Well regardless of how you feel about this theatrical adaptation of the Broadway show set in the 50’s (I personally love it) there’s no denying that the soundtrack left a mark on audiences back in the day as it was by far the most successful to emerge from the 70’s and arguably of all time. This is due to how much chemistry the two leads have both in the film and with the songs, regardless of John’s deficiencies as a vocalist.
It’s often regarded as one of the best albums of all time (no arguments here) however its status as the biggest album of its day didn’t come until much later when it was rereleased in the 90’s to cash in off the success of Meat loaf’s reunion with Jim Steinman for the long-awaited sequel to this album. People were a bit more divided on that album due to when it came out, however there’s very few that will say this is anything short of a masterpiece.
Boney M was the first band that Frank Farian had success with, although it’s the only band where he participated in the vocals as he was the lead singer of the band. This was their biggest success likely due to it spawning not one but two of their biggest hits worldwide, although as they were in the disco genre, their popularity began to dwindle as the decade was coming to an end.
I’m not exactly sure how this album from Willie Nelson managed to find an audience in Australia two years after its initial release, after all it’s not like he was among the more successful country stars outside his native America, nor was this album used to promote anything worthwhile (that I’m aware of that is.)
Following the success of her previous album Simple dreams, it appears that Linda Ronstadt decided she wasn’t done exploring country and RNB which is perhaps why this album proved to be a successful follow-up less than a year after that albums release. She did eventually move on to new wave in the new decade, and it appears we Aussies at least weren’t particularly interested in her tackling a heavier genre like that.
If there was any doubt that his previous album the Stranger was a fluke for Billy Joel in the mainstream, then this album put those doubts to rest as it cemented him as the piano man of choice given how both of these albums were released during Elton John’s first dark period. Even though he had millions of fans around the world with these albums, he saw backlash from rock snobs who felt he was catering to soccer mums.
This was where it all began for one of the most critically acclaimed bands of all time, and it’s with an album that sounds completely stripped back from what was coming out at the time to boot. Of course, Dire straits would go on to have infinitely more success the following decade, however they did win over a bunch of fans with this album who wanted an alternative with all the bombast.
Well would you look at this, we have a rock opera set to the plot of the H.G Wells book War of the worlds by composer Jeff Wayne that managed to become a huge success this decade. Admittedly this wasn’t the first concept album to achieve massive success that was based on a book as a few years prior, Yes frontman Rick Wakeman did just that with the Jules Verne novel Journey to the centre of the earth.
Well at least this album saw Rod Stewart experimenting with his sound for a change, even if it was to allow him to get on board with the disco scene that was taking the world by storm upon its initial release. This would be the last mega successful album in his catalogue until his 1991 effort Vagabond heart, meaning the 80’s was an off period for the crooner.
I’m a bit surprised that Stealers wheel didn’t see much success back in the day considering how often you hear “Stuck in the middle with you” on the radio, I guess this solo album from Gerry Rafferty becoming a huge success was meant to be a consolation prize the world gave him for sleeping on his band earlier in the decade. Admittedly it’s hard to imagine a world where the lead single would fail given how iconic that sax solo has become.
I guess this was the Rolling stones looking to change with the times given how there’s a noticeable disco influence throughout this album’s runtime (it’s not quite disco but it’s easy to think it is.) This was able to spawn the band a hit single during the second half of the decade, although I don’t think they were particularly interested in adding more hits to their name after all the success they had in the 60’s.
This was a runaway success for Kate Bush given how inescapable the lead single from the album was back in the day, indeed she quickly followed this up with a second album Lionheart which obviously didn’t have the same beauty and grace that this album had. She bounced back with her third album and retained her popularity here in Australia due to appearing on Countdown more than once.
This was the only notable success that Bob Marley managed to achieve during his lifetime in Australia, although I guess we should be thankful that at least one of his albums was a commercial success here as opposed to America where he never even charted on the Billboard charts. I guess this album’s success was a bit confusing considering how reggae music never seemed to be that popular here in Australia.
