10 August 2024

Week commencing 10 August 1992

This week in 1992's new entries peaking outside the top 100 are a mixed bunch.  Before taking a look at them, I have updated the following earlier post:
 
* 15 July 1991 - with a new bubbling WAY down under entry from The Farm.
 
Opus III's Kirsty Hawkshaw certainly felt the wind with that hairstyle in 1992.
 
Top 150 debuts:
 
Number 129 "N.W.O" by Ministry
Peak: number 118
Peak date: 24 August 1992
Weeks in top 150: 7 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 129-119-118-131-124-129-135
 
We last saw American industrial metal band Ministry in March 1992.
 
"N.W.O", which of course stands for New World Order, is considered a protest song against American president at the time, George H.W. Bush.  The song contains numerous samples of his political speeches.  The track was the second single lifted from the band's fifth studio album ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ (number 54, August 1992), which is also known as Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs.
 
Internationally, "N.W.O" peaked at number 49 in the UK in August 1992.  It also reached number 11 on the meaningless US Billboard Alternative Airplay chart during the same month.
 
I am slightly amused to see that an extended dance mix exists for this track.
 
This would be Ministry's final single to peak within the ARIA top 150.



Number 142 "Pain Lies on the Riverside" by Live
Peak: number 142
Peak date: 10 August 1992
Weeks in top 150: 1 week
Top 150 chart run: 142
Weeks on chart: 8 weeks

American band Live formed in York, Pennsylvania in 1984.  "Pain Lies on the Riverside" was the band's second single released in Australia, lifted from their second studio album and first major label release Mental Jewelry (number 137, July 1992).  It followed "Operation Spirit", which was released in Australia in May 1992 but failed to chart.

I was not aware of Live until "Selling the Drama" (number 49, September 1994), from their third album and commercial breakthrough Throwing Copper (number 1 for 7 non-consecutive weeks in August 1995 and January 1996), crept into the top 50 in 1994.  The band's biggest hit in Australia would be "Lightning Crashes" (number 13, September 1995), the following year.
 
Overseas, "Pain Lies on the Riverside" charted on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart, where it reached number 24.  It does not appear to have dented any other national chart.
 
Domestically, "Pain Lies on the Riverside" was most successful in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 120.
 
We will next see Live in 1995.


 
Bubbling WAY down under:
 
Number 168 "Rising Sun" by The Farm
Peak: number 168
Peak date: 10 August 1992
Weeks on chart: 4 weeks
 
We last saw English band The Farm in July 1991.
 
"Rising Sun" was issued as the lead single from The Farm's second studio album Love See No Colour (number 242, November 1992) in Australia.  The album oddly missed the top 75 in the UK, despite their debut album topping the albums chart there in 1991!  The album's title track was issued as the first single from the album in the UK, but stalled at number 58 there in December 1991.  Fickle poms, eh?

Internationally, "Rising Sun" peaked at number 48 in the UK in June 1992.  Locally, it was equally most-popular in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory and South Australia/Northern Territory, where it peaked at number 159 on both state charts.

We'll see The Farm once more, in November 1992.
 

 
Number 174 "I'll Be There" by Innocence
Peak: number 174
Peak date: 10 August 1992
Weeks on chart: 5 weeks
 
We last saw English band Innocence in 1991.
 
"I'll Be There" was the first single lifted from the group's second album Build (number 217, December 1992).
 
Internationally, "I'll Be There" peaked at number 26 in the UK in June 1992.  Locally, the single found greatest success in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 156.
 
We'll next see Innocence in 1993.
 

 
Number 178 "Burning Up the Night" by Flash and the Pan
Peak: number 178
Peak date: 10 August 1992
Weeks on chart: 2 weeks

Australian duo Harry Vanda and George Young were, respectively, the lead guitarist and rhythm guitarist in The Easybeats, who scored two number one singles in Australia with "Sorry" (number 1, November 1966) and "Friday on My Mind" (number 1, December 1966).  During the 1970s, they produced AC/DC's first few albums, and wrote and produced numerous hits for John Paul Young, including "Love Is in the Air" (number 3, June 1978).
 
The duo began releasing material in 1976 as Flash and the Pan, which was essentially a side-project.  The pair landed back-to-back top 5 hits in Australia with "Hey, St. Peter" (number 5, February 1977) and "Down Among the Dead Men" (number 4, September 1978).  Flash and the Pan last charted in Australia with "Midnight Man" (number 66, February 1985).  During the 1990s, the pair wrote and produced Mark Williams' "Show No Mercy" (number 8, July 1990).
 
"Burning Up the Night" was the lead single and title track of Flash and the Pan's sixth and final studio album Burning Up the Night, which was released locally in September 1992 but failed to chart.
 
