It looked like the Bangles would become a one hit wonder with "Manic Monday" given how the second single from Different light failed to become a success anywhere in the world and that said album was initially a flop for the girls. Fortunately, this third single was enough of a novelty that it managed to not only become a huge hit for them but encourage audiences to check out their album which has far more serious material.
This was a happy ending for John Farnham who has spent most of his career as an adult musician in obscurity save for a few hit singles as the front man of the Little river band from earlier in the decade. This even managed to give him a second hit throughout most parts of the world almost two decades after his initial success "Sadie the cleaning lady."
I'm willing to be that Chris De Burgh watched the Gene Wilder flick Woman in red and used that as a basis for writing this love ballad supposedly about his wife, it's as good an explanation as to how he managed to achieve so much success worldwide with a song that seems to be the complete opposite of his other hit from earlier in the decade "Don't pay the ferryman." His popularity would carry on in his native UK for the rest of the decade.
Many will tell you this is one of the worst covers to ever exist as it took an infectious disco track from the start of the decade and turned it into a bombastic new wave track, I don't agree with this assessment as though it's very different from the original, Pseudo echo do more than enough to make it their own without turning it into a gimmick. It is a shame this remains their one and only hit in the northern hemisphere but what are you going to do?
While people have questioned whether or not Samantha Fox had any business being in the music industry over the years due to her vocals not being up to par with many of her contemporaries, I don't think the vast majority cared as A: she was smoking hot and likely awakened many people's sexual fantasies and B: the music she made was well crafted similar to her 90's Disney counterpart Britney Spears.
Most people will be familiar with the Celine Dion version of this track from eight years later, however this was originally a hit for American born German pop star Jennifer Rush who took the world by storm with her strong vocals (though not as strong as Celine's) as well as the lyrics of devotion that struck a chord with audiences.
It seemed like Diana Ross was yesterday's news when she scored a massive hit with this track, of course this was written by the Bee gees and even has the Brothers Gibb provide backup vocals, which meant that it had massive international appeal even if it bombed in her native America. The video is also really cool as it serves as a montage of how she began as a Motown artist twenty years prior and where she was at this moment.
This was one of two big hits that Feargal Sharkey had in Australia, I bring this up here because this was written by Maria McKee (of "Show me heaven" fame) and that his other hit "You little thief" was written by her ex Benmont Tench which means this guy was singing the ups and downs of their relationship throughout his album. I'm guessing this is why said album was a commercial success for him.
This was the biggest hit in Billy Ocean's career in Australia, mainly due to it being the theme to Jewel of the Nile, which for the uninitiated is the sequel to Romancing the stone and is often considered to be an inferior film to its predecessor. I agree to an extent as this film isn't as funny or adventurous as the other flick, however it does still have plenty of heart and isn't too much of an Indiana Jones rip-off.
This was the biggest hit of Bananarama's career in most parts of the world, likely due to the nostalgia people had for the original by Shocking blue back from 1969. This is also the first song of theirs to have Stock Aiken and Waterman produce their track, something that would happen for their next album where all of the tracks received this treatment.
Well this is the sellout to end all sellouts, we have a band who began their career as actual hippies now singing about how corporatised the world has become set to instrumentation that has since become synonymous with the mainstream pop rock of the 80's. I get what they were going for here, and to be honest if you ignore the hypocrisy on display, this is still an awesome track from one of the older acts on this list.
Well, this was a surprise hit for Paul Simon, mainly because the last time he had any success throughout the world was ten years prior when "50 ways to leave your lover" was a Billboard chart topper for him. I guess the premise of him allowing people to call him Al was endearing enough for this to become a massive hit throughout Europe and Australia, but not in his native America for some reason.
Following his departure from Bronski beat, Jimmy Sommerville formed this duo and seemingly picked up where he left off two years prior with his first bands album Age of consent. Here he also recruits female vocalist Sarah Jane Morris in order to semi duet with him, presumably to give him an excuse to show off his falsetto throughout the track which in turn further strengthened his queer audience.
