Here it is, the long-awaited NZ equivalent of my greatest hit singles/albums of all time list I made a while back. Just like last time, I’ll be presenting this as a countdown, meaning that each entry will be more successful than the last as we go down this list. The main difference here of course is that unlike here in Australia, there was only one chart in NZ over the years, meaning that there won’t be multiple entries from singles/albums from the late 80’s/90’s/00’s like there was on my Australian list. Also, I won’t be including entries from the RIANZ charts given how they didn’t track album sales and that they were based on popular votes rather than sales, that and there was only ever a top twenty which means there’s a good chance they were struggling to fill out the top twenty each week during its run.
#4600
This was less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, I guess because the kiwis didn't find much chemistry between the two vocalists on here like we Aussies did but also due to adult contemporary being less popular this year over there than it was compared to the rest of the world.
#4599
From what I can gather, these girls were part of the Mo thugs family supergroup who scored a massive hit with their earlier entry on this list exclusively in NZ, it would appear that the kiwis wanted to hear more from the women who provided the chorus to the big hit that the group had.
#4598
This was the third hit to come from Leo Sayer's magnum opus Endless flight in NZ, I guess this is further proof that the kiwis didn't allow strong album sales to affect the success of said albums singles back in the day given how this was a minor hit at best here in Australia despite how much more well-loved the English crooner was over here back in the day.
#4597
Believe me, I was shocked when I realised this was a flop here in Australia back in the day, however it appears the kiwis were able to get their hands on this breakthrough single from ELO which is how it was able to appear on this list even if the rest of their catalogue saw much less success over there than it did over here.
#4596
I guess the kiwis weren't as amused by this track from Jack Black and Kyle Gass as we Aussies were back in the day given how much lower this appears on this side of my site compared to the Australian side, although at least this was a hit over there as opposed to their native America where this was a complete flop on the Billboard charts.
#4595
Although Tevin Campbell did achieve massive success in NZ throughout the 90's, I should point out that this will be his only appearance on this side of my site as none of his other singles racked up enough points to make the cut for their respective lists. It seems odd that his biggest hit in NZ and his native America would be from his much younger years given how his later work was much better recieved.
#4594
UB40 were certainly on a roll in NZ around this time as they found success with the lead single to an album that didn't receive much love back in the day even in their native UK, indeed they wouldn't reach the dizzying heights of success they had earlier in the decade again until the 90's even if they still had a hit here and there for the remainder of the 80's.
#4593
It was inevitable that this would reappear on this site of my site given how both Babyface and Stevie Wonder were on a roll throughout the decade as we've seen on my previous lists, heck the fact this was a big hit for them both in Australia should've been a sign this was also a success for them in NZ given our allergic reaction to RNB which we were just starting to overcome this year.
#4592
This was such a pain to do research on, apparently this is an instrumental track from German composer Mike Korb that became a surprise hit over in NZ and even briefly charted here in Australia back in the day despite it being a massive flop throughout Europe due to how obscure this track was.
#4591
This was the only hit that Belgian singer Lara Fabian was able to achieve outside of Europe, it was only a success in NZ likely due to us Aussies feeling that this was too much of a Celine Dion rip-off for it to be a success down under back in the day. Indeed, I get the feeling the kiwis only gravitated towards this due to the optimism of the lyrics rather than any traits affiliated with the singer herself.
#4590
I'm actually surprised that we haven't seen many anti-drug songs throughout this site, mainly because we Aussies and kiwis are certainly no strangers to protest music as you've likely noticed if you've been following it so far. Here we are with this anti-drug song from Ringo Starr which coincidentally was the final hit he had anywhere in the world as his popularity faded after this.
#4589
Disney's animated version of Beauty and the beast is my favourite movie of all time bar none (naturally we don't talk about the Emma Watson version) it's one of many films the company made in the 90's that holds up so well that Disney haters have to invent ridiculous claims to make it seem like it isn't a masterpiece when it clearly is. This Oscar winning duet was a hit here in Australia, however it was only a minor one as opposed to its genuine success worldwide.
