I wanted to do a follow up to my OZ Media list by covering the thirteen years prior to when those charts were calculated, the problem of course is that no such alternate charts exist which combines the ARIA and AMR charts of 1988-1992 (as well as there being no alternate charts here prior to that since the Go-set charts ended in 1974.) As such, I've decided to rank the biggest hits of the 80's and early 90's based on how long they charted here back in the day, this means I'll be including several songs which were sleeper hits here during that time that failed to make my official lists due to charting mostly outside of the top twenty here back in the day. As usual, any commentary from returning entries on this list have been unaltered as I feel the change of their placements on this list compared to my earlier lists should speak volumes as to how their success played out here upon their initial releases.
I can see why this wasn't as much of an immediate success here in Australia as the other two big hits Wang Chung had during their heyday as it's nowhere near as catchy as "Everybody have fun tonight" or "Dance hall days," that said, it was a decent success for the band and proof they didn't need to resort to gimmicks in order to find an audience during the height of the sophistopop era.
In case you're wondering who Stevie V is, he's the main member of this group with V being short for his surname Vincent. True to the name of the band, this track does seem like an adventure as it splices together different samples which made it a massive success in their native UK as well as a decent sleeper hit here in Australia thanks to it being released at the right time.
It would’ve been tempting for this to be a remix of the Human league track of the same name given how that came out eleven years prior to massive worldwide success, however this is an original track from the British DJ Felix that was a massive success in his homeland as well as a decent success here in Australia likely due to it being an EDM track during the height of that genre’s popularity here.
Although country music wasn't the big rage here in Australia at the start of the 80's like it was internationally, there was enough love for the genres down under for ballads such as this from Don Williams to be a moderate sleeper hit whilst the wackier new wave tracks dominated the upper echelons of our charts.
I guess Richard Marx had a bit of bad luck with his more upbeat tracks as this is the second track in that vein to appear on this bonus list of mine for the first time following "Should've known better" from earlier. At least this was more of an immediate success in his homeland as it became his second consecutive Billboard chart topper following "Hold on to the nights" from his first album.
Although they refused to use Countdown as a platform for their music (a bold move for them to make) Midnight oil nonetheless managed to achieve sound success with their breakthrough E.P even if the best was yet to come for the band.
This was the final hit that Chicago had here in Australia or anywhere outside their native America for that matter, I guess the rest of the world was tired of their brand of soft rock even though they continued to rack up the hits well into the 90's on the Billboard charts. Even then, this was only a success here in Australia thanks to how long it stuck around for on our charts.
It feels a little weird that this was the big hit off of UB40's self-titled album, mainly because "Breakfast in bed" with Chrissie Hynde was the big hit off that album in NZ and their native UK. I guess we only wanted to hear one duet between Ali and Chrissie back in the day but also wanted to acknowledge this album now that they had success over in America.
Whilst these guys were able to rack up the hits in America and their native Canada, this was their only other noticeable success here in Australia which even then was likely due to the success they had with their debut single from earlier on this list (although I don't have any inappropriate album art to share with you on this entry, I'm afraid.) It's another case of a sleeper hit finding a long shelf life on oldies stations nowadays.
Maybe dolls were similar to that of Baby animals (right down to the bizarre band names) in that they were a pop rock band that saw moderate success right before Australian bands had a hard time with finding success in the mainstream. Here they are with their only notable single that did fairly well despite failing to appear on the upper half of our charts during its chart run.
23 Weeks
Although these guys achieved massive success in NZ and their native America with "It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday," this track which was originally released as the theme song to the Eddie Murphy flick Boomerang (which isn't among his better films sadly) was what broke the RNB boy band into a wider market thanks to their vocal harmonies and Nathan's spoken word verse.
This was the only hit single that the NZ trio the Swingers were able to achieve in Australia, although they did achieve a second hit in their homeland with "It ain't what you dance, it's the way you dance it" so it's not like this is their only legacy over there. This is another novelty track whose popularity came from how incessantly catchy the song is, seriously try getting this out of your head if you can.
After the slow but overwhelming success of her debut album, Whitney was off to a good start with replicating its success with this iconic track which remains one of her more popular tracks even to this day. Unfortunately, though the album was a success, the same can't be said for any of the other singles on the album outside of her native America, perhaps due to how they helped her break a record on Billboard.
