/5269%
The King Of Wishful ThinkingGo West121+2.2440/5474%
BetterThe Screaming Jets117+2.2536/5269%
Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)De La Soul117+2.2140/5375%
PoisonAlice Cooper114+2.3333/4967%
Dub Be Good To MeBeats International feat. Lindy Layton111+2.1831/5161%
FallingJulee Cruise110+2.1235/5267%
Ride On TimeBlack Box105+2.0631/5161%
1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Smells Like Teen Spirit
3. One Word
4. Love You Right
5. Finally
FFS!
+5 Justified & Ancient
+4 Bohemian Rhapsody
+3 Smells Like Teen Spirit
+2 Finally
+1 Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
+5 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 The KLF - Justified & Ancient
+3 CeCe Peniston - Finally
+2 Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
+1 Baby Animals - One Word

dance banger sandwich with rock bread ~
+5 CeCe Peniston - Finally
+4 Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
+3 Euphoria - Love You Right
+2 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+1 Baby Animals - One Word
+5 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+3 Euphoria - Love You Right
+2 Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
+1 Baby Animals - One Word

I really wanted to vote for The Globe & Finally as well.
+5: Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4: The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+3: CeCe Peniston - Finally
+2: Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good) (the 2009 Global Deejays version is where my loyalty lies though)
+1: Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe

It's only #8-#9 for me but I did quite like the Black Or White remix
+5 Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
+4 Euphoria - Love You Right
+3 The KLF featuring Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient (Stand By the J.A.M.M.s)
+2 Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
+1 Ce Ce Peniston - Finally
+5 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
+3 Baby Animals - One Word
+2 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+1 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody


+5 CeCe Peniston - Finally
+4 Baby Animals - One Word
+3 Euphoria - Love You Right
+2 Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
+1 Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe

really wanted Justified & Ancient in too, ouch it going from +3 to nothing for me was really difficult deciding the top 3 as well this round is my favourite in ages
+5 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+4 CeCe Peniston - Finally
+3 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+2 Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
+1 Baby Animals - One Word
+5 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
+4 Euphoria - Love You Right
+3 Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
+2 Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
+1 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+5: Euphoria - Love You Right
+4: Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
+3: CeCe Peniston - Finally
+2: Baby Animals - One Word
+1: Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
+5 Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
+4 Smells Like Teen Spirit
+3 Justified & Ancient (Stand By the JAMs)
+2 The Globe
+1 One Word
+5 BoRhap
+4 SLTS
+3 The Globe
+2 One Word
+1 Finally

yeah easily the strongest Logo round ever
+5 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+4 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
+3 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+2 CeCe Peniston - Finally
+1 Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)

yep, v v tough round (have to say Addams Groove was better than expected but still no Turtle Power tbh)
+5 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
+4 Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
+3 Baby Animals - One Word
+2 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+1 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient


+5 Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 Bohemian Rhapsody
+3 Justified & Ancient
+2 Love You Right
+1 One Word
5. CeCe Peniston - Finally
4. Baby Animals - One Word
3. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
1. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Round 56 results:

2 of the biggest classics of all time running against each other; this was sure to be a close one, right? Hmm, maybe not. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" doubled down on its first round success to win this one by 11 points, continuing a pretty un-turbulent run at the top, as it directly follows from "Treaty" and "Emotions" both winning all 3 of their rounds. An interesting observation I've had is that there's been a strong correlation between "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Enter Sandman"'s votes; of the 8 people who gave "Enter Sandman" mostly +5/+4s, 6 have done the same for "Smells Like Teen Spirit". It took first place from the 3rd vote and never budged, and likewise to the song in 2nd place - "Justified & Ancient", keeping up a pretty immense run of success for The KLF, in their 8th round out of a maximum 9. In fact, as an artist, The KLF have scored the 3rd-most points in total so far - 375, behind Madonna (417, from 7 songs and 11 rounds) and Roxette (378, from 9 songs and 13 rounds). 3rd place was pretty tumultous on the other hand. Queen started in the top 3, then fell to CeCe, then it switched to Rozalla, then back to CeCe, while Queen fell as low as =#7... and then crawled their way back up to ultimately take the slot. "Bohemian Rhapsody" of course dates back to 1975 - making it the 3rd pre-'80s song to have appeared so far, after 1965's "Unchained Melody" and 1967's "What A Wonderful World" - and was originally a 2-week #1 in Australia in March 1976 (with a further 9 weeks spent at #2). Whereas those 2 '60s songs returned via movies though, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was re-released following Freddie Mercury's November 1991 death, coupled with their 1991 track "These Are The Days Of Our Lives", with proceeds going to charity for AIDS. But a movie was just around the corner, anyway - it was used in 1992's "Wayne's World", which prompted a re-release in the US that sent it to a new peak of #2 there. And now, I'm typing this in 2019, 5 months after the release of the biographical film of the same name, which brought it back into the charts again - reaching #18 in Australia, and actually spending longer in the top 50 than in its 1992 run, as well as making the soundtrack and 2 of their compilations clog the albums chart top 5-10 in harmony for 22 weeks and counting. And it doesn't end there: with 793 million plays (worldwide), it's the most-streamed pre-2010 song on Spotify altogether. Granted, the movie helped push it from 9th place beforehand (3rd place among pre-2000 songs, behind "Wonderwall" and "Don't Stop Believin'") to the top, but it's of course always been immensely popular (back in 2015 it was the 5th pre-2000 song to cross 100 million plays). (And if me labeling "Smells Like Teen Spirit" 'one of the biggest classics of all time' needs a citation, it's as of now the 6th-most-streamed pre-2000 song, "Africa" and "Don't Stop Me Now" being the other 2 ahead of it.) I'd hazard a guess that fatigue didn't help "Bohemian Rhapsody" in this game, but when it did get voted, it made it count - it only got 10/18 votes (in the last 24 rounds, "Enter Sandman" is the only other song to have survived with only 10 votes), but 8 of those were +5 or +4. For Queen, it's a bit of retribution too for their one previous entry "I Want It All" missing out by 2 points. However, it comes at the expense of 2 major early-'90s dance classics: "Finally" and "Everybody's Free". Maybe a song about something finally happening wasn't quite right as a debut single. CeCe's follow-up reached #36 and she never bested that, though "Finally"'s 2008 remixes did reach #1 on the ARIA Club Tracks chart, for whatever that's worth. A more successful late-'00s re-outfitting came for Rozalla, when "Everybody's Free" was remixed by Global Deejays (and by Klaas in the hit version, fresh off producing the main version of "Infinity 2008") and reached #7 on ARIA (surpassing the original's #11 peak), enough for Rozalla to visit Australia for the first time since the early '90s. Baby Animals (of which species? *thinking emoji*) just missed the game with their debut single "Early Warning" peaking at #21, but trucking on, the album's 4th single "One Word" became their first and only top 20 hit, and remarkably (seemingly) helped direct the initially-#3-peaking album from #40 in December to #1 in February, where it remained for 6 weeks, blocking Nirvana's "Nevermind" in the process. "One Word" actually received the 2nd-most votes this round (13/18), but with a lot of low points and no +5s, making it the first time a song has received at least 13 votes without making the top 4. Prince supporters would be justified to be a little annoyed as, just after Euphoria's "Love You Right" - the last standing 1991 entry - killed "Cream" from the HOF, it can't say it made much of its opportunity as it fell to 7th place this round; the only past songs that have fallen that low from the top 3 have been Pat Benatar and Sinitta to #7, and "Dressed For Success" to #9. After Big Audio Dynamite II's "Rush" had been released in the UK as a b-side to the 1991 re-release of The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go", they went one further with "The Globe" actually sampling it. "The Globe" and the "Should I Stay..." re-release mostly didn't cross paths due to "The Globe" (like "Rush") seemingly only being released as a single in AU, NZ and the US, but "Should I Stay..." did reach #2 in NZ, at the same time as "The Globe" hit #10. "The Globe" scored 22 points, a record high for 8th place (the previous best was "Love Takes Time" with 20). Meanwhile, just below... 13 songs have ended up on 0 points over the course of the game, but only once had 2 done so in the same round (Bros and Tiffany in round 2), until now. MC Hammer dropped the 'MC' in his name for his 2nd album, but the lead single "2 Legit 2 Quit", though a #5 US hit and probably his 2nd-most-popular song nowadays, only limped to #43 in Australia. He followed it with the theme for the (first) movie adaptation of the cartoon and TV series "The Addams Family", "Addams Groove", and returned to the top 20, but never charted again afterwards (and likewise it was his last US top 10 hit). As for Michael Jackson, the remixes release of "Black Or White" followed the original about 11 weeks after (with his next single just a moment away) and, for whatever reason, was counted separately - a decision I don't think ARIA stuck with in the future, as I can't think of any other time that a remixes CD single charted separately at the same time (it has happened on a couple rare occasions in the digital era on the other hand, for example Kid Cudi's "Day 'N' Nite"). Featuring remixes from Clivillés & Cole fresh off their various hits as C+C Music Factory and as producers, the Australian release (as opposed to the European one) actually labeled itself '12" Single Mixes' on the front cover (despite only 2/6 tracks being 12"-length) and tacked on the original version, and it spent 11 weeks in the top 100 in its own right. But alas, none of the voters of the original were as enthused by the remix, technically ending any potential streak of success MJ could've been destined for before it had a chance to begin.

52 - Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (survived 2)
41 - The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient (survived 2)
38 - Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (survived 1)

35 - CeCe Peniston - Finally
29 - Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
27 - Baby Animals - One Word
26 - Euphoria - Love You Right
22 - Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
0 - Hammer - Addams Groove
0 - Michael Jackson - Black Or White (The Clivillés & Cole Remixes)
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Round 57:

Candy Harlots - The Lady Shakes [from "Foreplay" EP]
Clivillés & Cole - Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
Kate Bush - Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)
Michael Jackson - Remember The Time
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff - Dizzy

* From what I can tell, "The Lady Shakes" (which was track 1 and had a music video) was probably the main song from the EP. The other tracks were "Backstreet Boys" (which did have a video too), "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" and "Danger" (likewise, but it had been previously released as a single on its own in 1990 and 1991).

There will come a time, where results will blow your mind. I think it's gonna be on Thursday.
+5 Bohemian Rhapsody
+4 Justified and Ancient
+3 Diamonds and Pearls
+2 Tip Of My Tongue
+1 Smells Like Teen Spirit
+5 Bohemian Rhapsody
+4 Smells Like Teen Spirit
+3 Justified & Ancient
+2 Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)
+1 The Lady Shakes
+5 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 The KLF - Justified & Ancient
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+2 Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
+1 Michael Jackson - Remember The Time
From a really good round last time back to another weak round this time.

+5 Kate Bush - Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)
+4 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+3 Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
+2 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+1 Clivillés & Cole - Pride (In The Name Of Love)
+5 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+3 Kate Bush - Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)
+2 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+1 Clivillés & Cole - Pride (In The Name Of Love)
I'm pretty sure 'The Lady Shakes' was the main track from the Candy Harlots EP - at least, it's a title I recognise, from being aired on the rage top 60 (they aired a top 60 chart back then).

+5 Kate Bush - Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be a Long, Long Time)
+4 Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff - Dizzy
+3 The KLF featuring Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+2 Clivillés & Cole - Pride (In the Name Of Love)
+1 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls

+5: Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4: The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+3: Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+2: Candy Harlots - The Lady Shakes
+1: Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
+5: Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
+4: The KLF ft. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+3: Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+2: Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+1: Michael Jackson - Remember The Time
1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Smells Like Teen Spirit
3. Tip Of My Tongue
4. Dizzy
5. The Lady Shakes
+5 Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
+4 Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff - Dizzy
+3 Michael Jackson - Remember The Time
+2 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+1 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
+5 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff - Dizzy
+3 Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
+2 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+1 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+5 Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 Bohemian Rhapsody
+3 Rocket Man (I Think It's Gonna Be A Long, Long Time)
+2 Justified & Ancient
+1 Diamods & Pearls
+5 Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
+4 The KLF featuring Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds & Pearls
+2 Michael Jackson - Remember The Time
+1 Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff - Dizzy
+5 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+4 Michael Jackson - Remember the Time
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls
+2 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+1 Kate Bush - Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)
+5 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
+4 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+3 Michael Jackson - Remember The Time
+2 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+1 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient

+5 The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient
+4 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
+3 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
+2 Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
+1 Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff - Dizzy

one of my fave MJ songs in there too, but i much prefer the previous 2 Prince songs
+5 Smells Like Teen Spirit
+4 Diamonds and Pearls
+3 Justified & Ancient (Stand by The JAMs)
+2 Remember the Time
+1 Pride (In the Name of Love)
Last edited:
Best round in a while!

5. Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
4. Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
3. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. Michael Jackson - Remember The Time
1. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Round 57 results:

Yet again we've run across a set of two very different songs commanding attention for the span of their run, leaving little room remaining otherwise. That tenure comes to an end now. Nirvana have topped the list for 3 rounds in a row with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and that gives them their first induction, though with the caveat that they only have one more chance together as a band, with a 2nd top 5 hit that Kurt Cobain was not alive to see. This means they will never get the chance to have the most Hall Of Fame entries because that threshold has just this round expanded from 2 to 3. Indeed, with a perfect record of success in this game, it's The KLF who become the first artist to make it to 3 Hall Of Fame entrants, with "3 AM Eternal", "Last Train To Trancentral" and now "Justified & Ancient". With no further opportunities, they're destined to be like those early leaders in TheRankings' YouTube videos that are gradually pushed outside of the leaderboard as time progresses without them. As an interesting curiosity, after being an average of 10 points behind Nirvana in the first two rounds, they finish up just 2 points behind, and far ahead of the cluttered battle for 3rd place. This was something of a royal-blooded round. Not only did we have Queen returning from the previous round, but we even had The King Of Pop. They've both vacated their place however for their bloodline successor, namely Prince. It's something of a twisted turn of events too, because just 2 rounds ago Prince had his Hall Of Fame berth snatched by 1 point via the last vote. This time around it's completely the opposite, as the last vote pushes Prince to 1 point ahead of Queen and through to the next round as the only song to carry on from this round. While "Bohemian Rhapsody" managed to be the oldest song to ever make the top 3, it can't take the same honour in terms of the Hall Of Fame, as it has become the latest in the many series of cuts relating to the film of the same name. Right behind Queen, in what could be considered a Cinderella story for the ages, is Diesel. Under the many monikers he had assigned himself, he's had 6 entries prior, and I'm told that they all made 31 points collectively. His 7th entry "Tip Of My Tongue" has matched all 6 of them combined as it scores 31 points for itself. He marks a pretty clear line of separation between the two halves of the list, as we have to drop quite a bit to get to Kate Bush at #6. Kate is of course a highly esteemed auteur, in 1978 she became the first female artist to entirely self-pen a #1 hit with "Wuthering Heights", and she has no shortage of acclaim running through her discography. Here she is with a cover of Elton John, Luminary Of The Stars, and his song "Rocket Man". Kate's cover of the song reached #2 on the charts, and is clearly the true premonition of the future charts rather than Nirvana, as its reggae sound is soon to become a staple of the charts. Last round we had Clivillés & Cole teaming up with Michael Jackson to the enormous fanfare of 0 votes. The two have split up this time and the result has given both artists some votes. Mostly Michael Jackson reaps the benefit with his proper follow up to "Black Or White", "Remember The Time" managing a slight decline in points compared to its predecessor. Clivillés & Cole have taken a different approach however. In the words of SR-71 as communicated by Bowling For Soup, way before Nirvana there was U2, and indeed, we had several U2 entries before Nirvana in here, but we also have U2 after Nirvana because the C&C lads have covered U2 here with their 1984 single "Pride (In The Name Of Love)". The Bowling For Soup canon promises to get even more confused in the next round. Speaking of chronological messes, I wanted to mention those two songs together so I had to skip the song ranked between them. There are in fact 4 songs in this round that were technically written prior to the residing decade because UK comedian Vic Reeves teamed up with The Wonder Stuff on an even older song, Tommy Roe's transatlantic #1 hit from 1969, "Dizzy". "Dizzy" is noted for its fondness for key changes with 11 in its roughly 3 minute run time. Vic Reeves naturally had to Spinal Tap it by adding a 12th. Last night I heard Bob The Builder's #1 hit for the frist time in many years, and he himself also covered the song entirely because Dizzy is also the name of his concrete mixer. Finishing last is the short-lived Australian glam rock band Candy Harlots, who make the remarkably on brand decision to name their 4 track EP "Foreplay". The EP may well have taken some level of advantage in coaxing buyers with not just one single, as it included previous single "Danger" in addition to "The Lady Shakes" which is represented here.

54 - Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (survived 3; inducted!)
52 - The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient (survived 3; inducted!)
36 - Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls (survived 1)

35 - Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
31 - Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
19 - Kate Bush - Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)
18 - Michael Jackson - Remember The Time
16 - Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff - Dizzy
5 - Clivillés & Cole - Pride (In The Name Of Love)
4 - Candy Harlots - The Lady Shakes
Round 58:

The 12th Man feat. M.C.G. Hammer - Marvellous!
2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This
Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch
Bryan Adams - Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven
Crowded House - It's Only Natural
Genesis - I Can't Dance
Pearl Jam - Alive
Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
Right Said Fred - Don't Talk Just Kiss
Voice Of The Beehive - I Think I Love You

Ya'll ready for this? Don't talk just vote by Saturday night.

