Now this is a sellout track I feel is an improvement over the previous catalogue from the band in question, then again, I'm a huge sucker for disco so perhaps there's a bit of bias with this assessment from me. Audiences from this year seemed to agree with me as it remains their biggest hit to date as well as it being one of the biggest hits of the decade for any artist.
Although this was a huge success in the band's native UK, it would up becoming even bigger here in Australia likely due to us Aussies loving the 50's throwback rock that was popular this decade more so than the Brits. Sadly, this was the lead single to their one and only album which despite being a huge success, didn't prompt the band to make a second album in their career.
This was Rod Stewart's foray into disco music, a foray which paid off big time for him as this is his second biggest hit behind "Maggie may" from earlier in the decade likely due to him expanding past his core audience of those who like him for his sentimental ballads. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so I can understand if you're not a fan of this song due to thinking he's a narcissist for presenting himself as a sex god.
If you're not a fan of this track then fear not, neither were the presenters of Countdown back in the day as they hilariously referred to this song as "glad to be dead" whenever they found themselves talking about it. As much as I'd like to talk about Patrick Hernandez, the real story to be found here is that this song has backing vocals from the future queen of pop herself Madonna, technically making this her first chart topper in several countries.
For the second single in a row, Racey were able to top the Australian and NZ charts proving that there was still plenty of love for the rockabilly revival craze that people often forget is affiliated with the 70's. Their third single from their album was also a huge hit in Australia, however this would prove to be the end for the band as they haven't released any new material since.
So, have you ever watched Don Blueth's Anastasia and wanted to know what really happened with the historical figure portrayed by the film's villain? Well Boney M has you covered with this track that serves as a (admittedly brief) historical lesson as to what the man was really like during the Russian revolution which brought an end to the Russian tsars, all set to a catchy disco beat to boot.
This was the first of several Billboard chart toppers for Deborah Harry and company, however it was far from their first big hit throughout the rest of the world as we Aussies allowed "In the flesh" to nearly top our charts two years prior whilst the Brits gave them a massive hit with "Denis" from the previous year. Still, it's good to know their experimentation with disco was what made them huge in their homeland.
Well, here's a song that had novelty written all over it and yet it managed to endure the test of time regardless, here's the breakthrough single for Mi-sex who were a NZ band looking to make it big in Australia so that they could take said success back home to their homeland. They struck big with this track given how the videogame industry had taken the world by storm by the time they released this as a single.
This was the only notable hit single that Bob Geldof had with his band the Boomtown rats in Australia, granted they were close to inescapable in their native UK but here this track about a real-life school shooting was the best they could do. Nowadays Geldof is more well known for A: his performance in the theatrical adaptation of Pink Floyd's the wall and B: being the instigator of Live aid.
This was the first solo hit that MJ had as an adult anywhere in the world (his first solo hit overall was with "Rocking robin" from earlier in the decade) it's also the first hit of his to feature Quincy Jones as his executive producer which resulted in some of his finest work both solo and with his family. Despite it clearly being a disco track, it still remains one of his more fondly remembered songs to this day.
Even though she made a huge splash with this disco rendition of an old Eddie Floyd track, Amii has gone on record saying that she was never a fan of disco and would've preferred it if she had made easy listening ballads during the height of her popularity. Naturally the world disagrees with that sentiment as she makes for a great vocalist for the dance floor and even had this rechart in the UK during the height of Live aid.
While this was indeed an 80's hit for the Buggles over in America, this was released just as the 70's was winding down throughout the rest of the world making these two future members of Yes score their big breakthrough two years prior to when MTV launched by playing this music video as the first thing to appear on the channel when it launched.
Well, this is a queer anthem if I've ever heard one, heck I feel this was more obvious at the time considering how many queer folks found themselves needing to us a YMCA for one reason or another. Here the Village people promote the homeless shelter chain which resulted in it becoming their signature track in a discography filled with tracks to resonate with the LGBT community.
Want to know something strange about this track? It was written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, two names you'll be very familiar with if you're a fan of the glam rock from earlier in the decade. Here they allow American band Exile to have a massive hit with this soft rock track that now that I think about it, has lyrics that are begging to be performed with bombast but aren't on here.
