Although this wasn't a mainstream hit for Herb Alpert like it was in NZ and his native America, this lingered around long enough here in Australia to qualify for this bonus list of mine which means that the instrumentalist is finally able to have some representation on this side of my site. For what it's worth, he was a massive deal back in the 60's here just like he was everywhere else.
This is another musician of colour that had to wait for quite some time before they finally found any success in their career, in this case we have Dorothy Moore who scored a massive hit this year with this cover of an obscure track from around the time she began said career. This led to her album of the same name being a massive worldwide success before she was sadly relegated to yesterday's news.
This is one of those songs that is fondly remembered by 70's afficionados but is rather silly the more you think about its lyrics, I mean can anyone explain the poetic genius of lines like "there were plants and birds and rocks and things there was sand and hills and rings" and "in the desert, you can remember your name cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain?" I think because of these dodgy lyrics, this remains the band's only hit here in Australia.
For the longest time, I was more familiar with the Jimmy Cliff version of this song given how that became a huge worldwide hit in the 90's due to being the theme song for Disney's Cool Runnings. It turns out this was originally a hit for reggae singer Johnny Nash who scored a huge number one hit on Billboard with this track as well as it being a massive hit worldwide for the American soul singer.
There didn't seem to be any signs of the Brothers Gibb slowing down in the mainstream as this lead single from their album Spirits having flown proved to be a huge success for them mere months after the album cycle for Saturday night fever came to an end. They would have another hit from the album (which we'll get to in a bit) although this would sadly be the last we would hear from them as lead vocalists for a while.
This was one of the more popular disco tracks to emerge from this decade, it comes to us courtesy of this family group who obviously wanted to become the new Jackson 5 (or I guess Jackson nine in this case) with this upbeat song about shaking your groove thing. Unfortunately, this was their only hit even in their native America as other disco acts came in to replace them on the dance floors.
Well, here's a man that seemed to embody the essence of sex drugs rock and roll, we have his only hit in his career which became as due to how sexually provocative he comes off during its runtime. This was a sleeper hit here in Australia, I'm guessing because this was around the time where Rod Stewart was being sexually provocative with his earlier entry on this list.
You may think that Maxine Nightingale was an American artist considering she saw massive success on Billboard with her disco classics, however she's actually from the UK and likely only saw international success due to how women of colour seemed to have been synonymous with the genre regardless of where they were from originally. Here we have her biggest hit which set the stage for other women to fight over the crown for the queen of disco.
This is often considered to be Leo's signature tune given how it incorporates disco into his sound despite him not really being a disco artist throughout his career. His next single would be even bigger and a major draw into his fourth album after the mediocre reception of his last album, however this is the song that many will tell you is the highlight of his career.
OK so this is a song that is problematic even at the time of its release, anyone who's ever found themselves in the situation that goes on in the lyrics will tell you that it's not a situation that should be glamourised the way it is on this track. Admittedly Mary quickly became aware of this as she has since distanced herself from this track even if it came at the expense of scoring another hit.
People are divided on Grease to this day, on the one hand there's people who think it's a timeless classic complete with catchy as hell music and a compelling narrative (such as me) and on the other there's people who think it's an overrated mess filled with cliche storylines and awful characters. One thing audiences of the day could agree on is that this duet between its two leads was a masterpiece as it was a huge success for them worldwide.
There are two songs with this title that appear on this list, although this was by far the bigger of the two entries due to how well it did in America for Looking glass. I guess we Aussies weren't that keen on having a love ballad dedicated to a girl named Brandy be that successful given how low it appears on this list.
This was the only hit that country legend Crystal Gayle was able to achieve in Australia, although it was more of a sleeper hit here so perhaps it was less a hit and more something that just stuck around long enough to qualify for this list.
This guy had been in the industry for over two decades before he finally scored his one and only hit outside of his native America with this ballad about his own heartbreak. I guess this being a hit makes sense as soft rock was one of the biggest trends of the decade when it wasn't centred around the dance floor or rock operas.
Following the success of her film Grease, Olivia Newton John decided to use the transformation that her character in the film Sandy went through and apply it to her real-life music career as she went in a more risqué direction with her music. This was the first song she released in this vein which while quite tame to what would come in the 80's, was still sexier than anything she had released up until this point.
This was the second hit that Yvonne Elliman was able to achieve worldwide following the success of her first single "Love me" from the previous year, although Kim Wilde would have a much bigger hit in Australia with her version fifteen years later. People like to rag on the lyrics of this track due to how depressing they are once you read them; however, I feel it matches the tone of the film very well.
The Carpenters were on a roll when they released their second big hit around the world, in fact this nearly topped the Billboard charts much like their top entry on this list which confirmed the brother and sister duo as the real deal moving forward in the decade.