#4588
It's odd that these guys would be far more successful international than they were in their native America even if they were the type of rockabilly band that would appeal to the fans of Shaking Stevens and Racey from around this time, this was their only notable hit in NZ even though "Runaway boys" was the big hit that they had here in Australia (well it was a sleeper hit at least.)
#4587
It's little surprise that this was more of an immediate hit in NZ than it was here in Australia given how the acid house sub-genre had reigned supreme over there and throughout Europe this year, it also explains how Sonique would eventually find more success over there when she embarked on her solo career than she did over here given that the kiwis clearly had fond memories of this track when that happened over us Aussies.
#4586
Although this title track from RCHP's (then) most recent album would've been a success in its own right, I get the feeling a large factor for its success in NZ came from the music video which showcases members of the band playing a game that has simulations of themselves which impressed audiences around the world back in the day for its (then) impressive CGI graphics.
#4585
They may have had more success in Australia overall than they did in NZ, however at least the kiwis were instantly able to recognise the brilliance of the Police upon their initial breakthrough given how this lead single to their debut album was a hit over there were it wasn't over here. This is often considered their best song due to how timeless it is compared to everything else coming out at the time.
#4584
This was the first of three big hits that the Emotions were able to achieve in NZ, although we've already looked at their other two hits assuming you're following these lists in the order I've posted them. This was their biggest hit over on Billboard likely due to it being the perfect disco jam for the dance floors in their native America, this makes you wonder why it underperformed in Australia around this time.
#4583
This was the only hit that new wave singer Thomas Dolby was able to achieve in his career, it's a novelty track about how the girl of his dreams blinded him with science (whatever that's supposed to mean.) I'm willing to bet this song inspired the plot of Weird science as that's about two nerds creating their own girlfriend with science, something I can see this guy doing in the real world if it were possible.
#4582
Even though this debuted at number one over in NZ, this wound up being a sleeper hit for the Feelers as it's another album that only stuck around due to it rebounding on their charts whenever one of the singles was released. Indeed, their next album would follow a similar pattern later in the decade, making these guys more of a single’s band rather than an albums band.
#4581
Well, he may not have had that inescapable hit in NZ like he did here in Australia (at least on his own as his collaboration with Kylie Minogue was very big over there like it was over here) however that didn't prevent the debut album from Jason Donovan from being a massive success over there which seemed to be a theme with albums produced by Stock Aiken and Waterman the more I think about it.
#4580
Although the lead single wasn't inescapable in NZ like it was here in Australia, that didn't seem to affect the album sales of Sandi Thom's debut as it actually managed to crack the top ten over there in exchange for it dropping out faster than it did over here.
#4579
We featured their sophomore album on the Australian side of my site (it's still to come on the following list) however it appears the kiwis were willing to give these guys a chance early on in the year given how their debut from two years prior managed to crossover due to the surprise success that "Perfect" had around the world.
#4578
I would've been shocked if this live album from Pink Floyd was a flop over in NZ, in fact I'm kind of shocked it wasn't more of a success over there than it was over here given how much the kiwis loved these guys even during their lowest points in their career compared to us Aussies.
#4577
While they didn't reach the dizzying heights of success in NZ that they did here in Australia, it appears the kiwis were willing to let the Angels enter the 90's with massive success with this album just like we Aussies did. Unfortunately, they took too long to release their next album, meaning that we Aussies and kiwis were well and truly done with them by the time it came out in 1998.
#4576
This was a huge hit for Marilyn Manson over in NZ, the only reason why it doesn't appear any higher on this list was due to it spending most of its time in the lower half of the album charts over there likely due to the kiwis considering him to be style over substance like we Aussies did.
#4575
This was more of an immediate success for Suzanne Vega in NZ than it was over here in Australia where it was purely a sleeper hit (that made the cut due to its refusal to drop off our charts and me wanting to recognise that aspect of its success here.) Her next album would of course be even bigger over there than it was over here, even spawning a genuine hit for her in the form of its lead single.
#4574
I guess the kiwis had enough love for Enya during the Christmas season of 2008 to allow her holiday album to become a success over there like it did over here, it remains her final successful album anywhere in the world.
