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Here's what was happening on the Australian top 50 this week in...
Click the year
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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
Aussie rock fans had a good time with this collaboration.
1997
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
The very specific dietary requirements of Toto Coelo.
1983
Mondo Rock caused controversy with their biggest hit.
1984
They missed no. 1 but Wham's festive fave got there in the end.
1985
No new chart this week.
1986
This guy was responsible for the return of an old Beatles tune.
1987
Teen queen Tiffany went from shopping malls to the charts.
1988
Scrooged united two very different music legends,
1989
No new chart this week.
1990
No new chart this week.
1991
The single that changed everything in music.
1994
Madonna took a bow on the final top 50 for the year.
1992
Peter Andre succeeded with his second single.
1993
No new chart this week.
1995
No new chart this week.
1996
The breakup song that showed another side to No Doubt.
1997
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
Dionne Warwick was the latest to benefit from the Gibbs' tunes.
1983
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
Love it or hate it, Starship's chart-topper was inescapable.
1986
The Bangles walked (like Egyptians) all the way to no. 1.
1987
The hits kept coming for John Cougar Mellencamp.
1988
Australia welcomed Guns' n Roses back to the top 50.
1989
Peter Blakeley scored his long-awaited first hit single.
1990
A Rolling Stones cover gave The Soup Dragons their only hit.
1991
Julian Lennon's environmental-themed tune went all the way.
1992
Five years after her first hit, it was time to celebrate Kylie Minogue.
1993
Cut 'n' Move gave "Give It Up" a Eurodance spin.
1994
East 17 stayed in the ARIA top 10 for plenty more days.
1995
The Fab Four added another hit to their extensive tally.
1996
Nothing held Unique II back... until they stalled at number 2.
1997
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
A round of applause for The Belle Stars and their biggest hit.
1983
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
Love it or hate it, Starship's chart-topper was inescapable.
1986
Pseudo Echo took a funky former no. 1 back to the top.
1987
Australia's obsession with Icehouse continued.
1988
Now that's what I call a music supergroup!
1989
Another Neighbours star hit the chart... but this one rocked.
1990
Divinyls' ode to self-pleasure found a receptive audience.
1991
Everybody was free to rush out and buy this Rozalla track.
1992
The big ballad to end all big ballads, courtesy of Whitney.
1993
Caligula put a thrashy new spin on a Motown classic.
1994
Here came Ini Kamoze to hot step all the way to the top 10.
1995
One-hit wonders Groove Theory had us hooked with "Tell Me".
1996
A year after its UK release, "On The Bible" hit the top 50 for Deuce.
1997
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
Boy George's look didn't hurt Culture Club success one bit.
1983
Madonna's first single to burn up the Australian top 100 chart.
1984
The smooth sounds of Sade were warmly received.
1985
Another Duran Duran spin-off group was voted into the top 50.
1986
A year later, a slimmed down Duran Duran was back.
1987
The teen heartthrob and his big ballad remake.
1988
The headphones, the sunnies, the massive hit.
1989
Technotronic got booties on the floor with "Pump Up The Jam".
1990
Step back in time to when this Kylie classic entered the ARIA chart.
1991
The first homegrown dance music number 1 single.
1992
Toni Pearen became the latest soap star to turn to pop.
1993
The Madonna single that not every country received.
1994
A remix turned a decade-old Severed Heads song into a hit.
1995
Michael Jackson's impassioned plea for the natural world.
1996
Eurodance star Amber revealed a dark story behind her debut single.
1997
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
US chart-toppers Hall & Oates had to make do with a top 5 hit here.
1983
Dear Enemy's synthpop tune was at the cutting edge.
1984
A shiny and new singles from Madonna's second album.
1985
The arrival of a music phenomenon on the top 50.
1986
Billy Idol's latest hit could not have been more on brand.
1987
The single that has an important place in Chart Beats history.
1988
Australia just didn't fully understand rap yet.
1989
The funky little tune from The B-52's that became inescapable.
1990
Don't call us, Scatterbrain, we'll call you.
1991
Salt 'n' Pepa had a frank conversation about sex.
1992
Jump up, jump up and get down!
1993
Janet Jackson was back in the Australian chart... again.
1994
A collaboration that has only gotten stronger over time.
1995
Another Mariah Carey collab that broke records and sound barriers.
1996
Shania Twain changed the rules for country artists on the ARIA chart.
1997
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
Thriller's lead single gave no clue what Jacko had in store.
1983
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
First released in 1984, Neil's comedy cover finally took off.
1986
Who could forget this top 10 tune by Glass Tiger?
1987
Not everyone loved listening to this quirky song by Eurythmics.