Well on my last list I covered how few really cared that Samantha Fox wasn't much of a vocalist in the mainstream, now let's talk about a fellow member of the LGBT community who used his good looks and infectious songs to overlook his own vocal deficiencies in the form of Paul Lekakis. Admittedly he didn't receive much love outside of Australia, presumably due to this song being used in a competition organised by Countdown which resulted in its popularity here.
This was the E.P that spawned Australian crawl's most popular hit single "Reckless," a song that earned that title due to it being one of the very few where audiences don't have a problem understanding what James is saying throughout the track's runtime. The success of this E.P allowed the band to have moderate crossover success in NZ.
I haven't seen the film this duet is named after, although if its anything like this collaboration between Lionel Richie and Diana Ross then all I can say is that it certainly lives up to its reputation of being endless boredom. I'm sorry but I'm not a fan of this duet at all, sure the two artists have chemistry with each other and I'm sure it still has its fans to this day, but I don't get the hype behind this ballad.
It's strange to think that Barbra Streisand's biggest hit in her career is neither a duet nor from one of her films, that's basically describes the rest of her catalogue, most of it being a combination of these two factors. That said I guess you can make the argument this is a collaboration with the Bee gees given how the Brothers Gibb do provide backup vocals on this track and the album it came from.
This was the first of two charity singles which led to the inception of Live aid, this one has more honourable intentions than its American counterpart due to it being written by Bob Geldof after he saw a news bulletin about the Ethiopian famine which obviously tugged at his heartstring. It's also since become a Christmas staple and that's spawned several different updates over the years.
This was one of two songs written for the long-forgotten film Vision quest, a film where as far as I can tell is about a Caucasian man using the spiritual journey usually reserved for native Americans in order to help him win a boxing tournament. Madonna performs this track in the film, which I think is safe to say is the best part of it given how it was a box office flop despite this being a huge worldwide hit.
Many people feel this to be a lazy retread of "Wanted dead or alive" since both songs not only sound similar to each other, but also have the same theme of a loner cowboy who doesn't abide by the laws of the wild wild west. Naturally this theme fits in perfectly with the film this song was commissioned for, and to be fair there are enough differences between both songs for this to justify its existence.
This was the first major success INXS had on the singles chart in Australia, admittedly their previous album Shabooh shoobah did spawn the fan favourites "The one thing" and "Don't change" which both did decently well, however it was this track and its poetic lyrics that finally brought the band into the big leagues here in Australia and even over in NZ.
For one album, these guys had conquered the Australian charts as the album their biggest hit is named after was a huge success for a band whose lead singer began the decade with "Modern girl" being a moderate success. This of course sparked international interest in the band and even eventually got them to chart on Billboard albeit on the lower half of their charts, I guess these guys were no INXS according to Americans.
Well, this song seems to have come out of nowhere, Slim Dusty is best known for being one of the very first Australian artists to achieve any form of success in the music industry back in the 50's with his hit single "A pub with no beer." Fast forward over thirty years and he scored a surprise hit with this track he performed on Countdown which even the kiwis found amusing as it was a moderate success over there as well.
My international readers will know this as the theme song to Crocodile Dundee, however the year prior to that film's release this was the second single from Mental as anything's biggest album Fundamental as anything where it became a huge hit for them in Australia and NZ. I'm guessing it was due to a combination of how happy Greedy Smith sounds on this track and the video which shows him having the time of his life.
One of the catchiest songs to ever be recorded, we have this late disco hit from Lipps inc which managed to become a chart topper even in their native America. I feel this important to bring up as this is the best proof I have that disco wasn't as dead as what people make it out to be, sure it had seen a sharp decline in popularity, but it soldiered on throughout the decade regardless of what people say.
This was the only hit single for the former wife of Mondo rock lead vocalist Ross Wilson, although he does contribute backing vocals to this track which even at the time received backlash for its admittedly weird production gimmick. This gimmick was to highlight the cool editing of the video where it jump cuts in syncopation to each beat on each chorus which I think is really cool.
By far the biggest hit to come from Mondo rock, in fact this is only second to "Eagle rock" as the most successful thing Ross Wilson has done throughout his career. It's easy to see why this song was so big as it tells a coming-of-age story about two young lovers looking to explore their sexual relationship narrated expertly by Ross. Sadly, this was the last hit single he would have in his career.
