Sam Smith is at the top of the charts today but what were people listening to in decades gone by?

10 years ago: Fergie – Big Girls Don’t Cry

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It’s hard to believe it’s a decade since the Black Eyed Peas singer was at the top of her game with a successful solo career. Fergie’s just released her first new tune in ages. Her upcoming second album Double Dutchess will arrive an whopping eleven years after her first album came out.  

This track was produced by band mate Will.i.am and spent a massive nine weeks in the number one spot in Australia in 2007.

20 years ago: Will Smith – Men in Black

Twenty years ago Will Smith was putting on his shades for the first time and heading off to tackle the aliens. The theme song to his movie Men in Black was the number one song for all of September 1997, and it was his first ever solo release after splitting from longtime collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff. The tune borrows heavily from Patrice Rushen’s tune Forget Me Nots which was released in 1982.

30 years ago: Kylie Minogue – The Locomotion

Kylie Minogue’s music career began 30 years ago with her version of The Locomotion.  She’d later re-record the tune in the UK with producers Stock Aitken Waterman. The original version spent seven weeks at the top of the Australian charts.

40 years ago: Carol Bayer Sager – You’re Moving Out Today

Carol Bayer Sager was behind many hit tunes in the 1970’s and 1980’s, but this is the only one she recorded herself, and it was a massive hit. She wrote the song with Bruce Roberts and Bette Midler, who also laid down a version of the tune. She also wrote A Groovy Kind of Love, That’s What Friends Are For and The Prayer. 

50 years ago: Petula Clark – Don’t Sleep in the Subway

It’s 50 years since Petula Clark topped the chart with one of her biggest hits. She was here in Perth earlier this year and showed that even though she’s in her mid-80’s she can still deliver a knockout show.

This tune was written by songwriting team Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch who also wrote Clark’s hit song Downtown. They later wrote the theme to Neighbours.

OIP Staff