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

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.

#72 for 1981

#62 for 1985

#76 for 1980

#68 for 1983

#64 for 1982

#63 for 1985

#64 for 1985

#65 for 1982

#85 for 1987

#91 for 1988

#69 for 1983

#73 for 1981

#77 for 1980

#78 for 1980

#74 for 1981

#75 for 1981

#65 for 1985

#68 for 1984

#66 for 1982

#70 for 1983

#57 for 1986

#86 for 1987

#69 for 1984

#66 for 1985

#71 for 1983

#79 for 1980

#58 for 1986

#70 for 1984

#59 for 1986

#70 for 1989

#76 for 1981

#87 for 1987

Well, this album art is sure to not offend anyone, jokes aside this was the lead single of Cold chisel's final album together before they went their separate ways to allow Jimmy Barnes to pursue his solo career. It was a decent success for the band and likely would've appeared on one of my prior lists had it not peaked during the Christmas season of 1983.

#88 for 1987

#60 for 1986

This is a ska cover of a track from 1970 from the Australian band the Allniters, while this wasn't quite as successful as the original from Bobby Bloom, it was a different spin on the original which is good because this was released nine years after the death of Bobby. Unfortunately, this was the band's only hit despite being active for several decades after this became a hit.

#71 for 1989

#80 for 1980

#72 for 1983

#92 for 1988

Oh look, an entry that made its first appearance on the Countdown list I made a while back. Here's the third and final hit that Wa Wa Nee had here in Australia which was one of the earlier victims of being released at different times here in Australia depending on which state you're in. It's technically bigger than "I could make you love me" because of its lengthy chart run compared to that single.

#81 for 1980

It seems odd that this would be the big hit off of Hall and Oates’ album of the same name here in Australia and not "I can't go for that" which still fails to appear on this side of my site despite appearing on a yearend list back in the day. They were another band that didn't see much mainstream popularity here back in the day but was nonetheless massively successful due to the sheer volume of chart entries they had.

I guess we Aussies weren't too adverse to the idea of Poison having success with one of their ballads even if this wasn't the big success here that "Nothing but a good time" or "Unskinny bop" was, I have to agree with audiences back in the day who felt this was a cheesy sellout for the band even if in retrospect that puts me in the minority given how fondly remembered this remains to this day.

We have another entry on here that only appeared on my Countdown list, this time it's the big breakthrough that Machinations had as this catchy little number managed to stick around for quite some time on the charts despite failing to usurp the likes of Wham and Culture club upon its initial release. Like many new entries to this list, this remains a staple on oldies stations to this day.

If you're wondering why "Forever now" wasn't as big a hit in NZ as it was here in Australia, that's because this was the lead single to Circus animals over here as opposed to "Forever now" being the lead single over there. I guess we Aussies didn't quite take to this track upon its initial release despite remaining one of the band's more recognisable hits in their vast catalogue.

If you were to go back and read about one hit wonders from the 80's, you'd find that these guys were dismissed as such with "Rock lobster" despite this lead single from their second album doing quite well albeit only here in Australia due to them performing it on Countdown upon its initial release. It retains the wacky energy from their debut single even if it omits the LGBT references in the lyrics.

I guess we Aussies weren't as invested in having Diana Ross be one of the biggest names of the 80's as the rest of the world was given how much less successful this cover of the 50's classic was here compared to NZ and her native America. At least this reached the upper echelons of our charts as opposed to "I'm coming out" which was a massive flop for her down under.

#89 for 1987

#71 for 1984

#61 for 1986

Well, we can finally have the Pretty in pink theme on this side of my site as it was indeed a moderate success here back in the day for OMD, I guess we Aussies were a bit adverse to having the new wave band be a success but changed our minds once they appeared on Countdown with Kim Wilde months after this became a worldwide smash for them.

#73 for 1983

Although this wasn't the inescapable success that their two earlier entries on this list were, this nonetheless lasted quite a while for 1927 on our charts for it to be a massive success for them back in the day even with how inescapable their album was. "Compulsory hero" almost qualified to appear on this site but was too much of what I like to call a "fan hit" to do so due to how quickly it fell off our charts.

It looked like that Tina Turner's album Break every rule would be a massive flop here given how its lead single "Typical male" failed to become a success with us Aussies, however the album was saved when the second single became a huge sleeper hit for her here despite it failing to become a hit anywhere else in the world. Even "The best" was a massive hit throughout Europe by the end of the decade.

I guess this was also a big success here in Australia for Alison Moyet like it was over in NZ, although it failed to fight through all the Christmas entries upon its initial release which is why it failed to appear on this side of my site up until now. For what it's worth, "Love resurrection" almost made the cut for this bonus list of mine given how it cracked our top twenty like it did internationally.

Many believe Rick Astley to be a one album wonder, unfortunately that's mostly true as save for this lead single to his second album and "Cry for help" from earlier on this list, he didn't have much success outside of Whenever you need somebody even in his native UK. I guess leading the album with the lone song not produced by Stock Aitken and Waterman didn't pan out well for his prospects.

If we were to exclude his remix of "Love is in the air" from earlier on this list, this was the final hit that John Paul Young had in his career which is fitting as it sees him trying to adapt with the times which is a far cry from the more insightful songs he released earlier in his career.

18 weeks