If you didn't know, Jim Diamond was the lead vocalist for PH. D who in turn were a band who scored a huge hit with "I won't let you down" from earlier in the decade. Here he is following that group's demise with his big solo hit that managed to take the world by storm thanks to how sincere and overwrought he sounds throughout its runtime.
This was originally a hit for the Righteous brothers in 1965, so of course there was bound to be some nostalgic love for the ballad around the time Long John Baldry and an obscure vocalist Kathi McDonald decided to take their stab at the ballad by turning it into a breakup ballad where both parties are accusing the other of losing the love in the relationship rather than just the original narrator.
Although Stevie Wonder did have moderate success with "You are the sunshine of my life" in Australia back in 1973, this was the first hit single of his to see massive success here likely due to how lush the track remains to this day. Indeed, this led to his final decent album (according to his diehard fans that is) to be a huge success for him here given how inescapable this was.
This was the debut single for the supergroup the Traveling wilburys, a group that consisted of George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan who likely formed in order to make music that harkens back to the days when they were each in their prime. They succeeded cultivating an audience who would be interested in their older work; however, it was bittersweet as Roy would tragically pass away not long after this became a hit for them.
This is probably the most distinct song from AC/DC's catalogue as it doesn't have the same melody structure as the rest of their catalogue, naturally this helped it become one of their signature tracks due to casual fans being able to easily identify it from the rest of their discography. It allowed the album it came from to be a huge success for the band, thus setting them up for further success throughout the 90's.
So disco wasn't dead quite yet as KC and the Sunshine band were able to achieve massive worldwide success with this track that has since gone down as one of their most memorable in their catalogue. This was a surprise success over in the UK which allowed it to become an international success before it finally became a moderate success in their native America, proving that even they weren't above disco at this stage.
It looked like that "Desire" would be the only hit single from Rattle and hum in Australia in exchange for the album being a huge success here, however the success of this fourth single thanks to its emotional music video proved otherwise as it became the final hit that U2 had this decade. Their next album would have them go in a more ironic direction to help them adapt with the changing times.
This was the lead single to Martika's second and to date final album Martika's kitchen, an album that was largely a collaboration with Prince around the time he was reinventing himself following the disaster that was his third film Graffiti bridge. This was a huge hit for Martika here in Australia despite it not being as big anywhere else in the world, I'm guessing more for her vocals than anything.
This song was written by Michael Jackson, I just thought I'd put that out there as this not only explains his guest appearance in the first episode of season three but also how this managed to become a huge success given how cartoon shows (even adult oriented ones like the Simpsons) don't tend to produce chart topping singles like this. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that MJ was a huge fan of the show given that it's a spinoff of the Tracey Ullman show.
This was the first single to feature Deni Hines as the lead vocalist for the Rockmelons, and they wanted you to know she was the vocalist during this phase of their career as all of the singles give her a featuring credit despite her officially being part of the band during this point in time. This is a cover of a Bill Withers track, and like the rest of his catalogue, it wasn't a hit for him originally.
Although they had success with their first album in NZ and their native UK, this was the big breakthrough that Sting and company had in Australia likely due to how they repeat the phrase "sending out and SOS" ad nauseum during the outro. Fortunately, the rest of the track is fairly complex thanks to the tight reggae inspired instrumentation as well as the lyrics about finding help for this doomed relationship.
While there's no denying that this is a silly hair metal track that was clearly meant for the ladies, it's still a ton of fun to listen to thanks to the killer instrumentation and how much fun the band is having while recording this track. Strangely this was their only hit in Australia despite it not being their biggest hit in their native America, although their other songs are nowhere near as fun as this track.
This was the signature tune for Nat King Cole during his lifetime, so it only makes sense that his daughter would cover the track forty years after its initial release and would find massive success with her version. What rubbed people the wrong way about this cover is that she made it into a virtual duet with her father, that is she took the original recording and inserted her vocals onto the original to make it seem like she was duetting with him in real time.
Patty Smyth had previous success with her band Scandal eight years prior with their hit single "The warrior," so to see her back in the spotlight with this duet between Don Henley was a bit of a welcomed surprise given how neither of them had touched the charts since 1985. This unfortunately didn't lead to a revival of either of their careers, although Don did reunite with the Eagles not long after this.
It looked like that Vanessa Williams would never touch a chart outside of her native America with one of her songs given how her second album was initially a flop for her just like her debut, however her fortunes changed for the better when she released this song from her second album which became a surprise hit for her worldwide. It turns out that in addition to being a talented actress, she's an amazing singer as evidence by her performance on this track.
