CHART BEATS: A JOURNEY
THROUGH POP

We've reached the final month of my look back at the Australian singles chart from 1980. I'll be announcing my plans to cover 1981 (and...

I don't tend to get political on this blog. In fact, a decade ago I was fairly oblivious to politics and wouldn't have been able to tell...

It was a major source of frustration for me how behind the times Australia was in the 1980s, with it routinely taking ages for overseas...

Remember when singers stuck to the melody? By 1995, that style of singing had become decidedly old-fashioned as vocal gymnastics came to...

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...

Pop music is a fickle thing. One minute you're topping charts around the globe, next minute you're not. This week in 1995, a Swedish pop...

While some singers can wear out their welcome on the top 50, others' careers take a different approach as they land less frequent hits — something that's probably not intentional. Whatever the cause of their intermittent success, it feels like seeing an old friend when a previous hitmaker returns with a new smash. Carly Simon made one of her regular visits to the top 50 in 1980 This week in 1980, a female singer who'd visited the Australian top 10 four times in the previous

I have a love-hate relationship with YouTube. (Perhaps you could say that when it comes to YouTube, love and hate collide...) Obviously,...

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...

There's no such thing as a sure thing in music. But the female singer who charted with her debut solo single this week in 1995 was as close as you'd get to one. If anyone's solo career was guaranteed to be a success it was Deni Hines' As well as being a second-generation performer, she'd also already graced the ARIA chart as featured vocalist on the biggest hits by a local group. Solo success was all but a given... and so it came to be. Something else that was a given: the fa

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, the recording dated back to 1975. It's astounding... how a five-year-old song became such a huge hit in 1980 Proving yet again that sometimes the difference between a flop and a hit is only a matter of timing, both singles would go all the way to the top 10. All the way up at number 1, Leo Sayer, who'd been waiting patiently at number 2, fin

Who's ready for another game of Remixed, Remade & Remodelled ? Yep, this week in 1995, a bunch of songs were given another chance at...

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

Over the years, I've developed a formula to my ARIA chart recaps. I start off with a little themed introduction to the week, mention what...

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 industry as the '80s began. As it would turn out, they wouldn't have much say in the matter, with few takers for their 1981 return. Australia was in love with this woman in 1980 Before then, though, the brothers Gibb (some more than others) were involved in the first of a series of massive releases by other performers during the '80s. The album th

Originally posted in 2019. Updated in 2020. Well, I've finally got here — a run-through of all the singles that almost topped the ARIA...

Originally posted in 2018. Updated in 2020. It originally took a lot longer than I thought after compiling all the number 2 hits from the...

Originally posted in 2017. Updated in 2020. What do "Yesterday" by The Beatles, Skyhooks' "Ego Is Not A Dirty Word", "I Was Made For...

When you're a fan of a singer or group, it can be a huge disappointment when they release something you don't like. Sometimes it's music...

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...