This was the biggest album of the decade in Australia, mainly due to how inescapable the singles were as well as the heart-warming tale about how it came to be. John’s manager Glenn Wheatly had to mortgage his house in order to get this off the ground given how sceptical the mainstream was in hearing this former teen idol mature into adult contemporary. The name of the album itself is a reference to him being introduced as Jack instead of John.
I’ve never understood exactly what these two were seeking vengeance against when making this album, whatever it was they clearly got it as it remains their most successful album in their catalogue thanks to Annie arguably sounding her best throughout its runtime. It did somewhat come at the expense of a huge hit for them worldwide, however I don’t think they mind considering how well remembered they are.
Well, this is certainly a surprise given how the last time anyone cared about Paul Simon’s solo career was back in the early 70’s when he was making a name for himself without his former partner in crime Art Garfunkel. I guess the reunion tour they had earlier in the decade resparked interest in his solo work, that or people couldn’t get enough of the African influences throughout the album which won it the Grammy for album of the year.
This had a very slow rise to its success here in Australia, perhaps due to audiences feeling that this was too similar to Neil Finn’s previous band Split enz upon its initial release. Fortunately, this was given new life a year after its initial release when “Don’t dream it’s over” became a surprise success over in America which in turn fuelled the success of this album internationally as well as here and in NZ.
It took three albums for these guys to find a worldwide audience, however they did just that due to arena rock becoming the new genre of music everyone was getting into once this album of theirs dropped. As it turns out, it was due to this albums surprise success in the UK that it took off in the southern hemisphere as the lead single was only a sleeper hit in Australia despite it topping the Billboard charts.
I bet fans of Genesis were beginning to wonder if Phil’s success from his solo career would translate to one of their albums when they released this album a year after No jacket required won album of the year at the Grammys, it turns out that’s exactly what happened as while this is more pop friendly compared to their previous work, it’s still recognisably a prog album and was a huge success for the trio.
With her obligatory sell-out record out of the way, Madonna set out to make this album which she dedicated to her (then) husband Sean Penn, makes you wonder how she feels about it nowadays given how that marriage turned out. The album continued her winning streak both critically and commercially thanks to it spawning multiple hit singles which have all stood the test of time save for perhaps the title track.
So, here’s an album from Billy Joel that’s often forgotten by anyone who isn’t in his diehard fanbase, mainly because this was where he shifted towards adult contemporary rather than the rock sound of his work from earlier in the decade or the piano driven ballads of his 70’s output. This didn’t prevent the album from being a huge success in Australia, proving that we Aussies were indeed in love with this man’s music.
Although this album would be blasted by the internet if it were released nowadays, this was a huge success for Kevin “bloody” Wilson who made no attempt to hide how politically incorrect this album was (even back then) which nonetheless managed to find a massive audience who were laughing at his character rather than with him. It’s certainly not for everyone, however it does tread the line of offensive humour while realising that this language isn’t socially acceptable.
Here’s an album that was delayed so heavily that Lionel felt the need to change its name to what would end up being the second single from the album, yes it turns out that this was originally meant to be named after his Oscar winning ballad that served as its advanced lead single and released around the time that took home an academy award for him. As tardy as this albums release was, at least fans didn’t have to wait for a decade for it to come out unlike his next album.
This was the only successful album to come from Huey Lewis and the News in Australia, although they were a much bigger deal in their native America throughout the decade which perhaps suggests their lack of international success was more due to bad marketing than anything else. Indeed, they only scored one hit from this album despite having two Billboard chart toppers from it.
Well, this was a bit of a surprise, I know Joe Cocker saw massive success with his involvement on the An officer and a gentleman soundtrack, however I don’t think anyone was expecting this album to be so huge given how the last successful album he had was during the first half of the 70’s. This album does contain some of his more iconic work, so I guess it makes sense why we Aussies gravitated towards it.
It’s been a while since we last looked at these guys on one of these lists, indeed their second and third albums didn’t exactly bring in the numbers to be among the more successful albums of the decade like their debut and fourth album. Here Chrissie Hynde returns with a much more pop friendly album compared to her earlier work which while it alienated some of her older fans, brought in a bunch of new fans who were on board with a more mature side of her.
