This was the biggest hits in Australia during the first half of the decade, in fact it came close to being the biggest hit of the decade overall given its refusal to die on our charts back in the day. I feel this is the best indication of how widely different our music landscape was from the pre-Countdown era to the post Countdown era given how this definitely wouldn’t have touched our charts later in the decade.
Elton John had success prior to this Billboard chart topper, however it was when he released this track that he went from just another blues singer to a household name due to how inescapable it was back in the day for him. It likely owes part of its success to it feeling right at home with the glam rock genre which had exploded in popularity around the time of its release.
This was the final hit that Shirley Bassey had anywhere in the world, although it’s curious that it would be by far her biggest hit here in Australia given how her only other hit was with “Goldfinger” from the film of the same name from almost a decade prior. At least the Welsh woman of colour can take comfort in the fact that this ballad was more popular on our charts than many other well-known tracks worldwide.
This was the first solo hit to come from MJ, suffice to say that this is very different from his later material given how he was still a child when he recorded this track for the film of the same name. Incidentally, this is a horror film which just so happens to have the occasional sentimental scene, making this ballad highly inappropriate to be its theme song regardless of the context of the lyrics.
We have another song that has survived the test of time on this list, this time it’s the biggest hit from Carly Simon who scored massive worldwide success with this lead single to her biggest album No secrets. There’s been many rumours about who the song is about from James Taylor (which she’s denied from day one) to Mick Jagger, however she’s since confirmed it to be about Warren Beatty.
Another trend that was out of control during the first half of the decade was the return of older artists on the charts, by far the most successful was Perry Como who scored two massive hits from the album named after this entry we’re looking at. Naturally this was another trend that Countdown dealt with when it premiered on our TV a year after this was released.
This was one of two hits that Vicki Lawrence had here in Australia, although it’s worth noting that neither of these hits she had was her biggest in her native America given how “The night the lights went out in Georgia” was a huge flop here despite being a Billboard chart topper in her homeland. Nowadays she’s best known for her role in the Mary Tyler Moore show and her stage work.
Col Joye was one of the biggest names in Australian music during the 60’s, that said, it was surprising to see him score a massive success with this ballad given how it had been several years since he touched our charts with one of his tracks.
Ahh yes, the feminist anthem to end all other feminist anthems, made years before anyone from the fourth wave of feminism was born to boot. If you can believe it, Helen received backlash when this won her a Grammy back in the day due to her referring to God as a woman, let’s just say we’ve come a long way since then if suggesting that God wasn’t a man was enough to upset people.
First off, can we admire this cover art for the second biggest hit of the Rolling stones catalogue? If only there were more WTF artwork for singles like this so that I could make a list about it. With that out of the way, we have this lead single to the band’s album Goat’s head soup which was their biggest hit here in Australia until 1981 when “Start me up” took that prize away from the track.
(This is “Angie” if you couldn’t tell from my commentary, seriously, how could I pass up featuring this artwork even if it fails to dictate what the song actually is?)
Suzi was on a roll when she released her second single from her debut album, so much so that it became her second consecutive chart topper here in Australia in addition to the album itself being a massive success for her. She was also massively successful in the UK given how the Brits also didn’t have an issue with her being one of the faces of glam rock despite being an American woman.
This is the song that the Fugees would sample over twenty years later for their magnum opus “Killing me softly,” naturally this was originally a huge hit for Roberta Flack given how she by this point was a household name due to her earlier entry on this list. She would have one more hit on her own here in Australia with “Feel like making love” as well as one with Peabo Bryson with “Tonight I celebrate my love.”
It makes sense that these guys would perform this track on Countdown thirteen years after its initial release given how it was indeed one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia back in the day. Interestingly, this was only a hit in America two years after it became a massive worldwide success, even more curiously it was around the time that they topped our charts with “Fox on the run.”
This was the biggest of three hits that American folk singer Lobo had throughout his career worldwide, it’s by far his biggest hit likely due to folk love ballads being all the rage when it was released as a single. As a final bit of trivia for this guy, his stage name is the Spanish word for a male wolf, which makes it a bit misleading for the type of music he makes.
From what I can gather, Jud Strunk was a comedian in a similar vein to that of Ray Stevens (if Ray wasn’t a casual racist judging by his biggest hits in that genre.) As such we have a love ballad from an otherwise comedic performer which of course became his biggest hit during his lifetime, although he might’ve had a second hit had he not tragically passed away in 1981 due to a plane crash.