(Side note: I have a dentist appointment tomorrow so don't expect QLVG as on time as it usually is).
1. It’s Only Natural
2. I Can’t Dance
3. Human Touch
4. Alive
5. Thought I’d Died And Gone To Heaven
+5 Pearl Jam - Alive
+4 Crowded House - It's Only Natural
+3 Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch
+2 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+1 Voice Of The Beehive - I Think I Love You

strong round, wanted to vote nearly everything
+5 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls
+4 Pearl Jam - Alive
+3 Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch
+2 Crowded House - It's Only Natural
+1 2 Unlimited - Get Ready for This
+5 Voice of the Beehive - I Think I Love You
+4 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This
+3 Bryan Adams - Thought I'd Died and Gone To Heaven
+2 Right Said Fred - Don't Talk Just Kiss
+1 Genesis - I Can't Dance
+5 Voice Of The Beehive - I Think I Love You
+4 Pearl Jam - Alive
+3 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This
+2 Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch
+1 Right Said Fred - Don't Talk Just Kiss
+5 Pearl Jam - Alive
+4 Bryan Adams - Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven
+3 The 12th Man feat. M.C.G. Hammer - Marvellous!
+2 Right Said Fred - Don't Talk Just Kiss
+1 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls

+5 Voice of the Beehive - I Think I Love You
+4 Bryan Adams - Thought I'd Died and Gone To Heaven
+3 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This
+2 Crowded House - It's Only Natural
+1 Genesis - I Can't Dance
+5: Pearl Jam - Alive
+4: Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+3: 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This
+2: Genesis - I Can't Dance
+1: Voice Of The Beehive - I Think I Love You
+5 Human Touch
+4 Diamonds and Pearls
+3 It's Only Natural
+2 Alive
+1 Get Ready For This
+5 Crowded House - It's Only Natural
+4 Pearl Jam - Alive
+3 Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch
+2 Genesis - I Can't Dance
+1 Bryan Adams - Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven


+5 Pearl Jam - Alive
+4 Crowded House - It's Only Natural
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+2 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This
+1 Voice of the Beehive - I Think I Love You
+5 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+3 Pearl Jam - Alive
+2 Voice Of The Beehive - I Think I Love You
+1 Genesis - I Can't Dance
+5 Bryan Adams - Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven
+4 Genesis - I Can't Dance
+3 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+2 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This
+1 Pearl Jam - Alive
+5: Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+4: Pearl Jam - Alive
+3: 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This Pearl
+2: Voice Of The Pearl - I Think I Love You
+1: Right Said Fred - Don't Talk Just Kiss (Pearls)
+5 Diamonds and Pearls
+4 I Think I Love You
+3 Alive
+2 Human Touch
+1 I Can't Dance
+5 Alive
+4 It's Only Natural
+3 Get Ready For This
+2 Human Touch
+1 Diamonds And Pearls
+5 Alive
+4 It's Only Natural
(oof not a fan of this round after those two)
+3 Diamonds And Pearls
+2 Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven
+1 I Can't Dance

never thought I'd vote for Bryan or Genesis in this era, but here we are
5. Bryan Adams - Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven
4. Crowded House - It's Only Natural
3. Pearl Jam - Alive
2. Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
1. Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch
Round 58 results:

Following the induction of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", we've continued from one definitive grunge classic right to another, with Pearl Jam's "Alive" easily winning this round - even becoming the first song to reach 60 points since "Losing My Religion" 13 rounds ago (in the round where Pet Shop Boys managed to make the top 3), and likewise the first song with 16 votes since then. Whereas "Smells Like Teen Spirit" followed an earlier album released to (at the time) much less fanfare, "Alive" was in fact Pearl Jam's debut single - originating as an instrumental on a demo tape the band circulated in hopes of finding a singer, which reached Eddie Vedder who wrote and recorded the lyrics, upon which he was invited to join the band. Like "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the follow-up ("Even Flow" in this case) could only reach the #21-#25 range, but Pearl Jam ended up outpeaking "Alive" 5 times - even if 4 of those didn't spend half as long charting as "Alive", nor do they register in their Spotify top 10 nowadays (their 4 songs with over 100 million plays are all from "Ten"). Noted as an especially pearly round, "Diamonds And Pearls" had an easier time surviving this round, bringing Prince above 3rd place for the first time, though with less points than "Cream"'s 2 successful rounds. Released in between 2 of Crowded House's best-known songs "Fall At Your Feet" and "Weather With You", "It's Only Natural" was actually the highest-charting single from "Woodface"... somehow. I noticed 1 edition of the single was released as 'includes the bonus hits' with "Better Be Home Soon" and other hits such as... an old b-side/soundtrack cut, a live version of an album track and an international-edition album track, which I'm going to guess could've helped even if it's far from the only time past hit(s) were tacked onto a single. Either way, "It's Only Natural" seems to have some popularity as it made 3rd place; I can only imagine how well those other "Woodface" singles would've done. Beginning as a duo between 2 Belgian producers, who'd in fact had a #7 UK hit in 1990 under the name Bizz Nizz, 2 Unlimited became so when Dutch rapper Ray Slijngaard and vocalist Anita Doth were added to "Get Ready For This". Even then, it was released in both a mostly-instrumental version (bizarrely named the 'Orchestral Mix') and a rap-inclusive version, with the former even being track 1 on the Australian releases. It was also sampled by Kylie Minogue on her "Let's Get To It" album track (and 'promotional single') "I Guess I Like It Like That". By placing 4th, it seems 2 Unlimited's success is not so unlimited, but maybe that will change? Formed by 2 Californian sisters and 4 British musicians, 2 of whom had been part of the band Madness, Voice Of The Beehive had their biggest UK hit (and sole NZ charter) with "Don't Call Me Baby" in 1988, but only broke the Australian top 30 with "I Think I Love You", a cover of The Partridge Family's 1970-71 AU & US #1. Returning Bryan Adams to the top 20 after a #30 miss, "Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven" has actually scored the most points and votes of his 3 entries so far. Though "Human Touch" sounds less 'lead single' and more '4th single that was a moderate US airplay hit' to me, it did in fact lead Bruce Springsteen's album of the same name, and peaked at #17 just like his last lead single (1987's "Brilliant Disguise"), fittingly because if there's a number Springsteen makes me think about, 17 is certainly the one. Like Guns N' Roses only without the same legacy (I never noticed it until now), "Human Touch" was actually one of 2 simultaneously-released albums from him, but though both albums sold platinum, the other one could only produce a #75 hit. In fact, "Human Touch" the single was, technically, the last top 50 hit he ever had from any of his studio albums. Emphasis on 'studio albums'. Returning in 1991 to follow their 1986 album "Invisible Touch" and Phil Collins' continued solo success, Genesis managed to outlast Phil Collins in the upper reaches of the chart, as "I Can't Dance"'s #7 peak was higher than Phil Collins ever reached on his own after 1988. As if Big Audio Dynamite II hadn't provided enough mentions of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go", it also apparently inspired the riff of "I Can't Dance". Right Said Fred followed "I'm Too Sexy" with the #18-peaking "Don't Talk Just Kiss", and together the 2 songs received 7 votes, but with nobody voting both of them. While the next single "Deeply Dippy" only reached #38 in Australia, their final top 50 hit, it was actually the song of theirs that reached #1 in the UK. I know practically nothing about cricket so I'm not the right person for this, but parody impersonator comedian (?) The 12th Man had hit #1 in 1984 with the single "It's Just Not Cricket" (presumably about the zoological differences between crickets and other animal species), and 2 albums in 1987 and 1990, and "Marvellous!" kept up the form. He went on to reach #1 on the albums chart 5 more times, becoming apparently the only artist to have 7 consecutive #1 albums. I am 80% sure the featured credit of M.C.G. Hammer is not in fact a guest artist but an alter-ego of himself, who contributes...not a rap, but a guitar solo. The song also contains him asking the background singers to keep it down, in response to which I propose a trade with Patti LaBelle. With only 1 vote received, "Marvellous!" joins the company of "Got To Be Certain", "Swing The Mood" and "Read My Lips" as ARIA #1s that ended up in bottom place.

60 - Pearl Jam - Alive (survived 1)
42 - Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls (survived 2)
37 - Crowded House - It's Only Natural (survived 1)

30 - 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This
26 - Voice Of The Beehive - I Think I Love You
25 - Bryan Adams - Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven
24 - Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch
17 - Genesis - I Can't Dance
6 - Right Said Fred - Don't Talk Just Kiss
3 - The 12th Man feat. M.C.G. Hammer - Marvellous!
Round 59:

Crowded House - It's Only Natural
Def Leppard - Let's Get Rocked
James Blundell & James Reyne - Way Out West
Pearl Jam - Alive
Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
Rick Price - Not A Day Goes By
Shakespears Sister - Stay
The Cure - High
U2 - One

You'd better hope and pray that you make it safe to the thread by Monday evening.
1. Stay
2. It’s Only Natural
3. High
4. Under The Bridge
5. Not A Day Goes By
+5 Pearl Jam - Alive
+4 U2 - One
+3 Crowded House - It's Only Natural
+2 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
+1 The Cure - High

my vote could hardly be more on brand ~
+5 Pearl Jam - Alive
+4 U2 - One
+3 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+2 Def Leppard - Let's Get Rocked
+1 The Cure - High

+5 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+4 U2 - One
+3 The Cure - High
+2 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
+1 Rick Price - Not a Day Goes By

Personally, I can't stand 'Alive' and think it is barely music, vocally.
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392414, 'I Guess I Like It Like That' must've had some form of commercial release locally (a 12" where it was the main track, I assume), as it charted for one week at #174 in late February 1992 (I haven't added that to her wikipedia discography).
+5 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+4 U2 - One
+3 Crowded House - It's Only Natural
+2 The Cure - High
+1 Def Leppard - Let's Get Rocked
+5 Stay
+4 Diamonds and Pearls
+3 Alive
+2 One
+1 Under The Bridge
Another factoid for you 392414 (or whoever writes the next lot of commentary) - 'It's Only Natural' was released on 2 December 1991 and didn't enter the top 100 until after its second week of sales. The 'Better Be Home Soon' B-side version was released on 17 February 1992, and the sales from that week coincide with its rapid ascent from #41 to #19. So it seems your hunch that people bought it mainly for the past-hit B-side may be correct.

For those who were there/remember '92, there seemed to be a lot of (overt) chart-rigging at the time, with heavily discounted singles, as low as $0.49 for the cassette single, and $0.99 for the CD single ($7.99 or $8.99 was the regular price for CD singles at that point, and $5.99 for cassingles) for several releases in '92 that otherwise would have likely flopped/not charted as well. Some examples springing to mind that were heavily discounted were:

Deborah Blando - Innocence
Voice of the Beehive - Perfect Place
Kim Wilde - Love Is Holy
Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care

I believe that Girlfriend's 'Take It From Me' was also discounted starting during the week it climbed from 14 to 4. Euphoria's 'One In a Million' came with a bonus VHS tape at one point, and may have also been discounted (5 weeks in the top 10/11 weeks in the top 50 is not long at all for a #1 single back then), leading it to climb from 15 to 2.

There was an article published in one of the major newspapers on the weekend in '92 on how the charts were rigged/stores were offered enticements to display stock favourably or inflate the sales figures (this was during the era of manual reporting of sales). An anonymous insider quoted in the article boasted about getting a single into the top 30 that "wasn't selling a bean". I've often thought it could have been Kim Wilde's 'Love Is Holy' - I like her and I wasn't aware she had a new song out until it debuted in the top 60 on rage, after 4 years of no hits here.
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+5: Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+4: Pearl Jam - Alive
+3: Rick Price - Not A Day Goes By
+2: James Blundell & James Reyne - Way Out West
+1: U2 - One
+5 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls
+3 The Cure - High
+2 Pearl Jam - Alive
+1 Crowded House - It's Only Natural
+5 Under The Bridge
+4 Alive
+3 One
+2 It’s Only Natural
+1 Not A Day Goes By
+5: Pearl Jam - Alive
+4: Shakespears Sister - Stay (close top 2)
+3: Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
...
+2: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
+1: Def Leppard - Let's Get Rocked (I do like it but it would've only made my vote in like, 2 of the last 37 rounds. I much prefer the later single "Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)")

@Nugs thanks for the "It's Only Natural" release dates!

I'd wondered before what regular prices were like (expecting around $5-10 for singles), but assumed they varied enough between shops that there wasn't a standard. I'm kind of surprised they got away with having singles at literally ~10% of the usual prices! Strategic discounting on iTunes ($1.19 as opposed to $2.19) was really common around 5 years ago but that's nothing in comparison, nor do I recall anything discounted that low in the latter days of CD singles (2008-9), even though the usual prices were much lower without even considering inflation (from my experience, $3-5 depending on the shop).

Do you know when ARIA started using electronic/automatic reports of sales? Edit: actually, I was just reading the "ARIA peaks outside the top 100" thread and I see you mentioned it was March 1997, so that answers it!
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392414, $9.99 was the standard price for a CD single in Brashs (now long-defunct chain store) in 1991! Using the RBA's inflation calculator, that's $16.54 in 2018 dollars. They came down by about a dollar in Brashs by the end of '92.

If you're curious, I've uploaded a scan of a list of CD singles I bought, and what I paid for them, on a list I kept between 1992 and 1996, here - https://i.imgur.com/fxT9qZV.jpg . The Central Station-bought singles were about twice the price, as they were an import specialty store.

I think I added to the ARIA Charts wikipedia page that the chart was compiled from electronic point of sales figures from 24 March 1997, with a reference cited.
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+5 U2 - One
+4 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
+3 Pearl Jam - Alive
+2 Shakespare's Sister - Stay
+1 The Cure - High
That list is interesting to see! I'd never even heard of CC Records/Music (Wikipedia tells me they were folded into Sanity in 1997).

The ARIA charts page says 17 February 1997 actually (referencing the ARIA site as archived in 2001). The most noticeable week-to-week difference I see on the charts around then is on the 23 February one, where a few old hits re-entered or rebounded (I Love You Always Forever, Macarena [Los Del Mar], You're Gorgeous, Let's Make A Night To Remember), and these 2 dropped out from the top 50:

Gina G - I Belong To You: 69-48-48-41-(break)-48-40-34-41-34-40-out
Annie Crummer - U Soul Me: 87-48-out

Which seems like surprisingly little difference to me, going from manual to electronic reporting (if that is indeed the correct week).
+5 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
+4 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+3 The Cure - High
+2 Rick Price - Not A Day Goes By
+1 U2 - One
During the mid to late 90's I was buying heaps of music spending up to $200 a week and 80% was in singles.
Up until late 2004 I had every physical TOP 10 single ever to make the Australian chart (but that's for another time).
I distinctly remember stores like K-Mart & Big W were slightly cheaper in price but lacked the range a Brashs or Sanity would hold.
I was paying anywhere between $3.99 to $9.95 for a CD single with the 'occasional' bargin bin buy for anywhere from 50c to $4.95 (and this included albums).
I hopelessly miss those days so much because you always found out when your favorite artist was releasing new music or an upcoming album and it brought a much more hyped and exciting feel.
Undoubtedly i've spent a crazy amount of money on music and wouldn't even if I could these days.


+5 Under The Bridge
+4 Alive
+3 One
+2 It's Only Natural
+1 High

my vote is also on brand and should not shock anyone
+5 The Cure - High
+4 Shakespears Sister - Stay (but You're History is much better ~)
+3 Crowded House - It's Only Natural
+2 U2 - One
+1 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
I really got sick of Alive for some reason.
rip Diamonds And Pearls

+5 Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
+4 U2 - One
+3 Pearl Jam - Alive
+2 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+1 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
+5 Stay
+4 Diamonds and Pearls
+3 Under the Bridge
+2 Alive
+1 High

Another top 5 that definitely rank head and shoulders above the other five for me
Loving the trivia, stories, and memories everyone! Makes a nice addendum to the commentary by the team!

Personally, I started buying singles/albums in '95, and still have them all in a box somewhere. Only ended up with around 300 in total by the mid '00s which is when I stopped mostly. One of my favourite memories is buying the Ballad Of Tom Jones single by Space (since it was cheapest) but didn't like any of the b-sides/remixes, so I took it back a couple of days later when I could scrounge up the money for a different single: Prisoner Of Society/Second Solution (good choice, young me).

+5 Under The Bridge
+4 It's Only Natural (kinda underestimated how much I liked it last round)
+3 Alive
+2 One
+1 Diamonds And Pearls

Oh and I totally didn't think Stay sounded like that at all. Think I'm getting SS mixed up with another alliterative band name that we will see in 1997.
5. U2 - One
4. Rick Price - Not A Day Goes By
3. Crowded House - It's Only Natural
2. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
1. Pearl Jam - Alive
Round 59 results:

If you know anything about me and my inclination towards Jebaiting, then you know what I'm gonna say. I'm going to say something along the lines of the fact that September 24th, 1991 is one of the most landmark days in music releases ever. Because not only did we have Nirvana's "Nevermind" and A Tribe Called Quest's "The Low End Theory" (as well as just 1 day prior, Primal Scream's "Screamadelica"), another iconic band was pushing out their 5th album. You know what I'm talking about, that band with no shortage of iconic tracks, no shortage of interchanged band members to the point that there are only 2 people who have performed on all of their albums. I'm of course talking about The Cult. I wanted to put this bit at the start of the commentary for the sake of consistency, as it doesn't jokingly distract from the leading artist on this list at all. Instead, we lead this list off by making all the pedantic thespians furious because Shakespears Sister have topped the list with "Stay". It was quite a heated affair compared to last round with only 9 points separating first & fourth. With regards to the duo at the top though, they take their name from a Smiths song, "Shakespeare's Sister" and a further accidental misspelling of that, so they are intrisically linked to the man who did in fact have multiple sisters, did in fact write a bunch of sonnets, and did in fact marry Anne Hathaway (not that one). Their win may be a result of their largely rock-oriented competition crowding itself out, though that will reveal itself in the future rounds. After all, after a commanding lead on last round's game, Pearl Jam's "Alive" has dipped in its fortunes somewhat, 16 points down from last round's triumph (I'm making a note here; "Huge Success") and tying for 2nd place, much like GLaDOS though, it's still alive. Bunking up with it is an acclaimed 1991 album that has had no shortage of opportunities. U2 may have hoisted themselves with their own fly last time they were here, but going back to just one song on the list, "One" has a better ride to survive. The real victim of all this, the band that had to sell sanctuary for those 3 songs, the artist for which those 3 songs were some sort of love removal machine, is the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Prior to 1992, the band were slowly making an impression on Australian audiences though the top 40 singles chart slightly eluded them twice, including with what is now still one of their most popular singles "Give It Away". I'm sure it seemed like a success at the time, it's just that it was eventually followed by the album's next single "Under The Bridge" which went all the way to #1 on the charts and the band have been a staple in the charts ever since. So suffice to say, it won't be the last time we see the band here, heck, it won't even be the last time we see this song here. They're unlucky to be eliminated in a strong round. In fact it's such a strong round that last round's #2 & #3 songs have been demoted to #5 & #6. This is of course the second time that Prince has fallen short at the final hurdle, though this time not as crushingly close. He's still looking for that first Hall Of Fame entry, which Crowded House do have but are looking more and more like a second has slipped away from them, as they will only have one more opportunity going forward. On the topic of bands whose catalogue is perhaps not represented very well by the stipulations of this game, welcome to the life of The Cure. Not that nihilism isn't pretty on brand for them. Just a couple weeks ago they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, which provided an extremely on brand response to a reporter from Robert Smith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=houFuiYrEi0 Anyhow, in 1989, The Cure released their most beloved album "Disintegration", an album so great that even the extremely cynical-towards-pop-culture South Park gave it a shout out when Robert Smith appeared in the show's first season. It didn't net any top 20 singles, but the very next song they released, 3 years later, "High" instantly debuted in the top 5 and gave the band their 3rd top 10 hit and highest charter ever. One can only imagine how easily fortunes would have been reversed if it was the 2nd single after "Friday I'm In Love" which only reached #39 in the charts...twice actually courtesy of Lakyn covering the song on The Voice 2 decades years later. I also obviously adore The Cure and am trying my hardest to utilise the only time I ever have a justifiable reason to talk about them in this thread. "High" finished 7th here but only narrowly behind 5th & 6th and quite a way ahead of 8th. That 8th place goes to Price, and in this case it turns out, the Price is Rick. Whether or not he benefitted from Braithwaite proximity, the Australian singer-songwriter did well with the first single from his first album becoming a top 5 smash. Though it did of course lead to diminishing returns (aside from the fact he had a top 10 album a year and a half ago...some 20 years after he last impacted the album chart top 50), we will be seeing more of him later on. The same cannot be said of Def Leppard, who scored the highest charting single of their career in 1992 with "Let's Get Rocked" getting to #6, but never cracked the top 20 again. If not for the different single release order in Australia, I would 100% say it's due to their lack of committal to including a 'rock' word in all their singles, as this was in some parts of the world, the next single following "Rocket". Lastly, I call for you to even dare try to name a more iconic trio than Australian rock icons, covers of songs from the 1970s, and last place in the ARIA Logo game. This particular combination comes courtesy of James and James. You should of course be familiar with Reyne at this point, but alongside him is a one of those few instances we get with an Australian country singer with a hit single, as he teamed up with rising star James Blundell on a cover of The Dingoes "Way Out West", which got all the way to #2 on the charts. Blundell had a second top 50 hit later in the year but this was his only top 20 hit, and for James Reyne, this was his last.

