UK charts 70's VII

Well, I feel it's about time I tackled the UK charts for the 70's just like I did for the Billboard charts, again I'm using a homemade chart on RYM to determine the order each entry appears on this list as well as stopping at a particular point to highlight only the best of the best over there this decade. I'm also skipping over entries that didn't become a hit in the southern hemisphere whilst providing alternate art where possible for each entry to give them a visual difference compared to their other appearances on this site.

For whatever reason, this was only a hit in the UK for Lobo a year after its initial release, I'm guessing this was due to it being a chart topper here in Australia and the Brits considering it an Australian release despite it being a decent hit in his native America that almost topped the Billboard charts. This means that he technically had the most recent hit in the world with this entry over there.

This was the big hit that Tavares had over in NZ, although why the kiwis decided to make this a hit whilst completely ignoring their earlier entry I'll never know as this was the only hit they had over there. We did skip over an entry from them with "Don't take away the music" which was sandwiched between these two entries chronologically in their catalogue.

Seeing this go from one of the biggest hits of the decade worldwide to a mere decent hit for the brothers Gibb in their native UK is a bit of a headscratcher for me, although admittedly the other two hits from Saturday night fever were among the biggest of the decade over there so it's just confusing as far as what their biggest hits were. We still have one more entry from them on this list to come.

I sort of jumped the gun when I said that these two only had two hits each in the UK this decade, for whatever reason, I keep forgetting this collaboration whenever I think of their biggest hits respectively even when I'm writing commentary for these lists. In any case, this was the final hit from him as well as a major jumping pad for her given how big Barbra would be going into the 80's over there.

Whereas this was the final hit of the decade that Abba had here in Australia, that honour goes to "I have a dream" which would've made it on this list and my 80's list just like Pink Floyd did had it been a hit in Australia or NZ. It's the only entry I've skipped over on my RYM list from them since we last looked at their catalogue, one of only three once I'm done with this list.

This was the follow-up to the sole entry I skipped over from Kenny Rogers on this list, again "Ruby don't take your love to town" would've been a shoe in for this list had I allowed songs from the 60's to appear on this list which means Kenny would've had three out of three candidates on my RYM list appear on here. He would of course continue to have massive success in the UK going into the 80's.

It's a been a while since we looked at the king of rock and roll, although had "I just can't help believing" been a hit here in Australia like it was in the UK, the wait wouldn't have been as long given how he was seeing sound success over there during the first stretch of the decade just like he was here in Australia. He still has three entries to come on this list, although he also had a ton of other minor hits in the UK.

Here we are with the big international hit that the Bellamy brothers had, again it's a bit weird how their earlier entry on this list was their biggest hit in the UK even if lyrically it makes sense that it was. I guess that explains why it was a sleeper hit here in Australia for the family duo even though it was a massive failure for them in their native America.

This is the only other success that Roger Whittaker had even in his native UK, although how this managed to appeal to the kiwis is beyond me given how low it appears on this list and that it only barely cracked the UK top ten. Equally as confusing is to how his earlier entry failed over there initially only to then become one of the biggest hits of the decade worldwide three years later.

Given how this was a massive chart topper for Paper lace in America, it's a bit surprising to see that this wasn't even a chart top for them in their homeland, let alone a massive hit for them. Again, I feel this only crossed over to America as penance for Bo Donaldson stealing the bands well-earned chart topper on Billboard, although it could also be due to it being an inescapable hit here in Australia.

Well, we looked at the Nazareth version of this ballad on my Billboard list, time to look at Jim Capaldi's version which was also a huge hit here in Australia and thus worthy of an appearance on this list from the English crooner. I have a feeling this charted with the Nazareth version in Australia due to us Aussies trying to decide which version was better due to the rest of the world seemingly making their mind up on that debate.

Oh boy has it taken me far too long to revisit the title track from Grease on this list, especially considering how Frankie Valli already had success in the UK with his earlier entry with the Four seasons. I guess the Brits weren't too interested in reviving his popularity over there like the rest of the world was but briefly changed their minds when this dominated the airwaves worldwide.

