Week commencing 29 June 1992

Before diving into this week in 1992's new entries peaking outside the ARIA top 100, I have updated a bunch of earlier posts:

 

* 31 July 1989 - with new bubbling WAY down under entry from Spirit of the Forest;

* 16 July 1990 - with new bubbling WAY down under entry from Pop Will Eat Itself;

* 6 August 1990 - with new bubbling WAY down under entry from Revenge;

* 20 August 1990 - with new bubbling WAY down under entry from Cameo;

* 21 October 1991 - with new bubbling WAY down under entry from Shabba Ranks featuring Maxi Priest;

* 23 March 1992 - with new bubbling WAY down under entry from Shabba Ranks featuring KRS-1.

 

Londonbeat: Australia wasn't really thinking about them in 1992.

 

Top 150 debuts:

 

Number 119 "Thrill Me" by Simply Red

Peak: number 109

Peak date: 20 July 1992

Weeks in top 150: 9 weeks

Weeks on chart: 10 weeks

 

We last saw English band Simply Red at the end of 1989.

 

"Thrill Me" was issued as the fourth single from the band's fourth studio album Stars (number 7, April 1992), which was certified double-platinum in Australia, and was the highest-selling album of 1991 and 1992 in the UK.  It followed the singles "Something Got Me Started" (number 29, November 1991), "Stars" (number 29, March 1992) and "For Your Babies" (number 55, May 1992).

 

Internationally, "Thrill Me" peaked at number 33 in the UK in May 1992, number 30 in Ireland in May 1992, and number 58 in the Netherlands in June 1992.

 

Within Australia, "Thrill Me" was most popular in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 90 on the state chart.

 

Despite missing the ARIA top 100, "Thrill Me" spent seven consecutive weeks of its chart run in the top 120, which is not too bad for a single falling short of the top 100.

 

While I quite possibly have heard "Thrill Me" before, I don't think I have actually listened to it until writing this post.  It's not bad, though hardly a career highlight.

 

Simply Red will join us next in September 1992.

 

Number 130 "The Wild Life" by Slaughter

Peak: number 130

Peak date: 29 June 1992

Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks

Weeks on chart: 8 weeks

 

We last saw American glam metal band Slaughter in 1991.  Their style of music was really on its last legs commercially around this time in 1992.

"The Wild Life" was the lead single and title track from Slaughter's second studio album The Wild Life (number 95, June 1992).  Internationally, the single peaked at number 64 in the UK in May 1992.

Domestically, "The Wild Life" was most popular in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 103.

This was Slaughter's final charting release in Australia.

 

 

Number 139 Unexplained EP by EMF

Peak: number 136

Peak date: 6 July 1992

Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks

Weeks on chart: 10 weeks

 

English band EMF last graced our presence in 1991.

 

The Unexplained EP was the first new material EMF released following their debut album Schubert Dip (number 44, June 1991).  The EP was led by the track "Getting Through", for which the music video is embedded below.  "Getting Through" would later appear on the band's second studio album Stigma (number 143, November 1992).

Internationally, the Unexplained EP peaked at number 18 in the UK in April 1992, and number 16 in Ireland.

 

In Australia, the Unexplained EP performed strongest in South Autralia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 105.

 

I don't recall hearing "Getting Through" at the time, but remember seeing the EP reviewed in Smash Hits magazine.

 

We shall next see EMF in 1993.

 

 

Number 142 "You Bring on the Sun" by Londonbeat

Peak: number 135

Peak date: 20 July 1992

Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks

Weeks on chart: 8 weeks

English band Londonbeat made their first appearance with a single peaking between number 101 and 150 in mid-1991.

 

"You Bring on the Sun" was issued as the lead single from Londonbeat's third studio album Harmony (number 181, November 1992).  Internationally, the single peaked at number 32 in the UK in June 1992, number 9 in Sweden in July 1992, number 9 in Norway, number 7 in the Netherlands in July 1992, number 3 in the Flanders region of Belgium in July 1992, number 10 in Austria in July 1992, number 26 in Germany in July 1992, and number 14 in Switzerland in August 1992.

In Australia, "You Bring on the Sun" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 87.

 

I caught the video for "You Bring on the Sun" as a new release on rage, and was surprised that it didn't do better on the charts here. 

It's hard to believe that Lononbeat's lead vocalist, Jimmy Helms, is now aged 82!  He was 49, not 44 as I had previously reported (I guess they knocked a few years off his age at the time), when "I've Been Thinking About You" topped the Australian singles chart in early 1991.  Maybe there's hope for me to have a successful pop career yet...