1988
Voice Of The Beehive just sneaked into the top 50.
1989
Seriously by name, seriously by nature. Phil Collins was back.
1990
Australia did stop and listen to Vanilla Ice's chart-topping smash.
1991
With its budget-busting video, MJ's latest was a huge deal.
1992
The controversial song that turned The Shamen into chart stars.
1993
After a slow start, M-People were moving on up the top 50.
1994
The remix that turned a three-year-old NZ song into an Oz hit.
1995
Ace Of Base were not so lucky as first with their follow-up album.
1996
The mega-ballad that Toni Braxton didn't want to record at first.
1997
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
A youthful new music group enjoyed a monster hit.
1983
Downtown guy Billy Joel showed off his real-life uptown girl.
1984
The first of two top 10 smashes for Netherlands' Time Bandits.
1985
And people thought "Physical" was raunchy!
1986
A big hit was the way it was for Bruce Hornsby & The Range.
1987
Many Jimmy Barnes albums went to no. 1 but only one single.
1988
When one Barnesy wasn't enough... Johnny Diesel debuted.
1989
The UK had big fun with this boy band. Australia? Not so much.
1990
The ghostly love scene that brought a classic back to the chart.
1991
Still massive, Barnesy joined forces with Farnsey.
1992
The massive hit that prompted an equally large backlash.
1993
Blind Melon had a huge single... with a little help from this girl.
1994
The latest local boy band to be hooked up with a hit single.
1995
The third (and often forgotten) top 30 song for Merril Bainbridge.
1996
A new sound, look and role for the everchanging Queen of Pop.
1997
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
The Patrice Rushen hit that was sampled in two '90s #1 hits.
1983
Say, say, say... what's going on here, Paul and Michael?
1984
Telling people they were stupid didn't hurt Culture Club.
1985
Big hair, big hit for Pseudo Echo.
1986
The first of Stacey Q's two big hits in Australia.
1987
Fresh from his UK success, Rick Astley took off down under.
1988
Watch out Ms Minogue, another Kylie was on the chart.
1989
The complicated story behind Black Box's dance smash.
1990
Warrant served up a tasty dish.
1991
Only the third record to debut at number 1 in Australia.
1992
The ABBA revival was in full swing with an old song a hit once again.
1993
Salt 'n' Pepa (and Spinderella) shooped back up the top 50.
1994
A remake of a disco tune gave Gloria Estefan her first ARIA top 10.
1995
Deni Hines' solo career got off to more than an alright start.
1996
A La Bouche album track became the first hit for No Mercy.
1997
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
It ended with one last hit for Hot Chocolate on the Australian top 50.
1983
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
Another top 10 for Elton John, even if it's now overlooked.
1987
After years away, Bee Gees won again on the Australian top 50.
1988
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
Thanks to a beat by DNA, Suzanne Vega was a dance music artist.
1991
A Spandau Ballet sample helped P.M. Dawn drift up the chart.
1992
Arguably Madonna's biggest controversy.
1993
What do Radiohead have in common with Bros and a-ha?
1994
Their best single came when Girlfriend became gf4.
1995
Berri's dance tune was one of many that took a few goes to connect.
1996
The soundtrack single that gave Underworld their first hit since 1988.
1997
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
Goanna had a rock solid hit with a political message.
1983
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
No one does a comeback (or farewell) like John Farnham.
1987
INXS slid back into the top 10 with the first single from Kick.
1988
Australians were early adopters of Melissa Etheridge.
1989
New Kids weren't finding it tough to land hits, with three at once.
1990
Third generation stars Nelson were greeted with love and affection.
1991
Belinda Carlisle returned with the title track of Live Your Life Be Free.
1992
Another '70s classic provided K.W.S. with a second hit.
1993
Pet Shop Boys out-camped Village People (if that's possible).
1994
Nine Inch Nails told the world exactly what they wanted to do.
1995
A big hit overseas, "3 Is Family" didn't add up locally for Dana Dawson.
1996
Livin' Joy had us movin' as they didn't stop going up the chart.
1997
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
It didn't get very high, but Rough Trade's hit sure stuck around.
1983
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
One of the greatest remakes of all time.
1987
The biggest band in the world scored another hit.
1988
Transvision Vamp wanted our love. They got it.
1989
Bobby Brown took a big step in his Australian chart career.
1990
Groovy! Deee-lite's dance classic became a massive success.
1991
With help from his Funky Bunch, Marky Mark became a star.
1992
"End Of The Road" was the start of the R&B mega-ballad era.
1993
Tic-tic-tic-tic-boom!
1994
East 17 continued to be the steamiest boy band around.
1995
An unlikely collaboration yielded a killer hit.
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