The Christmas No. 1 album in Australia is Human Nature’s tribute to their idols, “Reach Out: The Motown Record”. In the Australian Recording Industry Assn. (ARIA) chart published today (Dec. 19), the Australian R&B vocal group climbed to the top spot from No. 3 last week.
The album, released Nov. 6, is certified three times platinum (210,000 units), according to Sony BMG Music Entertainment Australia. It is the act’s second chart topping album, after its sophomore set “Counting Down” from 1999. Since 1996, each of the band’s six albums have certified multi-platinum and have spawned 16 Top 40 hit tracks.
Denis Handlin, SMEA’s chairman and CEO said, “It was ten years ago that I first saw Human Nature perform and on the strength of that performance I signed them immediately.”
SMEA will in early 2006 campaign its global affiliates to release the record, according to Handlin. The band will work on a new album early in the new year.
Human Nature toured Asia, and opened for Michael Jackson and Celine Dion tours through Europe in the mid-1990s.
Of the 25 albums to go to No. 1 on the ARIA chart through 2005, “Reach Out” is the eighth by an Australian artist. It is the 113th Australian performed chart-topping album in the past 40 years.