This is the final entry from Helen Reddy to appear on this list, it’s another pop country ballad that was a massive success for the pioneering feminist back in the day, proving that even back then, the music industry wasn’t opposed to progressive ideas despite what online activists will otherwise tell you.
This is the first of two hits from country star Donna Fargo to appear on this list, I told you there would be a ton of entries from female country artists on here which is a large reason why I dragged my feet in writing commentary for this list. Honestly the fact that she’s a two-hit wonder here as opposed to a one hit wonder is the only thing separating Donna from the likes of Barbara Ray and Susan Raye.
A decade before Joan Jett scored a massive hit with “I love rock and roll,” we had Suzi Quatro tearing up the international charts with her debut single which comes from the glam rock genre. I bring this up because for whatever reason, Suzi didn’t have any success in her native America until much later in the decade where she sold out in favour of an adult contemporary artist.
Although “I am woman” was the song that made Helen Reddy a star outside of Australia, it was this song that confirmed her to be the real deal when it came to women in the country scene in America as this was her second Billboard chart topper following her earlier entry. This was written by Tanya Tucker, a (then) teenage girl who seemed to be wise beyond her years given the subject matter of the songs she wrote.
This was the biggest solo hit that Ringo Starr had here in Australia, we’ll look at his other two big hits later down this list but suffice to say this is the entry from him that gives me the least to talk about as it just confirms him as the talented drummer of the fab four and little else given its lack of legacy.
We have our final appearance from 10cc on this site as this was their first major hit here in Australia, although in their native UK, “Donna” has the honour of being their first big hit as that was their debut single which became a massive success for them in their homeland. This also means we have a different genre to look at from these guys as this was a glam rock track during the height of that genre’s popularity.
Well at least this cover of the Lesley Gore classic came a full decade after the original, so it’s not like this short-lived Australian band was cashing in off the success of a (then) recent hit single like so many other entries on this list. Still the fact that the only hit these guys had was with a feminist anthem from a teenager should tell you why they don’t have much of a legacy outside of this hit of theirs.
We looked at the second Oscar winning ballad that Maureen McGovern scored a hit with worldwide, time to look at her first big hit both critically and commercially as two years prior, she took home the Oscar for this ballad for the film the Poseidon adventure which she also had a minor role in. From what I can gather, the film has a similar plot to Titanic in that it’s about the sinking of a ship albeit a fictional one in this case.
This is a rare case of a chart topper not being the lead single from an album, although I get the feeling this was only a huge success worldwide following the success of a country version from Lynn Anderson which compelled the duo to release it as a single a year after the album’s release.
While this wasn’t Elvis’s final hit anywhere in the world, it is the last song he released from his catalogue that has largely survived the test of time likely due to it feeling like a track from the 60’s rather than the early 70’s. It was a massive hit for the king of rock and roll regardless of where in the world you’re from, although outside of Australia, it was a bit of a comeback for him.
This was the first hit that Wings scored throughout the world, although it’s confusingly credited as a collaboration track between the band and their frontman Paul McCartney likely due to him being unsure of joining his wife’s band permanently when it was released as a single. It’s one of only two entries from the band to appear on this list, likely due to us Aussies passing up their singles in favour of their albums.
This was the only hit that Ross Ryan had in his career, although he made many other attempts to score a hit with his other less gimmicky songs in his career to little avail. Indeed, this song was only a hit due to the novelty of it being the standout track from his album based around the mythological Greek flying horse.
This was the final hit that Dawn had here in Australia, honestly with a title like that, it’s any wonder why many people don’t like going over what was popular during the first half of the 70’s given how it tells you everything you need to know about how cheesy the music was overall.
This was already a hit twice here in Australia and around the world, the first time was its initial version from Johnny Mathis in the 50’s and the second was from Cliff Richard about a decade prior to this version from Donny Osmond. If I were to rank these three versions based on how well they did, it would go as Johnny, Donny and Cliff.
It’s a bit odd that Barbara ray would only find success once she left her native Scotland for South Africa, even then, it was mainly here in Australia as her fellow Brits ignored her brand of country pop when she migrated out of the UK. As with most artists from a non-western country, she was way more successful in her homeland than she was internationally.
