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Here's what was happening on the Australian top 50 this week in...
Click the year
or picture to
read each post.
December 27-January 2
1980
ABBA's chart career wasn't going to go on and on and on.
1981
As a solo artist, Lindsey Buckingham only had one hit.
1986
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Aussie rock fans had a good time with this collaboration.
1997
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Blink-182 kicked off their top 50 run in Australia.
December 20-26
1980
Karen Knowles made the jump from YTT to the top 50.
1981
Girl group The Go-Go's arrived with their often misheard debut.
1982
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The very specific dietary requirements of Toto Coelo.
1983
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Mondo Rock caused controversy with their biggest hit.
1984
They missed no. 1 but Wham's festive fave got there in the end.
1985
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No new chart this week.
1986
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This guy was responsible for the return of an old Beatles tune.
1987
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Teen queen Tiffany went from shopping malls to the charts.
1988
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Scrooged united two very different music legends,
1989
No new chart this week.
1990
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No new chart this week.
1991
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The single that changed everything in music.
1994
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Madonna took a bow on the final top 50 for the year.
1992
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Peter Andre succeeded with his second single.
1993
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No new chart this week.
1995
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No new chart this week.
1996
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The breakup song that showed another side to No Doubt.
1997
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Kylie Minogue did it again with another top 20 hit to her name.
December 13-19
1980
Split Enz stayed one step ahead of many local bands.
1981
A cover of a little-known UK club fave gave Soft Cell a hit.
1982
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Dionne Warwick was the latest to benefit from the Gibbs' tunes.
1983
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The only single INXS took to the very top of the Australian chart.
1984
A rousing ballad put Pat Benatar back where she belonged.
1985
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Love it or hate it, Starship's chart-topper was inescapable.
1986
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The Bangles walked (like Egyptians) all the way to no. 1.
1987
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The hits kept coming for John Cougar Mellencamp.
1988
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Australia welcomed Guns' n Roses back to the top 50.
1989
Peter Blakeley scored his long-awaited first hit single.
1990
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A Rolling Stones cover gave The Soup Dragons their only hit.
1991
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Julian Lennon's environmental-themed tune went all the way.
1992
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Five years after her first hit, it was time to celebrate Kylie Minogue.
1993
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Cut 'n' Move gave "Give It Up" a Eurodance spin.
1994
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East 17 stayed in the ARIA top 10 for plenty more days.
1995
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The Fab Four added another hit to their extensive tally.
1996
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Nothing held Unique II back... until they stalled at number 2.
1997
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Natalie Imbruglia was the latest soap star to tear up the chart.
December 6-12
1980
Blondie scored another hit with a cover of "The Tide Is High".
1981
Australia only had eyes for Sheena Easton's Bond theme.
1982
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A round of applause for The Belle Stars and their biggest hit.
1983
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It was no Grease, but ONJ and John Travolta's '83 film had a great song.
1984
The Style Council shouted toward the top of the chart.
1985
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Love it or hate it, Starship's chart-topper was inescapable.
1986
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Pseudo Echo took a funky former no. 1 back to the top.
1987
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Australia's obsession with Icehouse continued.
1988
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Now that's what I call a music supergroup!
1989
Another Neighbours star hit the chart... but this one rocked.
1990
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Divinyls' ode to self-pleasure found a receptive audience.
1991
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Everybody was free to rush out and buy this Rozalla track.
1992
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The big ballad to end all big ballads, courtesy of Whitney.
1993
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Caligula put a thrashy new spin on a Motown classic.
1994
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Here came Ini Kamoze to hot step all the way to the top 10.
1995
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One-hit wonders Groove Theory had us hooked with "Tell Me".
1996
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A year after its UK release, "On The Bible" hit the top 50 for Deuce.
1997
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Janet Jackson and pure pop music were together again.
November 29-December 5
1980
For once, Australia got the jump on a hit by an overseas act.
1981
These men from down under took the world by storm.
1982
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Boy George's look didn't hurt Culture Club success one bit.
1983
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Madonna's first single to burn up the Australian top 100 chart.
1984
The smooth sounds of Sade were warmly received.
1985
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Another Duran Duran spin-off group was voted into the top 50.
1986
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A year later, a slimmed down Duran Duran was back.
1987
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The teen heartthrob and his big ballad remake.
1988
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The headphones, the sunnies, the massive hit.
1989
Technotronic got booties on the floor with "Pump Up The Jam".
1990
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Step back in time to when this Kylie classic entered the ARIA chart.
1991
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The first homegrown dance music number 1 single.
1992
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Toni Pearen became the latest soap star to turn to pop.
1993
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The Madonna single that not every country received.
1994
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A remix turned a decade-old Severed Heads song into a hit.
1995
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Michael Jackson's impassioned plea for the natural world.
