One thing all this week's new entries peaking outside the top 100 have in common is that they all peaked within the month of October 1992. Let’s take a look.
Bananarama: movin' on and out of the ARIA top 100.
Top 150 debuts:
Number 132 "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" by XTC
Peak: number 132
Peak date: 5 October 1992
Weeks in top 150: 1 week
Top 150 chart run: 132
Weeks on chart: 7 weeks
English band XTC formed in Swindon in 1972. Between 1979 and 1992, they placed nine singles on the Australian top 100, with "Senses Working Overtime" (number 12, May 1982) being the biggest of those. Their only other single to dent the top 40 during the 1980s was "Generals and Majors" (number 24, November 1980).
"The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" was the second single issued from the band's twelfth studio album Nonsuch (number 75, July 1992). It followed "The Disappointed" (number 32, July 1992), which was the band's third and final top 40 hit in Australia.
Internationally, "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" peaked at number 71 in the UK in June 1992, and number 48 in Canada in July 1992. The single also registered on the meaningless US Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, peaking at number 46 in May 1992, and on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, where it reached number 1 in May 1992.
Locally, "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" performed strongest in Queensland, where it reached number 91 on the state chart.
I don't recall hearing this one at the time. My favourite XTC single is probably "Mayor of Simpleton" (number 89, April 1989).
We'll next see XTC in 2000 (if I'm still writing these posts for that year). Before then, they had two albums bubble under in Australia: Fossil Fuel - The XTC Singles Collection (number 105, November 1996), and Homespun (number 308, November 1999). We shall also see a cover version of "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" bubble under in 1995!
Number 144 "Chain of Fools" by Girl Overboard
Peak: number 138
Peak date: 12 October 1992
Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 144-138-145-149
Weeks on chart: 13 weeks
We last saw Melbourne band Girl Overboard in 1990.
"Chain of Fools" was the second single released from the band's second - and final - studio album Go (number 91, March 1993), following "Your Love" (number 70, August 1992).
On the state charts, "Chain of Fools" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 121.
I didn't know "Chain of Fools" at the time, but it is my favourite Girl Overboard single. A fan of theirs sent me the music video on a DVD in the mid-2000s. I have mentioned before that I participate in a 'song contest' on the Pop Justice music forum, where participants enter a pre-2000 song by an obscure-ish artist that was not a major chart hit in the US or UK, and come up with a list of their ten favourite tracks from the songs submitted, which are assigned points in Eurovision style (you cannot vote for your own submission). I entered "Chain of Fools" a couple of years ago, not expecting it to do that well, and it came second out of about 30 songs, only missing the top spot by one or two points, so obviously other people liked it! I think the single would have done better had it been promoted properly.
We shall see Girl Overboard on one more occasion, in 1993.
Number 145 "My Destiny" by Lionel Richie
Peak: number 125
Peak date: 12 October 1992
Weeks in top 150: 4 weeks
Top 150 chart run: 145-125-135-133
Weeks on chart: 5 weeks
American singer-songwriter Lionel Richie was the lead singer in The Commodores, who placed nine singles on the Australian top 100 between 1974 and 1982, with "Three Times a Lady" (number 1 for five weeks in October-November 1978) being the biggest one of those. "Three Times a Lady" was actually number one when I was born!
Lionel left The Commodores in 1982 and embarked on a solo career, although he had already tasted success as a solo artist, dueting with Diana Ross on "Endless Love" (number 1 for four weeks in October 1981). Between 1981 and 1992, Lionel landed 14 solo top 100 singles in Australia, with the aforementioned "Endless Love", "All Night Long (All Night)" (number 1 for six weeks in December 1983-January 1984), and "Hello" (number 1 for three weeks in June 1984) topping the chart.
Lionel's previous major hit, and last one to make the top 40, in Australia was "Dancing on the Ceiling" (number 2, September 1986). "My Destiny" was the second new track released as a single to promote Lionel's Back to Front (number 1, June 1992) compilation album. It followed "Do It to Me" (number 45, June 1992).