I keep needing to remind myself this isn’t an early ELO track and is instead from Wings of all bands, I definitely wasn’t expecting to have a prog track from the band make it on this site even though it honestly would’ve dumbfounded me if this song wasn’t a hit here in Australia given that it’s a Bond theme for the movie of the same name. It means that I’ve now featured both the original and Guns n roses version of this track on my site.
This was Donna Fargo’s only other hit here in Australia, although given how it appears so close to her earlier entry on this list, it’s safe to say that both of these songs were equally as popular back in the day with us Aussies as each other. That is until you realise, they were from the same album, and this came out first, meaning that her earlier entry was even more popular if we factored in album sales eating its success.
For the longest time, I was more familiar with the Jimmy Cliff version of this song given how that became a huge worldwide hit in the 90’s due to being the theme song for Disney’s Cool Runnings. It turns out this was originally a hit for reggae singer Johnny Nash who scored a huge number one hit on Billboard with this track as well as it being a massive hit worldwide for the American soul singer.
This was the only hit from British glam rocker Barry blue, naturally this was meant to fuse glam rock with the pop sounds of the day which (to me at least) makes this feel like an early rendition of a disco track more than anything. He would have one more hit in his homeland before forever fading into obscurity despite this type of music thriving throughout the rest of the decade.
This is the other big hit that Perry Como had here in Australia throughout the decade, I guess this was proof of concept that 50’s crooners were able to find success two decades later given how the rest of the decade would see the likes of his contemporaries such as Al Martino and Johnny Mathis charting throughout the world.
This was originally released in 1962 where it was a massive hit for Bobby Picket in his native America, however it fell on death ears back then which is perhaps why it became a massive worldwide hit for him……. eleven years later. I have no idea why this Halloween classic was a hit when it was, however, it resulted in it being among the bigger hits of the early 70’s here in Australia.
This was a bit of a surprise hit for Carly Simon here in Australia given how as far as I can tell, this wasn’t released anywhere else in the world for the female singer/songwriter. The success of this track ensured that her earlier entry on this list would be one of the biggest hits of the decade down under, although not that it wasn’t a huge success throughout the rest of the world or anything.
This was the only hit from English pianist Peter Skellern, it was a massive hit for him here in Australia and his native UK likely due to this coming out right before Elton John took over the world with his top entry on this list. It’s interesting to theorise how big this guy would’ve been had Elton not become one of the biggest names in music worldwide.
This was originally released in 1967 to deafening silence here in Australia, I guess because we Aussies felt there wasn’t enough room for these guys in the psychedelia scene given how the likes of the Beatles and Procol Harum had dominated that scene with their chart-topping hits. It was given a second chance five years later as a live rendition which became a massive worldwide hit for the band.
Well true to the title of this song, this is indeed a composition that comprises of a banjo duel that was apparently made for a film known as Deliverance. The film was well received back in the day, meaning that this was likely a hit due to how popular it was with us Aussies (box office numbers are hard to come back even for modern movies outside of America.)
This is the only hit to come from the Canadian band Edward Bear (a name that suggest this was from a solo artist) it was one of many pop rock tracks to be a success during the first half of the decade worldwide, although like many other entries on this list, it hasn’t really stood the test of time due to its absence on oldies playlists.
This was the biggest hit that Gilbert O’Sullivan had in his native UK, it wasn’t quite as inescapable throughout the rest of the world likely due to this song feeling like it was written about a dog rather than an overexcited partner of his. At least this isn’t anywhere near as pessimistic as some of the other songs in his catalogue.
Ever wanted to hear a disco rendition of the 2001 a space oddity theme? Well, you’re in luck as we have just that from Brazilian composer Deodato who laid out the blueprints for the genre with this rearrangement of the classic theme that tickled audiences fancy upon its initial release.
Well, I guess calling yourself a Bootleg band is one way to let people know you’re nothing but a covers band cashing in off the success of much more famous bands and artists, here was the first of their two hits in Australia which came at the expense of the original from Loggins and Messina. At least their other big hit was a cover of a song from a decade prior.
Even though Kevin Johnson is an Australian country singer and that his one and only hit was far from the most successful here in Australia upon its initial release, this somehow managed to become a minor international hit for him likely due to being based in the UK when he released it as a single.
Bobby Goldsboro is a country singer whose best known for his 1968 hit “Honey” which was a massive chart topper throughout the world that year including here in Australia. Fast forward five years and he managed to escape the one hit wonder bin with this ballad about the summertime albeit only here in Australia and the UK of all places.
