There's no common theme I can identify linking this week in 1992's new entries peaking outside the top 100. Before diving in, I have updated the following earlier posts:
* 21 January 1991 - with a new bubbling WAY down under entry from Pop Will Eat Itself;
* 8 July 1991 - with new bubbling WAY down under entries from Pop Will Eat Itself and Soul Family Sensation.
Ce Ce Peniston kept on walkin' in the opposite direction from the top 100 this week in 1992.
Top 150 debuts:
Number 109 “Beds Are Burning” (live) by Midnight Oil
Peak: number 108
Peak date: 3 August 1992
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 109-108-113-110-117-127-136
It's kind of fitting that I would finally lose my hair (after a year of chemotherapy) during the week that Australian band, Midnight Oil, fronted by famous baldie Peter Garrett, would be the first entry I have to write about. The Oils formed in 1972, though were originally known as The Farm (not to be confused with the UK band of the same name). This is the first occasion Midnight Oil appear in the below number 100 section of the chart, although we have a seen the band's drummer, Rob Hirst, as a member of Ghostwriters previously.
Although the original 1987 studio version of "Beds Are Burning" (number 6, September 1987) was technically not their highest-charting single in Australia, it is without doubt their signature track, and biggest international hit, reaching the top 10 across Europe and the top 20 in the US.
Midnight Oil's biggest Australian hit was their Species Deceases EP (number 1 for 6 non-consecutive weeks in December 1985 and January 1986), which became the first release to debut at number 1 on the Australian singles chart. My favourite track of theirs would be "The Dead Heart" (number 4, August 1986), which, together with the studio version of "Beds Are Burning", was taken from their sixth studio album Diesel and Dust (number 1 for 6 weeks in August-September 1987).
Fast forward to 1992, the Oils released the live album Scream in Blue - Live (number 3, May 1992). This live version of "Beds Are Burning" was issued as the second single from it, following "Sometimes" (number 33, May 1992). The track was recorded in Darlinghurst in 1989, from the Our Common Future concert. Skip to 1:25 in the video embedded below if you just want to get to the music. I don't recall hearing this version before.
On the state charts, this live version of "Beds Are Burning" performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 74.
We shall next see Midnight Oil in 1993.
Number 122 “Boy (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)” by Deborah Blando
Peak: number 122
Peak date: 27 July 1992
Weeks in top 150: 3 weeks
Weeks on chart: 4 weeks
Chart run: 206-122-127-131
Brazilian songstress Deborah Blando, born in Italy, seemed to come out of nowhere in 1992 with her single "Innocence" (number 31, May 1992), which I rather like, though had not heard until it entered the top 60 on rage. There were a few curiosities like that around mid-1992; I suspect heavily-discounted singles (of which "Innocence" was one), which was a new marketing strategy in Australia at the time (during a recession), was a factor at play - not to say that I think "Innocence" didn't deserve to do well. Indeed, I can see a copy of the Australian CD single with a $1.95 price tag on it (as opposed to the regular $7.95 or even $8.95 price of CD singles at that time) on eBay; I am guessing the cassette single was sold for $0.95, as was a Shakespears Sister cassingle I bought in July 1992. To my eyes, Deborah looked like the new Cyndi Lauper, and even had a similar voice in some ways.
"Boy (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)" is a cover of a song by The Temptations, originally titled "Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)", from 1964. The track was apparently Deborah's debut single overseas, but her second released in Australia, lifted from her debut album A Different Story (number 182, April 1992).
I cannot find evidence of this single charting elsewhere, though it presumably charted in Brazil, assuming they had charts at the time. In Australia, the single performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 107.
I don't recall hearing this one at the time, though caught a brief preview of the video (though I think without audio) on Video Smash Hits. It's OK, but I much prefer the moody eeriness of "Innocence".
This would be Deborah's last foray onto the Australian chart, though I remember seeing her appear on some Rio festival on Hey Hey It's Saturday towards the end of 1993.
