Disco might have been dead in America. However, it was merely being phased out internationally, which means there was still plenty of it worldwide this year. Still, I don’t particularly care for the rise of easy listening which dominated the Billboard charts this year, some of which did find its way into our charts here in Australia as well as a few novelty tracks that I can only describe as nursery pop (songs that sound like nursery rhymes written as pop music.)
To think this album almost never came to be, this is of course due to the band suffering a major setback during its production when their original frontman Bon Scott died of a drug overdose. Fortunately, the band soldiered on with Brian Johnston as their new front man and released this album where it became their most successful in their career. It’s an album that four decades later, the band is still yet to top.
This was the debut album for a band that would eventually name themselves after said album, yes before they were Icehouse, Iva Davis and company were known as Flowers before they were forced to change it to avoid confusion with another band with that name who was also set to make it big internationally (wonder whatever happened to them.) This international interest led to their second album being a moderate success in the UK of all places.
Although their previous album Breakfast at sweethearts did put these guys on the map, it was this album which made Cold chisel a household name thanks to the raw vocal delivery of Jimmy Barnes in addition to how catchy their pub rock instrumentation remains to this day. It’s a shame that the band would only last a few more years together as their popularity only continued to grow after this albums success.
Even though his music was critically acclaimed even at the time of its initial release, many people complained that Billy Joel was little more than an artist made for the soccer mums of the world. Although they were often proven wrong by his highly diverse fanbase, Billy took this criticism to heart with this album where he expanded his sound to include harder rock which proved to be a huge success for him.
This was the biggest album of Stevie Wonder’s career in Australia, it’s fitting that his final decent album according to his diehard fans would be the one which finally allowed us Aussies to reward him for his genius music he created throughout the 70’s. For what it’s worth, he did achieve moderate success here throughout the decade even with Countdown giving us an allergic reaction to funk and soul.
This was the final album to be released in John Lennon’s lifetime, it’s unfortunately impossible not to bring up how John Lennon’s life ended when talking about this album as it was a large factor into its success despite there being plenty of evidence to suggest that it would’ve been decently successful had he lived to see the end of its album cycle. At the very least, it’s Grammy win for album of the year was understandable.
There’s an unfortunate truth about the music of the Police, namely that despite him being an English teacher originally, Sting isn’t what you’d call a skilled lyricist as evidence by some of the lyrics that can be found on this album in particular. That said, the album more than makes up for this shortcoming by having great instrumentation from the three members as well as Sting being a dynamic vocalist.
There were many success stories in the first year of the 80’s in Australia, one of the more notable ones was Australian crawl who scored a massive hit with their debut album following the buzz they received from its advanced singles coming from the previous decade. While their next album would be their magnum opus, this remains a fan favourite for the band due to how iconic the singles remain.
Following the disappointment from their previous album Communiqué, Dire straits decided to slightly alter their sound from their earlier work which seemed to be a wise move for them as this became just as big as their debut did at the end of the previous decade. They did experiment with their sound on their next album to much better results.
One of the more critically acclaimed films of the late 70’s was the biopic of Janis Joplin called the Rose, the film is notable for being Bette Midler’s theatrical debut as she plays a character loosely based on the pioneer for female rock and roll and the ups and downs she had in her lifetime. As the film has several live performances throughout its runtime, this technically serves as a live album from Bette Midler as well as its soundtrack.
These guys were rising stars in the Australian and NZ music scene throughout the 70’s, so for them to enter the 80’s with and album that would become one of the most successful in both countries must have been a bit of a joy for the band in question. The true success of this album came when its lead single was among the first to be played on MTV when it launched nearly two years after its initial release.
This remains the biggest album in Barbra Streisand’s career in Australia, presumably due to the involvement of the Brothers Gibb throughout its production (Barry even appears on the cover art with her.) This is her only successful album to not be affiliated with her acting career in any way as the rest of her discography consists of soundtrack from her films as well as her covering songs from Broadway productions.
Neil Diamond starred in a remake of the Jazz singer this year which led to him receiving a Razzie award for worst actor, I’d hate to know how bad his performance was if he was considered the worst actor over the likes of the lead actor from Xanadu, the guy from Flash Gordon and Caitlyn Jenner in You can’t stop the music (pre transition that is.) At least the soundtrack was well received and even a huge success.
This was the penultimate album that Blondie released in their original run together, even by this stage there was rumours that the band would be breaking up which they denied by simply saying that Deborah Harry would be recording a solo album shortly after its release. This album was a massive success whereas that one would be a huge flop for her, proving that audiences preferred her with the band than on her own.
