NZ hits of 1983

This was the year where cultural barriers seemed to have been broken down, it didn't matter if you were a musician of colour, part of the LGBT community or anything else, everyone seemed to have a shot at scoring massive success this year regardless of who they were.

Unlike in Australia where this was only a moderate success for New order, this was arguably the biggest hit of the decade due to its refusal to die on their charts for such a long time. Indeed, this song was so popular that it lasted well over two years on the singles charts which was unheard of by the 80's over there.

It appears that even the kiwis weren't able to resist the charms of Kenny and Dolly on this bit hit of theirs, I bring this up because neither of them had that much success over there prior to this point which makes this duet's success all the more heartwarming for them.

Well at least this song was inescapable in NZ back in the day, in fact David Bowie in general had a ton of success over there that was noticeably absent here in Australia from around this time as the kiwis seemed to be more on board with him changing with the times than we Aussies were.

This is where most of the world comes in when it comes to UB40's mainstream success, although they already had success in NZ and their native UK from the start of the decade and with their own material to boot. Still at least this was a hit this year worldwide and the following year in Canada, not like in America where it sat on shelves for five years before finally becoming a success for them.

These guys didn't have any better luck in NZ when it came to their success than they did here in Australia, in fact their success was identical in both countries which gives you an idea of how similar our music scenes were back in the day. One final bit of trivia I have is the woman on the album cover and who Kevin Rowland hits on in the video is Siobahn Fahey of Bananarama fame.

There was little doubt that this second single from Culture Club's biggest album would be a success in NZ like it was throughout the rest of the world, even taking into consideration that they weren't as big over there as they were in Australia, this was a song that was too catchy for it to fail and came complete with a video that's still fun to watch even to this day.

This was a huge success for Hot Chocolate throughout the world, heck it only didn't appear on the Australian side of my site due to not charting long enough in the upper echelons of the charts back in the day to qualify for my rankings. It was the band's final hit single outside of their native UK likely due to audiences wanting to move on to other multi racial RNB groups of the day, however they kept scoring success in their native UK.

Well at least Bob Marley was one of the most popular artists in NZ even after his tragic passing, as such this kiddie version of one of his songs doesn't feel too out of left field for becoming a success over there like I'm sure it does in retrospect in America. Still, it feels weird that there was a huge hit coming from a bunch of kids who wanted to legalise marijuana in the music video.

From what I can gather, Audrey Landers was a failed American actress who scored a hit in NZ and throughout Europe with this European pop track in an attempt to launch her singing career. The song was a massive success for her; however, she remains a one hit wonder everywhere where this charted given how she wasn't much of a vocalist either.

So, Eddy Grant was able to score three hit singles in NZ throughout the 80's, none of them was the song he scored a huge hit with here in Australia or over in America which should give you an idea of what the kiwis wanted from this guy compared to us Aussies and Americans. Still, this was his biggest hit in his native UK even taking into account his work with his old band the Equals.

This was the only hit single to come from Scottish singer Natasha England, it was a modest success in her native UK and a monstrous hit in NZ likely due to her take on the old nursery rhyme connecting with the kiwis. It remains the most popular version of the track, however the Belle stars did score a hit with their version from the Rain man soundtrack.

While this was a bit late to the party in NZ for KC and the Sunshine Band, it was still a massive success for the band which was further proof that disco was still yet to be dead everywhere in the world except for America. There's a bit of minor controversy with the lyrics as they do seem a bit forward even with the implications of the person KC is hitting on wanting to be with someone for themselves.

This was a massive hit for D.D Smash, these guys being best known nowadays as the band which made Dave Dobbyn a household name before he went solo during the second half of the decade. Evidently the D.D in the band name stands for Dave Dobbyn, meaning the full name of this band is Dave Dobbyn Smash which seems like he was NZ's equivalent of the Hulk.

The kiwis were just as open to the idea of a band against discrimination of any kind back in the day as the rest of the world (I wonder how modern audiences would take to these guys) as such their debut single was a massive success over there just like it was over here and in every country that it charted in.

This was blocked from the top spot in NZ by David Bowie's earlier entry, I guess this was simple karma as "Let's dance" failed to reach the top spot in Australia due to this blocking it from that spot here. It's information like this that led me to looking over the NZ charts to compare and contrast with the Australian charts.

