Well I guess I should look at what was big throughout the 90's in NZ considering how I did the same for Australia on this site, at least this list will be more straightforward as (at least as far as I'm aware) there wasn't more than one chart chronicling what was popular over in NZ like there was here in Australia.
This was another song that came from Terence Trent's comeback album Symphony or damn, in fact this was able to let that album rebound on the charts in NZ due to how much of a surprise success it was for the RNB singer over there which should tell you how much the kiwis loved this guy around this time.
#83 for 1994
This was the other big hit that After 7 had in NZ as well as their minor hit they had here in Australia albeit at the start of the following year due to how long it took for this to see the light of day in our music scene. This is rather different compared to their earlier hit "Can't stop" given how this was more of a contemporary RNB ballad rather than a new jack swing track.
#86 for 1995
Where did the kiwis keep finding these ballads that bombed in America throughout the decade? This time we're looking at the one and only hit that Horace Brown had over there who managed to connect with them in a way he failed to do so for his fellow Americans. Maybe this was a huge hit in America, but Billboard didn't report it as such? Who knows.
#92 for 1996
This is another song on this list that become a hit in NZ purely due to RIANZ finally implementing airplay as this was all set to flop over there despite it being a massive hit here in Australia for the supergroup Stars on 54 (it actually topped the AMR charts here.) Naturally we Aussies still bought our favourite songs rather than simply waiting for them to appear on a compilation album, hence why it was so big here.
#90 for 1999
Although this failed to reach the upper echelons of the NZ charts, the fact that A: it charted for quite some time and B: was released on time over there as opposed to it being heavily delayed over here suggested that the kiwis were massive fans of what the Real McCoy had to offer as evidence by their other appearances that's still to come on this side of my site.
#84 for 1994
#87 for 1995 (#50 website)
Finally, we have an American artist on this list who managed to see some success on the Billboard charts, this one comes to us from Case who my Aussies readers will recognise as the featured artist in Ja Rule's international breakthrough hit "Living it up" from 2001. Here he recruits Foxy Brown who provides a guest verse which also makes this her first taste of success in her career.
#93 for 1996
It looks like the kiwis were following in the footsteps of Donna Lewis's fellow Brits when they decided to only make this a decent success for her, even then, it does appear a bit lower on this list more because it faced stiff competition from all the "fan singles" we've looked at so far as it did linger on the lower half of their charts. Suffice to say, its success over there was pitiful compared to what it achieved here and in America.
#94 for 1996
This was a hectic year for Snoop Dogg given how many appearances he's racked up on this list alone, although his winning streak would come to an end once his murder trial concluded due to him making a bunch of critically panned albums following his acquittal that few if anyone likes to even talk about.
#103 for 1997
Well, this is certainly a surprise, I wasn't expecting to feature a prog rock track this recent on my site as I thought they were considered kitsch by the time the 90's rolled around. Admittedly this was a decent hit in Queensryche's native America, so that would explain how the kiwis came across this track.
#94 for 1991
I wasn't expecting to have this reappear on my site; however, it appears the kiwis had such fond memories of this track from 1978 that they allowed it to become a minor hit seventeen years after its initial release. That's impressive considering it was only a success over there and not even in the trio's native America upon its initial release.
#88 for 1995
For the most part, One hot minute is considered a dud from fans of RHCP despite the fact that the album was a huge success (despite what the A.V club would have you believe.) Indeed, this is the one entry from the band I'll be featuring on this site as it entered the NZ charts very high and stuck on the upper echelons of the charts long enough to qualify for this list.
#89 for 1995
Whereas these guys were a one hit wonder in most parts of the world with their earlier entry on this list, they were quite popular in the UK and even scored a second hit in NZ with their uncle MJ who was on a roll with his (then) latest album History past present future. We Aussies would also give them a second hit the following year in the form of "I need you."