49 - Shakespears Sister - Stay (survived 1)
44 - Pearl Jam - Alive (survived 2)
44 - U2 - One (survived 1)

40 - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
26 - Prince & The New Power Generation - Diamonds And Pearls
25 - Crowded House - It's Only Natural
24 - The Cure - High
12 - Rick Price - Not A Day Goes By
4 - Def Leppard - Let's Get Rocked
2 - James Blundell & James Reyne - Way Out West
Round 60:

L.A. Style - James Brown Is Dead
Melissa - Skin To Skin
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
Mr. Big - To Be With You
Pearl Jam - Alive
Prince & The New Power Generation - Money Don't Matter 2 Night
Shakespears Sister - Stay
Teen Queens - Be My Baby
U2 - One
Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)

Pick the top 5 songs that matter the most to you by Wednesday night.
1. To Be With You
2. Stay
3. Alive
4. Nothing Else Matters
5. One
+5 Pearl Jam - Alive
+4 Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)
+3 U2 - One
+2 Prince & The New Power Generation - Money Don't Matter 2 Night
+1 L.A. Style - James Brown Is Dead

(Metallica/Melissa also close)
+5 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Money Don't Matter 2 Night
+3 Pearl Jam - Alive
+2 Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)
+1 U2 - One
+5: Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
+4: Pearl Jam - Alive
+3: L.A. Style - James Brown Is Dead (honestly didn't think anything this ravey made the AU top 20 apart from The KLF and maybe 1 or 2 others! it sounds much more like a UK hit, yet didn't chart [seemingly wasn't released] there)
+2: Shakespears Sister - Stay
+1: Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)

Love this top 5! One of my strongest in the game so far. Would give them all +5 if I could.
+5 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+4 U2 - One
+3 Mr. Big - To Be With You
+2 L.A. Style - James Brown Is Dead
+1 Prince & The New Power Generation - Money Don't Matter 2 Night

392414 - I would go by what the cited reference says, rather than my unreliable memory, for the date. I did add that info though, but obviously I have since forgotten it

If 17 February was the date of the first chart survey conducted with entirely electronic point of sales data, that would match the week ending 23 February 1997 chart you mention.

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+5 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+4 Mr. Big - To Be With You
+3 U2 - One
+2 Melissa - Skin To Skin
+1 Prince & The New Power Generation - Money Don't Matter 2 Night
+5 Teen Queens - Be My Baby
+4 L.A. Style - James Brown Is Dead
+3 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+2 Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)
+1 U2 - One
+5 Stay
+4 Alive
+3 Nothing Else Matters
+2 One
+1 Money Don't Matter 2 Night
+5 Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
+4 Mr. Big - To Be With You
+3 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+2 U2 - One
+1 Yothu Yindi - Djapana
+5 Pearl Jam - Alive
+4 Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
+3 Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)
+2 U2 - One
+1 Prince & The New Power Generation - Money Don't Matter 2 Night
+5 U2 - One
+4 Pearl Jam - Alive
+3 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+2 Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
+1 L.A. Style - James Brown Is Dead
+5 U2 - One
+4 Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
+3 Pearl Jam - Alive
+2 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+1 Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)
+5 Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)
+4 Stay
+3 James Brown Is Dead
+2 Nothing Else Matters
+1 Money Don't Matter 2 Night
+5 Pearl Jam - Alive
+4 U2 - One
+3 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+2 Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
+1 Mr. Big - To Be With You

+5: L.A. Style - James Brown Is Dead
+4: Mr. Big - To Be With You
+3: Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)
+2: Pearl Jam - Alive
+1: Melissa - Skin To Skin

much better round! yay!
+5 To Be With You (love the cheese, embrace the cheese)
+4 Nothing Else Matters (iirc I much prefer the S&M version but that just missed out on being in this game)
+3 Alive
+2 Djäpana (I think I like this more than Treaty! Hard to judge though considering Treaty's importance as a song)
+1 One

Wanted to give James Brown some points just for the sheer (the nerve, the) audacity to sound like that and be a top 20 hit. First top 20 hit that sounded like a video game soundtrack?
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+5 Alive
+4 One
+3 Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)
+2 Nothing Else Matters
+1 To Be With You
5. U2- One
4. Prince & The New Power Generation - Money Don't Matter 2 Night
3. Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)
2. Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
1. Mr. Big - To Be With You

I really wanted to vote for at least 8 of these songs, so this was exceptionally tough! Brilliant round.
Round 60 results:

Did switching from a rock-heavy round to a more multi-genre one affect the standings? Possibly, as "Alive" pushed back in front of "Stay" this round, albeit with nowhere near the domination of its first round. Still, it's safely enough for it to join the Hall of Fame, sliding behind "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as the 2nd-best performer of 1992 so far. It's the 2nd #9 hit inducted (after "Crazy"), meaning every top...9 peak has multiple HOF entries now, whereas 6 positions are still waiting for a single one: #13 (reached round 3 with "Diamonds And Pearls"), #15 (reached round 3 with "Orange Crush"), #17 (reached 4th place with "Every Heartbeat"), #18 (reached round 3 with "Freedom! '90"), #19 (reached 4th place with "Shiny Happy People"), and #20 (has only reached 5th place, that being with "Chocolate Cake" and "The Emperor's New Clothes"). (Well, technically #14 too if you count "Tell It To My Heart"'s pre-ARIA #10 peak, but I've only been counting peaks from the ARIA era we're covering. Then again, "Never Tear Us Apart" was a #14 peaker until 2014, so that could count anyway.) One feat "Alive" cannot claim is breaking the game's rules to keep itself still alive in the next round, but "Stay" on the other hand is certainly staying. As is "One", with in fact the most votes this round (15/18, compared to 12/18 for the rest of the top 5), completing the sustained top 3 of extremely unambiguous titles. (If you search them on YouTube, the first results for each title are Sia [with Pearl Jam 3rd], Zedd [with Shakespears Sister 5th] and Metallica [with U2 5th, or 2nd if you exclude the 'ONE Championship' martial arts videos]. At least for me, as the results are probably somewhat user-tailored and/or variable even with me opening an incognito window to try and evade that.) That means it's bad luck for Metallica with their 2nd 4th-place result - at least this time without the record-high #4 points or 1-point gap "The Unforgiven" was dealt, but still with higher #4 points than most. Both of their #4 placers also landed behind a U2 song, and furthermore in the same round as a Prince song, but Metallica had a more leisurely schedule, as U2 and Prince went through a whole extra single in between. "Nothing Else Matters", despite being released when the album had already racked up 8 months of sales, became the highest peaker of the album, and is their longest-charting top 50 hit ever... provided you don't combine live versions and sequels. It's also their 2nd-biggest song on Spotify, with 314 million plays to "Enter Sandman"'s 338 million. And speaking of their slow pace, the album's 4th single "Sad But True" maxed out at #48, but a 5th single actually hit the top 20 almost 11 months after "Nothing Else Matters" (seemingly helped by them touring Australia), which I only realised yesterday because it's so far after the first 3 that when I'd seen it in their chart history I'd just assumed it was from a future album/project. When "Enter Sandman" entered the game it burst into 2nd place behind "Treaty", but this round Yothu Yindi couldn't get through either, with their 2nd and final top 50 hit "Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)" (shoutout to Watermät for teaching me that alt code). The song actually originated on their 1989 debut album, whose first single "Mainstream" scraped #97 on the AMR chart, but "Djäpana" (its 2nd single) did not. It wasn't included on the original edition of their 1991 "Tribal Voice" album, but was slotted onto a 1992 reissue when it became the follow-up single to "Treaty", with both (a re-recorded version of) the original and its single remix - labeled the 'Gapirri Mix' and I think produced by David Burnham and Garry Hughes. Lead singer M. Yunupingu later hit the top 20 in 1997 as part of a cover of "I Am Australian", while his bandmate and nephew G. Yunupingu went on to have one of the highest-selling Australian albums of 2008, and even a (2-weeks-charting) top 5 single in 2013 when he performed a duet with Delta Goodrem on "The Voice". Following the Extreme template of a hard rock band releasing a sparse ballad, Mr. Big's "To Be With You" became a 3-week ARIA #1, and I never knew before that the 'line of greens and blues' lyric was about mood rings. Mr. Big named themselves after a song called "Mr. Big" by the band Free (of "All Right Now" fame), and went on to cover the song themselves on their 1993 album, thus joining the canon of eponymous song titles alongside Spinifex Gum, Psycho Teddy, The 1975, (almost) Jimmy Ray, Everything Is Recorded, Doop, DNCE, Arturo Sandoval, Lil Pump, Huncho Jack, Nora En Pure's Twitter and no doubt many others. Now it's time to talk about James Brown. You know James Brown? He's dead. Dead. *descending spirals of laughter* But much like Frankie there when Miss Kittin wrote her opus, James Brown was in fact very alive (and remained so until 2006), which inspired an answer song called "James Brown Is Still Alive!!" that, following the original "James Brown Is Dead"'s #1 Dutch peak, was also a top 10 hit there. Death, taxes, sex, "Someday", James Brown. On enough of a hit streak that his 4th "Diamonds And Pearls" single "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" was able to crack the top 20 - I don't think any of his other albums had more than 2 top 20 hits, without counting "Purple Rain"'s 2016 death re-entry that improved its peak from #41 to #3 - it's his lowest performance here so far, his previous 5 all making the top 6 and with over 20 points. Unless you count Bingoboys feat. Princessa, which Excel keeps trying to convince me towards every time I filter for 'Prince'. Princessa isn't the only non-Prince-but-'prince'-containing artist with a top 20 hit, but I believe she's the only 'princess' one, a shame because "Bad Babysitter" or "Pussy Is God" would've gone down a treat. Back in round 10, I gave my +5 to Bros' "Cat Among The Pigeons" and it only scored 6 points in total. Some other songs came close to that since - "Don't Know Much" having a +5 and a total 7 points, "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and "Word Is Out" likewise with 8 points - but only now has the ultimate extent been reached: Teen Queens' "Be My Baby" received a +5 and zero other points to be seen. After some soap opera called "E Street" had produced a hitmaker in actress Melissa Tkautz, and apparently helped give Euphoria's "Love You Right" exposure, its producers formed the Teen Queens with the intention of them starring in their own TV series set in the 1960s, about a girl group '[winning] a talent competition in the country and [moving] to the city in an attempt to make it as the new Supremes'. Hence them covering The Ronettes' 1963 acclaim magnet "Be My Baby" (and their lesser-known single "(The Best Part Of) Breakin' Up" thrown in for good measure), and even naming themselves after a 1950s sisters duo. Unlike the original "Be My Baby" singer Ronnie Spector, I don't believe its producer Phil Spector ever threatened murder to any of the Teen Queens even once, though I'm confident he'd have liked to try. Their TV show pilot was seemingly turned down, but they continued on musically with 3 singles, an album, a further single and an alleged 2nd album (the only sources for that I can find are an Australian music encyclopedia entry claiming its existence, and a Musicbrainz database entry where it looks just like the original album with 2 added tracks). As for Melissa herself, her 3rd single "Skin To Skin" ground her top 3 success to a halt by stalling at #16, and completes an underwhelming run of 10th, 9th and 10th placings for her. The highest she charted after it was actually in 2005, when she covered the 1984 (Prince-written) Sheila E. song "The Glamorous Life" and hit #31, shortly before another version of the same song by T-Funk (aka mrTimothy) featuring Inaya Day - that, according to Melissa, came about when word got out that she was covering the song, and 'somebody else' found out and tried to release their own version first, without Melissa's blessing or even Inaya Day's knowledge - also reached #31, and so did T-Funk's following single the next year.

46 - Pearl Jam - Alive (survived 3; inducted!)
44 - Shakespears Sister - Stay (survived 2)
43 - U2 - One (survived 2)

37 - Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
30 - Yothu Yindi - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)
28 - Mr. Big - To Be With You
19 - L.A. Style - James Brown Is Dead
15 - Prince & The New Power Generation - Money Don't Matter 2 Night
5 - Teen Queens - Be My Baby
3 - Melissa - Skin To Skin
Round 61:

Annie Lennox - Why
Euphoria - One In A Million
Girlfriend - Take It From Me
Michael Jackson - In The Closet
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Suck My Kiss
Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - That Word (L.O.V.E.)
Shakespears Sister - Stay
Shanice - I Love Your Smile
Sound Unlimited Possé - Kickin' To The Undersound
U2 - One

Submit that vote (L.O.G.O.) by Friday evening.
1. Stay
2. Take It From Me
3. Why
4. Suck My Kiss
5. One In A Million
+5 Annie Lennox - Why
+4 U2 - One
+3 Shanice - I Love Your Smile
+2 Rockmelons - That Word (L.O.V.E.)
+1 Sound Unlimited Possé - Kickin' To The Undersound
+5 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+4 Annie Lennox - Why
+3 U2 - One
+2 Euphoria - One In a Million
+1 Girlfriend - Take It From Me

I wanted to vote for Shanice, too, but have found myself singing 'Take It From Me' in the shower (yes, seriously) in recent-ish times... whereas Shanice doesn't have the same effect on me.

