Oh, rick rolling, why did you have to ruin this otherwise cute and innocent song from one of the more impressive vocalists to emerge from the 80's? Nowadays people think this is one of the worst songs of all time due to that immature meme from the late 00's, however back in the day it was the biggest song of the decade in Australia thanks to how many demographics it managed to appeal to back then.
Were it not for the popularity of the biopic about Ritchie Valen's life, I doubt Los lobos would've achieved any form of success during their impressive career. Fortunately, the biopic was a critical and commercial success which led to their cover of Valen's signature tune becoming a massive worldwide success for them.
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."
This version may seem very different compared to the one that wound up being a huge international success for Kylie Minogue, this is because it was originally made without the assistance of Stock Aiken and Waterman and was more of a vanity project for Kylie following the popularity she had on Neighbours. It's surprise success assured audiences of her singing talents which led to her success in the music industry.
It seems rather curious that Kim Wilde wasn't even aware of the original version of this track from the Supremes at first, admittedly it is shocking to know that Diana Ross and company didn't receive much love in the mainstream outside of America back in the day. Kim's version of this track about making a clean getaway from someone fooling around with the narrator's heart managed to equal the success the original version had two decades prior in America where it topped the Billboard charts.
It gives me great joy to know that one of the biggest hits of the decade in Australia was an honest to God pub rock anthem, true the Choirboys had been hustling in the industry for four years at this point, but their determination paid off with a track that's still fondly remembered by Australian audiences to this day. This even saw moderate crossover success in NZ, proving how much wide appeal these guys had.
Although this wasn't the lead single to Icehouse's biggest album Man of colours, it was their biggest hit both in Australia and NZ as well as their one big hit over in America due to how big it was in both countries in the southern hemisphere. I guess it's their best song even though on a technical level, their work from Primitive man from five years prior is better.
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?
Following the demise of his band Wham, George Michael decided to continue in the pop direction he established for himself during his time with his partner in crime Andrew Ridgely. The results were his solo album named after this signature track from him which was a huge success for British superstar.
This was originally released on Bob Seger's 1978 album Stranger in town to deafening silence, probably because Bob was considered to be a bit ahead of his time as his popularity didn't shine outside his native America until this was featured in the Tom Cruise flick Risky business (specifically that famous scene where he dances to it in his underwear.) For some reason, this finally became a hit four years after that film in Australia, presumably through the strength of his other big hit this year "Shakedown."
This was a fantastic year for the sister duo Mel and Kim, although it would be a bittersweet year for them as Mel would tragically be diagnosed with cancer which would them claim her life in 1990. It was because of this diagnosis that the girls didn't record much material after their debut album, although I'm sure if they did release new music, it would've been as fun as their biggest hit and also dripping with as much personality.
Want to know something interesting about these guys? It turns out that they ruined the early crossover appeal that Roxette had with their album from around this time due to this being a huge success in the UK at their fellow Swede's expense. I guess it's easy to see how they did it given how this has become a sporting anthem over the years thanks to those iconic synths, and hey these guys did score a second hit on Billboard with "Carrie."
Well on my last list I covered how few really cared that Samantha Fox wasn't much of a vocalist in the mainstream, now let's talk about a fellow member of the LGBT community who used his good looks and infectious songs to overlook his own vocal deficiencies in the form of Paul Lekakis. Admittedly he didn't receive much love outside of Australia, presumably due to this song being used in a competition organised by Countdown which resulted in its popularity here.
Although he remains a one hit wonder here in Australia with this theme to a long forgotten animated film from his native NZ (and one that doesn't look good judging by the animation displayed in the music video) Dave was a huge superstar in his homeland by originally with his band D.D smash and for many years after his first solo hit with the reggae group Herbs. I defy anyone to get this song out of their heads after hearing it, it's virtually impossible to do so.
This was the final solo hit to come from George Harrison, although the success of this cover of the obscure track from James Ray did lead to him forming the supergroup the Travelling wilburys a year after its initial release. Apparently, he cut out a verse from the original which led to two things about this track, the first is that it changes the context of the lyrics and the second is that it makes this version more repetitive than the original. No wonder many people don't like this track.
This was the lead single to INXS's magnum opus Kick, the reason why it's their magnum opus is because not only is it their biggest album worldwide, but it also spawned them a Billboard chart topper with this very single from the band. Even though the song was released on its own, the video has it bundled up with "Mediate" which is the song which immediately proceed after this song ends on the album.
