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

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.

#82 for 1981

#69 for 1986

#86 for 1980

#75 for 1985

#76 for 1982

#73 for 1989

#78 for 1984

#70 for 1986

#76 for 1985

#77 for 1982

#77 for 1985

#71 for 1986

#83 for 1981

#87 for 1980

Devo was on a roll when they released the lead single to their second album here in Australia given how it came off the success of their live E.P from earlier on this list, although it appears we Aussies largely passed up this classic in favour of the album itself given how it was only a sleeper hit here, hence why it failed to appear on this site up until now.

#78 for 1982

#81 for 1983

#79 for 1982

#84 for 1981

#82 for 1983

It appears that Big Pig were a two hit wonder here in Australia given how this managed to appear on this list for the British based Australian band, again we can blame this peaking during the Christmas period throughout the 80's as to why it failed to appear on one of my lists given how Christmas of 1986 was a particularly stacked season down under like the other Christmas seasons were.

#79 for 1984

This is another entry I'm surprised wasn't a huge success here in Australia back in the day, although at least it was a Billboard chart topper for Yes even though I'm sure many of their older fanbase cried sellout given how this is a far cry from the prog rock that made them a household name from a decade prior. I'm guessing this was as bit as it was down under due to the success Jon Anderson had with Vangelis around this time.

#92 for 1987

#72 for 1986

#83 for 1983

This is the only hit that Mental as anything had from their album Creatures of leisure, an album that was sandwiched between two of their most popular throughout their career and is thus often forgotten even exists due to the tepid reception it received back in the day.

#78 for 1985

We have another new entry from Huey Lewis on this list, this time it's the second single from his biggest album Sports which is best known nowadays for its bizarre music video which includes close ups of him and his bands faces. I guess this was amusing enough for us Aussies to make it a modest success despite the album already selling like hotcakes here by the time it was released as a single.

This is another entry on this list that had the unfortunate bad luck of peaking during the Christmas period of the year it was released in, in this case it peaked during the Christmas of 1981 which is a shame as this ballad feels perfect for the holiday season (at least musically it does) as well as continuing the winning streak that the trio had here in Australia.

#74 for 1989

I guess this was the big hit off of Talking heads magnum opus Little creatures here in Australia after all given how "And she was" still fails to appear on this site despite it cracking our top ten following the success of this staple in the band's discography. It blows my mind how much we Aussies ignored these guys back in the day; however, you can consider their success in NZ an accurate reflection of their legacy.

#79 for 1985

#73 for 1986

#80 for 1982

We finally have a song from the Eurhythmics’ second album to feature on this site of mine, although I'm not sure why we Aussies gravitated towards this second single from said album given how it's very different from the new wave they were offering at the time and even the synth pop they would offer later in their catalogue. I guess the uniqueness of this track is what clicked with us back in the day.

#80 for 1984

17 weeks

#80 for 1985

#74 for 1986

#75 for 1986

#81 for 1982

#85 for 1981

#88 for 1980

#75 for 1989

#81 for 1985

#84 for 1983

#89 for 1980

#90 for 1980

#93 for 1988

#93 for 1987

#82 for 1982

#85 for 1983

#76 for 1986

#91 for 1980

#77 for 1986

#82 for 1985

#78 for 1986

#81 for 1984

#76 for 1989

#86 for 1983

#83 for 1982

#77 for 1989

#79 for 1986

#87 for 1983

#82 for 1984

#80 for 1986

#83 for 1985

#92 for 1980

#84 for 1985

#86 for 1981

#88 for 1983

#84 for 1982

#81 for 1986

#85 for 1982

#94 for 1988

#78 for 1989

#79 for 1989

#95 for 1988

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.