There isn't a common thread I can identify linking this week in 1992's new entries peaking outside the top 100 I can identify, other than there are several (for me, anyway) unexpected entries among them. Shall we take a look?
Donna Summer's hair stylist tried to work some magic on that hair.
Top 150 debuts:
Number 121 "Sisters Keep on Doin' It" by Dimples D & Lady Spice
Peak: number 116
Peak date: 10 February 1992
Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 121-116-129-131
Crystal Smith, better known by her stage name Dimples D, burst onto the chart in early 1991 with "Sucker DJ", which topped the chart for two weeks in March. The I Dream of Jeannie theme-sampling track would become Dimples' only release to trouble the top 100 in Australia.
"Sisters Keep on Doin' It" was lifted from Dimples' only album Dimples & Spice, which was released in Australia in December 1991 but missed the top 150. This time, the "Peter Gunn Theme" forms the basis of the track, and Dimples D teamed up with Lady Spice, whose real name is Tawana Ramsey.
I hadn't heard this one before. Vocally, it sounds quite different to me than "Sucker DJ" - I can't even really identify Dimples D's voice on it; though maybe that's because the vocals for "Sucker DJ" were recorded in 1983 for the track's original release "Sucker D.J.'s (I Will Survive)", and she was younger then.
I cannot find evidence of "Sisters Keep on Doin' It" charting elsewhere.
Number 131 "Just Another Girlfriend" by Hi-Five
Peak: number 107
Peak date: 10 February 1992
Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 131-107-120-127-119
We last saw American R&B vocal quintet Hi-Five in 1991.
"Just Another Girlfriend" was issued as the third (in Australia) and final single from the group's debut album Hi-Five (number 102, July 1991).
Internationally, "Just Another Girlfriend" peaked at number 88 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in November 1991.
I don't normally care much for this sort of music, but found this track OK.
Hi-Five will next join us in 1993.
Number 141 "Rockwell Street" by Colour Blue
Peak: number 102
Peak dates: 24 February 1992 and 2 March 1992
Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 141-133-107-102-102-127-129-(out for 1 week)-150
Colour Blue were an Australian group who only released two singles. Their debut release "Peace" (number 82, July 1991) dented the lower region of the ARIA top 100.
It sounds to me like Colour Blue were a couple of years ahead of their time. This track could have done better on the Australian chart had it been released in 1994-5, when R&B was gaining popularity locally.
Number 147 "Work That Magic" by Donna Summer
Peak: number 147
Peak date: 3 February 1992
Weeks in top 150: 1 week
Top 150 chart run: 147
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks
Donna Summer, born LaDonna Gaines, commenced her chart career in Australia in 1976 with "Love to Love You Baby" (number 4, April 1976). Between then and 1992, she placed a further 19 singles on the Australian chart, with "I Feel Love" (number 1, October 1977) and "Hot Stuff" (number 1, July 1979) topping the chart.
Donna's last real hit in Australia was the Stock Aitken Waterman-produced "This Time I Know It's for Real" (number 40, October 1989), which took seven months to reach its eventual modest peak, after debuting at number 150 in March 1989. She followed that up with "Love's About to Change My Heart" (number 71, November 1989), also from the Stock Aitken Waterman-produced album Another Place and Time (number 93, September 1989).
In the interim, Donna placed a compilation album outside the top 100 in Australia with The Best of Donna Summer (number 124, February 1991). A remixed version of "Breakaway", from Another Place and Time, was released as a single to promote the compilation in Europe, but not in Australia. It's a pity, because I really like the single version of that song!
"Work That Magic" was the second single lifted from Donna's fifteenth studio album Mistaken Identity, which was released in Australia in November 1991 but failed to chart. It followed "When Love Cries", which was released with no accompanying music video, owing to Donna's sister Andrea dying around this time.
Internationally, "Work That Magic" peaked at number 74 in the UK in November 1991.
Domestically, "Work That Magic" performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 136.
