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.

All Posts
1980
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1998
Chart Recap
One-Hit Wonders

Jul 5
5 min

This Week In 1980: July 6, 1980

Plenty of music acts gain a devoted following - in recent years, everyone from One Direction to Beyoncé has had a fanbase with a cute lit...

Jun 28
2 min

This Week In 1980: June 29, 1980

We've reached the halfway point of our look back at the Australian singles chart of 1980. And to mark the occasion... a pretty dull chart...

Jun 21
4 min

This Week In 1980: June 22, 1980

A couple of months earlier, disco seemed to be on its last legs, but it's not over until the fat lady sings. Or a group of six men in fan...

Jun 14
4 min

This Week In 1980: June 15, 1980

Australia had plenty of successful rock bands in 1980, but with the rise of synthpop and new wave, a new breed of local groups started to...

Jun 7
3 min

This Week In 1980: June 8, 1980

From Dragon and Mi-Sex to Sharon O'Neill and Jenny Morris, many bands and singers from New Zealand have made their way across the Tasman ...

May 31
3 min

This Week In 1980: June 1, 1980

There are some acts you wish would be more successful, and others where it's a blessing they haven't had more hits. This week in 1980, on...

May 24
2 min

This Week In 1980: May 25, 1980

It had to happen eventually. After weeks of seeing loads of classic tracks debut on the Australian singles top 50 from 1980, we've reache...

May 17
4 min

This Week In 1980: May 18, 1980

So far in our trip back to the Australian singles chart of 1980, we've seen one-hit wonders Player [1] and Fiddler's Dram - two acts that...

May 10
3 min

This Week In 1980: May 11, 1980

I recently posted a video of my favourite Australian bands of the 1980s on the Chart Beats Facebook page, and someone noted the absence o...

May 3
3 min

This Week In 1980: May 4, 1980

It's hard to think of a genre in music as divisive as disco. How many other types of music have had calls for it to be killed off? By 198...

Apr 26
3 min

This Week In 1980: April 27, 1980

When is a one-hit wonder not a one-hit wonder? When they actually had a second huge hit that often gets forgetten about. This week in 198...

Apr 19
4 min

This Week In 1980: April 20, 1980

As much as I've always tried to keep on top of what's going on in music, it wasn't easy in the 1980s, especially when I was very young. A...

Apr 12
3 min

This Week In 1980: April 13, 1980

In my 1995 flashbacks, we recently saw that despite going on to become one of this country's defining musical moments, Christine Anu's co...

Apr 5
3 min

This Week In 1980: April 6, 1980

Unless you happen to perform with your significant other (Sonny & Cher, Captain & Tennille) or record songs with them (Kylie Minogue and ...

Mar 29
3 min

This Week In 1980: March 30, 1980

Every so often, a band comes along that is unlike any other. Like this week in 1980, when a new wave group from the US broke into the Aus...

Mar 22
3 min

This Week In 1980: March 23, 1980

It's always fun discovering that a song you like is a cover version and then going back to listen to the original. Especially when for ma...

Mar 15
2 min

This Week In 1980: March 16, 1980

One of the best parts of these weekly trips back to the Australian singles chart of 1980 is seeing artists have their first hits and reme...

Mar 8
4 min

This Week In 1980: March 9, 1980

So far in these flashbacks to the Australian top 50 from 1980, we've seen some of the first big hits of the decade. This week that year, ...

Mar 1
4 min

This Week In 1980: March 2, 1980

This week in 1980, it was a big week for new entries on the Australian singles chart, with four future top 10 hits debuting. Two of those...

Feb 23
4 min

This Week In 1980: February 24, 1980

Who said disco was dead? This week in 1980, the dance genre that was facing a backlash around the world was proving as popular as ever in...

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