This might be a bit of an anomaly for my American readers as this was never released as a single over there for some reason, for everyone else this remains the biggest hit from Wings which seems fitting as it's a song that honours Paul's Scottish heritage more than anything else he's ever released.
This is a song that works fine upon its initial release, but I feel becomes tiresome after repeated listens, I think it's because the yelping at the end of the second chorus feels unnecessary although that could just be a me problem. This was one of the biggest hits of the decade in Australia despite Bryan's band Roxy music failing to find any major success with one of their singles prior to him temporarily disbanding them to pursue his solo career.
I really don't like it whenever I have to call out a sellout a band is doing for the worse, however this really applies to this track as Chicago went from one of the more progressive bands of the decade to what many will say is one of the worst bands of the 70's and 80's with this ballad. Simply put, this song is a bore and a half for most people to listen to (me included) due to how the melody is structured.
Most people will likely be more familiar with Madonna's rendition from the theatrical version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita; however, it was originally a hit for Julie Covington when the story was little more than a concept album where it became one of the biggest hits of the decade for her. She made the strange decision to not appear on the stage version of the album, being replaced with Elaine Paige instead.
Well, this is a song that many of my readers will likely have no recollection of ever existing, this is mainly due to it being banned in Pussyfoot's native UK for its highly suggestive lyrics which resulted in it flopping on the British charts. We Aussies didn't have such censorship towards this song which resulted in it becoming a huge success for the band before faded into obscurity.
Several years after David Cassidy's popularity dwindled out in the music scene, his younger brother Shaun Cassidy stepped in and was able to achieve massive success along the likes of other conventionally attractive young men who didn't necessarily have the best vocals of their generation. Shaun's popularity peaked here with his rendition of an Eric Carmen staple.
This was one of only three hit singles that Andy Gibb was able to score in Australia throughout his lifetime, it's a shame because while he wasn't as much of a musical genius as his older brothers, he did have the same energy and charisma as the Bee gees to sustain a long and prosperous career had the trends not turned against them all.
Although "You make me feel like dancing" is often regarded as the big hit from Leo Sayer's third album, it was actually this ballad that proved to be his biggest hit this decade and would've been his biggest hit overall were it not for his cover of "More than I can say" from the start of the following decade. Indeed, Leo's biggest hits are his ballads and not his more upbeat tracks.
OK so this is a song that is problematic even at the time of its release, anyone who's ever found themselves in the situation that goes on in the lyrics will tell you that it's not a situation that should be glamourised the way it is on this track. Admittedly Mary quickly became aware of this as she has since distanced herself from this track even if it came at the expense of scoring another hit.
If you can believe it, there was indeed a time where this song didn't contain the lyrics "who the f**k is Alice," that goes to show you that there was a time where this song was taken seriously by the masses. In Australia, this was the song that put them on the map as their earlier hits from their native UK failed to crossover here like this mammoth track did.
You'd think that a man who was married to Liza Minelli (only to divorce her when he found out he was gay of course) would've had more success as a lead artist in the music scene, alas all of Peter Allen's accomplishments came as a songwriter save for this chart topper he had at home in Australia. I guess the fact that he had such a huge hit with a lounge track like this was impressive given when it came out.
This was the biggest hit to come from Marcia Hines throughout the decade, although you may have noticed the absence of Diana Ross on these lists as many feel that the American born Australian singer stole the success the former Supremes vocalist would've had down under for herself. Indeed, once Diana started having hits again in the 80's, Marcia's time in the spotlight had fallen by the wayside.
This is a cover of one of the bigger hits from the 60's by the Rooftop singers, I'm guessing these guys did this to further cement their change in music direction from the first half of the decade where they were a novelty act making joke songs written by Shel Silverstein. If they wanted to be taken seriously in the easy listening crowd, then they succeeded with flying colours as they achieved a ton of success with these ballads.