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.
It's easy to forget that this wasn't the lead single to MJ's album of the same name, after all few people remember that "I just can't stop loving you" was the lead single to that album likely due to it not being among his more popular songs over the years. This on the other hand was such an instant classic that Weird Al decided to parody it a year after its release as "Fat" which was also a huge success.
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.
Mannequin is one of those films you either love or hate, it mostly comes down to its premise of a man falling in love with a store mannequin that randomly comes to life and whether or not you're on board with that premise. At least the theme song was well received even though it comes from Starship's sellout period, although those who despise "We built this city" don't often have many negative things to say about this.
After the slow but overwhelming success of her debut album, Whitney was off to a good start with replicating its success with this iconic track which remains one of her more popular tracks even to this day. Unfortunately, though the album was a success, the same can't be said for any of the other singles on the album outside of her native America, perhaps due to how they helped her break a record on Billboard.
Well, I guess we Aussies aren't opposed to allowing cheesy RNB to become a hit here after all given how this highly ridiculed ballad from Boris Gardiner managed to become a huge success here. It's hard to talk about this song without coming off as mean, as such I won't say anything else here.
This is the biggest hit in Jimmy Barne's career both solo and with his band Cold chisel, I'm guessing because it was the lead single to his album where he wanted to appeal to an international audience and as such saw success both from his fanbase and the more contemporary listeners of the day. He would abandon his ambitions at appealing to an international market following the failure of his album Freight train hearts outside the southern hemisphere.
Angry Anderson is best known as the lead vocalist for Rose tattoo, an Australian band who rivals AC/DC as the band who rocks the hardest from the 70's and 80's. So, you can his fans horror when he agreed to rerecord one of the bands earlier songs and rework it as a wedding theme for Scott and Charlene in Neighbours (Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue for the uninitiated.)
Johny Logan set up a record with this ballad as it allowed him to become the first artist to win Eurovision more than once for a particular country, in this case it was for his native Ireland who likely were as surprised as everyone else when he took home to top prize for the second time this decade following his earlier victory "What's another year." It appears we Aussies finally understood what made him so special as this became a huge success for him down under.
You'd think that a duet between a woman of colour that's been active for almost as long as her much younger male partner who was a closeted gay man would be a recipe for disaster, you'd be wrong as the two somehow managed to find chemistry on this track about how they can always rely on each other being there when they need each other the most.
This was the second single from John Farnham's magnum opus Whispering jack, I guess this helped reassure everyone that "You're the voice" wasn't a fluke and that he was here to stay in the adult contemporary part of the music scene. The third single from the album "A touch of paradise" was a minor hit after this, which further cemented that he was back in the mainstream and not a flash in the pan.
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.
So, the Party boys were a supergroup comprised of several big names in the Australian music scene who got their start earlier in the decade with a mixtape called Live at several 21st's. Fast forward four years and they score a massive hit with this cover of the John Kongos track that led to them sparking interest in the UK which didn't end up with much success there.
This was the lead single to Icehouse's biggest album Man of colours; it was also the first song from the band to crack the Billboard charts as the band had been gaining buzz throughout the decade due to their earlier work. This was a return to their new wave roots after some experimentation with their previous two albums, suffice to say that we Aussies knew what we wanted from these guys, and this was it.
You'd think that this would be one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia, admittedly it was huge and the reason why it wasn't bigger was due to it being the second single to come out of Slippery when wet after "You give love a bad name" which somehow flopped here. This song's success was more likely due to it being a huge hit in the UK where it was the lead single from the album rather than their other track.
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.
While this wasn't the lead single for Diesel and dust, this was the song which was released once the album dropped which proved to be a massive hit worldwide as audiences became invested in the plight for aboriginal rights (and are still fighting for them to this day.) This led to the album being a massive success for the band and it being declared one of the best albums from an Australian act of all time.
This cover of the Tommy James classic was originally released to deafening silence earlier in the decade for Billy Idol, however it was given a second chance when he performed it live later in the decade which compelled him to release this live recording where it became a huge success for him. This broke a unique record on Billboard when it replaced Tiffany's "I think we're alone now" at number one, namely that a cover replaced another cover of a track from the same artist.