392414 - There was a Princess who made the top 20 - but before the ARIA-produced chart. Princess's 'Say I'm Your Number One' reached #8 in February 1986. Fun fact: King, Queen, Prince, and Princess all had charting singles in Australia in 1985.
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+5 U2 - One
+4 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+3 Annie Lennox - Why
+2 Shanice - I Love Your Smile
+1 Sound Unlimited Possé - Kickn' To The Underground
+5 Shakespears Sister -Stay
+4 Annie Lennox - Why
+3 Shanice - I Love Your Smile
+2 Girlfriend - Take It From Me
+1 Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - That Word (L.O.V.E.)
+5: Shakespears Sister - Stay (from +4 to +2 to +5)
+4: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Suck My Kiss
+3: Shanice - I Love Your Smile
+2: Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - That Word (L.O.V.E.)
+1: Michael Jackson - In The Closet

Ah yes, I was thinking just in 1988 onwards, but I forgot about Princess! Hadn't heard of King on the other hand.
+5 Stay
+4 Why
+3 That Word
+2 I Love Your Smile
+1 One
King had a #8 hit with 'Love & Pride' in May 1985.
+5: Michael Jackson - In The Closet
+4: Shanice - I Love Your Smile
+3: Girlfriend - Take It From Me
+2: Annie Lennox - Why
+1: Rockmelons ft. Deni Hines - That Word (L.O.V.E.)
+5 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+4 Shanice - I Love Your Smile
+3 Girlfriend - Take It From Me
+2 Sound Unlimited Possé - Kickin' To The Undersound
+1 Michael Jackson - In The Closet
+5 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Suck My Kiss
+4 U2 - One
+3 Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - That Word (L.O.V.E.)
+2 Sound Unlimited Possé - Kickin' To The Undersound
+1 Euphoria - One In A Million
+5 Euphoria - One In A Million
+4 U2 - One
+3 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+2 Annie Lennox - Why
+1 Shanice - I Love Your Smile
+5 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+4 Annie Lennox - Why
+3 Michael Jackson - In The Closet
+2 Girlfriend - Take It From Me
+1 U2 - One
+5 ‪Stay‬
+4 ‪I Love Your Smile‬
+3 ‪In the Closet‬
+2 ‪That Word (L.O.V.E.)‬
+1 ‪Why‬
+5 U2 - One
+4 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+3 Annie Lennox - Why
+2 Michael Jackson - In The Closet
+1 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Suck My Kiss

+5 Suck My Kiss
+4 One
+3 Why
+2 That Word (L.O.V.E.)
+1 Kickin' To The Undersound
+5 Shakespears Sister - Stay
+4 Michael Jackson - In the Closet
+3 Shanice - I Love Your Smile
+2 Annie Lennox - Why
+1 U2 - One
+5 Suck My Kiss
+4 That Word (L.O.V.E.)
+3 Why
+2 I Love Your Smile
+1 One
5. U2 - One
4. Annie Lennox - Why
3. Shakespears Sister - Stay
2. Michael Jackson - In The Closet
1. Shanice - I Love Your Smile

6th was Take It From Me
Round 61 results:

While other parts of this forum are debating the merits of another trio of S words, there is no stopping the sensation started by the selection of Shakespears Sister's "Stay". There were 8 new songs included in this round but none of them could topple the duo who return to the top of the list inducted. Alongside that duo masquerading as a single person by name, they also have their partners in crime with the quartet masquerading as a duo by name, masquerading as "One", as U2 has scored their second induction following "The Fly". They do so hanging on in 3rd because one of the new arrivals made a strong impression. It's an arrival which has been much awaited ever since Eurythmics bombed out with their sole appearance. It came however with the promise that both members would later return to perhaps greater fanfare. David A. Stewart Was Here 25 rounds ago in 4th place, but he's been surpassed by Annie Lennox (ANNIE IS HERE) who takes her first solo entry ("Put A Little Love In Your Heart" is clearly a duo entry ~) "Why" to the next round, scoring close to double what "Lily Was Here" managed. While not as common a title as "Stay" or "One", "Why" does at least share a spot with the rest of the top 3 this week in the list of the 1,000 most commonly used English words. I am not sure whether or not Annie's song contributes to that placing with its 7 utterances. Alongside all these well known songs & artists, we have Shanice impressively muscling her way into the higher section of the list, with "I Love Your Smile" in 4th place. Prior to this single, she only barely scraped the US top 50 twice with little international fanfare so you'd be forgiven for not realising it actually comes from her 2nd album. In the UK it spent the middle 2 of Shakespears Sister's 8 chart topping weeks at #2, while US pundits kept it locked at #2 behind Right Said Fred. I've heard it was also sampled recently by a noteworthy popular artist but please don't run it by me. Following Shanice's international chart misfortunes, we have the growing saga of misfortunes in this game for Red Hot Chili Peppers, though at least for the time being it's not too absurd. It's not like they've had 13 entries thus far without a top 3 finish, it's not like they're one of the most famous musicians in the world ever and can't crack the top 5. Nonetheless they've rather promptly followed up "Under The Bridge" with a song that I'm sure forms a perfect circle Venn diagram in terms of who it appeals to. "Suck My Kiss" is also the last top 20 hit they scored from "Blood Sugar Sex Magik", the next single "Breaking The Girl" having only reached #30, but they will return in the not-too-distant future. "Suck My Kiss" also shares the specific property with the next song in that it debuted outside of the top 20 and jumped to its top 10 peak in week 2. That comes courtesy of Michael Jackson, who falls 1 point short of reaching a new high with "In The Closet". It goes both ways though so he's also at least a little bit lucky to be 1 point ahead of Rockmelons. In fact they're 1 point away from their previous entry "Ain't No Sunshine", showing that every point counts even in arbitrary ways like affecting what I type into this commentary. "That Word (L.O.V.E.)"'s inclusion in this list is not at the expense of any Macklemore & Ryan Lewis songs, though it may delay them by 1 round. There will be more L.O.V.E. to come in this game however not courtesy of SOPHIE...as it stands at least. In 8th place we arrive with the first of a handful of entries for Australian pop quintet (and eventually quartet) Girlfriend, which is probably not promising for their future in this game as it's their biggest hit, reaching #1 on the ARIA Chart. It would be difficult to convince someone that 5 years from now, a member of this group would manage to make the triple j Hottest 100, primarily because the poll as we know it now didn't really exist in 1992. Girlfriend win the battle of Australian artists in this set though, with all 3 trailing the bottom of the list. They do sit next to another #1 hit from Euphoria, whose rise to the top of the charts was probably aided by the fact that John Newman was still just shy of his 2nd birthday, and Rudimental were still 18 years away. Kickin' to the underposition however, we have Sound Unlimited Possé. Very short lived, they were a 5 piece Australian hip hop group which included in their ranks a brother & sister (who did not get extremely awkwardly chummy in the music videos I believe) and may well be the only group to claim having supported international tours from Public Enemy & New Kids On The Block. Their song "Kickin' To The Undersound" notably samples Men At Work's "Down Under", I assume if they had gone for "Overkill" instead they would be at the top of this list. The implications will keep me up at night at the very least. Nonetheless they set what may be a long standing bench mark because I cannot think of another Australian hip hop song to arrive in this list until 2003.

59 - Shakespears Sister - Stay (survived 3; inducted!)
47 - Annie Lennox - Why (survived 1)
38 - U2 - One (survived 3; inducted!)

32 - Shanice - I Love Your Smile
22 - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Suck My Kiss
21 - Michael Jackson - In The Closet
20 - Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - That Word (L.O.V.E.)
15 - Girlfriend - Take It From Me
9 - Euphoria - One In A Million
7 - Sound Unlimited Possé - Kickin' To The Undersound
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Round 62:

2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone
Annie Lennox - Why
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina
Frente! - Ordinary Angels [from "Clunk" EP]
Kris Kross - Jump
Lisa Edwards - Cry
Radio Freedom - I Can Feel It
Richard Marx - Hazard
Tina Turner & Jimmy Barnes - (Simply) The Best
Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last

When deciding your top 5 votes, do not save (simply) the best for last because that would be hazardous. Get your vote in by Sunday night, and if you happen to have any clues about what happened to Mary please let me know, I'm hoping to pitch a sci-fi thriller about it.
1. Hazard
2. Ordinary Angels
3. Save The Best For Last
4. Why
5. Cry
+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina
+3 Annie Lennox - Why
+2 Kris Kross - Jump
+1 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
Finally a good top 3, and Shanice came pleasingly close too.

+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Annie Lennox - Why
+3 Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last
+2 Lisa Edwards - Cry
+1 Frente! - Ordinary Angels

2 Unlimited a close 6th in the strongest round in ages.
+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Vanessa Williams - Save the Best For Last
+3 Annie Lennox - Why
+2 Lisa Edwards - Cry
+1 Radio Freedom - I Can Feel It

This was a tough round for me... I also wanted to give points to 2 Unlimited & Frente! In a weaker round, I could have also given points to Kris Kross.
+5 Why
+4 Hazard
+3 Save The Best For Last
+2 Twilight Zone
+1 I Can Feel It
+5 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+4 2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone
+3 Lisa Edwards - Cry
+2 Kris Kross - Jump
+1 Richard Marx - Hazard
+5: Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last
+4: 2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone
+3: Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+2: Kris Kross - Jump
+1: Richard Marx - Hazard
+5 Mistadobalina
+4 Why
+3 Hazard
+2 Ordinary Angels
+1 Jump
+5 Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina
+4 Kirs Kross - Jump
+3 Richard Marx - Hazard
+2 Lisa Edward - Cry
+1 2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone
5- Jump
4- Hazard
3- Mistadobalina
2- Save The Best For Last
1- Twilight Zone
+5: Richard Marx - Hazard
+4: 2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone
+3: Kris Kross - Jump (no se lo voy a negar)
+2: Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina
+1: Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last (*very close* between the last 2 and Radio Freedom)
+5 Del tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina
+4 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+3 Kris Kross - Jump
+2 Annie Lennox - Why
+1 Richard Marx - Hazard
+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Annie Lennox - Why
+3 Lisa Edwards - Cry
+2 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+1 Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last

+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Kris Kross - Jump
+3 Annie Lennox - Why
+2 Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last
+1 Radio Freedom - I Can Feel It
+5 Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina
+4 Kris Kross - Jump
+3 Frente! - Ordinary Angels [from "Clunk" EP]
+2 Annie Lennox - Why
+1 Lisa Edwards - Cry
+5 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+4 Richard Marx - Hazard
+3 Annie Lennox - Why
+2 2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone
+1 Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina
+5 Hazard
+4 Why (quite a jump from my last vote but I still think that this round is rather strong on the whole!)
+3 Ordinary Angels
+2 Mistadobalina
+1 Twilight Zone

Save the Best for Last was close too.
5. Richard Marx - Hazard
4. Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last
3. Annie Lennox - Why
2. Kris Kross - Jump
1. Lisa Edwards - Cry
Round 62 results:

What won this round? It's a mystery. Specifically, a mystery of how Richard Marx and Mary enjoyed walking by the river so much, when the only waterway in the town of Hazard, Nebraska is literally named Mud Creek. However, luckily we're familiar enough with the works of Mr. Marx to have not only voted him, but broken 2 records in the process. Firstly, the single-round points record had been set by "Like A Prayer" 3 months ago when it got 62 points, later also matched by "Losing My Religion", but it's finally been surpassed, with "Hazard" receiving a whole 66 points. Secondly, while we've had as many as 33 rounds with more than 16 voters (mostly 18), no song had ever managed more than 16 votes in a round until now, with "Hazard" reaching the elusive 17 mark. Only one person declined to vote "Hazard". Maybe the case has a new suspect. With "Hazard"'s huge points, it's not only outdone his previous 3 entries combined, but it's done so with a 23-point buffer, making it potentially feasible that it'll end up having outdone his previous and future entries combined too, in just one round. As of the 2010 census, the town of Hazard, Nebraska - which Richard Marx chose to name after writing to the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce asking for a list of 2-syllable towns to match his 'this old Nebraska town' lyric - had a population of only 70, including 17 family households, meaning this game has more voters than Hazard has families. On the other hand, the same may not apply to swinefolk, as the state of Nebraska has about 1.6x as many pigs as it does people. Considering the lyric about a thousand fingers pointing at him though, one could also conclude that the residents of Hazard possess an average of 14 fingers each. Perhaps Mary wasn't the first victim. It's a big round for artists with surnames ending with 'x', as Annie Lennox holds on to her 2nd place with "Why"; unfortunately it would be a challenge to call either song X-rated, though Annie's album did place at #69 on the US year-end chart. While she ended up pretty safe ahead of the pack, 3rd place was constantly shifting until the very end. Previously, we've had songs miss out by 1 point, and twice we've had a 2-point gap between #3 and #5 (rounds 7 and 43), but this round has reached a new extent: 2 songs tied only 1 point off the mark. Surviving with a huge deal of luck is Frente!'s "Ordinary Angels", the lead track representing their 2nd EP "Clunk". The first EP "Whirled" actually had a track voted into the 1991 all-years-eligible Hottest 100 (at...#69), without charting on ARIA until after "Clunk", going on to reach #63 - on the albums chart, presumably because it had 8 tracks, even with half of them being so short that it only totals at 15 minutes in length. Just missing out are the 2 hip hop songs in the round; so far, "Push It" and "Ring Ring Ring" (and maybe "Groove Is In The Heart" if generous) are still the only hip hop songs to have made the top 3. Released at only age 19, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien's "Mistadobalina" takes its main sample from The Monkees' 1967 song - or 'fugue made up of disparate phrases' - "Zilch", which begins with the name 'Mr. Bob Dobalina' repeated, and it became I believe Del's only charting single of his own, but he later contributed the rapped verses to Gorillaz's "Clint Eastwood". Del was a senior compared to Kris Kross though, who were only 13 when they released "Jump", and they began their career with a diss right of the hook, 'another bad little fad' referring to Another Bad Creation. "Jump" scored triple the points of "Iesha", so it would seem we're on their side. First coming to fame in 1983 when she was crowned Miss America, a title she was then forced to resign from after Penthouse magazine got hold of private nude photos she'd posed in when working as an assistant to a photographer (which Miss America finally apologised for in 2015), Vanessa Williams had a few US hits over 1988-1991 with more-R&B material, but it was the ballad "Save The Best For Last" that broke her into the Australian charts, going from a previous best of #102 all the way to #1. 2 Unlimited followed their first single with another one released in both instrumental-heavy and rap-inclusive versions, and by peaking at #11, "Twilight Zone" means that 'twilight'-related songs have peaked at every position from #11 to #14 (the various "Twilight" soundtracks producing #12 hit "Decode", #13 hit "A Thousand Years" and #14 hit "It Will Rain"). With a fruitful career of backing vocals behind her, Lisa Edwards hit it big on her own for one single with "Cry", a cover of a 1985 #43 hit by former 10cc members Godley & Creme. More credit to "E Street" seems due, with Radio Freedom's debut single "I Can Feel It" having been played on an episode of it (according to a newspaper article), as well as having the same label involved as Teen Queens and Melissa. Though Vanessa Williams may have only reached 6th place, we did take her advice: we saved "The Best" for last. Released to promote the 1992 rugby league season, Tina Turner's "The Best" was turned into a duet with Jimmy Barnes, giving the song its 2nd of 3 chart runs (the original re-charted at #35 in 1993, thanks to a '1993 Grand Final Collector's Edition' release). The duet version furthermore featured Diesel on presumably guitar, a role he'd also filled on Jimmy Barnes and John Farnham's duet. Out of 7 appearances, "(Simply) The Best" is Jimmy Barnes' 4th to rank at the bottom, and 2nd to get no points at all (after the first of his numerous covers we've had, "When A Man Loves A Woman"). It's also Tina Turner's 2nd 10th-placer after her Rod Stewart duet, with the "Nutbush City Limits" remix also ranking 9th between them, and it's the last time she'll be seen in the game.

66 - Richard Marx - Hazard (survived 1)
42 - Annie Lennox - Why (survived 2)
33 - Frente! - Ordinary Angels [from "Clunk" EP] (survived 1)

32 - Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina
32 - Kris Kross - Jump
28 - Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last
19 - 2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone
15 - Lisa Edwards - Cry
3 - Radio Freedom - I Can Feel It
0 - Tina Turner & Jimmy Barnes - (Simply) The Best
Round 63:

Annie Lennox - Why
Diesel - Man Alive
Elton John - The One
Frente! - Ordinary Angels [from "Clunk" EP]
George Michael - Too Funky
INXS - Heaven Sent
Richard Marx - Hazard
Rick Price - Heaven Knows
Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You [from "As Ugly As They Wanna Be" EP]

If you can find 5 songs you don't hate everything about, you've got until Tuesday evening to do so.
+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Annie Lennox - Why
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 George Michael - Too Funky
+1 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Annie Lennox - Why
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+1 Diesel - Man Alive
That deconstruction of Hazard gave me a good chuckle

+5 Annie Lennox - Why
+4 Richard Marx - Hazard
+3 Elton John - The One
+2 George Michael - Too Funky
+1 Sophie B Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+5 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+4 INXS - Heaven Sent
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You
+1 Richard Marx - Hazard
+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Annie Lennox - Why
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 George Michael - Too Funky
+1 Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You

Frente & Elton close.
1. Hazard
2. Ordinary Angels
3. Heaven Knows
4. Everything About You
5. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+5 Elton John - The One
+4 Richard Marx - Hazard
+3 INXS - Heaven Sent
+2 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+1 Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You
+5 Why
+4 Hazard
+3 Heaven Sent
+2 Ordinary Angels
+1 Everything About You
5. Hazard
4. Man Alive
3. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
2. Too Funky
1. Everything About You
+5 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+4 Richard Marx - Hazard
+3 Annie Lennox - Why
+2 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+1 Elton John - The One

my top 4 are all really good but I didn't care much for the rest of the songs this round tbh
+5: INXS - Heaven Sent (I'd never heard this before; extremely impressed! Particularly for 1992 INXS which I wasn't expecting a lot from. I've had a few +5s I wasn't previously that familiar with, but this is the first I'd never heard at all prior since Bros - Cat Among The Pigeons in round 10)
+4: Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You
+3: Richard Marx - Hazard
+2: Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+1: George Michael - Too Funky

Why has gone #6-#7-#6 for me.
+5 Elton John - The One
+4 Richard Marx - Hazard
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Annie Lennox - Why
+1 Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You

Easily one of the best round as all songs could've got votes
+5 Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+4 Too Funky
+3 Man Alive
+2 Ordinary Angels
+1 Why

looks like I'm the outlier on Hazard! Sorry y'all, just not connecting with it 🤷‍♀️
👀

+5 Hazard
+4 Why
+3 Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Ordinary Angels
+1 Too Funky (a choice of this or INXS for me )
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I feel the same as Clinton about Why. Made my vote in its first (very weak imo) round but these past 2 have had much stronger contenders

+5 INXS - Heaven Sent
+4 Richard Marx - Hazard
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+1 Elton John - The One
+5 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+4 George Michael - Too Funky
+3 Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+2 Elton John - The One
+1 Annie Lennox - Why
5. Richard Marx - Hazard
4. Annie Lennox - Why
3. Rick Price - Heaven Knows
2. Diesel - Man Alive
1. Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+5: Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+4: Frente! - Ordinary Angels
+3: Richard Marx - Hazard
+2: George Michael - Too Funky
+1: INXS - Heaven Sent
Round 63 results:

A new round provides a new game board. Richardmarx07 has been patiently awaiting to see how you tackle this new mystery. However as he is not confirmed a reliable narrator, we cannot take any of his reports for absolute fact. The red truth I can provide you however is that "Hazard" has tied its own record of 66 points and unsurprisingly holds the top of the table for a second round. Its other new record from last round has also been tied, but not by it. "Hazard" has actually dropped from 17 votes to 16 votes and so instead, the most votes this round actually went to Sophie B. Hawkins. Her first top 10 hit "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" has made a fine first showing. For a good length of time I've thought that the song was controversial because of its profanity by way of including the word 'damn' in the the title, leading me into a rant suggesting you remember such a thing whenever you hear someone say that people are too sensitive today. To my knowledge now though, I understand that controversy to be more about the music video because "What are you gonna do about it dressed the way you are?"...in short my comment could still apply. On a less provocative note, Annie Lennox has scored her first Hall Of Fame entry with "Why". She has one further entry to come which may have similar potential energy. "Why" also has a very nice connection in terms of chart fortunes with her next top 50 single "Little Bird". Getting pushed out as a result of Sophie's entry, Frente! accidently fall out of the top 3 with "Ordinary Angels", but they'll be back relatively soon. Nonetheless, they can lay claim to having the most popular Australian track in this round which is above average in quality, and also includes in its ranks a pretty heavy hitter in INXS. Curiously, "Kick" was the last album of theirs which contained more than one top 20 hit on it, so even though "By My Side" is evidently one of their most popular singles, we've had to skip right over it and go right to their next album "Welcome To Wherever You Are". Lead single "Heaven Sent" got to #13 on ARIA on debut and lasted only 7 weeks in the top 50 which might suggest not a lot of crossover appeal though it has landed in the top half here. Next up we have George Michael & Elton John. When we last saw them in this game, it was in the same round, because they were on the same song, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me". I neglected to mention at the time that it also receives a partial credit for not matching, but containing an Owl Eyes song in its lengthy title. Nonetheless I bring them both up now because they're alongside each other again, which might suggest that George is a top and Elton is a bottom. George Michael is noted for his curiously low amount of studio albums in his lengthy solo career so "Too Funky" is actually not from one, but instead a benefit album to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS. Elton's "The One" is from a studio album of the same name and may well be considered his last regular entry as his entries to come are more attached to much larger projects and happenings. With no doubt some considerable fanbase crossover, we next turn over to the world of Ugly Kid Joe. Their track "Everything About You" is doing some serious legwork in the department of songs about hating everything, which for better or worse will contain a noticeable hole in the future. Evidently the kids of the people who bought this EP were not just like their dad in some respects. Next we go to the never ending story that is Diesel's endless supply of top 20 hits. 392 tells me that only Kylie Minogue & Roxette have had more appearances in this game than him, and his 8th song to miss the cut now is "Man Alive", which is also the 4th straight single from "Hepfidelity". After two big hit albums his success will be more scattered from here on. Finishing up the round is the 2nd top 10 hit for Rick Price, scoring only half the points of "Not A Day Goes By". This might be because INXS flooded the heaven market, or because it wasn't a UK top 40 hit around 2013-2014, there is not documented history of any actresses from The Good Place giving it their blessing. Either way he's hopefully not still wearing the clothes he slept in.

