NZ hits of 1988

This was another slow year in the music industry, mainly because many of the bombastic trends of the decade had since gone out of vogue in favour of many of the trends that would come to define the following decade such as singer/songwriter ballads, EDM and new jack swing.

It may surprise you to learn that this was actually a hit slightly earlier in NZ than it was in Australia, as such the hierarchy of where this song was a success is as follows, NZ, Australia and America albeit five years later in the latter country. One place this wasn't a success in at all was the brothers native UK.

Given how these guys were among the most successful bands of the decade in NZ, it stands to reason that their first Australian chart topper would be their biggest hit over there given how their popularity was twice that it was here back in the day. This is one of the last hits they had to have that 80's bombast as they would strip things back from here on out to better fit with the 90's.

This was a huge success for the short-lived NZ band the Holidaymakers, I'm guessing because it was yet another cover of a Bill Withers track from around this time given how many of these entries on these last few lists of mine were originally from the RNB legend.

Again, this wasn't the lead single to Diesel and dust in NZ as "The dead heart" did become a minor hit over there; however, this may as well have been as it was not only much bigger over there than it was over here, but it became one of the biggest hits of the decade as well.

This was originally a hit for Blue mink in the early 70's, so it seems to make sense that supergroup When the cats away would cover it and find more success in their homeland nearly two decades after the original came out for the British group. This group is best known for having Annie Crummer and Margaret Urlich in their lineup, both women would go on to have massive solo success each in the 90's.

Well, if you thought these guys were too low in my rankings on the Australian side of my site, you're in luck as the kiwis were much more lenient towards making them a success over there that all of their singles were much bigger hits and they also managed to score more hits over there as well. Their debut single in particular was indeed one of the biggest hits of the decade over there because of this.

This was a bit of a sleeper hit in NZ given how long it took for this to become a success over there, however once it did it was just as popular there as it was at least in America. I'm sure many NZ detractors of this track can breathe a sigh of relief knowing this wasn't the biggest hit of the decade over there like it was in Australia.

Well at least this was an instant success over in NZ upon its initial release, meaning that this song has a much more accurate placement on this list than on the Australian side of my site. Indeed, Tiffany had more success in general over there as not only were the singles much bigger but so was her album.

Much like in Australia, this title track to George Michael's solo debut was the biggest hit he had in NZ throughout his career, it's a song that I feel sums up his entire career as he could be both insightful with his lyrics whilst fun with his production. Audiences obviously agreed as this was the template for most of his discography for the rest of his career.

This was a massive success in NZ for the short lived EDM group M/A/R/R/S (I have no idea why they stylised themselves with this name) I'm guessing because EDM in general was much bigger in NZ during the 80's which is weird because that was the genre of choice in Australia throughout the 90's.

This was Belinda Carlisle's one and only hit over in NZ, this is even taking into account her band the Go go's who also never scored a hit over there likely due to them not being promoted there due to them lacking a Countdown equivalent. At least this song led to the success of her second solo album over there, however her next album was a massive flop there despite it being a huge success here.

This was the biggest hit that Billy Ocean had in NZ, curious that it came from his least successful album of the decade given how his previous two albums were successful worldwide even if they weren't so much in NZ for the English crooner. He would successfully close out the decade over there with his greatest hits package in a way he failed to do so here in Australia.

While this charted higher in NZ than it did here in Australia, it overall wasn't as big a hit over there for Yazz as it was down under, proving that even early on, we Aussies would turn out to love the dance floors more than the kiwis. This is a cover of an obscure track from the start of the decade, although I don't think many people would realise that given how infectious this is over the original.

This wasn't even released as a single here in Australia and yet it was a huge number one hit for U2 in NZ, that should give you an idea of how inescapably popular the band was over there during the Joshua tree era of their catalogue. This popularity would continue onto their next album which spawned them an additional three mega hits over there to close out the 80's.

While it wasn't their biggest hit over in NZ (that honour goes to "Good times" with Jimmy Barnes) this is considered to be INXS's signature track given how it was their biggest hit in America as it topped the Billboard charts. They would have massive success with their album Kick the following year as it spawned three additional hits worldwide to varying degrees of success depending on where in the world you're from.

