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.
This was the first of three Billboard chart toppers Billy Joel had this decade, it was the second single from his Glass house album which was less a throwback to the music of the 50's and more him wondering why we should glamourise newer music when the older stuff holds up. It's a rather poignant track that seems to be more relevant now that it was back then.
While she hadn't had a hit since the start of the decade, Kate Bush was able to slip her way into the mainstream this year with this track about how she felt she made a deal with God in finding happiness with the person she's singing to. It became a surprise hit for her this year given how out of place it felt compared to everything else on this list, although it's par for the course when it comes to her discography.
This was the lead single to Australian crawl's biggest album Sirocco, it's a good representation of their music as while the music continues to captivate audiences to this day, people feel that James Reyne needed to learn to enunciate his vocals as they tend to have a hard time trying to figure out what he's trying to say. For what it's worth, the song is about how the person he's singing to is in denial with things going good for them.
This was the debut single for Paul Young (not to be confused with Australia's John Paul Young) it was a cover of a Marvin Gaye song which technically means the Motown icon had two hits in Australia this year. In any case, Paul would score a second hit here the following year with his Christmas track "Love of the common people" which in turn would allow his album to be a success here.
Well, if you wanted to imagine Cliff Richard as your daddy, I guess this is the song for you as that's essentially what he's doing here on this cover of an obscure track from the early 60's. It was a big hit for the aging pop crooner following the success of his earlier entry, although he wouldn't trouble our charts gain for another four years before he teamed up with the Young ones to remake his debut single for charity.
Technically this was a C+C Music factory track as C+C does stand for Clivilles and Cole, although this was a dance cover of the first hit that U2 had so I guess they wanted to establish themselves as a slightly different act from the one who dominated the mainstream the previous year with Martha Walsh. They would return as C+C Music factory two years later once they settle their legal disputes with her.
Well, this was a good year for mashup singles, wasn't it? Here we have British group Rococo scoring their one and only hit in Australia and nowhere else in the world by mashing up some of the biggest hit singles in the Italo house genre meaning that several entries on this list became a hit again because of this track.
These guys were on a roll this year as they managed to score a second hit here in Australia as well as their second Billboard chart topper in their native America. As the name of the song implies, this is a song dedicated to a Sara who was the ex-girlfriend of the lead singer of the group. They would have one more hit the following year with the theme from the film Mannequin.
This was one of only five hits that Fleetwood Mac managed to score in Australia, that should give you an idea of how our music scene works as artists who dominate our albums charts rarely do so for our singles charts. In any case, we have the lead single to their album Mirage which was their way of adjusting to the MTV era, they somewhat struggled compared to their previous work, but they pulled it off.
This was the lead single to Noisework's second album, an album that didn't live up to the hype set up by their debut album likely due to there being plenty of pub rock coming out from around this time. The band would come back in the early 90's with their third and final album where they added some bombast to their sound which helped them stand out from their contemporaries and made them a success.
This is the only other hit that Boom crash opera was able to achieve with their singles, although their popularity was more from the album this served as the lead single for as it went on to achieve massive success the following year. I'm a bit surprised these guys didn't achieve further success in the 90's, sure this might be too bombastic for that decade, but they did adapt with the times unlike their contemporaries.
This was the third hit that Johnny Diesel and the Injectors were able to score from their debut album, proving that they were one of the hottest Australian bands of the day right when the 80's was beginning to come to an end. Their popularity was so huge this year that they scored buzz over in the UK which likely explains why their music occasionally pops up in international media throughout the 90's.
This is the rare track to not have Fred Schneider's vocals, normally songs with Katie on the lead has him singing backup vocals but here it's all Katie and Cyndi Wilson as they sing about "roaming" from one relationship to another which is what they accuse their partners of doing. It was a massive success for the band and no doubt made Katie an in-demand vocalist for the likes of Iggy Pop and R.E.M.
There was simply no stopping U2 from dominating our charts this year given how well they had adapted into the new decade with their album Achtung baby; indeed, this was the first album where the singles managed to truly dominate our charts here in Australia as opposed to their 80's output where they only had the one big hit.
It had been several years since Martha Davis had troubled the charts anywhere in the world with her band the Motels, however it appears we Aussies had enough nostalgia for her work following the news that they had called it quits to allow her to embark on a solo career that this solo entry became a hit for her here. Sadly, this was her only hit here despite it fitting in perfectly with the likes of Melissa Etheridge and Tracy Chapman.