On the state charts, "Burning Up the Night" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 155.
 
George Young passed away in 2017, aged 70.
 
We shall next see Flash and the Pan in 1993.
  

 
Number 179 Find 'em, Fool 'em E.P. by S'Express
Peak: number 179
Peak date: 10 August 1992
Weeks on chart: 4 weeks
 
We last saw S'Express in 1989.  A track that Mark Moore, who essentially was S'Express, remixed bubbled under in 1990.
 
Since then, S'Express had gained a new lead singer, Sonique (real name Sonia Clarke), who would go on to score two solo hits in Australia with "It Feels So Good" (number 21, July 2000) - more than a year after it debuted at number 236 in March 1999 - and "Sky" (number 18, February 2001).

"Find 'em, Fool 'em, Forget 'em" appeared on S'Express's second album Intercourse, which was released in Australia in August 1992 but failed to chart.  The track was originally released as a single in its own right in the UK in early 1991, peaking at number 83 there in March of that year.  For the Find 'em, Fool 'em E.P., the track was paired with "Let It All Out", which did not appear on the album.

The 1992 release of the single peaked at number 43 in the UK in May 1992.  In Australia, the E.P. was most successful in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 141.

While we won't see S'Express bubbling under again, they landed another minor hit in Australia with "Theme from S-Xpress (The Return Trip)" (number 42, July 1996).
 
We will see Sonique on her own in 1998.
 

 
Number 184 "I Talk to the Wind" by Opus III
Peak: number 162
Peak date: 7 September 1992
Weeks on chart: 5 weeks
 
English electronic band Opus III were Kevin Dodds, Ian Munro and Nigel Walton, with Kirsty Hawkshaw providing vocals.  They landed a minor hit in Australia with their debut single "It's a Fine Day" (number 54, May 1992), which was a cover version of an a cappella track recorded by Jane in 1983.  Listening to the original, Kirsty provides almost an exact replica of Jane's vocals - at least to my ears.

"I Talk to the Wind" was the second and final single lifted from Opus III's debut album Mind Fruit (number 173, August 1992).  Like its predecessor, this track was another cover version, this time quite a radical reworking of a song originally recorded by King Crimson in 1969.

Internationally, Opus III's rendition of "I Talk to the Wind" peaked at number 52 in the UK in June 1992.

Locally, "I Talk to the Wind" was most successful in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 145.

We'll next see Opus III in 1994.
 
 
 
Number 192 "Dr. Bombay" by Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
Peak: number 160
Peak date: 17 August 1992
Weeks on chart: 4 weeks
 
Born Teren Delvon Jones, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien became a one-hit wonder in Australia earlier in 1992 with "Mistadobalina" (number 11, June 1992).  Mistadobalina would be name-checked in the opening line of "Dr. Bombay", which I had not heard before, as well as in the second verse.
 
"Dr. Bombay" was issued as Del's second single from his debut album I Wish My Brother George Was Here (number 151, July 1992) in Australia.

Internationally, "Dr. Bombay" peaked at number 26 in New Zealand in August 1992.  Locally, the single performed best in Western Australia, where it reached number 147 on the state chart.

"Dr. Bombay" would be Del's last single to chart in Australia.  To my surprise, however, he landed a second charting album, in 2008, with his fifth studio album Eleventh Hour (number 538, March 2008).
 



Number 202 "Make It with You" by The Pasadenas
Peak: number 182
Peak date: 17 August 1992
Weeks on chart: 4 weeks
 
We last saw English group The Pasadenas in March 1992.
 
"Make It with You" was lifted from their covers album Yours Sincerely, and is a cover version of a song originally recorded by Bread in 1970.  Bread's version peaked at number 8 in Australia on the Go-Set chart in October 1970.

Internationally, The Pasadenas' version of "Make It with You" peaked at number 20 in the UK in April 1992, number 28 in Ireland in April 1992, and number 54 in Germany in June 1992.

Domestically, "Make It with You" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 148.

This would be The Pasadenas' final charting release in Australia.


 
Next week (17 August): A quieter week, with only four top 150 debuts.
 
< Previous week: 3 August 1992                               Next week: 17 August 1992 >

3 comments:

  1. I laughed at "Fickle poms eh? '

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey mate. I've been seeing your comments for years on Gavin Scott's old website & have watched your clips on your YouTube channel. How's things with the cancer going, have you managed to beat it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, I know you meant well, but a lot of people with cancer (including myself) don't like the war/battle-type language people often use surrounding the disease, as e.g. it implies someone didn't 'fight' hard enough if they die from their illness. We don't e.g. say someone lost their battle with heart disease, dementia, stroke, Alzheimer's, depression, etc., but we oddly use this language for cancer.

      To answer your question, I am still having treatment.

      Delete

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