This is the album which broke so many records upon its initial (international) release, having it and the signature track “Down under” top the Billboard and UK singles and album charts simultaneously. The album was of course a massive success here in Australia thanks to how huge the singles were as well as how quirky the band was, they were no Midnight oil, but they certainly had their place in our hearts.
This was the biggest album to be released from Australian crawl following the huge splash they made the previous year with their album Boys light up, I’m guessing this was due to the band being huge in the pub rock genre which admittedly is the perfect setting for their music to shine in. The only complaint I and many have for these guys is that while he’s a great vocalist, James Reyne really needed to learn how to enunciate in order for us to appreciate his lyrics.
This remains the most successful album in the Rolling stones career in Australia, unless of course I can find stats about their earlier work with how well it did back in the 60’s down under. Even so, this was a huge success for the band as they moved away from the disco trend in favour of their earlier work which audiences definitely appreciated both then and now.
Here’s an album that promised so much for the person who brought it to life only for said individual to crash and burn with their subsequent releases, Billy Field had huge success with this album and the songs from it despite it sounding very different to what was coming out at the time. I guess the novelty of this album wore off with his next album as that failed to do much to retain his relevancy.
There’s little surprise that this is the most successful album in Olivia’s career, after all it’s named after her biggest hit and was obviously meant to shed her girl next door image in order for her to appeal to the MTV crowd. That said, this isn’t too far removed from her earlier work, and admittedly it’s possible that this being her biggest album did lead to her rapid decline in popularity as the decade went on.
This was the first solo album from Stevie Nicks following a string of highly successful albums with Fleetwood Mac, I’ve heard people refer to this as an album filled with her songs that the band weren’t able to fit into their album and I can certainly see that listening to the album. It remains her biggest solo album worldwide except for here in Australia where her third album Rock a little wins that honour.
It took a while for this album to find the success it wound up deserving, mainly because the lead single didn’t exactly light up the music scene here in Australia for Moving pictures. Fortunately, their second single did which resulted in the album itself being a massive success for them. Despite this success, the band would only release one more album to deafening silence before calling it quits and member Garry Frost forming a new band 1927.
From what I can gather, Chariots of fire is a film that’s tailor made to be Oscar bait (despite it being a British film) as it tells the story of an athlete looking to make it big in a track and field race in a way that only those who are into the most sentimental of inspiration stories could appreciate. One thing that has held up about the film over the years is its soundtrack, specifically the score by Greek composer Vangelis.
Even though he had yet to achieve much success with Genesis prior to releasing this album, it managed to become a huge success for Phil Collins largely due to the strength of its lead single which many believe to be him outing someone for failing to save a person from drowning. This album is a bit of a compromise for his older fans as it does contain several instrumental tracks in addition to the ballads he would become known for.
While I am aware that this greatest hits package from Queen might very well be the most successful album of all time in Australia, I’m ranking these albums based on how well they did on their original chart run and not their overall success. This is so that I don’t have to keep updating these lists whenever an album becomes popular again. That said, this album was a success during its initial release thanks to how popular the band was.
The last time Steve Winwood had any notable success in Australia was with his bands Spencer Davis group, Traffic and Blind faith, all of which happened over a decade prior to him finding success with this solo album. I’m not even sure how this managed to become so popular other than it connecting with an audience organically as it’s not like he was in the news that often outside of his music.
This was the first greatest hits package that Elton John released with this exact title, in fact when he released the second album with this title exactly a decade later, he had to clarify which one was which by giving them distinctly different album art to help audiences tell them apart. Naturally this wasn’t as successful given that it was released during the period where he wasn’t working with Bernie Taupin.
Even though they haven’t had a hit in most parts of the world since the live version of “Nights in white satin,” the Moody blues were able to find success with their albums well into the 80’s with this perhaps being their most successful since they reformed in 1977. Their popularity wouldn’t rise to this success again, although they’ve been releasing new material ever since.
This albums name changes depending on where you’re from, although considering both Corroboree and Waiata roughly translates to a traditional owner of a land, I think it’s safe to say that this album was dedicated to the indigenous groups of both countries even though the album has nothing to do with either group it named after thematically. This political push didn’t seem to hamper or enhance the albums popularity.