#95 for 1996
It appears the kiwis were so much in love with Nirvana this year that Weird Al's parody of the band managed to become a moderate success over there this year. It remains the final taste of success he's achieved anywhere in the world throughout his career.
#92 for 1992
I guess DRS were able to score one more hit in NZ with the second single from their one and only album, it's a bit strange that considering DRS stands for Dirty rotten scoundrels (presumably based on the film of the same name) they would have their only two hits be ballads more in line with the likes of Boyz II men and other RNB crooners of the day.
#85 for 1994
From what I can gather, there are two versions of this song from Peter Andre as Coolio also provided a guest verse for him on this track albeit in lieu of Warren G whose version is the one we're looking at here. Either way, it's little surprise this was a genuine hit in NZ and a flop here in Australia given how much more successful all three men were over there compared to over here.
#95 for 1998
This was somewhat of a surprise hit for the Chemical brothers as they were more known as an album group than a singles group, although I guess it was their biggest hit in their native UK even if they had two other songs that went to number one over there and this didn't. This would explain why the album this came from was their most successful around the world.
#91 for 1999
I'm not quite sure if this was a success in NZ because the kiwis wanted to hear more from Maxi Priest or the fact that Shaggy was at the height of his popularity (probably the latter) however what I do know is that this was way less successful over there than it was here in Australia where reggae music wasn't nearly as celebrated as it was around this time by the kiwis.
#96 for 1996
Although this wasn't the big inescapable hit that her other entries throughout the 90's were, Mariah's cover of the Journey classic from over a decade prior did resonate with the kiwis enough for it to become a minor hit over there and thus, eligible for appearing on this list.
#97 for 1996
This was meant to be a throwaway single from Metallica given how it had been well over a year since the black album was released from the band, it turns out it was quite the fan favourite back in the day given how it not only managed to make an appearance on this list, but also only barely failed to do so on the Australian side of my site.
#84 for 1993
It's really hard to say which version of this track was the big hit for Tag team outside of their native America, I'm guessing it's the Addams family values version as that would explain how it was a hit worldwide half a year after it became as such in their homeland. In any case, it was a bit of a "fan single" for Tag team even though it appears on their official year end list for this year.
#86 for 1994 (#49 website)
I guess the kiwis really weren't vibing with Madonna and her experimentation with RNB from the midpoint of the decade, this would explain why her lead single to her RNB album was only barely a hit over there despite how successful it was internationally even though it had Babyface as the album's executive producer.
#87 for 1994
It appeared that the kiwis weren't as big of fans of the theatrical adaptation of Evita initially given how the album only began to chart this year when the showstopping tune was released as a single worldwide, even then this really struggled to appear on this list for Madonna due to how uninterested they appeared to be with it.
#104 for 1997
We saw plenty of boy bands appear on the Australian side of my site, however one of them that didn't was 98° who never saw any success here despite lead singer Nick Lachey scoring a massive hit with "What's left of me" in 2006. They had a little bit of success in NZ including their debut single which managed to sneak onto this list due to how well it did in their native America.
#105 for 1997
For whatever reason, Simply red struggled for singles success with Stars despite the tracks on there being radio staples on oldies stations to this day much like their mega hits from their other albums. Indeed, this was merely a sleeper hit for them in NZ despite the hype that went into said album following its release.
#95 for 1991
This might be one of the silliest songs I featured on my site, although given how this comes to us from the Headless chickens during the height of their popularity in their homeland, it was a given that it would be a success for them over there.
#93 for 1992
It looks like the kiwis weren't as impressed with this track as the rest of the world was from MJ given how much lower it appears on this side of my site compared to the Australian side, admittedly it's often cited as one of his weaker songs given how it's built around the premise that he's gay which he spent a good portion of his life trying to deny.
#94 for 1992
We have one more entry to feature from Ace of base on this side of my site, this time it's the third single from their breakthrough album which serves as a cover of the Tina Turner track from her Break every rule album that Aswad made popular two years after its release. Although the Aswad version was the most successful over there, this remains the most successful version internationally.
