all newbies are kinda just ok for me, nothing essential.

the Midnight Oil song is probably my favourite out of thee newbies

I did buy Kylie's 2nd album too but don't think I love anything from it on perspective. Hand on your Heart I really liked it back then, not so much nowadays. Bit of a chart manipulation from SAW to move the charity single.

happy that @dandy* has his fav band ruling the charts! I just realised today they weren't from London :o

Liking all the newies this week.

Hand On Your Heart is a decent Kylie track.

Requiem is good, but their next single is better.

Beds are Burning I had forgotten about, so it's great to hear again.

24 minutes ago, Bjork said:

happy that @dandy* has his fav band ruling the charts! I just realised today they weren't from London :o

You mean were from London?

yes yes I mean I always thought they were German

18 hours ago, Bjork said:

Amazed anyone can feel indifferent to lullaby 😢

Its a perfectly nice track, and clearly popular but in my case I couldnt help compare it to The Walk, Boys Dont Cry, a forest, love cats, caterpillar, in between days, close to me and others and feel it was a bit laid-back from my expectations at the time. Playing it now, it's def improved with age, the strings chords and twangy riff is the best bit, and the line The Spider man is having you for dinner tonight. Peter Parker wouldnt entertain, I'm pretty sure....

I def feel the Cure are an underrated British band, so many brill songs and unique sounding songs they deserved that Glasto platform a few years back to remind people of their genius!

13TH MAY

S/A/W may have lost out in the album charts as Simple Minds beat Jason Donovan to the top spot but on the singles chart they reign supreme with their third No 1 of 1989 and also Kylie’s third No 1 with “Hand On Your Heart” marching 2-1 (106,913). It’s the first time in 1989 that the No 1 track has broken the 100,000 mark and is evidence that the Minogue phenomenon continues with the song selling more than double that of the outgoing chart topper from the Bangles which falls 1-2 (46,920).

One spot below is the highest new entry of the week, and the highest ever entry position for a Queen single! “I Want It All” is the first single from the band in almost 3 years and the first single from their new album “The Miracle”, neither of Queen’s previous entries into the top 5 (“Radio Gaga” and “Somebody To Love”) made No 1 which isn’t a good omen for this track, but it’s clear the band have been missed with 42,585 buyers making this the group’s 16th top 10 hit and were only overtaken by The Bangles very late in the day.

Only the third Austrian act to score a top 10 single in the 80s, Edelweiss have already had a smash hit across Europe topping charts in such countries as Sweden, Austria, and Switzerland with “Bring Me Edelweiss” a song which samples ABBA’s “S.O.S” and Indeep’s “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”. They supposedly made the track after following the instructions in The KLF’s “The Manual” (published last year after the Timelords scored a No 1 with “Doctorin The Tardis”). “Bring Me Edelweiss” powers 28-7 (21,216), a future No 1 in the making?

Remixed by Dancin Danny D better known as D-Mob, Chaka Khan’s 1978 track “I’m Every Woman” gets the 1989 treatment which sees it now become a bigger hit a second time around passing the No 11 peak on its first release and climbing 23-8 (21,165) this week. It is the first release from “Life Is A Dance- The Remix Project” which sees several different remixers take a Khan track and update it for today’s clubs, the song itself was of course written by Ashford & Simpson and has backing vocals from Whitney Houston- expect more releases over the year!

Good news this week for The London Boys, Natalie Cole, and Midnight Oil who rise 5-4 (37,400), 7-5 (32,589) and 9-6 (21,556) respectively though "Beds Are Burning" actually lost sales!, but bad news for Transvision Vamp who descend 4-9 (21,029) and Holly Johnson who slips 6-10 (19,159).


1- HAND ON YOUR HEART- Kylie Minogue (106,913)
2- ETERNAL FLAME- The Bangles  (46,920)
3- I WANT IT ALL- Queen (42,585)
4- REQUIEM- London Boys (37,400)
5- MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY- Natalie Cole  (32,589)
6- BEDS ARE BURNING- Midnight Oil  (21,556)
7- BRING ME EDELWEISS- Edelweiss (21,216)
8- I’M EVERY WOMAN (REMIX)- Chaka Khan (21,165)
9- BABY I DON’T CARE- Transvision Vamp (21,029)
10- AMERICANOS- Holly Johnson (19,159)

Kylie's Hand On Your Heart is a good SAW single, whether it's better than It's No Secret...hmmm probably not! Ferry Cross The Mersey was for a good cause so prob should have taken priority. Requiem was a great single, bordering on cheese, but a fine cheese. A bit of a sad title for the lads these days. Always had time for Natalie Cole, but not a great fan of Miss You Like Crazy, a bit dull. Carole King would have done a better tune for the lyric. Beds Are Burning is another that I charted first-time round, so I was glad to see it a hit at last. Chaka Khan, classic original, not sure if the remix was an improvement but I still liked it. I Want It All, I wasnt that bothered with, Queen treading water I thought, though I didn't dislike it as such (pretty much everything they released made my charts).

Ooh, I liked I Want It All. This was the time where my brother was very much into Queen, so I listened to their songs through him playing them quite a lot.