This is the only other appearance from the Rolling stones on this list, although both "Fool to cry" and "Tumbling dice" were candidates for this list as they were on my Billboard list which makes their respective failures in Australia and NZ all the more puzzling now that I think about it. That means that "Angie" was the only hit they had in America that didn't qualify for this list even though it was a minor hit in their homeland.

I'm a bit torn with this only being a decent hit for Genesis in their homeland, on the one hand it makes sense as though this isn't prog rock, it did come from a prog album which their fellow Brits seem to be allergic to. On the other hand, it begs the question how we Aussies came across it or for that matter how the kiwis came across their previous album which failed to yield any hits in their homeland.

Much like my Billboard list, this is the only other appearance from the Village people on this list meaning that they're a two-hit wonder on both sides of the pond with these two entries. This almost topped the UK charts for the LGBT band; however it clearly came at the expense of it lasting on their charts given how low it appears on this list of mine.

This is the only appearance from John Lennon on this list as the only other candidate he had to appear on here was with "Power to the people" which coincidentally was the song he released after this in his catalogue (albeit a year later.) If you're wondering why "Imagine" isn't appearing on this list, that's because it didn't rack up enough points to do so, meaning it was a mild hit at best on its 1975 release in his homeland.

Much like John Lennon from a minute ago, this was one of only two candidates for this list for the Fortunes as "Storm in a teacup" was also a decent hit for them in their homeland during their brief moment in the spotlight this decade. That said, their initially breakthrough over there came in 1965 where they scored two more hits on the UK charts, meaning this was actually a comeback hit for them.

This is the penultimate appearance from Elton John on this list, it proved to be equally as popular in his homeland as it was in America even though it had no chance at getting to number one over there like it did on Billboard. This means that he only has one appearance from the album this is named after, although its lead single "Saturday night's alright" was a minor hit over there.

I bet you forgot about Peter Shelley while going down this list, so much so that he actually had a huge hit in Australia that's been absent so far on this list. While we'll get to that big hit in a bit, it wasn't as big in his homeland as this was which was a sleeper hit on our charts for the pop crooner. Honestly, I'm more surprised it wasn't a big hit in his homeland given it's another love song involving a puppy.

This is the only entry from Bread on this list, it's interesting how these guys and Three dog night were one hit wonders in the UK as they're often affiliated with each other when it comes to what people describe as soft rock bands for white people. It's also interesting how both songs are from the first year of the decade, as if something happened following their respective successes to prevent them from finding further success over there.

And surprise, we're looking at the other big hit that Peter Shelley had here in Australia much sooner than I'm sure you all expected. Indeed, this was a massive hit for the singer here in Australia which again makes you wonder why it was only a decent hit at best for him in his homeland back in the day. In any case, it appears his popularity in his homeland only lasted for two years as he was yesterday's news by 1976.

I bet you thought I forgot about Donna Summer on this list, I haven't as there's only one entry I've skipped over and that's "Down deep inside" which came from an album that as far as I can tell, was only released in the UK due to how much of a failure it was internationally. Even though this wasn't a chart topper for her on Billboard, that didn't prevent it from finding an audience for her in the UK.

This is our penultimate entry from Abba on this list, it was roughly as successful as "Voulez vous" from the album of the same name which I did skip over due to its failure in Australia and NZ. Indeed, this was only a success down under and not in NZ, although that might be due to "Chiquitita" being a chart topper over there as opposed to a mere top ten hit over here for the Swedish quartet.

Here we are with the other big entry from Chicago on this list, again the fact that by far their heaviest hit in their catalogue managed to make the cut over so many other rock and roll tracks is a bit puzzling to me even if it was released at the start of the decade where rock and roll was more tolerated on the UK charts. From what I can gather, this was only a flop for the band in NZ where it didn't even chart.

We're this far down on my list and only now coming across the weakest chart topper in the UK for the decade, honestly how the Brits managed to come across this track from the Tymes is beyond be given how much of a failure they were in their native America throughout their long tenure. It being a chart topper over there seemed to be all the incentive the kiwis needed in making it a hit in NZ.

I'm a bit surprised this wasn't a bigger hit for Morris Albert in the UK given how Latin pop usually does better over there than it does in America, although it at least had a higher peak on their charts as opposed to it being a bit of a sleeper hit on the Billboard charts. Another reason I'm surprised at its mediocre success is that the Brits would usually eat up cheesy love ballads like this.