I know that there's only so much of a career you can get out of making rebellious anthems for the youth of any given time period, however I doubt many people want to accept the truth that barring his comeback single from 1989 "Poison," this is the biggest hit of Alice Cooper's career in certain parts of the world. For the remainder of the decade, he would stick to the adult contemporary scene much to the disdain of many of his fans both before and after this period.
This is a two-way entry for Boz Scaggs as "Lido shuffle" was always the lead single to his magnum opus Silk degrees, for reasons I can never understood, it only became a hit here in Australia when it was bundled with the second single from the album "What can I say" which allowed both songs to be a huge success together as well as the album itself finally getting off the ground here.
If you thought that actors trying for a singing career has only been a recent phenomenon, allow me to present to you David Soul who managed to score a massive hit worldwide with this track following the success he had with his TV series Starsky and Hutch. Even though this was his only hit in his native America, he would score two more hits throughout the rest of the world thanks to the show.
This was the only noticeable success that David Dundas (sorry Lord David Dundas as he does have an official title) achieved in his music career, although he did score a minor hit here in Australia with "Another funny honeymoon" which means there was some appeal to this guy's music outside of this ad jungle for a jean commercial. Oh yeah, this was written specifically as an ad jingle, hence why it sounds like one.
So, we've all seen Star Wars, right? Apparently Meco had seen it over forty times back in the day and loved it so much that he decided to make a disco rendition of the opening title sequence. Here he didn't just remix the original track, instead he got an orchestra to rearrange the melody to fit in with the disco trends that were emerging this decade which resulted in it being a huge success for him.
Although these guys had received plenty of buzz prior to this becoming a huge runaway hit for them, it was this track that helped them achieved their goal of scoring massive success in Australia to then take back home to their native NZ. This has been a surprisingly common phenomenon over the years with NZ artists temporarily migrating to Australia and returning home once they achieved their success.
One of the less successful bands to make it big by appearing on Countdown was the Ferrets, mainly because despite them having a huge hit with this track that even sparked interest in them in the UK, they remain a one hit wonder due to their inability to capitalise off this song's success here. I guess they got lost in the shuffle from all the other emerging bands to appear on the show.
This is a song that by all accounts should be seen as one of the laziest ever recorded and yet works so well despite its brutal minimalism, it's sort of like a trance track from the 90's with how well it works with how little it has and it appears the general public of this year agrees with that assessment as this became a huge success for Donna Summer worldwide.
I know the 70's were a bizarre time in pop culture, however I'm finding it very hard to believe that one of the biggest hits of the decade was this novelty track about a duck (presumably Donald Duck based on the impersonation) wants to go out to the disco to dance. I guess this was funny the first time I heard it, although for me at least this quickly wears off its charm after repeated listens.
You may be familiar with the name Carole Bayer Sager if you're a Burt Bacharach fan, after all she was a frequent writing collaborator with the songwriting legend and co-wrote some of his more well-known songs such as "That's what friends are for" and the theme to Arthur starring Dudley Moore. Here she is with her one and only hit as a lead artist, I'm guessing this was a success more for the lyrics than her vocal performance which isn't great.
Skyhooks were indeed one of the most popular bands of the decade thanks to their promotion on Countdown, so it only makes sense that lead singer Shirley Strachan would see massive success with a solo hit much like the lead singer of their rival band Sherbet did a few years prior. This did prove to be a death nail for the band's commercial appeal as they didn't reach the dizzying heights of their earlier material after this became a hit.
This was the second single from Abba's fourth album Arrival, and one that seems oddly appropriate in this day and age given how frequently they proclaim this to be a "rich man's world" throughout the lyrics. It was an easy chart topper for the Swedish foursome and ensured that their popularity wasn't a fluke during the midpoint of the decade.
This is often considered to be Leo's signature tune given how it incorporates disco into his sound despite him not really being a disco artist throughout his career. His next single would be even bigger and a major draw into his fourth album after the mediocre reception of his last album, however this is the song that many will tell you is the highlight of his career.
