CHART BEATS: A JOURNEY
THROUGH POP

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This Week In 1986: December 28, 1986

Before Big Day Out, there was Australian Made. This week in 1986, some of the biggest homegrown acts were making their way around the...

Dec 27, 20167 min read

This Week In 1986: December 21, 1986

It didn't happen often — especially compared to the UK chart — but when a former hit song was re-released and returned to the Australian...

Dec 20, 20163 min read

This Week In 1986: December 14, 1986

It's funny how so often the songs that are basically afterthoughts end up defining an artist's music career. A song that's dashed off in...

Dec 13, 20166 min read

This Week In 1986: December 7, 1986

A few months earlier, Bananarama had taken a former number 1 hit, "Venus" by Shocking Blue, back to the top of the chart for seven weeks....

Dec 6, 20165 min read

This Week In 1986: November 30, 1986

When a band takes a break, those that actually end up making a comeback are invariably changed when they return. That was never more the...

Nov 29, 20165 min read

This Week In 1986: November 23, 1986

As great as it is when artists move with the times and develop their sound and/or image, it's sometimes nice to be able to rely on those...

Nov 22, 20165 min read

This Week In 1986: November 16, 1986

I've talked before about songs that become inextricably linked to the movie scenes they play during. If ever there was a case of song...

Nov 15, 20165 min read

This Week In 1986: November 9, 1986

What do Men At Work, Culture Club and Bruce Hornsby And The Range have in common? They were all the recipients of the Grammy Award for...

Nov 8, 20164 min read

This Week In 1986: November 2, 1986

Hear that sound? A perfectly formed pop nugget that is never equalled? Yep, it's one-hit wonder time on this week's look back at the...

Nov 1, 20165 min read

This Week In 1986: October 26, 1986

Between them, Elton John and Madonna released more than 60 singles during the '80s — 25 of which made the Australian top 10. It's only...

Oct 25, 20163 min read

This Week In 1986: October 19, 1986

Some weeks in music are bigger than others. For every chart with only a couple of minor hits debuting, there are ones like the ARIA top...

Oct 18, 20167 min read

This Week In 1986: October 12, 1986

I've always thought that if you're going to do a cover version, you should really do something different with the song. Otherwise, people...

Oct 11, 20167 min read

This Week In 1986: October 5, 1986

Changing tempo had sure worked for Berlin. This week in 1986, big ballad "Take My Breath Away" moved up to number 2 for the band better...

Oct 4, 20164 min read

This Week In 1986: September 28, 1986

There's no denying Paul McCartney and Rod Stewart are music legends, but as well as both having decades-spanning careers that continue to...

Sep 28, 20165 min read

This Week In 1986: September 21, 1986

Unlike TV talent quests Star Search,Pot Of Gold and New Faces , you weren't meant to take Red Faces seriously. The Hey Hey It's Saturday...

Sep 21, 20165 min read

This Week In 1986: September 14, 1986

Every pop music story has a beginning, and this week in 1986, a man synonymous with the modern era of reality TV singing competitions...

Sep 14, 20165 min read

This Week In 1986: September 7, 1986

Your band's broken up? No problem... if you were the lead singer, that is. There's always the option of pursuing a solo career — and if...

Sep 7, 20164 min read

This Week In 1986: August 31, 1986

It's inevitable that whenever a music artist releases a new album after even a relatively short period of time, it's classed as a...

Aug 31, 20165 min read

This Week In 1986: August 24, 1986

For a song to reach number 1 once is pretty good going. For it do so twice is an even more impressive feat — and something that has...

Aug 24, 20165 min read

This Week In 1986: August 17, 1986

Whatever it was that had prompted ARIA to stop producing take-home printouts of the top 50 chart back in January 1986 (an effort to be...

Aug 17, 20166 min read

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.