Well, I did mention this track when we looked at the second single from Clues from earlier on this list didn't I? It turns out it was also a decent success here in Australia back in the day, proving how much of a roll Robert Palmer was on down under following the breakthrough he had with his performance on Countdown with "Bad case of loving you" as well as his appeal over in America.
Following his departure from Van Halen, David Lee Roth decided to embark on a solo career which was off to a good start with this cover of the Beach boys classic that became a huge hit for him back in the day. It's interesting to note that the original was never much of a hit for the boys here in Australia, meaning this is likely the only version most of us Aussies are familiar with these days.
This was a good indication of the type of music making it big in America this year given how disco and other more interesting genres seemed to be excluded on Billboard around this time for some reason, I guess we Aussies found this one and only hit from Steve Forbert interesting enough for it to also be a hit here even though we didn't extend this love for the likes of Robbie Dupree and Billy Preston.
Although it came close to appearing on this list, "The big l" ultimately didn't stick around long enough to be considered a sleeper hit here in Australia as opposed to the fourth single from Roxette's third album Joyride which had the misfortune of peaking during the Christmas period of 1991 to appear on one of my lists proper up until this point. This was their penultimate hit they had here before they released "How do you do."
This is the only hit to come from singer/songwriter Marc Cohn, it's a song about the rich legacy of Memphis Tennessee and how music has evolved over the years in the city. It was a modest success here in Australia for him due to how well singer/songwriters were doing at the time (even if they were mainly women in this category) although his success would only be for this one and only song.
This E.P was the only success that Erasure had here in Australia following their debut single from six years prior, this is strange considering A: they were a dance act who would otherwise thrive on our charts and B: were inescapable in their native UK up until this point. I guess they needed to rely on our nostalgia for Abba in order to escape our one hit wonder bin with these four covers on this E.P.
This was the first hit that Billy Idol had in the northern hemisphere, in this case it was a big hit for him in America given how he was living in New York when he launched his solo career and that the Americans likely took interest in what he Aussies and kiwis were listening to from him back in the day. This is one of his more sombre songs that wouldn't feel out of place on his third album from two years later.
16 Weeks
There haven't been that many Olympic themes to make it big over the years, in fact this is technically the biggest hit to spawn from the games as the only other big hits I can think of to be affiliated with the games are "Absolutely everybody" and "Moscow." Even then those songs weren't officially affiliated with the games and only were due to the Australian press. In any case, we have this duet between opera singers Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman singing a song that translates to "friends for life."
This was the lead single to U2's first album of the decade Achtung baby, although I get the feeling they went with the most normal track on the album as the lead single in order to hook fans in with their change in sound which happened throughout the album. Indeed, their next single "Mysterious ways" was the obvious choice for the lead single given how well remembered it remains in their catalogue.
This is technically the biggest hit from Duran Duran, mainly because it was released as the bonus track from their live album which from what I can gather, helps boost a songs popularity if a band or artist released a sole studio track from a live album. This is also one of the most contentious songs from the bands catalogue due to how strange Simon Le Bon sounds on the track compared to their other songs.
This was one of two new tracks to be found on Madonna's Immaculate collection, and it's a song that came with a highly provocative video meant specifically to shock audiences back in the day. Because of this, the song has been criticised for being little more than a cheap porno track meant to shock bible bashers, although it also has its defenders (including me) who claim there's more to the track than its video.
This was the lead single to Duran Duran's third album, an album that was all set to flop likely due to the band feeling overexposed by this point with their flashy music videos but was rescued the following year when "The reflex" became their biggest hit in America and their native UK. Indeed, that song has long since overshadowed this lead single despite this being their bigger hit here in Australia.
Given that they were able to sort out the drama I mentioned with their earlier entry on this list, Euphoria released this second single from their debut album which saw no issues with becoming a huge hit for the trio and even sparked international interest in them due to how incessantly catchy their tracks were. There's still one more entry for them to come on this list before they faded into obscurity.
This was the other big hit that John Lennon was able to score from Double fantasy this year, although I reckon it has a similar melody to another track from a few years prior called "We do it" from R and J Stone that was a massive hit here in Australia. Naturally no one seemed to care about the similarities given how this was the first song released posthumously from the former Beatle.