This was the only hit that Aswad was able to achieve outside their native UK, it's a reggae cover of a Tina Turner track that was the B-side to her hit single "Typical male" from two years prior. This likely inspired Ace of base to cover this track in the mid 90's given how successful it was in NZ and their native UK.

While this wasn't the first single that Ardijah released in their career, it was the song that made them a household name given how it was such a huge hit over there and even sparked interest here in Australia which they never ended up translating to success. Indeed, they would tour extensively here until they gave up and returned home where they saw a surprise comeback a decade after this big hit.

So, a funny story affiliated with this song, apparently the Bush Sr administration used it as a theme song for their campaign despite Bobby McFerrin being a firm supporter of the Democrat party which meant that he wasn't too thrilled at the lack of consent he had for having this song be used in a campaign for a party he didn't even support. This resulted in a lawsuit that was quickly settled out of court.

Well, there would be little surprise that this was a hit earlier in NZ than it was here in Australia, however it may surprise you to learn this was an even bigger hit here in Australia for Womack and Womack likely due to the synth groove connecting better with us Aussies than it did for the kiwis back in the day. At least this was still a massive hit over there as opposed to their native America where this flopped badly.

This was almost the biggest hit from Billy Idol's career in NZ, only "To be a lover" outranks it which even then only by just meaning that these two songs were the most popular of his career over there. Admittedly this is a live rendition of a cover of a Tommy James track he made earlier in the decade, so the Whiplash smile track is his biggest original hit over there.

This was a massive hit for two men from the NZ music scene who didn't see much success outside of this duet, although Tex Pistol did score a minor chart topper the previous year with "The game of love" which perhaps made this a much more prominent chart topper this year for both men involved.

This was the third big hit that Eddy Grant managed to achieve in NZ throughout the 80's, it's a protest song against apartheid with Joanna referring to Johannesburg as a desperate plea to put an end to what is widely regarded as one of the worst displays of racial segregation the world has ever known. Joanna eventually came through in the 90's when apartheid came to an end thanks to Nelson Mandela.

You thought I was kidding when I said this was a bigger hit in NZ for the Australian band didn't you? Well, I wasn't as this was a much bigger hit over there than it was over here likely due to how catchy the song is as well as them technically being based in the UK even though they comprised of Australian singers.

Natalie Cole already had a hit in NZ over a decade prior with "Sophisticated lady," so the kiwis were already familiar with the daughter of Nat King Cole when she released her cover of the Bruce Springsteen track that was the B side to "Dancing in the dark" from earlier in the decade. This cover proved to be a bigger hit for her outside her native America, although it was decently big on Billboard.

Well, if you wanted to hear a new jack swing cover of the Simon and Garfunkel classic, here's your chance as this became a huge hit in NZ for the American duo Times two over there and not in their native America for some reason. I guess the kiwis were more open to the idea of a dance remix of a folk classic than their fellow Americans, either that or they were poorly promoted in their homeland.

It looked like Kylie wouldn't have as much success in NZ as she did in Australia early in her career, that's perfectly normal considering that patriotism has always been a fact when it comes to artists making it big in their own countries. While none of her songs were ever as big there as they were here, she did find massive success over there with her debut album to make up for that.

This was still the biggest hit that Icehouse had in NZ like it was here in Australia, although it wasn't as successful over there due to patriotism making it a bigger hit here in Australia even if it was still a massive success for the band. This song allowed the lead single to eventually climb up the charts over there and become a sleeper success (I sadly won't be making another appearance on this list.)

Well, she didn't have a string of chart toppers in NZ like she did here in Australia (in fact she only ever had one number one hit over there with "Can't get you out of my head" in 2001) however that didn't seem to matter as Kylie was massive success internationally with the third single from her debut album. All this means is that it doesn't have that much cultural significance over there like it does here.

Although he already scored his two biggest hits in NZ with INXS from earlier on this list and "Forever now" with his old band Cold chisel, Jimmy Barnes was still able to find massive success with the lead single to his second album (or third depending on your point of view with Bodyswerve/For the working class man) which was indeed the biggest hit of his solo career over there just like it was here.

