Search
Feb 10, 20164 min read
This Week In 1991: February 10, 1991
It's one thing when one artist you don't particularly like releases a new single, but when two artists you can't stand team up for a...
Feb 9, 20164 min read
This Week In 1986: February 9, 1986
It hasn't been often that a foreign language song has penetrated the Australian top 50, but it happened a few times in the '80s. Most...
Feb 3, 20163 min read
This Week In 1991: February 3, 1991
Some artists are great at reinventing themselves — able to tell when it's a good idea to change musical direction or make over their...
Feb 2, 20165 min read
This Week In 1986: February 2, 1986
Synthpop was everywhere by 1986. Even artists that came from more of a rock background embraced the sound of keyboards, including a...
Jan 27, 20165 min read
This Week In 1991: January 27, 1991
Every so often, TV characters will become so popular that someone will think it's a great idea for them to release a single. On this blog...
Jan 26, 20165 min read
This Week In 1986: January 26, 1986
We'd had Band Aid, USA For Africa and, er, Incredible Penguins — and in 1986, the charity singles kept coming. On the ARIA chart from...
Jan 20, 20163 min read
This Week In 1991: January 20, 1991
You'd think dance acts would have wised up after what happened to Milli Vanilli. Or Black Box. Or Technotronic. But no, this week in...
Jan 19, 20165 min read
This Week In 1986: January 19, 1986
Since its launch in July 1983, a pile of ARIA charts had been available at record stores each and every week for customers to pick up a...
Jan 13, 20166 min read
This Week In 1991: January 13, 1991
In yesterday's trip back to the first ARIA singles chart of 1986, we saw a new entry by a band on the cusp of breaking up. Before long,...
Jan 12, 20164 min read
This Week In 1986: January 12, 1986
Welcome to 1986! At least, welcome to my recap of what was happening on the ARIA singles chart that year. If you're just joining us, each...
Jan 6, 20166 min read
This Week In 1991: January 6, 1991
Are we up to 1991 already? When I began this blog in 2012, looking back at the ARIA charts from July 1987, I never anticipated there'd be...
Dec 22, 20159 min read
This Week In 1985: December 22, 1985
Regular readers will be aware of my obsession with one-hit wonders and that extends to two-hit wonders as well — those acts that score...
Dec 16, 20157 min read
This Week In 1990: December 16, 1990
It's that time of year again — when the ARIA charts got ready to close down for the festive period. This week in 1990, the final top 50...
Dec 15, 20152 min read
This Week In 1985: December 15, 1985
It's hard enough to catch lightning in a bottle once, but to repeat the feat is nigh on impossible, as a pair of singers discovered this...
Dec 9, 20155 min read
This Week In 1990: December 9, 1990
What do Pseudo Echo, Wa Wa Nee, Midnight Oil and The Church all have in common? Despite a run of hits in Australia, they all only had one...
Dec 8, 20155 min read
This Week In 1985: December 8, 1985
This week in 1985, something happened on the Australian singles chart that had never happened before: a new release debuted at number 1....
Dec 2, 20154 min read
This Week In 1990: December 2, 1990
Just like the chart from this week in 1985, there were also clear signs that the Christmas release period was in full effect this week in...
Dec 1, 20156 min read
This Week In 1985: December 1, 1985
It wouldn't almost have been Christmas, would it? What else could explain the rush of big releases onto the ARIA singles chart this week...
Nov 25, 20153 min read
This Week In 1990: November 25, 1990
Regular readers will know that there were a number of big hits in 1990 that I couldn't stand — "Joey", "Check Out The Chicken", "All I...
Nov 24, 20154 min read
This Week In 1985: November 24, 1985
It must be pretty frustrating for artists that record the original version of a song when someone else comes along, does a pretty...