Internationally, "My Destiny" peaked at number 1 in the Netherlands in September 1992, number 7 in the UK in September 1992, number 10 in Ireland, number 23 in Canada in October 1992, number 6 in the Flanders region of Belgium in October 1992, number 38 in New Zealand in October 1992, number 18 in France in November 1992, number 23 in Germany in November 1992, number 19 in Switzerland in November 1992, and number 22 in Austria in December 1992. It also registered on three meaningless US Billboard genre-specific charts, peaking at number 56 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in September 1992, number 7 on the Adult Contemporary chart in October 1992, and number 75 on the Radio Songs chart in January 1993.
"My Destiny" was a much more-modest 'hit' in Australia, being most popular in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 94 on the state chart.
We'll next see Lionel in December 1992.
Bubbling WAY down under:
Number 175 "Love Hates Stares" by Scarlet
Peak: number 164
Peak date: 19 October 1992
Weeks on chart: 6 weeks
Scarlet were an Australian band, based in Sydney. I didn't think I had heard this one before, but I may have heard part of it, as it appeared on the free Coca-Cola Australian Music Day 1992 CD compilation, which someone gave me about a year after its release.
"Love Hates Stares" was the band's debut release. The single performed strongest on the South Australia/Northern Territory state chart, where it reached number 159. Given that the music video, embedded below, has garnered less than 1200 views in 14 years, I figure that not many people were aware of the band or this release. Scarlet never landed a top 100 single or album in Australia.
"Love Hates Stares" does not appear on Scarlet's debut, and only, album Magnolia (number 144, October 1995).
We shall next see Scarlet in 1993.
Number 177 "Movin' On" by Bananarama
Peak: number 177
Peak date: 5 October 1992
Weeks on chart: 4 weeks
We last saw English vocal trio Bananarama in 1991. Since then, the group had pared down to a duo, with Jacquie O'Sullivan, who joined the group in 1988 following Siobhan Fahey's departure, leaving - or rather, being told her services were no longer required - in the later months of 1991. Founding members Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin intended to continue as a duo after Siobhan quit the group, but everyone around them insisted they needed a replacement, in keeping with the image of Bananarama as three girls. Jacquie was essentially treated as an employee/the hired help during her tenure with the band, never having much of a say in the group's decisions or direction. It didn't help that interviewers continued to refer to her as "the new girl", three years after she had joined the group.
"Movin' On" was the lead single from Bananarama's sixth studio album Please Yourself (number 222, June 1993). The group had returned to producers Mike Stock and Pete Waterman (of Stock Aitken Waterman - Matt Aitken left the partnership in mid-1991) for the recording of Please Yourself, after largely parting ways with them for their previous album Pop Life (number 146, August 1991), although that album contained two Stock Aitken Waterman compositions. Bananarama's previous Stock Aitken Waterman-produced album, WOW! (number 1, June 1988), was their most successful in Australia.
The sound Stock Waterman were going for with Please Yourself was described as "ABBA Banana", inspired by the Swedish super-group. It sounded somewhat dated, though, for 1992, even though the ABBA revival was on the cusp of happening. After the experimental sounds (well, for Bananarama) on Pop Life, the Please Yourself era seemed a step backwards for Bananarama, and the album's lack of commercial success would ultimately cost the duo their 11-year contract with London Records. Although the pair continued to record, they would not release music again in the UK until an attempted comeback in 2005 with the Drama album (number 334, April 2006).
Internationally, "Movin' On" peaked at number 24 in the UK in August 1992, number 52 in Germany in October 1992, number 34 in the Netherlands in October 1992, and number 33 in the Flanders region of Belgium in November 1992.
In Australia, "Movin' On" was most popular in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 170 on the state chart.
I heard "Movin' On" on the UK Chart Attack radio program; I otherwise would not have been aware of its release at the time, though saw the single in the shops here during the term 3 school holidays (though I was looking for it).
"Movin' On" was the only single released from Please Yourself in Australia. Two further singles were issued from the album in the UK/Europe - "Last Thing on My Mind" (number 71 in the UK in November 1992), and a cover version of Andrea True Connection's "More, More, More" (number 24 in the UK in March 1993). "Last Thing on My Mind" would go on to become a much bigger hit when Steps released their version of the track in 1998, which peaked at number 5 in Australia in August 1998. Steps also covered "Movin' On" as an album track for their Steptacular (number 25, November 1999) album.
