CHART BEATS: A JOURNEY
THROUGH POP

As long as there'd been pop music, there have been love songs. But love songs in the '80s were pretty different than they are now — more...

You may not remember his name or what his group is called, but if you recall anything about the singer of top 10 hit "Word Up" it'd be...

It's not uncommon for lead singers to go off and record a solo single in between their band's albums. Or even make a movie, if they're...

A lot can change in 30 years — but it's funny how some things never do. In 1987, the Cold War hung like a dark cloud over the world....

Welcome back to 1987. When I started this blog in mid-2012 , I wrote my first posts about the ARIA charts from July 1987. Why? Well, it...

Originally posted as  25 Years Ago This Week  in 2012. Updated in 2017. Back in the '80s, the chart would take an extended break over Christmas, with as long as three weeks passing without a new top 50 being issued. This wasn't unusual — the Billboard charts routinely had a repeat week in which the charts didn't change over the holiday period. So this week in 1987, the final Australian chart for the year was printed. Don't get too excited, though — it was a pretty dull wee

Originally posted as 25 Years Ago This Week in 2012. Updated in 2017. I don't know what was happening this week in 1987, but after mostly...

Originally posted as  25 Years Ago This Week  in 2012. Updated in 2017. Obviously I've stored my weekly ARIA charts away safely all these...

Originally posted as  25 Years Ago This Week  in 2012. Updated in 2017. This week in 1987, you'd have been forgiven for thinking it was...

Originally posted as  25 Years Ago This Week  in 2012. Updated in 2017. I've always preferred female recording artists to male. Even when it comes to groups, I'll usually take a girl group over a boy band. Back in 1987, aside from George Michael, Rick Astley and Michael Jackson (who pretty much everyone liked), only 12 of my favourite 100 songs for the year featured male singers — and a handful of those were duets with female performers anyway. Sting was as famous for his ac

Originally posted as 25 Years Ago This Week in 2012. Updated in 2017. It's always disappointing when you like a music act and they go and...

Originally posted as 25 Years Ago This Week in 2012. Updated in 2017. In the second half of the '80s, there really was no escaping...

Originally posted as 25 Years Ago This Week in 2012. Updated in 2017. In chart history, one song has often dominated the number 1 spot...

Originally posted as  25 Years Ago This Week  in 2012. Updated in 2017. A friend of mine finds it quite bizarre that as much as I love...

Originally posted as  25 Years Ago This Week  in 2012. Updated in 2017. Aussie music was alive and well this week in 1987, with 19 songs...

Originally posted as  25 Years Ago This Week  in 2012. Updated in 2017. In 1987, there was no bigger band at my school than U2. Sure, Bon...

Originally posted as 25 Years Ago This Week in 2012. Updated in 2017. The good thing about charts is that even if there's a bad week...

Originally posted as 25 Years Ago This Week in 2012. Updated in 2017. Not every week is a good week on the chart. That was especially...

Originally posted as  25 Years Ago This Week  in 2012. Updated in 2017. Just when you think 1987 couldn't possibly have had any more...

Originally posted as  25 Years Ago This Week  in 2012. Updated in 2017. After last week 's geriatric fest, the chart from this week in...