CHART BEATS: A JOURNEY
THROUGH POP

So far in these flashbacks to the Australian top 50 from 1980, we've seen some of the first big hits of the decade. This week that year, all the new entries were firsts in another way. The song that changed everything for Split Enz From the first hip-hop hit to the first appearance of a influential British punk band, the debuting singles all brought something new to the singles chart. In one case, it took a locally based band all the way to number 1. Before then, Queen contin

Who's ready for the latest round of How Did That Aussie Classic Flop So Badly ? Following previous instalments featuring GANGgajang , Hunters & Collectors , The Triffids and You Am I , this week in 1995 saw the debut of another song that has gone on to become a modern classic, but which didn't chart very well at all when it was released. It's her best-known song, but "Island Home" wasn't actually a hit for Christine Anu A remake of a song that had also flopped for its origin

This week in 1980, it was a big week for new entries on the Australian singles chart, with four future top 10 hits debuting. Two of those were follow-ups to other top 10 hits by Michael Jackson and The Police, another was the latest top 10 single by a country star who'd also been there before. Eric Idle was Mr Brightside in 1980 And one was a comic ditty from one of the biggest movies of the summer of 1979-80. A song so British you'd expect it to have been a big hit in the UK

1995 was turning out to be a big year for cover versions. Already, we've seen hit remakes by Urge Overkill, Nicki French, Janet Jackson...

Who said disco was dead? This week in 1980, the dance genre that was facing a backlash around the world was proving as popular as ever in Australia — but then we were about six months behind the UK and the US at that stage. Christie Allen wasn't our number 1, but she came close Three of the week's six new entries on the top 50 singles chart were disco tracks (or disco-influenced). And given the other three were new wave tunes, it was a pretty good week for a pop fan like me.

I've talked before about covers albums being an interesting choice for artists still in the prime of their careers to make, and this week...