Unlike here in Australia where this wasn't among the biggest hits of the year, this was indeed a massive success over in NZ likely due to how incessantly catchy the track is as well as Limahl wanting to get with a girl but finding her to be too shy to be his type. The track was even bouncy enough to become a hit for them over in America this year, making this an international one hit wonder for the band.

Given how these guys already had success in NZ as part of their main band Talking heads, Chris Fantz and Tina Weymouth AKA the Tom tom club managed to score a huge hit over in NZ with their rendition of a Drifters track from nearly two decades prior but not here in Australia due to their lack of success here.

While this wasn't the biggest hit from Thriller, this was the highest charting in NZ as this became a number one hit over there whilst MJ's earlier entry got stuck behind David Bowie's earlier entry on this list. This goes to show that the kiwis were really enamoured by MJ's venture towards rock and roll just like the rest of the world was.

This was the second Oscar winning track from Irene Cara this decade, so naturally it would be a major hit for her in NZ albeit on time unlike her previous Oscar winning track. I wonder why they never made a sequel or TV show to Flashdance like they did with Fame, sure it wasn't a critical darling, but it was a huge box office success thanks to the chemistry Jennifer Beals has with the male co lead.

This was a massive hit for Duran Duran around the world back in the day, although I get the feeling that if they had of gone with "The reflex" as the lead single to their third album they would've had a song as inescapable as some of the earlier entries on this list worldwide given how popular that would become from the album. At least these guys would continue to have success well into the second half of the 80's in NZ as opposed to Australia.

This was the only hit that Men without hats had in most parts of the world, at least it was nearly a chart topper in NZ proving how much the kiwis loved this ode to dancing however you want to dance when at a show. They almost scored a second hit much later in the decade with "Pop goes the world," which goes to show they weren't always doomed to be a one hit wonder over there.

This is one of those funk tracks that would've been inescapable in the 70's, I guess the usage of synthesisers allowed it to find an audience this decade for Midnight Star in NZ and virtually nowhere else in the world. They were basically Cameo before those guys stripped back their sound, Cameo being more in line with a funk band around this time before they too adopted synthesisers for their big hit.

For whatever reason, Lionel Richie didn't have as much success in NZ as he did in Australia during his solo career, I'm guessing this was because the kiwis already made him a household name during his time with the Commodores throughout the 70's and even earlier in the 80's. Even so, he still saw massive success over there including with the lead single to his biggest album Can't slow down.

It looks like the kiwis were touched by this open love letter to Christine Brinkley as this easily remains Billy Joel's biggest hit over there, there was a bit of competition for that title here in Australia given how "River of dreams," "We didn't start the fire" and "A matter of trust" were all big hits here; however, this was still the big hit for him over here as well.

I don't know how these guys did it, but their debut single managed to be an even bigger success in NZ than it was here in Australia despite being an Australian band. The success of this track over there led to them having international success with their two Australian hits throughout Europe, although "Catch me I'm falling" failed to become a hit over there like it did here.

I'm sure if their fellow Americans didn't blacklist disco by this point in the 80's, these guys would've found as much success on Billboard as they did in NZ and the UK. This was their only hit in NZ, although their album Tropical gangsters was a massive success over there which I'm guessing more than made up for the fact their other two UK hits weren't as such there.

Well, I don't think I can make this any easier when I say that Marvin Gaye was also a one hit wonder in NZ just like he was in Australia, it makes you wonder why we slept on him in the southern hemisphere throughout the 70's as he was indeed one of the biggest artists of that decade in his native America.

This wasn't quite as inescapable in NZ as it was here in Australia, I don't even know where to speculate what caused this to not bring in the numbers over there that it did over here as that would take up too much space for this entry. Instead, I'll also bring up that the other big Oscar winning ballad from Jennifer Warnes also wasn't as big a hit over there as it was over here.

Who needs to listen to a song in English when you have the original? That seemed to be the mindset of us Aussies and kiwis this year as we passed up the English version of this track from After the fire in favour of the original from Falco from two years prior. Whereas this was his biggest hit here in Australia, the kiwis allowed him to have an even bigger hit over there with his tribute to Mozart.

This had a bit of a delay to its success in Australia given how it was already a huge hit in NZ by the time it was released as a single down under, indeed the kiwis and the Brits were the reasons why this was a hit for Fat Larry's band as this was a massive flop in his native America likely due to it sounding like it belonged in the previous decade.

