In solidarity with the epic UK 80s Singles & Albums Chart General Discussion Thread and the new US 80s Singles & Albums Chart General Discussion Thread, here's an Aussie version. I'll be following @Bobby Morrow and @W.B.'s lead in setting no rules for this thread, other than to ask that discussion remains good natured and that we stay within the confines of the 1980s. The way it will work is that I'll regularly post a random Australian chart from the '80s with a few observations and hope that it inspires comment. Please feel free to post videos or photos or whatever else takes your fancy. I think I'll probably list the Australian artists in each chart. Very often they only found success at home, so I think they deserve to be highlighted. But hey, let's see how we go. A bit of chart history before I kick things off... For most of the 1980s, the official music chart in Australia was the Kent Music Report (KMR), compiled by local music historian David Kent from record sales across the country. In 1983, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) decided to lease Kent's chart and began distributing a printed Top 50 chart from record stores. This one sheet was initially branded the "Countdown Chart" after the hugely popular music program on the ABC, although this moniker was dropped in May 1984. From then on, the printed chart was labelled the "Australian Top 50 ARIA Chart". In June 1988, ARIA's lease with the KMR expired and it started producing its own chart. The ARIA chart thus became the "official" Australian singles and albums chart (and remains so to this day). It's mostly the printed Countdown/ARIA charts that I'll be holding up for discussion, although I will type out the KMR singles charts from 1980 to mid-1983. Sadly, I don't have access to the weekly album charts from this time period (if any of you can help me out with those, please let me know!)
This is the first of the printed Top 50 charts to appear in Australian record stores, dated 10 July 1983.
Well . . . I'll contribute whenever and wherever I can based on the situation, let's say I have #3, 6, 22, 30(?), 39 (on a Harvest label), 44 and 49(?); and am familiar with #1, 2, 4, 5, 8 - 11, 16, 20, 23, 31, 34, 38 and 41. Can do without #12. (?) - don't know if I have it or not.
Some comments about this chart: This will be Bonnie Tyler's final week at #1 with 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart'. It had enjoyed six weeks on top and Irene Cara was knocking impatiently, so Bonnie's time was up. Culture Club's 'Church of the Poison Mind' is the week's biggest bullet performer, climbing 16 places to #11. The week's highest debut is The Call's 'The Walls Came Down'. It was only a hit in Australia, where it reached #21. This happened quite often during the 80s. I always think that it must have been strange for an international act (often obscure) to discover they had a hit single at the bottom of the world. Local artists (I'm including Kiwis): Send Me An Angel - Real Life Fraction Too Much Friction - Tim Finn I Was Only 19 - Redgum Play The Game - Wendy & The Rocketts Affair Of The Heart - Rick Springfield Pressure Sway - Machinations No Tragedy - The Radiators Black and White - INXS Let The Franklin Flow - Gordon Franklin & The Wilderness Ensemble Live Lady Live - The Angels On the album chart, Speaking In Tongues debuts surprisingly high at #17. Tim Finn and Stevie Nicks suprisingly low.
"Save Your Love" isn't what I think it is, is it? *Googles Uh, yes it is. I didn't realise it was such a hit. Every Nonno and Yaya would have one. Imagine that Redgum album hitting the charts now. 1983 was a different universe...
Ahhhh memories. Charts always irritated me in some ways, because it seemed like too many songs I thought were great didn't do much... but looking back, it was a pretty good spread of variety... even if I don't love all of it.
Yes, like The Call, that was another surprise hit down here (although I see from Wikipedia that 'Mexican Radio' also did well in Canada and New Zealand). Great song. Wall Of Voodoo went on to have further success down here: 'Far Side Of Crazy' reached #23 in June 1986 and their cover of 'Do It Again' peaked at #40 in 1987.
'Save Your Love' reached #3 here. It's one of those big 80s hits that has me scratching my head (back then and today), wondering who actually went out and bought it. But people did, obviously! 'I Was Only 19' is an interesting one, isn't it. Number one for two weeks earlier in 1983. I wonder if Paul Hardcastle heard it and was inspired to record '19' a few years later... or whether the Vietnam War's average combat age of 19 was widely known?
