Week commencing 30 November 1992

A minor theme I noted running through this week in 1992's new entries peaking outside the top 100 is that three of them are cover versions, and another three are remixes or re-recordings of an artist's previous work.

Before we take a look, I have updated the following previous posts:

* 6 May 1991 - with new bubbling WAY down under entry from D.J.H. featuring Stefy;

* 9 September 1991 - with new bubbling WAY down under entry from D.J.H. featuring Stefy.

Mariah Carey: her top 100 run of hits was over this week in 1992.

Top 150 debuts:

Number 127 “Who Needs Love (Like That)” (Remix) by Erasure

Peak: number 120

Peak dates: 7 December 1992 and 4 January 1993

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 127-120-129-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-120-137-124

Weeks on chart: 9 weeks

We last saw English pop duo Erasure a mere four weeks ago.

"Who Needs Love Like That" (minus brackets) was Erasure's debut single in 1985, peaking at number 55 in the UK in September of that year.  The single was issued locally in October 1985, but failed to make a dent on the chart.

 

"Who Needs Love (Like That)" - now with added brackets, was remixed (the single version titled the Hamburg Mix) and released as a single to promote Erasure's first compilation album Pop! The First 20 Hits (number 122, November 1992).  In keeping with the drag theme of their recent "Take a Chance on Me" video, Andy and Vince appear as frocked dancers in the music video for the 1992 version of “Who Needs Love (Like That)”. 

The 1992 version of "Who Needs Love (Like That)" peaked at number 10 in the UK in November 1992, number 8 in Ireland in November 1992, number 31 in Sweden in November 1992, number 27 in Germany in December 1992, and number 18 in Austria in December 1992.

Locally, "Who Needs Love..." was most popular in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 94.

I first heard this one on the UK Chart Attack radio show, and caught the video as a new release on rage.

 

We will next see Erasure in 1994.

Number 130 “If It’s Over” by Mariah Carey

Peak: number 115

Peak date: 11 January 1993

Weeks in top 150: 9 weeks

Chart run: 130-124-126-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-127-115-126-130

Weeks on chart: 9 weeks

American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey burst onto the scene in 1990 with her debut single “Vision of Love" (number 9, September 1990), and her debut album Mariah Carey (number 6, February 1991), which spawned four US Billiboard Hot 100 number one hits.  At this point in 1992, Mariah had notched up eight consecutive top 100 singles in Australia, with only "Can't Let Go" (number 63, January 1992) falling short of the top 50.  My favourite Mariah single is "Someday" (number 44, April 1991), though I prefer the original album version to the New Jack Swing remix used in the music video.

 

"If It's Over" was originally a studio track on Mariah’ second album Emotions (number 8, October 1991).  It was one of the tracks Mariah performed for her MTV Unplugged (number 7, August 1992) set on 16 March 1992.  "If It's Over" received a limited single release in the Netherlands, Japan and Australia as the second single from MTV Unplugged, following "I'll Be There" (number 9, August 1992).

 

Internationally, "If It's Over" peaked at number 80 in the Netherlands in December 1992.

 

In Australia, "If It's Over" performed strongest on the Western Australia state chart, where it reached number 87.

 

While we won't see Mariah again in this region of the chart (I have no intention of continuing these posts into the 2000s), she had numerous lower-charting singles from the late 2000s onwards, including "Obsessed" (Remix) (number 258, August 2009), "Infinity" (number 108, May 2015), and “GTFO” (number 360, September 2018).  Interestingly, the European-only single from Mariah's debut album, "There's Got to Be a Way" EP (number 4059, August 2020) also charted in Australia during the streaming era.

Number 131 “Tell Me Why” by Genesis

Peak: number 110

Peak date: 11 January 1993

Weeks in top 150: 13 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 131-131-124-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-116-110-115-118-(out for one week)-140-143-132-147

Weeks on chart: 18 weeks

Between 1978 and 1992, English group Genesis amassed 16 Australian top 100 singles, starting with "Follow You Follow Me" (number 16, September 1978).  Their biggest hit in Australia was "Invisible Touch" (number 3, July 1986).  "Land of Confusion" (number 21, February 1987), also from the Invisible Touch (number 3, July 1986) album, is my favourite Genesis single.

"Tell Me Why" was issued as the fifth and final single from the fourteenth Genesis studio album We Can't Dance (number 8, July 1992).  It followed "No Son of Mine" (number 29, November 1991), "I Can't Dance" (number 7, March 1992), "Hold on My Heart" (number 63, July 1992), and "Jesus He Knows Me" (number 56, September 1992).  "Tell Me Why" was the last Genesis single to feature Phil Collins on lead vocals.  Phil quit the group in March 1996.

Internationally, "Tell Me Why" peaked at number 37 in the Netherlands in December 1992, number 51 in Germany in December 1992, number 27 in France in February 1993, and number 40 in the UK in February 1993.  The UK release of the single was postponed to make way for the live version of "Invisible Touch" from the group's The Way We Walk Volume One: The Shorts (number 37, December 1992) live album.