I wasn't expecting Patti Smith's success here in Australia to be attributed to it being a success in the UK, especially given how it was a massive failure for her in her native America as well as it being quite a heavy track compared to other entries on this list. Maybe she had a Countdown appearance back in the day (it's lost media if that's the case) but its success over there is all I got to explain its success here.

This is one of only two hits that KC and the Sunshine band had in the UK, the other was "Queen of clubs" which came out shortly after George McCrae's entry on this list which likely explains its success over there given how much bigger that song was in the UK compared to George's native America. I'm not sure why the Brits only gave them one more hit this decade; however they would of course regain popularity in the 80's over there.

I bet you weren't expecting to see this sleeper here in Australia hit as Johnny Wakelin's sole representation on this list, were you? It appears his fellow Brits had no interest in his tribute to Muhamad Ali like we Aussies did but were interested in this follow up given how it was a decent hit on the UK charts. I don't know if we Aussies were just bigger fans of the boxing legend than anyone else, but that song was only a success here.

This is the final entry from Donna Summer on this list, it appears that the Brits were interested in everything she had to offer this decade except ironically enough anything to do with Bad girls. There's no definitive explanation for why that album was a complete failure in the UK despite its international success, however Donna reckons it was due to the marketing campaign that presented her as a sex worker.

This is the final entry from Elton John on this list, this also happens to be the one entry from him that didn't appear on my Billboard list as the Americans weren't too happy with him coming out of retirement back in the day when he released A single man like the rest of the world was. Indeed, this bitterness didn't seem to subside over there given how much of a failure his 80's material was on Billboard.

Not to be confused with her Bond theme "The man with the golden gun," this was the only hit that Lulu had in her native UK this decade and only makes the cut due to how well it did on the Listener charts in NZ back in the day. Her success in Australia was limited to her debut single "To sir with love" from the film of the same name and a duet with Ronan Keating in 2002 with "We've got tonight."

Even though this appears so low on the list for Gloria Gaynor, I will say that it came ever so close to topping the UK charts which seemed to be all the incentive we Aussies needed to make it a hit on our charts for the (at the time) queen of disco. This means that she was a two-hit wonder in both countries with this cover of the Jackson 5 classic, having one more hit than she did in her native America.

This is the final appearance from the brothers Gibb on this list, again it's with a song that was only a sleeper hit at best here in Australia despite us Aussies being the first to give them a hit back in 1966. I should point out that though this appeared on the Saturday night fever soundtrack, it didn't see any success anywhere in the world because of that film given how it was released two years prior.

If you're wondering why it's taken me this long to feature another entry from Boney M on this list, that's because they actually had a slow start to their success in the UK given how their first two singles were only decent hits at best over there. This explains why neither were hits in both countries in the southern hemisphere as this was their introduction in NZ whilst a later entry on this list was the first impression we Aussies had of them.

We have our final entry from the Grease soundtrack on this list, although if you can believe it, these last two entries we looked at from the soundtrack were pushed aside in the UK in favour of "Sandy" from John Travolta. This means that John actually had a hit in his career that didn't have the presence of Livie, although "Let her in" also appeared on a Billboard year end list despite it otherwise being a flop in America.

We have one final appearance from David Bowie on this list as this managed to be enough of a success in NZ for it to quality for my NZ list and thus this one. At least this was a success in his homeland the same time as it was in NZ despite it also coming from the 60's much like "Space oddity" from earlier, seriously I don't know why audiences wanted to revisit his earliest material in that year in particular.

If you're wondering how this became a hit in Australia and NZ despite its mediocre success in 5000 volts native UK, then your guess is as good as mine as this was before Tina Charles embarked on her solo career which seemed like a natural progression from what she achieved with this entry. If you're wondering who the blonde woman is on the cover and in the video, it's actress Luan Peters who promoted the song in Tina's place.

I'm not sure how we Aussies came across this one and only hit that Tom Robinson and company had here and their native UK, I guess this is another Countdown endorsement, but that endorsement is currently lost to the sands of time if that's the case. This being so low on the list is proof that the Brits were slowly but surely pivoting away from rock and roll in their mainstream given how many other rock tracks from the first half of the decade are accounted for on this list.