Well at least this wasn't the biggest hit that Crowded house had in NZ as that honour goes to "Don't dream it's over" from the previous year, although it did come pretty close given how popular it was for the trio at the time of its release in the southern hemisphere. Indeed, their second album in general wasn't as big over there as it was over here, suggesting they would need to change their sound going into the 90's.

The hits kept on coming for Prince in NZ during the second half of the decade, I'm not even sure why any of these flopped here in Australia as he was already a well-established artist and funk was a success for other artists during the second half of the 80's down under. I guess he did close out the decade over here with his contributions to the Batman soundtrack the following year.

Well, this was an inevitable success in NZ, not only was this back in the day where picking on nerds was a popular thing to do in the mainstream, but it also samples a Gary Glitter track before we all found out the truth about him. I guess a final bit of trivia I have about this track is that this song was meant to be from the perspective of the car that's featured in the video.

This was one of the biggest hits of the decade in Australia, so to see it appear this low on this list should give you an idea of how different the music landscape was here and in NZ around this time. I guess the kiwis didn't find this to be a groovy cover of the Mindbenders original, or rather they just felt that it wasn't good enough to be worth making it one of the defining hits of the 80's over there.

This proved to be the biggest hit from MJ's album Bad over in NZ, although the title track and its lead single were also big hits for the king of pop meaning the kiwis simply liked this love ballad to his (then) partner at the time. He would continue to score minor hits over there for the remainder of the decade including one bigger hit with "Man in the mirror."

This almost made it to number one in NZ, in fact were it not for U2's fourth single from the Joshua tree, this would've been the second number one hit for a rapper which would've been a massive achievement considering how Eric B and Rakim never had much success in their native America during their time together. If you couldn't tell from the title of the album cover, this is a song about the struggles of wealth and fame.

With this entry, I've now featured all four of Mr. D'arby's singles from his debut album on this site, it does feel strange that he had so much more success over in NZ compared to here in Australia even if that success does make sense considering he was an American RNB singer (even if he was stationed in Germany when he began his singing career.)

This was a massive hit for Def Leppard in NZ this year, likely due to it topping the Billboard charts for the British band which seemed to be a pattern during the second half of the 80's where British hair metal bands found more success in America than they did in their native UK. This did eventually become a sleeper hit in Australia, although it was months after it was already a big success in NZ.

This is another huge hit in Australia that wasn't nearly as successful in NZ, I guess the kiwis felt that there wasn't much room for a lounge track this year given how there were plenty of other competing genres and sub genres trying to make it big over there this year. They did eventually allow this to be a hit over there likely because it was so inescapable down under.

You know this song was inescapable in NZ throughout the 80's when you consider the fact that even with the original being the longest running song of the decade, this still managed to go to number one five years after its initial release over there. Unfortunately for the band, this is where their popularity over there began to dwindle likely due to how overexposed they felt at the time.

Given how this track was delayed worldwide to allow "Always on my mind" to be a success following the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, it was a massive flop everywhere in the world except for NZ where it was one of their biggest hits in their catalogue over there. This might have something to do with collectors wanting two copies of the song as there's a different cover featuring each of the members available.

This is another song that wasn't as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia this year, although in this case it might be due to the stiff competition Bon Jovi had with the likes of Def Leppard and the other hair metal tracks that were becoming big over there around this time. Keep in mind that a lot of these hair metal tracks I've featured on this side of my site failed to appear on the Australian side of the site.

This will be the only repeat entry for Bros on this side of my site, well this and their album Push as that also did rather well for the trio over there back in the day. This was released rather late over there due to how long it took for the second single from the album to be a success, although "Drop the boy" was technically bigger over there despite it charting mostly in the lower half of their charts.

This was another hit that Ruby Turner managed to achieve in NZ despite it being a flop for her in her native UK, I guess her success over there was what led to a trend of RNB artists finding bigger success over there than their homelands throughout the 90's. In any case, we have her cover of the Stevie Wonder track which was a huge flop for him back in the day, meaning this is likely the definitive version over there.

This was the last hit that the Eurythmics were able to achieve in most parts of the world, mainly due to it being completely different from anything they had released at this point as it was more artsy and even had spoken word lyrics from Annie Lennox. What really threw us Aussies off was the image makeover that Annie had as she grown out her hair which made her look wrong for some reason.

