Were it not for a live album from Neil Diamond from earlier in the decade, this would’ve been the most successful album of the 70’s in Australia, I’m glad it is as even to this day the album continues to receive a ton of love from the music community thanks to how iconic the songs remain. To think that this was an album built around the behind-the-scenes drama that the band was going through at the time.
For someone who’s constantly evolving her sound, you’d be surprised at how little success Linda Ronstadt has had with her music over the years. She struck gold with her attempts at country music on this album as it did spawn her biggest hit (outside of America that is) with a cover of an old Roy Orbison track. This led to her next album also being a huge success for her in Australia.
The second soundtrack to a John Travolta film to appear on this list, this time it’s for his film Saturday night fever which also serves as the Bee gees full transition into disco as in addition to the new tracks they recorded for this album, this also includes several songs from their previous album Children of the world for John to shake his groove thing to throughout the film. The film itself is decent, nothing revolutionary but certainly one that’s earned its place in pop culture.
Sandwiched between two of their biggest albums is this double album from ELO which seems to be an expansion of their previous album A new world record when it comes to making a rock opera to cash in on both that craze as well as the science fiction craze taking over the world. It’s not as commercially appealing as their other work; however, it makes up for that by being them at their best artistically.
Although the band had two albums that were decently successful prior to this album, this was the moment where Glenn Shorrock and company went from just another pub rock band from Australia to international superstars given how inescapable the lead single was here and that it even did decently well internationally for them. Their international success would continue to grow after this album.
I guess the danger with reinventing yourself as often as these guys did is that it’s difficult to retain a fanbase to your work, indeed this was the most successful album from 10cc who traded in the glam rock from their earlier work for more contemporary pop rock for this album which made it a huge success for them. They would incorporate reggae on their next album which did lead to their biggest hit.
Although Billy had a massive sleeper hit earlier in the decade with Piano man, this was the album which turned him from that guy who you would hear when driving around late at night on the radio to a household name due to the second single becoming his first genuine hit throughout the world. Many consider this to be his best album as the stories he tells throughout its runtime seem to resonate with audiences to this day.
Another year, another highly successful album from an artist that with a few notable exceptions, I never particularly cared for his music. There doesn’t even seem to be any surprises on this track as this is what you would expect from a Rod Stewart album released this decade.
It seems weird that these guys weren’t even bigger in Australia back in the day considering how well their music has persisted on oldies stations, I think this is because I was expecting their albums to be even bigger given how they didn’t really have much success with their singles back in the day.
Following the success of his second solo album, Bryan Ferry struck while the iron was hot and released his third solo album which proved to be slightly more successful in exchange for it lacking that inescapable hit that “Let’s stick together” became prior to its release. This led to him releasing a third album not long after this which sadly for him crashed and burned and caused him to reform Roxy music.
Even though there were already two versions of this story made by the time Barbra Streisand took a crack at it, it is the first version to centre around the Grammys which perhaps led to its box office success and how it swept the Golden globe awards despite a mixed critical reception towards the film. As the story is about an aging male rock star mentoring a younger female rock star, the soundtrack proved to be a huge success thanks to audiences connecting with the relationship.
I guess you can say that this album took its sweet time in finding an audience in the mainstream, except this was released when Silk degrees had finally gotten itself off the ground and thus had to compete with that album to find an audience worldwide. Both of these albums were highly successful and firmly put Boz Scaggs on the map in the music scene.
She may be a one hit wonder here in Australia with the lead single from this album, however that single was apparently all the incentive we Aussies needed in checking out the album it came from as it became one of the more successful to come out this decade. I’m guessing this was due to Carole performing the song on Countdown back in the day as from what I can gather, this wasn’t a success anywhere else in the world.
Although he wasn’t scoring many hits during the second half of the decade in Australia, that didn’t mean that Neil Diamond was yesterday’s news here as his albums were still among the more popular in Australia likely due to him still retaining much of his audience that made him a household name during the first half of the 70’s.
Before it ever premiered on London’s west end, Evita was a concept album based on the real-life political figure from the first half of the twentieth century. Naturally the success of this album led to the show being written for the stage which eventually saw a theatrical released twenty years after this album came out starring Madonna in the title role, it’s easily considered her best performance.