It was a huge success in their native America, so naturally this second single from Destiny would also be a huge hit for the Jacksons in the UK given how its lead single managed to appear earlier on this list for the family band. Again, it's fortunate that it was a hit in NZ (on its initial release no less) otherwise we wouldn't be able to look at it on both these lists from across the pond.

As this was the final hit that Boney M had in Australia and NZ, you can safely assume this was also the case in the UK as even the Brits had grown tired of their brand of Euro disco by the time the decade was coming to an end. They still have one more entry to come on this list, proving that they were quite popular over there even if their top two entries on this list carried most of their success.

This is the second appearance from ELO on this list, it appears that the band saw the bulk of its success here in Australia which might actually make sense as there's traces of evidence on the internet that they did appear on Countdown throughout the decade (although when they did varies widely depending on the source.) Unless you count their collaboration with Olivia Newton John on "Xanadu," they never had a chart topper in the UK.

This is the final entry from Earth wind and fire on this list, this means that the RNB disco band technically owe their international success to the Brits given how it was them who made their greatest hits album a success despite not having any success prior to its release outside their native America. This also means that Australia was the only place in the world where this wasn't a hit for them.

I've only skipped one entry from Olivia Newton John on this list, that being "Sam" which was a huge hit for her in the UK around the time "Come on over" was a huge hit for her in NZ. I should also mention her previous entry from Grease was a bridesmaid on the UK charts just like it was here in Australia, proving that having a high peak position didn't guarantee you having a huge hit.

This was a minor hit for Les Crane in his native America, although it was likely due to its success in the UK that the radio jokey managed to have this become a huge hit here in Australia and NZ more so than it did on either side of the pond. Admittedly there haven't been too many spoken word tracks to become a hit anywhere in the world over the years, this being one of the lucky few to do so.

If you want to know why there's been so few entries from the Bay city rollers on this list, that's because I've skipped over three entries they had on my RYM list as well as there being one more candidate from them that would've still been to come. I did this because all these entries were from their first two albums which didn't see any success in the world outside of their native UK.

Again, I'm not sure how this managed to be a hit in the UK given how it was far from the biggest hit in America for Andrea True connection, although the fact it was a success on both sides of the pond was all it took for it to be a sleeper hit for her here in Australia. Given how this wasn't that big anywhere in the world, it naturally meant it would be the only hit she had in her catalogue.

Here we are with the final entry from Glenn Campbell on this list, that's right, his big Billboard chart topper in his homeland was only a decent hit at best in the UK despite how well he was doing when the decade began over there. There's still one question I haven't been able to answer going over these lists, that being how on earth "Bonaparte's retreat" became a huge hit for him here in Australia and nowhere else.

We have our final appearance from Abba on this list; this was originally the second single from their self-titled album but got pushed back as its third single in the UK due to the surprise success of "Mamma Mia" here in Australia. As such, it didn't do quite as well over there as it did over here, this is despite the fact that both of these songs were competing with each other on our charts.

Well, this had to be a hit here in Australia somehow, although that's the only reason why I'm surprised this wasn't a bigger hit for Fiddler's dram in their homeland given how this would've felt out of place at any point in time past the 50's (even that's being generous.) It was the last hit of the decade in the UK that wasn't eligible for my 80's list, making it the third last hit of the decade overall.

We have a return entry from Joan Baez on this list, you'd think at this point she would've been inescapable in the UK given how much the history books love to reference her. You'd be wrong as this was the best she could do over there which makes sense compared to what we've seen on this list but leaves me wondering where in the world she acquired all of her success to be put in the history books.

UK charts 70's VI

Well, I feel it's about time I tackled the UK charts for the 70's just like I did for the Billboard charts, again I'm using a homemade chart on RYM to determine the order each entry appears on this list as well as stopping at a particular point to highlight only the best of the best over there this decade. I'm also skipping over entries that didn't become a hit in the southern hemisphere whilst providing alternate art where possible for each entry to give them a visual difference compared to their other appearances on this site.