You'd think with how much less successful this duet was between Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley that the kiwis would've hated Dirty dancing at the time, it turns out that they loved it given how the soundtrack was one of the most successful of the decade over there. I'm guessing they just weren't that impressed with this Oscar winning ballad, certainly not to the same degree we Aussies were where it was one of the biggest hits of the 80's here.

These guys appeared on the Australian side of my site thanks to the success of their second album from the 90's, now they appear with their debut single which managed to become a huge success in NZ this year as well as their native UK likely thanks to Celtic music still being in vogue in both countries this far into the 80's. I get the feeling if these guys broke through earlier in the decade, this would've also been a hit down under.

Not only was this song a bigger hit for Tiffany in NZ (albeit only slightly bigger as it was still a huge hit here in Australia) it was also released on time over there given the instant success of her earlier entry on this list. She scored one more hit in both countries with a gender flipped cover of the Beatles "I saw her standing there" before she faded into obscurity, presumably due to upsetting Beatles fans with the cover.

I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this comeback single from George Harrison given how much less successful it was over there compared to the rest of the world, heck they were rather late in making it a success as it was given how long it took for this to climb their charts compared to here in Australia where it was an instant success for him.

So, we all remember Alf, right? If you don't, it was an 80's sitcom about an alien who came to earth and was taken in by a suburban family with hilarity ensuing from that premise. Like most popular TV shows of the day, a song was commissioned from it which features the titular alien rapping about his time on earth with footage of the show spliced in which became a huge hit for him over in NZ this year.

I guess the kiwis really didn't want to allow the Beach boys to make it big again in the mainstream, it certainly wasn't because they didn't like the Tom Cruise flick this song was written for as the soundtrack was a massive success over there because of the movie. That said, it appears the kiwis were being contrarians to what was popular here in Australia in general in the last stretch of the 80's.

This was another easy hit from New order in NZ, it came right before their remix from earlier on this list which means that at this point, the kiwis were willing to make anything from the band a hit in their catalogue (except for "Bizarre love triangle" it seems.) This was a minor hit here in Australia, although I don't think we Aussies wanted to hear religious songs on the charts until Madonna released her next album.

It appears the kiwis were a bit more on board with making this second single from Kick a success over there as it almost became their second chart topper over there after "Good times" from the previous year. It was also more popular in America as it almost became their second chart topper on Billboard as well, proving that it was us Aussies who initially needed to come around for this track back in the day.

Considering how well-loved Talking Heads were in NZ back in the day, I'm surprised that this had a slight delay to its release over there as it was already a modest success here in Australia by the time it saw the light of day over there. I guess this explains why the song was merely equally as successful in both countries as opposed to it being a much bigger success over there as you would expect.

It was hard to find information about this guy, although from what I've discovered, it's best that he's been lost to the sands of time as he's been in prison since 1993 for several crimes he committed during his short time in the music industry that I won't get into here (trust me, it's not safe for work.) Before this came to light, he had a hit in NZ with this cover of the Temptations classic which was much bigger there than it was on Billboard.

Well, it might have been about six months late to it being a success in NZ, however this second single from Wet wet wet's discography did become a success over there likely due to it being released at the height of the sophistopop craze that was taking over the world in the mid to late 80's. Their popularity in Australia was nonexistent until the 90's when "Sweet surrender" became a surprise success for the band.

This was the second hit from Hysteria that nearly topped the NZ charts for Def Leppard over in NZ, although unlike their earlier entry, it was neither a Billboard chart topper nor a sleeper success here in Australia for the hair metal band. Both of these songs on this list allowed the album to be a success this year for the band as opposed to becoming a sleeper success the following year like it was down under.

Given that their first collaboration from three years prior was a massive success worldwide (except for America of course) it only makes sense that UB40 would reunite with Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders to make another reggae cover of a 60's track, in this case an obscure track from Dusty Springfield from her final successful album (the one with "Son of a preacher" on it.)

This was slightly bigger in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly because the kiwis were in love with anything affiliated with Jimmy Somerville if the failure of Bronski beat over there after his departure was anything to go by. It may surprise you to learn that the original from Gloria Gaynor wasn't a hit over there, meaning that this is likely the only version of this track that the kiwis are familiar with.

