UK hits of the 80's VII

Well, I thought I'd cover all the big hits from the UK throughout the 80's that were hits in the southern hemisphere just like I did for the big hits on Billboard a few months back. Once again, I'll be skipping over songs that weren't a success in Australia and/or NZ as well as using different album art to the one's I used for entries on those sides of my site. This list is also homegrown (which you can check out here for reference.)

I bet you forget that I said these guys had a second appearance on this list, here they are with of course the one hit that had worldwide that wasn't as such here in Australia. Bearing in mind that this was the song which broke them through to an international market due to its popularity throughout Europe.

Here's another face we haven't seen in quite some time on this list, this was Belinda Carlisle's first hit she had that wasn't as such in her homeland as her fellow Americans ignored her third album to the point where she was dropped from her label over there but not internationally.

This is another entry that I'm sure will shock you with how low it is on this list, it was a hit for the J Geils band in the UK, just not to the ludicrous scale that it was in their homeland or anywhere else in the world for that matter. It might be due to the music video which I'm sure freaked out the Brits back in the day.

This is the other entry from the Fine young cannibals on this list, again it was far from the biggest hit of its year in their homeland and yet it was what put them on the map internationally. The further down this list I go, the more I realise that any sort of exposure on the UK charts is grounds for potential worldwide success.

Now I'm aware this was a hit here in Australia due to the Damned performing this on Countdown, however it's possible we Aussies came across this cover of the Barry Ryan classic due to it charting quite high in their homeland. It's also a rare punk track to appear on this list as well as my list on rateyourmusic.

While this wasn't the inescapable chart topper in the UK like it was here in Australia and their native America, it appears the Brits appreciated this change in direction that KC and the Sunshine band took once the 80's had begun. They obviously preferred their disco classics as evidence by their earlier entry on this list.

This wasn't among the biggest hits of its time in the Korgis's homeland; however, it was unique enough to connect with their fellow Brits as well as eventually find an audience with us Aussies at the start of the decade. It also no doubt inspired the likes of Spandau ballet and ABC with their entries we've looked at on this list already.

This was another victim of the 1984 Christmas season, if it were released at any other point in time, then rest assured it would be much higher on this list as there was a lot of hype going into Alison Moyet's solo debut when this came out.

I guess the Brits weren't as ecstatic with this reunion between UB40 and Chrissie Hynde as the kiwis were given how this has a lower placement on this list compared to the NZ list, although at least the reunion was a success in their homeland as opposed to the rest of the world where it was largely ignored.

If you want to know why this was a sleeper hit in NZ, that's because it was far from the biggest hit from Soul II soul in their homeland likely due to them being a new name in a year that was a celebration of the biggest names of the 80's. This was a success (hence its appearance on my list) just not an inescapable one like their earlier entry.

I have no idea why this nearly topped the NZ charts given how it wasn't anywhere near as big for Alvin Stardust in his homeland, this is especially considering that it was his only hit over there as he had no success prior to this track with the kiwis. Its success in his homeland makes more sense considering he was a household name over there throughout the 70's.

OK what I said about Alvin Stardust also applies here as Princess somehow managed to nearly top the NZ charts with her debut single despite it being far from the biggest hit of its year in her homeland. Naturally it was due to how inescapable it was in NZ that it crossed over here in Australia, although to be fair it was a decent hit for her amongst her fellow Brits.

It's been a while since we looked at an American woman of colour finding success in the UK despite being a no name in her homeland, hasn't it? Here we are with Gwen Guthrie's only hit as it was a decent success in the UK right before it became a huge chart topper for her in NZ of all places. She did score a second minor hit in NZ with a Carpenters cover which flopped in the UK.

This had to wait almost an entire year to find an audience in NZ following the more immediate success it had for Wet wet wet in their native UK, it turns out that their earlier entry on this list became a hit over there the same time their Joe Cocker cover became the biggest hit they had of the decade in their homeland.

We had to apologize to the Trekkies earlier on this list, time now for our apologies to the Dr who fandom as the KLF decided to mock the popular BBC series with this novelty track that allowed it to become a cheap chart topper for them in their homeland as well as NZ. This is the final chart topper for this list, with Jive Bunny's "Let's party" being the final one had it been a hit internationally.