This was the second album that Stevie Nicks released between the two albums she made with Fleetwood Mac, I’m guessing she was delaying the inevitable by dragging her feet to reunite with the band for their album Tango in the night. Here she doubles down on her pop direction which while it alienated many of her international fans, won over a bunch of fans in Australia as it remains her most successful solo album in her career.
This was initially a flop for the Bangles, likely because the lead single was seen as a novelty despite it being written by Prince under a pseudonym. Fortunately, the album’s actual novelty track helped it find an audience who realised that while the girls had their quirky side, they were for the most part a serious throwback band to the 60’s jangle pop which allowed this album to be a huge success for them worldwide.
I’m not a fan of Tom Cruise, I’m sure he’s a decent person in real life (provided he’s not talking about Scientology) but I’ve just never gotten into any of his performances. One of his better films is Top gun which at least has a lot of flash imagery to distract from the meandering romance he has with the Amish woman from Witness. The soundtrack helps make it a better film due to the song choices used in the scenes.
Although these guys had been releasing new albums throughout the entire decade, this was the first album of theirs since Dark room to spawn a hit single in the form of the albums second single. Indeed, this album was set to flop like the rest of their catalogue this decade until “We gotta get out of this place” became a surprise hit for them which in turn boosted the sales of the album it came from.
This was the most successful album to come from Billy Idol in Australia, I’m guessing due to it being more in line with sophistopop compared to his earlier work despite it not quite being sophistopop. It’s definitely more subdue compared to his earlier work which is perhaps why it found more success here than his earlier work. He would have further success throughout the rest of the decade and even into the 90’s.
It looked like that Madonna had officially won the battle over Cyndi as the pop princess of the 80’s, although Cyndi did put up a valiant fight with her sophomore album as it was a huge success for her back in the day. Alas it didn’t spawn multiple hit singles from it like her previous album did, and it also showed a more mature side of her which is perhaps why she lost her battle with Madonna this decade.
Following the success of both their first film Stop making sense and their most recent album Little creatures, Talking heads decided to allow lead singer David Byrne to direct a proper film which wasn’t well received at the time from what I can gather. It’s gained a cult following over the years likely from audiences who bought the soundtrack from the band back in the day.
It took him four albums and naming one of them after something besides himself, however Peter Gabriel finally managed to find success on his own worldwide around the time his former band was scoring the biggest success in their own career. While this wasn’t as successful as Invisible touch from Genesis, it was more critically acclaimed which is the perfect way to describe both acts respective careers.
Named after a song Sting rerecorded for this greatest hits package, this album was a success following the confirmation that the trio had broken up for good to allow Sting to pursue his solo career that saw many highs and lows over the years. Indeed, the new version of the title track was a modest success for him proving that fans wanted to hear more from the trio but had to accept that wasn’t going to happen.
I’m not sure why these guys only stuck together for two albums as both albums were among the most popular of the decade worldwide, perhaps there was behind the scenes drama involving Roland Gift and the other two members that we simply never found out about. In any case, we have their debut album which was a huge success largely due to their cover of an Elvis Presley track.
Given how this albums cycle began with a music video depicting a live action/cartoon hybrid, it only makes sense that the album it came from would be a huge success for the band even though it has received tons of critical backlash over the years. It may not have killed their career as they band kept soldiering on after this perceived misstep, however it did kill their relevancy as they never saw this level of success again.
This was the first album to be released from Van Halen that had Sammy Hagar on lead vocals, this was due to their original front man David Lee Roth getting fired from the band due to creative differences he had with the other band mates. While this drama no doubt fuelled the success of this album, it didn’t do the rest of their catalogue any favours as the band would never again reach the success of this period.
Feargal Sharkey was previously the lead vocalist for a few UK bands that didn’t find much success even in his homeland, so to see his solo debut become as big as it was must have been a surprise for him. I know in Australia it was due to the two lead singles being a stand in for a couple going through a messy breakup, although since there wasn’t this level of drama on his next album it was sadly a huge flop for him.
This was a seasonal compilation that collected the biggest hits of spring in Australia for 1986 just in time for our summer season, it got caught between two years due to how late it was released in the year which allows it to appear on more than one list on this site.