Well, this is a change of pace from Billy Idol, his earlier work was among the loudest songs to come out of the decade whereas this was more subdue as was the album it was pulled from Whiplash smile which traded in Billy's bombast for a sound more in line with the quieter bands of the decade. This change in direction paid off for him as both this song and the album were his most successful in his career respectively.
If you've somehow never heard of this song, then I suggest you rectify that because it's one of the most quintessential songs not just of the decade but of all time due to how timeless that synth riff has remained since its release. Apparently, this was originally released a year prior albeit as a slightly different song, in that I mean the instrumentation has a more oriental feel that they then changed probably to avoid accusations of cultural appropriation.
This was the first of three highly successful tracks to come from Wa Wa Nee (man what a stupid band name they gave themselves) it's also one that sparked international interest in them given how huge it was this year for them. Even though they scored all of this success with their singles, it didn't translate to their albums which caused them to break up when their second album failed to spawn a hit for them.
This E.P created history when it was released on the singles charts, it became the first entry to debut at number one on the Australian charts even though by all accounts this should have been charting on our album charts due to it being an E.P without a standout track to promote it.
We have another Oscar winning ballad to grace us with its presence on this site, this time it comes to us from Berlin who had previously been known as new wave band and who you may recognise for their hit singles "No more words" from two years prior (especially if you're from NZ where it was a huge hit.) As usual, we have an indie band whose fans cried sellout to once they made it big worldwide by attaching themselves to a Tom Cruise flick.
This was originally the debut single for Cliff Richard that was released all the way back in 1959, it was a modest success for the English crooner and launched a very lucrative career for him that persisted as recently as 1999. This year he rerecorded it with the cast of the Young ones for charity, and let's just say that this version doesn't do the original any favours for me liking this man's music.
This was the first time Madonna had released a song with a poignant message attached to it (and it certainly wasn't the last) here she advocates that should a teenage girl fall pregnant that it's ultimately up to her if she decides to keep the baby or not and not her parents or guardians and certainly not anyone else. It became the clear hit from her third album True blue due to feminists of the day applauding her approval for providing teenage girls with agency.
Before it was chosen as the theme to the cult classic the Lost boys, it was a huge success for INXS and Jimmy Barnes who teamed up on this collaboration to combine their respective audiences from their most recent albums Listen like thieves and For the working-class man respectively.
This was the biggest hit that Huey Lewis and the News had in most parts of the world, granted their theme from Back to the future was also huge but this ended up being a bigger hit for them likely due to the production as well as how lovestruck Huey seems to be on this track. This in turn led the album Fore to be a huge success for them outside of America.
This was originally an album track for Rod Stewart that was written by Burt Bacharach, he didn't release it as a single for whatever reason which is why most people are unfamiliar with his version of this ballad. Somehow Dionne Warwick got a hold of this song and decided to get together Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Gladys Knight for this cover where the proceeds when to research for AIDS and HIV.
Following the success he had with the Power station from the previous year, Robert Palmer released his album Riptide which was unfortunately all set to fail upon its initial release. He rescued the album from obscurity by filling the music video to this classic with what I can only describe as clones of Lilith Crane from Cheers as his backing band which in turn helped this song top the Billboard charts for him.
Given that this Oscar winning ballad was written for a film called White nights, I think it's safe to say that it's since become an anthem for those who would describe themselves as the name of the film. Originally this was meant to be the title track of his third album, however said album took so long to make that he changed the name to the second single that would also serve as his final hit single to date.
Here's the title track to Lionel's third album, I feel this is a better title track to his album given how he was clearly trying to distance himself from all of the slow ballads he had become typecast as throughout the decade. Indeed, this was his party jam similar to that of "All night long" from three years prior, complete with a music video where yes, he does indeed dance on the ceiling.
Following the massive success they had with their second album, Wham released this track which has a cool video which starts out with George's supposed frustration at performing in a low-capacity venue despite selling out arenas. This was obviously done to show the band (more specifically George) wasn't going to abandon their core fanbase and indeed he never did even after cutting ties with Andrew Ridgely.