#88 for 1994
It's hard to say if this was a success in NZ because of how big it was here in Australia or if it was due to gaining traction in America given how this became a hit over there the same time it was on Billboard, either way, this failed to compete with all of the "fan singles" on this list, hence why it has a much lower placement on this list than you would otherwise expect.
#106 for 1997
Following the success of her collaboration with Monica from much earlier on this list, Brandy no longer had any issues with topping the Billboard charts as this became her first solo single to top the charts in her homeland as well as it being a moderate success over in NZ for her. There is a version which features a guest verse from Ma$e which likely helped boost this song's popularity in both countries as well.
#96 for 1998
This has one of the lowest peak positions on this side of my site (at only sixteen) and yet it still manages to make the cut on this list due to how long it lasted on the lower half of the NZ top twenty back in the day. I guess this was the kiwis being torn about making Craig Mclachlan a household name like we Aussies and Brits did, only for him to have a huge success as a sleeper hit.
#92 for 1990 (#35 website)
I'm genuinely surprised to see this so low on this list given how I honestly would've thought the kiwis would've made this one of the biggest hits of the year given how inescapable it was throughout the rest of the world. Then again, there are several dozen remixes of this track, so perhaps they just gave up on trying to decide which version was worthy of being the biggest over there.
#95 for 1992
This was too much of a sleeper hit to appear on the Australian side of my site for Janet Jackson, however it was the opposite in NZ where it entered the charts really high only to quickly drop out soon after its release. I guess we Aussies and kiwis weren't too interested in her new jack swing material by this point in her career like her fellow Americans were.
#85 for 1993
We have yet another RNB girl group to achieve moderate success this year in NZ, this time it's 702 who are perhaps best known for their big Billboard hit "Where my girls at" from two years later but also achieved massive success in their native America with this entry upon its initial release.
#107 for 1997
This could've and should've been the final song released from 2pac/Makaveli given how it came from the final project the rapper completed in his lifetime and was the final single to be released from said album, alas he would continue to find success from beyond the grave well into the new millennium despite this being the perfect ending to a career that was admittedly cut rather short.
#108 for 1997
In a bit of a bizarre twist, the original version of this ballad from Silk failed to appear on this side of my site largely due to it being too much of a sleeper hit to do so. This is ironic because this cover from British boy band Another level did manage to make the cut for this list even though it was a complete dud for them here in Australia even though the original was a huge hit here.
#97 for 1998
These guys were definitely on a roll in NZ as they were able to score a third hit off their debut album, although considering the video is an animated cartoon to go with the lyrics of this track, I'm actually surprised that it wasn't a bigger hit for them worldwide. This song samples "Barbados" from Typically tropical, a hit which we'll be looking at when we get to the 70's on this side of my site.
#92 for 1999 (#31 website)
From what I can gather, this is an EDM cover of a track from the Gap band (of "Ooops upside your head" fame) that was a massive success in the UK the previous year, I guess the kiwis were impressed enough to make this a minor success this year even if they overlooked Kenny Thomas' other big hit "Thinking about your love."
#96 for 1992
It's hard to say how much the EDM genre would've benefited from airplay stats in NZ throughout the decade given how we Aussies were able to make that the dominant genre of the 90's without the assistance of airplay, what I do know is that it definitely helped out the likes of ATB in NZ this year when the format was utilised onto the main RIANZ charts.
#93 for 1999 (#49 website)
From what I can gather, Jane Child is Alannah Myles if instead of rock and roll, her genre of choice was funk and new jack swing. As such, the Canadian singer managed to achieve moderate success in NZ and on Billboard as well as her homeland with this number, although much like her rock and roll counterpart, she didn't fund any further success with her subsequent follow ups.