If you’re looking for the campiest film ever to be made, then may I recommend this film made by the Village people which produced a highly successful soundtrack that arguably serves as their biggest album in their catalogue. It’s got terrible performances from the band members, a laughably pretentious leading man played by Steve Guttenberg and a ton so cheesy and awful that you’ll find yourself laughing your ass off at how bad it is.
This likely wouldn’t have been a success in Australia had it not allowed Christopher Cross to sweep the Grammys, after all having him win the big five at the award ceremony at a time where it was seen as the most prestigious awards for music did give it a huge endorsement. Fortunately, the album was well received and even spawned a bunch of radio hits that permeate on oldies stations to this day for the soft rocker.
You’d think this would be the album where Gene Simmons and company would you know, unmask themselves. That wouldn’t come until much later in their discography as this was simply a continuation of their previous album where they appealed to a more mainstream audience with their pop friendly rock tracks. This was their last successful album in most parts of the world, as such they were spared from the sight of seeing what these guys looked like without the makeup on.
I bet you weren’t expecting to see Janis Ian have one of the most successful albums of the year, indeed she saw massive success with this album likely due to her appearing on Countdown to perform the lead single which helped it become a huge hit in the southern hemisphere. She would prove to be a one album wonder with this entry as she wasn’t able to find any success with her subsequent follow ups.
David Bowie has seen plenty of ups and downs throughout his career, however this album did help those ups remain as such for at least half a decade as his next album would be the more pop friendly Let’s dance which was his most successful in his career. I’m guessing this connected with audiences due to the lead single, specifically the video where he cosplays as the Tinman from the Wizard of Oz.
Much like Bob Seger, Boz Scaggs also seemed set in having a success decade as he entered it with a highly successful album in his catalogue. Unfortunately, he too was also unable to adapt to the MTV era which resulted in him being seen as yesterday’s news soon after the album left the charts.
One of the most infamous films to be made, Xanadu at least has the redeeming factor of having some of the best music to come from its star Olivia Newton John and ELO which allowed the soundtrack to be a huge success upon its initial release. A common misconception is that the film was a box office flop, while it underperformed, it was a huge success likely due to the music and its co star Gene Kelly.
Well, this was an album that was released exclusively in Australia and NZ following the surprise success of Willie Nelson’s album Stardust the previous year, I’m guessing to help us Aussies and kiwis discover the back catalogue of the country legend which we absolutely did because this was a huge hit in the southern hemisphere for him.
This was the debut album from the Pretenders and one that opened up many doors for bands just like them as we hadn’t seen many male bands with a female vocalist see success prior to them breaking through with this album. This was popular enough to even crossover to America which was another rare feat for a band who broke through prior to the rise of MTV this decade.
There weren’t any signs of the Rolling stones slowing down in the mainstream, even with the fact that they were still incorporating disco into their sound during what was meant to be the dark ages of disco. Of course, their next album would be even bigger as that was a return to form with their sound, indeed it even spawned their biggest hit here in Australia to give you an idea of how much we loved their original work.
Well, he might not have had the level of success he had with his partner in crime Bernie Taupin during their time apart, however that doesn’t mean that Elton John wasn’t among the more popular artists during this period as evidence by this album being a huge success for him worldwide. Indeed, had he had the magic of Bernie during this period, it would’ve seemed like his popularity never decreased from the mid 70’s.
This was the penultimate album that Abba released in their catalogue, although it was their final successful album in Australia as their next album the Visitors would be a huge flop here for some reason. I guess if the band members weren’t going through highly publicised divorces at the time, they could’ve found a lot of success throughout the 80’s given how well they began the decade.
We have another successful album from George Benson following his breakthrough success with Weekend in L.A from two years prior, this time he incorporates some disco into his sound which helped it stand out from the rest of his discography by producing a hit single for him in the form of the title track.
Although she had moderate success throughout the 70’s in Australia, this was the first album that we Aussies took notice of from Joan Armatrading likely due to her voice finally clicking with us this year. Of course, she would find even bigger success later in the decade where she was finally able to score a hit single here, but this was a good introducing to her in the mainstream and for the 80’s.
They may have lucked out from having a chart topper in their native UK with the title track (you can blame Joe Dolce for that) however at least these guys were able to see massive success with this album here in Australia due to the strength of said title track here. This was one of two bands that Midge Ure was a part of this year, the other being Visage who didn’t see as much success with their album.
Bob Seger was certainly off to a good start this decade when this became a huge success for him, although unfortunately for him it appears that he wasn’t able to adapt to MTV’s rise in popularity as his next album wouldn’t see anywhere near the level of success he had from around this time.