#4573
This was a greatest hits compilation consisting not just of John Fogerty's solo work, but also his work with Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was a huge success in NZ but a massive flop here in Australia, likely due to the nostalgia bug kicking in over there much sooner than it did over here in our mainstream.
#4572
Given the success of their album Maggie (which we'll get to in a bit) Foster and Allen were able to find massive success with this follow up in NZ just like they did over here in Australia this year. Unlike here in Australia where we gave up on the duo after this album, the kiwis kept them around for many years as they occasionally pop up in the upper echelons of their charts even in recent years.
#4571
I'm guessing the reason why Simon and Garfunkel didn't release a new greatest hits album for the fortieth anniversary of their breakup was due to this album getting a second wind as the decade was coming to an end in NZ and in several parts of the world.
#4570
This was the true final album from Led Zeppelin, although given how the band had been broken up for two years at this point, I feel this shouldn't exist given how their label released it to fulfill their contract similar to what John Lennon's label did with his album Milk and honey the following year. It appears the rest of the world had this sentiment back in the day as this was only barely a hit back in the day.
#4569
Tina was certainly on a roll in NZ when she released the lead single to her second album of the decade, while it didn't reach the dizzying heights of success like her earlier entries, it was enough of a hit to appear on this side of my site and even made the album an instant success over there to boot. I guess this was why "The best" flopped later in the decade over there given how this was a flop here in Australia.
#4568
This was another hit that Neil Diamond was able to achieve in NZ during the second half of the decade, again this was only a flop here in Australia due to it being pushed aside in favour of the album becoming a success as well as us Aussies wanting to support our local music scene thanks to Countdown promoting what it had to offer.
#4567
Well, this was the debut single for the Pet shop boys here in Australia, naturally it was a poor choice to introduce the duo to an Australian market if it wasn't even their biggest hit in NZ where they were far more successful throughout their career. They would score one more minor hit over there with "Suburbia" later in the year before going back to the studio to record their second album.
#4566
I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this tribute to Elvis Presley that the Pet shop boys made as the rest of the world was, bearing in mind in only had such a low appearance on the Australian side of my site due to it being more of a sleeper hit here and thus, charting in the lower half of our charts far longer than it did on its upper regions. That said, this was still a huge hit for the duo over there regardless.
#4565
From what I can tell, Greg Johnson was a folk singer from NZ who managed to score a massive hit in his homeland this year with this folk track about the love of his life named Isabelle. It was enough of a success to spark interest in him from America of all places which is why he moved over there later in the decade despite failing to score any other hits in his catalogue in his homeland.
#4564
This was way less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia for Bertie Higgins, I'm guessing it was only a success over there due to how popular it was over here as it crossed over months after it dominated our charts here. I guess the kiwis were willing to leave this sort of easy listening behind but were briefly won over by how sincere and heartfelt this ballad was from the one hit wonder.
#4563
Much like Australia, Bryan's earlier entry on this list was pulled from shelves in NZ to encourage the sales of this second single from Waking up the neighbours as well as the album itself. I think this was the only time where this method worked out as every other time I've seen a song pulled from shelves to encourage album sales resulted in the album either doing just as well if this tactic wasn't applied or it being worse off for it.
#4562
This was the final hit that Bryan Adams was able to achieve in NZ, admittedly this was more of a Barbra Streisand track as it came from her film the Mirror has two faces which was a critical and commercial success around this time. You may have noticed that Bryan was another name from the 90's that didn't have nearly as much success in NZ as he did throughout the rest of the world with these entries.
#4561
MJ was able to score one more hit in NZ this year with this fourth and final single from his comeback album Off the wall, this is a bittersweet ballad about how he lost the love of his life and how he was going to cope with the loss that clearly connected with audiences back in the day given its success. Heck it was even a minor success here in Australia and likely would've been a genuine hit had it been released as the lead single.