If you think that ironic tracks meant to criticise the pop music of any given period is a recent phenomenon, allow me to introduce you to this one and only hit from Robin Scott AKA M who managed to take the world by storm with his critiques of the state of pop music in the late 70's. It was a huge chart topper for him in Australia and Billboard of all places despite it not getting to number one in his native UK.
Well, this took its sweet time in finding success here in Australia, I'd like to tell you that it's because we Aussies knew better than to make Lionel Richie a household name back in the day but sadly the more likely reason is that we just weren't into RNB back in the day like the rest of the world was. Even so, this is a taste of what was to come from Lionel's solo career the following decade for better or worse.
Although these guys had massive success in their native America throughout the second half of the decade, it does pain me to report that this was their only success here in Australia as even the Brits and kiwis gave them more success with their other singles than we Aussies did. At least this disco classic was a huge success for them, and hey lead singer Nile Rodgers did become an in-demand producer after this.
There was so much hype going into this band that they were even dubbed as the new Beatles (given that there were four of them who played rock and roll music like the fab four ten years prior.) Despite this being a massive success worldwide for the band, said success sadly didn't translate to a second hit for them, although the album this was pulled from was indeed a huge success here in Australia.
This was one of two hit singles this year to be directly related to Australian sports, while this was the bigger of the two hits, it came at the expense of there being any other tracks released from these guys.
While most people will be familiar with Kelly Marie for her disco hit "Feels like I'm in love," this was her biggest hit in Australia a year prior which I feel is a much better song as I feel she has better vocals on here. It appears the general public of Australia agreed as this was twice as successful as her big international hit here.
Well, here's a song that I'm sure would've been a huge chart topper on Billboard had MTV existed in the late 70's, this is due to the video where female vocalist Leslie Maria wears an outfit that doesn't exactly leave much to the imagination around her chest area. Fortunately, the song itself is a classic thanks to those dreamy keys used throughout its runtime as well as Leslie's powerful vocals.
This was the only notable hit from Belgian pop star Plastic Bertrand, although admittedly the fact that this is in French should tell you why he wasn't able to find more success in an English-speaking market. I'm guessing this had crossover appeal due to how happy he clearly is throughout the track, granted many people (me included) find his energy to be rather annoying, but it clearly isn't the case for everyone.
I know these were two of the biggest names in music this decade, however I don't think many people were expecting them to make a duet together and not only that, have it become a huge worldwide success like this wound up being for them. This somewhat killed Chris Norman's career as Smokie never had another hit after this, Suzi fared a bit better as she did score one more hit with "Rock hard" in 1980.
One of the few Australian disco artists to find success back in the day, we have British born Christie Allen scoring the first of two big hits from her debut album due to her unique vocals as well as how irresistibly catchy the disco beat was on her songs. This was a hit during the final months of the 70's, proving that the disco backlash had little to no impact on the Australian music scene.
Kiss were on a roll when they released their second single from Dynasty, this is despite the backlash they received from their original fans claiming that they sold out for a more mainstream audience. True the lyrics and compositions aren't as complex as their earlier material, however they still had plenty of energy to their tracks which is why they were able to find massive success with this material.
This isn't among my favourite tracks from Fleetwood Mac, granted it's certainly a departure from their previous sound as this feels more in line with a prog track as opposed to their usual folk rock but something about the marching beat just doesn't sit right with me. I'm obviously in the minority as this remains their biggest hit in their catalogue outside of America (where "Dreams" has that honour) and is still well loved to this day.
This was the theme to the popular British animated film Watership down, a film that's become infamous over the years for its depiction of gore in what's otherwise meant to be a children's film about rabbits escaping from captivity. The ballad touched the hearts of audiences worldwide, so much so that Art Garfunkel decided to include it on his album Fate for breakfast which proved to be a massive success for him.