Santana were indeed one of the bigger bands of the decade in Australia when it came to their albums, true they weren’t able to have much success with their singles like the Eagles or Led Zeppelin, but it was clear that audiences had fallen in love with their music regardless. This was the penultimate album in their catalogue to be a huge success before they became yesterday’s news for over two decades.
Rita Coolidge is best known as the ex-wife of Kris Kristofferson, I thought I’d bring that up considering her success came during her marriage with the singer/songwriter/actor. Here she scored her biggest success thanks to her cover of the Jackie Wilson classic that still divides audiences to this day.
This was a flop for Peter Allen when it was released the previous year, I’m guessing the news of him coming out as gay following his divorce from Liza Minelli initially put us Aussies off from his brand of lounge music on this album. We were fortunately won over this year when he scored a huge hit with the album’s second single, so much so the album and its lead single became a huge success this year for him.
While the album itself wasn’t a big success for Marcia Hines, the fact that it spawned two of her biggest hits of the decade more than made up for its comparatively mediocre success from her previous two albums. That said it was still plenty successful hence why it’s on this list, and hey it’s still five times as more success than anything Diana Ross was putting out around this time.
Well, it looked like Elvis Presley was able to find success till the bitter end as he released this album a mere month prior to his untimely death. Much like John Lennon’s album Double fantasy, it’s hard to say if this album would’ve been as big as it was if he were to live to see the following year, it did spawn two hit singles before his passing, so I think this album did have a genuine fanbase to draw from.
Following the success of his live album, Peter Frampton had little issues with finding an audience with his next studio album which is why it was a huge success for him. Unfortunately, this success was short lived as none of his subsequent material managed to find much of an audience for him after these two albums.
Although this didn’t produce any noteworthy hits for Steve Miller and company, it nonetheless remains their most successful album in their career likely due to how well they did on the radio back in the day. They would sit out the rest of the decade and return at the height of MTV with an album that certainly adapted with the times.
Although Dragon did achieve minor success earlier in the decade here in Australia, this was the album which finally made them a household name here to the point where they were able to take their success back home as the lead single managed to become a huge success over there. They were one of the earliest acts to achieve success in NZ thanks to appearing on Countdown for what it’s worth.
Neil Diamond was on a roll this year as he managed to score success with his second live album he released this decade, although considering the first one is the BIGGEST ALBUM OF ALL TIME, I guess this album’s success was a bit limited in comparison despite it being a well-remembered concert at the Greek theatre in Los Angeles.
This was the album where Alice Cooper had sold out, at least he partially sold out as the lead single from this album was an adult contemporary ballad that became his biggest hit here in Australia. There are a few glam rock tracks on here to reassure his fans he wasn’t a total sell-out; however, they feel out of place with the more contemporary sounding songs on here which is why it wasn’t as successful as his earlier work.
Although Donna Summer had already seen success with her previous album due to its lead single, it was this album which finally made her the queen of disco due to its lead single topping the charts in most parts of the world. Donna always had a unique voice which worked wonders with sexually charged tracks, which is perhaps how she managed to be crowned the queen of a genre she would come to despise.
Although Queen was struggling to recapture the success of their breakthrough album A night at the opera during the second half of the decade, they did manage to continue to find massive success with their attempts which is why this album and its iconic lead single managed to find success here and remain popular to this day. They would hit a dry spell after this with their jazz album titled Jazz.
If you thought that Genesis was the prog band that received the most flak from audiences, then you’ve obviously never seen the backlash towards this British trio who haven’t received much respect over the years for their work. This was their only notable success throughout their career mainly due to it spawning a huge hit in the form of its lead single.
Well at least David Bowie was able to achieve some degree of success here in Australia during the height of the Countdown era, although it may surprise you to learn that Bowie didn’t achieve that much success here save for his Pin ups album from 1973 as well as his Let’s dance album from a decade after that.
Following the success of their earlier entry on this list, it appears that Chicago decided to double down with their change in music direction as they released their eleventh album which was a huge success compared to many of their pre sell-out entries from earlier in the decade.