1996
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Eurodance star Amber revealed a dark story behind her debut single.
1997
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Ultra Naté was free to move from the clubs to the top 50 chart.
November 22-28
1980
A musical comeback marred by tragedy.
1981
British superstars Queen and David Bowie teamed up.
1982
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US chart-toppers Hall & Oates had to make do with a top 5 hit here.
1983
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Dear Enemy's synthpop tune was at the cutting edge.
1984
A shiny and new singles from Madonna's second album.
1985
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The arrival of a music phenomenon on the top 50.
1986
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Billy Idol's latest hit could not have been more on brand.
1987
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The single that has an important place in Chart Beats history.
1988
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Australia just didn't fully understand rap yet.
1989
The funky little tune from The B-52's that became inescapable.
1990
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Don't call us, Scatterbrain, we'll call you.
1991
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Salt 'n' Pepa had a frank conversation about sex.
1992
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Jump up, jump up and get down!
1993
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Janet Jackson was back in the Australian chart... again.
1994
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A collaboration that has only gotten stronger over time.
1995
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Another Mariah Carey collab that broke records and sound barriers.
1996
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Shania Twain changed the rules for country artists on the ARIA chart.
1997
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New girl group Allure remade an old Lisa Lisa And Cult Jam hit.
November 15-21
1980
Carly Simon was back with her biggest hit since "You're So Vain".
1981
Into his second decade of solo hits, Rod Stewart stayed on trend.
1982
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Thriller's lead single gave no clue what Jacko had in store.
1983
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All summer long more like it! Lionel's party starter was huge.
1984
George Smilovici was not too tuff to shoot up the Australian chart,
1985
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First released in 1984, Neil's comedy cover finally took off.
1986
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Who could forget this top 10 tune by Glass Tiger?
1987
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Not everyone loved listening to this quirky song by Eurythmics.
1988
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Voice Of The Beehive just sneaked into the top 50.
1989
Seriously by name, seriously by nature. Phil Collins was back.
1990
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Australia did stop and listen to Vanilla Ice's chart-topping smash.
1991
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With its budget-busting video, MJ's latest was a huge deal.
1992
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The controversial song that turned The Shamen into chart stars.
1993
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After a slow start, M-People were moving on up the top 50.
1994
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The remix that turned a three-year-old NZ song into an Oz hit.
1995
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Ace Of Base were not so lucky as first with their follow-up album.
1996
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The mega-ballad that Toni Braxton didn't want to record at first.
1997
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Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand teamed up for a big ballad duet.
November 8-14
1980
INXS just kept walking up the Australian chart for the first time.
1981
Meanwhile, Cliff Richard's mode of transport was a pair of skates.
1982
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A youthful new music group enjoyed a monster hit.
1983
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Downtown guy Billy Joel showed off his real-life uptown girl.
1984
The first of two top 10 smashes for Netherlands' Time Bandits.
1985
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And people thought "Physical" was raunchy!
1986
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A big hit was the way it was for Bruce Hornsby & The Range.
1987
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Many Jimmy Barnes albums went to no. 1 but only one single.
1988
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When one Barnesy wasn't enough... Johnny Diesel debuted.
1989
The UK had big fun with this boy band. Australia? Not so much.
1990
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The ghostly love scene that brought a classic back to the chart.
1991
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Still massive, Barnesy joined forces with Farnsey.
1992
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The massive hit that prompted an equally large backlash.
1993
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Blind Melon had a huge single... with a little help from this girl.
1994
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The latest local boy band to be hooked up with a hit single.
1995
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The third (and often forgotten) top 30 song for Merril Bainbridge.
1996
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A new sound, look and role for the everchanging Queen of Pop.
1997
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The debut single by rap royalty received a new lease of life.
November 1-7
1980
Australia was in a time warp as an old Rocky Horror single was a hit.
1981
A song so racy some places banned it was huge for ONJ.
1982
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The Patrice Rushen hit that was sampled in two '90s #1 hits.
1983
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Say, say, say... what's going on here, Paul and Michael?
1984
Telling people they were stupid didn't hurt Culture Club.
1985
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Big hair, big hit for Pseudo Echo.
1986
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The first of Stacey Q's two big hits in Australia.
1987
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Fresh from his UK success, Rick Astley took off down under.
1988
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Watch out Ms Minogue, another Kylie was on the chart.
1989
The complicated story behind Black Box's dance smash.
1990
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Warrant served up a tasty dish.
1991
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Only the third record to debut at number 1 in Australia.
1992
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The ABBA revival was in full swing with an old song a hit once again.
1993
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Salt 'n' Pepa (and Spinderella) shooped back up the top 50.
1994
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A remake of a disco tune gave Gloria Estefan her first ARIA top 10.
1995
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Deni Hines' solo career got off to more than an alright start.
1996
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A La Bouche album track became the first hit for No Mercy.