I recall Keren and Sara bagging former band mate Siobhan Fahey's contribution to Shakespears Sister's "Stay" (number 3, May 1992), presumably feeling slighted after Siobhan's admission that she "hated" the music Bananarama were making (with Stock Aitken Waterman) when she left the group, on UK Chart Attack, following the release of "Last Thing on My Mind". They described Siobhan's part in the song as "a real low point", while expressing fondness for Marcella Detroit's part. Ooh er! They made up with Siobhan in 1996, however, and the original line up of Bananarama finally toured in 2017.
We'll next see Bananarama in 1996.
Number 201 "I Was Right" by Underground Lovers
Peak: number 174
Peak date: 19 October 1992
Weeks on chart: 5 weeks
Melbourne band Underground Lovers formed in 1988 as GBVG, changing the band's name in 1990.
"I Was Right" was the band's first major label single, and appears on their second studio album Leaves Me Blind (number 133, March 1993). The single was most popular in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 142 on the state chart.
I hadn't heard this one before. The Underground Lovers tracks I was familiar with all have a male lead vocal, while this one doesn't.
Underground Lovers only managed to place one single on the ARIA top 100, "Losin' It" (number 93, September 1994).
We'll next see Underground Lovers in 1993.
Number 206 "Give It Up" by Wilson Phillips
Peak: number 206
Peak date: 5 October 1992
Weeks on chart: 3 weeks
We last saw American vocal trio Wilson Phillips in 1991.
"Give It Up" was issued as the second single from the group's second album Shadows and Light (number 30, August 1992), following "You Won't See Me Cry" (number 31, July 1992).
Internationally, "Give It Up" peaked at number 36 in the UK in August 1992, number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in September 1992, number 54 in Germany in October 1992, and number 16 in Canada in October 1992. It also registered on two US Billboard genre-specific charts, peaking at number 40 on the Radio Songs chart in September 1992, and number 12 on the Adult Contemporary chart in October 1992.
Domestically, "Give It Up" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 166 on the state chart.
I remember hearing this one on the American Top 40 radio show. The production sounds quite similar to the album version of Amy Grant's "Every Heartbeat" (number 17, September 1991) to my ears. I hadn't seen the video before, and forgot that Wendy sang lead vocal on this one instead of Chynna.
This would be Wilson Phillips' final single to chart in Australia, although a third single from Shadows and Light, "Flesh & Blood", was released locally in February 1993, with Carnie singing lead on the verses.
Wilson Phillips would split in 1993. Chynna Phillips would go on to have some solo success in Australia, although, oddly, not much in the rest of the world. Chynna landed two notable solo hits locally, with "Naked and Sacred" (number 15, June 1996) and "I Live for You" (number 9, November 1996). She also had a minor 'hit' with "Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me" (number 64, February 1997). All three singles appear on Chynna's only solo album Naked and Sacred (number 35, November 1996).
Wilson Phillips would reform for a one-off performance in 2001, then again from 2004 to 2006, before reuniting properly in 2010. They had three later low-charting albums in Australia, with Greatest Hits (number 414, November 2000), California (number 281, November 2004), and Dedicated (number 509, May 2012).
Number 214 "Bell Bottomed Tear" by The Beautiful South
Peak: number 214
Peak date: 5 October 1992
Weeks on chart: 1 week
English band The Beautiful South last visited us in 1991.
"Bell Bottomed Tear" was released as the second single in Australia from the band's third studio album 0898 Beautiful South (number 145, June 1992). It followed "Old Red Eyes Is Back", which was released locally in March 1992 but did not chart. In the band's homeland, "Bell Bottomed Tear" was the third single form the album, with "We Are Each Other" (not released in Australia) issued in between.
"Bell Bottomed Tear" peaked at number 16 in the UK in June 1992. In Australia, the single was most successful in Western Australia, where it reached number 185 on the state chart.
I hadn't heard this one before. It's nice enough, but not terribly exciting.
We'll next see The Beautiful South in 1994.
Next week (12 October): Three top 150 entries and four bubbling WAY down under debuts.
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