His Neighbours co-stars saw massive success with their transition from acting to singing, so why not have Craig McLachlan follow in the footsteps of Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan with a singing career of his own? While this did work initially for this song as well as the album it was pulled from, he quickly found that singing wasn't his strong suit and stopped making music later in the decade.
Well at least MC Hammer wasn't a one hit wonder here in Australia, after all he found a way to sample Prince's "When doves cry" into the third single from his breakthrough album Please Hammer don't hurt em. Naturally this proved to be equally as catchy as the lead single from the album which propelled it up the charts, and indeed it even allowed the album to become a major success here.
This was written and recorded for the James Bond film of the same name, it has the distinction of being the only Bond theme to have the performer appear in the opening credits which should give you an idea of how popular Sheena Easton was during the first half of the decade. It also should tell you that despite beginning her career with what I've dubbed as nursery pop, she really wanted to be a sex icon in music.
This was the only notable success that Utah saints had outside of their native UK, I'm guessing because of the samples throughout the track which made it appealing to the Australian EDM scene that was quickly growing this decade. We'll be looking at plenty of other dance tracks from one hit wonders, so I hope you're in the mood for more of this type of music.
This was the only hit single to come from Cyndi's album of the same name everywhere except for her native America where "Change of heart" managed to also be a success for her on Billboard, that's not to say the album was a failure but rather that everyone had clearly declared Madonna as the new queen of pop between these two women. This was the start of Cyndi's more mature direction in music which is perhaps why she saw diminishing returns from here on out.
Split Enz was on a roll as they were able to achieve massive success with the lead single to their album Corroboree/Waiata, an album which was meant to pay respect to the traditional owners of the lands of Australia and NZ despite the album not having any political tracks on there. The band would continue to spark international interest that failed to translate to actual success worldwide.
Their debut album was already a moderate success for them here in Australia, however it was this lead single to their second album which made them a household name and even allowed Pop star to rebound on our charts upon the release of their second album. There was an obvious theme to both of the band's biggest hits, namely that Wendy James wanted to know that the target of these songs was the love of her life.
These guys had been active in the industry for over a decade before they finally score their first hit anywhere in the world with this soft rock classic, I guess even back in the day there was no age limit to when you could find success for the first time as most bands would've given up by this stage of their careers. These guys would score a second hit later in the decade with "Can't fight this feeling."
Although he saw success with "Wising well" from the previous year here in Australia, it was this ballad that helped Terence Trent D'arby see massive success with his album likely due to him sounding similar to Prince in his performance on this track. This allowed the lead single "If you let me stay" to have a second chance in the spotlight as it was released here where it charted much higher this time around.
This was the only notable success that Jimmy Nail managed to score outside of his native UK, although he did score a string of hits over there throughout his career suggesting that the Brits were in love with his spoken word poetry that he would occasionally break up with singing. I guess the story of how his partner was lying to him and him seeing right through them was engaging to make it a hit here.
It looks like Kiss were doubling down on their mainstream appeal as this lead single to Unmasked proved, after all they had yet to dedicate one of their ballads to a specifically named girl like they did here (as uncommon as the name Shandi is.) This was the band's final hit single in most parts of the world, which is probably for the best as their later material would see them shed their makeup.
This is another song I would describe as a nursery pop number, mainly because of how chipper both the melody and the Irish family group are during the song's runtime. This was all set to be a flop here in Australia despite how big the girls were in NZ and their native UK, however a memorable performance of this song on Countdown helped it become a surprise hit for them months after its initial release.
And who says that the band who gave us "Relax" (which is still to come on this list) was all about fun and games? Here we have their second single which is so politically charged you'd think it was written specifically for a smear campaign for a candidate they didn't like (most likely Margaret Thatcher.) To drive the point of the song home, they have a video where the political candidates fight each other in a wrestling ring.
Now that these guys were established hit makers, they didn't seem to have any issues with finding success with the rest of the songs from their sophomore album. Here we have their ballad which was a huge chart topper in the UK and their native America, although in the former it didn't reach the top spot until the 90's which means this was a hit here thanks to its popularity on Billboard.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that reggae became a huge international success this decade given how many of the bigger hits fit into the genre perfectly. This was the second single from the Rockmelons that featured Deni Hines as the lead vocalist, as well as their second hit in a row that managed to crossover to NZ where reggae was an even bigger deal than it was in Australia. All of this led to the band receiving buzz over in the UK.