This was a stellar year for Shaking Stevens who managed to score a third hit throughout the world, although this time it's with a cover of a very well-known staple of the 50's given how the original was one of the biggest hits of the decade for Jim Lowe in 1956. Shaky would have one more hit the following year with "Oh Julie" before his time in the spotlight came to an end here in Australia.
This was the second single to be released from Diesel's solo album Hepfidelity, it proved to be a bigger hit for him than his first single (which we'll get to in a bit) likely due to it being a more stripped back number than anything he released up until this point. For some reason, he had more success in NZ this year with this album, although that did result in him gaining international interest in his music.
This was the only hit that Supertramp were able to score here in Australia, it makes sense because it's by far their catchiest song and it's about how the narrator is losing a friend and how it makes him feel like there's rainy weather to come from the fall out. This helped them survive into the MTV era longer than many of their contemporaries who struggled for success once the program launched in 1981.
This was the first song that Icehouse released once they changed their name to match that of their debut album, indeed this feels like a bonus track from their now self-titled album as they released this purely to tie fans over to their second album which is where their international appeal was finally met.
Here's that song from the Human league that I and many others reckon Culture club built their lead single off Colour by numbers off from earlier on this list, I swear the melody to both of these tracks seem identical to me the more I listen to both songs. This was one of two hits the band had this year from their E.P Fascination, an E.P that flopped here despite it producing two of the band's bigger hits.
Well, this song had a very lengthy delay to its release outside of the band's native UK, it had been six months since it topped the UK charts before it touched the Australian or NZ charts. I'm guessing the band wanted their album to be a huge success in both countries which to be fair it was, however, this tale about how Phil Oakey made a star out of Joanne Catherall wasn't as big a hit here as it likely should've been.
This was the final hit that Shaking Stevens managed to achieve in Australia, likely due to him performing all of his biggest hits he had here barring "This ole house" on Countdown around the time of its release. Much like "You drive me crazy," this is an original track from the throwback artist which could be another reason why it was a success here, although it would be his last despite his popularity growing in the UK.
This was the only other hit that Glenn Medeiros was able to achieve in his career, mainly because it has a guest verse from Bobby Brown during the height of the former New edition rapper's popularity. This is a song about how an ex-partner of Glenn Medeiros is now going out with the listener and how as he puts it "she ain't worth it" because of all of the heartbreak she brought him during his relationship.
I guess if there was a song that could tan gently be about the rights of first nation people, this would be it as while the lyrics are directly about coming out of a bad relationship, they can easily refer to how history has been unkind to these minority groups and how they don't have to worry about it repeating itself. It was a huge hit for the band regardless of what the meaning of the lyrics are.
This was the final hit that David Bowie managed to achieve anywhere in the world, likely due to it being the theme to the critically panned film of the same name which he also happened to star in. He did have another starring vehicle this year with the cult classic Labyrinth, where he also provided the soundtrack to in addition to giving a memorably performance as its antagonist Jareth.
This was the second single to come out of the Swing, although it wasn't quite as big as their two earlier entries on this list likely due to it not being as catchy as those tracks. Still, it was a huge hit for the band and likely strengthened their international interest which became a success the following year when they released their next album Listen like thieves.
This was the second single from Johnny Diesel's debut album, while it wasn't as big as their earlier entry (likely due to it not being as catchy) it did continue their winning streak here in Australia as it fuelled the popularity of the album thanks to Diesel's strong passionate vocals. They would score one more hit this year (which we'll get to) before contributing to the Delinquents soundtrack in 1990.
This was the second single that these guys scored this year, proving that they were in it for the long haul as both of their entries on this list were released before they dropped their debut album by the end of the year. It looks like the novelty had worn off by the time the album cycle ended as their next album was a huge flop for them which caused them to call it quits by the end of the decade.
This was the last hit that Elton John had without his partner in crime Bernie Taupin, I should point out that there were tracks on these albums which did have Bernie as a songwriter, however he obviously wasn't the main creative force behind him which is why his reunion with Elton John the following year was a welcomed one. That said, this was a hit for Elton due to a compelling performance he gave on Countdown.
This was the other big hit that FYC had throughout the world this year, although it was curiously a flop in their native UK despite it being their second Billboard chart topper. This and several of the tracks on the album was recorded two years prior, which means there was possibly behind the scenes drama which led to them calling it quits the following year despite how well their album did.
