Six of the best: Neighbours stars turned pop stars

By Iain Hepburn on Jul 2, 09 07:31 PM in Six of the Best

Welcome to a very special six of the ~~best~~ worst, inspired by the Daily Record's interview this week with Stefan Dennis.

Now poor Stefan's had a career trajectory that went from Neighbours (imperial era) to Dream Team to River City to Neighbours (contemporary). But nestled in among all that TV gold is a shining nugget of music terror.

So in tribute to Stef, and the rest of the Stock Aitken and Waterman hits factory (am sure that's an anagram), here's six of the best of the worst to make the jump from Ramsay Street to Top 40...

6: Stefan Dennis - Don't It Make You Feel Good?(1989)
Because nothing says an 80s SAW pop video like synths, plastic sheeting, chain link fences and a man with a sensible haircut wearing a leather jacket.

5: Bruce Samazan - One Of A Kind (1993)
Bruce played Mark Gottlieb - no, we didn't immediately remember him either - in the 90s, but also was the first actor to appear in all three 'big' Australian soaps - Neighbours, Home and Away, and E Street, where he played a werewolf apparently. Famously, this was actually cited in a court case as 'particulary bad' and a blessing that it got little airplay...

4: Dan Falzon - Walkaway (2006)
The former Rick Alessi, Dan Falzon, originally released Seventeen with his brother as Milk in 1997. He's now a paramedic, eco warrior and a UFO hunter, but they're still churning out the songs. To be fair to Dan, he's doing it to promote awareness of climate change.

3: Natalie Bassingthwaite (Rogue Traders) - Voodoo Child (2006)
Um. Well. Yes. Look, it's just bloomin' annoying, ok? And performed live, as it is below, it's rubbish AND annoying. Song hit number 3 in the charts. Album, however, currently missing presumed dead.

2: Craig McLaughlan - Mona (1990)
I'll be fair to Craig McLaughlan. He's actually not that bad a singer. He's a fairly decent actor - indeed, he was the best thing about god-awful tv series Bugs. Doesn't mean he didn't murder Mona when he covered it though.

1: Gayle and Gillian - All Mixed Up (1991)
But for true horror, nothing can top the cash-in pop nightmare that was the Twins. Anyone with long memories might remember David Baddiel on The Mary Whitehouse Experience talking about the twins, and how one of them's got a wonky mouth. He's right you know. After this monstrosity, they ended up co-hosting Take Your Pick with Des O'Connor. Unfortunately, he'd left his pick at home, so they escaped to fight another day.

and the one that got away...

Kylie and Jason obviously had good careers - Kylie's a bit more notable than Jase's to be honest. But for me, nothing can top Natalie Imbruglia's 1997 pop debut, Torn...