Much like in Australia, Bonnie Tyler was doomed to become a one hit wonder in NZ with "It's a heartache" before she made the smart decision to collaborate with Jim Steinman for this track that was originally meant for the second Bat out of hell album from earlier in the decade. This comeback was a bit more substantial for her over there as she scored a hit the following year with Shaking Stevens.

For whatever reason, this was pushed back as the second single in NZ given how "White wedding" was released first over there (which is still to come on this list.) This was slightly bigger than that track over there likely due to it becoming a hit in the lead up to the summer of this year, which admittedly was the logic behind releasing this song the previous year here in Australia for the punk rocker.

This was a bigger hit for both Paul and Michael in NZ, likely because of the star power of this lead single to Thriller being more of a selling point over there than it was here in Australia. This star power wasn't as palpable with their second collaboration "Say say say" as while that was a hit over there, it paled in comparison to what this achieved.

I'm not even sure if Dionne Warwick had any success in NZ prior to this ballad, although at least it was a hit over in NZ slightly before it crossed over in Australia where she did have prior success to this ballad. Even though she's a woman of colour and this was the 80's, Dionne found more success here in Australia back in the day than she did in NZ for some reason.

There was this popular band from the early 70's in NZ known as the Hogsnort Rupert's band, they were a big deal at the time due to being a novelty band that managed to humour the kiwis with their brand of comedy. The lead singer of that band Dave Luther would form a new band for the 80's known as Dave and the Dynamos who scored a massive hit over there with this comedy track about how fun it is to be middle aged.

This was the first big hit that Dire Straits had in NZ, OK so they made it big with an E.P which contains their most divisive track in their catalogue (more so than "Money for nothing") due to people being torn with how they feel about this being an homage or parody to the songs of the early to mid 60's.

It was inevitable that this solo debut from Tim Finn would be a massive success in NZ given how much more popular Split enz was in their homeland than they were here in Australia, in fact this was far from his only hit over there as he would continue to score hits from his solo material well into the 90's.

This was a bit delayed in NZ given how there seemed to be this unwritten rule throughout the 80's that Bananarama wasn't going to crossover until they began collaborating with Stock Aitken and Waterman on their fourth album, we Aussies broke this rule by having this nearly top our charts which allowed the kiwis to follow suit by making this a hit for the trio shortly after it became a big hit here.

It took a while to take off in NZ, however once this became a surprise hit in America for the Clash, the kiwis followed suit by making this song about anti-censorship a huge hit over there this year. Their next single would be a huge success over there, albeit nearly a decade later when it was used in a popular commercial in the early 90's in their native UK.

This was the only hit that Little river band managed to achieve in NZ, it came from the first of three highly successful greatest hits packages which is perhaps why it was a big hit over there (that and having John Farnham on lead vocals might have played a part as well.) They wouldn't touch the charts again anywhere in the world until Glenn Shorrock rejoined the band later in the decade.

Even without the flashy music video, this still managed to be an even bigger success for Duran Duran over in NZ than it was here in Australia, then again, they were more popular over there overall with some very few exceptions so I shouldn't be surprised what was bigger over there compared to here and vice versa. I would've thought this would be a shoe in for their third album, however it was a track from the American release of their debut album.

Prior to discovering this was a real hit single back in the day, my first exposure to this track was when Eminem sampled it for the opening like for "Without me" two decades later. I'm not sure how he discovered this track as it was a massive flop for Malcolm McLaren worldwide except for in NZ where it became a surprise hit over there likely due to the kiwis somehow recognising him as the manager for the Sex pistols.

In a bit of a weird reversal of his success here in Australia, the kiwis passed up the lead single to his first solo album "Truly" in favour of this more upbeat track from Lionel Richie which in turn allowed the album to reach the upper echelons of their charts this year. The third single from the album "My love" wouldn't even chart in the southern hemisphere, meaning his next hit was his earlier entry on this list.

While this was far from the first hip hop track to find any sort of success anywhere in the world ("Rappers delight" has that honour from the start of the decade.) This was the first song where hip hop started to be taken seriously by audiences as it details the rough upbringing of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious five as they were living on the streets of New York. I guess this means that an east coast rapper was the first to make it big in NZ.

