Week commencing 15 January 1990

Of the five songs I write about this week, I had only heard one of them at the time (the Malcolm McLaren one), which I barely remembered.  Two of this week's debuts - from overseas artists, no less - failed to chart anywhere else.  Let's take a look at them.

 

Adeva sings "we're almost there"... if 'there' is the top 150 this week.

  

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 130 "Another Chance" by The Georgia Satellites

Peak: number 126

Peak date: 5 February 1990

Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks 

American band The Georgia Satellites scored two top 40 singles in Australia - "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" (number 20, March 1987) and "The Hippy Hippy Shake" (number 37, January 1989).   A third single, "Battleship Chains" (number 82, July 1987), dented the top 100.  "Another Chance" was lifted from the band's third album, In the Land of Salvation and Sin (number 132, January 1990), and failed to chart anywhere else.  This would be the band's final top 150 singles chart appearance in Australia.

 

 

Number 147 "Thrash" by Underworld

Peak: number 147

Peak date: 15 January 1990

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Weeks on chart: 1 week 

Underworld's chart career in Australia started off promisingly, with "Underneath the Radar" peaking at number 5 in June 1988.  Subsequent singles from their Underneath the Radar album (number 32, August 1988) missed the top 50: "Glory! Glory!" (number 64, September 1988), "Show Some Emotion" (number 88, December 1988), and "I Need a Doctor" (released in Australia in February 1989, failed to chart).

"Thrash" was the second single released from the band's second album, Change the Weather (number 64, October 1989), following "Stand Up" (number 79, October 1989).  "Thrash" failed to chart anywhere else.  The title track was released as the third single from the album in late January 1990, but failed to chart.

One thing that is evident when looking at Underworld's Australian chart history is that the band were notably more popular in Western Australia than in other states.  "Underneath the Radar", for example, topped the Western Australian state chart, and "Glory! Glory!", "Show Some Emotion" and "Stand Up" all made the state top 40, despite missing the national top 60.  "Thrash" similarly peaked higher on the Western Australian state chart than in other states, peaking at number 105.

Underworld would undergo a metamorphosis and change in sound in the early 90s, and would eventually score their second (and last) hit single down under with "Born Slippy" in 1996 (number 20, January 1997).

We will see Underworld next in 1994.

 

 

Number 148 "I'll Be Good to You" by Quincy Jones featuring Ray Charles and Chaka Khan

Peak: number 148

Peak date: 15 January 1990

Weeks in top 150: 2 weeks

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

 

Quincy Jones is perhaps best known for being the producer of Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad albums.  When it comes to charting under his own name, however, Quincy only landed one top 100 single in Australia - "Ai No Corrida" (number 74, July 1981).

 

"I'll Be Good to You" was originally recorded by The Brothers Johnson in 1976, but was produced by Quincy.  Chaka Khan, whom we last saw in September 1989, and Ray Charles provide vocals on this new version of the track, and appear in the music video embedded below.  "I'll Be Good to You" peaked at number 18 in the US in January 1990, and number 21 in the UK in February 1990.

On the ARIA state charts, "I'll Be Good to You" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 36.

We will next see Quincy in 1996, but before then, we will see a project he was involved with in 1991.

 

 

 

Number 150 "House of the Blue Danube" by Malcolm McLaren and The Bootzilla Orchestra

Peak: number 150

Peak date: 15 January 1990

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

Weeks on chart: 3 weeks

 

"House of the Blue Danube" was the third single lifted from Malcolm's Waltz Darling album (number 60, August 1989), and followed "Waltz Darling" (number 65, August 1989) and "Something's Jumpin' in Your Shirt" (number 95, November 1989).  "House of the Blue Danube" peaked at number 73 in Malcolm's native UK in November 1989.

 

Malcolm scored six top 100 hits under his own name (not counting associated acts, such as World's Famous Supreme Team) in Australia, all up, with the biggest of those being "Double Dutch" (number 14, September 1983).  However, arguably the Malcolm McLaren single that had the biggest cultural impact missed the top 100, and will be coming up later in the year.

On the state charts, "House of the Blue Danube" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 135.

 

 

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 157 "Musical Freedom (Free At Last)" by Paul Simpson featuring Adeva

Peak: number 151

Peak date: 29 January 1990

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

 

"Musical Freedom (Free At Last)" was first released in Europe in 1988, and featured Adeva - whom we saw back in July 1989 - on vocals.  It did not chart, however, until getting a re-release in 1989, following the success of "Respect" in the UK.  Interrupting an otherwise-consecutive run of three solo Adeva singles peaking at number 17, "Musical Freedom" peaked at number 22 in the UK in April 1989, and number 43 in the Netherlands in May 1989.