#93 for 1990
Well, we looked at Technotronic's mashup track on the Australian side of my site, it only figures that Snap would have their own mashup of their first four singles be a success over in NZ given how inescapable their debut album was over there.
#96 for 1991
This was a bit of a comeback for Duran Duran, although it was merely a modest success at best in NZ which is a far cry from its massive success in America where this was among the biggest hits of the year on Billboard for the new wave band. What's truly remarkable is that these guys were considered yesterday's news before the 80's ended and yet here they are whilst their contemporaries struggled to keep up.
#86 for 1993
This year in particular was chaotic for the NZ charts due to the incorporation of airplay data, as a result, it's hard to say if this was a genuine hit for Robbie Williams over there or not given how I obviously don't have access to their weekly airplay data to determine that. Either way, it did become a success for him given how it was the second single of his breakthrough solo album.
#94 for 1999
It's a bit weird to see Billie Piper's breakthrough single here in Australia this low on this side of my site, although again, it's tough to determine how big it was over there given how airplay was heavily factored into the main charts. I'm gonna say it was a genuine hit because of how well it did down under as well as her already having success prior to the implementation of airplay this year.
#95 for 1999
While this wasn't the inescapable hit that his earlier entry was anywhere in the world, it was a decent size hit in NZ and his native America and even a minor success here in Australia, proving there was some market for his brand of RNB even if it quickly went out of vogue as the decade went on.
#90 for 1995
As we get closer to the 21st century on this side of my site, you'll start to notice the lack of songs on these lists that you probably heard nonstop on the radio back in the day. This is because much like the Billboard charts, the kiwis needed to rely on airplay to determine what songs to make a success which is why this single from the Smashing pumpkins appear so low on this list.
#98 for 1996
This would be LL Cool J's final hit of the twentieth century as he wouldn't score another hit anywhere in the world until his collaboration with Jennifer Lopez in 2003 on "All I have," in fact the only success he would have going forward (as a musician at least) would be with J-lo as they would collaborate again for his hit single "Control myself."
#98 for 1998
Although this failed to become a top ten hit for Jimmy Barnes in NZ like it was here in Australia, it still managed to be a huge sleeper hit over there likely due to the goodwill he attainted from his second album Freight train heart. He would have one more hit with John Farnham before the kiwis discarded him moving forward due to considering him and 80's artist.
#94 for 1990 (#44 website)
Given how the song this samples managed to be a huge success over in NZ this year, it only figures that this second single from Big audio dynamite wasn't nearly as big over there as it was here in Australia. Even so, I have to imagine that hearing these two songs back-to-back this year would've confused the kiwis to high heavens since they only difference between them are the lyrics.
#97 for 1992
If you're wondering why the average list on this side of my site is considerably longer than on the Australin side, that's because there were far fewer sleeper hits over there than there were over here which means just about every hit over there qualified for these lists. This second single from the Cranberries would be considered a sleeper hit there due to how long it lasted on the lower half of their charts.
#91 for 1995
It looks like OMC was able to achieve one final hit in his homeland before his fellow kiwis grew tired of his brand of hip hop, this was around the time his single took off on the Billboard airplay charts, meaning the Americans decided to have this be the second single played over there (given how his label never released any of his singles for some reason.)
#109 for 1997
This is another single where the RIANZ charts insist was a remix that got popular and not the original version, again I'm including album art of the original as I want to highlight songs that got big regardless of which versions of them, they are unless of course it was a version that was released years after the original.
#99 for 1998
If you can believe it, Right said Fred not only had more than one hit in their catalogue, but it turns out this was actually their sole UK chart topper as this didn't have the misfortune of getting stuck behind a juggernaut of a track in their homeland like their earlier entry did. They had a hit sandwiched between these two over there with "Don't talk just kiss" which is far more conventional than either of these songs.
#98 for 1992
If you're upset that this barely managed to make it onto this list, then spare a thought for "Sexy mf" which was a complete dud in NZ despite it also scraping their top ten this year. Again, I'm amazed these songs even found an audience outside of his album given how this was long before songs like this were widely accepted in the mainstream.