This had a bit of a delay to its success in NZ, almost as if the kiwis didn't want to make a hit with a song that featured a twenty something year old white British guy rapping given how the previous entry was from an established hip hop artist from America who grew up in the culture that birthed the genre. Alas the kiwis were eventually won over with this track as were us Aussies and the duo's fellow Brits before them.

This had a bit of a delay to its release in NZ, likely because the kiwis hadn't heard of Billy Idol until he scored a moderate success here in Australia with this track that I'm guessing was written about the royal wedding from two years prior. It proved to be an even bigger success over there, and even led to his solo debut from earlier on this list becoming a hit by the end of the year over there.

There was still room for country music in NZ if this ballad from Sylvia is anything to go by, Sylvia was yet another country singer who scored a ton of success on the Billboard country charts but only managed one pop hit in her career with this ballad.

This was also a success for Freeez over in NZ like it was here in Australia, true this song didn't become as successful in the southern hemisphere as it did in their native UK, but at least it was a hit in both countries as opposed to their other British hit "Southern Freeez" from two years prior. For some reason, I keep thinking this is an early Wham track, likely because of how androdynous it sounds to me.

Given that these guys didn't have a hit at the start of the decade as the Tourists, this means that this was the first hit that they had in NZ meaning that this was the kiwis introduction to two of the most prominent artists of the decade in the form of Annie Lennox and David Stewart. This was competing with their debut single over there which also began charting when this was released, however this was obviously the bigger hit in NZ.

Well fans of Grace Jones can rejoice as the Jamaican singer/songwriter managed to achieve multiple hit singles over in NZ with this being the first of them. It was such a big success over there that it lead to the album it served as the lead single for to become a huge hit over there as well as her previous album which had been hovering in and out of the charts up until this point.

There's this rule of thumb where any and all Dutch acts seem to have more success in NZ than they do in Australia throughout the 70's and 80's, as such we have this cover of the showtime number from Gene Kelly by Indonesian born Dutch singer Taco who scored a massive hit over there with this cover despite having an (even at the time) problematic music video which depicts children in blackface.

Well, this was a song from NZ, so naturally it would be an even bigger success over there if it was good enough to crossover to Australia. This came out late the previous year and peaked rather early this year, I'm guessing it was due to a large post-Christmas rush of the comedy track.

This was a much bigger hit in NZ than it was here in Australia despite having the same peak position in both countries, I guess the kiwis weren't as bothered by the shaky songwriting that has gotten it on many worst songs of all time lists as we Aussies were (side note, why it this song so hated by the internet compared to most modern songs?) It was their biggest hit in NZ due to it being their signature tune.

This was the only hit that Laura Branigan managed to achieve in NZ, it feels weird that she is a one hit wonder over there considering how she managed to score three additional hits here in Australia and her one hit wasn't even the big hit she had in the UK. Still, this was a good choice to make her a one hit wonder with given how it's a song about calling out someone's own vanity in the most satisfying way possible.

There's little surprise that this was a success for New Edition in NZ this year, after all it was a bubblegum pop track from a group of young singers of colour looking to become the (then) modern equivalent of the Jackson 5. In a weird way, these guys were the world's warm up to New kids on the block given how their manager was Maurice Starr who would go on to create them as the white equivalent of these kids.

This proved to be an even bigger hit in NZ for Naked eyes, I'm guessing because the original from Sandie Shaw was a big hit over there even though I don't know for sure if that was the case or not. Either way, it put the duo on the map even in America which is impressive considering that this was huge flop for the duo in their native UK.

This was the last big hit that the Human league were able to score as a band as they would be reduced to a trio when they scored their final hit in most parts of the world with "Human" later in the decade. This was a much bigger hit in NZ likely due to the kiwis not being as deterred by the wall of noise with the synths posing as brass as we Aussies were at the time of its release.

Billy was on such a roll in NZ that he was able to release a track that he originally recorded with his old band Gen X as a solo single around this time which allowed him to score a massive hit with it over there. I'm surprised this was a flop here in Australia as I do often hear this on oldies stations from time to time, I'm guessing he had issues with his former band's label that he was able to get around over there.