In Australia, "Tell Me Why" was most popular in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 74 on the state chart.

We'll next see Genesis, minus Phil, in 1997.  We'll see Phil solo next in 1993.

Number 138 “Thunderbirds Are Go!” by F.A.B. featuring MC Parker

Peak: number 135

Peak dates: 11 January 1993 and 18 January 1993

Weeks in top 150: 12 weeks 

Chart run: 185-138-139-140-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-138-135-135-144-142-143-149

Weeks on chart: 13 weeks 

 

Here's an interesting one.  "Thundebirds Are Go!" was released internationally in 1990, and received a 12" vinyl release in Australia in October 1990 on dance music label Colossal Records.  Its 1992 Australian release, on cassingle and CD single, was through BMG Records.  But, more interesting than that, a snippet of "Thunderbirds Are Go!" charted in Australia in 1991, as one of the tracks sampled on Megabass' “Time to Make the Floor Burn” (number 40, April 1991) megamix.  You can hear the "Thunderbirds Are Go!" sample from around 3:57 minutes into the video embedded in the previous sentence.  As you might expect, the track samples the theme song and audio from the 1960s British science fiction TV series Thunderbirds, which made use of electronic marionette puppetry.  While I was never really a Thunderbirds fan, I do recall catching part of a few episodes when they aired at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning here in the late 1980s.

 

Internationally, "Thunderbirds Are Go!" peaked at number 5 in the UK in July 1990, and at number 50 in the Netherlands in September 1990.

In Australia, “Thunderbirds Are Go!” was most popular in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 87 on the state chart.

I remember reading about this track in UK pop magazine Number One in 1990, but didn't hear the full song until it appeared on a UK VHS compilation I picked up in the late 2000s.

 

Number 141 “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” by Sinéad O’Connor

Peak: number 138

Peak date: 7 December 1992

Weeks in top 150: 6 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 141-138-139-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-150

Weeks on chart: 8 weeks

Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor last graced our presence in 1990.

"Don't Cry for Me Argentina", a cover version of the Evita musical song originally recorded by Julie Covington (number 1 for seven weeks in May-June 1977), was the second single issued from Sinéad's covers album Am I Not Your Girl? (number 17, October 1992), following "Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home" (number 37, September 1992).

 

Internationally, Sinéad's version of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" peaked at number 31 in the Flanders region of Belgium in November 1992, number 53 in the UK in December 1992, and number 44 in the Netherlands in December 1992.

 

Locally, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was most popular in Queensland, where it reached number 111 on the state chart.

 

We'll next see Sinéad in 1993.

Number 148 “Suspicious Minds” by Dwight Yoakam

Peak: number 129

Peak date: 4 January 1993

Weeks in top 150: 10 weeks 

Top 150 chart run: 148-135-136-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-129-131-132-139-135

American singer-songwriter, actor and film producer Dwight Yoakam released his debut album in 1986.  He made his first appearance on the Australian chart in 1988, with his third studio album Buenos Noches from a Lonely Room (number 91, October 1988).  He also charted locally with the appropriately-titled compilation album Just Lookin' for a Hit (number 141, November 1989), and his fourth studio album If There Was a Way (number 147, January 1991).

"Suspicious Minds", a Mark James cover version, better known recorded by Elvis Presley (number 1 for 2 weeks in December 1969 on the Go Set chart) and Fine Young Cannibals (number 6, April 1986), was Dwight's first - and only - top 150 single in Australia.  The track does not appear on Dwight's fifth studio album This Time (number 121, April 1993), but was recorded for the Honeymoon in Vegas soundtrack (number 46, November 1992).

Internationally, Dwight's version of "Suspicious Minds" peaked at number 31 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in December 1992, and at number 35 on the US Billboard Country Airplay chart in December 1992.

 

Dwight would eventually score a commercial breakthrough in Australia in 1996 with the Gone album (number 17, February 1996).

 

Number 149 “Walking in London” by Concrete Blonde

Peak: number 142

Peak date: 7 December 1992

Weeks in top 150: 2 weeks 

Known chart run: 210-149-142

Weeks on chart: 6 weeks

We last saw American band Concerete Blonde in 1989.  Since then, they landed a major breakthrough hit in Australia with “Joey” (number 2, August 1990).  They followed that up with the minor hit “Caroline” (number 39, October 1990), which is my favourite single of theirs, and an excellent cover version of Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” recorded for the movie Pump Up the Volume soundtrack (number 74, January 1992), which oddly did not chart when released as a single locally in November 1990.

Concrete Blonde returned in 1992 with their fourth studio album Walking in London (number 18, March 1992).  “Walking in London” was issued as the album’s third single, following "Ghost of a Texas Ladies' Man" (number 31, March 1992) and "Someday" (number 72, July 1992).

 

I could not find evidence of the "Walking in London" single charting elsewhere.  Locally, "Walking in London" was most successful in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 119.

 

We'll next see Concrete Blonde in 1994.