This is the most recent entry from the king of rock and roll on this list, although he did continue to find success during the second half of the decade right up until his untimely death in 1977.
While this wasn’t meant to be used as an anthem for unionisation, the fact that this folk-rock track has such an anthemic chorus with the subject matter has since made it a popular choice for union protests over the years. It was the Strawbs only hit here in Australia and their native UK, although that might be due to the rest of their catalogue being more in line with prog rock which typically didn’t spawn many hit singles.
This feels like a sequel to Lobo’s earlier entry on this list, naturally this made it the perfect follow up to “I’d love you to want me” which is perhaps why it did so well internationally for the American singer/songwriter. It would be his final hit worldwide likely due to cheesy ballads like this falling out of vogue as the decade moved along.
Well, we looked at their big hit they had here exclusively in Australia, time now to look at the big hit these guys had internationally which curiously had a bit of a delay to its success here as it only peaked in the early months of 1973 as opposed to Christmas 1972 like it did in NZ. Again, we have an instrumental track on this list, proving how popular this genre of music was around this time.
This has a bit of a weird story to its success, namely that despite being a real band, Kincade didn’t exist when their debut single was released as it was merely the stage name of their frontman John Carter when it came to be. It was a surprise hit here in Australia as well as in certain parts of the world despite it failing to chart in their native UK.
If you didn’t know, Cher is in fact biracial or as she puts it, a half breed (half Native American and half Italian to be precise.) I guess this was a strong enough premise for her second Billboard chart topper as a solo artist given how the song is about how both sides of her family rejected her very existence due to the nature she was conceived (which she doesn’t go into detail about as it’s NSFW.)
This was the first song that Diana Ross released following her acting debut in the Billie Holliday biopic the Lady sings the blues which she received an Oscar nomination for, naturally this song was guaranteed success given how that film was able to remind audience of her phenomenal talent as a vocalist given how well received her performance of Billie was both as an actress and singer.
This guy was a frequent collaborator of Jigsaw back in the day, so it’s interesting to note that his biggest hit was a solo entry that wasn’t a cover of a more popular track (at least that I’m aware of.) He’s also another pop crooner who dabbled as a TV presenter back in the day, a fairly standard practice for Australian male musicians it seems.
By far one of their most easily recognisable hits in their catalogue, we have this ballad from the Carpenters which became their biggest hit in the UK likely due to how tender it sounds despite it clearly being about nostalgia for the years that had gone by. It was also a huge hit in their native America, although not quite at the dizzying heights of their earlier entries.
Barry Crocker is perhaps the most well-known pop crooner turned TV presenter in Australian music history, not for his music career but rather for how well known he is as a presenter. This was his only hit as a singer which was one of many entries on this list that has largely been lost to the sands of time over the years.
If this sounds like an ELO track to you, then you’re not far off as several members of this band would go on to be a part of that band later in the decade. This also has members of the Move who were a 60’s band that was a part of the psychedelia movement which explains those elements on this track. This was their only hit here in Australia, however they were quite popular in their native UK this decade.
This is the earliest entry from Sherbet to feature on my site, naturally it was the song that finally caught the mainstream’s attention of their work after several minor hits that failed to put them on the level of many other bands that have appeared on this list.
Ever wanted to hear a comedy track about a dead skunk? Well, you’re in luck as Loudon Wainwright wrote a song with that subject matter as a comedy track which helped him score his one and only hit here in Australia by us Aussies who found this tale rather amusing to listen to at the time.
There was a good chance that reggae was going to be the genre of the 70’s if this track from Bruce Ruffin is anything to go by, it was a big hit here in Australia and even decently successful in the UK for the Jamaican singer likely due to the ad libs that pepper the track as well as that admittedly catchy reggae groove it has going for it.
Long before she was an Oscar nominated actress in Hollywood, Bette Midler was a throwback performer who scored her first big hit with this cover of the Andrew sisters track from thirty years prior. It was equally as popular here in Australia as it was in her native America, likely due to nostalgia for music made during the height of WWII.
This was the other big hit that Jamie Redfern had during his time on Young talent time, this being a cover of the Frankie Avalon track from the late 50’s (with no relation to Shocking Blue’s track of the same name on this list.) Jamie was another victim of the Countdown purge despite being an Australian artist, I guess this was due to him failing to appear on the show during its run.