Remember how I asked how we Aussies knew about this track from Transvision vamp the last time we talked about them? I'm guessing we noticed how hard this went whenever it appeared on a TOTP countdown which encouraged us to check it out in droves. This means that the band found way more success down under than they did in their homeland.

This is the other entry from Bob Marley for this list, again we have to thank the kiwis for this appearing on here as Bob only had the one hit from 1978 with "Is this love" here in Australia over the years. Obviously, this was a bigger hit in NZ for the reggae legend, however not by much as it dropped off the charts fairly quickly in both countries.

This is the final entry from Culture club on this list, again we have a near miss for the number one spot as there was a ton of hype going into their third album which was unfortunately not met once it dropped. At least their fellow Brits could appreciate the message of the song just like we Aussies did.

We haven't heard from Whitney Houston for a while on this list, have we? Here we are with the song that put her on the map here in Australia which was her fourth biggest hit of the decade in the UK. The third was "One moment in time" which we skipped due to its failure in the southern hemisphere, she also would've had another entry on this list with "So emotional" if that crossed over as well.

Here we are with Rick Astley's final appearance on this list, naturally it wasn't as big in his homeland as it was over in America due to it being separated by "Whenever you need somebody" and "When I fall in love" as opposed to it being the immediate follow up to his top entry on this list.

It's hard to say which country is responsible for this being a staple in folk music given how its success is equal on both the British and American charts, what I do know is that it was here in Australia where this debut single from Tracy Chapman found the most success as it easily appears higher on that list than it does on these two lists.

As this was the follow up to "We don't talk anymore," this was bound to be a massive hit for Cliff Richard in his homeland even if I doubt anyone outside of his fanbase would recognise this in recent years. He certainly had an interesting career trajectory throughout the 80's as we've seen on this list alone.

This is the final entry from Cliff Richard on this list, it's curiously his biggest hit here in Australia given how inescapable it was on our charts upon its initial release. It appears his fellow Brits weren't that impressed with this track as they quickly moved on to his top entry on this list during the album cycle.

I bet you forgot that I mentioned these guys had two entries on this list, here we are with ABC's debut single which proved to be more popular internationally than it was in their homeland for whatever reason. I really don't know why it popped off in NZ of all places other than maybe them confusing these guys for Devo.

Given how MJ was at the top of his game when this came out, it only makes sense that the Brits would make this a huge success for Rockwell thanks to his catchy chorus he provided the rapper. This would be the full extent of Rockwell's popularity over there just like it was internationally.

If you're wondering why this song appears so low on this list despite it being a huge international chart topper for Billy Ocean, that's likely because his fellow Brits had already rejected the original version of this track "European queen" where the only difference between both versions was where the queen in question was from.

Try as I might, I'm unable to find any cover art that suggests that the full title of this track is "French kissing in the USA" rather than what it actually is. I bring this up because apparently it was this title change that helped it find an audience internationally after it bombed in Debbie's native America.

I bet you forgot all about me mentioning that both of Tiffany's Billboard chart toppers would be appearing on this list, indeed she found massive success in the UK with her second single following the surprise success of her debut she had from earlier on this list.

Here's the other entry from Bobby Brown on this list, naturally it would be his Billboard chart topper even though I'm willing to bet some of you thought it would be "Every little step" based on how well he did in the southern hemisphere. He would have one more hit in the UK in the 90's, although it would be with "Two can play at that game" which flopped everywhere else in the world.

You knew this was going to appear on this list given how their earlier entry was one of the biggest hits of the decade in the UK, again I can't for the life of me find any cover art that lists them as the Detroit spinners which makes me wonder why the Brits ever called these guys that.

While this wasn't as big in the UK as it was in America, NZ or even here in Australia, there was no doubt this would be a show in for this list as we've firmly established throughout this list that the Brits had a soft spot for musicians of colour throughout the years.

I'm a bit surprised that this was more successful in the southern hemisphere than it was in the UK or on Billboard, admittedly the fact this was a hit in the UK is impressive even with the wacky music video likely appealing to the Brits love for novelty. Sadly, their success was confided to their native Canada as they remain a one hit wonder everywhere else.