This was where it all began for one of the happiest bands to score success this decade, or at least they were one of the happiest bands at first as later in the decade they would become edgier much to the chagrin of their fanbase. Here we have their E.P which featured the sickly sweet "Ordinary angels" which helped them build a fanbase for their equally sweet debut album Marvin the album.
Riff were a short-lived hip hop group who failed to score any success in their native America with their songs, they had better luck in the southern hemisphere where they scored two hits in NZ and one hit in Australia with this theme to the Wesley Snipes flick White men can't jump. I'm guessing this made it in the southern hemisphere due to our love of the film which sees Woody Harrelson learning to play basketball from Wesley.
This was the advanced single from the Pretender's third album, an album which wouldn't come out for over a year after hits songs release due to the behind-the-scenes drama they had with each other. You wouldn't know that from listening to this track as they seem to be well synchronised with each other, the band members grunting to give off the impression that they are working on a jail chain link.
It looks like Black box weren't the only band who utilised Martha Walsh as a vocalist in their music, here she is credited as Freedom Williams scoring a massive hit with C+C Music factory with a song that's become synonymous with the early 90's house scene. She would have another hit this year (stay tuned for it) before becoming fed up with being pushed aside in the marketing for more conventionally attractive women of colour.
These women were on a roll in Australia as they were able to score another massive hit with this ballad about wanting to take it slow in a sexual relationship, it appears that our stigma towards music of colour was finally long gone by the 80's even without the assistance of MTV promoting black artists. The trio would go on to have massive success this decade, although mostly through their upbeat tracks.
The legends are true people, Mark Wahlberg did indeed have a career as a rapper before he took Hollywood by storm as one of the better actors to emerge this decade. Here he recruits soul singer Loleatta Holloway to provide a chorus for him while he flexes how awesome he is in the hip hop game; it went about as well as when his older brother flexed how tough he was on "Hanging tough."
This is an English cover of Trio's only hit single worldwide, although I wouldn't blame you for thinking that this isn't a song at all given how this seems to be tailor made for TV commercials (most notably the Sakata crackers.) I guess the novelty of this track ensured that it would be a massive hit in most parts of the world.
This was the only hit that Men without hats scored outside of their native Canada, although they would retain their popularity in their homeland throughout the decade which was a rare feat for Canadian artists who saw international success this decade. In any case we have this novelty track that was written in response to people dancing aggressively at one of their shows which turned the show into a disaster.
One of the biggest contemporary Christian artists of all time, Amy Grant was able to find success this year by temporarily moving away from her comfort zone and into a more adult contemporary sound which resulted in her scoring two hits this year with this being her first. She did have a Billboard chart topper prior to this become her second number one hit in America with Peter Cetera of all people.
This was the first hit that Bette Midler had in Australia since her 1973 cover of the Andrew sister's classic "Boogie woogie bugle boy," it happens to come from her theatrical debut The rose which is loosely based on the tragic life of Janis Joplin that was well received by critics. While the film isn't historically accurate by any means, it remains a good film due to Bette's performance which she was Oscar nominated for, unlike this song which missed out on a nomination.
I've heard this be described as having the feel of a Doobie brothers track, ever since all I hear whenever I hear this is the Pointer sisters covering "What a fool believes" which is admittedly a good thing in my book. Of course, the lyrics are completely different as it's about how the girls are smitten by a shy guy as opposed to the Doobie brothers being felt like a fool for being in a relationship with someone.
This was the only hit that the British freestyle band Freeez was able to achieve outside their native UK, although like many British bands this decade, they did have a couple of minor hits in their homeland that simply didn't rise up to the standards of those songs that did make it big internationally. Here they succeeded thanks to a killer synth riff as well as the falsetto in the vocals that rival that of early George Michael.
This was the first solo hit that Diesel had here in Australia, it wasn't his first solo single as that honour goes to "Love junk" which was a huge flop for him, but this was what made him huge without the Injectors. Somehow this managed to be twice as successful over in NZ, I'm guessing he was more popular over there as his third solo single was also a huge success over there as well as his solo debut album.
This was never a hit in the northern hemisphere, that should tell you how influential Countdown was for Australia and arguably in NZ as this debut single from Martha Davis and company was a huge hit in both countries thanks to it being promoted on the TV series. The band did eventually see success in their native America with their second album, success that didn't translate back here where it all began.