 

Released in Australia in September 1989, "Musical Freedom" took four months to dent the lower end of our chart, probably spurred on by the belated simultaneous ascent of "Warning!" (number 38, February 1990) and "I Thank You" (number 30, February 1990) on the charts in early 1990.

"Musical Freedom" deals with the subject of racial equality for African Americans, with upbeat lyrics such as "throw your hands up in the air, 'cause we're almost there".  Thirty plus years later, you have to wonder about that, given the current state of things in the USA.

 

One of the verses of "Musical Freedom" begins with the lyrics, "Lord knows I feel like throwing my hands up in the air", which bears a close resemblance - lyrically and melodically - to the opening lines of The Source featuring Candi Staton's "You Got the Love" ("Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air").

 

This would be Paul Simpson's - whom we saw in November 1989 - last foray onto the Australian charts.  Adeva will join us again in a few months' time.

 

 

Next week (22 January): Next week mirrors this week's chart, with four new top 150 debuts, and one bubbling WAY down under entry.  Among them is the first of five singles to bubble down under between 1990 and 1992 for a veteran artist.  You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.

 

< Previous week: 8 January 1990                                      Next week: 22 January 1990 >

Week commencing 20 November 1989

After a few quieter weeks with singles peaking outside the top 100, this week we have a whopping 12 new entries to take a look at.  Let's dive in!

 

 S'Express: This singer looks like she's being chased by... COVID-89?

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 131 "Angel Dove" by Joe Camilleri

Peak: number 129

Peak date: 4 December 1989

Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks

 

I must have heard this being played on FM radio at the time, when the target demographic seemed to be your parents - and music that teens, tweens and younger (or even 20-somethings, for that matter) enjoyed was all but ignored by the radio programmers of the day... but I have no recollection of this song, whatsoever.

 

Joe Camilleri racked up 12 top 100 singles under the guise of Jo Jo Zep, with or without The Falcons, between 1976 and 1983, with the biggest two of those being "Hit and Run" (number 12, September 1979) and "Taxi Mary" (number 11, November 1982).  More-recently, The Black Sorrows, fronted by Joe, scored a number 9 hit with "Chained to the Wheel" in May 1989.

"Angel Dove" was recorded to raise funds for Amnesty International - well, as many funds as can be raised with a number 129-peaking single (I'd love to know the actual figure).  From around the 2 minute mark in the video, there are profiles of several children who've become victims of war brutality.  Joe was back to releasing material as part of The Black Sorrows after this, and they will bubble under in 1993.

This track sadly (and I say that without the slightest hint of irony...) won't be the first charity single to completely bomb on the Aussie charts.

 

 

Number 137 "Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming" by Robert Palmer

Peak: number 117

Peak date: 4 December 1989

Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks

Weeks on chart: 4 weeks

 

Another song I never heard at the time is this one, by the perpetually-suited Mr. Palmer.   In Australia, "Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming" was the fifth and final single from Robert's 10-track Heavy Nova (number 2, February 1989) album, and the only one of the lot to miss the top 40.  The track was a cover version of Jermaine Jackson's 1984 single "Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)", which also featured his more-famous brother, Michael Jackson.  Robert performed the track as a duet with B.J. Nelson, for whom he also produced her 1989 self-titled album.  Robert's version of "Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming" was only released as a commercial single in North America and Australia, and it peaked at number 60 in the US in August 1989.

 

Spoiler alert: in a Bubbling Down Under first, Robert Palmer had back-to-back debuts, and will be joining us again next week with a different track!

 

 

Number 143 "Mantra for a State of Mind" by S'Express

Peak: number 141

Peak date: 27 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 2 weeks

Weeks on chart: 5 weeks

 

S'Express, sometimes stylised as S-Express and S'Xpress, burst onto the chart in 1988 with "Theme from S-Express" (number 11, September 1988), and followed it up with "Superfly Guy" (number 35, October 1988) and "Hey Music Lover" (number 53, May 1989).  Released as the fourth and final single from their Original Soundtrack album (number 69, May 1989), the video for "Mantra for a State of Mind" featured some of the best use of vacuuming in a music video since Queen's "I Want to Break Free" in 1984, as well as some inflatable spiky balls that bear a loose resemblance to the COVID-19 virus.

