One thing all of this week's top 150-peaking entries have in common is that they spent at least 7 weeks in the top 150. This is slightly above both the average (5.32 weeks) and median (6 weeks) amount of time singles peaking within the 101-150 region of the chart that debuted in 1990 spent on the chart. Yes, I really calculated those stats for this week's post...
In case you were curious to know, the majority of singles peaking between number 101 and 150 on the ARIA singles chart in 1990 spent no more than one week in the top 150. Sixty-five, or 23.9%, of the year's 272 singles peaking within this region of the chart spent a solitary week in the top 150.
Enough of the stats lecture, let's look at this week's new entries:
Richard Marx probably wouldn't be 'satisfied' with his chart placing this week.
Top 150 debuts:
Number 114 "Anything I Want" by Kevin Paige
Peak: number 102
Peak date: 30 July 1990
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, Kevin Paige scored one top 50 hit in Australia, with his debut single "Don't Shut Me Out" (number 43, June 1990). The climb to number 43, however, was slow, taking 22 weeks to peak from its Australian release date of 15 January 1990. In the US, "Don't Shut Me Out" peaked at number 18 in November 1989, and it also reached number 6 in Sweden in March 1990.
"Anything I Want" was the second single lifted from Kevin Paige (number 129, June 1990), his only solo album release. Kevin, however, went on to record Christian music with his wife, Bethany Paige. "Anything I Want" peaked at number 29 in the US in March 1990.
Kevin would release no further singles in Australia, although two other singles from the album were issued overseas. "A Touch of Paradise", a version of the same song that John Farnham took to number 24 in Australia in April 1987 (originally recorded by Mondo Rock in 1982), was released in the US and Sweden, but failed to chart. "Black and White" was released as a single in Germany.
Number 115 "What Are You Doing with a Fool Like Me" by Joe Cocker
Peak: number 115
Peak date: 16 July 1990
Weeks in top 150: 9 weeks
We have seen Joe bubble under twice already this year; first in January, and then in May.
"What Are You Doing with a Fool Like Me" was the lead single, and only one released in Australia, from Joe Cocker Live (number 17, October 1990). As the title of the album suggests, it was as a live recording of a concert Joe performed in Lowell, Massachusetts on 5 October 1989. However, two new studio tracks were recorded and tacked onto the album, of which this is one.
"What Are You Doing with a Fool Like Me" peaked at number 39 in Germany in June 1990, and at number 23 in Switzerland during the same month. The single did not chart in the US or the UK.
"What Are You Doing with a Fool Like Me" had an interesting chart run in Australia. After spending 7 consecutive weeks in the top 150, it dropped out, before re-entering for a single week on 10 September 1990, and again on 5 November 1990, almost 4 months after its debut.
Joe will join us next in 1992.
Number 144 "Children of the Night" by Richard Marx
Peak: number 120
Peak date: 30 July 1990
Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks
Weeks on chart: 8 weeks
"Children of the Night" was the fifth and final single issued from Richard Marx's second album Repeat Offender (number 1, September 1989). It followed "Satisfied" (number 20, July 1989), "Right Here Waiting" (number 1, September 1989), "Angelia" (number 32, November 1989), and "Too Late to Say Goodbye" (number 99, February 1990). The song was written about children who had run away from home.
In Richard's native US, "Children of the Night" was a much bigger hit, peaking at number 13 in June 1990. The single also peaked at number 54 in the UK in July 1990, and number 58 in Germany during the same month.
On the ARIA state charts, "Children of the Night" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 86.
Richard previously bubbled under in Australia with his debut single, "Don't Mean Nothing", which placed fourth on the Australian Music Report's list of singles receiving significant sales reports beyond the top 100 in November 1987.
Richard Marx would go on to score a second number 1 single in Australia with the haunting "Hazard" in July 1992. Interestingly, "Hazard" took 22 weeks to reach the top on the ARIA singles chart, debuting at number 154 and yo-yoing between number 101 and 115 for eight of its first eleven weeks on the chart.
Richard will join us again in 1994.
Number 146 "Every Time I Turn Around" by Little River Band
Peak: number 134
Peak date: 30 July 1990
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
Weeks on chart: 7 weeks
Australia's Little River Band previously bubbled WAY down under on the ARIA chart in June 1989. Before that, the group registered on the Kent Music Report's 'Hit Predictions' list in March 1982 with "Take It Easy on Me". The Hit Predictions list served a similar function to the later lists of singles receiving
significant sales reports beyond the top 100, but listed singles in alphabetical order by song title rather than ranking them in order of sales.
"Every Time I Turn Around" was the second single from the band's eleventh studio album Get Lucky (number 54, April 1990). It followed "If I Get Lucky", which peaked at number 75 on the ARIA singles chart in April 1990.
"Every Time I Turn Around" did not register on any other sales-based chart, but reached number 27 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. On the ARIA state charts, "Every Time I Turn Around" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it peaked at number 97.
This was Little River Band's last single to register on the Australian charts.
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 172 "Touched by the Hand of Cicciolina" by Pop Will Eat Itself
Peak: number 172
Peak date: 16 July 1990
Weeks on chart: 1 week
We last saw English band Pop Will Eat Itself at the end of 1989.
"Touched by the Hand of Cicciolina" was the first single released from the band's third studio album Cure for Sanity (number 51, February 1991). I am guessing that the title is a play on New Order's "Touched by the Hand of God" (number 15, February 1988). Who is Cicciolina? Wikipedia says it's a name for Hungarian-Italian porn actress Ilona Staller. Prior to researching this post, I had assumed that maybe Cicciolina was the name of an Italian football (soccer) player, given the prominent theme of soccer in the music video, embedded below. The song is an unusual one, being largely instrumental.
Internationally, "Touched by the Hand of Cicciolina" peaked at number 28 in the UK in June 1990.
Within Australia, "Touched by the Hand of Cicciolina" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 146.
At the time of writing this entry (June 2024), the number 172 peak of "Touched by the Hand of Cicciolina" is the lowest peak I have for any single charting in Australia during 1990.
We shall next see Pop Will Eat Itself in 1991.
Next week (23 July): Another four top 150 debuts.