This was written by Prince under a pseudonym, presumably because he didn't want to let people know that he was just like everyone else who hated Mondays like we're all Garfield (OK I hate Mondays too.) He donated the song to the Bangles who scored a massive hit with their version worldwide due to how everyone could relate to the lyrics, although their popularity wouldn't peak until their third single from earlier on this list.
This was a song that was more in line with their sellout cover of "Funkytown" that made them a household name, mainly for the use of the keytar which added more synths to the track than they already had. Fortunately, the lyrics are still sharply written as it's about how Brian and company are only happy when they have the comfort of their partner due to nightmares they have without them.
Even though the Bridge was a massive flop everywhere else in the world, it was a huge success here in Australia proving just how much we loved Billy Joel this decade and how we felt he could do no wrong. Indeed, one of his biggest hits in his catalogue down under was the second single from the album which comes complete with a video that pays homage to the Beatles rooftop concert.
Given how Madonna was by far the most successful artist of the decade, I guess it only makes sense that there would be rip-offs to try and steal her throne as the queen of pop. One of the more successful was Stacey Q who scored massive success with this track where she titillates her audience with her seductive vocals while going on about how she found the love of her love in the lyrics.
This was the only hit single to come from Cyndi's album of the same name everywhere except for her native America where "Change of heart" managed to also be a success for her on Billboard, that's not to say the album was a failure but rather that everyone had clearly declared Madonna as the new queen of pop between these two women. This was the start of Cyndi's more mature direction in music which is perhaps why she saw diminishing returns from here on out.
Following the success of his last album with Mental as anything, Martin Plaza decided to briefly embark on a solo career which began with this cover of an obscure track from the 60's that was able to rival the success of "Live it up" from the previous year. He rejoined the band shortly after releasing his solo album so that they could release a new album to cash in on their sudden rise in popularity worldwide.
This was the biggest hit that Elton John had throughout the decade, likely due to this being a heartfelt ballad towards a Nikita in his life which tugged at the heartstrings of listeners back in the day. Despite this being his biggest hit of the 80's, this would be the start of the very difficult time in his life as he would suffer from drug problems that would persist for the remainder of the decade.
Following the departure of Jimmy Somerville, Bronski beat picked a new vocalist by the name of John Foster and soldiered on with their second album which was off to a good start with this lead single becoming a huge hit both here and in their native UK. Unfortunately, the album itself was a massive flop, which is especially embarrassing considering Jimmy found massive success with his new band the Communards.
This was the big showstopper on Whitney's debut album, so naturally it was the final single to be released from the album where it coincidentally became her biggest hit from the album worldwide. This is a cover of a George Benson track from the mid 70's, however I doubt many people realise that this wasn't originally meant for Whitney given how she owns this version with her killer vocals.
This was originally a hit for Norman Greenbaum sixteen years prior which in turn was a success due to the Jesus Christ superstar phenomenon that was taking the world by storm at the start of the 70's. These guys were able to score a massive hit throughout Europe with their interpretation of the lyrics before fading into obscurity making this an example of a one hit wonder covering a one hit wonder.
This was the theme to Prince's second film Under the cherry moon, a film that received the opposite reception of his first film Purple rain as it was heavily panned by critics and was a box office flop for the rock star. At least the soundtrack was still well received, showing a far more sexually provocative side of Prince which he was already known for being sexually charged in his music by this point.
This is one of the strangest songs to become a hit in Australia, mainly because it's literally about how the singer daydreams about being a cowboy and how he wants his girlfriend to be his cowgirl. I don't know how we Aussies and kiwis discovered this track; however, we did, and it became a huge hit in both countries for the British band.
Midnight Oil already saw massive success with their previous two albums and even had a hit single with "Power and the passion" earlier in the decade, however this was the first big hit they had down under which is fitting because it was the advanced single for their album which stands to fight for aboriginal rights in Australia. Even though we've made progress over the years, there's still people out there that feel that there's more to be done for the white settlers to atone for how they've treated these people.