I was an S'Express 'fan' of sorts (despite not actually buying any of their music until the album re-issue in the early 2010s), but I never heard "Mantra...", in full, at the time.  I say "in full", as that rather nifty vocal hook used during the intro and throughout was sampled/re-created as part of Rococo's "Italo House Mix" (even though this song is not really 'Italo'), which peaked at number 13 in February 1990.  I did, however, manage to finally hear/see the S'Express original when catching the video on rage a year after its release, randomly screened one week before the top 60 started in November or December 1990.  A lack of promotion locally therefore must have been a factor in the single's floppage down under. In contrast, "Mantra..." was a moderate hit in the UK, where it peaked at number 21 in October 1989, and also peaked at number 12 in Ireland a month prior.

S'Express will pay us another visit in 1992.

 

  

Number 144 "If Only I Could" by Sydney Youngblood

Peak: number 122 (original release); number 71 (1990 triple A-side re-issue)

Peak dates: 29 January 1990 (original release); 16 July 1990 (1990 triple A-side re-issue)

Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks (original release); 17 weeks (original + 1990 re-issue chart runs combined)

Weeks on chart: 14 weeks (original release); 27 weeks (original + 1990 re-issue chart runs combined)

"If Only I Could" was American-based-in-Germany Sydney Youngblood's (real name: Sydney Ford) third single in Europe, following a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine" (check out the music video with an annoying fly buzzing throughout!) and the rather Milli Vanilli-esque "Congratulations" in 1988.  In Australia, this was Sydney's debut single.  While it didn't have a lot of success locally, it registered in the top 10 in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Swizterland, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden.  Of course, you may recall that Canadian-but-claimed-by-Australia Wendy Matthews scored a number 41 'hit' with a cover version of this track in May 1993.

 

Sydney's version of "If Only I Could" would also get another go - of sorts - on the Australian chart in July 1990, when it was re-issued with subsequent singles "Sit and Wait" (number 59, April 1990) and "I'd Rather Go Blind" as a triple A-side release.  This 3-in-1 single peaked at number 71 in July 1990.  All three of these tracks appeared on Sydney's debut album, Feeling Free (number 59, March 1990).  On its initial release, "If Only I Could" took awhile to reach its peak of number 122, peaking towards the end of January 1990.  All four of its weeks in the top 150 were non-consecutive.

Sydney can still sing this song pretty well, going by this 2019 performance at Cologne Pride (it's the first song performed).

Sydney will next visit us in 1991.

 

 

Number 146 "All You Need Is a Friend" by Ice Tiger

Peak: number 146 

Peak date: 20 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

 

A mere six weeks after they first graced the top 150, Australian band Ice Tiger returned with their second and final top 150 singles chart 'hit'.  Like the previous single, "All I Need Is a Friend" performed much better on the Australian Music Report chart, where it peaked at number 98.  If you like rock ballads, this might be your thing.

 

 

 

Number 149 "Pet Sematary" by Ramones

Peak: number 149

Peak date: 20 November 1989

Weeks in top 150: 1 week

 

Despite having name (and image) recognition, Ramones (no The) surprisingly only ever scored one top 100 single down under - "Rock 'n' Roll High School" (number 41, September 1980).  "Pet Sematary" was written for the 1989 Stephen King film of the same name, and also appeared on the band's Brain Drain (number 130, November 1989) album.  The music video for this song - ironically in retrospect - shows the band being lowered into a grave towards the end.  Three of the four members of Ramones at this point died between 2001 and 2004, with only drummer Marcy Ramone surviving.  The band's original drummer, Tommy Ramone, who quit the group in 1978, died in 2014, meaning that all four of the founding members of Ramones are now deceased.  Yikes.

We shall see Ramones again in 1993.

 

 

Number 150 "Say No Go" De La Soul

Peak: number 143

Peak date: 12 February 1990

Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks

Weeks on chart: 8 weeks

 

The group's fourth single in their native US, "Say No Go" was De La Soul's first single to be released in Australia.  As I have previously mentioned, a few notable exceptions aside, rap generally didn't do well on the Australian singles chart during the 1980s.  De La Soul's breed of rap was a bit different, though - not that it mattered to the Australian record-buying public... yet.  Lifted from the album 3 Feet High and Rising (number 129, October 1989), "Say No Go" was a top 20 hit in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, and New Zealand.  On this side of the ditch, we weren't yet sold on the idea, and De La Soul would have to wait until 1991 to score their first (and really, only) decent-sized hit in Australia, with "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" (number 4, July 1991).  "Say No Go" took its time to peak on the ARIA charts, reaching number 143 in February 1990.