I didn't hear this one until a couple of years ago, but really like it. I think it could have become a hit if Donna was able to promote it effectively.
As you probably know, we lost Donna in 2012 aged 63, from lung cancer - an illness that also claimed the lives of her mother and sister.
We shall next see Donna in 1997. Before then, Donna had another compilation peak outside the top 100 in Australia, with The Donna Summer Anthology (number 144, January 1994).
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 152 "Places That Belong to You" by Barbra Streisand
Peak: number 152
Peak date: 3 February 1992
Weeks on chart: 3 weeks
We last saw Barbra Streisand in 1989.
"Places That You Belong To" was a track recorded for the soundtrack to the movie The Prince of Tides, which Babs directed herself as well as starred in.
While that soundtrack missed the ARIA top 150, Babs had a recent compilation album that peaked outside the top 100: Just for the Record (number 126, November 1991).
Internationally, "Places That You Belong To" peaked at number 17 in the UK in March 1992, and at number 29 in Ireland during the same month.
Locally, "Places That You Belong To" 'belonged' most in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 141.
Barbra will next join us in 1993.
Number 161 "Six O'Clock" by The Tyrrel Corporation
Peak: number 161
Peak date: 3 February 1992
Weeks on chart: 1 weekEnglish duo The Tyrrel Corporation were made up of Joe Watson and Tony Barry. "Six O'Clock" was the pair's debut release, lifted from their album North East of Eden (number 273, December 1992).
"Six O'Clock" missed the top 75 in the UK and did not chart anywhere else. On the ARIA state charts, the single performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 137.
The Tyrrel Corporation would go on to have a couple of other charting singles in Australia, though none would dent the top 150. I wasn't aware of the group until about a decade ago, when one of their songs turned up on a music video compilation I'd bought. I like the combination of soulful vocals and dance music on this track.
We'll next see The Tyrrel Corporation in May 1992.
Number 162 "The Air You Breathe" by Bomb the Bass
Peak: number 162
Peak date: 3 February 1992
Weeks on chart: 3 weeksBomb the Bass last graced our presence in 1991.
"The Air You Breathe" was issued as the third single from the second Bomb the Bass album Unknown Territory (number 172, September 1991). Internationally, the single peaked at number 52 in the UK in November 1991, and number 54 in the Netherlands in December 1991.
Within Australia, "The Air You Breathe" was most popular in Western Australia, where it reached number 138.
This would be the final Bomb the Bass single to peak outside the top 100 in Australia, although their third album Clear peaked at number 122 in May 1995. Two later Bomb the Bass singles released locally that failed to chart were "Keep Giving Me Love" (September 1992) and "1 to 1 Religion" (June 1995).
Number 164 "Keep It Together" by Madonna
Peak: number 158
Peak date: 6 December 1993
Weeks on chart: 6 weeksWe last saw Madonna in 1991.
"Keep It Together" was one of six singles (five in Australia) lifted from Madonna's fourth studio album Like a Prayer (number 4, March 1989). The track was given a Soul II Soul-esque remix from the album version for single release, and issued as a single in North America and Japan. "Keep It Together" was not originally released in Europe or Australasia, other than as the double A-side of "Vogue" (number 1, April 1990).
Despite not having a music video (the one embedded below is fan-made), "Keep It Together" peaked at number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in March 1990, and at number 8 in Canada in April 1990.
"Keep It Together" was one among a bunch of earlier Madonna singles released on CD single format in Australia in July 1991. I am not sure what spurred it to eventually chart almost seven months later, but here we are...
"Keep It Together" in its own right did not peak in Australia until December 1993, amid the frenzy accompanying Madonna's first tour of Australia, with The Girlie Show. Spoiler alert: a couple of earlier Madonna singles will also re-chart (lowly) in the last few months of 1993.
On the ARIA state charts, "Keep It Together" performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 105. The single peaked in 1992 in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory and Queensland, and in 1993 on the remaining state charts.
Next week (10 February): Seven top 150 debuts and two bubbling WAY down under entries.
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