Given that she was now the face of Technotronic, it only makes sense that Ya Kid K would appear in the video for the group's second single which helped it become a massive success worldwide. Apparently, the woman in the video from their earlier entry wasn't part of the group which annoyed the rapper, making this a surprisingly good time for models of colour to appear in videos over much less photogenic musicians.
Well so much for James Reyne being the reason why Australian crawl never scored a hit single during their time together, this was his first song he released following the band's demise, and it proved to be an instant hit for him. A common criticism towards his music is his inability to enunciate, I and many others don't find that to be an issue as while it is hard to understand what he's saying, the music usually makes up for it.
This was the debut single from a band who would eventually become known as Icehouse, yeah, these guys went by Flowers originally but had to change it when they sparked international interest in them due to another band with that name also looking to make it big worldwide (wonder whatever happened to them.) The album went on to be one of the most successful here and in NZ funnily enough.
Although these guys saw moderate success with their albums this decade, the last time they had a hit single was from the start of the decade when "No secrets" became a top ten hit for them. Here they are with a cover of the Animals classic from the mid 60's, this being a surprise hit for them here and even their big crossover hit in NZ as this managed to win over the kiwis after a decade of silence there.
I'm surprised this wasn't a bigger hit here in Australia considering how often it finds itself in commercials over the years, then again this needed two attempts to be a success in certain parts of the world as it flopped upon its initial release only for it to be a success on the one-year anniversary of its existence. This was the only success that the south African born British singer achieved in her career.
Although they had seen plenty of buzz here in Australia prior to this standalone hit they had, this was the song which convinced us Aussies they were worth our time which made the failure of Paul Weller's previous band the Jam here that much more puzzling in retrospect. I wouldn't feel too bad for him though, the Jam were one of the most successful bands of the decade in his native UK.
Although he had already achieved moderate success with his comeback album around this time, it was this third single from Edge which cemented his comeback status due to how fun and catchy it is from the aging pop star. This could've been a fluke for him given how audiences likely had nostalgia for Sherbet around this time, however his next album was even bigger meaning this wasn't a fluke for him.
This was the first of two hits that Fischer Z achieved this decade, although their second hit wouldn't come until eight years after this was released as that was with "The perfect day" in 1988. This was due to the band briefly breaking up throughout the 80's despite them having massive worldwide success with this new wave ballad, although they obviously came back and have been going strong ever since.
This was the first of two hits that Yazoo scored this year throughout the world, you've likely noticed a pattern on this list where artists would score two hits this year before struggling for relevancy throughout the rest of the decade. In any case, we have the debut single from Yazoo who is a band best known for its members, specifically Alison Moyet who was a successful singer this decade and Vince Clark who was one half of Erasure.
This was an excellent year for everyone who's ever been involved with Genesis, we have the breakthrough single from Mike Rutherford's side project Mike and the Mechanics who scored a massive hit with this track about relying on a miracle to make a relationship work (or in the video's case, paying off a debt to a bar manager.) This song clicked with audiences this year and allowed lead singer Paul Carrack to find solo success the following year.
This was originally a hit for Sandie Shaw back in the 60's, although it never managed to crossover to Australia until Naked eyes made it their own this year likely due to their version adding church bells to the mix which adds to the drama of the lyrics as well as complimenting the music video which further adds drama to the song. This was their only hit worldwide, although Rob Fisher would return later in the decade as Climie Fisher.
If these guys sound familiar to you, that's because they would go on to become the Wiggles which is one of the most popular children's bands of all time despite them never having success on the music charts. If you can believe it, this pop rock track about the girl of their respective dreams was their only hit here in Australia, although I'm reliably informed that preschool music doesn't often chart in the mainstream.
This was a song that was released exclusively in Australia, it interrupted the album cycle as "Kiss the bride" was always meant to be the third single from Too low for zero but was pushed back to the following year where it flopped due to everyone owning the album by that point. I guess this was his way of thanking us for keeping his popularity alive during the years Bernie Taupin was absent from his career.
If you want to know how Hall and Oates started finding success here in the 80's despite already finding massive success in their native America throughout the 70's, it's likely due to them appearing on Countdown to promote this track which helped it become a hit for the duo around the time it topped the Billboard charts for them. They would have more permanent success as the decade went on here with their next few chart toppers.