Although he remains one of the most iconic singer/songwriters of all time, Neil Young didn’t have that much success in Australia back in the day save for the occasional solo album as well as his magnum opus with Crosby Stills Nash and Young at the start of the decade. This would be a close second to his biggest album here after Deja vu from 1971, allowing him to bookmark both sides of the 70’s with a successful album.
They had an amazing run throughout the 70’s not just here in Australia but internationally, so it makes sense that the band would release a greatest hits package detailing the journey they had made in such a short amount of time and for it to be a huge success for them. This sadly was a bit of a curse for the band here as they wouldn’t have another hit for ten years when they came back with “Love is a bridge.”
It would seem odd that Santana would still be popular by the end of the decade only to fade into obscurity going into the 80’s, until you remember that MTV launched in 1981 which naturally caused the mainstream to side-line these guys until the late 90’s worldwide. Even so, they achieved massive success with their penultimate album of the decade here in Australia which makes this transition rather jarring.
She was one of the biggest celebrities of the decade, so of course this greatest hits package from Barbra Streisand would be a success for her worldwide upon its initial release. Her popularity would continue to grow in the 80’s as she would score her next album would be the biggest of her career, and indeed her film career would also flourish.
George Benson was one of the bigger musicians of colour to emerge from this decade, this jazz album of his being one of many successful albums he managed to achieve worldwide throughout his career. I’m not sure how he managed to find an audience in Australia when so many of his contemporaries failed to do so.
Disco was at the height of its popularity this year, so much so that even a band who I’m sure even at the time everyone new to be queer was able to find success with their breakthrough album. Even though these guys were closeted at the height of their popularity, they have since admitted that they’re all gay which has only strengthened the popularity of their music as many champion it for lessening our stigma towards the LGBT community.
This was the most successful album to come from the Doobie Brothers given how it spawned their biggest hit in their catalogue in the form of its lead single. Even though they had a very successful run this decade with their adult contemporary rock music, they would struggle to retain their popularity with their next album which resulted in them breaking up for most of the 80’s, although they would eventually reform.
Even though they had success earlier in the decade with “In the flesh” in Australia and “Denis” in the UK, Blondie were finally able to make it big in their native America with this album given how the lead single incorporates disco into their sound. This made the band a household name internationally and set them up for major success in the 80’s which they unfortunately didn’t manage to achieve after their album Autoamerican.
This album was named after his duet with Barbra Streisand which happened to be one of the biggest hits from both artists careers, so of course this was going to be a huge success for Neil Diamond just like most of his albums this decade. His popularity would continue to flourish in the 80’s thanks to his performance in the Jazz singer, although it would quickly dwindle once the MTV era launched.
One of the bigger success stories to come from Countdown in terms of international artists was that of Leif Garrett, specifically how he managed to find massive success with this album despite it being a huge failure in his native America. His next album would be a success on Billboard; however, it would also lead the teen idol to develop a drug addiction which put a halt on his music career indefinitely.
This was the final successful album that 10cc had here in Australia, I’m guessing because we Aussies were a bit too confused with their direction towards reggae with the lead single but could also be due to us not wanting them around in the 80’s for some reason. They admittedly had a good run in the mainstream here so it’s not like they went largely unheard of unlike in America.
This was another highly successful album to come from Bob Dylan, although he wasn’t among the biggest names in music during the second half of the decade in Australia, he did manage to find a loyal fanbase which helped him succeed along the likes of Fleetwood Mac Pink Floyd.
There weren’t any signs of these guys slowing down now that they were receiving international success with their material, indeed this album might not have been as successful as their previous album, however it more than made up for that by spawning multiple hits on Billboard and in other countries. These guys would continue to have success until Glenn Shorrock left the band and was replaced with John Farnham.
Following the success of the Grease soundtrack from earlier on this list, Olivia Newton John doubled down on her sex appeal she displayed in the film with this album which naturally went over well with her fanbase given how this was her first album to be a success outside of its singles here in Australia. It’s a bit of a prototype to her next album which seemed to be tailor made for the launch of MTV.