#4560
This was the only hit that Ricki Lee Jones was able to achieve throughout her career anywhere in the world, although she was always more of an album artist as evidence by her appearances on my albums lists throughout my site. Still, it appears the kiwis were intrigued by her debut single as it was a genuine hit for her over there while it was a minor success at best over here.
#4559
I'm as shocked as you are that this wasn't more of a hit in NZ especially considering how it was a huge success here in Australia this year, I guess the kiwis weren't that big of fans of the duo back in the day as none of their singles (save for one new entry on my next list) managed to be more of a success over there than they were over here. At least all of their entries will be reappearing on this side of my site.
#4558
While it's not that surprising to see this reappear on this side of my site given how Shona Laing is a NZ artist who previously found success with "1905" in her homeland, what's surprising is that she had to find success over here in Australia before her fellow kiwis realised the beauty of this ballad given how it was a success over there long after it was over here this year.
#4557
This wasn't quite as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for Madonna, I'm not sure why because it's clear the kiwis were cool with her newfound appreciation of Latin music given her earlier entry on this list. I guess they were hyped for her third film named after her earlier entry which from what I can gather, was a huge disaster thanks to her performance where she channels her rival Cyndi Lauper.
#4556
I should point out that this was the song that made Kulcha a household name in NZ given how "Shaka jam" only became a hit over there once this was released as a single and instantly caught on with the quartet's fellow kiwis. These three songs I've featured on this site was the full extent of their popularity back in the day as their second album would bomb later in the decade.
#4555
#4554
You'd think with all of the country making it big in NZ this year that this would've been an even bigger hit for Juice Newton over there, alas it wasn't as it only managed to be half as successful over there as it was over here. At least she was able to have both of her big hits here in Australia reappear on this side of my site as we'll be revisiting "Queen of hearts" later down this list.
#4553
This is one of those songs that became big back in the day that doesn't seem to have much of a legacy anymore, I guess this was a hit due to it sounding like a Fleetwood Mac track which is odd because Fleetwood Mac weren't able to score a hit of their own in NZ with one of their songs, but this guy did.
#4552
This was the other big hit that Willie Nelson had in NZ following the success of his collaboration with Julio Iglesias the previous year, although he's completely overshadowed here by his duet partner on this track as this was the final hit that Ray Charles was able to achieve in his career. Ray was still very much active in the music industry in the 80's as he would frequently collaborate with younger artists of the day.
#4551
Well, here's the other big hit that Yvonne Elliman had in NZ, she also had a hit over here in Australia with this disco classic, but it was too much of a sleeper hit to appear on that side of my site unfortunately. I feel like this song's placement is too low on this list, mainly because it peaked here in Australia during our summer period which the RIANZ charts were on hiatus during that time.
#4550
I honestly would've been surprised if this was a flop for Sade in NZ given that it managed to be a huge success for them over here in Australia, once again, it's low placement on this list is more due to it being a sleeper hit as it could've easily appeared much higher on here had it spent more time in the upper echelons of the NZ charts.
#4549
Unlike here in Australia where this was a hit twice and therefore one of the biggest sleeper hits of all time, in NZ this was more of an immediate success for the Pointer sisters as it reached the upper echelons of their charts for quite some time over there. I do need to point out that when I say immediate success, I mean when the singles caught on worldwide as this sat on shelves for nearly a year ignored.
#4548
Like us Aussies, it appears the kiwis didn't seem to have any love for this guy until a decade after his breakthrough (film) performance in the Blues brothers with this entry. He also went on to have massive success over there throughout the decade, although it was with different material than what he achieved over here.
#4547
Following the commercial disappointment of his previous album the Soul cages in NZ, Sting was able to bounce back over there with this album which served to prove the kiwis that he was able to survive the transition from the 80's to the 90's after all which is something many of his contemporaries weren't able to do at the time.
#4546
It appears the kiwis were bigger fans of the Doors biopic that came out this year than we Aussies were given how much more successful its soundtrack was over there compared to over here, although the trade-off is that their greatest hits album that was rereleased to coincide with the film's success didn't do as well over there as it did over here.
#4545
Unlike here in Australia where this rebounded the following year due to how big the singles were, it appears the kiwis ignored this album for the most part despite how well the singles were doing over there likely due to buying the singles for the featured artists rather than for David Guetta himself.