This wasn't Nik Kershaw's debut single in his native UK, that honour goes to "I won't let the sun go down on me" which was given a second chance after this became a massive hit for him worldwide (sadly it won't appear on this list.) People like to compare him to Howard Jones as both men had massive American appeal back in the day, although only Howard managed to score any success on Billboard.
I never quite understood how George felt about being tied to the pop machine on Faith as there's plenty of artistic merit on his solo debut as evidence by his third single from the album, although it does have a similar issue to "Daddy's home" in that it can be taken the wrong way by bad faith music critics. It clearly wasn't back in the day as it was his second solo chart topper on Billboard and sixth overall.
This was the lead single to Icehouse's second album Primitive man, an album which gave them massive success in the southern hemisphere and even moderate success worldwide making them one of the more popular Australian bands of the 80's in the process. This is probably their most well-known song despite it being far from their biggest hit, mainly due to the mixing which makes it sound like it was made in a spiritual world.
This was originally a flop for the Angels upon its initial release over a decade prior, however when they went on tour around this time, they performed this live with the crowd shouting "no way get f**ked f**k off" which made it become a staple in their career. This live version was so popular that they released it as a single where it finally allowed the song to become a huge hit for them.
The was the other hit that Yazoo managed to score this year, it was their bigger hit in their native UK due to being a far catchier song than their earlier entry. They would have one more hit in their homeland the following year with "Nobody's diary" before they called it quits so that they could pursue their own ventures. Alison would find success with her debut album the year after that while Vince would rule the EDM scene.
People have criticised this song for its lyrics about how Madonna enjoys a spoilt lifestyle or as she puts it "living in a material world," I guess they don't realise that this song is meant to be ironic given how they also claim her delivery is beyond irritating and that the production sounds sarcastic. A lot of people either got the joke back in the day or more likely, didn't care given how this was a huge hit regardless.
This was the most successful version of this standards track here in Australia, it's fitting that Rick Astley's version would be a success given it was his third UK hit in a row as well as the song being well know even at the time. This is the first song where Stock Aiken and Waterman tried their hands at standards track in terms of their production, they would make these types of songs with Kylie Minogue on her second album.
This was the third single from Dangerous for MJ, this time the topic of the song is MJ addressing rumours that he was gay that he denounces here in a cheeky way by suggesting that him and his girlfriend should keep their relationship in the closet. The video features British model Naomi Campbell lip synching the female vocals which were recorded by Princess Stephanie of Monaco, making this another star studded single for him.
This ballad was nominated for an Oscar this year, I just thought I'd throw that out there as there are many people who don't like Peter Cetera's solo material due to him being schmaltzy in both his vocals and songwriting. This comes from the second Karate Kid flick which has been described as a sequel that repeated the big hits from the original film, although it's still considered better than the next two films.
D Generation were a comedy troupe that were very popular in the late 80's in Australia, similar to the Comedy club but not quite as successful. Like the Comedy club, they found moderate success in the music industry with this mashup of five popular songs from Jimmy Barnes, Kylie Minogue, John Farnham, Little river band and James Reyne with them inserting their comedy throughout the runtime.
Wang Chung were a British band who were all set to fail in the music industry given how their debut single was a flop on the British charts the previous year, fortunately it somehow caught on in America which allowed it to find an audience here in Australia several months after its initial release. The band would return three years later with "Everybody have fun tonight" which was their biggest hit.
This was the second and final hit that Ian Moss managed to achieve in his career, although this did come out around the time his album was release meaning it helped him score massive success with the album. This doesn't have as complicated a narrative as his earlier entry on this list, I'm guessing that's the only reason why it wasn't as successful as the sound is the same on both tracks.
These guys were on a roll this year as this became their third hit in a row thanks to it being a story about how Colin Hay takes an interest in a young boy and his ambitions (mind's out of the gutter please.) It connected with audiences this year (again in an innocent way) thus making it a huge hit for the band, although they wouldn't trouble the charts again until the lead single of their second album.
This was the only hit to come from Billy Joel's greatest hits package from this year, it's a song about gaining your second wind after you've been shot down by someone in a relationship. There weren't any signs of him slowing down in the industry as his next album would be a huge success for him, that is only in Australia it was as it underperformed throughout the rest of the world for some reason.
