Here is the third and final instalment of a series of special posts taking a look at singles that topped one or more of the ARIA state charts, but not the national chart, between June 1988 (when ARIA began producing the chart in-house) and December 1989 (before this information was available via subscription to The ARIA Report). This post takes a look at singles that topped the state charts only, between July 1989 and December 1989. You can read Part 1, covering June 1988-December 1988, and Part 2, covering January 1989-June 1989, on the hyperlinks embedded here.
Jive Bunny was what Western Australians liked in late 1989.
State chart-only number one singles - July 1989 to December 1989:
1. "Telephone Booth" by Ian Moss
State(s) that it went to number one in: South Australia/Northern Territory
Known dates it was number one: 7 August 1989
National chart peak: number 7
National chart debut: 19 June 1989
National chart run: 40-20-17-19-22-17-14-12-7-11-17-21-34-51-58-71-98-108
We saw 'Mossy' in part 2 of this series of posts, with "Tucker's Daughter", which also topped the South Australia/Northern Territory state chart. I liked this one more than "Tucker's Daughter" at the time, but now I'd say they're neck and neck. One thing probably few people would have predicted at the time, though, was that this would be Ian's final top 10 solo single in Australia, after kicking off his solo career with back-to-back top 10 hits and a number one album Matchbook (number 1 for three weeks in August 1989), which actually debuted at number 148 on the national albums chart before climbing to the top spot the following week.
Another interesting statistic about "Telephone Booth" is that it peaked outside the top 10 on the two most-populous state charts (NSW/ACT and VIC/TAS), but still went top 10 nationally on the strength of its sales in QLD, SA/NT and WA.
2. "Right Back Where We Started From" by Sinitta
State(s) that it went to number one in: Victoria/Tasmania
Known dates it was number one: 21 August 1989
National chart peak: number 7
National chart debut: 10 July 1989
National chart run: 130-48-35-24-15-13-10-7-9-7-7-11-13-15-24-34-50-46-52-93-94
Despite being thought of as a Stock Aitken Waterman-produced artist, none of Sinitta's singles produced by them peaked higher than number 49 in Australia, that being "Toy Boy" (number 49, December 1987). Instead, her two biggest hits in Australia, "So Macho" (number 14, October 1986) and "Right Back Where We Started From" (number 7 for three non-consecutive weeks in August-September 1989) were produced by others. Although this one was produced by Pete Hammond, who was part of the Stock Aitken Waterman 'Hit Factory' team. Almost conversely to "Telephone Booth" above, "Right Back..." peaked within the top 5 in the three most-populous states, and in the teens in SA/NT and WA.
3. "Baby I Don't Care" by Transvision Vamp
State(s) that it went to number one in: Western Australia
Known dates it was number one: 21 August 1989
National chart peak: number 3
National chart debut: 29 May 1989
National chart run: 137-54-40-29-24-13-14-8-10-6-5-5-3-4-7-9-17-20-24-42-43-50-68-74-98-98
Despite liking Transvision Vamp, and this one being their biggest hit in Australia, "Baby I Don't Care" would not rank among my favourite songs of theirs, though I do like it. Released in Australia a mere three weeks after the final single from their debut album, "Sister Moon" (number 95, June 1989), "Baby I Don't Care" led the band's second album Velveteen (number 2, July 1989), ripping off the chord structure of The Troggs' "Wild Thing" (number 1 for two weeks in 1966). Roxette had also recently used the same chord structure with "Dressed for Success" (number 3 for four weeks in September 1989). It seemed like Transvision Vamp were going to be huge and stick around for some time when this was out - or so I thought - but that was not to be, with the band achieving only one further top 20 single in Australia after this point, before splitting in 1992.
4. "All I Want Is You" by U2
State(s) that it went to number one in: Victoria/Tasmania and Queensland
Known dates it was number one: 28 August 1989 (VIC/TAS); 9 October 1989 (QLD)
National chart peak: number 2
National chart debut: 21 August 1989
National chart run: 17-12-11-6-2-2-2-4-6-9-9-11-17-22-30-35-48-59-(2 week Xmas break)-47-70-89-78
"All I Want Is You" was issued as the fourth and final single from U2's hybrid/live studio album Rattle and Hum (number 1 for five weeks in October-November 1988). While lead single "Desire" (number 1 for three weeks in October 1988) topped the chart, the second and third singles stalled in the low teens/20s. The success of "All I Want Is You" was probably helped by the striking video, and also the new B-side, "Everlasting Love", which received so much airplay in Melbourne that I assumed it was their 'new' single. "All I Want Is You" peaked at number two on the state charts it was not number one on (NSW/ACT, SA/NT, WA).