I always felt these guys were German for some reason, I'm guessing it's due to how aggressive their vocals are which are typical for German tracks from around this time. It turns out they are from the UK and that this became a hit here despite it flopping throughout Europe, I'm guessing because it fitted in with the disco trends that were making it big down under.
Oh, wow you couldn't release this song nowadays, heck I think even back then this was a controversial song as it implies that Joe Tex has had such bad luck with heavier women on the dance floor that this feels more like a protest anthem against him dancing with them than anything else. I don't think he cares about what people think of this track considering he's been dead since the early 80's.
This was initially a flop for Tina Charles in Australia, that's a bit strange because she already had success with "I love to love" and with her band 5000 volts prior to this being released as a single. It was fortunately given a second chance here following the international success of its follow up "Dr love" which also needed a second chance in order to find an audience here due to this being promoted when that was released.
This was the lead single from Rod Stewart's album Foot loose and fancy free, and like his other songs and albums this decade, it was a massive success for him worldwide.
This had a very rocky road to success in Australia as it tried to find an audience and failed before finally succeeding after its third attempt. I'm not even sure why this song had such a hard time crossing over here as it was an instant success over in NZ and the rockabilly update that Ram jam gives to the ragtime original from the 30's was in line with what Ol'55 was serving up at the time.
This was the biggest hit from Little river band in Australia, and it comes after a long dry spell that many of its members had from their previous bands as this feels more like a supergroup considering we have members from Axiom, Mississippi, the Twilights and Drummond in this lineup. Suffice to say, this is the most successful band that all of these men were a part of due to how well they did internationally.
One of the more quintessential disco tracks to come out of the decade, we have this trio (who weren't an actual family funnily enough) scoring their one and only hit worldwide with a disco track which led to their album being a huge commercial success for them. I'm not sure why these women didn't have more success with their subsequent material other than perhaps due to them not being huge in their native America.
Although this would eventually be a bigger hit for the English duo the communards a full decade after its initial release, this was originally a hit for Thelma Houston (no relation to Whitney) who scored a massive hit with this disco classic before forever fading into obscurity. I'm guessing the rest of her catalogue wasn't nearly as much fun as this track, or at the very least wasn't as catchy.
These two songs were bundled together likely due to Sherbet's label wanting to give the former a second chance in the spotlight following its commercial failure from earlier in the decade. Indeed, the former became a massive success largely thanks to it being attached to the much more popular track which incidentally remains one of the more fondly remembered tracks from Sherbet's discography.
This was the first major hit that Blondie had anywhere in the world, although legend has it that "X offender" was meant to be the huge hit from their debut album in Australia only for it to be this ballad instead due to it being played instead of that track on Countdown. It became a hit regardless proving that we Aussies were willing to allow any song from the album to be a huge success here.
These guys were all about giving us history lessons set to catchy music, weren't they? Here we have their history lesson on Ma Barker, one of the most notorious women in the American crime syndicate during the first half of the century (they misspelt her name for some reason.) This became an instant success for them throughout the world and no doubt led to their even better track about Rasputin.
Thought that David Soul was a one hit wonder with "Don't give up on us?" Well, he might have been in his native America, however he scored two more big hits internationally with this being the third and final hit he achieved in his career. I'm guessing he returned to his day job of acting once the hits dried up for him.
This was the first big hit that ELO had here in Australia, although they did score a hit in NZ and America with "Evil woman" the previous year which makes me wonder why that didn't also crossover here. This was the lead single from their magnum opus A new world record, so of course this was going to be huge given how it's the type of lush and opulent rock opera music that audiences gravitated towards this year.
One of the more popular Australian bands to make it in the UK were these guys, specifically during the 80's where they managed to score a couple of hits over there despite their popularity dwindling out this decade. This was one of two big hits they had here, and indeed it was a hit that helped them gain international interest given how infectiously catchy it is and how it would fit into the UK music scene.
While this wasn't the first big hit that Kenny Rogers had here in Australia, this was the song which seemed to convince us and most of Europe that he was the real deal in country music which is odd because this wasn't among his bigger hits in his native America. In any case, he was able to make a huge splash with this ballad that cause his career to explode going into the new decade.