This was the unofficial soundtrack to Maximum overdrive, a film that’s been described as beyond over the top even by the standard’s of 80’s horror flicks. Naturally the soundtrack is what people remember most about the film (well that and its premise thanks to the Simpsons satirising it a decade later) it even gave the band a hit single for them which is the first they had since the start of the decade.
It had been a while since Supertramp last troubled our charts, in fact their last successful album was with Famous last words from four years prior which gives you an idea of how they failed to adjust with the MTV era like many bands from the 70’s. Still, they were able to find success with this greatest hits album proving their back catalogue had secured their legacy.
The autumn of 1986 was a hectic time for the Australian music scene if this compilation album is anything to go by, as a result we have big hits that can be found here from that time which ensured its success during the midpoint of the year.
This seemed like a good time for Mental as anything to have a recap of their career so far given how they were on the cusp of having international success with their biggest hit “Live it up” appearing on the Crocodile Dundee soundtrack, indeed this was a huge success for the band here in Australia proving how much we loved them at this point.
We have our second compilation album to be released during the summer of 86/87 that overlooks the biggest hits of the spring of 1986 on this list, it may not have been as big as the earlier entry on this list, however it still had a good selection of hits to make it a success.
Much like his earlier entry on this list, this album from Elton John was a massive success here despite his reservations on the project he’s developed over the years. This might be due to the album’s failure internationally as it’s the first release that failed to produce a hit in America and his native UK since his debut from fifteen years prior.
John Williamson has been active in the music industry since the early 70’s, however aside from a massive hit with his debut single “Old man emu,” he hadn’t seen much success in his career until he released this magnum opus which contains his signature tune “True blue.” Interestingly enough, this came out not long after Madonna’s album of the same name, resulting in there being two tracks to chart with that name.
Well, this was Icehouse further experimenting with their sound from their previous album, again it was a huge success given how people were too curious to look away at what Iva Davis and company were doing at the time, but I feel people were relieved when they returned to what made them a household name on their next album. Still the fact this album was a success proved that people did genuinely like what they had to offer.
This should’ve been much more of a success here in Australia, the reason why it wasn’t was due to the album cycle being messed up as the lead single wasn’t “West end girls” like it was everywhere else in the world, preventing that song from topping our charts and stalling the album’s success. It’s a shame because it was the introduction to one of the most influential EDM artists of all time.
Given how immensely popular he had become with his (then) most recent album, Bruce Springsteen decided to release a live album which collected all of the best renditions of his songs he performed live during the first ten years he was a superstar in the music scene.
This was a compilation album that was released to look over the big hits of Australia during the summer of 85/86, it was a huge success due to the good selection of songs it managed to have throughout its runtime.
These guys had already released three albums before they finally made it big with this album, although interestingly this was slightly bigger in NZ around this time so perhaps this was due to them having crossover appeal over there before taking it back home over here. I guess that makes these guys the inverse of Split enz and Dragon, and admittedly their brand of alternative rock still holds up to this day.
This was a bit of a surprise from Steve Winwood considering he hadn’t troubled the mainstream in Australia since the start of the decade with Arc of a diver, although this did spawn his first Billboard chart topper which remains a staple on oldies stations to this day due to how passionate his vocals are. Sadly, we Aussies didn’t stick around for his next album despite that spawning his biggest hit in America.
If you’re confused as to why this appears fairly low on this list, that’s because Queen had begun to face backlash in the music industry due to them performing at Sun city which was a resort in south Africa that was known for many things that I won’t get into here. As such, this was frowned upon by us Aussies back in the day, not enough for it to be a complete failure but enough to be a disappointment.
It looked like Chris De Burgh would be a one album wonder with his album from earlier in the decade, however he was able to score the biggest hit of his career worldwide with this album which confirmed him to be one of the bigger crooners of the 80’s despite crooners not being very popular throughout the decade. Indeed, if he had of had his breakthrough in any other decade, he would’ve been twice as big as he was.
The winter of 1986 was a great time for music if this album is anything to go by, we have big hits from some of the biggest names in music to make it big for this album to be a success during our spring of this year.