I told you we'd be looking at this song twice on this list, this covers its original release where it allowed the Cars to escape the one hit wonder bin that "My best friend's girl" threatened to trap them in from 1978. It's hard to say if its success in the southern hemisphere came from its success in the UK or their native America.

We have one final appearance from Madonna on this list, it's another song that became a success in 1985 as a rerelease despite it being a decent success upon its initial release in the UK the year prior. I'm guessing this was to cash in off the rebranding of her debut album as it now went by the first album as opposed to it being a self-titled.

This is the final entry from Alison Moyet on this list, it got a bit lost in the shuffle amongst her fellow Brits due to the high number of re-entries from older artists as well as songs made as commercial fodder for the day (both categories failing to appear on this list due to their failure to find success in the southern hemisphere.)

I'm as surprised as you are at the lack of representation that New order has on this list, granted they appeared to be more well loved by the kiwis if their presence on that side of my site is anything to go by, however I would've thought this would be much higher on the list even if their fellow Brits were likely turned off by the bizarre music video.

It's been a while since we looked at Billy Joel, so here he is with his final appearance on this list as the Brits weren't quite as impressed with his history lesson as we Aussies and his fellow Americans were by the end of the decade. Still at least they made it a hit as opposed to anything he released prior to 1983.

For some reason, I'm surprised that this was the only hit that Styx had in the UK, probably because their brand of soft rock fits in perfectly with the cheesy ballads that permeated the UK charts throughout the 70's. Still there was no way this was going to flop over there given how this was a huge Billboard chart topper for them just as that decade was coming to an end.

This is the penultimate appearance of MJ on this list, I bring this up because I only skipped two of his tracks on my rateyourmusic list (those being "Smooth criminal" and "Leave me alone.") What else is weird is that this was second only to "Don't stop till you get enough" as the biggest hit from his solo debut from the start of the decade over there.

Given how this is an Oscar winning ballad as well as a huge Billboard chart topper, it only makes sense that the Brits would make this a success for Christopher Cross even though his debut album was a massive flop over there at the start of the decade.

I bet you weren't expecting to see this on my list, it by all accounts is eligible as it was part of a three for one deal here in Australia which resulted in this, "Cherish" and "Misled" being Kool and the gang's only hit down under. Admittedly this is another victim of the Christmas period of 1984 which explains its failure to crack the British top ten (the only entry on this list that failed to do so, with "Hymn" from Ultravox being the only other candidate in this regard.)

I don't know how the Brits got a hold of this track given how it wasn't among the biggest hits of the year in Animotion's native America, however they did which is perhaps how it managed to find an audience with us Aussies and kiwis back in the day. They remain a one hit wonder over there just like they do internationally.

I bet you were beginning to wonder if I forgot about this magnum opus from George Michael, while it was a huge hit for him in his homeland, it unfortunately fell off the UK charts fairly quickly as opposed to it sticking around like it did in Australia, NZ and on Billboard.

I guess the Brits weren't too big of fans of Beaches as we Aussies, kiwis and Americans were given how much lower its theme song appears on this list compared to where it appears on those respective lists. Admittedly it could also be that the Brits weren't big fans of Bette Midler in general as this was her first charting single over there.

We're really racking up the surprises on this list as like you, I expected to see this much higher on this list. At least this almost went to number one in the UK even if its success was more potent over in America coming out of the 80's, although Phil wouldn't have much luck in the 90's in his homeland.

I'm not sure what surprises me more, the fact this was seemingly pulled from the shelves here in Australia or the fact that despite that happening, it was still a bigger hit down under for Blancemange than it was in their homeland. Granted this did peak during the Christmas period of 1982, however how we Aussies came across this track is beyond me.

Much like here in Australia, this was only a hit in the UK once it won an academy award. Unlike here in Australia, said award wasn't enough for this to be an inescapable hit for the duo in question, although at least this made the cut as opposed to the other Oscar winning ballad Jennifer Warnes was a part of.

This is the final appearance from Elton John on this list, it seems fitting that it would be the follow up to his previous entry on this list given how his fellow Brits only seemed to be interested in Too low for zero as well as his top entry on this list throughout the 80's.