This was the biggest hit to come from the Hoodoo gurus, likely due to the video which perfectly mirrors the lyrics about who these guys are supposed to be with their respective relationships. If you can believe it, these guys remade this song many years later titled "That's my horse" which was made for a marketing campaign to promote gambling, how the mighty have fallen if they resorted to doing that.
This is a companion band for the Timex social club, a group whose best known for their hit single "Rumours" which sadly didn't become a hit here in Australia. I bring this up because we went from that dance classic to this cover of the Bill Withers track which became a massive success thanks to its reggae beat. It appears that UB40 wasn't the only band to score a huge hit with a reggae cover of an RNB classic.
I guess in celebration of the premiere of Star trek the next generation, this novelty band from the UK through together a Claymation video that goes with a song that I think was meant to be a touching tribute to the original series. It's hard to tell with how bad the impersonations are of the characters, if I had to pick out my least favourite song of the decade, this would be it and I'm not even a Star trek fan.
Although they had success with "Blue Monday" from earlier in the decade, this was the first mega hit that New order had in Australia despite this being a massive flop in their native UK and only barely being a minor hit in NZ. I'm not sure why this succeeded here but failed in those two countries, I guess it was due to it being more pop friendly compared to what had been released prior.
This was the third single from MJ's album Bad, a song where he declares his love for a significant other who makes him feel good whenever they're around. This would be his final hit single in Australia for the decade as the next hit he would have down under would be "Black or white" from his next albums Dangerous.
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 the first solo hit that Deborah Harry had following the demise of Blondie from earlier in the decade, admittedly she did try to go solo around the time Autoamerican was tearing up the charts from the start of the decade, however no one seemed to be interested in her solo venture at the time. Indeed, this was a massive flop in her native America and only became a success when it crossed over to the UK for her.
I don't think anyone was expecting this to be a success for Stacey Q due to the very poor quality of the music video, alas it was and got her out of the one hit wonder bin that her earlier entry threatened to trap her in. Sadly, this was her final hit anywhere in the world as she was unable to compete with Madonna and later on Kylie Minogue for the title of the pop princess of the music industry.
This was the band where Madonna began her music career with, albeit as their drummer as the lead singer was always Dan Gilroy during their time together. I'm guessing the success that their former drummer was having worldwide allowed audiences to check out their music which would explain the success of this track, well that and the fact that it's one of the catchiest songs to come out of the decade.
World party is the solo project of Welsh singer Karl Wallinger who scored a massive hit with this track about how he didn't want to conform to the standards set up by politicians of the 80's or as he puts it "sail on this ship of fools." It resonated with audiences in Australia where it became a huge success for him, although we didn't check out any of his other material as his album and other singles flopped here.
Following the success he had the previous year as the lead singer of Mike and the Mechanics, Paul Carrack released a solo album this year which was led off with this cover of the Searchers track from the early 60's. The original was a huge hit here in Australia back in the day, so that would explain how this was a hit for him down under and nowhere else in the world. His next single would be his first solo hit on Billboard with "Don't shed a tear."
Well so much for James Reyne being the reason why Australian crawl never scored a hit single during their time together, this was his first song he released following the band's demise, and it proved to be an instant hit for him. A common criticism towards his music is his inability to enunciate, I and many others don't find that to be an issue as while it is hard to understand what he's saying, the music usually makes up for it.
Although these guys saw moderate success with their albums this decade, the last time they had a hit single was from the start of the decade when "No secrets" became a top ten hit for them. Here they are with a cover of the Animals classic from the mid 60's, this being a surprise hit for them here and even their big crossover hit in NZ as this managed to win over the kiwis after a decade of silence there.
Contrary to popular belief, this was the lead single to Faith and not the title track. It's easy to forget given how this was originally written for Beverly Hills cop II for a throwaway scene that got it the Razzie for worst original song, however this was meant to signal George's first solo hit away from his former partner in crime Andrew Ridgely. I think it's safe to say that it paid off for him much to the chagrin of the Razzies.
This was the biggest hit that Wang Chung had in their career, likely due to the seizure inducing music video which likely made a bunch of people epileptics whenever it was shown on TV. I find it weird this wasn't their debut single or even their first hit considering this feels like an introduction to the band, although this could be another reason why it was their biggest hit given the potential of a TV show.