Both of these artists were on top of the world when they released this duet, so naturally it was going to be a huge success for them given how it appears on both of their most recent albums from when it came out. This would be Neil's last hit single in Australia as his popularity dwindled going into the new decade, Barbra would hang around for a little while longer thanks to her feminist anthem with Donna Summer.
This was the lead single to Donna Summer's final disco album Bad boys, and one which ramped up the sexiness of her earlier material to eleven as she really does seem like she wants to have the night of her life throughout the track. This unfortunately led to some backlash where she was promoting the wrong message for women in the world, something she unfortunately agreed with as she stopped making music like this.
The last time Gloria Gaynor had any success anywhere in the world was with her cover of a Jackson 5 track from the midpoint of the decade, so it must have been surprising for audiences to see her back in the spotlight with the second big disco hit from her during the height of Donna Summer's popularity. Most people will likely be more familiar with the remix of this track from the 90's as the original version isn't as bombastic as that version.
Before Orange is the new black became the definitive program about a women's prison, there was Prisoner which aired in Australia from 1979 to 1986 and was a huge critical and commercial success due to the themes explored in each episode (again similar to how they're explored in the Netflix series.) As such the theme song became a huge success whenever the show premiered around the world, originally this year in Australia, in 1981 in NZ and 1989 in the UK.
Given the sudden rise in popularity of Kate Bush, it was only inevitable that there would be knockoffs in her wake. One of the more notable examples comes from Lene Lovich who copied the quirky nature of Kate on her big breakthrough single despite being nearly a decade older than the young singer/songwriter. This became almost as big as Kate's debut single from the previous year for the record.
This was the only notable success that Anne Murray had in Australia, I'm guessing because she was considered to be the Canadian equivalent of Olivia Newton John when the two women first broke through at the start of the decade. Given how Livie has since moved on from her country roots, I guess Anne was able to have little issues with filling in her role as the country singer of choice.
This was Styx's only international hit; I'm guessing because international audiences couldn't stomach the cheese that went into a lot of their songs like their fellow Americans did throughout the 70's and 80's. Indeed, this is one of their more normal songs as at least it isn't as sentimental as "Lady" or a complete novelty like "Mr. Roboto," and admittedly they did find plenty of success in their homeland.
Well, this is a song that's impossible to take seriously, I don't think I've been able to get through this track once without cracking myself laughing which I feel is the point given how badly Ian wants you to hit him with your "rhythm stick" (look up what that means kids.) This song was a massive success worldwide and put the punk band on the map right when the punk scene had begun to lose its momentum.
There didn't seem to be any signs of the Brothers Gibb slowing down in the mainstream as this lead single from their album Spirits having flown proved to be a huge success for them mere months after the album cycle for Saturday night fever came to an end. They would have another hit from the album (which we'll get to in a bit) although this would sadly be the last we would hear from them as lead vocalists for a while.
It appears that Cliff Richard was here for the long haul as this ballad managed to become a hit for him worldwide including in America where this got him out of the one hit wonder bin over there that "Devil woman" threatened to trap him in. Indeed, he would go on to have massive success throughout the 80's proving he was far from yesterday's news.
And who says that feminist anthems are only a recent phenomenon? Here we have two of the most powerful women in the music industry to ever exist combining forces with this song about how they've had enough with being mistreated in this world. This comes after Donna realised that she was sending a dangerous message with her earlier material as well as Barbra wanting to appeal to Helen Reddy's audience.
While this is more in line with new wave, the fact that punk band Squeeze (or UK Squeeze as they were known as here for some reason) were able to find success with this track proves that we Aussies were at least somewhat intrigued by the UK punk scene from around this time. I'm not sure why this scene wasn't widely accepted here as it caused us to miss out on a lot of important tracks of the day.
This is another entry from the sub-genre I've dubbed as late-night rock, this is the type of rock music I picture myself listening to whenever I'm at a cocktail bar at two in the morning drowning my sorrows away. I guess this is my way of saying this is something you'd expect at a jazz bar, which I feel was what the band was going for with their one and only hit about a hot summer night.