I don't know whose bright idea it was to have this be the second single released from the Pet shop boys and not their first here in Australia, this resulted in the song not being as successful as it was internationally as their second single "Love comes quickly" was their debut single here. I guess the fact this was still a hit despite how late it was should prove how memorable it was compared to everything else this year.
This was mean to be the lead single from Whitney's self-titled debut, however it was a huge flop for her given how it didn't come with a music video which was a death nail for songs released during the height of MTV. Once a video was shot, it was rereleased as the third single where it performed much better worldwide, likely due to it being a shoutout to her godmother which happens to be Aretha Franklin.
Here's the title track of Madonna's third album, it's a song that hasn't been as fondly remembered as her other hits this decade likely due to its exclusion from the Immaculate collection from 1990. I'm guessing because this is the song on the album that she has the worst memories of given how she dedicated it to her then husband Sean Penn and how that marriage wound up turning out.
Given how Phil Collins had established himself as one of the biggest names in music by this point, it only makes sense that Genesis would finally see some mainstream success which they achieved with the title track of their most successful album. People have complained that this is a Phil Collins track marketed as a Genesis track, I personally don't care either way as solo or with the group, I'm a fan of his.
Before it became the theme song to the Michael Keaton flick Gung Ho, this was originally the title track to the reissue album of Jimmy's debut Bodyswerve which became an instant Australian classic due to it being dedicated to the working-class society of our country. It seemed like an obvious choice for a film that centres around this plot, however it wasn't able to help him score a hit in the northern hemisphere.
This was a rare hit from a Canadian band to be a hit in their homeland, I'm guessing this was due to the presence of Bryan Adams who provides backing vocals to this track. This was able to crossover to America and eventually Australia due to it sounding like something from Reckless, although this was the only notable success that Glass tiger managed to achieve outside of their homeland.
This was one of only two hits that Mr. Mister managed to score in their career (side note, boy that's a stupid name for a band.) It was the lead single to their second album which was a huge success in their native America due to the cool ambience it has with its instrumentation, although their other hit "Kyrie" would be a different beast as it's an upbeat track about living life to its fullest.
This was the lead single to Peter Gabriel's first album he didn't name after himself, supposedly it's about how horny he is but with how vague and (let's be honest) nonsensical the lyrics are, it could honestly be about whatever you want. It was a huge success for him likely due to the video which rightfully pioneered stop motion not just in music videos but in media in general due to the popping visuals.
So, there's this resort in South Africa known as Sun city which was once notorious for having relocated people of colour as hotel staff against their will, more notoriously is that they offered financial incentives to bands and artists to perform at the hotel despite there being an international band from westerners visiting the region. This was a protest song made in defiance of those who broke the law to perform as the venue.
This was the second single that these guys scored this year, proving that they were in it for the long haul as both of their entries on this list were released before they dropped their debut album by the end of the year. It looks like the novelty had worn off by the time the album cycle ended as their next album was a huge flop for them which caused them to call it quits by the end of the decade.
This was the final hit that David Bowie managed to achieve anywhere in the world, likely due to it being the theme to the critically panned film of the same name which he also happened to star in. He did have another starring vehicle this year with the cult classic Labyrinth, where he also provided the soundtrack to in addition to giving a memorably performance as its antagonist Jareth.
This was an excellent year for everyone who's ever been involved with Genesis, we have the breakthrough single from Mike Rutherford's side project Mike and the Mechanics who scored a massive hit with this track about relying on a miracle to make a relationship work (or in the video's case, paying off a debt to a bar manager.) This song clicked with audiences this year and allowed lead singer Paul Carrack to find solo success the following year.
This was the theme to the Stephen King film Maximum overdrive, a film I've seen described as one of the most ridiculous to come out of the decade due to how over the top the storyline is which involves electronic appliances rising up against humanity to destroy us all. Naturally the soundtrack is the only part of the film that anyone seems to have fond memories of, even then it's because it's AC/DC.
This was a massive hit worldwide before crossing over to America where it topped the Billboard charts, it makes sense that it would be a success in America given how the rest of the world fell in love with the passionate vocals as well as how lovestruck the overall theme of the song is. Interestingly there was a separate video released for this song in America compared to the rest of the world, a common trend from this time.