This was another big hit that is directly targeted towards the LGBT community from this year, although unlike Paul Lekakis's hit from earlier, this was a massive hit in the UK for the American group involved. Like Paul's hit, this was used in a dance competition during the final months of Countdown's existence, which more than explains how it was a hit here given how it was promoted on the show and then crossed over to the queer community.
This is one of those songs that is way too catchy for its own good, the chanting throughout the track will get stuck in your head after more than one listen to this cover of Redbone's track from the early 70's. The Chantoozies consisted of four models turned singers supported by a backing band of four guys, one of them being the young brother of James Reyne during the height of his popularity.
For most parts of the world, this was the only hit single that Robbie Nevil managed to achieve mainly due to the lyrics about how life shouldn't be about doing things for the sake of doing them. It connected with audiences during what I'm told is the height of the era of greed, where everything was done through the incentive of money and little else. In Australia, he scored a second hit in the early 90's with "Just like you," which is a more contemporary love song.
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.
Well, this was certainly a surprise, we have this adult contemporary ballad from the Brothers Gibb which came out eight years after their last hit single "Tragedy" had topped the charts in America. Indeed, this was a chart topper in the UK for them which likely allowed it to become a success back home in Australia, although we wouldn't hear from the trio again for another ten years after this.
The last time Heart saw any success in Australia was ten years prior when "Magic man" became a huge hit for them, here they are ten years later with their biggest hit on Billboard which (to me at least) sounds like a prototype of Roxette's "Listen to your heart" which makes it a favourite of mine. They would have one more hit in 1990 with "All I wanna do is make love to you" worldwide.
I'm not sure how he was able to do it, but Chris Rea managed to see a massive comeback this year eight years after he first charted with "Diamonds" in Australia. I'm guessing this was due to the song almost topping the NZ charts which in itself was bizarre as the British musician never saw any success over there prior to this pop rock track. It was a short-lived comeback but a notable one.
If these guys sound familiar to you, that's because they would go on to become the Wiggles which is one of the most popular children's bands of all time despite them never having success on the music charts. If you can believe it, this pop rock track about the girl of their respective dreams was their only hit here in Australia, although I'm reliably informed that preschool music doesn't often chart in the mainstream.
This was the final hit single to be release from True blue, an album that had five out of five chart toppers if you were to combine the Billboard and UK charts. Here we have a Latin flavoured track from the queen of pop which was very different to everything else coming out at the time, no doubt this and a later entry on this list led to the likes of the Gipsy kings finding success as the end of the decade.
It looked like Peter Gabriel would only score one hit from his album So with "Sledgehammer" from the previous year, however he then decided to release this duet with Kate Bush as a single where it became a surprise hit for the two of them this year. I'm guessing this was a hit due to the popularity of Kate given how she was still one of the biggest names in music this far into the 80's.
This was the only hit that Canadian singer/songwriter was able to score in Australia throughout his career, it's curious because he did score success with his earlier hit singles on Billboard and in his native Canada and yet this was his only hit here despite this being a huge bomb in both countries. I guess this became a hit due to us wanting to give him at least one hit down under and this was our favourite track from him.
Even though Madonna is often credited as the first artist to question the concept of religion in her album Like a prayer, these guys had beaten her to the punch by two years as they list a bunch of things that's considered a sin in religion to showcase just how restrictive one's life has to be in order to retain their faith. This naturally connected with audiences back in the day and was another easy hit for the British duo.
This and her next entry are songs Madonna like to pretend never happened, mainly because of the negative memories she has of the film in question which garnered her second Razzie win for worst actress. Despite the film being a critical and commercial failure (likely due to the obnoxious tone of the film from what I've seen in reviews) the soundtrack was a huge success likely due to both of these songs being among her better work.
This was the second single to come from Madonna's ill-fated Who's that girl soundtrack, a soundtrack that would've been a success has it been an album tie in that Madonna made herself rather than it only having three songs from her, and the rest filled with filler tracks sprinkled throughout the film. This was played in the animated intro of the film, which many consider to be the only good part of its runtime.
From what I can gather, Michael Bow was a German singer who scored a massive hit here in Australia with this song that was used in a Countdown competition during the final months of the show's existence. I consider this to be in the trilogy of queer anthems from this year, the other two songs being "Boom boom" and "Male stripper" due to how well loved they remain in our queer community.
Now that New order finally had a hit single to their name here in Australia, they no longer had any issues with finding success here which is how this timeless classic from them managed to be a huge success for them months after their earlier entry on this list became a huge success for them. The song is best known nowadays for its strange video which seems a typical of their filmography.