This was the breakthrough single for Cheap trick here in Australia, largely thanks to a very memorable performance they gave on Countdown with this song which helped them find an audience here which had ignored them despite how big they were in their native America. They would have further success in the 80's here, although not without a huge dry spell throughout the middle of the decade.
This was that other sports track that made it big this year in Australia, and again we have the cricket to thank for promoting this and its sequel track into the mega hits that they were. Oh yeah, this song has a sequel to it, and it also cracked the top ten here just as the decade was coming to an end.
This was the lead single of the 60's band the Kingston trio, a band that never saw much success here in Australia back in the day as did a lot of bands and artists who you otherwise would've thought were inescapable here. Here he recruits Stevie Nicks on backing vocals for his one and only solo hit anywhere in the world, I'm guessing her presence was what finally made him a success down under.
This was originally written for a much younger performer to sing these lyrics, that makes sense as the lyrics are written in a way that suggests that the narrator is more than a little naive to the concept of sex. Confident though she may be on this track, Anita Ward was nonetheless able to take the world by storm with her one and only hit likely because of how titillating she comes off on the track which I'm sure turned audiences on.
You'd be forgiven into thinking this was the lead single to ELO's disco album Discography, you'd be wrong as that honour goes to "Shine a little love" which was only a modest success here likely due to us Aussies needing some convincing to allow these guys to have success in the disco genre. That convincing was met when they released the second single from the album with this favourite on oldies stations.
This was the only hit that Roger Voudouris was able to score anywhere in the world, again we have his appearance on Countdown to thank for this as I don't think it would've been as big here in Australia had he not performed the song on the show. I guess you can file this in the same category as all the hits that Leif Garrett and Shaun Cassidy had during the second half of the decade, a good-looking pop star scoring a hit with girls who found him attractive.
Although this wasn't their first song to find success in their native America, this was the song which made them an international household name likely due to it being written by Bruce Springsteen for a rock artist no one's heard of. The three ladies would go on to have massive success in the 80's here in Australia which would've been impossible for them to achieve if they had of peaked in the 70's.
Following the success of her film Grease, Olivia Newton John decided to use the transformation that her character in the film Sandy went through and apply it to her real-life music career as she went in a more risqué direction with her music. This was the first song she released in this vein which while quite tame to what would come in the 80's, was still sexier than anything she had released up until this point.
This was the lead single from Abba's album Voulez vous, an album that proved to be more successful than their previous effort likely due to it being released when the decade was coming to an end and audiences were overlooking the biggest music trends of the 70's. Indeed, this is one of their most well-known songs to this day, so there's little surprise that it was a huge success for them back in the day.
Here's another favourite on oldies stations that made it big back in the day, although the Cars had to wait until their second album to find any success here due to how their debut album flopped here despite being one of the biggest albums of the decade in NZ. Indeed, they seemed to be more popular over there which is odd because normally new wave bands did better here in Australia.
There was a popular miniseries airing from Australia which starred Jon English known as Against the wind, from what I can gather it takes place during the colonisation of Australia in the early 1800's which struck a chord with audiences back in the day. It came with a theme song which was a huge success for Jon and Mario Millo, so much so that it and the miniseries was also a success throughout Europe.
I wonder how many LGBT people signed up for the navy when this became a hit for the Village people back in the day, after all, the YMCA was a safe haven for queer men, and they gave their endorsement with their earlier entry on this list. This was their final hit in their native America, although they had one more hit in most parts of the world as it was the theme to their theatrical disaster Can't stop the music.
Well, this is just depressing, not the song itself as it remains a disco classic to this day but rather that it was the only hit that both bands involved had here in Australia. There was little chance this was going to fail as it's a celebration of disco right when the genre seemed to be at the peak of its popularity, although it's likely due to this oversaturation that the disco backlash took place in America.
For eight years, this was the final hit that the Brothers Gibb had in most parts of the world, it's a pity because it remains a disco classic to this day thanks to the frenetic energy of the track as well as the Bee Gees themselves. They would eventually return with "You win again" in 1987, and indeed they would score another comeback ten years after that when their album Still waters became a surprise success.