This was the last successful album that ELO released in their discography, I’m guessing because they weren’t able to adapt with the MTV era despite making multiple attempts throughout the decade. Here they revert back to their prog roots which I’m sure many of their older fans appreciated seeing as though their last two albums saw them experiment with disco.
This was originally released as Marie Marie to deafening silence, likely due to it missing that instantly catchy track that would become the title track of Shaking’s breakthrough album. Indeed, he would see massive success this decade in his native UK as recently as 1987, although in Australia his success would only last him another year before we moved on from the rockabilly revival trend.
This was the only successful album that Rod Stewart was able to have here in Australia, I’m guessing because both of the hits that spawned from the album are upbeat which was something different from the usually mellow crooner who made albums based on midtempo ballads. He would score a hit here and there throughout the rest of the 80’s, however his popularity would skyrocket in the early 90’s.
It seems weird that this greatest hits package would be so successful in Australia given how the popularity of Dr Hook was quickly dwindling around the time of its release, this is even stranger considering how their international popularity was quickly growing but I digress. I guess this became successful due to the success of their hit single “Girls can get it” which wasn’t even on the album.
Although Cliff Richard had scored a string of hits since his 1976 comeback with “Devil woman,” it was this album that provided him with his first big success on the album charts here in Australia due to how popular both its singles were at the time. This set him up for even more success throughout the 80’s and in the case in his native UK, well into the 90’s as his popularity was officially revived by this point.
Well, this feels like a shameless cash grab, granted the Beatles do have themed greatest hits packages and such it is possible this album was always meant to be released when it was. That said, the fact that this came out so soon after John Lennon’s death just leaves a bad taste in my mouth as I doubt it would’ve been as successful as it was if John had lived to see this year.
Given the surprise success of their hit single which they named after this album, the Royal philharmonic orchestra (that is, the REAL orchestra that’s been around for decades at this point) released this album which contained other mashups of classical music that became a surprise success for them in the mainstream worldwide. They were relegated to novelty status in the music industry until recent years where they started making classical renditions of artists discographies.
Blondie were on a roll when they released this greatest hits package, so much so that it was an instant success for them even though there were talks that the band would break up due to behind-the-scenes drama. Indeed, that was the case as the band would be no more by the end of the year, in fact we wouldn’t hear from Debbie Harry again until later in the decade when she released her second album.
With an album title this uncreative, you’d think that Foreigner had run out of ideas which would be a bad assumption to make as this album was a huge success for them and also spawned (at the time) their biggest hit in the form of the second single. Even though this was a huge success for them, they took their time in following it up as their next album Agent provocateur wouldn’t come out for another three years.
Felt like you couldn’t get enough of their big hit this year? Well Stars on 45 (or Starsound if you’re from the UK) have you covered as that mashup was a mere taste of what they had to offer on their debut album. Indeed, they combined many more classics throughout the album which audiences fell in love with back in the day.
It took them well over a decade to find success even in their native America, however it finally came with this album due to the lead single becoming a huge success for them worldwide. It was a short-lived victory in most parts of the world as their next album was a huge flop for them, however they came back with the album after that as that spawned their second Billboard chart topper in the decade.
Even though the lead single was an instant success here in Australia, it wasn’t until the second single where Duran Duran found massive success with their debut album here largely thanks to the raunchy music video which made it among the first to be banned on MTV. This controversy only strengthened their appeal as their next album would see more flashy videos (albeit family friendly ones) to promote their music.
We have another live album to become successful here in Australia during our summer period, this time it’s from Billy Joel who was on a roll throughout the decade here as just about all of his albums managed to become a success here during the 80’s.
There weren’t any signs of these guys slowing down when they released their penultimate album this year, although it wasn’t quite as successful as their other albums given how it only spawned one hit and didn’t last as long on the charts as the rest of their catalogue. It was a very good run they had but unfortunately there was too much behind the scenes drama for them to cope with each other for long.
These guys were always described as a great live band, so it only makes sense that this live album would be a huge success for them. This no doubt brought in even more fans who only knew them from their studio releases prior to this album which in turn led to more fans for their subsequent follow ups.
It looked like this was going to flop here in Australia just like their previous album did in their native UK given how the lead single didn’t even chart here, fortunately the second single was a runaway success which allowed the album to become a huge success following the hype that song gave their music. This hype continued with their next album they released later in the year, which apparently led to them breaking up the following year.