#99 for 1992
Not only were both of Peter's hits on this list more popular in NZ than they were here in Australia, but the other two singles from his second album also managed to become minor hits over there and thus appear on this list. The was the fourth single which lasted slightly longer on their charts and thus was the bigger of the two.
#99 for 1996
Pearl jam were on a roll in NZ this year as this third single from their second album managed to stick around long enough to qualify for this list of mine. I guess this shoots the theory that they were strictly an album band in the foot given how many entries we've looked at from them on this site.
#89 for 1994
Evidently there was a radio edit to this third single from Cypress hill that's titled "When the ship goes down" rather than what it actually says on the cover, apparently this was supposed to be an Australian exclusive given how the group toured here this year (that would explain the album's moderate success here) which encouraged the kiwis to grab their hands on this when it saw the light of day over there.
#90 for 1994
Apparently, this was marketed as a Christmas single in the UK given how this was released during the Christmas of 1998 over there, naturally that wasn't the case in NZ given how the holiday season was long over by the time it saw the light of day over there and was just marketed as the third single from Billie’s debut album.
#96 for 1999
Although this didn't see the massive success in NZ that it did here in Australia, this third single from Metallica's black album nonetheless managed to stick around for quite some time on their charts to make it eligible for this list. Even so, don't expect too much more representation from them on this side of my site as they weren't that popular over there compared to over here.
#100 for 1992
This is the only hit that Lenny Kravitz had from his fourth album, an album that was such a disappointment to his fans that they like to pretend he took a five-year break between his third and fifth albums and pretend this doesn't exist. I'm guessing that's not quite the case in NZ where it did decently well for him.
#92 for 1995
Here's the other hit that Peter Andre had in NZ that flopped here in Australia, again I don't know how on earth he managed to appeal to the kiwis to the extent that he did, but it led to him finding massive worldwide success to the point where he would end up relocating to the UK.
#100 for 1996
This is the final hit that the Mutton birds had in their homeland, it also debuted at number one, meaning that even this far down the list, we're still looking at songs that cracked the top five or even went to number one over there. This should be another reason as to why the lists on this side of my site are much longer than that on the Australian side.
#91 for 1994
Apparently, this was meant to be the anthem for this year's FIFA world cup, this would explain how this was New order's (stylised as England New order) only chart topper in their native UK as well as how it became a minor hit in NZ this year. Evidently, we Aussies wouldn't make a hit out of a sports anthem until much later in the decade when Ricky Martin topped our charts with his FIFA world cup theme.
#95 for 1990
This was originally released on RHCP's 1987 album the Uplift mofo party plan; however, it was finally given the light of day as a single when it was released as such on the band's greatest hits package What hits which allowed it to become a minor success over in NZ this year.
#87 for 1993
This was the debut single for Billie Piper which became a modest success here in Australia and in NZ back in the day due to how catchy (and some may say irritating) the song was from her, even back then, it wasn't that well received as evidence by "Girlfriend" and "Honey to the bee" being the songs that allowed her career to take off in earnest from her debut album.
#100 for 1998
I'm as shocked as you are that this underperformed back in the day for the Cure, admittedly it was a decent hit for them in America which is perhaps why you still hear it on oldies stations to this day, however the fact this flopped in most other parts of the world should tell you just how these stations don't necessarily value the success of songs in their heyday to form their playlists.
#101 for 1992
Speech was the frontman for Arrested development, he put out a solo album following the demise of that group which did slightly better than their second album Zingalamaduni likely due to not having as much behind the scenes drama as that album did (to say nothing of that bizarre album title.) It could also be this song sampling the Marvin Gaye classic while he raps about his appreciation of the Motown legend.
#101 for 1996
Although the Smashing pumpkins never had that runaway hit in NZ, they made up for that by having several of their singles becoming minor hits over there including this single from their biggest album.