The last time anyone seemed to care about James Taylor in the music industry was with his duet with his (then) wife Carly Simon on “Mockingbird,” that was three years prior which should give you an idea of how jarring this albums success was this year for the singer/songwriter. Admittedly this came due to him scoring a hit this year with its lead single, and he has seen middling success over the years since.
I’m a bit surprised the Star Wars soundtracks didn’t sell better here in Australia back in the day considering A: how much of a cultural phenomenon the films were and B: them being the orchestral themes composed by John Williams especially given how the original trilogy was released when orchestral music was in vogue in the music scene.
There were no signs of these guys slowing down as they soldiered on throughout the decade with their prog rock, admittedly they weren’t as inescapable as they were with their magnum opus Dark side of the moon, however that didn’t mean that they were outselling the competition two to one.
Sherbet was still able to find massive success this far into the decade due to how much love they were receiving on Countdown, although it was noticeably less success than they had earlier in the decade given how it wasn’t as inescapable as their earlier work (the cover might have had something to do with it.)
Although the peak of their popularity wouldn’t come until 1982’s Eye in the sky, this British duo did receive a ton of success throughout the 70’s thanks to being a worthy candidate of the best prog group to come out of the decade. Named after the sci fi book of the 50’s, this album had a concept about a dystopian future that naturally connected with audiences around this time.
I’m guessing the novelty of there not being a year of the cat was what allowed this album to be a success worldwide, either that or there was a ton of love for adult contemporary artists such as Al Stewart back in the day that I didn’t realise was a thing.
It had been seven years since these three released an album together, even then they were one man short as Neil Young was nowhere to be found on this collaboration which is perhaps why this didn’t reach the dizzying heights of Deja vu from the start of the decade. They would eventually make a second album with Neil young over a decade after this album, however many fans would wish they hadn’t.
Bob Welch was the original lead singer of Fleetwood mac when the band decided to have a vocalist among their ranks, he left just before they exploded in popularity which I’m sure was a bit of a sinking feeling he experienced at the time. Fortunately, he was able to find success with a solo album thanks to the lead single being a huge hit for him here in Australia as well as scoring a second hit in his native America.
This was one of two successful live albums that the Brothers Gibb had in their career over the years, although this was recorded in their prime, so it makes more sense that it was a success back in the day. This led to them contributing to the Grammy award winning Saturday night fever soundtrack which made them the kings of disco for the rest of the decade.
Although he had a massive hit with “Girls on the avenue” two years prior, this was the first album from Richard Clapton to achieve any sort of success likely due to his continual presence on Countdown even if it failed to spawn a genuine hit for him. He would have one more successful album in the 80’s before his time in the spotlight was up, this is despite the fact he continued to be a regular on the show.
These guys were known for being a killer live act during their career, as such their live album was a sure-fire hit for them during the height of their popularity. This would be their last successful album in Australia, although they would continue seeing success in their native UK as far as the early 90’s.
Given how the lead single to this album was a massive success for Supercharge here in Australia, it only seems fitting that it would too be a success even if we Aussies didn’t find much to love about it outside of said single. At least it did better over here than it did in their native UK where they never had any success.
This was the only album from Renee Geyer to see notable success in her career, although it didn’t contain her biggest hit “Say I love you” as that wouldn’t come for another four years for the experimental singer. Renee had been active since the start of the decade, meaning she needed some heavy promotion from Countdown before she could rise up to the ranks of Marcia Hines and others.
This was the first successful album that Bob Seger managed to have here in Australia, I’m not sure why he struggled for mainstream relevancy here as you’d think he’d have little issue with finding an audience with his brand of heartland rock. I guess we Aussies realised our mistake for sleeping on his music as his greatest hits package from the end of the decade would be a massive success for him.
Following the success of her earlier entry on this list, Barbra Streisand released this album which was a modest hit for her here in Australia likely due to the good will she had from her Hollywood flicks this decade.