This is a bit of a comeback album for Ross Wilson as he was previously the lead singer of Daddy cool (best known for their hit single “Eagle rock”) indeed this seemed to spark a new chapter in his popularity given how iconic the singles remain from this album. Mondo rock would see varying levels of success throughout the decade, although none of their follow ups reached this level of success.
This was an album from Elton John I’m pretty sure was only a success back in the day due to his artist momentum, I know that not everything with his name on it was an instant success throughout his career, however unless it was infamously terrible like his 1979 effort, chances are audiences would make his work a success.
This was the only notable album that Kim Carnes had in her career, mainly due to the lead single becoming one of the biggest hits of the decade and inspiring people to check out her catalogue. She did have more success in her native America with other material not found on this album, but none of it crossed over internationally.
This was a stellar year for Devo given how they not only scored two successful albums here in Australia but also a successful E.P which charted both on the singles and albums chart for them. This was the album that they released once their mainstream crossover happened with their earlier album which continues in their new wave direction complete with wacky visuals to accompany their singles.
With word that these two would reunite for a one-off concert in New York’s Central Park, there was naturally a rush to check out their back catalogue which resulted in the success of this greatest hits package for the duo months prior to when they gave the show of a lifetime.
I’m guessing this was a hit for Barry Manilow due to the success of his cover of a Four seasons classic this year, although it doesn’t come with the album so perhaps it was more due to how inescapable it was in the UK during the early stretch of the decade. This would be the last anyone would hear from the crooner, unless of course you’re a fan of 90’s Don Blueth in which case he wrote songs for Thumbelina and the Pebble and the penguin.
Although this wasn’t the first album to come from Mental as anything, it was the first to give them massive success as it spawned not one but two hit singles from the quirky band this year. The album was popular enough here for it to crossover to NZ the following year where it proved to be an even bigger success for them, albeit without giving the band any success with the singles there.
Given the success of the Beach boys medley (which naturally appears on this album) the Beach boys decided to capitalise off their brief comeback by releasing a greatest hits package that of course was a huge success for them here in Australia.
There was this popular Australian country artist who tragically passed away the previous year before he found any success in his career both solo and with his band the Stars, to commemorate his legacy, a concert was held in his honour which was apparently so well received that its live album was a huge success for him posthumously.
Rickie Lee Jones had massive success with her debut album from the end of the 70’s, so naturally she would find modest success with her second album even if it got lost with all of the other trends emerging from the early 80’s. At least she had one other album to her name that people will likely recognise.
This was all set to be a failure here in Australia likely due to us Aussies not being interested in the kiddie pop these Irish lassies had to offer, however a performance on Countdown with the lead single had us quickly changing our minds as this wound up being a success for them. The kiwis were more in love with this band than us Aussies as this was an instant success over there upon its initial release.
This was a very successful decade for AC/DC here in Australia even if they only spawned a total of four hits throughout the 80’s, they made for that by having some of the more popular albums of the moment such as this follow up to their biggest album Back in Black.
This was a massive success during our summer of 81/82 due to it successfully collecting some of the biggest hits of the spring of 1981 in our music scene.
Well Meat loaf certainly had a big falling out with Jim Steinman if this album was the best he could do to follow up Bat out of hell with, that said its success was inevitable as not everything great about his debut can be traced back to Jim as Meat Loaf is a phenomenal singer on this album. Even so, it’s little wonder this would be the last we hear from him in twelve years.
This was the only notable success that Loverboy were able to achieve in Australia, mainly for the lead single which remains a staple on oldies stations to this day but also due to it fitting in with all of the popular adult contemporary albums released around this time. The band would struggle to adapt into the MTV era internationally, however they did find further success in the 80’s in America and their native Canada.
This was a greatest hits package that Smokie released this year, I’m guessing because they knew their time in the spotlight was up by the 80’s and wanted to remind us Aussies of their past success with this album. Indeed, it was a success proving once and for all they were more of a singles band than an albums band.
This was the only successful album to come from Dr Hook in Australia, even then I get the feeling this was only big here due to the success of their greatest hits package from earlier on this list. This did spawn one of their biggest hits in the form of its lead single, and they did release a track exclusively here in Australia that became a hit, so its success does makes sense for them.