This is the third and final entry from Ray Stevens on this list, it's with what many consider to be his worst song not so much for its quality but rather for how hypocritical it is for him to be singing it. It appears the Brits were able to catch on to this hypocrisy given how much less popular it was over there compared to here in Australia and his native America, although not enough for it to flop over there.

Given how this was one of the most successful songs of the decade in Australia and the duo's native America, it makes sense that it would be a huge hit for the Carpenters in the UK even if it had a rather low peak position on the UK charts. They still have two more entries on this list, one of them being unique to this list as it was a complete failure for them in their homeland.

This is the third and final entry from Hot chocolate on this list, in a bit of a bizarre twist, it actually proved to be more successful in Australia and NZ for the RNB band than it did in their homeland given how long it's taken it to appear on this list. They did have other candidates for this list, however none of them were the other two hits they had in the southern hemisphere and thus won't be appearing.

This is the final entry from the Sweet on this list given how their latest hit "Love is like oxygen" bombed in their homeland, indeed this was way more popular for them here in Australia given how this was a bridesmaid for them on the UK charts as opposed to it easily being one of the biggest hits of the decade down under. Again, I have to assume the Americans took notice of its success here rather than their homeland.

This is the other big hit that Badfinger had in their homeland, again it was somehow popular enough for it to attract the attention of the Americans given how it also appeared on my Billboard list. If you noticed, these were the first two hits they had in NZ, meaning that their third entry on my Billboard list was in fact their most recent hit in their catalogue, which means their fellow Brits got tired of them quicker than everyone else.

This is the only appearance from Paul Simon on this list, although he did have a second hit in the UK with "Take me to the Mardi Gras" which was actually his sole chart topper as a solo artist in NZ. Had that been more of a hit in the UK, it would've been a shoe in for this list given its appearance on my NZ list for this decade, other than that, he would have to wait until 1986 before he scored another hit over there.

Here's the big hit that Shirley Bassey had here in Australia this decade, why we Aussies decided it was worthy of being one of the biggest hits of the 70's here when it only barely cracked the UK top ten for the Welsh woman of colour I'll never know, but that's why its appearing on this list. She had one more hit in her homeland with "For all we know" which was sandwiched between her two entries on this list.

Unlike here in Australia where this was only a hit for the husband-and-wife duo due to us Aussies showing our support for Tina leaving Ike in 1976, this was a hit upon its initial release in the UK in 1973 which technically means it's ineligible for this list but I allowed it since it didn't chart over there when the two separated. Besides, how can I not acknowledge its success when it was a failure in their native America?

Full disclosure, the only time I had ever heard of the Wombles prior to looking over the NZ charts was in an episode of the Vicar of Dibley where Dawn French makes a joke about wanting to be a part of them before her character decided she wanted to be a priest instead. That should give you an idea of how clueless I was about their phenomenon back in the day in the UK as this was one of three hits they had during the shows run in their homeland.

I'm a bit surprised this was a bust in Carole Bayer Sager's native America given how it was a decent hit for her in the UK as well as a monstrous chart topper here in Australia, if I had to guess, it was big here due to her performing the song on Countdown even though I can't find any footage to verify this theory. In any case, it was a shoe in for this list due to how big it was in the UK despite its low peak position.

It's been a while since I mentioned the Saturday night fever soundtrack, hasn't it? Here we are with the third biggest hit from the album in the UK which comes to us not from the brothers Gibb but rather Yvonne Elliman who escaped the one hit wonder bin over there with this track with another song we'll be looking at in a bit. Don't worry, we'll get to the biggest hit the soundtrack spawned here in Australia in a bit.

It turns out this being a huge hit in the UK in 1973 was the reason why it became a hit for Boris "Bobby" Pickett here in Australia eleven years after it became a Billboard chart topper for him in his native America, although for what it's worth, this was a minor hit in his homeland that year due to its international success. Much like here in Australia, this also didn't chart in the UK upon its initial release.

It feels odd that Australia was the only place in the world where this wasn't at least a top ten hit for the brothers Gibb, although admittedly I always felt the charts throughout the 70's were a bit too floaty which is perhaps why Countdown improvised a top ten on their weekly charts until 1983 (for a bit of a fun fact.) Indeed, this was a top ten hit in the UK like it was over in NZ for the trio.