This was originally the theme to the Sean Penn film At close range, a film that was critically acclaimed by flopped at the box office this year. It was then the lead single for her third album due to it topping the Billboard charts, making it her third chart topper in America despite it not being among her bigger hits here in Australia. It's a departure from her earlier work due to it being a haunting ballad rather than innocent dance pop.
Even though it remains one of her more iconic songs in her catalogue, "Wouldn't change a thing" was too much of a "fan single" to qualify for my site which isn't the case for the third single from her second album which stuck around for quite a bit going into the 90's. I should also mention the album cycle's strange fascination with putting her in a cowgirl getup as the album doesn't have a cowboy theme to it.
This is a song that I feel has too much brass in it (or rather synthesisers pretending that they're brass) as a result I feel that the song is a bit too annoying for my liking which puts me in the minority as this remains one of the band's most iconic songs to this day. This would be their last hit in Australia as their second Billboard chart topper "Human" would flop here, possibly due to the band being reduced to a trio by that point.
This was the only notable hit that the Venetians managed to have here in Australia, although they did spark international interest in their catalogue despite them being far from the most successful Australian band of the decade. They would try to find a second hit here throughout the rest of the decade before they called it quits and broke up in 1989, much like many bands from the 80's now that I think about it.
This was the first big hit that the Cure were able to achieve here in Australia, it's curious because they had appeared on Countdown multiple times prior to getting their big breakthrough with a song that's unlike most of the rest of their catalogue. The song's success likely comes from the video where lead singer Robert Smith does indeed share his love of cats in a way that I'm sure audiences found endearing.
This was the final hit that Simple minds were able to achieve in Australia, it also stands as their biggest hit in their native UK as it was their only chart topper over there. I guess these guys were a bit ahead of the curve when it came to the Celtic revival of the 90's as this ballad has plenty of Celtic influences on here that wouldn't feel out of place on a Corrs album or the Riverdance soundtrack.
This was the second hit that Pseudo echo was able to score here in Australia, it's more in line with what their earlier entry originally sounded like proving they weren't always about being bombastic for the sake of it. This was actually their big hit over in NZ from their debut album, likely suggesting the kiwis were also in agreement that these guys were at their best when they would dial things back.
Just a heads up that I'll be having a bunch of two for one deal entries on this site as there were quite a few singles that were bundled together here in Australia to help boost their popularity. In any case we have our first entry which was the second and third singles from Back in black which managed to become the band's second top ten hit in the decade due to how well fondly remembered both tracks are to this day.
This was the final hit that Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons had here in Australia (although they were now simply going by Jo Jo Zep) it seems odd they would achieve their highest charting single before they went their separate ways but that was a surprisingly common trend in the music industry over the years. Lead singer Joe Camilleri would form a new band after this known as the Black sorrows.
This was the only hit that British band Voice of the beehive were able to achieve in Australia, likely due to it being a cover of the biggest hit that the Partridge family had two decades prior albeit as a pop rock tune in an attempt to modernise the wholesome original. I will say that I do prefer this track even if it's admittedly more dated than the original, I think it's due to how "radical" they were trying to be on here.
You'd think that the big hit from the Rock steady crew would be their signature track "Hey you," it was their big hit over in the UK for the American breakdance band after all. Instead, it was their second single that was the big hit here, likely due to them performing both tracks on Countdown and their performance of their big UK hit being little more than a breakdance whereas this was sung by the members.
As with every fad in the music industry, it was only a matter of time before there would be a parody song about the rockabilly revival that would be a success. That came in the form of this track from the Belgian group the Veterans who made a joke song about how the rockabilly revival was flooding the mainstream over newer and more exciting music.
This was the second UK chart topper in a row for the Police, although I get the feeling this was a hit here more due to them performing it on Countdown rather than us wanting to hear about how Sting desires to be an astronaut. Regardless it was a huge success for the band and confirmed them as a household name here, heck their debut album even managed to become a success because of this.
This was the first of three hits that I'm talking was able to achieve in Australia, a band that's best known for introducing Kate Ceberano into the music industry as she served as the lead vocalist for this band of otherwise middle age white men. OK that's not fair as she was one of two female vocalists of colour and there was also a third woman of colour on bass, but Kate was the star of the show thanks to her amazing voice.