This was the biggest hit that Barry Manilow managed to score in Australia, although it's worth noting that aside from "Copacabana" (which we'll get to on this list) none of his biggest hits were original compositions form him despite him being a renowned songwriter. I guess he still had plenty of success during a decade that was known to be kind to music that has been categorised as for soccer mums.
I bet you were beginning to think I forgot all about these guys given how long it's been since we looked at one of their many knockoffs throughout this list, it's almost a cruel joke that the Jackson 5 only has one entry on this list given how inescapable they were throughout the first half of the decade worldwide. At least MJ scored a massive chart topper here in Australia with his earlier entry on this list.
This wasn't Samantha Sang's first song to chart in Australia, she had attempted to have a pop career a decade prior under her real name Cheryl Gray to no avail likely due to her being a child singer during a time where we Aussies were into psychedelia and protest music. She was given a second chance at a career with this ballad written by the Brothers Gibb which took off for her not just locally but internationally as well.
Well, I did say that Supercharge reminded me of a German disco band when I featured them on the Australian side of my site, here's an actual German disco band who managed to score a massive hit worldwide this year thanks to how catchy this track was. It makes you wonder why this wasn't a hit here in Australia as we had little issues with German disco making it big if Boney M is anything to go by.
This was the only notable success that Anne Murray had in Australia, I'm guessing because she was considered to be the Canadian equivalent of Olivia Newton John when the two women first broke through at the start of the decade. Given how Livie has since moved on from her country roots, I guess Anne was able to have little issues with filling in her role as the country singer of choice.
For eight years, this was the final hit that the Brothers Gibb had in most parts of the world, it's a pity because it remains a disco classic to this day thanks to the frenetic energy of the track as well as the Bee Gees themselves. They would eventually return with "You win again" in 1987, and indeed they would score another comeback ten years after that when their album Still waters became a surprise success.
This was the solo breakthrough for Gerry Rafferty who had minor success earlier in the decade as the lead singer of Stealer's wheel (of "Stuck in the middle with you" fame.) Let's face it, the main reason why this song is so popular to this day is for those sax solos that play at the end of every chorus, sure his vocals are nice too, but they would've have been enough to help this stand out from the crowd on their own.
This was the big breakthrough hit that Bread had in their career, it's easy to see this as their debut single but it wasn't as they had a few failed releases in their native America in the 60's before making it big with this ballad. It was a huge chart topper for them on Billboard, which ensured its success throughout the rest of the world.
It took us a while to get to a second hit from the Rolling stones on this track, however we finally have one with this lead single to their album Sticky fingers which was a much bigger hit in America and in their native UK likely due to strong album sales eating up its success here in Australia. This is their last entry on this site of mine as they only had three hits in the 70's down under (their two entries on this list and "Miss you.")
It's hard to believe that these guys were considered to be rock dinosaurs when this became a hit for them, after all they had only been active in the music industry for fifteen years by this point. I'm guessing that's how the youth of the day referred to them when they scored a massive hit with this disco track, after all they hadn't had a hit in five years, and this was the perfect comeback for them.
Ahh yes, the feminist anthem to end all other feminist anthems, made years before anyone from the fourth wave of feminism was born to boot. If you can believe it, Helen received backlash when this won her a Grammy back in the day due to her referring to God as a woman, let's just say we've come a long way since then if suggesting that God wasn't a man was enough to upset people.
Apparently, there was a film called Car wash released around the time this became a massive success for Rose Royce worldwide, evidently no one saw the film which is perhaps why this failed to score an Oscar nomination for best original song at the academy awards around this time. Nowadays it's seen as the perfect song to play whenever you're visiting a Car wash, making it more legendary than before.
Given how he had one of the biggest albums of the decade with the Stranger, Billy Joel no longer had any issues with finding success with his ballads even though he was criticised at the time for making the type of music that seemed to be catered to the soccer mums of the world. Naturally this criticism has died out over the years thanks to his complex songwriting as well as how memorably his compositions are.
Although these guys had success in their native America prior to this hit, this was the first of several Billboard chart toppers that Three dog night had likely due to them taking an Eric Burdon track and running through the funk sound with their interpretation. The rest of the world liked what they did with the track which allowed it to crossover internationally.
Although this would eventually be a bigger hit for the English duo the communards a full decade after its initial release, this was originally a hit for Thelma Houston (no relation to Whitney) who scored a massive hit with this disco classic before forever fading into obscurity. I'm guessing the rest of her catalogue wasn't nearly as much fun as this track, or at the very least wasn't as catchy.
This was the only hit that the Doobie brothers were able to achieve in Australia, although they had plenty of success in their native America throughout the decade with their other singles which are regular staples on oldies stations here. I guess they were another victim of having more success with their albums back in the day, although Minute to minute was the only best seller for them down under.