1997
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T-Shirt brought a sexy song from the '70s back to the chart.
October 25-31
1980
Donna Summer wandered back onto the top 50 with another hit.
1981
The movie theme that ran and ran on the chart.
1982
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It ended with one last hit for Hot Chocolate on the Australian top 50.
1983
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This soundtrack hit took its time to shake it on the Australian top 50.
1984
Underrated in Australia: Hazell Dean's hi-NRG smash.
1985
A slow singles week means it's time to look at the albums chart.
1986
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Another top 10 for Elton John, even if it's now overlooked.
1987
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After years away, Bee Gees won again on the Australian top 50.
1988
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The polarising "Don't Worry Be Happy" raced towards no. 1.
1989
Billy Joel's angry history lesson made lists in songs a trend.
1990
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Thanks to a beat by DNA, Suzanne Vega was a dance music artist.
1991
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A Spandau Ballet sample helped P.M. Dawn drift up the chart.
1992
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Arguably Madonna's biggest controversy.
1993
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What do Radiohead have in common with Bros and a-ha?
1994
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Their best single came when Girlfriend became gf4.
1995
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Berri's dance tune was one of many that took a few goes to connect.
1996
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The soundtrack single that gave Underworld their first hit since 1988.
1997
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The world's top girl group were back to spice up the chart again.
October 18-24
1980
Barbra Streisand was a woman in the charts once again.
1981
All the boys in town didn't know what hit them.
1982
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Goanna had a rock solid hit with a political message.
1983
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Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton relied on each other.
1984
Dynamic Hepnotics had Australia feeling a bit of soul.
1985
A second chart-topper called "The Power Of Love" in a year.
1986
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No one does a comeback (or farewell) like John Farnham.
1987
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INXS slid back into the top 10 with the first single from Kick.
1988
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Australians were early adopters of Melissa Etheridge.
1989
New Kids weren't finding it tough to land hits, with three at once.
1990
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Third generation stars Nelson were greeted with love and affection.
1991
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Belinda Carlisle returned with the title track of Live Your Life Be Free.
1992
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Another '70s classic provided K.W.S. with a second hit.
1993
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Pet Shop Boys out-camped Village People (if that's possible).
1994
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Nine Inch Nails told the world exactly what they wanted to do.
1995
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A big hit overseas, "3 Is Family" didn't add up locally for Dana Dawson.
1996
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Livin' Joy had us movin' as they didn't stop going up the chart.
1997
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Sweden's Robyn had what it took to have a worldwide hit.
October 11-17
1980
Stevie Wonder blasted onto the chart with his biggest hit so far.
1981
Australia continued to be hooked on the medley craze.
1982
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It didn't get very high, but Rough Trade's hit sure stuck around.
1983
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Australian Crawl made up for never having made the top 10 before.
1984
Proof there was more than one Jackson with dynamite songs.
1985
A long-overlooked Madonna single.
1986
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One of the greatest remakes of all time.
1987
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The biggest band in the world scored another hit.
1988
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Transvision Vamp wanted our love. They got it.
1989
Bobby Brown took a big step in his Australian chart career.
1990
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Groovy! Deee-lite's dance classic became a massive success.
1991
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With help from his Funky Bunch, Marky Mark became a star.
1992
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"End Of The Road" was the start of the R&B mega-ballad era.
1993
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Tic-tic-tic-tic-boom!
1994
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East 17 continued to be the steamiest boy band around.
1995
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An unlikely collaboration yielded a killer hit.
1996
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Republica were ready to go... but were the public ready for them?
1997
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Two years after her Nick Cave duet, Kylie kept us on our toes.
October 4-10
1980
The Pointer Sisters weren't shy about racing up the chart.
1981
"The Stroke" became Billy Squier's one big hit locally.
1982
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Dexys Midnight Runners stormed the chart with "Come On Eileen".
1983
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A shining pop moment from David Bowie.
1984
One thing Twisted Sister were going to take: a top 50 hit.
1985
Time Bandits scored another smash (and shot the video here).
1986
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One of the 80s most romantic songs from Chris De Burgh.
1987
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Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield deserved all the praise.
1988
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A house remake gave Yazz one of the best tracks of the year.
1989
Australia was in the mood for Jive Bunny's medley.
1990
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There was no indifference to Bob Geldof's comeback.
1991
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Jimmy Barnes took a trip into soul history for his latest project.
1992
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Never has a song title been more accurate than on Utah Saints' hit.
1993
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The original line-up of INXS were gifted one last top 20 single.
1994
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An old Wet Wet Wet UK no.1. was given a second shot.
1995
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Coolio sampled Stevie Wonder on the biggest seller of the year.
1996
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3T kept it all in the family by collaborating with their uncle.
1997
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Speaking of the Jacksons, Janet returned with new music.
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