This was equally as successful for David Bowie in NZ as it was here in Australia, although this did come after the success he had there with "China girl" which was a hit and thus will be making an appearance later down this list (stay tuned for it.) In the meantime, he would continue to find success worldwide as the decade went on both with his music and with his acting career.

This was one of those rare occasions where the kiwis got the album cycle wrong as though the album was a massive success over there, the title track was noticeably less successful than it was here in Australia despite the kiwis already being well acquainted with the Purple one by the time he released his album this year. As such, this will be his only appearance on this list as "Little red corvette" underperformed there.

This was the only hit that Herbie Hancock was able to achieve throughout his career, it's an instrumental that comes with a video that would've been a shoe in for my weirdest music videos list had it been a bigger hit in Australia. In fact, this was a minor success here back in the day, although it needed several attempts to crossover likely due to how strange this was even for the time it was released.

This was originally recorded back in 1978 and likely meant to appear on Bob Marley's Kaya album, it does sound similar to the big hit from that album "Is this love" musically even if lyrically it's a song about American soldiers of colour forced to fight for a country that had little to know respect for them. It was a minor to huge success for the Jamaican icon posthumously everywhere in the world except of course America where it didn't even chart.

This was equally as successful for Joan Armatrading in NZ as it was here in Australia, I'm guessing because it was due to it being released at a time where musicians of colour were able to find success with the new wave genre given how their bread and butter up until this point was with either RNB or disco. The album this serves as a lead single to wasn't her biggest album in NZ as that honour went to My myself I from the start of the decade.

This was equally as successful for Mike Oldfield in NZ as it was here in Australia, I'm guessing it was because of the vocals from Maggie Reilly who gives a compelling performance on this song about the narrator losing the love of their life to a drug overdose. There were a number of songs like this to make it big over the years, although I think this was the first of its kind to become a success.

This was the only hit from the NZ band Coconut Rough, it was a song about the African country which was a massive success in their homeland and even sparked interest here in Australia back in the day for them. This interest didn't translate to success for the band which led to them breaking up the following year.

I guess the kiwis really weren't that big of fans of Phil Collins as we Aussies were as this was another one of his big hits this decade to find less success over there than it did over here, it could also be that the kiwis felt precious about the Supremes back catalogue as Kim Wilde noticeably saw far less success over there with her cover of "You keep me hanging on" from later in the decade than she did internationally as well.

This is surprising, mainly because I would've thought NZ would be where this was at its most popular given the success both men have had so far over there in their respective careers. While MJ continued to have massive success over there like he did worldwide, this was Paul's last hit there as his subsequent follow ups flopped on their charts.

I would say this was also a huge hit for Culture club from their debut album in NZ, except for whatever reason it wasn't included as a track on Kissing to be clever and was meant to be a standalone single despite it coming out around the same time the album came out. I guess it makes its lack of popularity in Australia make even less sense as you can't even say it was because of album sales eating up its success.

This was a much bigger hit in NZ than it was here in Australia for Paul Young, I'm guessing because the kiwis were suddenly more interested in the works of Marvin Gaye given how much more popular Marvin's entry from earlier was over there compared to over here. Aside from "Love of the common people," everything Paul released was more successful in NZ during his career.

Well, here's that third single from David Bowie's Let's dance that became a hit over in NZ this year, it may not have racked up the numbers like his other three hits did, however it was still a massive success for him likely due to it being a song originally written for and with Iggy Pop for his 70's output. Bowie took the punk track and made it more mainstream which resulted in its success.

Unlike here in Australia where this disco track from French singer FR David needed two attempts to make it big, it was a hit upon its initial release in NZ from the start of the year likely due to the kiwis still allowing songs that sound like they belong in the 70's to make it big over there during the height of MTV.

Well not even their stalking anthem was able to become that big of a success for the Police in NZ, it was still a hit hence its placement on this list, however they certainly weren't too keen on making it a number one hit over there like it was in America and their native UK. I know people have made jokes about this song for decades now, but it really does seem like the sweetest song in the world if you don't read into the lyrics.

By all accounts this should be even higher on this list as this also refused to die on the NZ charts back in the day, alas it was only the case on the lower half of their charts hence why it isn't towards the top of this list like their earlier entry is. Aside from that, it had a similar run of success over there proving how much the kiwis loved these guys back in the day.