This barely missed out on appearing on the Australian side of my site because it wasn't quite big enough to do so here, fortunately the kiwis loved this parody of MJ's "Bad" so much that they made it an instant hit over there for Weird al which makes it his biggest hit there as opposed to his other MJ parody "Eat it" here in Australia. I think it's safe to say that he has an obsession with food based on these two songs.

They saw massive success in NZ the previous year with their rendition of a Surfaris track (well more specifically, them rapping over the instrumental of the Surfaris track provided to them by the Beach boys) so why not repeat the formula with them rapping over the song that made Chubby Checker a household name? This was the only other hit that the Fat Boys achieved worldwide as this formula ran its course.

Rick Astley really did get the short end of the stick in NZ compared to what he achieved here and in his native UK, this title track was a big hit over there, however it was far less popular than it was throughout the rest of the world which somewhat surprises me given how it wasn't even like the album was any bigger over there to compensate for this.

It's little surprise that this was more of an immediate hit in NZ than it was here in Australia given how the acid house sub-genre had reigned supreme over there and throughout Europe this year, it also explains how Sonique would eventually find more success over there when she embarked on her solo career than she did over here given that the kiwis clearly had fond memories of this track when that happened over us Aussies.

There will only be two entries from John Cougar Mellencamp on the NZ side of my site, although at least they'll be two new entries to this site as he was unable to score any further hits in Australia after the lead single to his biggest album the Lonesome jubilee. This was that album's second single which became his first hit over there as well as the song that finally allowed him to have mainstream success in NZ.

Well here's another new entry from MJ's album Bad, coincidentally it was written by the woman he duetted with from my previous list who originally wrote the song for her own album but was requested by Quincy Jones to donate it to the king of pop due to it being a heartfelt ballad about wanting to make a difference in the world by first looking at oneself in the mirror to find out if they need to change themselves.

This was another successful song from the acid house genre to make it big in NZ and the UK this year, this time it comes to us from the British EDM group Bomb the bass who went on to have critical acclaim in their homeland throughout the 90's even if this was their only big hit worldwide.

Even though this was a hit much sooner in NZ than it was here in Australia for Salt n Pepa, it had its success doubled over here once it finally saw the light of day proving how much we Aussies were willing to allow a female hip hop act to find success here over the kiwis back in the day. In fact, the trio wouldn't find anywhere near as much success over there throughout their career as they did down under.

I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this tribute to Elvis Presley that the Pet shop boys made as the rest of the world was, bearing in mind in only had such a low appearance on the Australian side of my site due to it being more of a sleeper hit here and thus, charting in the lower half of our charts far longer than it did on its upper regions. That said, this was still a huge hit for the duo over there regardless.

This was another hit that Wet wet wet managed to score in NZ this year, although at least their earlier entry did chart here in Australia which is more than I can say for this third single from their debut album (which also came out the previous year in their native UK.) They wouldn't score another hit over there until "Love is all around" from the Four weddings and a funeral soundtrack.

It's no coincidence that this cover of the Tommy James classic was a hit when Billy Idol's version from earlier on this list became a success in NZ, although I am surprised this was the only hit that Amazulu managed to achieve over there given how they had a few other hits in their native UK with this being one of the weaker entries in their catalogue over there.

It's a bit strange that this only became a hit in NZ after the Christmas season given how many have described this track as one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time, then again it was commonplace to have Christmas tracks chart well into the new year back in the day given how long Band aid and Wham charted into 1985 with their Christmas staples from 1984.

Given how he had one of the biggest albums of the decade in NZ (even if it was far from THE biggest album of the decade over there) it makes sense that the lead single to John Farnham's follow-up to Whispering jack would also be a massive success over there even if its low placement on this list was due to most of its success being confided to the lower half of their charts.

This was the final hit that Dave Dobbyn achieved throughout the 80's in his homeland given how he had one of the biggest hits of the decade with his solo debut from two years prior, although this wouldn't be the last his fellow kiwis would hear from him as he would score a surprise comeback six years later and another one ten years after that.

Morrissey is best known for two things, the first is that he was the frontman for the critically acclaimed group the Smiths and the second is for his confrontational persona that makes Bono look subtle by comparison. I guess if there was a third thing to his claim to fame, it would be his solo debut single given how it was a modest success for him in NZ and his native UK at the time of release.