Ahhh, Fraction too Much Friction! Still love that song. Great little video, slightly goofy but a good one. Many people already know of my abiding love for (a) all things Finn related (b) Escapade particularly. I think the success of Escapade pretty much caught everyone by surprise (not least Tim, himself). 33 as a new entry isn't so bad. There wasn't really any touring for the album. The live from the Venue album (available via Support Act in Australia) is a recording of one of the live shows in promotion of the album. Also, Pressure Sway by the Machinations. What a great song. Loved Freddy's dance moves and a bunch of their other stuff. Seriously, in a sea of rock music, the mighty Machinations really were something different. "Play the Game" by Wendy and the Rockets. Such a cool song with some great asides delivered by Wendy. Two pretty serious songs "I Was Only 19". Redgum probably were as surprised as anyone when it became a hit because they really were a folk band. The video didn't pull any punches either. I remember the Paul Hardcastle song as well. I think it was becoming more widely known that the average age of soldiers was 19 years old. Painfully young. Secondly "Let the Franklin Flow". I remember that vividly. I mean as a teen, I remember being pretty outraged that they were going to flood this beautiful old growth forest for very little gain. It was a big deal among my friends and I. The albums chart is wild. Everything from Richard Clayderman, Harry Secombe and Midnight Oil....us Aussies are a strange lot!
Glad you found the thread @KangaMom! I was going to tag you! Re: Tim and Escapade... given the Enz's huge success the year before, I would've thought the album would debut higher than #33. But it was a huge climber the following week — up to #12, and then into the Top 10 where it would peak at #8 (Stevie Nicks performed similarly, shooting up from #36 to #8 within a week!) I'd actually forgotten the video for 'Fraction Too Much Friction' but the walking dog graphic took me straight back to '83.
@AFOS, hoping you can shed some light on the 'Love You Brisbane' hit by Kim Durant? It doesn't seem to have made the national Top 50 but it's #5 here on the Queensland Top 10. Also, 'Mexican Radio' is #9 in Queensland!
Re: Save Your Love. My mum that’s who bought it! And Charlene’s I’ve Never Been To Me too! Mind you I subjected her to all manner of abominations Lana Pellay, Maria Vidal etc.
Nothing wrong with Lana and Maria! And I secretly love the high camp of 'I've Never Been To Me'. Don't tell anyone.
Pretty sure we had a few Harry Secombe LPs and possibly a Clayderman but I know for certain we had this LP from Eric Robertson : https://www.discogs.com/release/4191540-Eric-Robertson-Magic-Melodies but I digress. That one’s from 82. Not sure if Eric charted much.
19 isn't exactly a bop, but it resonated with people. I prefer that live version rather than the single. Whenever I hear Save Your Love I think of this (jump to 1:07). Just noticed 1983 The Hot Ones on the album chart. I had that! First time I had ever heard hip hop, by way of Grandmaster Flash's The Message. Easily the most compelling track on that comp. https://www.discogs.com/release/2564473-Various-1983-The-Hot-Ones
He must have had a following here since I have seen my fair share of Clayderman CDs and LPs in the charity shops over the years. Must have been the 1980s equivilant of Andre Rieu
It’s a bit like the U.K. chart, but obviously there are some I don’t know. Jeopardy flopped over here (as far as I remember) but was a big US hit. I’m honoured to give Cliff his first mention in the thread. Always liked his single with Phil Everly. A change of style for him and a good one.
A hit in Britain and Australia. But . . . as a single, never released in the U.S.; they had to settle for one of those compilation albums hawked late at night on mail-order ads alongside those of Slim Whitman and Roger Whittaker.
Never saw the Richard/Everly duet released in the U.S., though. On the U.S. thread where his "Dreaming" was a hit in late 1980, someone noted that "New Wave was having real difficulty establishing itself on the charts, in spite of being tagged - post Blondie and The Knack - as the sound of the future. Its highest-charting proponent this week was also an unexpected source for cutting edge New Wave tinged pop, none other than Brit fossil Cliff Richard."
This'll be an interesting thread! For the first chart, my top tens would be: Singles 1. Leo Sayer - Orchard Road 2. Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart 3. After The Fire - Der Kommissar 4. Rod Stewart - Baby Jane 5. Rick Springfield - Affair Of The Heart 6. Laura Branigan - Gloria 7. Joan Armatrading - Drop The Pilot 8. The Call - The Walls Came Down 9. Lionel Richie - You Are 10. Falco - Der Kommissar Albums 1. Dire Straits - Love Over Gold 2. Goanna - Spirit Of Place 3. Men At Work Cargo 4. Rod Stewart - Body Wishes 5. Bonnie Tyler - Faster Than The Speed Of Night 6. Lionel Rochie - S/T 7. Laura Branigan - 2 8.Pink Floyd - The Final Cut 9. Little River Band - The Net 10. ELO - Secret Messages
Looking forward to watching this thread unfold. It's true that us Aussies had different tastes to the US - some crossovers, sure, but they tended to either be the big artists of the day (eg Michael Jackson) or related to a cultural phenomena that briefly took the world by storm (eg Flashdance). We did support our homegrown talent, though, and I'm sure we'll see more Angels, Aussie Crawl, Divinyls etc showing up in the charts. Mostly, though, this is a real blast from the past and should be a lot of fun - besides making me feel old.