There was this weird trend throughout the 70’s where half an album would be just a song expanded into a full half of an L.P with the second half comprising of filler tracks to justify releasing said song as an album. This format was used for the one and only album from French group Santa Esmeralda who saw moderate success here in Australia with this album that stretches their one and only hit into sixteen minutes.
This was released the previous year to deafening silence, I’m guessing because no one initially wanted to hear Hutch from Starsky and Hutch have a singing career as actors don’t usually have good singing careers unless they were established as a musician prior to making it big in Hollywood. The world changed its mind when he scored a huge chart topper with a song that was later included on this album.
This was the solo debut for Graham Bonnet he released exclusively in Australia and eventually NZ due to how popular the lead single was here, the success this and his second album from the following year eventually led to him relocating back to the UK and joining Rainbow where he finally managed to achieve success in his homeland.
Foreigner would become one of the most popular bands of the 80’s worldwide, however they had much more humble beginnings as their debut album was a success here in Australia but only due to them being one of the earliest international guests to perform on Countdown this decade. That said, this did allow their brand of rock and roll to thrive on oldies stations decades after its initial release.
This was caught between two years to appear on either my 1977 or 1978 list from a while back, however there’s no denying this was a massive success for the king of rock and roll following his tragic passing here in Australia given how well it did on our charts.
This was initially a huge failure here in Australia as we Aussies were a bit sceptical when it came to allowing the brothers Gibb to transition from a Beatles knockoff to the eventual kings of disco, it was given a second chance when their live album from earlier on this list became a huge success for them which finally allowed them to carve their own unique sound from their inspiration.
It’s a bit of a surprise that these guys saw a steep decline in their popularity as the decade was coming to an end here in Australia given how inescapable they were during its midpoint, it’s even more bizarre when you consider A: that their catalogue still receive airplay on oldies stations to this day and B: that their popularity in the UK continued as recently as the early 90’s.
This is what I meant when I said earlier that Leo Sayer found more success with his singles than he did with his albums following the success of his earlier entry on this list, that said, this follow up was decently successful here in Australia even if the title track has gone on to overshadow its legacy over the years.
It’s a bit surprising that Steely Dan didn’t have much success here in Australia back in the day, even taking into account that Countdown usually swept aside American bands in favour of our local artists, the fact that their music is constantly played on oldies stations makes their lack of success throughout the decade completely jarring to me. At least this magnum opus from them was a decent success here.
This was the final album from Bad company to achieve any sort of success here in Australia as they were unable to compete with the likes of disco and soft rock that had permeated the music scene at this point in the decade, at least they were able to survive quite a bit into the Countdown era which is more than I can say for many bands that were big during the first half of the decade.
This was the last successful album the Beatles had before the death of John Lennon, this is impressive given how the band had been broken up since the start of the decade and yet they could still have their label release albums that find massive success despite never reforming after 1970.
He may only be a one album wonder with his album Nilsson Schmilsson, however Harry Nilsson was able to gain enough nostalgia from Australians only five years after its initial release to have them check in with his catalogue with this greatest hits album. I don’t even know why this was a success as he didn’t score any hits with the album.
This was a live album from 10cc during the height of their popularity, they may have never released two albums that were the same as each other, however that didn’t prevent them from putting on cohesive live shows throughout their career as evidence by how well this resonated with audiences back in the day.
We have another successful live album from the Rolling stones to feature on this site, this time we have one that isn’t as fondly remembered as the ones that were big throughout the 80’s and especially the ones that were popular during the first half of the decade worldwide.
We have another appearance from David Bowie on this site that’s much lower than what fans would hope for, this didn’t even spawn a hit here in Australia which it at least was able to in NZ in exchange for it being less successful over there.
Well, I’d advise not looking too closely at the album art for this entry from Yes unless you’re feeling kinky, admittedly this is likely what caused the album to underperform given how I can easily see the band scoring a massive comeback with this album from their earlier material. As far as I can tell, there isn’t a censored version of this album cover like so many other controversial albums cover.
These guys were on a roll when they released their second album which pivoted away from their early comedic tracks, although the albums success was sacrificed here in Australia in favour of given the band their second chart topper here in the form of its lead single, hence why it’s much lower on this list compared to their earlier entry.