66 - Richard Marx - Hazard (survived 2)
48 - Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (survived 1)
37 - Annie Lennox - Why (survived 3; inducted!)

32 - Frente! - Ordinary Angels
21 - INXS - Heaven Sent
20 - George Michael - Too Funky
17 - Elton John - The One
13 - Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You
10 - Diesel - Man Alive
6 - Rick Price - Heaven Knows
Round 64:

Céline Dion & Peabo Bryson - Beauty And The Beast
Erasure - Take A Chance On Me [from "ABBA-esque" EP]
K.W.S. - Please Don't Go
Michael Jackson - Jam
Prince & The New Power Generation - Sexy MF
Richard Marx - Hazard
The Screaming Jets - Living In England [from "Living In England" EP]
Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing

I don't care if you write your top 5 votes in stone, just do it by Thursday night, together we'll break these chains of love
As a clarification on EPs since they've been getting less cut-and-dry in terms of picking just one track, we're listing EPs with (as best as we can research) the primary track from the release. However, it goes without saying that these multi-track entries are not necessarily popular merely on the strength of a single track, and it is entirely possible that your favourite track is not the one listed. So if you're familiar with other track(s) on the EP and happen to prefer another, or even wish to vote the EP as an entire package, you're welcome to do so if you like. This will also apply to Double A-Sides when we reach them.
+5 Hazard
+4 Beauty and the Beast
+3 Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Even Better Than The Real Thing
+1 Living In England

That was a struggle
+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Erasure - Lay All Your Love On Me
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing
+1 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care

(honestly #2-#9 are all pretty close for me)
+5 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+4 Richard Marx - Hazard
+3 Erasure - Take A Chance On Me [from "ABBA-esque" EP] ('Lay All Your Love On Me' is my favourite track from the EP, though; but points-wise, it makes more sense to vote for the song most people would know)
+2 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+1 K.W.S. - Please Don't Go
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Personally, I think votes for different tracks from the same EP should count as votes for the same release; otherwise, it's unlikely that an EP will get through.

This Erasure EP is a little different than previous EP's listed, as each of the 4 tracks had a music video made for it. 'Take a Chance On Me' was, by far, the main track shown/played at the time in Australia, although rage also introduced 'Voulez-Vous' into the top 60 chart countdown after a few weeks.

The UK Chart Attack radio program at the time aired 'Lay All Your Love On Me' when ABBA-Esque was #1 on the UK chart.

My understanding was that the Sophie B. Hawkins track was mildly "controversial" at the time because she is (most likely) singing it to a woman. "by the ocean side making love to her with visions clear" is the lyric, from memory (I wasn't 100% sure of what the first few words were, so left them out). Yes, it was still slightly controversial to sing about lesbian love in 1992.
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+5 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+4 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+3 The Screaming Jets - Living In England
+2 K.W.S. - Please Don't Go
+1 Richard Marx - Hazard
Oh ftr that's what we mean. Put forth your adoration to whichever track you wish, and we'll combine them all together.

(obviously also means don't include multiple entries from the same EP as part of your top 5 vote, but I suppose you could indicate as an aside where you might place other tracks if you so wish).
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+5 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+4 Richard Marx - Hazard
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Céline Dion & Peabo Bryson - Beauty And The Beast
+1 U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing
+5 Michael Jackson - Jam
+4 U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing
+3 Richard Marx - Hazard
+2 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+1 Prince & The New Power Generation - Sexy M.F.
+5: K.W.S. - Please Don't Go
+4: Richard Marx - Hazard
+3: Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2: Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+1: The Screaming Jets - Living In England

Prince would be #6, or I suppose Erasure on the basis of Voulez-Vous which I actually liked most.
1. Hazard
2. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
3. Beauty And The Beast
4. I Don’t Care
5. Even Better Than The Real Thing
+5: Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+4: Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+3: Richard Marx - Hazard
+2: The Screaming Jets - Living In England
+1: Erasure - Take A Chance On Me

Really wanted to vote for K.W.S. too, sad to leave it out!
+5 U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing
+4 Richard Marx - Hazard
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 K.W.S. - Please Don't Go
+1 Michael Jackson - Jam

+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+3 U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing
+2 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+1 Prince And The New Power Generation - Sexy MF
+5 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+4 Erasure - Take a Chance on Me
+3 Michael Jackson - Jam
+2 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+1 Prince & The New Power Generation - Sexy M.F.
+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+3 K.W.S. - Please Don't Go
+2 U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing
+1 Michael Jackson - Jam
+5 Richard Marx - Hazard
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - Sexy MF
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Michael Jackson - Jam
+1 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care

+5 Even Better Than The Real Thing
+4 Living In England
+3 Hazard
+2 Sexy MF
+1 Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+5 Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+4 Please Don't Go
+3 Sexy MF
+2 Even Better Than The Real Thing
+1 Take A Chance On Me
5. Hazard
4. Beauty And The Beast
3. Even Better Than The Real Thing
2. I Don't Care
1. Damn! I Wish I Was Your Lover *da daa da doo de da da*
+5 Hazard
+4 Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+3 I Don't Care
+2 Jam
+1 Take a Chance on Me

(Prince & KWS were close, and Screaming Jets was still decent)
Round 64 results:

It's the finale of our record-breaking champion "Hazard", and it unsurprisingly tops the results again with... for the 3rd time, exactly 66 points. It certainly did shuffle a little in people's votes, but the 5 people who moved it up a spot offset the 5 who did the opposite, creating the remarkable feat of the single-round points record being a 3-way tie between all 3 instances of "Hazard", as well as potentially making The Devil the latest suspect. Don't say a word. Naturally, since all of its individual rounds are record-holding, it also grabs hold of the all-rounds total points record, with 198 points - far ahead of the previous record of 165 points from "Like A Prayer". So far ahead, in fact, that the #2 ("Like A Prayer") on the list of total points is as close to #1 as it is to #31 ("Stop!" and "Cream"). As far as average points go, 10 songs from the years 1988-1990 had managed a 3+ average, but nothing had done so since "Groove Is In The Heart" - sometimes in a single round, yes, but not cumulatively across all rounds. (My theory is that it's partly to do with having slightly more voters since then, and partly to do with alternative rock, dance and hip hop songs pulling votes apart, being not quite as universally agreeable as the 1988-1990 pop songs.) "Hazard" has sailed past that with a 3.67 average, slightly short of "Fast Car"'s 3.71 record, but comfortably ahead of the next-highest, "Like A Prayer"'s 3.44. "Hazard" is not the only song setting voting-related records in this round though. "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" was already firmly top 2 last round, but managed to gain an extra 11 points this time, and *drum roll* got points from every single voter: 18 out of 18. Now, it's not the first song to be voted by everyone - "Like A Prayer", "Eternal Flame", "Nothing Compares 2 U" and "Summer Rain" each did it once - but they were all with only 15-16 voters (and quite a while ago). So, only 2 rounds after "Hazard" became the first song to get 17 votes in a round, "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" becomes the first to get 18, and the first to get a full 100% with more than 16 voters involved. "Hazard" and "Damn" together scored 46.3% of the points distributed in this round, slightly surpassing the previous record top 2 vote-share of 46.2% from "Fast Car" and "Better Be Home Soon" in round 5. The rest of this round didn't necessarily contain any obvious popular favourites, leaving more room for surprises. Following the huge success of "Stay" in this game (and the...real world), "I Don't Care" was namedropped earlier in this thread as having been heavily discounted, but it's proven itself a popular song anyway, sneaking into the top 3 - a certain improvement from their other low top 20-peaker "You're History" ending up only 7th. "I Don't Care" was remixed for single release, which is where much of the guitar comes from, but you'd probably have a hard time unintentionally running into the original album version if you didn't know that anyway, as it was (I believe) replaced on a reissue of the album, and that's what appears on Spotify. U2's 4th "Achtung Baby" single "Even Better Than The Real Thing" also had notable remixing going on, with the Perfecto mix by producers Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne not only existing, but leading a whole separate CD single of remixes. Unlike "Black Or White", both U2 versions were combined by ARIA (and I'm presuming were released at the same time, as there's no big rebound in its chart run); on the other hand, in the UK they charted separately, and the original made #12 while the remixes (released 3 weeks later there) actually charted higher, reaching #8. Just like how "The Fly" made the HOF and "Mysterious Ways" got stuck at #4, "One" and "Even Better..." have done the same thing, and it's their 3rd #4-placer as well, since "Desire" did the same. Either as a consequence of the top 2 taking so many points or maybe because of the songs just not being popular enough, #5 has fallen well below the ~25-30 points it most commonly scores - so far below, in fact, that the only time #5 ever scored lower was with "Monkey" in round 5. The song in question is "Please Don't Go". Originally a 1980 AU & US #1 by KC & The Sunshine Band, a dance cover was first released by the Italian group Double You in early 1992, as their debut single. After the UK label Network Records failed to secure distribution rights for it, K.W.S. formed and made their own 'soundalike' cover (I wouldn't say it's an identical cover, but it's very similar) - I don't know if it was commissioned by the label or if the band happened to make it of their own accord then were picked up by them - and the K.W.S. version became the hit in the UK (a 5-week #1, blocking the eclectic array of SL2, Guns N' Roses, Shut Up & Dance and Kris Kross), Australia (#2 behind "Hazard" and an upcoming song), the US (an eventual top 10 hit) and a few European countries, while the Double You version reached the top 3 in the likes of Germany, France and the Netherlands. Surprisingly the Double You version has more Spotify plays, whereas on YouTube they seem about even. My understanding of Erasure's "ABBA-esque" EP is that it somewhat helped kickstart a revival/rehabilitation of ABBA after they fell into the mist of 'uncoolness' in the '80s, followed a few months later by the release of their eternal-mega-selling "ABBA Gold" compilation (and also active around this time were the ABBA tribute band Björn Again, who even responded to the EP with their own "Erasure-ish" EP covering 2 Erasure songs). As confirmed by Nugs above, "Take A Chance On Me" was the track that received the most exposure, and 5 of the 6 votes the ~entity~ got were under that track, with just 1 dissenting vote going to "Lay All Your Love On Me" (although, the points are close enough that it would drop from #6 to #10 without that). We're back to Michael Jackson with, outside of the remix EP we rejected, his 4th song placing at #6 or #7, with I'd say one of the somewhat-lesser-known "Dangerous" singles - in fact, it wasn't even included on the 2-disc "The Essential Michael Jackson", which found room for 6-7 (depending on the edition) "Dangerous" cuts. "Jam" features an uncredited rap from Heavy D, who Janet had also brought on for her last album's 4th (US) single "Alright". It's here that we meet the Disney franchise, and particularly their '90s canon. I believe "Beauty And The Beast" was the first time that they made a separate 'pop'/radio-friendly version of one of their movie theme songs, recruiting Céline Dion (amusingly with hindsight, because they were "unable to afford a 'big singer'") and, to team her up with someone then-better-known (at least in the US), R&B singer Peabo Bryson. So it was like the 16-years-earlier version of when Colby O'Donis featured on Lady Gaga's debut single, with the one exception that "Just Dance" is actually fun to listen to. It became Céline's first Australian top 50 hit, and the next time she did so in 1994, she went all the way to #1. As for Disney, I think it's the first of 4 top 20 hits they had in the '90s (thinking of an upcoming one in each of 1993, 1994 and 1995), and then I can't think of any until "Let It Go" in 2014, but I could easily be forgetting some. While those 1993-1995 ones all follow the 'pop version' formula too, when "Let It Go" came around, the era of digital distribution making both versions equally available meant that Idina Menzel's movie version became the huge hit, while the pop version they produced with Demi Lovato was more of a side note (there's a good review from Hijinx on this topic on Idina Menzel's version's page). That kind of went differently with the "Moana" theme "How Far I'll Go" in 2016-17 due to the Alessia Cara pop version being (a) by someone on a hit streak and with attempted 'on-trend' production and (b) pushed by Spotify, but even then, the movie version has far more YouTube views. I have not seen "Moana", but apparently it features a pet pig named Pua, who is Moana's 'best friend' and 'perhaps [her] biggest supporter'. We only just saw the end of Prince's last album, but he's already back with "Sexy MF", the lead single and first of 2 top 20 hits from his album 'officially' named as his unpronouncable symbol, but conventionally referred to as "Love Symbol" (I'm sad the single "7" only made #25). Unfortunately for him it's his lowest performance so far, but someone will at least be back shaking that ass in 2000. Another EP, The Screaming Jets had been, just like the title says, living in England, and they released this EP consisting of 3 tracks that ended up on their 2nd album 4 months later, as well as covers of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and AC/DC's "Ain't No Fun". Of the 3 originals, "Living In England" received a video; so did "Tunnel" (which was in fact track 1), but I assume that was when it was released as a single of its own 2 whole years later, which reached #39.

66 - Richard Marx - Hazard (survived 3; inducted!)
59 - Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (survived 2)
34 - Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care (survived 1)

30 - U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing
17 - K.W.S. - Please Don't Go
14 - Erasure - Take A Chance On Me [from "ABBA-esque" EP]
14 - Michael Jackson - Jam
13 - Céline Dion & Peabo Bryson - Beauty And The Beast
12 - Prince & The New Power Generation - Sexy MF
11 - The Screaming Jets - Living In England [from "Living In England" EP]
Round 65:

Girlfriend - Girl's Life
Guns N' Roses - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
John Farnham, Kate Ceberano & Jon Stevens - Everything's Alright
José Carreras & Sarah Brightman - Amigos Para Siempre (Friends For Life)
KISS - God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II
Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground
Mariah Carey feat. Trey Lorenz - I'll Be There
Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover

I'm serious as cancer when I say to just post your vote, and Hijinx will be there with the results on Saturday evening.
1. Amigos Para Siempre
2. God Gave Rock N Roll To You II
3. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
4. Knockin On Heavens Door
5. This Used To Be My Playground
+5 Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+4 I Don't Care
+3 Everything's Alright
+2 Rhythm Is A Dancer
+1 I'll Be There
+5 Snap! - Rhythm Is a Dancer
+4 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+3 Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground
+2 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+1 John Farnham, Kate Ceberano & Jon Stevens - Everything's Alright

PS 392414, 'I Don't Care' was not remixed for single release, but was actually completely re-recorded!

And yes, it, 'Goodbye Cruel World' and 'Hello (Turn Your Radio On)' were replaced on a second issue of 'Hormonally Yours' with the single versions (the other two were just remixed, not completely re-recorded... though new instrumentation was added to both, particularly to 'Hello').
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One pattern I don't think you picked up on 392414 is that the last 5 Hall of Fame inductions have been for songs with one-word titles.
+5 Snap! - Rhythm Is a Dancer
+4 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground
+1 KISS - God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II
Ah I noticed the titles the other day but forgot to mention it; I like that, if Sophie gets through, her title has more words than the last 5 combined

+5: Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer (easily)
+4: Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+3: John Farnham, Kate Ceberano & Jon Stevens - Everything's Alright (surprisingly! first time John Farnham has made my vote, too, on his 8th entry; your move Jimmy Barnes)
+2: Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+1: KISS - God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II (GNR close behind. I was very surprised KISS had a hit in the '90s when I saw this)
+5 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+4 Girlfriend - Girl's Life
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+1 John Farnham, Kate Ceberano & Jon Stevens - Everything's Alright
+5 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+4 Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground
+3 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+2 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+1 John Farnham, Kate Ceberano & Jon Stevens - Everything's Alright
+5 Guns N' Roses - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
+4 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+3 Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground
+2 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+1 Jose Carreras & Sarah Brightman - Amigos Para Siempre
+5: Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+4: Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+3: Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+2: José Carreras & Sarah Brightman - Amigos Para Siempre (Friends For Life)
+1: KISS - God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II
+5 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+4 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+3 Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground
+2 José Carreras & Sarah Brightman - Amigos Para Siempre (Friends For Life)
+1 Guns N' Roses - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
+5 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+4 Mariah Carey - I'll Be There
+3 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+2 Snap! - Rhythm Is a Dancer
+1 Madonna - This Used to Be My Playground
+5 KISS - God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II
+4 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+3 Guns N' Roses - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
+2 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+1 Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground

I'm going away for a few days R&R so may not be able to participate, good luck to all the future nominees.