I wasn't expecting to see Crystal Gayle on this list, mainly because as you've noticed, country music didn't do so well in the UK at any given point in time. In any case, this more than explains why it was a hit for her in the southern hemisphere, although it appears that we Aussies were a bit conflicted in whether we wanted to make it a hit for her or not given its sleeper hit status.

This was the only hit that Roberta Flack had in the UK, it makes sense why given how her other big hit in Australia was as such due to it appearing in a Clint Eastwood flick as opposed to this being a hit in its own right. This also explains how the Fugees interpolation from 1996 became a massive hit over there as Lauryn Hill and company were able to nostalgia bomb the Brits just like they did everywhere else.

If you wanted to know if this was a hit in NZ due to the kiwis love for the blaxploitation comedy Good times, it turns out that wasn't the only reason as it was also a huge hit in the UK for the star of the show Jim Gilstrap despite it being a massive failure in his native America. Again, I have a feeling it was due to this failure that he stuck to acting rather than pursuing a music career moving forward.

This is the final appearance from Rod Stewart on the list, although he did have five other hits in his homeland that would've appeared later down this list if they were as such in Australia and/or NZ. There's only one entry I skipped over from him, that being the second appearance that "Sailing" has on my RYM list, meaning that song had two runs that were bigger in his homeland than the biggest hit he had in America.

If you're wondering why it's taken me this long to feature an ELO track on this list, that's because A: they're a rock and roll band trying to find success in a country that seems to be allergic to the genre and B: they had two candidates on my RYM list that I skipped over due to their failure in the southern hemisphere (those being "Mr blue sky" and "Sweet talking woman".) It's a bit of coincidence that their first entry on this list was their biggest hit here in Australia.

I'm not exactly sure how this managed to be an even bigger hit here in Australia than it was in the husband and wife duo's native UK, it might be due to a Countdown performance as there are a lot of concert footage of them performing this song at the time floating around the internet that doesn't explicitly state what show they were on. In any case, it was a big hit in both countries even if they didn't have a second hit in either one.

Here's the big hit that Fox had here in Australia, again it's hard to say if this was a huge chart topper down under due to a Countdown performance that's since been lost to the sands of time given how that would explain why it did so well here when it only did decently well in their native UK. It could also be because lead singer Noosha Fox is Australian, although that raises further questions for their earlier entry.

I forgot to mention on my Billboard list that this was a hit in America almost a year after it became as such in Australia and NZ, this was also the case in the UK even though this had no chance at topping the UK charts like it did internationally for the Carpenters. This means that in a bizarre twist of fate, the duo owes their second Billboard chart topper to us Aussies and kiwis.

If you're wondering how this managed to be a huge hit in Australia and NZ despite it flopping in Ram jam's native America, it turns out the Brits somehow got a hold of this track from them and made it a massive hit in the UK. This definitely explains why it needed several attempts to take off here in Australia given how it would've seemed odd to us that this American band was only popular with the Brits.

This is another entry from two American artists that failed to appear on my Billboard list, this means that once again, we have the thank the Brits for why this was a success here in Australia even though this would feel better at home with all the soft rock I skipped over on my previous list. Neither Dean Freidman nor Denise Marsa managed a second hit anywhere else in the world.

We haven't looked at an entry from Wings in a hot minute, so here we are with the title track to their biggest album which was a hit in the UK just like it was in every country where it was released as a single. Admittedly it didn't quite get to number one over there as was the case for all their singles barring their top entry on this list, however at least it saw the light of day which wasn't the case here in Australia.

I have no idea how this managed to become one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia given how long it's taken me to feature this solo entry from Bryan Ferry, I guess it was due to an appearance on Countdown, however all I can find is his episode from 1981 with his band Roxy music where he performed "Jealous guy." In any case, this was a decent hit for him in his homeland and a massive hit down under.

It's a bit odd to see these guys so low on this list with this entry given how it was a big hit here in Australia for them, they did appear on Countdown this decade, however they performed their top entry on this list as well as another song in their catalogue that didn't catch on anywhere, meaning from what I can gather, this wasn't a hit in Australia due to their appearance on the show.