The Eagles might have been no more going into the 80’s, however their fans were clearly shocked at their sudden breakup enough to make this live album from their final tour at the time a success months after it came to an end.
Anne Murray is by all means a one hit wonder here in Australia with “You needed me,” however it appears that song was popular enough for this greatest hits package she released two years later to become a massive success for her over here to help fans rediscover her back catalogue they ignored prior to that song’s release.
One of the first noteworthy films to come out of the 80’s was Fame, a film centring around a group of musically gifted students looking navigating their day to day lives in the (then) modern day New York. It led to a TV show that’s been described as the 80’s version of Glee which became a cultural juggernaut throughout the decade, although in Australia it began with the film as its soundtrack as a success this year.
I’m a bit surprised this guy didn’t see much success here in Australia back in the day, mainly because of how fondly remembered he remains in the music industry if his presence on oldies stations is anything to go by. This was his biggest album here, likely suggesting that the 80’s was going to be the decade he becomes a mainstream megastar but didn’t due to the rise of MTV.
Steely Dan is perhaps best known nowadays for their infamous Grammy upset at the 2000 awards ceremony, however back in the day they were a well-respected band who scored massive success in their native America throughout the 70’s with their brand of adult contemporary and soft rock. This was their only massive success here in Australia which came right before they first called it quits.
This was the second greatest hits album that Kenny Rogers had success with in as many years in Australia and NZ, although this time it was the one he released in his native America so it makes sense why it would be a success in the southern hemisphere as it contained his first Billboard chart topper as a bonus track.
Following the success of their live E.P, Devo was able to find success with their breakthrough album of theirs as their wacky antics really struck a chord with us Aussies back in the day. This led to both of their albums this year being successful and even the band performing a song on each album on Countdown in the new year, although their popularity would fade once MTV took over.
This was a direct sequel to Paul McCartney’s solo debut album from a decade prior, technically it is his second solo album as Ram was a collaboration he made with his wife Linda and the rest of his output from the 70’s was with her band Wings. Indeed, most of Paul’s solo material would be duets with other people, notably people of colour as both Stevie Wonder and MJ collaborated with him multiple times in the 80’s.
I always wondered why the signature track from this soundtrack was a surprise hit at the start of the decade here in Australia, it turns out our love for the film Fame was so prevalent that it allowed us to rediscover the film that originally spawned “The time warp” which resulted in the success of that films soundtrack six years after its initial release.
This was a live rendition of a show that Supertramp gave in Paris from the previous year, as these guys were well known for their live performances, this became a massive success for them going into the 80’s.
After two albums that had her working with country and adult contemporary, Linda Ronstadt decided to shake things up yet again in her career by following the new wave trends that had just exploded in popularity around this time. It wasn’t an inescapable success like her previous two albums, but it was noteworthy enough to be a worthy experiment in her discography.
This was the first album that the Angels released that managed to score them a hit single on our charts, sure their previous albums were more successful throughout the 70’s, however it was this album that finally put them in the same leagues as many of their contemporaries from around this time. This set them up for having a highly successful decade in the 80’s and even led to them sticking around in the 90’s.
This was a bit of a surprise hit for Roxy music given how this was a hit before their compelling tribute to John Lennon which became their first hit here in Australia, I’m guessing we suddenly remembered that Bryan Ferry was the lead singer of the band and that we wanted to hear more from him when this came out. In any case, their popularity exploded on their next album, which also happened to be their final album.
They may have never found success in their native America with their debut album; however, it became a huge success here in Australia and in NZ thanks to the band being discovered by Countdown presenter Molly Meldrum while overseas trying to interview bigger celebrities at the time. They were invited to appear on the show which they did which resulted in this and the lead single becoming a huge success.
It was a new decade and Neil Diamond was able to find success with another one of his albums in Australia, although it’s worth noting that aside from his appearance in the Razzie award winning Jazz singer remake, he didn’t find much success worldwide after this album due to failing to adapt to MTV.
There weren’t that many successful prog albums back in the day in Australia, one of the lucky few to make it big with this genre is the British/Australian group Sky who scored two massive albums this year with their brand of prog rock. Naturally they didn’t trouble the singles charts too much which is perhaps why they aren’t as fondly remembered as other prog legends.
Paul Simon entered the 80’s with this album which did decently well for him upon its initial release, obviously he would see much bigger success as the decade went on both solo and with his reunion with his former partner in crime Art Garfunkel.
