CHART BEATS: A JOURNEY
THROUGH POP

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.

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Chart Recap
One-Hit Wonders

6 days ago
4 min

This Week In 1980: November 23, 1980

As we've seen in our trips back to 1980, the first year of the decade was notable for many musical milestones and events. Then, in the fi...

Nov 16
3 min

This Week In 1980: November 16, 1980

While some singers can wear out their welcome on the top 50, others' careers take a different approach as they land less frequent hits — ...

Nov 9
5 min

This Week In 1980: November 9, 1980

To paraphrase the number 18 song on the Australian singles chart from this week in 1980: everybody's got to start somewhere. And in the c...

Nov 2
3 min

This Week In 1980: November 2, 1980

Australia was living in a time warp this week in 1980, with two of the three new entries on the top 50 at least a year old. In one case, ...

Oct 26
3 min

This Week In 1980: October 26, 1980

Some artists stick to their sound through thick and thin, pumping out album after album of the same type of material. Other acts mix thin...

Oct 19
4 min

This Week In 1980: October 19, 1980

After they dominated the music scene in the late '70s, it made sense for Bee Gees to take more of a backseat approach to the music indust...

Oct 12
4 min

This Week In 1980: October 12, 1980

Having never really paid that much attention to the Australian charts of the 1960s and '70s, I'm often surprised when I do look back (usu...

Oct 5
3 min

This Week In 1980: October 5, 1980

Girl groups (as opposed to girl bands) were thin on the ground in the early '80s — after having been a major part of music in the '60s an...

Sep 28
3 min

This Week In 1980: September 28, 1980

I tend to favour female singers over male singers, especially in more recent decades. But there were a number of great male performers in...

Sep 21
4 min

This Week In 1980: September 21, 1980

The year had already seen some big musical movies in the form of Can't Stop The Music and Xanadu, and this week in 1980, another film wit...

Sep 14
3 min

This Week In 1980: September 14, 1980

From Gundegai to Kokomo, and New York to London, locations have provided the inspiration for hit singles for... as long as there have bee...

Sep 7
4 min

This Week In 1980: September 7, 1980

It's always surprising how some music legends haven't actually had that many hits in Australia. In terms of American female superstars, a...

Aug 31
4 min

This Week In 1980: August 31, 1980

Sometimes a record company has got to do whatever it takes to turn a song into a hit, even if that means misrepresenting the artist in qu...

Aug 23
4 min

This Week In 1980: August 24, 1980

Despite being only five years old at the time, I have some clear memories from 1980, one of which was starting school. I also remember go...

Aug 16
3 min

This Week In 1980: August 17, 1980

Standing out from a famous family can be tricky, especially when one of your brothers is the most famous pop star in the world. But this w...

Aug 9
4 min

This Week In 1980: August 10, 1980

The Olympic Games have always been a big deal in Australia, with the nation stopping for certain medal events and taking particular pride...

Aug 2
3 min

This Week In 1980: August 3, 1980

Some artists are lucky to have a hit at all, while others visit the top 50 multiple times. And sometimes, a performer will be successful ...

Jul 26
4 min

This Week In 1980: July 27, 1980

Sometimes even the most floundering of careers can get right back on track with one hit single - all it takes is the right song at the ri...

Jul 19
3 min

This Week In 1980: July 20, 1980

Sometimes a great soundtrack single can do wonders for an average film - especially in the '80s when movie songs were big business and co...

Jul 12
3 min

This Week In 1980: July 13, 1980

As much as I love pure pop, synthpop, R&B and dance music, I also have plenty of time for pop/rock groups. That was especially the case i...

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