Number 130 “Keep on Walkin’” by Ce Ce Peniston
Peak: number 123
Peak dates: 10 August 1992 and 17 August 1992
Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks
Weeks on chart: 7 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 130-126-123-123-141-150
American singer and former beauty pageant winner Ce Ce Peniston, born Cecilia Veronica Peniston, launched her recording career with the enduring "Finally" (number 8, March 1992), which she co-wrote. I first heard that track while on a family holiday in Canberra just after Christmas 1991. She followed up that track with "We Got a Love Thang" (number 36, June 1992), which originally peaked at number 68 in May 1992 and dropped out of the top 100 for two weeks before miraculously climbing back up to number 36, and then dropping to number 72 again the following week! I assume the bounce in sales was due to maybe a short promotional visit to Australia from Ce Ce, heavy discounting (as mentioned for Deborah Blando above), or perhaps the record company just buying up copies themselves? Whatever the reason, it saved Ce Ce from becoming a one-hit wonder in Australia.
"Keep on Walkin'" was issued as the third single from Ce Ce's debut album Finally (number 95, March 1992). I first became familiar with the track via the American Top 40 radio show. This track was co-written by Kym Sims, whom we have seen bubble under twice in 1992 in her own right. Both she and Ce Ce worked with producer Steve "Silk" Hurley.
Internationally, the single peaked at number 10 in the UK in May 1992, number 17 in Ireland in May 1992, number 31 in the Flanders region of Belgium in June 1992, number 41 in the Netherlands in July 1992, number 67 in Canada in August 1992, and 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in August 1992. It also topped the meaningless US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in June 1992.
In Australia, "Keep on Walkin'" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 92.
We shall next see Ce Ce in 1994.
Number 131 “Karmadrome”/“Eat Me Drink Me Love Me Kill Me” by Pop Will Eat Itself
Peak: number 121
Peak date: 3 August 1992
Weeks in top 150: 5 weeks
Weeks on chart: 8 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 131-121-127-136-146
We last saw English band Pop Will Eat Itself in 1991.
"Karmadrome"/"Eat Me Drink Me Love Me Kill Me" was issued as the lead single from Pop Will Eat Itself's fourth studio album The Looks Or the Lifestyle? (number 165, October 1992). Internationally, the single peaked at number 17 in the UK in May 1992.
In Australia, "Karmadrome"/"Eat Me Drink Me Love Me Kill Me" performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 106.
I don't recall hearing either track before.
We'll next see Pop Will Eat Itself in October 1992.
Number 148 “Galileo” by Indigo Girls
Peak: number 130
Peak date: 10 August 1992
Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks
Weeks on chart: 11 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 148-142-130-134-140-136
Amy Ray and Emily Sailers, better known as Indigo Girls, hail from Atlanta, Georgia. The pair met in primary school, and began performing as Indigo Girls in 1985, while attending university.
Their debut Australian release was the single "Closer to Fine" (number 57, August 1989), lifted from their second album Indigo Girls (number 64, September 1989). I remember catching that one on rage before the top 50 chart in 1989. It would be the only Indigo Girls single to dent the top 100 in Australia.
"Galileo" was issued as the first, and in Australia, only, single from the duo's fourth studio album Rites of Passage (number 110, October 1992).
Internationally, "Galileo" peaked at number 89 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in August 1992, and number 86 in the UK in November 1992. It also reached number 10 on the meaningless US Billboard Alternative Airplay chart in June 1992.
In Australia, "Galileo" was most popular in Queensland, where it reached number 111.
We will next see Indigo Girls in 1994.