We looked at his 1980 hit "It's hard to be humble" twice already, time to look at the big hit that Mac Davis had internationally as this ballad managed to be a Billboard chart topper for the country legend upon its initial release. This is another song that's often cited as one of the worst the decade has to offer due to its admittedly cheesy lyrics (the title says it all) which is where its legacy remains to this day.
While the duo already had success in their native America prior to their Billboard chart topper, this was the song which made them an international household name likely due to the lyrics about how Daryl is calling out how privileged this woman is. The duo was in danger of becoming a one hit wonder in Australia as none of their other tracks from the 70's crossed over here, although they were very popular in the 80's.
Although this wasn't the first solo single that Cher released (that honour goes to "Bang bang") this was the first solo hit of hers to be a massive worldwide success thanks to it being an autobiographical track about how she rose to fame with her (then) husband Sonny Bono. She still has one more entry to come on this list, however her fortunes changed for the worse as the decade went on due to her marriage with Sonny failing.)
Some of these new entries on this list only barely missed the cut on making it on the Australian side of my site, I can tell you now that I can extend these lists to a top 500 and this iconic entry from the Eagles still wouldn't make the cut because that's how much of a failure it was here in Australia back in the day. Fortunately, it was a massive hit in NZ, which is why it gets its day in court on my site.
We have our final Oscar winning track on this list, I've saved the best for last as it's the title track from the Shaft series courtesy of Isaac Hayes who scored his only American hit with this jam. For the rest of the world, he scored another hit in the late 90's as his character in South Park Chef with "Chocolate salty balls" from the Chef aid soundtrack (it only barely failed to appear on this site.)
This might be my favourite vocal performance from Frankie Valli throughout his entire catalogue, although I might just be saying that due to how much I love the film in question more than anything. This was his final hit single (not counting a remix of "December 1963") although he was in his forties by this stage so it's understandable that he didn't find any further success after this.
Contrary to popular belief, this song wasn't written for the Jesus Christ superstar soundtrack even though this was released around the time the show premiered on Broadway and west end which would likely explain its international success for Norman Greenbaum. This is also the best proof I have that the 60's didn't end at the turn of the decade given how this feels like something made pre-Woodstock.
This remains Linda Ronstadt's second biggest hit in Australia, second only to "Don't know much" which is a song about how getting older kind of sucks which is a far cry from this track which is a cover of a love ballad from Roy Orbison. This song's popularity has since been overshadowed by "It's so easy" from the album they both come from Simple dreams, mainly because that song still gets airplay on oldies stations.
This is often considered to be the showstopper of Grease, mainly because it's the moment where Sandy realises that even though she's aware that Danny might be bad for her, she can't help but be in love with him which many people have related to over the years. It remains her biggest solo hit from the soundtrack and no doubt served as a reminder of her innocent years before she shook up her image.
This was the final hit that the husband-and-wife duo managed to achieve in the 70's outside their native America, although they would return in 1980 to score one more hit with "Do that to me one more time" before their popularity faded away for good even on the Billboard charts. This was originally recorded by Neil Sedaka but became a hit for them likely due to them being more popular at the time.
Another artist to die tragically young this decade, here we have the only hit that Janis Joplin achieved which she only did so posthumously given how he died of a drug overdose several months prior to its release. This is also a bad representation of her work musically as it's a country ballad as opposed to her heavier blues tracks that she's often celebrated for.
Although this wasn't their first song to find success in their native America, this was the song which made them an international household name likely due to it being written by Bruce Springsteen for a rock artist no one's heard of. The three ladies would go on to have massive success in the 80's here in Australia which would've been impossible for them to achieve if they had of peaked in the 70's.
This was the only noticeable hit that Rita Coolidge was able to achieve in her career, at least in Australia it was as she found further success in the UK and her native America with her subsequent follow ups. Many have complained that this is her watering down a Jackie Wilson track from the 60's for a more mainstream audience, I feel she does the original enough justice to warrant this covers existence.
Although disco didn't exist at the start of the decade, I feel that it's safe to declare this as the first song in the genre given how similar it sounds to the likes of the Bee gees and Donna Summer's work from later in the decade. It was the only hit that Freda Payne had here in Australia likely due to how catchy it is compared to many of the other entries on this list, although she fared much better in her native America.
And who says that feminist anthems are only a recent phenomenon? Here we have two of the most powerful women in the music industry to ever exist combining forces with this song about how they've had enough with being mistreated in this world. This comes after Donna realised that she was sending a dangerous message with her earlier material as well as Barbra wanting to appeal to Helen Reddy's audience.
For my American readers, this was the big hit that Wings had this year in lieu of their earlier entry not being released as a single over there, this is more in line with their usual material as opposed to "Mull of Kintyre" being a song showcasing how proud Paul McCartney was of his Scottish heritage.