Dee C Lee was the backing vocalist for the Style council, so it seems fitting that she would launch a solo career given how she's likely the reason why Paul Weller found more success with them than he did with the Jam earlier in the decade in Australia. Indeed, this was a huge hit for the singer of colour despite it being a haunting ballad that's a far cry from the post punk she made with her band.
This was the last hit that Pseudo echo had here in Australia before they sold out with their earlier entry on this list, indeed we have another song that some may say is overproduced but to good effect as it's about how the band love thrills and excitements in their lives which is captured in the production on this track. They would release one more single from their second album which sadly wasn't a hit for them.
This was the debut single for one of the more popular Australian bands for the next ten years, although it was their only massive hit as their popularity came more from their albums as well as their overplay on the radio. I've never quite been clear about what this song is about, I know metaphorically it's about diving up society but I'm not sure what wall they're referring to as there were a lot of walls back in the day that did that.
Following the demise of the Gogo's earlier in the decade, Belinda Carlisle embarked on a solo career which went off to a good star with this track becoming a huge success for her here and in her native America. It's essentially a love letter to her husband (who it turns out is a politician who served under Ronald Reagan) and was the launching pad for a highly successful solo career for a decade.
This was the other hit that Feargal Sharkey had this year, as I said earlier this was written by the ex-partner of the person who wrote his biggest hit which makes his two hits a back and forward between the two during their breakup. Something I forgot to mention earlier is that "A good heart" had Boy George on backing vocals, which likely further boosted the popularity of Feargal's career this year.
This was the last hit that Wham had together before they officially went their separate ways so that George Michael could pursue a solo career and Andrew Ridgely could become a race car driver (no really, he gave up music for that.) Reportedly this was a song inspired by their Chinese tour which should give you an indication of how out of control their popularity was around this time.
It looked like that the Euroglider's third album would underperform given how it initially only spawned a hit with its lead single, however it saw a massive rebound this year due to the success of the third single which became a huge success for the Eurogliders in the early months of the year. They would have one more hit later in the decade with "Groove" before they called it quits in 1989.
This was the only hit that Princess had here in Australia, oh yeah there was an RNB singer from the UK who called herself Princess just how there was a British band who called themselves King from around this time. This was one of the earlier hits to be produced by Stock Aiken and Waterman, meaning that their earliest cliental consisted of women of colour and members of the LGBT community.
This was the lead single from the Eurythmics album Revenge, an album that proved to be the biggest for the duo despite never making clear what they wanted vengeance against. Here they have a song about the possibilities of the future which might have one of Annie's best performances in her career, in fact the album in general has her at her best vocally which is perhaps why it was their biggest album.
This was the first song that Van Halen released with Sammy Hagger on lead vocals, while it wasn't as big a hit as their final song with David Lee Roth, it did launch a new era for the band as the album proved to be a massive success for them. Sammy would remain with the band for the next ten years before he departed under similar circumstances to that of David and was replaced with the guy from Extreme.
Technically this was the second solo single that George Michael released in his career, although by all accounts it was his first solo single as "Careless whisper" was by all accounts a Wham track that just happened to be credited to him alone when it was released as a single. Much like that track, this is also a ballad about his complicated feelings about a past relationship which seemed to be a theme in his catalogue.
This was the final hit that Rolling stones had throughout the world, it came from their critically panned album Dirty work which was nonetheless a success likely due to the animation in the video. As it turns out, it was done by John Kricfalusi who's best known for his 90's nicktoons hit Ren and Stimpy (and its more infamous adult version from the 00's) I guess every legend in animation has to begin somewhere.
This ballad was nominated for an Oscar this year, I just thought I'd throw that out there as there are many people who don't like Peter Cetera's solo material due to him being schmaltzy in both his vocals and songwriting. This comes from the second Karate Kid flick which has been described as a sequel that repeated the big hits from the original film, although it's still considered better than the next two films.