It's curious to think that of the three candidates I have for this list of mine from Level 42, the one that makes the cut is the weakest hit they had of the three in their homeland. Their other two hits were "Lessons in love" and "Something about you," the latter of which was also a candidate for my Billboard list.

This was one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia, so it makes sense that the Brits would make it a success for John Farnham even though they likely had never heard of him prior to this becoming a hit over there. This unfortunately didn't lead him to any further success with the Brits.

I would say that I'm confused as to how Maxi Priest managed to find massive worldwide success when he was far from the most popular artists in his native UK, but then I remember he was a member of UB40 and thus likely managed to find worldwide success with his connections to them rather than his popularity with his fellow Brits.

When I said there would be a third appearance from Cyndi Lauper on this list, I bet you weren't expecting it to be the lead single to her third album were you? It appears the Brits were largely unimpressed with her second album as that failed to produce a hit for her in the UK, however they clearly had love for this track Roy Orbison donated to her shortly prior to his death.

Here's the other appearance from Martika I mentioned earlier on this list, again this was way more popular here in Australia, however that was due to a Countdown performance she gave right before the decade ended as opposed to it being a success on its own merits throughout the rest of the world.

This is our final appearance from UB40 on this list, I only skipped over one song from my rateyourmusic list of theirs (that being "Don't break my heart") which means their fellow Brits passed over a few of their songs that we Aussies and kiwis didn't throughout the decade.

This is the final appearance from Duran Duran on this list, I'm guessing this connected with their fellow Brits due to its saucy music video which many feminists cite as the main evidence for sexism in the music industry (they of course ignore sexism towards men when they say this.) This also confirms that it was us Aussies that made these guys a household name as "Planet earth" bombed in their homeland.

I'm really surprised this is so low on this list, granted this nearly topped the British charts as it has novelty written all over it, however it was a massive chart topper for Trio over in NZ which goes to show how much more amusing the kiwis found this over the Brits.

Whereas this was a mere sleeper hit for Boys town gang here in Australia, it was a genuine hit for them over in the UK where disco continued to reign supreme despite MTV's best efforts in making it yesterday's news worldwide. Sadly, they only had the one hit as they called it quits in 1984 due to the failure they had on Billboard.

This is the final entry from Prince on this list, it appears the Brits weren't too big a fan of this err.... collage he made for Tim Burton's adaptation of Batman as I refuse to believe this song underperforming was due to their disinterest in the film. He would continue to have moderate success in the UK throughout the 90's.

I'm not sure why this was the big hit from Paul Young over in NZ given how it was far from his biggest success in his homeland, at least it was eligible for this list as opposed to "Everything must change" and "Everytime you go away" from his second album, the latter of which was a Billboard chart topper for him.

This is the final entry on this list to be a hit in 1985 despite originally being released earlier in the decade, admittedly I'm not sure why this and Billy's earlier entry on this list was ignored by his fellow Brits until the midpoint of the decade, however both songs did win them over this year for some reason.

It appears the Brits were bigger fans of the movie this song is named after than Labyrinth just like the rest of the world was, either that or we all were simply unimpressed with the soundtrack to that cult classic. I skipped over "Fashion" from my rateyourmusic list as that flopped in the southern hemisphere, it's the only song from Bowie that I had to do so for this list.

This is Bananarama's final entry on this list, I skipped over "Robert De Niro's waiting" which makes this their weakest hit they had that was eligible for this list. Again, how this managed to become an international chart topper including in America when its success was so mediocre in their homeland is beyond me.

This is another song that almost topped the British charts to rank so low on this list, I guess the Brits only made this a hit through its novelty value and definitely didn't affiliate it with the Cocktail soundtrack as we won't be looking at the Beach boy's contribution to that cinematic disaster on this list.

If you're wondering how this managed to become a massive hit for Altered images in NZ when it struggles to appear on this list, that's because it was released for the Christmas season of 1981 where it got lost in the shuffle from a lot of the earlier entries on this list. Why their other NZ hit "Don't talk to me about love" underperformed over there on the other hand is beyond me.