While he continued to have success following the temporary parting ways he had with Bernie Taupin, it’s obvious that the magic had been lost in Elton’s music to the point where he occasionally needed to have songs originally written by Bernie be reworked into some of the tracks on his albums. Even so, he did manage to find success with this album due to it spawning a couple of hit singles for him.
This was the only notable success from Nicolette Larsson, a woman who’s best known for her relationship with Neil Young from around this time as she appeared on his album Comes a time which is perhaps how she managed to find success with this album. I’m guessing she had a falling out with Neil as her popularity vanished once this album left the charts.
I guess Jackson Browne was able to achieve moderate success with his albums here in Australia during the second half of the decade, sure he wasn’t a superstar here like his reputation would suggest but he did do better than some other rock and roll legends that never saw any success here back in the day.
I’m surprised prog music wasn’t more of a mainstream genre in Australia given how big rock operas were at this stage, Alan Parsons project was one of the bigger names in the prog scene as they were able to score a huge sleeper hit with this album following the success of their previous album which was based on the 50’s book series I robot. Their popularity would dwindle going into the 80’s and fade completely after their album Eye in the sky.
This was the penultimate album to be released from Wings before they went their separate ways in 1980, it was another huge success for them likely due to it being released immediately after their biggest hit “Mull of Kintyre” which strangely neither appears on this album nor was it ever released in America.
This was the final album Dragon released during their initial run together, despite this being their biggest album they broke up so that Marc Hunter could pursue a solo career that ultimately took him nowhere given how he didn’t score a single hit song during the bands time apart. They got back together when he finally gave up on his solo career where they essentially picked up where they left off from here.
She was certainly one of the most popular artists in Australia throughout the decade, she was definitively the most popular female Australian artist of the 70’s (that is if you count her as such as she was from America initially) so it makes sense that this live album would be a success for Marcia Hines when it was released.
Wings were so inescapable this decade that even this greatest hits package managed to be a huge success for them, heck there were simply no signs of Paul McCartney slowing down in the music industry until the mid 80’s where his music became less critically acclaimed.
Bob Seger was one of those artists that seemed to find more success with each subsequent album he released, although many will tell you this is his best work thanks to several of the tracks remaining as staples on oldies stations to this day. He would find the success he deserved by the end of the decade when his greatest hits package matched the success of many of his contemporaries on this list.
While they were the victims of overexposure this decade much like other popular bands of the 70’s, Abba was still able to find massive success during the second half of the decade thanks to how catchy and memorable their songs were to audiences. Like I said, it was more due to overexposure than people genuinely finding their music to be terrible that these albums weren’t bigger than they were.
This was the only successful album that Dan Hill was able to have outside of his native Canada, mainly for the lead single which became a huge worldwide success for him and likely promised him massive success with his subsequent albums he never achieved. That said he still kept at it and achieved moderate success in his homeland after this.
This is the only album from Anne Murray aside from her greatest hits package to find any sort of success outside of America and her native Canada, although I’m guessing this is due to the surprise success of its lead single worldwide which likely came from it compared favourably to an early Olivia Newton John track around the time her British/Australian equivalent went in a more pop direction.
Bob Dylan was among the most popular artists of the 70’s in Australia when it came to his albums, sure his singles were something to be desired success wise (barring “Hurricane” of course) but that didn’t mean he wasn’t able to find success with this greatest hits package this year.
Graham Bonnet was a British musician that was briefly based here in Australia, this is why he scored two massive hits from two separate albums that didn’t chart anywhere else in the world before he joined the British group Rainbow after the success of his second album. Rainbow never found success here, proving that his popularity was more due to his presence in our music scene.
So, you remember me mentioning late night rock on my singles lists, well this band exemplifies that definition for the genre I’ve come up with as they really do feel like the perfect choice to listen to when having a late-night cocktail. This would be the only album affiliated with John Waite to have any success in Australia, although he would find further success with the band and as a solo artist.