There were quite a number of bands and artists from the 70’s finding success with their greatest hits packages around this time, these guys were one of them as they closed out the decade with a huge chart topper worldwide which encouraged them to release this album to remind their fans of their biggest moments up until this point.
Boney M indeed were one of the biggest bands of the 70’s, as such it was inevitable that their greatest hits package would be a success given how it serves as yet another reminder from this year of all the biggest success that came in the music industry from the previous decade.
Following the success of their debut album from the previous year, Mi-Sex quickly capitalised off their newfound fame by releasing this album which continued with their sci fi theme that their earlier work had established for them. Although this was more of an immediate success for the band both here and in their native NZ, it proved to be less successful overall suggesting their novelty was quickly wearing off.
This was an excellent year for the Angels given how they scored their first hit single from their album from earlier on this list, as such they released this greatest hits album to commemorate their achievement which was able to help fans discover their back catalogue.
Well, if you couldn’t tell from the name, this was indeed an album that was made out of contractual obligation from the Monty python crew which nonetheless managed to become a huge hit here in Australia likely due to the success of their soundtrack from earlier on this list.
This was only barely a success here in Australia for Rod Stewart, likely due to name recognition as it didn’t have that much presence here back in the day which is strange given how inescapable he was at the end of the 70’s.
Following the commercial disappointment of Lionheart, Kate Bush was able to bounce back with her third album thanks to how quirky the lead single was and remains to this day. It proved to be far more popular here in Australia than in her native UK which in turn allowed the album to also find more success here than it did in her homeland.
This was the other successful album Sky had this year, again it wasn’t among the most popular albums of the year here or in their native UK, however it did spawn a single that almost became a hit meaning there was potential for these guys to be big in the mainstream here.
These guys had an impressive run throughout the 70’s, however they decided to call it quits after one failed album throughout the 80’s which likely failed to them pre-emptively releasing a greatest hits package going into the new decade to overlook their success from the previous decade.
This was a modest success for Bruce Springsteen here in Australia, it saw a resurgence in popularity later in the decade when he embarked on a world tour for his Born in the U.S.A album, however it was nonetheless decently successful at the start of the decade and was able to retain the success of his previous two albums from the 70’s.
It seems a bit strange that one of the most popular albums from Queen’s catalogue would be such a sleeper hit back in the day considering how it contains two of their biggest hits, indeed this only became a hit down under once the fourth single from the album became a surprise hit which allowed it to rebound on our charts in order to make it a success for them.
This is the first compilation album to find success here in Australia in quite some time (there was one or two of them that found success throughout the 70’s) although this was more of a recap release that would be synonymous with the Smash hits franchise that would begin in 1987 more than a seasonal compilation.
This is the final album that Neil Young had any sort of success within his career, mainly because he was unable to adapt to the 80’s in a way that could satisfy his fans which led to his overall popularity going downhill from here on out.
These guys were coming off a highly successful decade, so it makes sense they would begin the 80’s with a greatest hits package which while successful, spelt the end of their success here in Australia despite finding massive success in their native UK throughout the decade.
These guys were taking a big gamble when they released this album as they had yet to appear on Countdown to promote their earlier entry on this list, indeed this was far less successful here in Australia than their debut even if their performance was well received to the point where the lead single became a hit over here. This would be the last we hear from them until the tail end of the decade.
This is the earliest compilation album I’ll be featuring on this site; they were a lucrative collection of albums which overlook the most popular songs of a season here in Australia. This one in particular gathers most of the biggest hits of 1980 during spring which explains why it was a success during our summer period.
Boz Scaggs was one of the most popular artists of the 70’s worldwide, as such it makes sense that he would find success with a greatest hits package even if it signaled the end of his popularity moving forward.
This was a bit of a comeback for Leo Sayer here in Australia given how the lead single became a surprise chart topper for the crooner this year, it may have failed to live up to the overwhelming success of his peak throughout the 70’s, however it did allow him to stick around a little while longer in the 80’s as his next album was a modest success here as well.
This was the Third album from the Sports, it wasn’t as successful as their previous entry for reasons I can’t ascertain as it was more of the same pub rock that made that album a huge success the year prior. They would release one more album which was a massive flop and prompted them to call it quits.
Given how the Jackson five no longer had any issues with finding success here in Australia, it makes sense that their first album of the decade would be an instant success here as well as its lead single even though this was released during what was supposed to be the dark age of disco. It was even a moderate success in their native America where the disco backlash had the most effect on the mainstream.
This originally charted upon its initial release in 1975, however it recharted following the tragic murder of John Lennon much like the majority of his catalogue around this time as it gave fans a chance to rediscover his solo back catalogue to honour his legacy.