These two were already part of some of the biggest bands to come out of Australia throughout the 70's, so it seems fitting that they would conclude the decade with a collaboration album which scored a massive hit with this ballad they made together. Their next hit wouldn't come until 1982 when John Farnham replaced Glenn Shorrock as the lead singer of Little river band.
This was the debut single for a band who would go on to dominate the 80's with some of the greatest and bestselling albums of all time worldwide, although here we have a more subdue performance from the band which likely helped it stand out from all of the disco that was becoming popular around this time. They wouldn't have another hit here until "Twisting by the pool" in 1983.
This was the breakthrough single from Dan Hartman, a closeted LGBT man who only scored two hits in his career before tragically passing away in 1994 due to complications with HIV. While he's more well known these days for his hit single "I can dream about you," this was the bigger hit in certain parts of the world due to it being a disco track released during the height of the genre's popularity.
This was the final hit that Raydio scored during their short time together, I'm guessing they only served as a platform for their lead single Ray Parker Jr to launch his solo career which would go in all sorts of directions throughout the 80's. Here we have a yacht rock track about how much in love Ray is with this person and how there's nothing they can do about it; it's a nice sounding song provided you don't think too hard about the lyrics.
This was the second of two hits that this British disco group managed to achieve worldwide, although I wouldn't blame you for thinking that this was Boney M considering how similar this is to the German bands catalogue. This is a cover of a Neil Sedaka track form the late 50's, which would explain how simplistic the lyrics are even compared to some of the other disco tracks on this list.
We have another successful soft rock track from Dr Hook to become a hit during the second half of the decade, although admittedly this was one of the last hit singles that they were able to have in Australia despite their growing popularity internationally, likely because they were already a huge deal with their earlier ballads.
This was the only hit for the two singers in question, both Dean Friedman and Denise Marsa managed to win over an audience with their ballad about how they felt lucky to have found each other the way they did and attributed their good fortunes to the lucky stars in the universe. Naturally this ballad didn't lead to any further success for them.
Given how he had one of the biggest albums of the decade with the Stranger, Billy Joel no longer had any issues with finding success with his ballads even though he was criticised at the time for making the type of music that seemed to be catered to the soccer mums of the world. Naturally this criticism has died out over the years thanks to his complex songwriting as well as how memorably his compositions are.
This was the second and final hit that the Babys managed to score here in Australia, making them the only artist from back in the day to score multiple hits with what I've described as late-night rock given how this also feels like the type of song that would play in the scenario I described earlier in this list. The band would struggle to find success going into the 80's, however this wouldn't be the last we hear from lead singer John Waite.
Dave Edmunds already saw massive success from the start of the decade here in Australia before he joined the popular UK group Rockpile, although it was during his time with Rockpile that he was able to score a comeback hit with this pop rock track just as the decade was coming to an end. Incidentally this became a success around the same time his band mate Nick Lowe was also scoring a hit with "Cruel to be kind."
This was originally a hit for Richard Harris (Albus Dumbledore for Harry Potter fans) ten years prior where it became a massive hit for the Irish actor despite often being hailed as one of the worst songs of all time. Donna Summer decided to resurrect this song about a cake melting in the park (that's literally what the song is about) and make it a disco hit where it became a success all over again.
This was the final hit that Wings were able to achieve before they called it quits heading into the 80's, I'm guessing they wanted to end things on a high note as this song came out around the time they released their final album London town which curiously didn't have this on the track listing.
Although they're best known for their disco classic "Groove thing" (which sadly won't be appearing on this blog) this was the big hit from Peaches and Herb due to it being their Billboard chart topper in their native America. It turns out that the Peaches on here wasn't the original Peaches when the duo formed a decade prior, in fact Herb Fame has gone through five different Peaches over the years.
This was a hit for Alicia Bridges twice in Australia, of course we'll be looking at its original success where it rode the disco bandwagon for a song that seems more in line with RNB than anything. It wasn't among the most inescapable tracks of its day; however, its legacy got a massive push fifteen years later when it was remixed for the soundtrack of Priscilla queen of the desert.