#4544
It may surprise you to learn that Eternal didn't achieve that much success in NZ throughout the 90's, certainly less so than what they achieved here in Australia as we saw on the Australian side of this site. That said, the kiwis did give them a massive hit with "I wanna be the only one" the previous year and allowed their greatest hits album to become a hit over there right when that song took off over here.
#4543
I guess Split Enz were able to achieve some success in their homeland prior to making it big here in Australia after all given how this album of theirs managed to be a huge success over there in lieu of its lead single becoming a moderate success like it was here in Australia. They would of course go on to dominate both countries music scenes in the 80's by reinventing their image with each new album.
#4542
This was slightly less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, although considering it spawned the band a genuine hit over there, I don't think they minded as much if this didn't bring in the numbers that their earlier material did throughout the 80's.
#4541
This is the only other success that the Village people had with their albums in NZ, I guess the reason for why the soundtrack to their feature film underperformed over there is more due to the kiwis not being as big of fans of the LGBT group as we Aussies were back in the day.
#4540
This was slightly more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly because the kiwis didn't have a strong local music scene like we Aussies did to distract them from the innovative work that's on display here. They're a one album wonder over there just like they are over here despite the success they saw in the UK in the early 80's.
#4539
It appears the kiwis weren’t as impressed with the Arctic monkeys making it big via the internet as the rest of the world was given how their debut album proved to be less successful over there than it was internationally. It was a decent success regardless, although I'm guessing that was without the novelty of their Myspace beginnings.
#4538
Considering how many classical artists to make it big in NZ that have appeared on this list alone, I would've been dumbstruck if Diana Krall wasn't able to retain her popularity over there with this album even if it was noticeably less successful over there than her other album from earlier in the decade.
#4537
For a guy that only has two hits anyone's ever heard of (those being "I don't believe in if anymore" and "The last farewell") Roger Whittaker has had quite the success as a legacy artist if the success of his greatest hits packages is anything to go by.
#4536
This was a greatest hits package from Hot chocolate that became a success in NZ this year and nowhere else in the world, I guess the kiwis still had nostalgia for the band during their heyday from the 70's and early 80's.
#4535
Well, this proved to be much less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing because the kiwis didn't jive with the lead single as much as we Aussies did back in the day. In fact, I'm willing to bet this was only a hit over there because it was so successful down under upon its initial release.
#4534
I guess the kiwis felt a bit icky in making this final album from Roy Orbison a hit this year, I can understand why given how it was only released after his passing despite it being completed before he died and only delayed due to it not having to compete with the Traveling wilburys album from earlier on this list. That said, this was still a huge hit for the 60's crooner even if it wasn't as big as it was here in Australia.
#4533
This was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, that is to say, the kiwis were finally able to embrace the band's image like we Aussies did albeit just for this one album as their subsequent material wasn't popular in the 2010's due to rock music in general finding little success in the mainstream.
#4532
This will be the only appearance of Marc Anthony on this site as a lead artist, he was a Latin crooner in a similar vein to Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias who never saw much success outside of his native America save for this album which became big in NZ likely due to the Latin craze being at the height of its popularity this year.
#4531
For some reason, this was a mere minor success earlier in the decade in NZ where it was a success here in Australia due to the biopic about the band that came out in 1991, however it became a success this year over there presumably for the same reasons it rebounded on our charts down under.
#4530
This was an excellent time to have nostalgia for MJ given how this managed to become a moderate success following the release of his own greatest hits package from earlier on this list. Indeed, his Essentials entry from Sony would include some of his work with the Jacksons that also appears on this album when that was released the following year.
#4529
This was the second hit that Nesian Mystik was able to achieve from their second album in their homeland, it wasn't quite as popular as their earlier entries on this site, however it did keep their heads above water long enough to get them to their third album which was much more successful for them later in the decade.