Number 150 “Wicked As It Seems” by Keith Richards

Peak: number 136

Peak date: 4 January 1993

Weeks in top 150: 8 weeks 

Chart run: 150-149-137-(chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)-136-141-138

Weeks on chart: 8 weeks

We last saw Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards in 1989.

"Wicked As It Seems" was the lead single from Keith's second solo studio album Main Offender (number 96, November 1992).  Internationally, "Wicked As It Seems" peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in January 1993.

Locally, "Wicked As It Seems" performed strongest in South Australia/Northern Territory, where it reached number 101 on the state chart.

We'll next see Keith in 1993.

Bubbling WAY down under:

Number 153 “I Am What I See” by Single Gun Theory

Peak: number 153

Peak date: 30 November 1992

Weeks on chart: 12 weeks 

 

Australian electronic group Single Gun Theory formed in Sydney in 1986.  They experienced their first state of chart success with the single "From a Million Miles" (number 64, March 1992).  "I Am What I See" was issued as the second and final single from their second studio album Millions, Like Stars in My Hands, Daggers in My Heart, Wage War (number 41, February 1992).  The single performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 130 on the state chart.

We shall see Single Gun Theory again in 1995.

Number 167 “Even Better Than the Real Thing” (Remixes) by U2

Peak: number 167

Peak date: 30 November 1992

Weeks on chart: 1 week 

We last saw Irish band U2 in 1989.

The original version of "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (number 11, July 1992) was issued as the fourth single from U2's seventh studio album Achtung Baby (number 1, November 1991).  While I have questioned ARIA separating remix singles from the main release on the singles chart in 1992, the Perfecto Remix of "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (embedded below), which received its own music video, charted separately in the UK, where it reached number 8 in July 1992 (peaking higher than the original, which reached number 12 in June 1992), and at number 10 in Ireland in July 1992 (the original reached number 3 there in June 1992).

 

The remixed version of "Even Better Than the Real Thing" also registered on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, where it reached number 27 in September 1992, and at number 35 on the US Billboard Dance Singles Sales chart in October 1992.

 

In Australia, "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (Remixes) performed strongest in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 143 on the state chart.

 

U2 would bubble under again in 2006 with the Wide Awake in America EP (number 145, March 2006), which was led by the live track "Bad".

Number 168 “Come on Boy” by DJ Herbie

Peak: number 161

Peak date: 14 December 1992 (chart repeated for 2 week Xmas break)

Weeks on chart: 12 weeks 

DJ Herbie was an alternative name for D.J.H., whom we last saw bubble under with Stefy in 1991.

I cannot find evidence of "Come on Boy" charting elsewhere.  The single performed best on the Western Australia state chart, reaching number 95.  "Come on Boy" peaked considerably higher nationally on the Australian Music Report singles chart, where it reached number 97.

 

This would be DJ Herbie's only charting release under that name in Australia.

Number 173 “Ashes to Ashes” by The Wallflowers 

Peak: number 156

Peak date: 8 March 1993

Weeks on chart: 15 weeks 

Like most people, I was not aware of The Wallflowers, led by Bob Dylan's son Jakob Dylan, until their hit “One Headlight” (number 14, September 1997) in 1997.  The band formed in Los Angeles in 1989.

 

"Ashes to Ashes", which is not a cover of the David Bowie song of the same name, was lifted from the band's debut album  The Wallflowers (number 154, March 1993).

I cannot find evidence of this one charting elsewhere.  Locally, “Ashes to Ashes” was most popular in Victoria/Tasmania, where it reached number 144 on the state chart.

We shall next see The Wallflowers in 1996.

Number 192 “Reach for the Sky” by Firehouse

Peak: number 192

Peak date: 30 November 1992

Weeks on chart: 1 week 

American band Firehouse graced our presence a mere week ago!

 

"Reach for the Sky" was issued as the second single in Australia from the band's second album Hold Your Fire (number 180, October 1992).  Internationally, "Reach for the Sky" peaked at number 83 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in July 1992, where it was the first single from the album.

In Australia, "Reach for the Sky" was most popular in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 175 on the state chart.

I hadn't head this one before; I liked the verses more than the chorus.  The music video is typical of high-budget rock band videos from the early 90s, with skydiving and shots of bungee jumping.

This would be Firehouse's final charting single in Australia.  They had a later low-charting album, though, with Lowflows: The Columbia Anthology ('91-'93) (number 1083, July 2012).

Number 212 “24 Hours a Day” by Nomad

Peak: number 212

Peak date: 30 November 1992

Weeks on chart: 2 weeks 

We last saw British house duo Nomad in June 1992.  "24 Hours a Day" is a cover version of a song originally recorded by L.J. Johnson in 1979.  Internationally, their version of the track peaked at number 61 in the UK in November 1992.

Locally, "24 Hours a Day" performed strongest in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, where it reached number 184.

This was Nomad's final new single; though they released two later remixes of "(I Wanna Give You) Devotion" (number 37, August 1991) in the UK in 1995 and 2003.

Next week (7 December): Three top 150 entries and one bubbling WAY down under debut.

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