CHART BEATS: A JOURNEY
THROUGH POP

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Aug 5, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: August 5, 1984

It only ran for 20 episodes, but ABC music drama Sweet And Sour looms large in my memories of the mid-'80s. For one thing, it had an...

Jul 29, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: July 29, 1984

Not everyone can claim to have a song written about them; even fewer people have one that specifically names them — although if you're...

Jul 22, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: July 22, 1984

Already on this blog, we've seen the solo debuts of locally based former backing singers Kate Ceberano, Jenny Morris and Wendy Matthews....

Jul 15, 20176 min read

This Week In 1984: July 15, 1984

When does a music star become a superstar? In the case of Madonna, it was with the release of Like A Virgin and her chart-dominating run...

Jul 8, 20173 min read

This Week In 1984: July 8, 1984

Good things come in threes — apparently — and this week a very good song debuted on the ARIA singles chart, giving its artist a trio of...

Jul 1, 20175 min read

This Week In 1984: July 1, 1984

There are some songs that, even if you'd never heard them before, you would instantly know when they were released. This week in 1984, a...

Jun 24, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: June 24, 1984

Hands up who would've thought "What Is Love?" by Howard Jones was a big hit in Australia? Maybe I'm biased — we had a copy of his debut...

Jun 17, 20173 min read

This Week In 1984: June 17, 1984

A number 1 single. Another single which entered the top 10 this week. A top 5 album. The Footloose soundtrack was an unstoppable force on...

Jun 10, 20175 min read

This Week In 1984: June 10, 1984

Some of music's biggest songs have come about when artists are pressured to deliver a hit single. Pop history is littered with numerous...

Jun 3, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: June 3, 1984

Australia was gripped by Footloose fever this week in 1984, with the soundtrack album sitting at number 6, the movie's title track at...

May 27, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: May 27, 1984

I've always loved it when songs are remixed from their album versions for single release. Well, I say "always", but I actually prefer my...

May 20, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: May 20, 1984

Thanks to the gender-bending of Boy George and Marilyn, and the androgyny of Annie Lennox, we'd become used to seeing pop stars exploring...

May 13, 20175 min read

This Week In 1984: May 13, 1984

I've always been more of a fan of upbeat pop hits, but I tell you what — when a ballad is done right, it can be sensational. And, like...

May 6, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: May 6, 1984

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. The Human League. Ultravox. Heaven 17. Since the start of the decade, synthpop bands had flooded out...

Apr 29, 20173 min read

This Week In 1984: April 29, 1984

Given the number 1 single of 1983 had been a comedy release, it's hardly surprising that novelty records were big business the following...

Apr 22, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: April 22, 1984

If a picture is worth a thousand words, surely one image will introduce this week's big new entry better than I could. A photo like...

Apr 15, 20175 min read

This Week In 1984: April 15, 1984

As clichés go, "third time's the charm" was never truer than in the case of Madonna. The future music megastar's third single became a...

Apr 8, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: April 8, 1984

It didn't strike me at the time — since I was only nine in 1984 and everyone in music seemed incredibly old — but the top 50 wasn't as...

Apr 1, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: April 1, 1984

As a country where the primary language spoken is English, Australia hasn't welcomed that many foreign language songs onto the singles...

Mar 25, 20175 min read

This Week In 1984: March 25, 1984

One song can change everything. There you'll be, plodding along releasing moderately successful records and then one of your singles...

A Journey Through Aussie Pop - green light.png

A Journey Through Aussie Pop is shining a light on classic Australian pop artists and releases from the 1980s, '90s and 2000s.

A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman is working its way through every single produced by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman in chronological order.

Chart Beats subscribers have access to exclusive content, including extended interviews and extra discussion we can't fit in the regular episodes. Click here for more info.