This was where it all began for one of the more critically divided bands of the twentieth century, although you'll notice that these guys didn't have much success outside of Australia until the start of the 80's where they randomly began scoring massive hits on Billboard with their soft rock ballads. Indeed, their biggest hit down under was their first song which didn't find a lot of success internationally.
I always thought that the lyrics to this classic were "play that f**king music," I guess it goes to show you show closely I'm paying attention to lyrics whenever I hear songs on the radio casually. Named after a box of cough drops, these guys score a massive hit with their autobiographical song about how they came to record music predominantly made by musicians of colour only to score massive success with the tale.
Bryan Ferry was on a roll with this lead single to his third album In your mind, it helped the album become a huge hit in Australia which confirmed him to be one of the hottest new artists of the decade despite the lack of success he had with Roxy music earlier in the decade. Indeed, this did him no favours when he reunited with the band later in the decade until they made a tribute to John Lennon.
This was the only noticeable hit that Rita Coolidge was able to achieve in her career, at least in Australia it was as she found further success in the UK and her native America with her subsequent follow ups. Many have complained that this is her watering down a Jackie Wilson track from the 60's for a more mainstream audience, I feel she does the original enough justice to warrant this covers existence.
This was originally a Bob Dylan track from over ten years prior, so to see Graham Bonnet score a massive hit with this cover albeit only in Australia and NZ was a bit of a surprise for audiences back in the day. Speaking of Graham, you're likely wondering how he was able to score two big hits in the southern hemisphere and not anywhere else in the world. It turns out he was based in Australia for a little while before joining Rainbow later in the decade.
It looks like the Abba phenomenon was beginning to die down with their latest album err.... the Album. With that said, these guys continued to have success here for the remainder of the decade and even into the 80's as their dip in popularity was more due to overexposure from their previous two albums, although it could also be this lead single not being the best choice to lead an album cycle.
It looks like Peter Allen wasn't the only person who wanted to escape to Rio this year as Michael Nesmith also had a hit about the Brazilian capital in the southern hemisphere. It's worth noting that the Monkees vocalist didn't have much success in his native America once the band broke up earlier in the decade, although he managed to score three hits here and in NZ throughout the decade.
This was the double A-side that cemented Queen as one of the most endearing bands to ever make it big in the mainstream, after all you begin with the stomping beat of "We will rock you" before immediately preceding to the soaring victory lap of "We are the champions" which helped this become a massive hit worldwide for them. They would have a bit of a quiet period for the remainder of the decade before they scored a massive hit with "Crazy little thing called love."
This was the only hit single that prog trio Emerson Lake and Palmer were able to achieve anywhere in the world, this no doubt led to the success of their album the Works vol 1 here given how it had a genuine hit single to its name down under. If you thought Genesis gets a bad rep when it comes to prog fans, I'd advise asking them what they think of these guys unless you're prepared for a foul-mouthed rant.
While this wasn't the final hit single these guys were able to score in Australia (that honour goes to "Rocking all over the world" from the following year) it was the last massive hit they had which goes to show how little success these guys had compared to their native UK where they were massive hit makers as recently as the early 90's. At least you still hear all of these songs on oldies stations to this day.
This was the love theme for the third iteration of the A star is born franchise, a theme that was so popular that it won the Oscar for best original song at the academy awards despite the film being a critical disaster upon its initial release. I'm guessing it was this Oscar that made it a success worldwide as Barbra hadn't had a hit since her previous Oscar win with "The way we were" from earlier in the decade.
Of the four hits that these guys had in Australia back in the day, this was by far the most normal as it wasn't a cod reggae track like "Dreadlock holiday," a glam rock track like "Rubber bullets" or even a sophistopop track (or whatever the 70's equivalent of that was) like "I'm not in love." Instead, we have a fairly straight forward pop rock track from the band which came from their biggest album Deceptive bends.