Fans of Madonna's Confessions on a dance floor will recognise the beat to this song on her hit single "Hung up," however here it was used for a song that's about wanting to hook up with a man for a one-night stand in the middle of the night as opposed to Madonna being fed up with her partner wasting her time. The success of this track proved that Abba's popularity was still going strong entering the 80's.
This guy had been in the industry for over two decades before he finally scored his one and only hit outside of his native America with this ballad about his own heartbreak. I guess this being a hit makes sense as soft rock was one of the biggest trends of the decade when it wasn't centred around the dance floor or rock operas.
This was the final hit that Boney M achieved in most parts of the world, possibly as a last hurrah considering this came at the end of a very successful decade for them. If you couldn't gather from the title, this is a holiday theme which continues the trend they had with their biggest hit "The rivers of Babylon." It was likely adopted as a theme for TV commercials wanting to sell tropical vacations for a while.
This was the final hit that Alice Cooper was able to achieve for an entire decade given how he wouldn't bother the charts again until his 1989 comeback album Trash, that also served as a return to form as this era saw him being a soft rocker as opposed to the rest of this catalogue which had him in glam rock.
This was the final hit that Racey were able to score in their career, although they could've at least tried to score another hit by recording a second album, but they never did for some reason. They did appear on Countdown in the new year which likely boosted the sales of Smash and grab despite it spawning three massive hits for them.
This was the first of only two hits that Joe Camilleri managed to have with his band Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons, the other being "Taxi Mary" from the early 80's which was his final hit before they broke up and he formed his new band Black sorrows. Naturally he found more success with those guys in the 80's and 90's, however he originally found success here thanks to how catchy this track was during the Countdown era.
This was the only notable success for Scottish singer/songwriter Frankie Miller, although I'm not sure how he made it big with this ballad considering it wasn't a huge hit for him in his native UK. I guess this was a hit here due to the ballad striking a chord with audiences who were beginning to grow tired of Rod Stewart's usual fare, although this didn't lead to Frankie having any more success of his own.
Well, his band members Beeb Birtles and Graham Goble were able to score a huge hit this year with their duet from earlier on this list, so it seems fitting that lead singer of the Little river band Glenn Shorrock would score his own solo hit this year with this cover of the Bobby Darin classic from twenty years prior. It would be his final hit both solo and with the band until he rejoined them nine years later.
This was the debut single for a band who named themselves after the dog from the Wizard of Oz, it was an impressive first impression given how it was a massive worldwide hit as well as making the album it came from a huge success for the band. They were in danger of being a one hit wonder here until their fourth album took home album of the year at the Grammies which made it a huge hit for them.
While their popularity wasn't as inescapable as it was earlier in the decade, Abba was still able to find success with their singles here in Australia as the decade was coming to an end, proving that their dip in popularity was more due to overexposure rather than the quality dropping. This was the second single from their album Voulez vous which allowed it to be a modest improvement commercially over their previous album.
Well, he may not have had his partner in crime Bernie Taupin writing his big hits, however Elton John was able to continue having success during this dark period of his career which I'm sure was enough convincing that he didn't need Bernie's songwriting chops until their reunion in 1983. This was the big hit off his first album without Bernie's output which managed to be a modest success for him.
This was a different side to Rose Royce as they went from the happy go lucky "Car wash" to a more downbeat breakup ballad about how the love is gone and that this person should move on from them. It was a bit of a sleeper hit here in Australia likely due to the contrast of what had come before from the band, although nowadays people are likely more familiar with Madonna's version from 1996.
This was one of the last hit singles that Marcia Hines was able to achieve in Australia back in the day, although curiously it remains her only hit in NZ despite it being far from her biggest hit over here. Here she proclaims that something is missing in her life, that something of course being the love of her life she's trying to win over on this track.
This was the only hit that the Doobie brothers were able to achieve in Australia, although they had plenty of success in their native America throughout the decade with their other singles which are regular staples on oldies stations here. I guess they were another victim of having more success with their albums back in the day, although Minute to minute was the only best seller for them down under.