I did mention the last time we looked at Joan Jett that this was a hit over in NZ this year, I guess this was her way of adapting to the hair metal scene as this was originally written for Bon Jovi in mind. It served as a mini comeback for the band over there and in their native America, although the rest of the world wasn't too impressed with this change in direction.

This wasn't quite as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia for George Michael, although it could be due to the stiff competition it had over there as there were a ton of songs that failed to make it on this list due to them all failing to stick around long enough to do so despite how popular they clearly were over there back in the day.

While none of the singles off the Cocktail soundtrack were able to take the NZ charts by storm, at least it was able to spawn one more hit over there than it did over here with this cover that John Cougar made of a 50's classic that was included on the album.

Although "Heart and soul" was a minor hit in NZ the previous year, it was too minor of a hit to reappear on this site likely due to the kiwis feeling it was little more than a commercial jingle even though it only became as such months after its initial release. They were far kinder to their other big hit from the UK as this became a genuine hit for them over there likely due to it being one of the biggest hits of the decade in their homeland.

This was the fifth Billboard chart topper in a row for MJ on his Bad album, this time we have a song detailing one of his Stan's and how she tried to get him to commit adultery towards his (then) partner by sleeping with him against his will. I feel this song is the best proof anyone could have when it comes to combating his allegations of sexual abuse as it's obvious here that he would never intentionally make anyone sexually uncomfortable.

This was the only other song that the Holidaymakers released during their brief time together before they called it quits, it was a hit for them in their homeland which begs the question as to why they didn't even attempt to keep their momentum going after this.

I'm a bit surprised this wasn't more of a hit in NZ than it was here in Australia given how this is a reggae cover of a Cat Stevens classic, then again, Maxi Priest in general didn't see much more popularity over there than he did over here as he didn't score any hits over there that he had over here.

Given how this was released as the fourth single in NZ instead of "When I fall in love," it makes sense that this would be the bigger hit of the two over there even if it was less popular there than the other track was over here this year. As I mentioned, this was the second single he released in America due to it retaining the same energy as his top entry on this list, thus becoming his second consecutive chart topper on Billboard.

There was not stopping Pet shop boys in NZ or their native UK this year as the lead single to their third album was a huge hit for them in both countries, I'm guessing this was due to them incorporating Latin elements into their sound which helped it stand out from their previous material. This would unfortunately be their last hit in NZ save for their collage they made for fans of Absolutely fabulous.

Although this was still less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, at least this managed to chart higher over there than it did over here which goes to show that were it not for all the stiff competition she had to face at the time, Kylie could've had her songs be more popular over there than they were over here.

This was the only notable success that both the Beat masters and Cookie crew were able to achieve anywhere in the world, even then this was more due to them being at the right place at the right time as this brand of acid house was able to fit in with all the other dance tracks that made it big in NZ and their native UK this year.

Well at least this was a genuine top ten hit in NZ as opposed to it only making the cut on the Australian side of my site due to how long it lasted in our top twenty, either way, this debut single from Toni Childs was able to allow the folk singer/songwriter to join the ranks of Tracy Chapman and Melissa Etheridge as the leading forces of down to earth female musicians going into the 90's.

This is one of many Prince tracks that became a success over in NZ that were massive flops for him here in Australia, this was the final single off his album Sign ☮︎ the times which is perhaps why it appears so low on this list as this was right before he released his earlier entry on this list.

Here's that gender swapped cover of the Beatles classic I mentioned earlier on this list, it managed to barely make the cut on this list due to it lasting just long enough in the RIANZ top ten this year to do so despite what I'm sure were savage protests from Beatles fans that this was ruining the fab four's legacy.

This is another song I'm surprised bombed here in Australia back in the day considering how much love it receives from oldies stations to this day, however it had more success over in NZ hence why it manages to appear on this side of my site. Climie Fisher consists of vocalist Simon Climie and former Naked eyes member Rob Fisher who went their separate ways not long after this came out.

This saw a rerelease the previous year in NZ presumably to mark its twentieth anniversary which makes sense given how it was a huge hit back in the day (at least according to the Listener charts it was) however it was given a second chance during this year's Christmas where it became a surprise success over there for some reason.