CHART BEATS: A JOURNEY
THROUGH POP

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

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 couple of male artists who knew how to dress to impress. Robert Palmer and Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry brought a touch of style to the chart Despite one of them wearing the rock star uniform of jeans and a t-shirt on the cover art above, these gentlemen were more likely to be found in suits as they performed a more sophisticated style of music

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,...

French musicians haven't ventured towards the top of the Australian singles chart that often. And over the years, those that have been successful locally have generally done so because they've used English lyrics in their songs, which Eurovision fans will know is the exception rather than the rule. Gibson Brothers: big hair, big hit This week in 1981, a trio of brothers from France crossed over to Australia with a single that contained lyrics both in English and their mother

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...

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 songs that substitute sounds for actual words. And it's not just in the titles. Where would "Don't You (Forget About Me)" be without its "hey, hey, hey, hey" intro and "la, la, la" outro? "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" was taken from 'Zenyatta Mondatta' This week in 1981, a song with nothing but nonsensical syllables in its title debuted on the A

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...

There's a big difference between a covers band (think The Beatnix, Björn Again) and a band that has its biggest hits with remakes...

I'm sure I've mentioned this before — I'm nearing 700 posts, so it's likely — but I have many best of CDs in my collection that I bought for just a couple of songs. Sometimes, just for one track that, in the pre-iTunes era, it was impossible to get anywhere else. Stephanie Mills never knew Australian chart success like this before... or again This week in 1981, an American female singer arrived on the Australian top 50 singles chart with her only local hit — a song that pr0mp

How many bands from Tasmania can you name? Serious question, because I could only think of two: The Innocents, who we saw miss the top 50 back in 1980 , and one that made its debut on the chart as 1981 began. I googled "bands from Tasmania" and couldn't find any others I was familiar with. So, unless I'm overlooking someone glaringly obvious, this week in 1981 might just have seen the biggest national hit by a Tasmanian band in chart history. (Correct me in the comments if I'