This was one of the cheesier songs to become a hit this decade, although I feel there was enough room for this type of ballad considering how much disco and rock opera there was as an alternative for audiences looking for cooler music. Alan remains a one hit wonder in most parts of the world with this ballad including in his native America, however he did score a second hit here in Australia with "Skinny girls."
You'd think these guys would be a French band given how their biggest hit was a song from the French genre chanson, you'd be wrong as these guys were based in America and only saw success throughout Europe due to how catchy this update of a 50's chanson track was throughout this decade. They did eventually score a hit on Billboard with "Boy from New York," I'm guessing to pander to American culture.
This was the lead single to Marcia Hines third album in Australia, an album that spawned her biggest hit which we looked at earlier on this list. She would continue to have success here for the remainder of the 70's, although she struggled to retain her popularity going into the 80's once Diana Ross started having hits down under again.
Smokie were certainly on a roll throughout the 70's as they managed to score yet another hit in Australia during the second half of the decade, I get the feeling these guys replaced Bay city rollers as the British pop rock band of choice once the Scottish lads began to saw a dip in their popularity.
This was the first major hit that Boney M achieved here in Australia, it's a Eurodance classic that fits in perfectly with the disco scene which made its worldwide success inevitable for the German band. Although their subsequent songs would become even bigger here as the decade went on, this still remains one of their most popular tracks on oldies stations due to how incessantly catchy it is.
JPY was on a roll when he released the lead single to his third album Green, although he seems to have given up on his criticisms of the music industry as this is a much more straightforward track about how he wants to be with the person he's singing this to. It did hamper his success somewhat going forward, however he continued to find success throughout the rest of the decade.
There seemed to be no signs of these guys slowing down when they released this ballad which almost became yet another chart topper for them in Australia, indeed they were riding high off the success of their international popularity which makes the failure of their next album all the more upsetting (or hilarious depending on your point of view.)
This was the last hit that Elvis Presley had during his lifetime, much like John Lennon after him, he died during the height of his popularity which resulted in the success of his final album worldwide. It's hard to say if this song would've been a success if he lived to see the end of the year, however his death certainly did prevent the song from failing much like some of his other ballads this decade.
This was one of three hits that Daryl Braithwaite managed to score on his own this decade, this should give you an idea as to how inescapable this man was between his solo efforts and his time as the front man of Sherbet.
While the duo already had success in their native America prior to their Billboard chart topper, this was the song which made them an international household name likely due to the lyrics about how Daryl is calling out how privileged this woman is. The duo was in danger of becoming a one hit wonder in Australia as none of their other tracks from the 70's crossed over here, although they were very popular in the 80's.
This was a song that Shaun Cassidy released exclusively in Australia, likely because he felt he could get away with covering Ruby and the Romantics given that they never had any success here in Australia. In America, the second single he had was his Billboard chart topper "Da doo ron ron," proving how he was able to score success throughout his career.
This was the breakthrough single for Heart, one of the more popular bands from America that unfortunately didn't receive much love here in Australia back in the day save for the occasional hit single here and there. Indeed, their next hit wouldn't come for another decade down under when "Alone" cracked the top ten here, by that stage they had changed their sound drastically from what it was here.
It had been almost a full decade since Manfred Mann saw any success on the charts, so here he is with his second band, Manfred Mann's earth band (wow, creative name) scoring massive success worldwide with this staple on oldies stations. This was able to give him a comeback as it helped the album it came from become a moderate success as well as this topping the Billboard charts.
This was the only other hit that Marty Rhone had in his career in Australia, although it was a big enough success for him that it sparked international interest in him which sadly never came to be as with most Australian artists during the height of the Countdown era. He did try to retain his popularity after this, obviously to no avail.
The second half of the decade was a massive success for Hot chocolate who saw tons of worldwide success with their blend of RNB and disco, in fact they even became the multicultural band of choice in America over Kool and the gang who didn't score another hit on Billboard until the early 80's. Indeed, these guys also continued to see success well into the 80's, albeit mainly in their native UK.
