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Music
> Musical Neighbours by Billy
Over the years, many of the Neighbours cast have dabbled in the music industry. Some have achieved and maintained success in this new field they have ventured into, whereas others... haven't. We now welcome you to The Perfect Blend's comprehensive run-down of all our beloved Musical Neighbours. This first section features all the stars who have recorded albums. Be sure to check out parts two and three, details below.
Note: Statistics are based on UK chart performances.
Part One: The cast who recorded albums
Kylie Minogue
Charlene Mitchell Robinson
Dear old Kylie was the first neighbour to persue a career in music, but by gum she wasn't the last. Believe it or not, her singing career happened completely by accident. Minogue performed Little Eva's The Loco-Motion at a charity event, which went down a storm. It was so successful that it was released as a single in Australia, where it rocketed to the top of the charts and remained there for seven weeks. A record contract with 80's pop label PWL followed, which resulted in the release of four hit albums and a string of hit singles. During the mid-90s, Kylie left behind her dance friendly pop tunes and signed to a new record label. Mediocre record sales and an image crisis were the result. After a few years of silence, she returned with a new radio friendly sound and rightfully found herself at the top of the charts. Her comeback single, Can't Get You Out Of My Head sold a staggering 1,037,235 copies in the UK alone.
| ALBUM TITLE |
RELEASED |
PEAK |
| . |
. |
. |
| KYLIE |
1988 |
1 |
| ENJOY YOURSELF |
1989 |
1 |
| RHYTHM OF LOVE |
1990 |
9 |
| LET'S GET TO IT |
1991 |
15 |
| KYLIE MINOGUE |
1994 |
4 |
| IMPOSSIBLE PRINCESS |
1998 |
10 |
| LIGHT YEARS |
2000 |
2 |
| FEVER |
2001 |
1 |
| BODY LANGUAGE |
2003 |
6 |
| X |
2007 |
- |
COLLECTIONS: GREATEST HITS (1992), MIXES (1998), HITS + (2000), GREATEST HITS 1987-1992 (2002), ULTIMATE KYLIE (2004)
Jason Donovan
Scott Robinson
Hot on the heels of Kylie's success was Jason Donovan. Donovan signed to the same hit making record label as Minogue, and found himself having similar chart success throughout the late 1980s. Probably his most successful period was the time he spent in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, where he received heavy critical acclaim and a Number One single to boot (Any Dream Will Do). Things took a turn for the worse after he split from Minogue, and found it hard to crack the top ten during the early 1990s. He eventually left the limelight, started a family, and didn't return until several years later, where he appeared in London's West End in a leading role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
| ALBUM TITLE |
RELEASED |
PEAK |
| . |
. |
. |
| TEN GOOD REASONS |
1989 |
1 |
| BETWEEN THE LINES |
1990 |
2 |
| ALL AROUND THE WORLD |
1993 |
27 |
COLLECTIONS: GREATEST HITS (1991), GREATEST HITS (2006)
Craig McLachlan
Henry Mitchell Ramsay
By the summer of 1990, McLachlan had decided to try his luck in the pop charts, after the huge success his on-screen sister and brother-in-law were having. He scored his first (and last) top ten with Mona. A string of flop singles followed, which was finally broken when, during his long term stint in the stage version of Grease, released You're The One That I Want with Debbie Gibson (Number 13). He now concentrates full time on acting.
| ALBUM TITLE |
RELEASED |
PEAK |
| . |
. |
. |
| CRAIG MCLACHLAN AND CHECK 1-2 |
1990 |
10 |
| HANDS FREE |
1992 |
- |
Alyce Platt
Jen Handley
After leaving Neighbours, Platt was approached by a major record label to record an album. She turned down the offer, instead choosing to focus on writing and recording her own material. The result was the critically acclaimed and extremely haunting Beautiful Death. The album couldn't be farther removed from Minogue's I Should Be So Lucky and even Imbruglia's Torn. Described as "a cut and spliced mix of Portishead and Kate Bush". Although Platt has produced the most adventurous and intriguing music from any Neighbours star, commercial success has eluded her.
| ALBUM TITLE |
RELEASED |
PEAK |
| . |
. |
. |
| COWBOYS IN THE ATTIC (EP) |
1999 |
- |
| BEAUTIFUL DEATH |
2003 |
- |
| LIVE FROM THE VAULT |
2005 |
- |
Natalie Imbruglia
Beth Brennan Willis
Natalie Imbruglia reportedly turned down a record contract in the early 90s because she was offered the role of Beth in Neighbours. After leaving the show in 1994, she wasn't heard of until the winter of 1997, where, out of the blue, Natalie was back with a trendy new hairstyle and a sound very disimilar to that created by her predecessors. She had avoided the bubble gum pop music, and opted for a much more mature, grungy sound.
| ALBUM TITLE |
RELEASED |
PEAK |
| . |
. |
. |
| LEFT OF THE MIDDLE |
1997 |
5 |
| WHITE LILLIES ISLAND |
2001 |
15 |
| COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS |
2005 |
1 |
COLLECTIONS: GLORIOUS (THE SINGLES 1997-2007)
Holly Valance
Flick Scully
Valance's debut single, Kiss Kiss, entered the charts at Number One, no doubt due to its accompanying video clip, in which Valance appeared to be dancing naked. In reality she was wearing a "flesh coloured bikini". After receiving moderate success with the album and its follow-up singles, her career nosedived considerably when her second album, State of Mind, debuted at the back end of the charts. Since then, subsequent singles from the album were cancelled and Valance returned to acting, but has stressed that she hasn't turned her back on her music.
| ALBUM TITLE |
RELEASED |
PEAK |
| . |
. |
. |
| FOOTPRINTS |
2002 |
9 |
| STATE OF MIND |
2003 |
60 |
Delta Goodrem
Nina Tucker
The unique thing about Goodrem was that she was a signed recording artist before she joined Neighbours. Her single Born To try was incorporated into her storylines which no doubt helped with its huge success. Her debut album, Innocent Eyes, earned her seven ARIA Awards and stayed atop the Australian charts for an astonishing 23 consecutive weeks.
| ALBUM TITLE |
RELEASED |
PEAK |
| . |
. |
. |
| INNOCENT EYES |
2003 |
2 |
| MISTAKEN IDENTITY |
2003 |
25 |
Alan Fletcher
Karl Kennedy
Fletcher's band Waiting Room went on a national tour of the UK and Australia to much acclaim. You can read the account of our experience here. Their album has not yet received a commerical release.
| ALBUM TITLE |
RELEASED |
PEAK |
| . |
. |
. |
| IN THE WAITING ROOM |
2005 |
- |
Natalie Bassingthwaighte
Isabelle Hoyland
Bassingthwaighte is the female lead in new Australian band Rogue Traders. They have found success in their homeland with their single Voodoo Child. Although Voodoo Child hit the number 3 spot in the UK, the album, Here Come The Drums had only peaked at number 46 at the time of writing.
| ALBUM TITLE |
RELEASED |
PEAK |
| . |
. |
. |
| HERE COME THE DRUMS |
2006 |
46 |
Stephanie McIntosh
Sky Mangel
Stephanie's musical career kicked off in 2006 with the release of her singles Mistake and Tightrope, followed by the album, also titled Tightrope, which reached number 4 in Australia, but has yet to be released in the UK.
| ALBUM TITLE |
RELEASED |
PEAK |
| . |
. |
. |
| TIGHTROPE |
2007 |
- |
Part Two: The cast who released singles only
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