#4528
Rosita Vai was the winner of the second season of NZ Idol, although you wouldn't have thought that was the case given how much less successful her victory single was than the previous winner Ben Lummis from last year. Like Ben, she struggled to retain her fame following her victory on the show, proving how much of a waste of time it is in the long run.
#4527
This is another song to greatly benefit on this side of my site thanks to the kiwis incorporating digital data onto their charts when it was released, heck this only barely made the cut on the Australian side of this site because I made a special section for songs that otherwise would've missed out were it not for our digital charts. In any case, we have a second appearance from the breakthrough single of Gym class heroes and their Supertramp sample.
#4526
It may surprise you to learn that this lead single to the Divinyl's second album was the only hit they were able to achieve in NZ, this is impressive given how it wasn't even their biggest hit here in Australia at the time (that honour going to "Boys in town" from earlier in the decade.) Another fun fact I have to share here is that this is the only entry from an Australian artist to appear on this list.
#4525
I guess the kiwis weren't as big of fans Culture club's singles from their second album as we Aussies were given how this is the only other single from the album to reappear on this side of my site, although the album itself was a massive success over there so it's not like they rejected their music outright.
#4524
Well, this was far less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, although this might be due to the album this came from being far more popular over there than it was over here despite album sales rarely affecting the success of a single over there like it does over here. In any case, we have the one and only hit that this British band had outside of their native UK making its second appearance on this site.
#4523
I'm a bit surprised that this proved to be the big hit off of Whispering jack in NZ for John Farnham, granted "You're the voice" did eventually become a hit over there, however it was only a sleeper hit that would've still missed out on this list had its success been more compacted over there like this was. The only conclusion to this is that the kiwis genuinely preferred this track over that back in the day.
#4522
I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this ballad about how Elton believes that a sad song says so much about a relationship a lover is in as we Aussies were, admittedly he did struggle to score hits with his singles this decade as this is so far only the second song of his to reappear on this side of my site, however I would've thought his singles were more popular with the kiwis given how big his albums were over there.
#4521
This was another song that could've made the cut on the Australian side of my site had I allowed myself to include as many minor hits in Australia throughout the years as there were, as such it missed the cut but was fortunately a much bigger hit in NZ for David Bowie likely due to how inescapably popular he was over there throughout the 80's.
#4520
It seems odd that this would be more of a hit over in NZ than it was here in Australia given how much of a failure Gary Numan's solo career was over there, I guess the kiwis were only interested in his music when it came to his work with his project Tubeway army even if this was once again the only hit he managed to achieve over there with the group.
#4519
Well, this wasn't as big in NZ as it was here in Australia (even taking into account that this did far worse on AMR than it did on ARIA) at least this was a big hit for the girls over there even if it was the last song they released as a unit before Ginger Spice called it quits for reasons I won't go over on this site.
#4518
Much like in Australia, only the original version of this cover from Kylie Minogue managed to become a success over in NZ this year, likely because the kiwis were intrigued by how Charlene from Neighbours was able to score a massive hit this year with this cover and decided to check it out. This makes it the second cover of the Little Eva track to make it big over there following the disco rendition from the start of the decade.
#4517
Unlike in Australia where this was the only hit that David Bowie had this year, the kiwis were willing to give him two hits over in NZ with this theme to the critically panned film of the same name being the first of these two hits he scored over there. From what I can gather, the film's backlash came mostly from its convoluted plot rather than any acting faults from Bowie, meaning his involvement had nothing to do with its failure.
#4516
I guess I should bring up the song itself given how I talked about the Pokémon phenomenon on the Australian side of this site when we discussed this over there, this is the one and only hit to come from Norwegian duo M2M (acronym for Marit and Marion) who donated this track to the soundtrack of the 4kids dub of the anime film despite it clearly being about love and having nothing to do with the franchise.
#4515
Well, I guess the tradeoff for their earlier entry on this list being so inescapable in NZ was that their second single from their sophomore album wouldn't be nearly as big over there as it was over here. Admittedly this was over a decade prior to when it appeared in the first Shrek film, so it's not like there was a famous traveling montage this could be featured in to promote its success over there.