It seems weird that Guess who never much success had here in Australia given how well remembered their catalogue is on oldies stations, what's even weirder is that the lead singer Burton Cummings managed to find success following the bands brief demise in the mid 70's. Burton never officially rejoined the band, likely due to the surprise hit he had with this ballad that he's been trying to replicate.
I guess this second single from ELO's biggest album A new world record confirmed them to be the hottest new band from the prog rock category, it's not one of my favourite tracks from the album (I would've released "Do ya" or "So fine") but it was a huge success for them regardless. There's still one more entry to come from the album which was their biggest hit over in America.
It looks like Ted Mulry gang wanted to be "hip" and "with it" throughout the remainder of the 70's as they altered their name to be its initials. They did score moderate success with this formula as this was a decent size hit for them this year, however audiences weren't fooled by this change as they didn't change up their sound much from their earlier work. At least they did away with the novelty tracks like "Jump in my car."
Much like her earlier entry on this list, this was initially a bomb in Australia for Tina Charles, likely due to the sudden rise in popularity of "Dance little lady dance" which prevented this from becoming a success upon its initial release here. This proved to be her final hit worldwide likely due to audiences finding her voice to be overbearing for a genre that was defined by stripped back vocals.
This was originally the lead single to Peter Allen's third album; however, it was a massive flop for him the previous year and only became a success this year due to his earlier entry being a massive chart topper here. These were the only two hits that the Australian performer was able to score during his career, although he found plenty of success as a songwriter for other people so there's that at least.
Well, it seemed inevitable that these guys would make a Christmas jam right at the height of their popularity, as such we have this festive track that became a hit during the Christmas season of 1976 and even early into the following year for them.
Following the success of his live album Frampton comes alive, Peter Frampton was able to score a huge hit in Australia with this track from his album of the same name only to forever fade into obscurity once the album dropped off the charts. I'm not sure why his popularity was so brief here, however it did lead to him being taught at music schools thanks to the talent he brought to his musicianship.
Apparently, there was a film called Car wash released around the time this became a massive success for Rose Royce worldwide, evidently no one saw the film which is perhaps why this failed to score an Oscar nomination for best original song at the academy awards around this time. Nowadays it's seen as the perfect song to play whenever you're visiting a Car wash, making it more legendary than before.
This was the final hit that the Bay city rollers were able to score in Australia, I guess all good things must come to an end which is what happened to these guys when this only barely became a success for them.
This was the final hit that Mark Holden was able to achieve in his career, given that he scored three massive hits with his first three singles, I don't think he has anything to be ashamed of with this achievement.
One of the more critically acclaimed Australian films of all time is Picnic at hanging rock, it's a film about the disappearance of a group of teenage girls set in the early 1900's that's based on a book written in the late 60's. The film is known for its score which was so popular that it became a huge hit for its composer Nolan Buddle.
This was the third and final single to come from ELO's breakthrough album, it's also the song which made them big both in NZ and America as it remains their biggest hit in both countries. I can see why as it's a more subdue ballad about a long-distance relationship, it's a much more conventional song in their catalogue compared to the rock opera from the rest of the album.
So, Engelbert Humperdinck was able to score a hit this far into the 70's, although this did come ten years after his initial breakthrough so perhaps this was more a nostalgia hit than anything even though he would've been too young to be as John Paul Young puts it, a "yesterday's hero." Evidently this was a massive success for him in America, which is perhaps how it was a big hit in Australia as well.
This was the lead single to Queen's sequel album to A night at the opera, A day at the races. While it wasn't as big a success as "Bohemian rhapsody" (which admittedly few songs have been over the years) it did retain their popularity during the album cycle and led to them having a huge hit with their earlier entry on this list. The albums themselves were also a huge success back in the day in case you were wondering.