We shall next see Londonbeat in November 1992.

 

Bubbling WAY down under:

 

Number 184 "Mr. Loverman" by Shabba Ranks

Peak: number 163

Peak date: 28 June 1993

Weeks on chart: 12 weeks

We last saw Jamaican dancehall artist Shabba Ranks in March 1992.

"Mr. Loverman" started out as the 1988 single "Champion Lover", recorded by English lovers rock singer Deborahe Glasgow.  Shabba then featured vocals from the song on the original version of "Mr. Loverman", appearing on his Rappin' with the Ladies album in 1990.  Deborahe passed away in January 1994, aged 28, following a cerebral haemorrhage resulting from lymphatic cancer.  Due to Glasgow's illness, the song was re-recorded with female vocals provided by Chevelle Franklin for its single release, which was remixed by David Morales.  This version was added to the second pressing of Shabba's 1992 album X-tra Naked (number 188, February 1993).  The song also appeared on the soundtrack of the 1992 movie Deep Cover.

 

Internationally, "Mr. Loverman" peaked at number 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in August 1992, and it initially peaked at number 23 in the UK in August 1992, before reaching a higher peak of number 3 in March 1993 when re-released.  The single also peaked at number 31 in Sweden in August 1992, number 21 in the Netherlands in September 1992, number 33 in the Flanders region of Belgium in October 1992, number 17 in Germany in November 1992, number 22 in Austria in November 1992, number 8 in Ireland in March 1993, and number 19 in France in July 1993.

 

"Mr. Loverman" also peaked at number 2 on the meaningless US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in July 1992, number 4 on the Hip-Hop/R&B Airplay chart in July 1992, number 2 on the Dance Singles Sales chart in July 1992, number 7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Single Sales chart in July 1992, and number 55 on the Radio Songs chart in August 1992.

"Mr. Loverman" had quite a protracted chart run in Australia, despite its number 163 peak, which it reached a day shy of one year after it debuted at number 184.  In its twelve weeks spent on the ARIA singles chart, "Mr. Loveman" was charting in June of 1992, and January, March, June, July and August of 1993.

 

I first heard the song when seeing the video on a special Video Hits: Adults Only episode, which aired in the middle of the night during the Easter school holidays in April 1993, and I remember watching live.  I am not sure why the video was selected for that special - perhaps because it is meant to be 'sexy'?  Many of the other videos shown were more risqué.

 

On the state charts, "Mr. Loverman" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 106 in March 1993.

 

The "Shabba!" you hear on the track during the chorus is uttered by Maxi Priest, sampled from their 1991 collaboration "Housecall".

 

The drum pattern from "Mr. Loverman" was sampled on Alanis Morissette's "You Learn" (number 20, July 1996).

We shall next see Shabba in December 1992.

 

 

Number 189 "Controlling Me" by Oceanic

Peak: number 168

Peak date: 3 August 1992

Weeks on chart: 5 weeks

 

English electronic dance act Oceanic formed in Merseyside, and landed a number 3 hit in the UK with their debut single "Insanity" in September 1991, which peaked at number 31 in Australia in April 1992, almost five months after its debut at number 155 in November 1991.  Interestingly, "Insanity" performed much stronger in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 11, and Western Australia, where it reached number 14, than elsewhere.  They followed it up with "Wicked Love" (number 96, May 1992), which did not fare nearly as well.

"Controlling Me" was released as the third single from Oceanic's first, and only, album That Compact Disc by Oceanic (number 131, July 1992), which was titled That Album by Oceanic and That Cassette by Oceanic on the LP and cassette formats, respectively.  I remember seeing the CD (I was going to say album, but vinyl was pretty much dead in Australia, other than perhaps 12" singles for DJs, by this point in 1992) in a record store and thinking 'that's an interesting title'.

Internationally, "Controlling Me" peaked at number 14 in the UK in June 1992, and number 19 in Ireland in June 1992.

Domestically, "Controlling Me" performed strongest in Western Australia, where it reached number 134.

While "Controlling Me" would be Oceanic's final single released in Australia, they had one more minor chart 'hit' in the UK with "Ignorance" (UK number 72, November 1992), featuring Siobhan Maher on vocals.  I remember hearing the song on the UK Chart Attack radio show and liking it.

 

 

Next week (6 July): A bumper edition week with twelve new top 150 entries and three bubbling WAY down under debuts.

 

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