This was the biggest hit that the Cure were able to score here in Australia, it seems odd that they weren't that successful here in the 80's considering how many times they appeared on Countdown during its run. I think the video had something to do with this being a success as it successfully demonstrates the claustrophobia that the lyrics and Robert's vocals paint out in the song, this being able to connect with stressed out audiences.
This was the lead single to Janet's breakthrough album Control, an album that didn't see much success here in Australia save for this track likely due to it being a display of female empowerment during a time where that was becoming popular in the mainstream. She wouldn't have another hit down under until the lead single of her next album, even then her popularity wouldn't explode here until the 90's.
This was the lead single to Elton John's least favourite album Leather jackets, mainly because of the bad memories he has of making the album as it was during its production that he had to have his polyps removed which prevented him from making his trademark falsetto that he was known for earlier in his career. We Aussies were there to support him by making this and the album a success, however that courtesy wasn't matched anywhere else in the world.
This was originally the theme to the Sean Penn film At close range, a film that was critically acclaimed by flopped at the box office this year. It was then the lead single for her third album due to it topping the Billboard charts, making it her third chart topper in America despite it not being among her bigger hits here in Australia. It's a departure from her earlier work due to it being a haunting ballad rather than innocent dance pop.
This was the only hit for both men involved with this track in Australia, although in the case of Clarence Clemons that was more due to him being known for being a saxophonist and this being his only song he recorded vocals for. Jackson Brown on the other hand is one of the most respected singer/songwriters in the music industry and yet was only able to score his one and only hit with this duet.
This is one of those cheesy duets which has endeared over the years due to how sincere both performers are on the track, although it's worth noting that neither Gloria Loring nor Carl Anderson saw much success in their respective careers outside of this duet even in their native America.
I feel like this is the female empowerment anthem to end all female empowerment anthems, after all we have not one but two of the most powerful women in music joining forces to uplift the spirits of women around the world saying they can do whatever they want without feeling like they need to conform to the patriarchy. This song endures the test of time due to uplifting the women of the world without feeling the need to put men down.
It had been four years since these guys had a hit anywhere in the world, although at this point this was more of a Chrissie Hynde solo project as the other original members of the band had left for various different reasons. This meant that she went in a more pop friendly direction as opposed to her new wave roots from earlier in the decade which would explain how she was able to score hits from Get close.
This was the only solo hit that Steve Winwood was able to achieve in his career in Australia, yes, he had other hits with his bands Spencer Davis group and Traffic as well as having a huge album earlier in the decade with Arc of a diver, however this was the only hit he had to himself here. It's surprising to me it wasn't a bigger hit considering A: how passionate he sounds on the track and B: it being a huge Billboard chart topper for him.
This was the only notable hit that the Venetians managed to have here in Australia, although they did spark international interest in their catalogue despite them being far from the most successful Australian band of the decade. They would try to find a second hit here throughout the rest of the decade before they called it quits and broke up in 1989, much like many bands from the 80's now that I think about it.
This was the biggest hit to come from the Eurythmics's fourth album Revenge, it's a personal favourite of mine thanks to how well Annie sounds on this track as well as it confronts what she describes as a thorn in her side that is the toxic relationship she was in at the time. This would be the last hit that the duo would have here in Australia, although they would release two more albums before calling it quits.
You'd think the big hit off of Sting's solo debut album would be "If you love somebody set them free," instead this was the big hit off of the album here in Australia. Although the album was already doing well here upon its initial release, this songs popularity allowed it to become one of the biggest hits of the decade down under and more so than the rest of his output both solo and with the Police.
Given how many artists from highly successful bands were finding solo success around this time, it only makes sense that the Who's Pete Townshend would throw his hat in the ring with this solo entry from him. It became his only success both solo and with the band following their 1971 album Who's next, likely due to how bouncy it is as well as having his daughter on backing vocals.
This was the big hit from I'm talking due to it being the lead single to their debut album, evidently the songs they released the previous year were from an E.P which is why none of them appear on their album they released this year. I think they were trying to win over an international audience as there's a remix of this track that was done by Stock Aiken and Waterman, this remix was a flop unfortunately.