#102 for 1996
Bet you didn't know that Quincy Jones had a singing career, did you? Actually, he doesn't as this is in fact a cover of a track from the Brothers Johnson with vocals from Chaka Khan and Ray Charles. This comes from an album with a rotating list of vocalists, making this his equivalent of a David Guetta or Calvin Harris album two decades before either man found massive success with this formula.
#96 for 1990
Given how these three women managed to have a Billboard chart topper in their homeland, it makes sense that they would have a hit over in NZ with a song that was apparently one of the fifty biggest of the year over there according to RIANZ (despite its low placement on this list.) What's surprising is that their cover of the Diana Ross classic wasn't that Billboard chart topper and wasn't even a hit in their homeland.
#97 for 1990 (#41 website)
This was only barely able to scrap in the ranking for this list, I guess this goes to show how desperately the kiwis needed to shake up their charts given how many of the obvious hits of this year are either missing or appear much lower on here than you would otherwise think.
#101 for 1998
We have one final entry from the Feelers for this list, this time it's the title track to their debut album which they released months prior to said album coming out and long before their earlier entries on this list established them as the hot new NZ band of the moment. Their popularity would continue to explode going into the 21st century, culminating with their third album.
#102 for 1998
This was certainly late to the party over in NZ given how it had already dropped out of our charts here in Australia by the time it saw the light of day over there, I guess they didn't want to acknowledge this theme song from the Prince of Egypt initially but quickly changed their minds when it won an academy award for best original song.
#97 for 1999
This was the final hit that Brandy had in NZ as the kiwis weren't interested in her early 00's material like the rest of the world was, heck this feels like it was only a hit for her over there due to how much of a roll she was on from her earlier entry as well as her two entries from my previous list which were all Billboard chart toppers for her.
#98 for 1999
It seems fitting that George Michael would be at the bottom of this list like he was on the Australian side of my site with this entry, the only difference of course is that he's on it for this year rather than 1991 as this was more of an immediate hit for him over there than it was over here.
#98 for 1990
This is another entry that was a sleeper hit in NZ that made it comfortably on one of my lists on the Australian side of my site, this time's it's the one and only hit that Lisa Stansfield had anywhere in the world given how the kiwis were a bit sceptical on whether they should follow the rest of the world's lead in making this a huge success for her over there.
#99 for 1990
This was a huge sleeper hit for RHCP in NZ this year, so much so that it managed to appear on this list despite having most of its run outside their top twenty which of course affected its placement on this list. Despite having more success over there than they did over here from this album cycle, their popularity would fall off a cliff the following year and wouldn't recover until 2000.
#102 for 1992
This was a little late to the party for Skee lo in NZ given how it was already a success in his native America the previous year, I guess the kiwis felt this was a little too silly of a track upon its initial release but for some reason changed their minds this year when it climbed up their charts.
#103 for 1996
This was the other big hit that Mary J Blige had in NZ this year, this actually managed to crack their top ten but dropped off a lot quicker on their charts which explains its lower placement on this list. For what it's worth, the kiwis did have some interest in her earlier work unlike us Aussies were her presence was non-existent until 2001.
#110 for 1997
I did mention on the previous list that this became a hit twice in NZ, here we are again looking at this single from Hammond Gamble thankfully for the last time given how it didn't re-enter their charts after this year.
*Apologies for the lack of album art for this entry, there doesn't seem to be one in existence. The song is "You make the whole world smile" from Hammond Gamble if you couldn't tell from my commentary*
#88 for 1993
It looks like Salt N Pepa had at least one song of theirs that saw more success in NZ than it did here in Australia after all as this managed to be a decent success for the trio this year where it did even chart down under. Of course, this would be a short-lived victory for the kiwis as their next single would be "The brick track vs the gitty up" which was far more popular here than it was over there.
#111 for 1997
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