This is the only other entry that Simple minds have on this list, again I didn't skip any of their songs like I've done for so many other artists we've looked at, meaning their fellow Brits didn't have a lot of love for their catalogue like we Aussies and kiwis did throughout the 80's.

Given how this was a massive worldwide hit for Robbie Nevil, it only makes sense that the Brits would join in on making this a hit even if its success in the UK was pitiful to what it achieved in the southern hemisphere (let alone his native America.) I think Australia is the only place in the world where he was able to escape the one hit wonder bin with "Just like you."

It's a bit surprising to see that this is the only entry from the Stray cats on this list, admittedly it was the song that put them on the map which is perhaps why it crossed over here in Australia, however I would’ve thought their entries from my Billboard list would also appear on here.

This is the final entry from David Bowie on this list, it's the second single from Let's dance I mentioned earlier on this list which somewhat got lost in the shuffle back in the day due to it already being released by Iggy Pop who he co-wrote this with.

I'm a bit shocked this wasn't a huge hit for these guys in their homeland given how this almost topped the Australian charts for them, I guess we Aussies were able to find the humour in them making fun of the Beastie boys in a way that the Brits couldn't appreciate. Needless to say, this was a massive flop in NZ where hip hop was well respected.

It appears the kiwis took a page out of the Brits in making this Yello's only success, why they passed up "Oh yeah" when it became a surprise hit here in Australia two years after its initial release is beyond me if they were willing to give success to the Austrian duo.

This is the final entry from both Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, it's fitting we close out their respective representation on this list with the one song they made together even if its success in the UK pales in comparison to what it achieved throughout the rest of the world.

These guys notoriously had little success in their native America throughout their career, so much so that I wasn't expecting them to have a hit in the UK even if this was their only hit over there. Again, thank the kiwis for why this made it on here otherwise we wouldn't have them on one of these lists.

How appropriate that we close out this list with the title track to MJ's third solo album, I was beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel with this list as everything that appears after this entry from here on out on my rateyourmusic list seemed like they were filler entries on the UK charts back in the day.

So, what are my thoughts on the UK charts of the 80's? Well first off, I have to apologise for coming off a bit confrontational when it came to debunking the lack of representation in the music industry throughout the 80's, there were so many other queer, non-white and ESPECIALLY female artists that I skipped over on this list due to their failure to score a hit in the southern hemisphere that I actually got agitated here and there when coming up with things to say about how diverse the music industry was in the UK and indeed throughout the world (the overall quality of most of the songs on here thankfully brought me in a peaceful mind.) I guess one way the UK scene was worse than the rest of the world was the high number of novelty tracks there were, again I skipped a fair amount of these tracks that failed to catch on anywhere else in the world due to no one outside of the UK finding much to enjoy about them. The Brits also didn't have much love for rock and roll as the few entries from that genre that did make the cut felt like they were hits more out of obligations rather than genuine enjoyment they had for these songs. Unlike in America where there wasn't a clear genre that defined the decade, in the UK the winner was obviously new wave with sophistopop coming in a close second which many feel is a spinoff of new wave anyway. I can't stress enough how little it mattered for a song getting to number one throughout the decade, arguably more so than here in Australia as at least songs failing to get to number one was due to them getting stuck behind juggernauts whilst a song having a low peak position was due to it being released at different points in time across the country. I also don't understand why so many songs became a hit specifically in 1985 despite being released prior to that year, yes there was Live aid, however that didn't encourage the general public of that year outside of the UK to revisit any artists back catalogue (save for maybe Bruce Springsteen and Phil Collins, although that was clearly due to their respective world tours that year rather than their involvement with Live aid.) Finally, I brought this up on one of the entries, but it really seems arbitrary which bands and artists from the UK crossover internationally as you no doubt noticed towards the end of this list. The biggest artist of the decade that failed to appear on this list was Depeche mode followed closely by Status quo with a string of other names that also had several entries on my list that failed to make it on here.

I think that's all I have to say in this recap, it's definitely not a list hardcore rock fans will enjoy much; however, I had fun constructing it and hope this will further debunk the claims Marxist idiots make about the decade (as well as horrify those who think its perceived lack of diversity was a good thing.)