He may be a one hit wonder with the lead single from this album, but at least Warren Zevon managed to score a massive hit with the album that spawned his radio classic back in the day. The song is a good representation of the album which is perhaps why the album was a success for him, normally a one hit wonder is as such due to their one hit being nothing like the rest of their catalogue.
Patti Smith didn’t see much success in her career over the years, the one exception being her second album with her self-titled band which became a success due to the lead single being written by Bruce Springsteen of all people. It remains a popular album from the 70’s pseudo punk scene (I guess you can say this is punk) as well as having her being a legend in the music industry.
Much like his previous album, this was an album that has some traces of his glam rock roots in an album that’s otherwise very indicative of the times. This resulted in Alice being polarising to his fanbase and the mainstream which in turn resulted in this album being nowhere near as successful as his earlier work.
While this wasn’t their first album, it was the album which made the Angels into a household name due to how long it charted (albeit in the lower half of the charts.) This allowed them to join the elite ranks of Skyhooks and Dragon as one of the more successful bands from the southern hemisphere without finding success in the northern hemisphere.
Given that the lead single from this album was a huge success here in Australia, it makes sense that it was able to also be a huge success for Pablo Cruise which makes the failure of the rest of their catalogue here and in their native America that much more confusing in retrospect.
This was the only album from Barry Manilow’s catalogue to be a huge success here in Australia, although his greatest hits album Manilow magic did confirm that he was more of a singles artist back in the day rather than having albums people could connect with in the mainstream. I guess it doesn’t help that all but one of his hits have been covers despite him proudly proclaiming himself as a songwriter.
Given how their debut album became a huge (albeit heavily delayed) success here in Australia this year, it makes sense that Foreigner’s follow up would find more instantaneous success here even if it too failed to spawn a hit on our charts. It’s a bit weird they were considered an albums band back in the day considering how much airplay their singles receive on oldies stations nowadays.
This is the album from Leif Garrett that my American readers will be more familiar with given how it was the only one of his to find success in his homeland, here in Australia it didn’t see as much success likely due to us Aussies already falling out of love with his music, however it was a huge success here regardless.
This is the final successful album that Sherbet achieved in their career, it appears that their popularity had quickly dwindled during the last stretch of the decade given how inescapable they were during the midpoint thanks to their exposure on Countdown.
While he was still looking for that big mega successful hit that wouldn’t come until his magnum opus Born in the U.S.A, Bruce Springsteen was nonetheless able to find modest success with his follow up to Born to run as well as hand out success to others in the music industry thanks to his stellar songwriting skills. It could also be he was a bit ahead of his time as heartland rock wouldn’t explode until the early 80’s in his native America.
Now this is an album which has a name that can be taken the wrong way, much like their third album, I think they were trying to give a voice to a minority group here (in this case the mentally disabled) but that’s probably me giving them too much of the benefit of the doubt. You can’t blame me for sticking up for them as they did have politically charged lyrics that seemed to speak up for the every man in their career.
While he was quickly losing popularity here in Australia as the decade began to wind down, it’s worth noting that Leo Sayer nonetheless managed to retain some of it making his supposed comeback at the start of the 80’s that much less surprising given how he simply managed to reach some of the levels of success he achieved earlier in the 70’s.
David Bowie was always a killer live performer, as such it makes sense this live album would be a massive success for him back in the day. That said, you’d still think that this would’ve been one of the more popular albums at least of its year, let alone the decade but alas it wasn’t.
This was a bit of a commercial disappointment for Kate Bush, largely due to it lacking that runaway hit that most of her other albums have in her catalogue but also due to it failing to live up to the standards set up by her debut album from the previous year. She would of course bounce back the following decade with her third album and having varying degrees of success with her music.
The title of this album may be a bit misleading given how this was the second album Genesis released as a trio following the departure of Peter Gabriel from earlier in the decade, however the real triumph this album had was spawning a genuine hit for the band given how the lead single managed to connect with audiences upon its initial release and has only become more popular with age.