+5 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+4 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+3 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+2 John Farnham, Kate Ceberano & Jon Stevens - Everything's Alright
+1 Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground
+5 Mariah Carey feat. Trey Lorenz - I'll Be There
+4 Guns n Roses - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
+3 Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground
+2 Sophie B Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+1 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+5 Rhythm Is a Dancer
+4 This Used to Be My Playground
+3 Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 I Don't Care
+1 Girl's Life
+5 Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+4 Rhythm Is A Dancer
+3 Knockin' On Heaven's Door
+2 Everything's Alright
+1 Girl's Life

...this has not been my favourite round 😛
+5 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+4 Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground
+3 Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
+2 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+1 Mariah Carey featuring Trey Lorenz - I'll Be There
5. I Don't Care
4. This Used To Be My Playground
3. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
2. Rhythm Is A Dancer
1. Knocking On Heaven's Door
Round 65 results:

With Richard Marx's record breaking run over, there's a lot of points left to be re-distributed. If you were expecting some sort of Robin Hood-esque socialist reform, I regret to inform you that the complete opposite has happened. Last round, the top half amassed 73.3% of the total votes, but this round it's 78.3%. With votes concentrated highly around the top end, we get to see Sophie B. Hawkins perhaps live up to her full potential, as she scores the very same 66 points that "Hazard" had in the last 3 rounds. She has been inducted into the Hall Of Fame now so someone else will have to carry the helm and see if we can have potentially one last instance of the top score matching the round number. Given that another big count of points have to be redistributed with Sophie out of the list, maybe it's prime time for the highest new entry this round, from Snap!. We're well acquainted with them at this point, but they've started to take this serious as cancer with their 4th entry "Rhythm Is A Dancer", which safely outscores all of their prior entries combined. Really the lesson of this round is that you want to start with the letter S. This round featured only 5 different leading letters, spanning only half the range of the alphabet, and all the successful songs this round were by S artists. For the second time in a row, Shakespears Sister have held on in 3rd place with "I Don't Care". Next round will feature multiple new S-artists attempting to disrupt the meta-game. Just missing out is Madonna, who has now finished in 4th place with 2 of her last 3 entries. We're still yet to reach her actually studio album follow up to "Like A Prayer", but in the meantime she's been very busy in the world of Cinemadonna. 2 years after producing a full album to soundtrack her film "Dick Tracy" (including "Vogue" and "Hanky Panky"), she's gone onto another slightly more critically appreciated film in "A League Of Her Own". She did not produce an entire album for it but the soundtrack did include "This Used To Be My Playground". Just like last round, only 4 songs manage to crack 20 points. I need not even check, but yet again we have a song so culturally enduring that it has more Spotify plays than the rest of the round's entries combined. And yet with this in mind, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" is only the 5th biggest Guns N' Roses track on Spotify. It is of course a Bob Dylan cover, and because it's Guns N' Roses, their version is over twice as long as his. It returns us to "Use Your Illusion II" after the band's last 2 entries had come from the other album. Despite not hitting the ARIA top 10, it did spend longer in the top 50 than any of their previous Logo entries did; I hesitate to say previous ARIA entries. I was under the impression that we had seen all there was to see with Noiseworks but I have been proven considerably wrong. As I'm sure you're all excited about, it's time to talk about Jesus...Christ Superstar. The Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical was already 2 decades old at this point, and had already toured Australia 20 years ago too. After something of a low key time in the 1980s, the stage show saw a big revival in the early '90s, and Australia really got behind it. The early '70s version featured largely cast members whose Wikipedia articles prioritise their status as an actor or actress, though among those ranks were also popular singers like Jon English & John Paul Young. Assumably in keeping with the latter part of that, 1992's cast included Jon Stevens & John Farnham. Though John Farnham had the pivotal role as Jesus, there are no songs on the soundtrack about Jesus (The [Foot] Cleaning Man). Jon Stevens of Noiseworks fame also had an important role as Judas (whose relationship with Jesus is far more central to the plot of the musical than it is in the Bible), from which we can conclude that hot chilli woman and 30 pieces of silver are both sufficient ways to make him weak at the knees. Kate Ceberano was also here as Mary Magdalene. While Dan Brown might argue that she's more prominent than we're led to believe during The Last Supper, it could not be doubted that she is extremely more prominent in the song "Everything's Alright" where she takes lead vocals for far longer than her co-stars. Unlike in "Life Is Strange", there is no significant branching path early in the song which causes her to be largely absent after the halfway point. The exciting prospect of Angry Anderson attempting to kill baby John Farnham was so exciting for Australian audiences that the soundtrack album for this musical was the highest selling album of 1992. All things considered, it is somewhat impressive that removed from all this context, "Everything's Alright" has finished as high as 6th. Of the collaborators, only Jon Stevens won't be returning, but he's the only one to have a top 50 single in the 21st century, you should always look on the bright side of life here. The song is also ahead of some noteworthy hitmakers, for instance, KISS. The band's success was primarily in the mid-'70s to '80s, particularly from 1979 to 1980 where they scored their 3 biggest hits in quick succession, "I Was Made For Lovin' You", "Sure Know Something" & "Shandi". All of them hit the top 5 which they would never replicate, and they only even hit the top 20 once after that. That's not to say KISS's commercial clout was over, as they were still selling albums quite strongly, and even later in the '90s scored their only ever Australian #1 with the album "Psycho Circus". "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II" was quite late to enter the charts, as it had already featured on the 2nd Bill & Ted movie back in 1991, and the KISS album it belatedly featured on was released back in May 1992. It was originally recorded by UK band Argent back in the early '70s with the "II" of course not included. I regret to inform you that their cover is not at all a conceptual sequel of the original with the "II" phonetically shoe-horned into the lyrics. The titular lyric is notably straying even further from the Bible than the previous entry. Meanwhile have you noticed that the past 3 entries are all cover versions of songs from the early '70s? I have some delightful news because we actually have 4 of them in a row, none even at the bottom of the list. This one comes with some background too because in 1989, MTV launched a new series titled "MTV Unplugged", with popular artists doing stripped back sessions. In 1991, Paul McCartney became the first artist to release their set as an album, which started quite a spree of highly successful MTV Unplugged albums, with further noteworthy achievements such as Tony Bennett winning the Grammy Award for Album Of The Year, and Kanye West taking a rare listenable portion of Lauryn Hill's set to form the chorus of "All Falls Down" (credit to Todd In The Shadows whose video on it I would link if it were allowed on YouTube). Even as recently as late 2018 with Gang Of Youths scoring a top 5 peaking album in the format. The first one to crack the top 50 in Australia however was from Mariah Carey. Not just content with smashing the album charts however, Mariah also released a single from it in "I'll Be There", which is the only MTV Unplugged single to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, her 6th #1 hit at this point. It also hit the top 10 in Australia, something which the Jackson 5 original version did not do. The next entry is surprisingly not a cover version, but it is another Andrew Lloyd Webber song. I let you down in the world of facts with QLVG yesterday but I can report the moderately interesting fact that 1992 was the last year in which the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics were held on the same year. In a time where the world was not inundated with a constant feed of content (perhaps they were not yet living in a society), it was not at all unreasonable to see a single recorded for the Olympics to hit #1 after the event had already finished, and stay there for a full 6 weeks. It was not exactly a conventional pop collaboration either, with opera singer Sarah Brightman teaming up with the youngest of The Three Tenors (who had only joined together a couple years prior) in José Carreras. Despite being the only one of the three to score a hit single, José is notably given the shaft in terms of recognition between the three in an episode of Seinfeld (Homer Simpson does however call Plácido Domingo his 3rd favourite in an episode that aired 3 weeks after Luciano Pavarotti passed away). Sarah perhaps also realised that this one off single would not make for a career defining moment because she went on to record another massively successful single in "Time To Say Goodbye" with Andrea Bocelli, which we will not be seeing in this game even though the album was a monster smash. She is also the only person who has sung the theme song for the Olympics twice, as she also did so in 2008. Finishing things up here is the return of Girlfriend who are already showing the anticipated diminishing returns. "Girl's Life" received just 40% of the points that "Take It From Me" managed.

66 - Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (survived 3; inducted!)
58 - Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer (survived 1)
41 - Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care (survived 2)

34 - Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground
19 - Guns N' Roses - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
13 - John Farnham, Kate Ceberano & Jon Stevens - Everything's Alright
12 - KISS - God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II
11 - Mariah Carey feat. Trey Lorenz - I'll Be There
10 - José Carreras & Sarah Brightman - Amigos Para Siempre (Friends For Life)
6 - Girlfriend - Girl's Life
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Round 66:

Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around
Euphoria - Do For You
Richard Marx - Take This Heart
Roxette - How Do You Do!
Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
Smart E's - Sesame's Treet
Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway

My anaconda don't want none unless you've got top 5 votes in by Monday night, hun.
1. Achy Breaky Heart
2. Life Is A Highway
3. Take This Heart
4. Baby Got Back
5. How Do You Do
+5 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+4 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+3 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+2 Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
+1 Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around (screw him though)
+5 Snap! - Rhythm Is a Dancer
+4 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+3 Smart E's - Sesame's Treet
+2 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+1 Tom Cochrane - Life Is a Highway
+5 Sir Mix-a-Lot - Baby Got Back
+4 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+3 Snap! - Rhythm Is a Dancer
+2 Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around
+1 Smart E's - Sesame's Treet
+5 Snap! - Rhythm Is a Dancer
+4 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+3 Richard Marx - Take This Heart
+2 Roxette - How Do You Do!
+1 Euphoria - Do For You
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+5: Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+4: Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+3: Smart E's - Sesame's Treet
+2: Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
+1: Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care (Bobby Brown in 6th place)
+5 Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
+4 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+3 Euphoria - Do For You
+2 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+1 Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around
+5 Rhythm Is A Dancer
+4 I Don’t Care
+3 Hunpin Around
+2 How Do You Do
+1 Take This Heart
+5: Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+4: Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+3: Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
+2: Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+1: Euphoria - Do For You

What a round! Probably my favourite of the entire game! Smart E's, Tom Cochrane, Richard Marx and Roxette (in that order) all would have got at least a +2 in most of rounds 38-61 for me
+5 Snap!- Rhythm Is A Dancer
+4 Shakespare's Sister - I Don't Care
+3 Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around
+2 Euphoria - Do For You
+1 Sir Mix-a-Lot - Baby Got Back
+5 Rhythm Is a Dancer
+4 I Don't Care
+3 Baby Got Back
+2 Humpin' Around (he's gross but this song is too good to not vote )
.
+1 How Do You Do! (the hook pushed this narrowly over Euphoria, Marx & Smart E's I guess)
+5 Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
+4 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+3 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+2 Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around
+1 Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
+5 Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
+4 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+3 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+2 Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around
+1 Smart E's - Sesame's Treet


+5 Baby Got Back
+4 I Don't Care
+3 Life Is A Highway
+2 Take This Heart
+1 Rhythm Is A Dancer
+5 Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around
+4 Richard Marx - Take This Heart
+3 Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
+2 Roxette - How Do You Do!
+1 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care

+5 Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway (purely a nostalgia vote, loved this as a kid, less so these days)
+4 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back (this can get my vote any time in my life)
+3 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+2 Smart E's - Sesame's Treet
+1 Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
+5 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+4 Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
+3 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+2 Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around
+1 Smart E's - Sesame's Treet
5. Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
4. Richard Marx - Take This Heart
3. Euphoria - Do For You
2. Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
1. Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care
Round 66 results:

After 4 rounds in a row with the winner scoring 66 points, surely we could do it again for round 66? Sadly not; "Rhythm Is A Dancer" could 'only' reach 62 points. It was an easy win though that was never in dispute. What may have been uncertain is just how we feel about large posteriors, and cruicially, whether we could be honest about it. It seems we're hooked, as "Baby Got Back" pulls up quick to claim 2nd place, making it the first hip hop song to reach the top 3 since "Ring Ring Ring". It was spotted last round that the whole top 3 were songmakers starting with 'S', and the sneaky sound selection has sustained, with Sir Mix-A-Lot substituting Sophie B. Hawkins while Shakespears Sister have succeeded at staying in their #3 slot. 🐍 That means "I Don't Care" becomes their 2nd HOF induction, with their 3rd and final entry. It's been quite lucky, not only subjectively by the competition having seemed easier than usual to me, but objectively in that it was #3 all 3 times (only "Tom's Diner" before has done that), and that its total of 119 points is among the lowest of songs in the HOF - by averages, the lowest (with a 2.20 average, the previous low being 2.23 from "Fading Like A Flower"). Following "Why" recently becoming the first #17 hit inducted, "I Don't Care" has done the same for #18 hits, after "Freedom! '90" just missed out at the last step. Though "I Don't Care" may not have dominated to the extent of "Stay", its amounts of votes were no lower (12-12-13 for "Stay", 12-13-14 for "I Don't Care", all out of 18), but it got a lot less +5s. If you were following the QLVG Qualifying thread this past week for the Canadian-themed game, you could've concluded that nobody likes Tom Cochrane, but that's clearly not the case here as he firmly made the top 4. Originally releasing his debut album in 1974 to negligible attention, he joined the band Red Rider (later billed as 'Tom Cochrane & Red Rider') to a series of success in Canada throughout the '80s (and a 1982 #52 hit in Australia called "Lunatic Fringe"), then went solo with "Life Is A Highway" - not in fact his only international hit, as the follow-up made #26 here. It was later covered in 2006 by the US country group Rascal Flatts for the "Cars" soundtrack, and it's seemed to me like that version has overtaken the original in popularity (particularly on Spotify, where it has 144 million plays to the original's 32 million), although I think the original was biggest in Australia and NZ (outside of Canada) in the first place so maybe that doesn't apply here. Speaking of being biggest in Australia, we were seemingly the only place where "Humpin' Around" hit #1 - ironically after his previous album's singles had struggled compared to the US and even UK, showing how much more accepting Australia had become of new jack swing in the years since. Or alternatively, with only 1 'sex'-titled top 20 hit in 1992 so far ("Sexy MF") compared to 5 in the 2nd half of 1991, Bobby Brown was just trying to fill the gap in the market. This level-up in success was only fleeting, as his next single peaked at #39, and even in the US he only managed 2 top 10 hits from the album, compared to 5 (and an extra soundtrack one among them) from his previous. He did, however, have his biggest UK success in 1995, when a dance remix of the previously-unused track from this album "Two Can Play That Game" spent a month at #3; 3 more remixed re-releases followed to diminishing returns, but as the first of them, "Humpin' Around" did get a top 10 peak too. Following "Hazard", Richard Marx returned to his more usual fare in "Take This Heart", another one for the canon of #1 follow-ups that peaked at #11, and it's returned him to the 6th/7th-place showings of his first 3 entries. A month ago, if someone had posed the question of when we'll have an artist be simultaneously in this game and the real-time ARIA #1, you'd have expected it to be far, far away, right? Certainly not around now, when most of these artists had their last hit over 20 years ago. And certainly not Billy Ray Cyrus of all people. But then, if you've missed the discourse, after Billboard removed Lil Nas X's country trap genre-fusion "Old Town Road" from their country chart in March for 'not [embracing] enough elements of today's country music', a decision that Streisand effect-ed them back by sparkling backlash and conversation about genre classifications and race that only helped the song blow up, Billy Ray Cyrus tweeted his support and jumped on a remix, which propelled the song to #1 (though not to dismiss the original, which is still getting about 40% of the song's combined streams in Australia). As for "Achy Breaky Heart" itself, it was Billy Ray's debut single and, whatever happened to get him enough immediate exposure, it became the biggest-selling single of 1992 in Australia; over in the US, it only peaked at #4 due to pop radio not being keen on it, but the album spent 17 consecutive weeks at #1. But what does he mean about saying he moved to Arkansas? I am confusion. Miley Cyrus was born a few months later, just after "Achy Breaky Heart" fell from #1 in Australia, but has only reached #2 here herself, and likewise her brother Trace (as part of Metro Station); her sister Noah has had it hardest though, with none of her many singles over the last few years having made the top 50, and a planned album titled "NC-17", announced when she was 17, still not having eventuated (I presume it never will) at age 19 and counting. I believe there were numerous rave tracks sampling children's TV themes that hit the UK charts in the early '90s, including The Prodigy's debut single "Charly", but *as far as I know* "Sesame's Treet", obviously sampling the "Sesame's Street" theme song, was the only one that did much here. The video features an A-Z of rave-related terms, except skipping one letter: E. Do they think E is a good letter? It is unknown, but the referendum is just around the corner. I have now learnt that Oscar The Grouch has had, among many other pets, a pig named Spot, and read this glorious quote: "In the show's early years, enthusiastic young viewers frequently mailed gifts of trash to Oscar in care of the Children's Television Workshop, eliciting dismay from the mailroom staff. [...] On the other side of the coin, an adult fan sent a $50 check to purchase a new trash can. We may soon need one for his fan mail!" Though the #7 peak of Euphoria's "Do For You" is of course a cut below their 2 #1s, it did spend longer than "One In A Million" in the top 50, and it's marginally outscored it here too. On the other hand, we can only reminisce about the halcyon days of Roxette when they consistently racked up many points with every entry; now they've ended up right at the bottom with "How Do You Do!", the lead single to their 3rd international album "Tourism", a self-described 'tour album' made up of songs recorded while touring the "Joyride" album.

62 - Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer (survived 2)
45 - Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back (survived 1)
44 - Shakespears Sister - I Don't Care (survived 3; inducted!)

36 - Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
23 - Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around
17 - Richard Marx - Take This Heart
14 - Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
11 - Smart E's - Sesame's Treet
10 - Euphoria - Do For You
8 - Roxette - How Do You Do!
Round 67:

Arrested Development - Tennessee
Guns N' Roses - November Rain
John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air (Ballroom Mix)
Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson with BBD & Ralph Tresvant - The Best Things In Life Are Free
Riff - White Men Can't Jump
Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - It's Not Over
Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
Teen Queens - Love How You Love Me
Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away

Whether or not it has rained today where you are, you're welcome to submit votes until Wednesday evening. I promise no jumping skills are required.
Well done SS for qualifying.

I feel this round has enough to make an excellent top 4, but I don't care much beyond that.

+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson with BBD & Ralph Tresvant - The Best Things In Life Are Free
+2 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+1 Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - It's Not Over
Yay, I'm glad Shakespears Sister achieved a second hall of fame entry. I really was not expecting that, especially with 'I Don't Care'.