It seems odd that this would be Living Colour's only hit single in Australia when they're better known for their 1989 hit "Cult of living personality" which was a massive success in NZ two years prior. Indeed, their second album Time's up managed to become a success this year down under purely thanks to how well this ballad did for them, not bad for a song about how love is such a tricky bastard.
This was the first hit that Wet wet wet (wow that's a stupid band name) managed to achieve in Australia, it looked like it would be their only hit here given how their other songs failed to crossover despite how well they did in their native UK. That changed later in the decade when their cover of a Mindbenders tracks from a Hugh Grant flick became one of the biggest hits of the decade thanks to their tender vocals.
This was the second single to come from Billy Ocean's comeback album Suddenly, and one that seems to combine his strengths of having a catchy beat with his heartfelt declarations of being the man of this person's dreams. At first glance it seems like he's coming on strong with this person in the lyrics, however he makes it clear they're playing hard to get which ultimately makes his advances justified.
This was one of the last hit singles that Abba achieved before their inevitable demise later in the decade, in fact you can make the argument that this was the song which broke them apart as the two couples were going through a highly publicised divorce when this song was released. Let's just say that Frida and Agnetha sound like they've been defeated by their husbands on this track given how the men wrote the lyrics they're singing.
This is often considered as the signature tune from Air supply, mainly because it's the song that best represents their discography of passionate love songs performed in a melodramatic way. The duo scored more success in America than they did in Australia this decade, although they did have a few hits down under before we Aussies gave up on them entirely.
This was the only hit that Martha and the Muffins managed to achieve in their career, it's a well-remembered track about how Martha Johnson reminisces about a time where she had the love of her life on the titular echo beach and how she longs to return to the location to meet up with her partner. I guess she wasn't able to find much success going into the decade down under, not unlike another Martha on this list.
This is a song I would've thought had done better back in the day, mainly because of how fondly it seems to be remembered on oldies stations to this day. Greg Kihn did manage to score a second hit here in Australia with "Jeopardy" the following year, however that hasn't been as fondly remembered as this track likely because of how Greg seems to miss how songs used to be written here.
This was the solo debut single for Lisa Stansfield, although she was part of a band known as Bluezone who would technically go on to have a massive hit at the end of the decade with "Jackie" with Australian singer Joanne on lead vocals. Here she scores a massive hit worldwide with this song about what she did to lead to her boyfriend breaking up with her, it's silly but enjoyable to listen to.
This was the first big hit that Billy Idol had in Australia, although he did see minor success with his solo debut "Hot in the city" coming into the year which likely boosted the success of this classic of his. Apparently, this is meant to be a criticism of a traditional white wedding, likely due to this being released just after Princess Diana's wedding to Prince Charles which was described as a fairytale wedding.
This was originally released as the lead single of the trios album Break out; however, it was a huge flop worldwide likely due to them failing to shoot a music video for the song. It was given a second chance later in the year when "Automatic" became a surprise hit for them in the UK, but this stage they had filmed a music video which helped this song become a huge hit worldwide.
This was a surprise hit here in Australia, at least it would've been were it not for the fact that the American duo performed this on Countdown as part of some competition that the show had this year. You'd be amazed how many of these songs that history has forgotten about became big due to the show over the years.
This was the big hit off of Bryan Adam's breakthrough album Reckless, it's the rare ballad he had this decade which seems odd for me to say considering how the 90's would be filled with ballads from him. Indeed, the other two singles off the album "Run to you" and "Summer of 69" (stay tuned for that in a bit) would be a better representation of his 80's material as they were more in line with arena rock.
This was a surprise comeback for Little river band as it was the first song, they released that had Glenn Shorrock back on lead vocals, I'm guessing this was a hit here due to how well his temporary replacement John Farnham was doing around this time and fans wanting to thank these guys for giving him the platform to reboot his career.
This was the lead single to Billy Joel's biggest album An innocent man everywhere in the world except for the UK where his earlier entry was the lead single, indeed this was his second Billboard chart topper due to how instantly popular it was in his native America which prompted its success here in Australia. The album has a doo wop revival to it which explains why it's so bouncy even after all these years.
It looked like Peter Gabriel would only score one hit from his album So with "Sledgehammer" from the previous year, however he then decided to release this duet with Kate Bush as a single where it became a surprise hit for the two of them this year. I'm guessing this was a hit due to the popularity of Kate given how she was still one of the biggest names in music this far into the 80's.
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