All three of this week's top 150 debuts are singles that only registered a chart placing in Australia. What is interesting is that only one of the three acts in question is Australian. Let's take a look.
Top 150 debuts:
Number 127 "I Know You by Heart" by Bette Midler featuring David Pack
Peak: number 118
Peak date: 30 October 1989
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
Chart run: 127-118-126-134-135-135-138
Weeks on chart: 7 weeks
"I Know You by Heart" was an Australian-only single, and the third release from the Beaches soundtrack (number 1, June 1989), following "Wind Beneath My Wings" (number 1, May 1989) and "Under the Boardwalk" (number 26, August 1989). Quite why this single was an exclusive release to Australia, I don't know - other than, possibly, because previous single "Under the Boardwalk" does not appear to have charted anywhere else.
"I Know You by Heart" was a duet with David Pack, who was the lead singer of the rock group Ambrosia. While Ambrosia only managed to score one top 100 single in Australia ("How Much I Feel" - number 30, February 1979), this was Bette's thirteenth single to register on our chart. "I Know You by Heart" was co-written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who as Boy Meets Girl scored a number 35 hit in Australia with "Waiting for a Star to Fall" in March 1989, and had penned big hits for Whitney Houston with "How Will I Know" (number 2, April 1986) and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (number 1, June 1987).
On the state charts, "I Know You by Heart" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 58.
We will see Bette again in 1991.
Number 140 "Running in the Shadows" by The Bombers
Peak: number 130
Peak date: 13 November 1989
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 140-136-144-130-138-142-143
The Bombers were an Australian band, hailing from Sydney. Going by their facebook page bio, the group morphed out of The Party Boys, and included members of The Angels and Status Quo. This track appears on their Aim High album, which peaked at number 93 in April 1990. This was their only single to enter the top 150. That's about all I can tell you.
Number 145 "A Night to Remember" by Cyndi Lauper
Peak: number 145
Peak date: 23 October 1989
Weeks in top 150: 1 week
Known chart run: 157-145
Weeks on chart: 4 weeks
Things started off reasonably well on the singles charts with Cyndi's third album, A Night to Remember (number 17, June 1989), with "I Drove All Night" peaking at number 11 for four weeks in July 1989. Second single, "My First Night without You" (number 47, September 1989), didn't perform nearly as well, and now poor Cyndi was relegated to peaking outside the top 100 with the third release and title track from the album. Unfortunately for Cyndi, this would become the new norm for her on the Australian chart, and she would not see inside the top 100 again until 1994, despite two studio albums being released in the interim.
"A Night to Remember" appears to have only received a commercial single release in Australia, the United States, and Canada, with Australia being the only country it registered a chart placing in.
On the state charts, "A Night to Remember" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 127. The single performed stronger nationally on the Australian Music Report chart, where it peaked at number 96.
We will see Cyndi bubble under again before the year is out.
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 153 "Heart of America" by Tony Llewellyn
Peak: number 153
Peak date: 23 October 1989
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
We saw Tony Llewellyn in April 1989 with the second single from The News (number 135, November 1989), and here he is with the third and final single lifted from the album. Although "Heart of America" missed the top 150, it was Tony's highest-charting single. On the state charts, "Heart of America" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 135.
Number 164 "Fine Time" by Scary Bill
Peak: number 160
Peak date: 30 October 1989
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
We saw Australian band Scary Bill in June 1989, and here they are with their second, and final, single to make the national chart. "Fine Time" was the third single lifted from the band's only album Scary Bill (number 107, August 1989). The first release from the album, "Crossroads", missed the national chart (when it stopped at number 100), but peaked at number 42 on the South Australia/Northern Territory state chart, where Scary Bill seemed to be most popular, in December 1988.
On the state charts, "Fine Time" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 108 on the state chart.
A fourth single, "Planet X", was issued locally in January 1990, but failed to chart. The band then split up.
Next week (30 October): A bumper week with 7 new top 150 debuts and 2 singles bubbling WAY down under. You can also follow my posts on instagram and facebook.
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