Another movie that 80’s afficionados will gladly root for is Pretty in pink, mainly for the story of a poor but attractive teenage girl winning over the popular guy at her high school and her self discovery along the way. The film remains a classic to this day thanks to its timeless themes, and the soundtrack was also a huge success thanks to it having some rather unconventional songs to soundtrack the visuals.
I guess we Aussies weren’t that interested in Bryan Ferry’s second go as a solo artist throughout the 80’s, it’s kind of an inverse effect he had worldwide where the world didn’t care much for his solo output in the 70’s and yet fell in love with his most recent album Boys and girls the previous year. In any case, we have this greatest hits package from both him and his former band Roxy music making it big.
Richard Clayderman was one of the most popular classical artists to make it big this decade, this was one of only two albums to find success here in Australia but believe me, the French pianist was inescapable worldwide back in the 80’s. I’m guessing this live performance really impressed us Aussies if it was the most successful album of his catalogue down under.
This was the second RNB album that Billy Ocean released this decade, proving that he had found his niche as the British equivalent of Lionel Richie as he continued to score a string of hits throughout the decade with this album. His third album in this vein wouldn’t be as successful two years later despite it spawning arguably his biggest hit with its lead single, although it’s still bigger than anything he released in the 90’s.
It makes sense that this greatest hits package would find success this year with us Aussies given how they finally saw a massive breakthrough with their earlier entry on this list, as such it allowed us Aussies to discover their back catalogue which is a bit odd given how they were regulars on Countdown throughout the decade.
I’m a bit surprised at how little success Paul Kelly had in the mainstream back in the day, he was always a critical darling and even was a regular on Countdown when he released this album which up until very recently was his most successful (we’re obviously not counting his 1997 greatest hits package.) I guess this got pushed aside back in the day in favour of all the earlier entries on this list.
From what I can gather, V spy V spy was a politically charged band from Australia who scored their one and only successful album this year with their combination of pub rock and new wave. They were kind of like Midnight oil if they weren’t as successful and possibly less commercially viable, hence why this album was not only a success but retains a strong fanbase even to this day.
In America, this was released as Music from the edge of heaven which was an album that had only a few new tracks (all of which were released as singles) as well as several remixes of their previous hits. Here those tracks are included along with the rest of their back catalogue making this a greatest hits package for the duo.
While this year was a bit scarce when it came to successful compilation albums, it at least had a decent winter period which is why this managed to be a success even if it didn’t live up to the standards from other winter releases throughout the decade.
It appears that we Aussies had a love for TV themes during the midpoint of the decade, as such we have this compilation album becoming a modest success here in lieu of some of the seasonal compilations released this year.
This almost flopped for Tina Turner in Australia, likely due to the lead single underperforming here despite it being a huge success for her throughout the rest of the world. Fortunately, the second single picked up the slack by becoming a bigger hit for her in Australia which allowed the album to rebound on the charts this year, it set her up for further success with her third album later in the decade.
Although this album was a modest success for Prince worldwide, it couldn’t live up to the success he had with the soundtrack to his first film likely because his second film was considered to be a disaster according to critics and even his own fanbase who likely only made this a hit due to the music being as solid as ever in his catalogue.
Well, I think we all know why this album was a success from Grace Jones, it was because audiences were so much in love with her music, they needed this album to help them relive their love of her back catalogue and……. OK let’s face it, it was for that album art which has gone down as one of the most iconic of all time in the music industry.
Given how he was coming off the biggest album of his band’s career, it only seems fitting that Martin Plaza would release a solo album to test the waters out for his own career without Mental as anything. Although it was a decent success largely thanks to its lead single, he decided not to pursue it further than this as he would return the following year with the band’s next album.
This is the only album that I’m talking released during their time together, curiously it omits several of the singles they released from the previous year likely because they all bombed except for “Trust me” which came from an E.P they released two years prior. The album is best known nowadays as being a stepping stone for Kate Ceberano’s much more lucrative career she had throughout the 90’s.
I never understood why these guys gave them a name like The the, I guess as a statement that all of the good band names had been taken when they formed at the start of the decade. In any case, we have this second album from the band that managed to become as such thanks to the rising popularity of sophistopop which was a genre of music that was taking the world by storm this year.