It's been a hot minute since we last looked at Blondie on this list, although the only song I skipped over from them was their other UK chart topper this decade "Sunday girl" which would've come shortly after their previous entry on this list. This was a bridesmaid for the band on the UK charts, although at least they had a hit with this and the second single from Eat to the beat over there "Atomic" which wasn't the case in their native America.

This is the second weakest chart topper of the decade in the UK, we'll get to the weakest chart topper in a bit but suffice to say, it's obvious this only went to number one for Billy Connolly due to his star power and not because his fellow Brits were that big of fans of his "cover" of the Tammy Wynette classic. Rather hilariously, the original version actually recharted because of this cover and even became a UK chart topper for the country legend.

This is the other appearance from Roxy music on this list, although it comes to us thanks to its sleeper hit status here in Australia as the kiwis didn't give these guys or lead singer Bryan Ferry the time of day until their earlier entry on this list from the end of the decade. This was another bridesmaid on this list, proving that having a high peak on the UK charts didn't necessarily mean you had an inescapable hit.

It's neem a hot minute since we looked at Tina Charles on this list, here she is with her third and final hit in her career chronologically that naturally was as such upon its initial release in her native UK as opposed to needing two attempts like it did here in Australia. I don't know why this and her third entry that's still to come on this list needed more than one attempt to appeal to us Aussies when her earlier entry didn't.

Here's the other big hit that Yvonne Elliman had in the UK, she was the original Mary Magdalene in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of Jesus Christ superstar as well as in the film adaptation from 1973, so perhaps it was due to her status as an actress that allowed this to become a hit for her everywhere in the world except for her native America. It could be that, or it could be she didn't count as an American given she's from Hawaii.

We haven't looked at these guys in a bit, so here we are with the fourth and final entry from 10cc which was also their other appearance on my Billboard list for the decade. This wasn't even their biggest hit from Deceptive bends in their homeland as that honour goes to "Good morning judge" which outranks it slightly on my RYM list, I'm not even sure why as both songs are from the same genre.

This is the only hit that Odyssey had outside of the UK, I bring this up because they had four candidates for my 80's list including a chart topper with "Use it up and wear it out" which just goes to show how much in love the Brits were with the American trio. Why their fellow Americans left them in the dust I'll never know, however that more than explains why the best they could do in NZ was this sleeper hit.

Oh yeah, the Beatles had a hit in their homeland this decade. It was only a bridesmaid on the UK charts, and it seemed like that was only out of pure obligation give how quickly this sunk on their charts compared to many other entries on this list from the start of the decade. How weird is it that their fellow Brits were so keen to leave them behind in the 60's the minute that decade came to an end?

I'm really stretching out Elton John's representation on this list, aren't I? Here we are with the second single from Don't shoot me I'm only the piano player which wasn't nearly the success in his homeland it was in America. He only has two more entries to come on this list, neither of which came close to topping the UK charts and instead made it on here because they were genuinely popular.

This is the final appearance from Leo Sayer on this list given how "Long tall glasses" was too minor of a hit in his homeland to appear on here despite its massive success here in Australia. From what I can gather, Leo only appeared on the show three times, once to perform "When I need you" (which incidentally was also when David Dundas came on the show) once to perform "You make me feel like dancing" on its one-year anniversary and once more in 1981. As you can tell, this was after this became a bridesmaid in his homeland and a moderate success here (side note, holy crap I had a lot to say here.)

Given how this was only a decent hit at best for Frankie Miller in his homeland, I'm a bit confused as to how it became a huge hit in Australia and NZ. I couldn't find any evidence of a Countdown appearance, although even if that's why it was big down under, it doesn't explain its success in NZ where it was even bigger. In any case, I think we can bring up my theory that a song's crossover appeal was ultimately arbitrary at this point in the list.

Given how these guys saw a massive comeback in the UK with "Show you the way to go" (they had two big hits from the start of the decade over there) it only makes sense that this would be a hit over there on time even if it went on to be even bigger over in NZ for the family band. Why the kiwis decided this would be their big breakthrough I'll never know, however it explains why it was initially a flop for them in Australia.