This was somewhat of a surprise hit in Australia, mainly because funk music wasn't doing so well throughout the decade which is perhaps why it took a while for it to crossover here for the band Cameo. It was a huge hit the previous year in the UK and their native America, likely due to the funky groove as well as the ridiculous video which showcases the lead singer wearing a plastic codpiece.
While I'm sure fans of the Pretenders were a bit disappointed to see Chrissie go in a pop friendly direction on her fourth album Get close, it did result in her biggest success while still staying true to what made her a household name (minus the "I'm one of the boys" attitude of course.) Here she sings about her feelings of how her mother was no longer with us and how she was going to cope with her loss.
This was the third single to be released from Man of colours for Icehouse, normally the band wouldn't score a third hit from one of their albums but in this case, they did due to how passionate Iva Davis is in his performance on this track. No doubt this helped the album becoming their most successful in their career, although their popularity would die out once the decade came to an end.
This was the second single to be released from this RNB star's debut album, I get the feeling this was a massive success due to the whistling on the track as RNB didn't tend to do too well here in Australia back in the day. This was eventually a chart topper in his native America once the album became a huge success for him throughout Europe, I'm guessing he used the proceeds to help him get home after being stranded there by the US army.
James was on a roll this year as he managed to score a second hit from his solo album, further proving that he was the driving force of Australian crawl throughout the decade given how their popularity dwindled after their third album. All of this success led to him receiving buzz the following year for his album internationally, so much so that his album was given an international released that sadly flopped for him.
This was the only solo hit that Foreigner front man Lou Gramm managed to score worldwide, although the success of this track in Australia likely led to the band scoring one more hit the following year with "Say you will" down under. This was during that time where everyone from a band was launching a solo career, so this did better than you would expect considering what else was coming out at the time.
Although he saw massive success at the start of the decade in his native NZ as a teen idol, this was the first hit that Jon Stevens had in Australia given that he had become the lead singer of Noiseworks to reinvent himself as a pub rocker in the same vein as Jimmy Barnes and other Australian singers. I'm not sure why this was a success and not "No lies," both have such a passionate performance from Jon that they should've been bigger.
While this wasn't their debut single here in Australia, it was the song which got them off the ground given how the first two singles from their self-titled album were huge flops here despite the band performing them on Countdown the previous year. Naturally this was chosen as the lead single internationally once the album got off the ground here, which is why it did much better internationally than it did here.
Even though he had appeared on Countdown almost a decade prior, Iggy Pop never had any success in Australia until this year where he scored a surprise worldwide hit with this new wave track of his. This made it big in the UK of all places, I know the Brits welcomed punk rockers worldwide with open arms, but surely, they could've given this guy success back in the day when he was with the stooges.
This was Bob Seger's other bit hit this year, it comes from Beverly Hills cop II and helped the film earn both an academy award nomination and a Razzie with George Michael's earlier entry on this list from the film. This was the critically acclaimed song of the two and the one which finally allowed Bob to have a Billboard chart topper after over a decade of scoring hits in his native America.
This was the only hit to come from The Joshua tree in Australia, although as you've likely noticed, we Aussies don't tend to give out that many hits from highly successful albums due to our charts being strictly measured by capitalism. In any case, we have U2's first Billboard chart topper with this ballad about how Bono is unable to live his life whether he's in a relationship with this person or not.
You'd think that the biggest hit from the Machinations would be "No say in it" or "Pressure sway," instead it was this track which lasted quite a while on the charts thus making it their biggest hit by how long it lingered in the mainstream. It was also their final hit as the band would call it quits when their third album flopped later in the decade.
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.
This was the debut single for Mel and Kim, it was a song that was destined to be a flop here in Australia until their earlier entry became a massive hit for them here which allowed it to rebound on the charts and become a hit when that went to number one. It has a positive message about having fun without breaking the bank set to some of Stock Aiken and Waterman's catchiest melodies.
This was the biggest success that Paul Kelly achieved back in the day, it's a song that still resonates with audiences to this day due to the story he tells about an abusive husband who seeks to redeem himself to his wife. Even though he never achieved mainstream success outside of this hit he had, he remains one of the most well-respected Australian artists of all time to the point where his greatest hits package was a huge success in 1997.
