All three of this week in 1991's top 150-peaking debuts spent at least seven weeks in the top 150, which is above the mean (5.65 weeks), median (5.5 weeks), and mode (a measly 1 week) for singles peaking between numbers 101 and 150 in 1991. Obviously, I took stats class a bit too seriously...
Before looking at this week in 1991's new entries, there are some earlier posts I have updated with the following:
- 29 May 1989 - a new bubbling WAY down under entry from Barry Manilow;
- 20 November 1989 - a new bubbling WAY down under entry from Ice-T;
- 6 August 1990 - a new bubbling WAY down under entry from Ice-T.
Icehouse: there was no love for the Icehouse on the Australian charts in 1991.
Top 150 debuts:
Number 132 "Blow Westerly" by Red Not Blue
Peak: number 124
Peak date: 8 April 1991
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
"Blow Westerly" was Sydney band Red Not Blue's debut single, although three tracks of theirs appeared on a shared-with-another-band 6-track mini-album released on ABC Records in 1988 (I am thinking Triple J might have been involved). "Blow Westerly" was also the lead single from the band's only album Red Not Blue, which missed the ARIA top 150 albums chart.
I hadn't heard this song before; it's not bad. We will see Red Not Blue again in June 1991.
Number 144 "Where the River Meets the Sea" by Icehouse
Peak: number 124
Peak date: 22 April 1991
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
Weeks on chart: 7 weeks
At this point in 1991, Australian band Icehouse had placed 24 singles on the Australian top 100, including three that were released under the band's original name Flowers. Their biggest hit in Australia was "Electric Blue" (number 1, November 1987). My favourite Icehouse single was, however, one that wasn't such a big hit for them - "Don't Believe Anymore" (number 31, August 1984).
"Where the River Meets the Sea" is one that I remember seeing in the record stores, but I never heard the song anywhere at the time. For reasons unknown, a music video was not produced to promote the single. With that amount of 'promotion' behind it, of course "Where the River Meets the Sea" was going to struggle on the charts.
"Where the River Meets the Sea" was the fourth and final single lifted from Icehouse's sixth studio album Code Blue (number 7, November 1990). It followed "Big Fun" (number 47, August 1990), "Miss Divine" (number 16, October 1990), and "Anything Is Possible" (number 49, January 1991).
Had it been up to me, I would have gone with album track "Harbour Town" over all of the other Code Blue singles apart from "Miss Divine". I think the record label really misfired by releasing "Big Fun" as the lead single, especially. If "Miss Divine" and "Harbour Town" had been the first two Code Blue singles, things might have panned out very differently for this album's era... in my alternative universe, anyway.
I guess the only way was down for Icehouse, commercially, following the mega-successful Man of Colours album, which spent 11 weeks at number 1 on the Australian albums chart between October and December of 1987, followed by another six weeks at number 2. Man of Colours was also the first album by an Australian artist to spawn five top 30 singles.
On the state charts, "Where the River Meets the Sea" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 106.
We shall next see Icehouse in 1993.
Number 150 "In Yer Face" by 808 State
Peak: number 108
Peak date: 29 April 1991
Weeks in top 150: 9 weeks
Weeks on chart: 11 weeks
We last saw English band 808 State in December 1990 with the lead single from their third studio album ex:el (number 109, April 1991). "In Yer Face" was the second single lifted from the album, although the previous single was a double A-side.
Internationally, "In Yer Face" peaked at number 9 in the UK in February 1991, and number 13 in Ireland during the same month.
Domestically, "In Yer Face" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 62.
I don't recall hearing this one at the time. It's definitely not the sort of thing that would have done well on the Australian charts in the early 90s.
We will see 808 State next in June 1991, when they team up with one of Scandinavia's most recognisable artists (clue: it's not ABBA).
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 168 "We Want Some Pussy" by The 2 Live Crew
Peak: number 168
Peak date: 1 April 1991
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
Here's a song I was aware of at the time, but had not heard until writing this post. What can I say other than... oh my god.
We last saw The 2 Live Crew in January 1991. "We Want Some Pussy" was originally released in North America and Europe in 1987. Australia was a bit slow to cotton on to rap, however.
To my surprise, "We Want Some Pussy" does not appear to have charted in any other country. Within Australia, "We Want Some Pussy" peaked highest in Western Australia, reaching number 141.
Next week (8 April): Five top 150 debuts and four bubbling WAY down under entries.
The icehouse song has a very nice melody to it. I like it. I would have heard it before but it hasn't been retained in my memory. I'm very partial to their single "Anything is Possible." I do remember it being played on the radio at the time and bought the single.
ReplyDeleteI do remember 2 Live Crew at the time as my housemate had a copy of their album which contained songs of similar content to the one posted here. I recall enjoying their songs, but not due to their lyrical content. More to do with the beat and musical component which was typical of other songs from the time.