CHART BEATS: A JOURNEY
THROUGH POP

1. Sign up as a site member or log in if you are an existing member

2. Choose a subscription here

Subscribe to
Chart Beats in
two quick steps

This Week In 1981: January 18, 1981

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

Jan 18, 20214 min read

"I thought my dreams were going to be shattered": Kids In The Kitchen's roller-coaster ride

Between 1983 and 1988, Kids In The Kitchen were regulars on the ARIA chart, starting with top 10 debut single, "Change In Mood", and...

Jan 14, 202112 min read

Peter Cox: "I didn't know anything about the wrench until the morning of the shoot"

Interview from September 2019 Go West have been regular visitors to Australia the past couple of decades, visiting more than they did...

Jan 14, 202110 min read

This Week In 1996: January 14, 1996

Regular readers will know my disdain for novelty records, but there's a different type of novelty I am a fan of, and that's when an artist does something out of the ordinary or unexpected. Björk finally made some noise on the ARIA chart This week in 1996, a singer who'd developed a following with a series of critically acclaimed but commercially underappreciated singles broke through in a big way thanks to a song that, on paper, sounded like a crazy idea. The execution of her

Jan 14, 20214 min read

This Week In 1981: January 11, 1981

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'

Jan 11, 20214 min read

This Week In 1996: January 7, 1996

Back in 1996, the ARIA chart still shut down at Christmas, meaning top 50 fans had to make do with an unchanged countdown for three weeks. And unfortunately, the singles chart for the three weeks ending January 7, 1996 was hardly what you would call exciting, with one new entry that spent a single week at number 50. There wasn't even a new number 1, with "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio featuring L.V. adding another three weeks to its tally, which now stood at 12 weeks, to fir

Jan 7, 20214 min read

56 5759 60

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.