This was the big breakthrough that Robert Palmer had here in Australia and in America of all places as this wasn't a huge hit in his native UK for some reason, in fact he never saw much success over there despite him being one of the biggest artists of the 80's worldwide. Here he scores a hit where he admits to falling in love with his doctor, a situation that I'm sure many found amusing upon its initial release.
This was the first big hit that Air supply had internationally, I'm not sure how that happened except perhaps due to this being much bigger over in NZ this year as this was far from their biggest hit here in Australia in their catalogue. Whatever the reason was, this made them a household name the following year in America and set the band up for great success throughout the early 80's.
OK it turns out that Bernie Taupin might have still somewhat been active in Elton John's career during the dark period that they two weren't talking to each other, I'm guessing these were songs that Bernie gave to Elton for him to work on as Elton has a songwriting credit on this instrumental as well as Bernie. I guess when I say they two reunited on Too low for zero, I mean they did so on a permanent basis.
This was the final hit that Hot chocolate had in Australia this decade, although they would return in the early 80's with the likes of "Girl crazy" and their actual final hit "It started with a kiss" due to them performing those tracks on Countdown. In the meantime, we have this RNB ballad about Errol fixing a person he's in a relationship with, it's not exactly a fondly remembered track but it was a hit.
OK so I exaggerated when I said earlier in the list that "Boogie wonderland" was the only hit these guys had in Australia, it was their only top ten hit and the only hit for the Emotions, however these guys did score a hit earlier in the year with this disco classic from their greatest hits package. I guess the fact the greatest hits album was a success did mean that we were at least aware of their catalogue back in the day.
This was the only hit that Charlie Daniels and company managed to score in Australia, although considering that A: it was a country track (and one that goes hard at that) and B: the lyrics were about an outlaw causing trouble, it's a miracle that it was even as big as it was outside of the band's native America. This is a song I first heard from Coyote ugly, so I was a bit surprised to learn it was a hit back in the day.
Well, here's a man that seemed to embody the essence of sex drugs rock and roll, we have his only hit in his career which became as due to how sexually provocative he comes off during its runtime. This was a sleeper hit here in Australia, I'm guessing because this was around the time where Rod Stewart was being sexually provocative with his earlier entry on this list.
I feel that this instrumental belongs in a horror movie, either that or people really wanted to hear ice cream music on the radio back in the day. This was Frank Mills only hit even in his native Canada, although from what I can gather it was originally recorded five years prior to when it became a hit.
Before he became the face of new wave with his solo hit "Cars," Gary Numan was the lead singer of this short-lived new wave band Tubeway army who scored a massive hit in their native UK with this track about wondering who the real friends are of the narrator of these lyrics. Its legacy has since been overshadowed by "Cars" over the years, however it still remains a pioneer of early 80's music to this day.
Evidently this was a charity single meant for World children's day (remember when that was a thing?) we have this song from a bunch of British studio musicians becoming a sleeper hit here due to people wanting to do something for the children of the day.
This was originally a song from Neil Diamond that appeared on his (then) most recent album Comes a time, however he appeared to have donated it to his (then) girlfriend Nicolette Larson who scored a moderate hit here in Australia with her version thanks to it serving as the lead single to her debut album which was a massive hit down under.
Although it doesn't say so on the album cover, this is in fact a duet between Donna Summer and the short-lived American trio Brooklyn dreams. In fact, this is technically their song as this doesn't appear on any of Donna's albums and was instead the lead single to their second album which was a massive flop for them even in their native America, I'm guessing because even back then people didn't realise this was their song.
Well, here's that big hit that Nick Lowe scored this year that I mentioned earlier on this list, it's interesting that both of these men appeared on Countdown this year performing their two big hits in Australia and yet the band they were a part of were a no show. I guess this is why they both found success with their solo tracks while the band remained in obscurity down under.
This was the debut single for Mental as anything, it's a pub rock track that I'm surprised wasn't an even bigger hit upon its initial release considering how often you can still hear it on the oldie's stations to this day. They would have massive success throughout the 80's as they became quirkier both with their sound and their onstage antics, however this was a good introduction to the band.
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