Hits of Australia and NZ: Hits of the 80's Australia II

I know this feels a little reductive considering every entry on this list appeared on my biggest hits of 1980-1992 lists, however I love the 80's and I'm sure the 80's aficionados in my audience would want a list like this given how I've already done one for the 90's and 70's on this site. The same rules I applied to the 90's list apply here, I'll only add commentary to songs that didn't appear on one of my official year end lists and will be ranking them based on how long they lasted on our charts.

#7 for 1984

28 weeks

#6 for 1981

#2 for 1982

#8 for 1984

#12 for 1987

#11 for 1983

#9 for 1984

#13 for 1987

#15 for 1989

#10 for 1980

#10 for 1984

#16 for 1989

#14 for 1987

#13 for 1990

#6 for 1986

#15 for 1987

#7 for 1986

#11 for 1980

#3 for 1982

#12 for 1980

#8 for 1986

#16 for 1987

#26 for 1988

#12 for 1983

#27 for 1988

#13 for 1983

#16 for 1990

#13 for 1980

#17 for 1987

#18 for 1987

#19 for 1987

From what I can gather, Simon Gallaher and Jackie Love were two theatre performers who scored a surprise sleeper hit with this duet with each other in the early 80's. I wish I could elaborate on this entry; however, it appears this was only a success due to how well showstoppers from theatre productions were doing at the time worldwide.

This is the only hit from glam rocker Keith Marshall, he was part of an unsuccessful band from his homeland known as Hello, so how he managed to find success here in Australia (even if it was merely sleeper success) is beyond me.

27 weeks

#4 for 1982

#14 for 1983

For the sake of simplicity, I've decided to bundle these two songs together on this list even though the latter didn't chart until a month after the former's release. That is to say that both songs are among the most successful of all time here in Australia in their own right, although most will tell you that their respective success here is integral to each other.

#6 for 1985

#20 for 1987

#28 for 1988

#9 for 1986

#21 for 1987

#29 for 1988

#22 for 1987

#10 for 1986

#17 for 1989

#17 for 1990

#5 for 1982

#11 for 1986

#23 for 1987

#7 for 1985

#12 for 1986

#15 for 1979

#14 for 1980

#13 for 1986

#18 for 1989

#24 for 1987

#15 for 1980

#7 for 1981

#30 for 1988

#16 for 1980

#8 for 1985

#8 for 1981

#15 for 1983

#31 for 1988

#9 for 1981

#32 for 1988

This was one of several songs that appeared on the NZ side of my site that was only a sleeper hit at best here in Australia, although it does feel odd that this didn't do even better over here considering how this was released at the height of the medley craze that had taken over the music scene worldwide.

#11 for 1984

#14 for 1986

This is the only entry from Scarecrow that managed to become a hit for John Cougar Mellencamp here in Australia, I guess had it been released as the lead single rather than the third single, it probably would've been more of a genuine hit here rather than a sleeper hit like it wound up being. Still, it and the rest of the singles on the album remain staples on oldies stations to this day and for good reason.

While it's true that "Stay" remains the song that everyone affiliates with Shakespear's sister to this day, it's worth noting that their debut single was also a decent success for them back in the day likely due to the star power that Siobhan Fahey had following her departure from Bananrama. As you can imagine, this was completely different from anything she has released with her former band hence its mixed reception upon its release.

As this was released much sooner here in Australia than it was in NZ (it was still released a year after it became a success throughout Europe) it only makes sense that we Aussies were a bit puzzled with what to do with this track as opposed to the kiwis who made it an instant success when it saw the light of day over there.

Although "Africa" was the big hit off of Toto's grammy award winning album IV, this was its lead single which was enough of a success here in Australia back in the day for it to be a sleeper hit for the band. This is another song that is more well known these days compared to many of the songs that managed to be bigger hits upon its initial release on this list thanks to oldies stations keeping it on rotation.

I have to imagine we Aussies weren't impressed with the nightmare inducing Claymation like the rest of the world was, yes this was originally a hit for Jackie Wilson upon its 1957 initial release, however I doubt the children of those who made it a hit initially passed up on this because they dug up their parents copy of the track when it resurfaced in the mainstream.

26 weeks