Speaking of that falling out that Jim Steinman had with Meat loaf, this was Jim’s only album he release which I’m guessing was originally meant to be the second volume of the Bat out of hell series given how some of the tracks would later be covered by Meat loaf on that album twelve years later. Jim isn’t a particularly great singer, at least compared to Meat loaf which is perhaps why this wasn’t as successful.
This is the third and final album that Adam and the Ants released before they called it quits the following year to allow Adam Ant to embark on a solo career, it was a huge success here in Australia and their native UK largely due to how much quirkier the band had become, however it was noticeably less successful than their earlier effort.
Named after the popular showstopper from the recently released Andrew Lloyd Webber production Cats, Barbra Streisand released this greatest hits package to help her fans rediscover her music even though she only released one album since her last greatest hits album which somewhat made this album redundant.
This is one of the only entries from Pat Benatar’s albums to appear on this side of my site, she did have more success over in NZ with her albums at the cost of her not having a giant hit over there like she did over here, however it’s safe to say that her work wasn’t very much appreciated back in the day like it is in recent years.
This was another successful compilation album that will become more prevalent as we go through these lists of mine, this one collect’s all of the biggest hits of winter of this year in order to market them as spring jams which is why it was a success when it was.
This will be the final entry from Sky that I’ll be featuring on this site, suffice to say that the band perhaps broke through a bit too late as they no doubt would’ve had much bigger success had they broken through during the mid 70’s where prog music was at its peak.
This is the last album that Little river band released that had Glenn Shorrock on lead vocals until his return much later in the decade when his replacement John Farnham released his magnum opus which compelled him to leave the band in the first place. It was a modest success due to them being one of the more popular bands of the 70’s worldwide, although its success was more noticeable in America than it was down under.
Following the success of his soundtrack to Chariots of fire, Vangelis decided to team up with Yes member Jon Anderson to create a prog album that was a huge hit for the pair this year. It even spawned a sleeper hit with the lead single which was rare for a prog track back in the day, although as this was a novelty, it didn’t lead to any further success for either man in the music scene.
I guess this was as good as time as any to have George Benson release a greatest hits album given how he just had his biggest album at the start of the decade which even spawned him a hit single on our charts. His next album would do decently well the following year, however this would be the full extent of his popularity in the 80’s down under.
Much like his previous album, this also had a different title here in Australia compared to what it was in the UK (it was called Shaky for the record) this was named after the second single of the album here which curiously was only the fourth biggest hit he had down under.
This is one of many entries from the Angels to find success throughout the decade, although this had to compete with the Never so live E.P which also contains the lead single “Fashion and fame” which is perhaps why it didn’t do as well as the rest of their discography.
This is another successful album that collects the biggest hits of winter this year, as such it was guaranteed some level of success even if its success pales in comparison to other albums collecting the biggest hits of the midpoint of other years this decade.
JJ Cale was one of the big names in soul music of the 70’s, so it seems rather odd that his popularity would all but fade away even this early on in the 80’s given how inescapable he had been up until this point in time.
One of the less successful bands to make it big during the Countdown era here in Australia was Matt Finish, likely because they sound more like a solo artist than a band but also because they didn’t do much to stand out from the competition like so many of their contemporaries did.
It looks like the Who were able to find success with one more album in the 80’s before they faded into obscurity, although it’s worth noting that lead singer Pete Townshend did go on to have solo success later in the decade like so many other lead singers of bands that began their careers in the 60’s.
This is the only notable success that the Sunnyboys were able to achieve here in Australia, they’re best described as a poor man’s Icehouse as they copied the formula of their debut album from earlier on this list to much less successful results commercially. Still, they remain darlings on oldies stations, perhaps due to fond memories people still have for the singles even if they were huge flops back in the day.
It turns out 10-1 wasn’t the first successful album from Midnight oil after all as the album that proceeded it managed to be a decent success for Peter Garrett and company a year prior. I guess this fell off the charts due to it lacking that huge hit that its successor managed to spawn for the band, that and it was their first taste of success after a string of failed attempts.
This was a moderate success during out winter here given how hectic our music scene was during the autumn, as such it led to the success of the earlier entries on this list as well as these albums dominating our album chart for the 80’s and (at least on the AMR charts) 90’s.
For a greatest hits package that only contains six tracks, this did quite well for Pink Floyd back in the day which goes to show how popular these guys were during this time despite the fact they had only one hit single to their name.