5. "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" by New Kids on the Block
State(s) that it went to number one in: Western Australia
Known dates it was number one: 4 September 1989
National chart peak: number 4
National chart debut: 31 July 1989
National chart run: 131-23-19-7-8-4-5-4-6-12-12-12-22-19-25-27-31-40-43-51-57-(2 week Xmas break)-61-68-83-82-87
American boy band New Kids on the Block burst onto the Australian chart earlier in 1989 with the second single from their second album Hangin' Tough (number 7 for four non-consecutive weeks in November 1989 and December 1989-January 1990), "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" (number 1 for three weeks in August 1989). They almost seemed 'cool' or slightly 'street' to me with that release - that image would be shattered permanently with the incredibly sappy "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)". Sounding more like a follow-up to Glenn Medeiros' "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" (number 10, February 1988), "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" was schmaltz in the extreme.
It was around this point I realised that I didn't actually like New Kids on the Block. They would redeem themselves somewhat with the lead single from their next album, "Step by Step" (number 8 for two weeks in June 1990), but the damage had been done. Any 'cool' factor the group had was further diminished by their hyper-commercialism, with bubblegum cards and an animated TV series - a model that Spice Girls would look to for inspiration later in the 90s.
6. "I Don't Want a Lover" by Texas
State(s) that it went to number one in: Western Australia
Known dates it was number one: 11 September 1989
National chart peak: number 4
National chart debut: 5 June 1989
National chart run: 121-104-86-58-61-42-38-28-17-14-6-9-5-8-4-8-13-14-24-23-27-32-36-45-54-54-65-83-95-(2 week Xmas break)
'Texas' is not the name you expect of a band hailing from Glasgow, Scotland. My dad, who was born in Scotland, was quite the fan of this one, and I'm pretty sure got the Southside (number 14, November 1989) album it's taken from. Interestingly, "I Don't Want a Lover" peaked at number 5 or lower on the non-Western Australia state charts, but peaked at number 4 nationally. Texas wouldn't land another decent-sized hit single in Australia for nearly another eight years, with "Say What You Want" (number 11 for two weeks in June 1997), which sounds quite different to "I Don't Want a Lover"... so much so that I was not certain it was the same 'Texas' when I first heard it!
State(s) that it went to number one in: Western Australia
Known dates it was number one: 27 November 1989
National chart peak: number 4
National chart debut: 20 November 1989
National chart run: 62-4-4-4-5-(2 week Xmas break)-7-12-23-33-44-93-92
Jive Bunny and The Mastermixers were father and son duo John and Andrew Pickles, fronted by a... cartoon bunny named Jive. A novelty phenomenon you kind of had to be there at the time to understand. Their medleys of 'golden oldies', mainly from the 1950s and 1960s - some tracks were re-recorded with the original vocalists, or with soundalikes - were briefly popular in Australia towards the end of 1989. Their debut single "Swing the Mood" (number 1 for three weeks in October 1989) topped the Australian chart, as did their album The Album (number 1 for four weeks in December 1989-January 1990). "That's What I Like", their second release, wasn't quite as popular, but a top 5 hit nonetheless. It would be their last top 50 single in Australia.
One interesting piece of trivia about this single's chart run is that it debuted at number 101 on the Western Australia state chart, before climbing to number 1 the following week! Also, while researching this post, I found an article where the DJ behind Jive Bunny's first hit, "Swing the Mood", who was also involved with several of their later releases, claims he has only ever made £100 from their hits!
I lost my first music videos YouTube channel in 2009 after receiving three unexpired (I don't they ever expired back then) copyright strikes, the third of which was from Music Factory, the record label Jive Bunny's releases were on, for uploading one of their videos! I thought that was a bit rich, coming from an act whose entire body of work was based on sampling other people's songs.
8. "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel
State(s) that it went to number one in: Queensland and Western Australia
Known dates it was number one: 4 December 1989 (QLD and WA)
National chart peak: number 2
National chart debut: 23 October 1989
National chart run: 20-10-5-3-3-2-2-2-2-(2 week Xmas break)-4-6-11-15-25-32-42-44-57-67-86-100
"We Didn't Start the Fire" was Billy Joel's first Australian single release since January 1988, preceding his Storm Front (number 1 for two weeks in November 1989) album. Similar to Ian Moss's Matchbook above, the Storm Front album debuted at number 136 in Australia, before climbing to number 2 the following week. I was not a fan of this one at all at the time, though I don't mind it now. It was a weird period, looking back, where artists your parents liked could score major hit singles. I can't see that happening now.