 

On the state charts, "Say No Go" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 111.

We will next see De La Soul in 1994.

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 160 "Love Pains" by Hazell Dean

Peak: number 157

Peak date: 26 February 1990

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

 

Hazell Dean (real name Hazel, but she added the extra L after a numerologist told her it would bring her luck) is strongly associated with being part of the Stock Aitken Waterman stable, although her biggest hit in Australia, "Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)" (number 17, December 1984) was produced by Ian Anthony Stephens.  Hazell was, however, responsible for giving Stock Aitken Waterman their first top 10 hit in the UK, with "Whatever I Do (Whatever I Go)" in August 1984.  That single, in contrast, peaked at just number 74 in Australia in February 1985, and would become Hazell's final top 100 hit down under.

"Love Pains", a cover of a song originally recorded by Yvonne Elliman, was not produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, but instead by their 'B'-team, Phil Harding and Ian Curnow.  Coincidentally, Liza Minnelli also recorded a version of "Love Pains" for her Results (number 94, January 1990) album; and, although it was released as a single in Australia in April 1990, it failed to chart.

Hazell's version of "Love Pains" did not peak on the ARIA chart until late February 1990, and would be Hazell's final chart entry in Australia.

Since this will be the only occasion I have to write about Hazell in relation to the Australian charts, I may as well link a few of my favourite flop singles of hers, if you feel inclined to check them out - "They Say It's Gonna Rain" (a South African number 1 in 1985), "Stand Up" (UK number 79, September 1986), and "Always Doesn't Mean Forever" (UK number 91, June 1987).

Number 163 "Lethal Weapon" by Ice-T

Peak: number 161

Peak date: 4 December 1989

Weeks on chart: 4 weeks

"Lethal Weapon" was Ice-T's, real name Tracy Marrow, first single to chart in Australia, although he had earlier hit the ARIA albums chart with his second album Power (number 65, May 1989).

 

"Lethal Weapon" was the lead single from Ice-T's third studio album The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say! (number 81, February 1990).

Elsewhere, "Lethal Weapon" peaked at number 98 in the UK in September 1989, and number 22 in New Zealand (always ahead of the game it seems) in November 1989.

On the ARIA state charts, "Lethal Weapon" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 135.

We will next see Ice-T in 1990.

Number 168 "Everybody's a Star" by Paul Simpson featuring Terri Jeffries

Peak: number 168

Peak date: 20 November 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

 

Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about this one, other than Paul scored a hit with Adeva earlier in 1989 in the UK - but I won't say too much about that, as it's a song I will be writing about in a couple of months' time.  I can tell you, however, that "Everybody's a Star" peaked at number 88 in the UK in October 1989.  Within Australia, this single performed strongest on the Western Australian state chart, where it peaked at number 125.  Paul will join us again, with another featured artist, in January 1990.

 

 

Number 170 "Let's Get It On" by James Freud

Peak: number 170

Peak date: 20 November 1989

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

 

Released as the third and final single from his Step into the Heat (number 26, June 1989) album, "Let's Get It On" peaked more than 100 places lower than the previous two singles, "Hurricane" (number 20, June 1989) and "One Fine Day" (number 68, July 1989).  To add insult to injury, James' Wikipedia article states that Step into the Heat was, up until that point, the most-expensive album to produce that Mushroom Records had released.  Oops.

James' next musical venture would be with Beatfish, whom we shall see in 1992.

 

Number 173 "Puss N' Boots/These Boots (Are Made for Walkin')" by Kon Kan

Peak: number 173 

Peak date: 20 November 1989

Weeks on chart: 1 week

We saw Kon Kan bubble WAY down under in August 1989, and here they are in the same region of the chart again, with the third single from their debut album Move to Move.

As you probably guessed from the song title (the slash does not indicate a double A-side), this track uses the chorus from Nancy Sinatra's classic "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", which topped the Australian chart in 1966.

"Puss N' Boots..." peaked at number 61 in Kon Kan's native Canada, and also reached number 58 in the US in September 1989, and number 11 in New Zealand in October 1989.

Kon Kan will join us once again in 1991.

 

 

Next week (27 November): five new top 150 debuts, and two bubbling WAY down under entries.  Among them, we have a top 30 hit from 1987 that curiously returns.  You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.

 

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