Having hinted at it yesterday, I did think I’d hold out for longer before pulling this one out, but perhaps I can use it as the start of a series of tenuous or gratuitous links from one day to the next. I’ll try to be more imaginative than questionable geographical links in future, I promise.

Don’t Dream It’s Over, from the self-titled debut by Crowded House is the second best New Zealand song of all time. Confusingly, it’s also the seventh best Australian song of all time. It was number one in New Zealand and Canada, and a top ten hit in Germany, Netherlands, Norway, US, and Australia. So let’s hear it for the refined taste of the UK singles chart buying public, who refused to let it rise higher than 27. It stayed at this peak for two weeks, in the first of which The Firm were top of the charts with Star Trekkin’. As I say, refined taste.

The song turned up again in Europe in November 1991 as the B-side to the gorgeous Fall at Your Feet. At the same time, Paul Young was in the top 40 with his cover of Don’t Dream It’s Over, and, for a couple of weeks at least, Young won the battle for sales. Refined taste…