I'm not sure how I feel about this iconic score from the first Rocky film being a sleeper hit here in Australia, it was a Billboard chart topper for composer Bill Conti, however it's unlike anything else that appears on this list which makes its success an anomaly to say the least. I guess the film was such a runaway hit for Sylvester Stallone that the world made an exception for allowing this kind of track to be a success.
This was one of the cheesier songs to become a hit this decade, although I feel there was enough room for this type of ballad considering how much disco and rock opera there was as an alternative for audiences looking for cooler music. Alan remains a one hit wonder in most parts of the world with this ballad including in his native America, however he did score a second hit here in Australia with "Skinny girls."
We've looked at the Bananarama cover from 1986, time to look at the original version of this classic from the Dutch group Shocking blue who scored a massive worldwide hit with this dance rock track at the start of the decade. Even though most people will be more familiar with the 80's version, this still remains a staple on oldies stations to this day, proving how well loved the song is after all these years.
It seems odd that the rest of the world had turn their backs on Glen Campbell right when he was at the peak of his popularity in his native America, this was his second Billboard chart topper and yet the best it could do internationally was as a sleeper hit in NZ likely due to the lack of competition it had over there compared to our local music scene in Australia.
It had been a good twenty years since Johnny Mathis last troubled the charts with one of his ballads, so it was a bit of a surprise to see him score a number one hit in his native America with this ballad that introduced the world to Deniece Williams who would go on to have massive success in the 80's. As an extra fun fact, Johnny is one of the first musicians of colour to come out as gay in the music industry.
This was the only hit that Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot had here in Australia, although I'm a bit surprised this was the case considering how well folk music did throughout the decade down under even after Countdown launched this year. This is a fine upbeat number which perhaps explains its success in a year that's filled with midtempo ballads with some bounce to their instrumentation.
This was also a big hit in NZ this year for the Eagles, although it was also a minor hit here in Australia which perhaps suggests that if their earlier entry on this list was the lead single to their album Hotel California, then perhaps it would've been a massive hit for them over here back in the day.
This was a massive hit due to it being the Bond theme for the Spy who loved me, one of the more popular films during the Roger Moore era of the franchise. Of course, Carly Simon was a good choice for submitting a Bond theme given that she was one of the more popular artists of the decade, even though this was her first hit in Australia since her cover of "Mockingbird" four years prior.
Even though he saw sleeper success earlier in the decade with Piano man and its title track, this was the first hit single that Billy Joel was able to achieve in Australia and in most parts of the world due to him reassuring audiences that they were perfect the way they were and that they didn't need to change for anyone. I feel like if this were released in modern times it would be one of the biggest hits of all time.
While Earth wind and fire are well known for being a disco band at heart, they also had their fair share of slow jams such as this second single from their commercial breakthrough in the southern hemisphere I am. I guess we Aussies weren't feeling it here as this was a massive flop for the band over here, however it was more of a success in NZ where the band were on a roll thanks to their earlier entry.
Several years after David Cassidy's popularity dwindled out in the music scene, his younger brother Shaun Cassidy stepped in and was able to achieve massive success along the likes of other conventionally attractive young men who didn't necessarily have the best vocals of their generation. Shaun's popularity peaked here with his rendition of an Eric Carmen staple.
This was another big hit that appeared on the NZ side of my site that was only a sleeper success here in Australia, again we Aussies passed this up for the most part in favour of whatever Countdown had determined to be the in thing of the moment despite its massive international appeal at the time. Admittedly it could also be the fact it was yet another soft rock ballad during the height of that genre's popularity.
It looks like these guys were able to score a hit here in Australia after all even if it was the penultimate single they released in their career, although considering this was released right when the decade was coming to an end, this feels more like a last hurrah for the band even if there were no signs of bad things to come going into the 80's when this came out. Even with all of that, it was still a sleeper hit with us Aussies.
While none of his singles managed to rise to the ranks of even his weaker selling albums here in Australia, that didn't mean that Neil Diamond didn't achieve massive success during the first half of the decade here like he did throughout the rest of the world. This was the third hit he scored on our charts as well as the biggest in his entire catalogue due to it being his first Billboard chart topper.
Well, this is a bit of a surprise, mainly because we have Sammy Davis Jr who's one of the very few men of colour to find success in the 50's in the music industry covering a song that was originally written for Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. I guess it makes sense that a version of the song would be popular given how much of a success the film was at the time, however this version being the big hit just confuses me.
First off, can we admire this cover art for the second biggest hit of the Rolling stones catalogue? If only there were more WTF artwork for singles like this so that I could make a list about it. With that out of the way, we have this lead single to the band's album Goat's head soup which was their biggest hit here in Australia until 1981 when "Start me up" took that prize away from the track.
