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Sunday, January 30, 2022

"It's No Secret" by Kylie Minogue

Song#:  3741
Date:  12/10/1988
Debut:  90
Peak:  37
Weeks:  13
Genre:  Dance-Pop


Pop Bits:  Minogue's remake of "The Loco-Motion" was the second single released in the US from her debut album and it became a #3 gold selling hit. For a follow-up, this next track was selected. Originally, this was scheduled to be the fifth single from the LP in territories like the UK where Minogue had already broke through beginning in '87 (and scored four Top 10s). But then a duet Minogue did with Australian actor/singer Jason Donovan for his debut LP became a big hit (#1 UK) and so plans were scraped to push out "It's No Secret" as Minogue was nearly set to release her next LP in April of '89. However, since the US market just boarded the Minogue "Loco-Motion" train, the label went ahead and released "It's No Secret." The tune, written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman team, would crack the US Pop Top 40, but would go no further. Despite the single not matching the success of "The Loco-Motion," it seemed that Minogue had done well enough to set herself up for further success. But then something strange happened. She disappeared from the US charts and record stores. It seemed her legacy would be the lone Top 10 hit, but out of nowhere she got back on the US charts in 2002 - nearly 13 years after "It's No Secret" made the Top 40.

ReduxReview:  This song wasn't the standard Hi-NRG piece from the SAW team, which was a nice change of pace. It was a good pop tune that probably should have cracked the Top 20, but it just wasn't quite as immediately catchy as "The Loco-Motion" and therefore stalled a bit early. I remember looking forward to hearing the first single from her next album, but then it seemed like it never arrived. And just like that, no more Minogue. Frankly, the next time I heard her was in 1995 when she appeared on two tracks on Nick Cave & the Bad Seed's album Murder Ballads. The pairing of Cave and Minogue was both weird and inspired. The song "Where the Wild Roses Grow" would actually get to #2 in the UK. Then finally in 2001 the brilliant "Can't Get You Out of My Head" arrived and the world righted itself with Minogue finally getting long overdue attention in the US.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  So what happened to Kylie Minogue? She was in a position to be a pop star in the US, but just as quickly as she arrived, she was gone. It seems there was a couple of reasons for this. When her second LP, Enjoy Yourself, found its way to the States, it landed with a thud. Singles from the album failed to chart and that left the LP disappearing quickly. The result was unexpected considering the LP's first four singles went Top 10 in the UK and in several other countries. Minogue's US label, Geffen, then threw in the towel and dropped Minogue. Although left without US representation, Minogue continued her career since she had become a star in many other countries. Between '89 and 2000, she would score 15 Top 10 UK hits including three #1s. She would do nearly as well at home in Australia. Yet in all that time, it seemed like no US label was willing to give her a second chance in the US. Then in 2001, Minogue recorded her eighth album Fever. Its first single, "Can't Get You Out of My Head," became a massive #1 in many countries. The hit was too big to be ignored and so Capitol Records took a chance and finally gave Minogue that second shot in the US. It paid off with the song reaching #7 Pop/#1 Dance and the album hitting #3 and going platinum. While her US Pop chart fortunes would quickly dwindle again, this time around she was able to keep a US distribution contract. In addition to all of her studio albums from 2002 through 2020 reaching the US chart, she earned seven #1s on the US Dance chart. She would also earn a Grammy for Best Dance Recording in 2004 for the song "Come into My World." Her 2020 album Disco would be critically well-received and reach #1 UK/#26 US (and it was my favorite album for that year).

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