This was the only hit that Howard Jones was able to score here in Australia, even then it's a remix of a track from his second album he released the previous year which had little success upon its initial release down under. I think it's safe to say that we Aussies preferred Nik Kershaw over this guy even though I do tend to hear his big UK hit "What is love" from time to time on the oldies station.
It looked like we Aussies wouldn't be interested in the works of Fine young cannibals given how their first two singles underperformed on our charts (admittedly this was more due to how much competition they had at the time) however this third single from their debut album managed to become a hit for them here likely due to it being a cover of an Elvis Presley classic that connected well with us back in the day.
Although his earlier entry on this list was the big hit off of Billy's second RNB album Love zone, it was this song that was meant to promote the album as that track came from the Jewel of the Nile soundtrack and was later included on the album. Here Billy scores his biggest hit with and RNB ballad as the rest of his hits in his catalogue are more fast paced and more in line with his disco hits from the 70's.
This will be the only appearance from the punk band the Damned on my site, it was mainly a hit here in Australia due to them being one of the last international artists to perform on Countdown where they admittedly gave a rather compelling performance of this cover of the 60's classic from Barry Ryan on the show. It was also a decent hit in their native UK, which is proof that punk rock was still a thing over there.
These guys were on a roll this year as they managed to score a second hit here in Australia as well as their second Billboard chart topper in their native America. As the name of the song implies, this is a song dedicated to a Sara who was the ex-girlfriend of the lead singer of the group. They would have one more hit the following year with the theme from the film Mannequin.
This was the only hit from the American husband and wife duo Nu shooz, a song that was released to deafening silence the previous year but was given the remix treatment where it became a massive hit this year. For some reason, I always thought this was an Ace of base track, I think because the woman sounds similar to the girls from the 90's band. It was their only hit but at least it was a huge international one.
This was a massive hit for CCR back in the day, so it's fitting that the Reels would find success with their stamp on it seventeen years after the original's success. It got them out of the one hit wonder bin here given how their only other hit was their cover of Herb Alpert's "This guy's in love with you" from four years prior.
This is the last hit that Culture club were able to achieve in their initial run together, it was a more stripped back ballad from the band given how they were no longer the biggest name in music and thus decided to move away from the new wave sound that made them big initially. They would break up shortly after their fourth album was released due to it being a commercial disaster for them.
This was originally a hit for Duane Eddy back in the late 50's, in fact this is more or less a remix of that version as the Art of noise simply took the original recording and turned it into a dance track by having Duane rerecord his instrumentation to better fit the beat they were going for. This led to them having a second hit later in the decade with a cover of Prince's song from earlier on the list with Tom Jones.
It's the song that's been described as the one bridging the gap between rock and hip hop, not least because it's essentially a hip hop cover of the Aerosmith classic that the rock band gave this trio full endorsement for covering. They were so thrilled with the idea that they even appeared in the music video where they help Run DMC destroy a literal wall that there was between the two genres.
Following the massive success of their (then) most recent album, Talking heads decided to allow their frontman David Byrne to make a theatrical film where they composed the soundtrack for which resulted in this lead single being the theme to said film which resulted in its success worldwide. It's best known for its music video where several 80's celebrities lip sync to the track which helped out with its success.
Ric Ocasek was the lead singer of the Cars who at least internationally was one of the biggest bands of the decade, as such it makes sense that he would score a solo hit this year with the lead single to his second album even if this song flopped in NZ and his native America where his band was the most popular. This would be the last hit he would have both solo and with his band as his subsequent follow ups flopped.
This was the only other hit that Kenny Loggins managed to achieve in Australia, although you'd think that "I'm alright" from Caddyshack would've been big here as well considering how iconic his movie themes were this decade. The Top gun soundtrack was an inverse of the Footloose soundtrack when it comes to his success, he had the big hit there but only the moderate hit here.
This was one of only two hits that Erasure scored here in Australia, although the other hit was an Abba themed E.P they released in the early 90's so realistically this was the only hit single they had here. They were far more popular in their native UK despite this being a flop for them over there, I guess they needed some time to adjust to their love ballads set to catchy dance pop before making them a success.
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