Shona Laing was a NZ songwriter who broke through in her homeland as a child start in 1973 with her hit single "1905" before fading into obscurity over there, however she eventually came back this year with this folk track thanks to it being one of the last songs to be performed on Countdown which allowed it to be a success here and, in her homeland, before she once again faded into obscurity.
Although she had minor success earlier in the decade as the lead singer of Q.E.D, Jenny Morris was able to finally score a massive hit on her own with this track from her solo debut album. It would lead to her releasing a second album as the decade was coming to an end where she saw even more success with her hit "She has to be loved" both here and her native NZ.
This was released six years prior to deafening silence for Billy Vera, in fact from what I can gather, this ballad was only a success this year due to it appearing in several episodes of Family ties that involves the romance between Michael J Fox and Tracy Pollan on the show.
I guess Sting was still able to find success with his second solo album which goes to show how popular he was throughout the decade despite how people feel about his songwriting abilities. Here he scored a huge hit about how him and his partner will make it through the trials of their relationship no matter what people say, it connected with audiences giving him one final hit down under.
This was the only hit that Gregory Abbot managed to achieve worldwide, mainly because he seems to be confused as to what the term shake down is as he interprets the phrase which is otherwise affiliated with extortion as a romantic gesture. This is in complete contrast with the tone of the song, which is obviously meant to be romantic, making this an unintentionally hilarious song.
I may be out of line by saying that Whiplash smile was Billy Idol's foray into sophistopop, it definitely feels like sophistopop especially on his third single which is by far the most subdue song in his entire career due to how dreamy it is. It helped the album be his biggest following the failure of its second single "Don't need a gun" which was more in line with his work from earlier in the decade.
This was a big hit in Swing out sister's native UK the previous year, however it didn't end up crossing over to Australia or NZ until the band became the final act to perform a song on Countdown during the final episode of the show. It was a big enough success in the southern hemisphere for it to crossover to America, making this a rather circuitous route for the band to make it big worldwide.
Well, this is a bit different from Bon Jovi from their earlier entry, mainly because this was a country ballad whereas their other hit this year was one of the most iconic hair metal ballads of the decade. I think most people tend to forget that Bon Jovi was partially a country band considering how much more iconic their hair metal tracks have become over the years, although they were a good country band as well.
This was the lead single to John Mellencamp's biggest album the Lonesome jubilee, it feels weird that this was the big hit off the album when "Cherry bomb" and especially "Check it out" receive a ton more airplay on oldies stations these days over this track. Then again this is one of his bigger hits overall despite him having a ton of other songs that didn't see this level of success that receive love nowadays over this.
This was the only hit for the British duo Wax, although it was more a hit here in Australia as it flopped in their native UK for some reason. This is another song about winning back a lover after the narrator has admitted to screwing up in the relationship, although at least here he acknowledges how bad he was and that he was going to change for the better.
It appears our love for Alison Moyet was mostly confined to her solo debut album as well as her time with Yazoo as this lead single to her second album wasn't that big of a success here in Australia for some reason. I guess this was due to the lack of sophistopop that made it big this year in our music scene as this was a much bigger deal over in NZ and her native UK around this time.
This was a departure from Mental as anything's previous material, at least in the sound it was as they decided to adapt with the times and add more glossy production here and on their album Mouth to mouth in an attempt to find an international audience given how "Live it up" was a massive success for them throughout Europe at the time of this songs release. It didn't work out for them internationally, although it was a modest hit here.
This is the last hit that Fleetwood Mac was able to achieve in Australia, it may surprise you to learn it was only barely as such due to it being the third single of their album Tango in the night and the two lead singles "Big love" and "Seven wonders" flopping on our charts. At least the album was a massive success for the band, likely explaining why these songs weren't as big as you'd otherwise expect.
This was Joe Cocker's last hit in Australia, although at least his career went out with a bang as he scored a minor sleeper hit with this cover of the Ray Charles classic from the early 60's. Indeed, these covers of soul classics is what the English rocker is best known for throughout his career, although his biggest hit was with his Oscar winning ballad from earlier in the decade.
This is a song that initially flopped in T'pau's native UK; however, it was given a second chance when it appeared in a jean commercial over in America which resulted in it taking off on Billboard and eventually the rest of the world. This has tainted the song for some people over the years as it was originally praised for its heartfelt performance from lead singer Carol Decker and its personal lyrics.
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