CHART BEATS: A JOURNEY
THROUGH POP

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Apr 2, 20216 min read

When Big Stars Miss The Top 50: The '90s

Just because a music act has a bunch of hits to their name doesn't mean they're immune from a flop or two. Whether it's because tastes...

Mar 31, 20214 min read

This Week In 1996: March 31, 1996

Since the explosion of Bros and New Kids On The Block, boy bands had been ticking along nicely in Australia. Despite some notable peaks...

Mar 29, 20215 min read

This Week In 1981: March 29, 1981

Barbra Streisand, Irene Cara and Diana Ross had all already done it. Cher, Tina Turner, Madonna and Whitney Houston would also do it in...

Mar 24, 20216 min read

This Week In 1996: March 24, 1996

Pop music has always shaped language, with new words and meanings entering the lexicon as a result of being used in hit songs. Terms like...

Mar 22, 20214 min read

This Week In 1981: March 22, 1981

Last week, we saw Sheena Easton make her debut on the Australian top 50 with a song that set the women's rights movement back a decade or...

Mar 17, 20214 min read

This Week In 1996: March, 17 1996

As well as obsessively following the Australian top 50, I've always paid a lot of attention to the UK chart. I can't say I've been as...

Mar 15, 20214 min read

This Week In 1981: March 15, 1981

As I write this, massive Women's March 4 Justice protests are occuring around Australia demanding "an end to the issues of sexism,...

Mar 10, 20214 min read

This Week In 1996: March 10, 1996

The Osmonds. The Jacksons. The Pointer Sisters. Hanson. Jonas Brothers. Haim. Music history is littered with groups consisting purely of...

Mar 8, 20214 min read

This Week In 1981: March 8, 1981

Last week, we saw dandy highwayman Adam Ant make his Australian top 50 debut, and this week in 1981, there were new entries from another...

Mar 3, 20216 min read

This Week In 1996: March 3, 1996

It had taken a while for Take That to break in Australia and the same was true for another boy band from that part of the world —...

Mar 1, 20214 min read

This Week In 1981: March 1, 1981

The new decade might have started in 1980, but it took a while for music to move beyond the sounds that had defined the late '70s,...

Feb 25, 20216 min read

This Week In 1996: February 25, 1996

Earlier in the decade, we saw how second generation performers Nelson and Wilson Phillips had achieved major chart success (especially in...

Feb 24, 20217 min read

When Big Stars Miss The Top 50: The '80s

Sometimes even the most successful music superstars can have off days. Or flop singles. During the 1980s, some of the biggest recording...

Feb 22, 20214 min read

This Week In 1981: February 22, 1981

French musicians haven't ventured towards the top of the Australian singles chart that often. And over the years, those that have been...

Feb 18, 20214 min read

This Week In 1996: February 18, 1996

Ah, remixes. It's a topic I've covered on more than one occasion in the past, but the power of the remix was never more evident than this...

Feb 15, 20213 min read

This Week In 1981: February 15, 1981

Mi-Sex had done it in 1979 as had Split Enz in 1980, and in 1981, another band from New Zealand made it a hat-trick by going all the way...

Feb 11, 20214 min read

This Week In 1996: February 11, 1996

One look at the new entries on the ARIA singles chart this week in 1996 tells you everything you need to know about how far Australia had...

Feb 8, 20214 min read

This Week In 1981: February 8, 1981

From "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" to "Blue (Da Ba Dee)", and "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)" to "La La La", music history is littered with...

Feb 4, 20214 min read

This Week In 1996: February 4, 1996

When I compiled my list of favourite girl groups, one common trait stood out: line-up changes. It is the rare girl group that gets to the...

Feb 1, 20214 min read

This Week In 1981: February 1, 1981

Anyone who grew up with an older sibling will no doubt have had their taste in music influenced by them to some extent. That was...

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.

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About Chart Beats

Chart Beats: A Journey Through Pop has been looking back at music from the '80s, '90s, 2000s and 2010s since 2012. Run by freelance journalist and content creator Gavin Scott in Sydney, Australia.