A Plug For This Leaking Boat: “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House

The sense of a parallel and slightly hazier world prevails throughout the more intelligent Antipodean rock of 1986; think of the Go-Betweens’ “Twin Layers Of Lightning” or the Triffids’ “Tarrilup Bridge,” each bearing a heat so hazy it could make pizzeria store fronts seem like tablets from heaven. The haze of “Don’t Dream It’s Over” may have a lot to do with Mitchell Froom’s keyboards, but there is a subtle commitment in Neil Finn’s writing and performance which doesn’t have to underline the fact that this is an anti-capitalist protest song. It doesn’t make a fuss but quietly stands in the corner, incrementally making a difference.

Date Record Made Number Two: 25 April 1987

Number Of Weeks At Number Two: 1

Record At Number One: “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” by Aretha Franklin and George Michael

UK Chart Position: 25

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