Among this week in 1992's debuts peaking outside the top 100, we have two acts who had limited chart success in Australia, and a band who scored a decent number of hits but only ever had one top 10 single. Shall we take a look?
Kirsty MacColl: all she ever wanted was a hit in Australia!
Top 150 debuts:
Number 139 "Fly Girl"/"Nature of a Sista'" by Queen Latifah
Peak: number 110
Peak date: 20 January 1992
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 139-110-112-117-115-113-116
American rapper, actress and singer Queen Latifah was born Dana Elaine Owens. Her first taste of Australian chart success - of sorts - came in 1990, when she was a featured rapper on the B-side mix of David Bowie "Fame 90" (number 85, May 1990).
"Fly Girl"/"Nature of a Sista'" was the lead single from Queen Latifah's second album Nature of a Sista. Surprisingly, this release was Queen Latifah's only ARIA top 150 entry in her own right.
Internationally, "Fly Girl"/"Nature of a Sista'" peaked at number 67 in the UK in August 1991, and number 38 in New Zealand in March 1992. The single also had some success on the dubious US Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, where it peaked at number 19 in October 1991, and on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it reached number 16 in November 1991.
The Queen Latifah song I am most familiar with, owing to catching the video several times on music TV program rage, is "U.N.I.T.Y." from 1994.
Number 145 "Castles in the Air" by Hoodoo Gurus
Peak: number 113
Peak date: 20 January 1992
Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks
Chart run: 145-113-119-116-123-124
Weeks on chart: 6 weeks
Australian band Hoodoo Gurus formed in Sydney in 1981. Between 1983 and 1991, the group placed 17 singles on the Australian top 100, with "What's My Scene" (number 3, May 1987) being their biggest hit and only top 10 single.
"Castles in the Air" was issued as the fourth and final single from Hoodoo Gurus' fifth studio album Kinky (number 4, May 1991). It followed the singles "Miss Freelove '69" (number 19, April 1991), "1000 Miles Away" (number 37, July 1991), and "A Place in the Sun" (number 89, August 1991).
On the state charts, "Castles in the Air" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 95.
There does not appear to have been a music video filmed for "Castles in the Air".
Hoodoo Gurus will next join us in 1994.
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 167 "Never Goin' Down!" by Adamski + Jimi Polo
Peak: number 164
Peak date: 20 January 1992
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
We last saw Adamski in 1991. "Never Goin' Down!" was the first release from Adamski's second album Naughty (number 186, July 1992). For this track, Adamski joined forces with Jimi Polo on vocal duties.
Internationally, "Never Goin' Down!" peaked at number 51 in the UK in November 1991. Locally, the single was most popular in Western Australia, where it reached number 136.
Interestingly, this single was a double A-side in the UK (not in Australia) with another Adamski collaboration - this time with Soho, whom we saw in April 1991, with "Born to Be Alive!", which surprisingly is not a cover version of the Patrick Hernandez track!
I didn't know "Never Goin' Down" at the time, but like it. We'll next see Adamski in June 1992, collaborating with another artist.
Number 173 "All I Ever Wanted" by Kirsty MacColl
Peak: number 154
Peak date: 27 January 1992
Weeks on chart: 3 weeks
We last saw English singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl in 1989.
"All I Ever Wanted" was released as the third single - though second in Australia - from Kirsty's third studio album Electric Landlady (number 86, October 1991). It followed "Walking Down Madison" (number 58, September 1991), which was Kirsty's only solo top 100 single in Australia.
Kirsty's collaborations with other artists have landed her some minor success on the Australian charts. She sang backing vocals and appeared in the music video for Billy Bragg's "Sexuality" (number 46, September 1991), and also played a prominent role on The Wonder Stuff's "Welcome to the Cheap Seats" (number 64, May 1992), on which she also features in the video.
More-recently, Kirsty's duet with The Pogues, "Fairytale of New York", which never charted in Australia upon its original release in December 1987, has gained popularity around Christmas time, and to date has reached a peak of number 45 locally, in January 2023.
"All I Ever Wanted" missed the top 75 in Kirsty's homeland, where "My Affair" was issued as the second Electric Landlady single, peaking at number 56 in the UK in August 1991.
On the ARIA state charts, "All I Ever Wanted" was most popular in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 142.
We shall next see Kirsty in 1993.
Next week (20 January): Seven new top 150 debuts and one bubbling WAY down under entry. Also, stay tuned for my 1983 recaps, commencing on Tuesday 17 January 2023.
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