I should point out that Joe Cocker always had some level of success here in Australia throughout his career even if the peaks and valleys are very noticeable when going through his catalogue, indeed this release feels like it would’ve been a massive success at the start of the decade or even a decade later given how well it fits in with those points of his career.
In a bit of an odd twist, Ian Dury managed to find success this year not with the album that spawned his one and only hit but rather with his solo debut from two years prior. Naturally it makes sense he would find success with this album given how big “Hit me with your rhythm stick” was down under, however it still feels like an outlier on this list given how it’s a rare punk album on this site.
This was a bit of a comeback for the Who here in Australia given how they hadn’t troubled our charts since the start of the decade with their album Who’s next, I’m guessing inserting their name into their album title was what compelled us Aussies into buying them since as far as I can tell, none of their other albums were a success here (despite how big their singles were throughout the 60’s.)
It’s a bit weird that Boston’s debut album was a huge sleeper hit here in Australia given how you’d think it would’ve been as inescapable as something from the Eagles or Neil Diamond given how iconic it remains to this day, in a way, it makes sense that this follow up was more of an immediate success even if overall it didn’t achieve nearly as much success in the long run as their previous effort.
Remember how I featured a live album that was a tribute to a musician known as Andrew Durant on my 1981 album list? Here’s a studio album from the band who made that tribute which of course had him as the lead singer. It was the band’s only success during their short time together as they were another Aussie band that only achieved limited success through their appearances on Countdown.
I know I shouldn’t be surprised this debut album from Van Halen was a moderate success here in Australia, however considering how many notable absentees there are from rock legends on these lists, it’s a bit puzzling to see how these guys managed to find an audience with us Aussies when so many others failed to do so (unless there’s a lost episode of Countdown where these guys appeared on the show.)
Elvis was indeed one of the biggest stars of Hollywood throughout the 60’s, as such his label put together a compilation album of all of the songs from his films which became a success following his tragic death the previous year.
This was originally released four years prior to deafening silence for the Deep Purple bassist, presumably because no one initially wanted to listen to a solo project from him even if his band was among the most popular of his time when this initially came out. It was given a second chance when one of the songs had an animated video accompanying it that allow it to become a surprise hit here in Australia this year.
Given how he played an instrumental park in bring to life Meat Loaf’s magnum opus from earlier on this list, it’s little surprise that Todd Rundgren managed to achieve sound success with his own album here in Australia this year even if this was his only notable success as a lead artist anywhere in the world.
Given how this spawned one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia, it makes sense that this debut album from Eruption would see moderate success here even if at the time they were criticised for being a rip-off of Boney M. Indeed, this has since fallen into obscurity because of their German counterparts being better represented when it comes to 70’s nostalgia.
Given how they were one of the biggest names of the decade here in Australia, it makes sense that this greatest hits package from the band (which from what I can gather is an Australian exclusive) was a decent success for them. It did somewhat activate a curse where a successful artist would release a greatest hits package only for them to struggle to retain their popularity moving forward.
This was the soundtrack to the film of the same name, a film that was about radio payola that wasn’t well received at the time due to it having little to say about the radio industry. I guess the soundtrack more served as a compilation album given how it only had one song that was written for the film with the rest of the tracks being big hits from artists from around this time.
From what I can gather, the film adaptation to the Beatles album this serves as a soundtrack to is considered to be one of the worst films of all time thanks to bad acting from the cast which consists of musicians with limited acting experience as well as the plot being strung together solely through the lyrics of the songs from the soundtrack. Even the soundtrack was poorly received save for the covers from Aerosmith and Earth wind and fire.
This was a bit of a dud for Queen here in Australia due to how low it appears on this list; however, they were nonetheless on a roll with this album which admittedly is a bit misleading as there’s hardly any jazz to be found on here. I guess it was due to the false advertising that caused this otherwise acceptable album to underperform here.
