CHART BEATS: A JOURNEY
THROUGH POP

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Mar 8, 20175 min read

This Week In 1992: March 8, 1992

Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers... If I was a rock music fan, I'd be loving delving back to when all those bands had their...

Mar 4, 20175 min read

This Week In 1984: March 4, 1984

Every so often a recording artist comes along who's unlike anyone else. That was certainly the case this week in 1984 when a...

Mar 1, 20174 min read

This Week In 1987: March 1, 1987

It wasn't the most auspicious of debuts. Bon Jovi's first hit single sneaked into the very bottom of the top 50 after months floundering...

Mar 1, 20175 min read

This Week In 1992: March 1, 1992

In today's flashback to 1987, we saw the ARIA chart debut of Bon Jovi. Five years later, another seminal rock band landed their first top...

Feb 26, 20175 min read

This Week In 1984: February 26, 1984

Nothing helps a single sell a truckload of copies more than controversy. From Elvis to Eamon, artists that've caused a stir have...

Feb 23, 20174 min read

This Week In 1992: February 23, 1992

There are some voices you recognise as soon as you hear them — and this week in 1992, a British female singer with an unmistakable tone...

Feb 22, 20175 min read

This Week In 1987: February 22, 1987

A few weeks back, I talked about how "If You Were With Me Now" by Kylie Minogue and Keith Washington shattered most of the illusions I'd...

Feb 19, 20175 min read

This Week In 1984: February 19, 1984

It'd been around for years, but 1984 was the year breakdancing went mainstream. There were films, songs, stories on kids' shows like...

Feb 16, 20173 min read

This Week In 1992: February 16, 1992

It was a bit of slow week on the ARIA singles chart this week in 1992, and so I'm forced to talk about a subject regular readers will...

Feb 15, 20174 min read

This Week In 1987: February 15, 1987

As long as there'd been pop music, there have been love songs. But love songs in the '80s were pretty different than they are now — more...

Feb 12, 20175 min read

This Week In 1984: February 12, 1984

Music history is littered with stories of how one record company exec or another didn't think a song would become a hit before being...

Feb 9, 20175 min read

This Week In 1992: February 9, 1992

Back in the pre-digital era, it was pretty unusual for an artist to enter the top 50 with more than one single in the same week. It did...

Feb 8, 20174 min read

This Week In 1987: February 8, 1987

You may not remember his name or what his group is called, but if you recall anything about the singer of top 10 hit "Word Up" it'd be...

Feb 5, 20173 min read

This Week In 1984: February 5, 1984

It's so often the case — a song gives a previously fairly niche band a major commercial breakthrough and the band comes to dislike it....

Feb 2, 20175 min read

This Week In 1992: February 2, 1992

Back in the '80s, I'd assumed collaborations happened because the artists were friends and wanted to record together. They'd get together...

Feb 1, 20173 min read

This Week In 1987: February 1, 1987

It's not uncommon for lead singers to go off and record a solo single in between their band's albums. Or even make a movie, if they're...

Jan 29, 20174 min read

This Week In 1984: January 29, 1984

I have mixed feelings about posthumous releases. On the one hand, a song or album completed after an artist has passed away may not...

Jan 26, 20174 min read

This Week In 1992: January 26, 1992

There are some songs you just know are going to be massive. Then there are those singles that climb all the way up the chart, defying any...

Jan 25, 20173 min read

This Week In 1987: January 25, 1987

A lot can change in 30 years — but it's funny how some things never do. In 1987, the Cold War hung like a dark cloud over the world....

Jan 22, 20176 min read

This Week In 1984: January 22, 1984

Who doesn't love formation dancing? From Bobby Brown to Backstreet Boys to OK Go, Janet Jackson to Britney Spears to Beyoncé, music clips...

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.