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 174 "Every Time I Roll the Dice" by Delbert McClinton featuring Bonnie Raitt & Melissa Etheridge
Peak: number 160
Peak date: 3 August 1992
Weeks on chart: 11 weeks
American blues singer-songwriter Delbert McClinton hails from Lubbock, Texas. His recording career began in 1972, although "Every Time I Roll the Dice" would be his only single to chart in Australia. The Australian pressing of this release lists Bonnie Raitt and Melissa Etheridge as featured vocalists (presumably as a selling point) on the cover artwork, although they are really just providing backing vocals on the track. This track is lifted from Delbert's twelfth studio album Never Been Rocked Enough (number 123, September 1992), which was also his first album to chart locally.
Delbert's biggest and only top 40 hit in his homeland was the 1980 single "Giving It Up for Love", which reached number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1981.
Internationally, "Every Time I Roll the Dice" peaked at number 13 on the meaningless US Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in July 1992, and number 40 in Canada in July 1992.
In Australia, "Every Time I Roll the Dice" was most popular in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 95. The Never Been Rocked Enough album was also much more popular in South Australia/Northern Territory than elsewhere, where it reached number 33 on the state albums chart.
"Every Time I Roll the Dice" fared better on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it reached number 90 nationally.
Although we will not see Delbert again, he had two later low-charting albums in Australia with the combined Second Wind/Keeper of the Flame set (number 414, June 2002) - these albums were originally released in 1978 and 1979, respectively, and Outdated Emotion (number 1234, May 2022).
Number 196 "It Only Takes a Minute" by Take That
Peak: number 191
Peak date: 3 August 1992
Weeks on chart: 4 weeks
We last saw British boy band Take That in March 1992.
"It Only Takes a Minute" is a cover version of a track originally performed by Tavares in 1975, which did not chart in Australia. Take That's version was released as the fourth single in their homeland from their debut album Take That & Party (number 104, May 1993), where it became their first major hit, and first release to peak within the top ten. In Australia, "It Only Takes a Minute" was Take That's second release.
Internationally, "It Only Takes a Minute" peaked at number 7 in the UK in June 1992, and at number 11 in Ireland during the same month.
Domestically, "It Only Takes a Minute" was most popular in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 172.
I first heard this one on the UK Chart Attack radio show, where it was played for several weeks, appearing in their top 5 (songs charting in the UK that had not yet crossed over or been released in the US). The song is catchy and probably one of my favourite Take That singles, although I do not consider myself a fan of theirs. I did not realise until researching this post that "It Only Take a Minute" was a cover.
Given that my interest in the charts wanes significantly towards the end of the 1990s, and subsequently I will almost certainly not be writing posts about 2007 charts here, I can tell you that Take That had further singles peaking outside the top 200 here from 2007 onwards, following their reformation in 2006 - but I have zero interest in those tracks. If you really want to know, they are: "Rule the World" (number 209, November 2007), "Greatest Day" (number 202, December 2008), "The Flood" (number 300, November 2010), and several lower-charting singles I care even less about in the 2010s.
Take That also had later low-charting albums in Australia with The Circus (number 180, December 2008), The Greatest Day - Take That Present: The Circus Live (number 820, January 2010), Progress Live (number 524, December 2011), and III (number 263, December 2014).
Number 197 "Best of You" by Kenny Thomas
Peak: number 197
Peak date: 27 July 1992
Weeks on chart: 1 week
We last saw English singer Kenny Thomas in April 1992.
"Best of You" was issued as the third single from Kenny's debut album Voices (number 133, May 1992). Internationally, "Best of You" peaked at number 11 in the UK in October 1991, number 27 in Ireland in October 1991, number 66 in Germany in December 1991, number 87 in the Netherlands in December 1991, number 31 in New Zealand in May 1992, and number 23 in France in July 1992.
Locally, "Best of You" performed 'best' in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 179.
Kenny will join us one more time, in 1994.
Next week (3 August): Six top 150 entries and five bubbling WAY down under debuts.
I have a copy of Deborah Blando's album, A Different Story, home to Innocence and Boy (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue). Among the songwriting contributors is Martika.
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