There were no signs of Abba slowing down when they released the third single from Arrival, in fact this wound up being their biggest hit in the UK likely due to this being a breakup song which was in sharp contrast with the bright and upbeat pseudo disco tracks they had put out throughout their career. Indeed, this song was a bit ahead of its time when it came to the band singing about their messy breakups.
To think that this advertisement for the Hard rock cafe (which opened its doors in the UK in 1971) was one of only two hits that Carole King managed to score here in Australia, I'm guessing because we Aussies loved the restaurant chain that much (I still go whenever I can afford it to this day.) I get the feeling this killed her creditability in the music scene given how she broke through with the masterpiece Tapestry around the same time the food chain opened.
This was the lead single to David Soul's second album, an album that wouldn't see much success despite it spawning two of his biggest hits worldwide likely due to those songs failing to become as such in his native America. Yeah, it turns out he's a one hit wonder with his first entry on this list on the Billboard charts, proving how much more popular he was internationally back in the day.
Smokie were on a roll this decade as this was their second big hit, they had followed their top entry from earlier on this list, it's not as memorable as their other entries I've featured on this site which explains why it wasn't among their bigger hits back in the day.
This was the only hit to come from Jeff St John, likely due to it being the lead single to his only album as he curiously called it quits when the album didn't become a massive success this year. I'm guessing he was dropped from his label even though he had at least one big hit to his name, there were a ton of Australian bands and artists who had a longer career despite not even having this level of success.
This was the only hit that Gladys Knight and the Pips scored in Australia, although Gladys did appear on Dionne Warwick's charity single "That's what friends are for" from nearly a decade later so she's technically a two-hit wonder here. Even so, this is a far cry from her success she had on Billboard with her rich vocals and smooth RNB melodies provided by her band the Pips.
Here we are with one of the more instantly recognisable tracks from Leo Sayer given how popular this disco track has remained from him over the years, heck there was a popular remix of this from British DJ Meck nearly two decades later that no doubt helped this survive the test of time in the mid 00's. This would be Leo's last hit single of the decade in Australia, however he would return at the start of the 80's.
This was a bit of a surprise hit for Tom Jones, sure it wasn't the biggest hit of the year but the fact this ballad reached the upper echelons of the charts long enough to qualify for this list should tell you how popular it was for the Welsh singer a decade after his relevancy came to an end. Even so, people feel his true comeback was with his cover of Prince's "Kiss" from the late 80's with Art of noise.
Well, this seemed to be tailor made to be made fun of by music nerds, after all there isn't a year of the cat in the Chinese zodiac and yet British singer Al Stewart made an entire song about that concept that was a hit for him worldwide. It was even bit over in America to give you an idea of how many people bought into this.
This was a bit of a surprise hit for James Taylor this year, mainly because he hadn't troubled the Australian charts since his duet with his (then) wife Carly Simon from three years prior. Then again, I wouldn't call this a comeback and merely a surprise hit due to him feeling out of place this year even with all the other soft rock ballads that made it big.
This is one of the less fondly remembered singer/songwriters of the decade, mainly because he was a one hit wonder with a ballad that wasn't that big and only released two albums during his career. Even so, this did have its fans back in the day as it was a modest success around the world for the American crooner.
This was the other big hit that Ted Mulry gang had this year where they stylised themselves as T.M.G, actually this was their first hit they had with this band name meaning that we Aussies were a bit slow in rejecting them being "hip" and "with it" back in the day. Admittedly it could be more we simply grew tired of their music as they were one of the biggest bands of the decade.
This is probably the oldest artist that will be featuring on my site, being born during the first world war and scoring his one and only hit down under a mere three years prior to his death with this spoken word ballad. This has been described as truck driving music, so I'm guessing even back in the day there was a stereotype for music catered towards truckies.
You'd think that one of the most iconic songs of the decade would've been a bigger hit here in Australia, admittedly it was a huge hit for Boston in their native America as it was a Billboard chart topper for them, but it was only a modest success here for some reason. Naturally the oldies stations have added this driving anthem to their playlists so there's a good chance that you've heard this if you've ever tuned into their stations.
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