+5 Snap! - Rhythm Is a Dancer
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+2 Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - It's Not Over
+1 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+5 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+4 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+3 Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson - The Best Things In Life Are Free
+2 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+1 Riff - White Men Can't Jump
+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+2 Riff - White Men Can't Jump
+1 John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air (Ballroom Mix)
+5: Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+4: Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+3: Luther Vandross, Janet Jackson, BBD & Ralph Tresvant - The Best Things In Life Are Free
+2: John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air (Ballroom Mix)
+1: Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away

Another strong round! Not as excellent as the last one but I feel bad for leaving Rockmelons out!
+5 The Day You Went Away
+4 Rhythm Is A Dancer
+3 The Best Things In Life Are Free
+2 November Rain
+1 It's Not Over
1. November Rain
2. The Day You Went Away
3. Baby Got Back
4. The Best Things In Life Are Free
5. White Men Can’t Jump
+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+2 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+1 John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air (Ballroom Mix)
+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+2 Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson with BBD & Ralph Tresvant - The Best Things In Life Are Free
+1 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back

+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Arrested Development - Tennesse
+3 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+2 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+1 Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson with BBD & Ralph Tresvant - The Best Things In Life Are Free

Great round, almost every song is a winner
+5 Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson - The Best Things In Life Are Free
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+2 Sir Mix-a-Lot - Baby Got Back
+1 Arrested Development - Tennessee

Could have voted for 9/10 of these!
+5: Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+4: Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+3: Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+2: Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+1: Arrested Development - Tennessee

Very strong top 5!
+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Teen Queens - Love How You Love Me
+3 Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson - The Best Things In Life Are Free
+2 Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - It's Not Over
+1 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away

5. Guns N' Roses - November Rain
4. Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
3. Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson - The Best Things In Life Are Free
2. John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air (Ballroom Mix)
1. Riff - White Men Can't Jump
+5 Rhythm Is a Dancer
+4 The Day You Went Away
+3 The Best Things in Life Are Free
+2 Baby Got Back
+1 Tennessee

White Men Can't Jump was super close, a very good round! It was definitely hard to settle on an order for everything too
+5 Baby Got Back
+4 Love Is In The Air
+3 The Day You Went Away
+2 Rhythm Is A Dancer
+1 It's Not Over
+5 November Rain
+4 The Day You Went Away
+3 Baby Got Back
+2 The Best Things In Life Are Free
+1 Tennessee
+5 Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson with BBD & Ralph Tresvant - The Best Things In Life Are Free
+2 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
+1 Riff - White Men Can't Jump
Round 67 results:

If it wasn't already clear just how lucky Shakespears Sister were to be inducted last round. Look no further than just what was waiting in the wings in the following round. Australian artists have somewhat been floundering in recent rounds, mostly occupying the bottom half of the lists. You have to go back 16 rounds to the reign of Yothu Yindi for the last time an Australian artist topped the list. Or at least you did until now because the new leader of the pack is Wendy Matthews. She has appeared 3 times in this game before with limited impressions, but with the knowledge that her trump card was on the way. That trump card has arrived at last and "The Day You Went Away" not only tops the list, but matches the 66 point total which was first set by Richard Marx, and has now been reached 5 times, in all of the last 6 rounds except...round 66 oddly enough. The mega-ballad was a tremendous success propelling her to #2 on the ARIA Chart, blocked by a song appearing in the next round. In a post Australian Idol elimination interview, Brooke Addamo revealed that it was the song she was due to perform in the following round, this has been this round's obligatory Owl Eyes reference https://youtu.be/D_84aBNgLR0?t=255 Something that may add another layer of impressiveness to Wendy's score is that she did it without a lack in competition. She had another heavy hitter cutting into her votes, holding the lead for a good amount of time too. After a decent start to their showing with "Sweet Child O' Mine" making the top 3 once, Guns N' Roses have not been able to emulate it with no shortage of attempts. Things change now as we finally arrive on their biggest chart hit "November Rain". A song notorious for being heard twice on the radio because the DJ is asleep, as cited from a Regina Spektor lyric, though personally I was most familiar with the song growing up through my brother singing it to the tune of Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain". I've had no small opportunity to poke fun at the excess of Guns N' Roses songs, but just shy of 9 minutes long, you genuinely do need some time if you want to get through it. My latest report on the "Use Your Illusion" juggling is that it's one last return to the "I" album, while the "II" album will also soon finally finish showing its hand. If you are familiar with the world of chart runs beyond the top 20, you'll know that this song also nearly had an early entry in round 60 as it climbed to #21 several months ago. Evidently it stopped because the idea of me not writing about Guns N' Roses in 1992 is too absurd a concept. "November Rain" only reached #5 in the weekly charts but it managed 24 consecutive weeks in the top 10, in terms of consecutive weeks, that's a record that was later matched by The Prodigy and Ed Sheeran, but it remained unbeaten until...a week ago as Post Malone & Swae Lee have now managed 26 weeks and counting. Neither of them were born yet while this top 10 run was happening, and Guns N' Roses will score their last top 50 hit before we get to that point. The other success story tonight is Snap! By some miraculous form of weird timing they have received the stupendous honour of having me write about the same song of theirs in two different threads on the same night. Also "Rhythm Is A Dancer" locks its place in the Hall Of Fame, somewhat noteworthy as a dance song as the Hall Of Fame has been very pop/rock lately. Their success in this round also prevents me from finding another opportunity to lambast Australia's most dismal pop star. So Snap! end their tenure on a high as they will not be returning in the future, barring an interpolation some 20 years down the track, and being part of an appropriate way to get someone to buy u a drank. Thanos will probably also find some use in them. So while we won't have Snap! in play, two powerhouse songs will potentially cause a new series of 'what could have been' as the other songs try to make do with the very limited real estate in the top 3. Granted, in this round only 2 songs really made a proper effort of it. Sir Mix-A-Lot's 2nd place finish last round converts to a 5th place finish this round. Despite being knighted, "Baby Got Back" is his only credited hit single. His impact is not completely finished however as his music would later be sampled in future entries in 2005 and 2014, one of these is probably a bit more obvious than the other. Just ahead of him by 1 point, is a failed attempt at recalling the chorus of "Slow Jamz", but probably a viable inclusion on that playlist nonetheless. Luther Vandross was a star on the US R&B/Hip Hop charts, scoring at least one top 10 hit every year from 1981 to 1994. Enter the '90s and he would start converting those to Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits as well, but he didn't really make an impression on the Australian charts until he teamed up with Janet Jackson and company on "The Best Things In Life Are Free". The song came from the soundtrack to the film "Mo' Money" (which is also incidentally a Quiplash prompt I saw last night), and actually charted quite a bit higher in Australia than it did in the US, getting all the way to #2, a career high for Janet which would last until she next entered the top 50. Along with those two, it also brings us the first appearance of Bell Biv DeVoe, whose big two singles "Poison" and "Do Me!" both missed the top 50 in Australia with their new jack swing sound seemingly taking a little while to take hold. Contrary to Phife Dawg's boasts, it was probably not because Australia was seeking out more hardcore raps instead. Ralph Tresvant is also here but with no appearances I know of in the future so he probably wants that old thing back. To emphasize just how lopsided this round is, Six Mix-A-Lot finished in 5th place, but he scored as much as all the remaining songs combined, as none of them could pass 10 points. It had not come across my mind when I referenced John Paul Young in my last piece that he would be appearing again in the next one. "Love Is In The Air" is a multi-generational hit as it was a #3 hit in the 1970s, and again in the 1990s after being slightly remixed for the "Strictly Ballroom" soundtrack. In recent years, he has also seen a Daryl Braithwaite-esque semi-ironic revival as he has turned up as a surprise guest in the modern Australian live circuit. Flight Facilities have numerous times brought him up to sing this big hit alongside that other singer I'm known to like a lot. For success much more centralised in a single point in time, we turn to 1 Year, 11 Months, and 24 Days in the life of Arrested Development, as this is the exact span of time between their first and last appearance in the Australian top 50. In that time they did manage to score 3 entries (and I suppose we can't rule out the possibility of Netflix backing them for a 4th or 5th in the future), the first of which is perhaps the smallest hit of the three, "Tennessee". Nonetheless it could be seen as a turning point for hip hop in the future of this game, which has been primarily in the realm of novelty before this, something which will start to become less common as more conventional cuts like this get through. But from one 3 entry artist to another, we report back to Rockmelons, for which despite the claims of their track, it is over as they will appear no further. Oddly enough the group would go on a decade long break after this album and perhaps more oddly still found enough fanfare in their comeback to score a top 50 hit in 2002. Deni Hines would jump off this ship and sail solo to some later success. Now, it's time to talk about basketball. Round 1 of the Eastern Conference this year was a relatively one-sided affair, but currently the Bucks/Celtics and 76ers/Raptors match ups are tied on one a piece. As the only team thus far to score a 2nd win in the semi-finals though, the Golden State Warriors are the favourites for the whole thing (they've also won 3 of the last 4 seasons). Things were a lot easier to predict back in 1992, when the Michael Jordan assisted Chicago Bulls were on a dream run. It was also when the movie "White Men Can't Jump" came out. In it, Woody Harrelson plays a white former college basketballer who swindles people out of money through the expectation that he, as a white man is not proficient at the sport. Larry Bird retired from the NBA a few months after the film came out. The movie produced two soundtracks, one of which was titled "White Men Can't Rap" amusingly as a more rap-focused selection. Co-star Wesley Snipes was not arrested until the late 2000s so there was naturally not also a spin off titled "Black Men Can't Pay Taxes". This is also not the last time we will be seeing an entry that takes its name from a Wesley Snipes film. Nonetheless, Riff do pay more creedence to my comment on new jack swing as they glide in here on that sound. The group also have further movie association as before getting together, 3 of its members appeared in the movie "Lean On Me" (not to be confused with the other late '80s film named after a similarly titled older hit song like I just did). Talking about older hits is a good jumping point to the last entry however, as we see the return of Teen Queens. Their first entry here was "Be My Baby", a cover of two different Ronettes songs from the early '60s. This time they've stuck to just one song, but it's still from the early '60s as it's a cover of The Paris Sisters' "I Love How You Love Me". Despite being credited to Teen Queens, this might feel like one of those cases of a split up being eminent and an obvious solo star push being made. What I mean is that if you listen to this it'll be very easy to question that it's a group singing it, as Kellie provides all the lead vocals and the other two members only briefly chime in with backing vocals towards the end. Kellie did not eventuate a solo career but is no doubt the most famous member as she would go on to join Australia's 2nd most popular children's music group, Hi-5.

66 - Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away (survived 1)
55 - Guns N' Roses - November Rain (survived 1)
43 - Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer (survived 3; inducted!)

36 - Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson with BBD & Ralph Tresvant - The Best Things In Life Are Free
35 - Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
10 - John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air (Ballroom Mix)
8 - Arrested Development - Tennessee
7 - Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines - It's Not Over
6 - Riff - White Men Can't Jump
4 - Teen Queens - Love How You Love Me
Round 68:

Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith
Boyz II Men - End Of The Road
Girlfriend - Without You
Guns N' Roses - November Rain
Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
Kylie Minogue - What Kind Of Fool (Heard All That Before)
Madonna - Erotica
Patty Smyth with Don Henley - Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough
Prince & The New Power Generation - My Name Is Prince
Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away

Although we've come to the end of the insufficiently nice rounds, right now you've got to keep voting your top 5 selections before Friday night.
1. Ain’t No Doubt
2. November Rain
3. The Day You Went Away
4. End Of The Road
5. Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough
+5 The Day You Went Away
+4 End Of The Road
+3 November Rain
+2 Ain't No Doubt
+1 Erotica
+5 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+4 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+3 Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
+2 Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith
+1 Prince & The New Power Generation - My Name Is Prince

(Girlfriend & Madonna also close)
+5 Madonna - Erotica
+4 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+3 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+2 Kylie Minogue - What Kind Of Fool (Heard All That Before)
+1 Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
+5 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+4 Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
+3 Madonna - Erotica
+2 Kylie Minogue - What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)
+1 Prince - My Name Is Prince
+5: Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+4: Madonna - Erotica
+3: Boyz II Men - End Of The Road
+2: Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+1: Prince & The New Power Generation - My Name Is Prince

Great round; Bon Jovi in particular would've made my vote in most recent rounds.

@Nugs out of curiosity, do you know if Patty Smyth's US follow-up single "No Mistakes" was released here? I really like that song and as far as I know, it charted nowhere but the US.
+5 Madonna - Erotica
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - My Name Is Prince
+3 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+2 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+1 Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Patty Smyth with Don Henley - Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough
+2 Kylie Minogue - What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)
+1 Boyz II Men - End Of The Road

@392414 - 'No Mistakes' is listed in the ARIA Report as a new release for 1 February 1993. I don't know whether it charted outside the top 100 here.

In case you wanted to know, 'I Should Be Laughing' was also released here (it is listed on both the 10 May and 31 May 1993 lists).

The only pre-'Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough' solo single of hers that is listed in the earlier Australian Music Report new releases lists is 'Never Enough' (9 March 1987).
^
Patty Smyth also did the original cover version of 'Downtown Train', before Rod Stewart made it into a hit. Patty's was not released in Australia (as the follow-up to 'Never Enough') but reached #95 in America.

I love Patty's 1984/1985 Australian charting songs with Scandal, 'The Warrior' and 'Hands Tied'. A third US hit from that year, 'Beat Of A Heart', was not released here.

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Thanks! Harsh going from a top 5 single to the follow-up failing to chart, and the album peaking at... #94 for that matter.
+5 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+4 Madonna - Erotica
+3 Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith
+2 Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
+1 Boyz II Men - End Of The Road (this has grown on me a lot!)
+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Boyz II Men - End Of The Road
+2 Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith
+1 Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
+5 My Name Is Prince
+4 What Kind Of Fool
+3 The Day You Went Away
+2 November Rain
+1 Erotica
+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Prince & The New Power Generation - My Name Is Prince
+3 Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
+2 Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith
+1 Patty Smyth with Don Henley - Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough

+5 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+4 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+3 Boyz II Men - End Of The Road
+2 Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
+1 Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith

Just an aside story for me. I remember being taught how to play November rain on the Glockenspiel by my music teacher. Imagine a whole class of kids tinging away trying to play that, it was not very successful.


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+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Prince - My Name Is Prince
+3 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+2 Madonna - Erotica
+1 Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
5. Guns N' Roses - November Rain
4. Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
3. Patty Smyth with Don Henley - Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough
2. Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
1. Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith
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+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Boyz II Men - End Of The Road
+2 Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith
+1 Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt

lucky you got November Rain @thewitness... we got Saltwater at my primary school
+5 Erotica (my favourite song to enter the game in ages <3)
+4 My Name Is Prince
+3 The Day You Went Away
.
+2 Keep the Faith
+1 What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)

yup, I'm voting a Bon Jovi song over a Kylie song (admittedly in the last stretch of the far less interesting early years of her career, things should be looking up from here onwards lol). I enjoyed everything in this round though! I'd say that Ain't No Doubt is an easy #6, ahead of Girlfriend, GNR & Boyz II Men
It's a shame Girlfriend are going to finish on zero points. Every song in this round deserved something.
Yeah I got more out of that track than I expected. It's just unfortunate that the power duo at the top at the moment make it hard to make space.
+5: Kylie Minogue - What Kind Of Fool (Heard All That Before)
+4: Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3: Madonna - Erotica
+2: Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
+1: Girlfriend - Without You

no standouts this round but a really good mid-pack. I found it hard to separate #4-#7 (Patty Smyth/Prince just missed out!)
You spoke too soon, Meglos

If 'Bad Attitude' was eligible for this game, I would give it points.
Round 68 results:

It happened before in rounds 49 and 55 (with "Treaty" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" respectively), both to Hijinx's remarks of 'possibly the last time', but we've gotten in one more occasion before it gets near-impossible: "The Day You Went Away" won round 68 with 68 points. That also means it's a set a new single-round points record, surpassing the 66 done by "Hazard" 3 times, "Damn I Wish..." once, and "The Day..." itself last round. It actually lost 1 voter compared to its full house last round, but in all of the 17 votes it did get, it was no lower than +3. In 2 rounds, it's scored more points than many successful HOF entries have done in 3, including recent ones like "Why" and "One". "November Rain" of course is also easily through this round, with no close competition due to the remaining points being much less clustered on a few songs than last round. Ain't no doubt we were doubly blessed with such a strong top 2 at once, but also... ain't no doubt "Ain't No Doubt" ain't No Doubt, and so we'll have to wait 4 years for "Just A Girl" or "Don't Speak" to try and pick up the slack, as though "Ain't No Doubt" did get as many as 14 votes, most were low, which couldn't quite match Madonna's 10 votes including 5 +5/+4s. While her in-between-projects palate-cleanser soundtrack single (something she'd do again in 1994) "This Used To Be My Playground" might make it seem like she'd changed course at face value, "Erotica" was her first single from a project of her own since "The Immaculate Collection", which spawned "Erotica"'s sonic predecessor "Justify My Love". "Erotica" was the lead single from the album of the same name, which was released simultaneously with her "Sex" coffee table book, which came with (no pun intended) a CD with an alternate version of the song, titled "Erotic". Madonna may not be happy that I mentioned the "Sex" book with the album as she later commented that, while she didn't regret publishing the book, the 'problem' was releasing the album at the same time as it got overlooked, and indeed, from my experience it seems to be consistently one of her best-rated albums among fans. Luckily we have 4 entries from it to sort through here, and it's off to a strong start with "Erotica" becoming her first song after the obvious champions "Like A Prayer" and "Vogue" to make the top 3 ("Cherish", "Justify My Love" and "...Playground" all having placed 4th - the latter with 1 more point and 3 more voters than "Erotica", admittedly, and surprisingly). Googling '"erotica" "pig"' for possible reference material was a mistake. Back to "Ain't No Doubt" in 4th place, Jimmy Nail had previously had a #3 UK hit in 1985 with a cover of "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" (coincidentally also covered by Madonna - twice, first in 1984 and again for her 1995 ballads compilation, from which it became a single and reached #27 on ARIA), and after success as an actor on some shows called "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" and "Spender", revived his music career with "Ain't No Doubt", featuring additional vocals from extensive backing vocalist Sylvia Mason-James, a 3-week UK #1 that became his sole hit here. "My Name Is Prince" may be one of Prince's lesser-known top 20 hits, and may have become outdated the following year when he changed his name to his unpronounceable symbol, but it's reversed the course of his last 2 entries and brought him back to the top half. Wikipedia says that while the label wanted (the more radio-friendly) "7" to be the lead single, Prince fought for "My Name Is Prince" and 'got his way'... except "Sexy MF" was the lead single, even in the US. Either way, "7" became the 3rd single and though it peaked about 20 spots below the first 2 in both Australia and the UK, it became by far the album's biggest hit in the US, peaking at, fittingly, #7. The album spawned a 2nd airplay hit in the US after that in "The Morning Papers", which peaked at #87 here. It's only the beginning of the road for Boyz II Men in this game, but with "End Of The Road" only placing 6th, their outlook ahead may be meagre. They started out in new jack swing with their 1991 debut single "Motownphilly" (#3 US, #32 AU), and 1 single later, launched the ballads train with "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" (#2 US, #100 AU) - followed in 1992 by the "Boomerang" soundtrack cut (also added to a reissue of their album) "End Of The Road", spending a then-record-breaking 13 weeks at #1 in the US (a feat they later outdid twice) and reaching #1 around the world, and setting the precedent for all their future biggest hits. Someone who has reached the end of the road is PWL-era Kylie Minogue, who ended her tenure their with her 1992 "Greatest Hits" album, featuring 2 new singles: "What Kind Of Fool", and her #21-peaking cover of Celebrate Good Times Come On™. Sounding more like her earlier albums, "What Kind Of Fool" scored twice the points of her last entry "Word Is Out", but is, of course, her 13th failure (I said 13 last time but must have miscounted), despite scoring as many as 221 points and 93 votes across all those entries. But, finally, I'm pretty confident this will be the last time Hijinx or I will have to disparage her, and she might even agree this time anyway as she named "What Kind Of Fool" in 2008 as 'one track [she] really didn't like' - although, it has been placed on the recently-announced tracklist of her upcoming "Step Back In Time: The Definitive Collection", apparently crowning it as more definitive than, say, "Did It Again", "Chocolate" or anything at all from her 2014 album "Kiss Me Once". Bon Jovi have returned with their lead single "Keep The Faith" which, if anyone had been disappointed when Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" hit the top 9 and broke their streak of #10 peaks, became the first of what successfully ended up as 3 consecutive #10 hits. I had only heard "Keep The Faith" a long time ago on the radio and was surprised now how much it sounds (to me) like "Achtung Baby"-era U2, compared to Bon Jovi's more typical sound. The duet "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" united 2 artists who'd hit the Australian top 10 once in 1984-85 - Patty Smyth with "The Warrior" as part of her band Scandal (credited as 'Scandal featuring Patty Smyth'), and Don Henley with "The Boys Of Summer" (it seems the highest he ever made with the Eagles was #13) - and gave them both a 2nd top 10 hit, successfully followed up by neither. "Sometimes Love..." only scored 8 points and I hope Patty Smyth is able to put up with that. As you can see, Girlfriend's 3rd single "Without You" managed to dodge the Big Zero at the last moment; the remaining singles from this album and their 2nd album all missed the top 20, but after shedding member Robyn Loau to solo ambitions (her 1997 solo hit "Sick With Love" sadly peaking at #21) and renaming to GF4, they managed one last #11 hit in 1994, which I believe was also one of the first CDs to have 'enhanced' video content.

68 - Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away (survived 2)
55 - Guns N' Roses - November Rain (survived 2)
33 - Madonna - Erotica (survived 1)

30 - Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
24 - Prince & The New Power Generation - My Name Is Prince
20 - Boyz II Men - End Of The Road
16 - Kylie Minogue - What Kind Of Fool (Heard All That Before)
15 - Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith
8 - Patty Smyth with Don Henley - Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough
1 - Girlfriend - Without You
Round 69:

2 Unlimited - The Magic Friend
Brian May - Too Much Love Will Kill You
Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie To You?
Felix - Don't You Want Me
Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
Guns N' Roses - November Rain
Jon Secada - Just Another Day
Madonna - Erotica
Utah Saints - Something Good
Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away

I just know that something good is going to happen on Sunday evening.
1. Accidently Kelly Street
2. Just Another Day
3. November Rain
4. The Day You Went Away
5. Would I Lie To You

Sad that I couldn’t also vote for Utah Saints
This is tough round for me to choose the order of my 5.

+5 Felix - Don't You Want Me
+4 Utah Saints - Something Good
+3 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+2 Jon Secada - Just Another Day
+1 Brian May - Too Much Love Will Kill You

I'd willingly give 5 points to all of the above if they weren't in a round with such strong competition. I'd also have normally given 2 Unlimited points, and probably Frente! too. There are no songs among the 10 that I actively dislike.

392414 - a minor correction, 'It's So Hard To Say Goodbye' actually peaked at #100 here in late July 1993 (though released in early June 1993). The only between 'Motownphilly' and 'End of the Road' singles we got were 'Uhh Aah' in April 1992, and 'Please Don't Go', released in June 1992 - unless there was another released during the fortnight or so there were no new releases lists in the AMR or ARIA reports over Xmas '91/New Year's '92.
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I like all of this round too!
If anything I think the competition is even stronger, especially for Madonna to maintain third place.

+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Jon Secada - Just Another Day
+2 Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie To You?
+1 Felix - Don't You Want Me
+5 Jon Secada - Just Another Day
+4 Madonna - Erotica
+3 Utah Saints - Something Good
+2 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+1 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away

Wanted to give all of +5 through +2 a +5 honestly.
+5 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Nice
+4 Charles & Eddie - Would I Be Nice To You?
+3 Utah Saints - Something Nice
+2 Felix - Don't You Want Me To Be Nice
+1 Frenice! - Accidently Kelly Street
+5: Felix - Don't You Want Me
+4: Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away (very close top 2)
+3: Madonna - Erotica
+2: Jon Secada - Just Another Day
+1: Guns N' Roses - November Rain

I expected Guns N' Roses would probably get to move up my vote after they started at +2, but no! I've thought 1991 was stronger than 1992, but these last 3 rounds are really pushing 1992's case closer. Wish I had room for 2 Unlimited, and I could've happily voted Utah Saints (though I prefer the 2008 version) and Frente! too.

@Nugs oh thanks, I just assumed from their Wikipedia discography page.
+5: Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+4: Utah Saints - Something Good
+3: Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+2: Felix - Don't You Want Me
+1: Brian May - Too Much Love Will Kill You

Very strong round! @392 Something Good '08 is indeed superior
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+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Jon Secada - Just Another Day
+2 Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie To You?
+1 Utah Saints - Something Good
+5 Madonna - Erotica
+4 Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie to You?
+3 Felix - Don't You Want Me
+2 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+1 Utah Saints - Something Good
+5 Accidently Kelly Street
+4 Would I Lie To You
+3 Something Good
+2 The Day You Went Away
+1 November Rain
+5 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+4 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+3 Felix - Don't You Want Me
+2 Madonna - Erotica
+1 Utah Saints - Something Good
+5 Erotica (this making at least one round is incredible and beyond my expectations for it )
+4 Don't You Want Me
+3 Accidently Kelly Street
+2 Just Another Day
+1 The Day You Went Away

Hurts to leave out Utah Saints, Something Good [s]'92[/s] is great (I'm sad that it's another missed opportunity for me to vote Kate here too) but it's too strong a round 2 Unlimited & Charles & Eddie would've also been worthy of top 5 in other rounds for sure
+5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
+4 Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
+3 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+2 Madonna - Erotica
+1 Utah Saints - Something Good
+5 Something Good
+4 Would I Lie To You?
+3 Don't You Want Me
+2 Accidently Kelly Street
+1 Erotica
+5 November Rain
+4 The Day You Went Away
+3 Would I Lie To You?
+2 Accidentally Kelly Street
+1 Something Good
5. Would I Lie To You
4. November Rain
3. The Day You Went Away
2. Accidently Kelly Street
1. Just Another Day
+5 The Day You Went Away
+4 November Rain
+3 Just Another Day
+2 Something Good
+1 Would I Lie To You?
Round 69 results:

Now it's certainly easy to assume that Wendy Matthews might have smashed the overall 3 round point total with "The Day You Went Away". Not indicated carnage eventually made this an impossible feat as the competition was simply too strong for the points to not give way in this round. Needlessly I can end any sort of vague mystery surrounding that because she has easily won, which is nice, but with a much more modest score of 50. While the past two rounds could be seen as a mutual fellation between the top two songs, things have changed in this new round as Frente! have rejoined this bed. Their first appearance was a moderate success as "Ordinary Angels" made the top 3 for one round (not every Australian artist can claim to have done this). It could be argued that "Accidently Kelly Street" is the band's defining song, not necessarily by being their most popular but by the alternate interpretation that it defines the band's reputation. We have entered the world of The Late Show which notably lampooned the song and its video with a parody version titled "Accidentally Was Released". According to the most reputable of sources: A Wikipedia article sourcing a YouTube comment, Angie Hart fell out of love with the song after, and Simon Austin was also initially disheartened before accepting the japes. It didn't truly kill their career though as they've got a further entry to come later. After that, there's quite a close battle for the remaining slot, with 5 other songs coming within 11 points of the #3 slot. In the end, making a very fitting sum of points with Frente!, it is in fact Guns N' Roses who take the final slot and claim their first induction with "November Rain". We then get to all the rest. US soul duo Charles & Eddie were rumoured to have met each other at the New York City Subway, though Eddie wrote on his Myspace that it was not true, assumably because the only valid place for a duo to meet is a Parisian cafe. Charles did not live long enough to become friends with Tom though as he succumbed to cancer in 2001 at the age of just 37. Together though they had some moderate success, releasing two albums. Of most note is their first single "Would I Lie To You?", which missed the top 10 in their native country, but became a #1 hit in the UK, Germany & New Zealand among others. It was also the song my mother remembers liking when I was born, because as of next round we will finally reach my birthday and the songs will start to *mostly* be younger than me. On the topic of vaguely historic landmarks that relate to me, the next entry has a mildly impressive flex, as it is the first song we've come across here which entered in one of the annual Hottest 100 lists. While there have been several electronic/dance groups in the past that appear here multiple times, and Utah Saints had multiple top 10 hits in the UK (where they are actually from, not Utah), the one song of theirs that made a big impression in Australia was "Something Good". It's yet another in the series of entries in this game that could be described as kind of a Kate Bush song as the song is built around a prominent "Cloudbusting" sample. If explicitly showing my age previously wasn't enough, I will further do so because I was introduced to this song when Australian band Van She remixed the song and returned it to the charts under the name "Something Good '08", along with a memorable music video. If you are wondering how long it'll take to reach the next Hottest 100 entry, the answer is as long as it takes you to scroll past this post. Anyway back to disappointing people who are older than me because the next entry is Felix's "Don't You Want Me", which I of course know best as the song heavily sampled by Snoop Dogg & David Guetta on the 2011 ARIA #1 hit "Sweat". The song is mostly instrumental which means that it has no lyrics about how a woman's success was all thanks to a strangely threatening man. Though some may think otherwise, Jon Secada never had a stint as the lead singer of Chicago. In fact he was born in Havana na na na, and is a frequent recipient in the Grammy Award Latin categories, and the Latin Grammy Awards in specific, winning the highly coveted Best Traditional Tropical Album award in 2017. His biggest hit in Australia was "Just Another Day" which features background vocals from extreme frequency illusionist Gloria Estefan, who he would also end up writing songs for. The last of the songs that were in any manner of contention is Madonna's "Erotica", whose survival last round was necessary so it could make it to round 69, but evidently now the song can be remembered for being eliminated in a fitting round. In the manner made famous by Sinitta & Roxette, Madonna has fallen all the way down to #8, the position between the two. I can only hope we do eventually reach a song that takes its survival to a 10th place finish. There is quite a difference between 8th & 9th however, as Madonna scored 22 points and the bottom two songs scored two songs between them, both of them going to 9th place. In the 2018 film "Bohemian Rhapsody" (which Brian May & Roger Taylor were consultants on), tensions arise in Queen and Freddie Mercury abandons the band to record a solo album in 1984 which does not go well for him and he is urged to return to the band for Live Aid (despite Wembley not having apartheid in place at the time). This is because by this point in time, Roger Taylor had not recorded any solo albums titled "Fun In Space", nor had Brian May released a solo single in the year 1983. In fairness to Brian May though, he didn't release a solo album until after Freddie Mercury passed away. He did however start to record it several years back, and some of the songs he wrote for it eventually ended up on Queen's 1991 album "Innuendo" (whose title track despite being a UK #1 sadly missed the top 20 here) as Brian felt Freddie Mercury's performance warranted them to be Queen songs. On the other hand, the song we have here, "Too Much Love Will Kill You" had already been recorded by Queen and would turn up on the band's final album "Made In Heaven" in 1995. He's been spared a last place finish however as the last song's scoring prospects were not unlimited enough. After a strong start with "Get Ready For This", we have not become sufficiently ready for this and they've been slumping ever since. Though the group were on a 5 year long streak of top 10 hits in their native Netherlands, they were still yet to score a second here, as "The Magic Friend" could only reach #16. If they'd called it "The Nice Friend", perhaps it could have at least scored something in this round. Bigger hits are on the way for them, not including "Faces" which despite sharing its name with a future #3 peaking physical single, could only reach #54 on the national chart. On the topic of things that are unlimited too, the "Seal The Deal" DLC content in "A Hat In Time" has a challenge which sees you running a series of errands for various passengers on a cruise ship. The challenge arises as the number of tasks increase and carrying multiple items at once causes you to lose your balance. In order to complete the last challenge, the number of tasks you must complete without running out of time is...70.

50 - Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away (survived 3; inducted!)
36 - Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street (survived 1)
33 - Guns N' Roses - November Rain (survived 3; inducted!)

30 - Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie To You?
29 - Utah Saints - Something Good
28 - Felix - Don't You Want Me
25 - Jon Secada - Just Another Day
22 - Madonna - Erotica
2 - Brian May - Too Much Love Will Kill You
0 - 2 Unlimited - The Magic Friend
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Round 70:

A.L.T. & The Lost Civilization - Tequila
The Four Seasons - December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) (Remix)
Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
Madonna - Deeper And Deeper
The Movement - Jump!
The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
Sonia Dada - You Don't Treat Me No Good
Toni Pearen - In Your Room
U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You

A great philosopher once wrote: she's a naughty, naughty, very naughty girl with a bad habit, a bad habit for voting her top 5 songs by Tuesday night
Proving just how quickly things can change, I did notice that 'November Rain' was languishing in 8th position until the last 3 votes.

This is a much weaker round for me, with two I don't like at all, and only one I really love.

+5 Madonna - Deeper And Deeper
+4 Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
+3 Toni Pearen - In Your Room
+2 U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
+1 Sonia Dada - You Don't Treat Me No Good
+5 Madonna - Deeper And Deeper
+4 Toni Pearen - In Your Room
+3 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+2 U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
+1 A.L.T. & The Lost Civilization - Tequila
+5 Toni Pearen - In Your Room
+4 The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
+3 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+2 U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
+1 Sonia Dada - You Don't Treat Me No Good
+5 Toni Pearen - In Your Room
+4 The Four Seasons - December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) (Remix)
+3 The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
+2 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+1 The Movement - Jump!
1. Accidently Kelly Street
2. You Don’t Treat Me No Good
3. I Will Always Love You
4. December 1963 (Oh What A Night)
5. Tequila
+5 I Will Always Love You
+4 Deeper and Deeper
+3 Tequila
+2 You Don't Treat Me No Good
+1 In Your Room
+5 The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
+4 U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
+3 The Movement - Jump!
+2 Sonia Dada - You Don't Treat Me No Good
+1 A.L.T. & The Lost Civilization - Tequila




+5: The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
+4: Madonna - Deeper And Deeper
+3: The Four Seasons - December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) (Remix)
+2: A.L.T. & The Lost Civilization - Tequila
+1: The Movement - Jump!
+5 Madonna - Deeper and Deeper
+4 The Four Seasons - December 1963 (Oh What a Night) (Remix)
+3 The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
+2 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+1 Sonia Dada - You Don't Treat Me No Good
+5 December, 1963 (Remix)
+4 Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
+3 NAUGHTY NAUGHTY
+2 Accidently Kelly Street
+1 I Will Always Love You
+5 Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
+4 Sonia Dada - You Don't Treat Me No Good
+3 Madonna - Deeper And Deeper
+2 The Movement - Jump!
+1 A.L.T. & The Lost Civilization - Tequila
5. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
4. The Four Seasons - December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) (Remix)
3. Sonia Dada - You Don't Treat Me No Good
2. U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
1. Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
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+5 A.L.T. & The Lost Civilization - Tequila
+4 Madonna - Deeper And Deeper
+3 U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
+2 The Movement - Jump!
+1 Sonia Dada - You Don't Treat Me No Good

+5 Sonia Dada - You Don't Treat Me No Good (+5 for mini me from '93)
+4 Madonna - Deeper And Deeper (can't remember all the Madge we've had, but this is probs my fave so far?)
+3 The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode (omfg it's this song! i've had that "eezer-good-eezer-good-whoa-ohhhhh riff in my head for basically ever)
+2 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street (can i vote for the their next entry as the b-side cover of BLT )
+1 The Movement - Jump!

could have voted for Toni or Tequila too!
+5 U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
+4 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+3 The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
+2 A.L.T. & The Lost Civilization - Tequila
+1 Madonna - Deeper and Deeper

Sonia Dadaism made a very close #6, very good round indeed!
+5 Deeper and Deeper
+4 Accidently Kelly Street
+3 In Your Room
+2 Jump!
+1 Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

Really like this round too, The Shamen would be #6.
+5 Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+4 Madonna - Deeper And Deeper
+3 Sonia Dada - You Don't Treat Me No Good
+2 ALT & The Lost Civilization - Tequila
+1 The Movement - Jump!
+5: The Four Seasons - December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) (Remix)
+4: Frente! - Accidently Kelly Street
+3: The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
+2: The Movement - Jump!
+1: Madonna - Deeper And Deeper

This thread is closed



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