#4514
Jody Watley was the sole female member of Shalamar who already had a massive hit from the start of the decade with "The second time around" in NZ, here she is seven years later with this solo single which became a big hit over there likely due to the success of Janet Jackson boosting the popularity of this type of song worldwide. It was a minor hit for her here in Australia, but too minor to be noteworthy for this site.
#4513
It turns out the kiwis also wanted to hear a mashup of classical music this year just like the rest of the world did as this became a huge hit over there like it did internationally, in fact the album this comes from was far more popular over there than it was over here, proving that they were more into what RPO had to offer at the time.
#4512
This was the last hit that R.E.M managed to achieve in most parts of the world as the band became more of an album act after the success of this lead single to their album Monster, I'm guessing this was a hit in NZ due to it being a surprise hit over in the UK even though it was only a minor hit at best here in Australia for the band.
#4511
This was slightly more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, likely because soft rock in general had more of a presence on the NZ charts back in the 70's than it did here in Australia due to how strong our local music scene was. It could also be that it shared its name with the Equals track from ten years prior even though neither song sound like each other.
#4510
There won't be as many double entries on the NZ side of this site given how the kiwis seemed to have a more competitive music scene during the late 90's, one of the few exceptions was the fourth and fifth singles from the Spice Girl's debut album which were bundled together over there like they were everywhere else in the world so that it wouldn't take up space during the album cycle of their second album.
#4509
They saw massive success in NZ the previous year with their rendition of a Surfaris track (well more specifically, them rapping over the instrumental of the Surfaris track provided to them by the Beach boys) so why not repeat the formula with them rapping over the song that made Chubby Checker a household name? This was the only other hit that the Fat Boys achieved worldwide as this formula ran its course.
#4508
This was the final hit that Kool and the Gang were able to achieve in NZ, it's curious how they didn't score a hit over there with their one and only Australian hit (even though technically it was three hits in one the following year but still.) This is also one of their less fondly remembered track likely due to it being released this far into the 80's.
#4507
Even though both of their entries this year from the Australian side of my site will be reappearing on this list, it's worth noting that Split Enz weren't as successful over there as they were over here with their singles even though the album they came from was a big deal at the time. Indeed, this was a bit more of a sleeper hit over there likely due to the lack of promotion they had compared to here.
#4506
This was a big hit in Australia this year, so naturally it would also be a big hit in NZ even if it was only slightly bigger over there for some reason. The trio would score one more hit much later in the decade over there with "Let's get down" which would be a complete departure from the new jack swing that made them a household name worldwide during the first half of the decade.
#4505
I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this song's success given how it was a Pet shop boys track during the 80's, however I am mainly because it has Dusty Springfield on vocals which makes this the first hit she had anywhere in the world since "Son of a preacher man" back in the late 60's. I guess you can say that this was the trio's response to "I knew you were waiting" from earlier on this list due to it thematically being the opposite of that track.
#4504
This was a big hit in NZ likely due to "Who can it be now" being a massive failure over there from the previous year, I guess the kiwis were a bit slow in making these guys a household name and felt this would be the perfect way to atone for their tardy success they handed the band. This would unfortunately be their only other hit over there as their next album didn't produce a hit single for them.
#4503
This was slightly bigger in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly because the kiwis were in love with anything affiliated with Jimmy Somerville if the failure of Bronski beat over there after his departure was anything to go by. It may surprise you to learn that the original from Gloria Gaynor wasn't a hit over there, meaning that this is likely the only version of this track that the kiwis are familiar with.
#4502
Well, it remains a classic to this day and was the third single from Reckless, so naturally this song from Bryan Adams was bound to reappear on this list on a much higher position than it appeared on the Australian side of my site. That said, it's curious how this was the only hit that he had in NZ throughout the 80's as "Heaven" was a massive flop over there and "Run to you" was only a minor hit.
#4501
As this was on the very first RIANZ chart ever released, you can imagine that it would've been higher on this list had the charts begun slightly sooner than they actually did. In fact, it's worth noting that on the Listener charts, this actually made it to number one just before they went defunct, proving this was even bigger in NZ than its placement on this list would suggest.
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