Bryan Adams was on a roll this year when he released the fourth single from his comeback album Waking up the neighbours, this was after the failure of the third single "There will never be another tonight" which signalled that he wouldn't have much success from the singles due to how big the album would be. This song proved otherwise and even led to him scoring another hit on Billboard with "Do I have to say the words."
You'd think that Duran Duran would've performed a bunch of their hits on Countdown back in the day, as far as I can tell, they only performed this and "Is there something I should know" from the following year. Their performance of this lead single to their second album was the reason why it was a hit here as it was a massive flop everywhere else in the world likely due to the video being rather mundane.
This was the only hit that Sister Sledge had here in Australia, I feel that it's a bad representation of their music given how the family group are best known for their disco classics from the late 70's such as "We are family" and "He's the greatest dancer." I think this was a hit here due to this being an excellent time for Motown in our music scene despite most people feeling that artistically the label was at a low point.
While their earlier entry on this list was far from the biggest hit of the year here in Australia (or anywhere else in the world for that matter) that didn't prevent Bronski beat from scoring a second hit down under with this track which was a bit more melodramatic than their earlier entry as it didn't have a poignant message attached to it. This would be the band's final hit with Jimmy on vocals here before his departure.
Following the success of their earlier entry on this list, the J Geils band managed to score a second hit worldwide with this gem that I'm surprised wasn't more of a hit here in Australia given how much love it still receives on oldies stations to this day. I guess we can chalk this up to all of the strong competition it had on this list alone given how many songs managed to make it big this year down under.
I'm a bit surprised this was a minor hit here in Australia and not in NZ given how this feels like something Prince would record on one of his off days, it’s more surprising given how this was a Billboard chart topper for the funk band Ready for the world (what is with that name by the way?) Even in their homeland, they remain a one hit wonder with this track despite how inescapable it was in America.
15 Weeks
This is the song where many people had turned on Bryan Adams for a few reasons, first off it was number one in the UK for sixteen weeks, making it one of the best charting songs of all time over there. Secondly it was tied to the Kevin Costner version of the famous Robin Hood fable which to this day divides audiences due to his admittedly terrible performance as the titular character.
This was originally released the previous year to massive success for Nena throughout Europe, largely due to the lyrics being about how the end of the world came when a sentry mistook a bunch of red balloons for an attack against them. The song was liberally translated into English which didn't match the ton of the original story or the melody of the song, this resulted in the original version becoming the big hit internationally except for America where the English version was the big hit.
This was the lead single to Culture club's third album Waking up with the house on fire, an album which seemed to alienate their fanbase as it moved away from their more fun tracks and towards more politically charged messages. Indeed, the lead single was a blatant cry to end the cold war, calling it stupid and pointless which while I agree with their sentiment, wasn't the way to go about ending it.
This was the centrepiece of Phil Collin's Grammy award winning album No jacket required, a ballad about how he wants to spend one more night with this person before they go their separate ways. It remains one of his more popular songs in his catalogue due to it being one of his biggest hits of the decade, although it's often cited as one of the reasons why he was so hated throughout the decade.
While this song does rely on cheap nostalgia baiting with what it used as the melody, I will admit that Dimples D makes the sample work on this track given how she promoted this song with the parenthesis "A witch for love." This is an obvious reference to how cunning the genie often was in I dream of genie, and indeed the lyrics of this song indicate a cunning side of the female rapper that helped it retain its popularity once it exploded this year here in Australia and over in NZ.
This was the second single to come from Footloose, although it almost never existed as the scene where this song plays had a different song given how the actor legitimately didn't know how to dance before shooting the scene. It became Deniece William's second Billboard chart topper after her duet with Johnny Mathis from 1978, although it was her final hit in most parts of the world despite how big it was.
This is likely the first hip hop song that many people heard of back in the day, after all it was technically the first song to top the Billboard charts that has rapping in it even though I've heard versions of this song which takes out Debbie's rap verse. If nothing else, at least America can take comfort in the fact that a woman became the first person to have a number one hit there with this genre.
This was released as a bonus track on the American issue of Duran Duran's debut album, as such it became a massive worldwide success as fans discovered that the band had more to offer them than what was already available at the time. Interestingly they didn't film a flashy music video for this song, presumably to help audiences understand they didn't always have the budget to do so.