I'm not sure why this wasn't released the previous year in NZ like it was here in Australia, I'm guessing it's because of this tardy release that costed the song its success over there given how it was twice as big here for Hall and Oates. You can't even say it's to improve the popularity of their album as it was equally as successful in both countries as well.

It's worth noting that Icehouse were more of an album band over in NZ as their singles saw considerably less success over there in exchange for their albums being considerably more popular there than they were over here throughout the decade, this second single from Primitive man being one of only three singles of theirs to reappear on this side of my site due to how big it was this year.

Mondo Rock were never able to achieve a single hit over in NZ throughout their career, in fact where it not for a reissue of their signature hit in 1990, Daddy Cool would've also gone unnoticed over there. I bring this up because the lead singer of both bands was married to Pat Wilson who managed to achieve a big hit this year with her one and only hit she had here in Australia likely thanks to the music video.

I bet you were wondering if Deniece Williams managed to score a hit of her own with a song that didn't come from a soundtrack, it turns out she did as she scored a hit in NZ and her native America with this cover of a girl group's track from the 60's. It's not as catchy as either of her songs that appeared on the Australian side of my site, hence why it probably wasn't a success down under or in the UK.

This was the second hit that Altered images had in NZ, although it was a bittersweet hit for them as they would call it quits shortly after this came out likely due to them failing to compete with the likes of the Pretenders and even the Divinyls here in Australia. Much like those two bands, they remain quite popular in the music scene even to this day, at least they do internationally as they flopped here in Australia.

Contrary to popular belief, Spandau Ballet's earlier entry on this list wasn't the lead single to their album True as that honour goes to this track which was largely ignored in most parts of the world save for NZ where it became the band's first big hit. I feel like this can go hand in hand with their other entry on this list as it shares the same lyrical content as that track does, which would explain both songs popularity over there.

This was the only hit that new wave singer Thomas Dolby was able to achieve in his career, it's a novelty track about how the girl of his dreams blinded him with science (whatever that's supposed to mean.) I'm willing to bet this song inspired the plot of Weird science as that's about two nerds creating their own girlfriend with science, something I can see this guy doing in the real world if it were possible.

This was the only hit that Robert Plant was able to score as a solo artist throughout his career, although it's worth noting that he achieved massive success as the lead singer of Led zeppelin during their heyday and would even score another hit as the main front man of the Honeydrippers two years later.

I guess the kiwis weren't as big of fans Culture club's singles from their second album as we Aussies were given how this is the only other single from the album to reappear on this side of my site, although the album itself was a massive success over there so it's not like they rejected their music outright.

This was the first hit that the Rolling stones had in NZ in the 80's, it's curious that they would have two hits in Australia prior to this and yet this would be a flop here despite it being a hit for them in NZ. They would score one more hit in both countries as well as the rest of the world with "Harlem shuffle" three years after this.

This barely missed the cut from appearing on the Australian side of my site given how it was one of those weak top ten entries that clearly had its success eaten away by strong album sales, fortunately this wasn't a factor over in NZ which means I'm able to finally feature this third single from Wham's debut album on this site. It appears the kiwis weren't impressed with their official rap theme as that flopped over there.

This is a bit of a surprise entry given how this flopped here in Australia for Jo Jo Zep, I'm guessing this was supposed to be the success that "Taxi Mary" was to receive over there given how that was his big solo hit following the demise of his backing band the Falcons the previous year which did chart prior to this song over there. This was around the time he would form his new band the Black Sorrows who didn't have any success over there.

This will be the only entry from Don Henely I'll be featuring on this side of my site as "Boys of summer" failed to become a hit for him in NZ like it did here in Australia later in the decade, I guess the kiwis made this a success for him this year due to their eagerness to see more Eagles material. Said eagerness with die out later in the decade with his next album as well as the failure of Glenn Frey over there.

We have another disco refugee making it big this year during the genres supposed dark age, this time it's American singer Forrest who covers the Hues corporation classic from a decade prior which became a surprise success in the UK which in turn allowed this to become a moderate success over in NZ.

Well, this proved to be far less popular in NZ than it was throughout the rest of the world, I guess the kiwis weren't as into this horror track turned workout jam as we Aussies were given how it only barely managed to reappear on this side of my site. Naturally this meant that Michael wasn't able to score any surprise hits over there which is usually the case for international one hit wonders with his background.