Edelweiss is bad, isn't it? I thought it was something I enjoyed, but having a listen today, it's only the signing bit that samples ABBA that is really listenable.

'Edelweiss' is interesting to say the least!

An interesting song indeed 😅 love that it was inspired by the KLF manual though

Good for Kylie, really shows how popular she was that she did >100K

surprised ABBA allowed their song to be sampled, thought they were very selective, but maybe not back then. Edelweiss is terrible to say the least.

I am rose tinted spectacles where Edelweiss is concerned. I can also see why people think it’s awful though.

a bit shocked (but maybe we shouldn't) that SAW gave priority to Kylie's single going to #1

vs. a charity record where raising money was a pressing issue I assume?

20TH MAY

The events of 15th April 1989 at Hillsborough are, by now, well documented, but the death of 95 people at the FA Cup Semi Final involving Nottingham Forest and Liverpool saw many of the leading artists from Liverpool club together and record a new version of “Ferry Cross The Mersey” which this week enters the chart at No 1 as expected. Paul McCartney, The Christians, Holly Johnson, and Gerry Marsden have been brought together by Stock Aitken & Waterman for the new version of the Gerry & The Pacemakers track which made No 8 back in 1965. It was written for the film of the same name which was their version of the Beatles “A Hard Day’s Night”, a musical which showcased the bands work, it also became the group’s final top 10 single. Apparently production in several plants was switched from Kylie Minogue’s “Hand On Your Heart” to this track to ensure that it made the top and to enable the alleged 500,000 shipment figure to be met, in truth it wasn’t required as the song enters the chart at the top after selling 99,348 against Kylie’s 90,457, she dips 1-2, it’s the second time that S/A/W have produced successive No 1’s after turning the trick back in March 1987 when Ferry Aid succeeded Mel & Kim, and indeed this is the first time a song has entered at No 1 since that Ferry Aid record. It’s S/A/W’s ninth No 1 produced track and their 4th thus far in 1989 and to celebrate they do a clean sweep with Jason Donovan’s “Ten Good Reasons” making the top spot on the album charts. The last non charity track to debut at No 1? That was Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Two Tribes” almost 5 years ago which of course featured Holly Johnson who can now claim involvement in 4 chart toppers, for The Christians it is a first, for Marsden a fifth and for McCartney a 23rd! it's the first time that an act primarily known as producers (rather than singers) have an express credit on a No 1, and it is also the first time in chart history that there has been at least one new entry in the top 3 for 3 consecutive weeks.

A side effect of the tragedy is that Living In A Box's new single "Gategrashing" has been put back a month as it was deemed insensitive to release at present.

Right at the other end of the top 10 is our other new arrival from Sweden’s Roxette, a duo who are big news in the US where “The Look” has already made No 1, the song’s route to success revolves around an exchange student who was in Sweden when “The Look” was released and took a copy back to the states for Christmas persuading his local radio station to play the song. Such was the reaction that the song was picked up by other radio stations and before long orders came flooding in and EMI released the track Stateside with the rest being history. The pair have been making hit records in their homeland for 3 years but little has made it out of the cold confines of Scandinavia until “The Look”  which now moves 14-10 (19,839) here to announce their arrival.

Still pushing hard up the charts, at least in sales terms, are Natalie Cole 5-3 (53,856) and The London Boys 4-4 (52,989) who force last week’s highest new entry Queen 3-5 (46,580) despite Freddie Mercury and co record a sales increase of their own. Edelweiss inch 7-6 (34,527) and Chaka Khan holds at No 8 (29,427) but The Bangles drop heavily 2-7 (34,119) and Midnight Oil slip 6-9 (21,658).


1- FERRY ‘CROSS THE MERSEY- Paul McCartney/ Gerry Marsden/ Holly Johnson/ The Christians/ Stock, Aitken & Waterman (99,348)
2- HAND ON YOUR HEART- Kylie Minogue  (90,457)
3- MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY- Natalie Cole  (53,856)
4- REQUIEM- London Boys  (52,989)
5- I WANT IT ALL- Queen (46,580)
6- BRING ME EDELWEISS- Edelweiss (34,527)
7- ETERNAL FLAME- The Bangles (34,119)
8- I’M EVERY WOMAN (REMIX)- Chaka Khan  (29,427)
9- BEDS ARE BURNING- Midnight Oil (21,658)
10- THE LOOK- Roxette (19,839)

The arrival of Rosette.

Great pop music, of which The Look is only the beginning.

Impressive sales for Kylie there.

Yeh decent third week sales for Kylie but thank goodness SAW are only going to dominate for another 12-18 months or so!

Justice for the 97 ❤️ maddening to think when this chart topper was there to support the families The Scum and the Thatcher government were trying to hooliganise football fans with made up stories about what happened that day and only now is it more clear what happened.

Love Roxette ❤️

Also love the new Queen one, a classic for me. And also how did ‘I’m Every Woman’ only peak at 11 first time round. Guess that’s what ads do for a song!

Roxette were amazing <3 crazy story about how The Look broke in the US

Queen-I Want it All, never liked it, but not a Queen fan

My one takeaway is that I totally thought Roxette started earlier than this! Even though I know their heyday was the early 90s.

Yeh was 89-92!