Dee C Lee was the backing vocalist for the Style council, so it seems fitting that she would launch a solo career given how she's likely the reason why Paul Weller found more success with them than he did with the Jam earlier in the decade in Australia. Indeed, this was a huge hit for the singer of colour despite it being a haunting ballad that's a far cry from the post punk she made with her band.
While this was a hit for Blancmange in their native UK, there wasn't any indication that it would crossover to Australia given how it was far from the most popular song to come out when it did. I'm guessing we Aussies gravitated towards this track due to the middle eastern style of the melody as well as the admittedly funny lyrics about how this person is driving the singer insane in their relationship.
This was the final hit that Rolling stones had throughout the world, it came from their critically panned album Dirty work which was nonetheless a success likely due to the animation in the video. As it turns out, it was done by John Kricfalusi who's best known for his 90's nicktoons hit Ren and Stimpy (and its more infamous adult version from the 00's) I guess every legend in animation has to begin somewhere.
This was that other big hit that Dr Hook managed to score this year, although given how it's the story of an Irish settler in Australia that was apparently written in the first half of the century, I get the feeling this was the band's thanks for us having them be one of the biggest bands of the 70's as it was unsurprisingly released exclusively here and nowhere else in the world.
Technically this was the second solo single that George Michael released in his career, although by all accounts it was his first solo single as "Careless whisper" was by all accounts a Wham track that just happened to be credited to him alone when it was released as a single. Much like that track, this is also a ballad about his complicated feelings about a past relationship which seemed to be a theme in his catalogue.
This was the fourth single from Kylie's debut album, it's a song about how Kylie is in love with someone but admittedly doesn't understand why because of the way they treat her. The song is cute in that she ponders why she loves this person in French, hence the title of the song which translates to "I still love you (but I don't know why)" and why it was likely a huge hit for her worldwide.
I guess Sting was still able to find success with his second solo album which goes to show how popular he was throughout the decade despite how people feel about his songwriting abilities. Here he scored a huge hit about how him and his partner will make it through the trials of their relationship no matter what people say, it connected with audiences giving him one final hit down under.
Well, this is the trio's commentary of how songwriting had become stagnant in the music industry, let's just say Sting wasn't in a position to be making these claims considering even at the time people were calling into question his songwriting skills. The point of the song is to showcase how songs had begun to heavily rely on catchy choruses, this having a copout chorus to force audiences to pay attention to the verses.
I feel like this is the female empowerment anthem to end all female empowerment anthems, after all we have not one but two of the most powerful women in music joining forces to uplift the spirits of women around the world saying they can do whatever they want without feeling like they need to conform to the patriarchy. This song endures the test of time due to uplifting the women of the world without feeling the need to put men down.
This and her next entry are songs Madonna like to pretend never happened, mainly because of the negative memories she has of the film in question which garnered her second Razzie win for worst actress. Despite the film being a critical and commercial failure (likely due to the obnoxious tone of the film from what I've seen in reviews) the soundtrack was a huge success likely due to both of these songs being among her better work.
This was the other big hit that Madness achieved here in Australia, likely due to it coming out around the time they performed this and their earlier single on Countdown making them one of the more popular bands here this year. Their next song was "Our house," a song that underperformed here despite it easily being one of their most recognisable tracks likely due to its popularity on Billboard.
Kylie Mole was a character on the TV series the Comedy club that was created by comedian Mary Anne Fahey who was obviously meant to be a knockoff of Kylie Minogue given how quickly the Australian pop star rose to prominence in the music industry. Now unlike other comedians who made fun of Kylie in a cruel and derogatory way, Kylie did so in a loving way to the point where both women were friends in real life.
This was a surprise hit for Sheena Easton given how the last time she troubled the charts in Australia was six years prior with her hit single "Strut," indeed this is another entry into her catalogue of seductive tracks where she titillates her audience with her sexual appeal. Here she tries her hand at rapping which is perhaps how this managed to become a success over the sea of Paula Abdul rip-offs here.
It seemed odd that these guys would be able to score a hit this year considering how grunge had taken over the mainstream with the likes of Nirvana and Pearl jam, however Def Leppard had one thing over those guys which was a music video that has (even at the time) some of the worst CGI you'll ever witness on screen. This helped the glam rock track become a hit long after the genre had lost its popularity.
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