From what I can gather, Tex Morton was an aging NZ country singer who scored a surprise hit with this track about a horse here in Australia during the first half of the decade. The horse in question was one of the most valuable in horse racing (a sport which I’m heavily against) much like that of Phar lap.
This was the second single from Elton John’s album Don’t shoot me I’m only the piano player, this is a more sombre ballad compared to “Crocodile rock” which I’m guessing was a reminder to his (then) older fans of his blues roots given how he had begun to dabble with glam rock around this time.
Petula was one of the biggest names in music throughout the 60’s, so it’s not that surprising that she would have one hit final during the first half of the decade even if that hit was only as such here in Australia. It’s worth noting that this likely appealed to us Aussies because of nostalgia of her work from the forties as a child star.
This was the first hit that Gary Glitter had that didn’t appear on one of his albums (that I’m aware of) naturally this allowed it and his top entry on this list to top the UK charts which remain as his only two chart toppers over there along with “I’m yours” which won’t be appearing on this list.
I’m shocked this was only a moderate success for Bob Dylan here in Australia, although that might be due to how Guns n roses revived this song’s popularity in the 90’s with their rendition which coincidentally came out the same year I was born (1992.) In any case, this was the second hit that the folk legend had here in Australia following “Like a rolling stone” from 1965.
This was the only hit for Australian actress/singer Abigail Rogan, I’m guessing this was the case due to the popularity of a TV she was on at the time of its release (it’s surprisingly hard to find information about this woman) given how this saw a release in the UK where it predictably flopped.
This was George Harrison’s final hit here in Australia for eight years as he wouldn’t touch our charts again until 1981 with his tribute to John Lennon “All those years ago.” It was a much bigger deal internationally where this topped the Billboard charts for the former Beatle likely due to its strong message about world peace.
This will be the last entry from Don Mclean on this site given how he didn’t score any other hits throughout his career, indeed this was only a hit here in Australia likely due to the massive success of his two earlier entries on this list as well as the album they came from which didn’t seem to be much of an incentive for the rest of the world in making this a hit.
It’s strange to think that the Drifters were able to score two hits in the 70’s in Australia and the UK given how their fellow Americans had long abandoned their catalogue by this point in time. This was the first of those two hits which helped the RNB quartet retain an audience for the third consecutive decade in both countries.
This is one of only two entries from Stevie Wonder, that’s right, one of the biggest names of the decade only had two hits here in Australia even if his albums did do considerably well with us Aussies (which somewhat makes him an album artist as far as we’re concerned.) At least this was a chart topper on Billboard even if it’s one of his rare slow jams that got popular over the years.
In most parts of the world, this was Albert Hammond’s only hit given how he never had much success in his native UK with his ballads. I’m willing to bet this only became a hit here in Australia due to its surprise success in America, although he had a ton of success over in NZ if the Listener charts are anything to go by.
We have another UK chart topper for Slade to come on this list, it’s incidentally their third UK chart topper which goes to show how the process was for making their songs a success here in Australia. This will be the band’s final appearance on my list despite having a few other minor hits back in the day.
We’ve featured the Joan Jett cover on this site on my list of Countdown performances, time now to look at the original version of the glam rock track from Gary Glitter which continued the icon’s winning streak back in the day given how it was the lead single to his second album Touch me.
This was John Farnham’s final hit he had until his 1980 comeback with “Help,” I guess he was seen as a relic of the 60’s by this point in time which was a stigma that wouldn’t hold once he released his magnum opus in 1986.
It had been well over a year since Livie last touched our charts with “Banks of the Ohio” by the time she released this country ballad, as such it makes sense that it wasn’t the runaway success that or “I honestly love you” was from earlier on this list despite being among her more popular pre-Grease country ballads.
This was a hit a year after its initial release, I guess it wasn’t released as a single here in Australia initially due to it having to compete with “Imagine” from earlier on this list as that was the Christmas chart topper of 1971 down under. It had its full chance to shine the following Christmas where it was too little too late for it to make an impact on our charts.
This was John Farnham’s penultimate hit here in Australia until his comeback from 1980, it’s a song released during our Christmas which makes its lyrics about how things go out of season appropriate given how we Aussies have Christmas in summer as opposed to most of the world which has it during winter.
There was no stopping Gary Glitter during the first half of the decade given how this was a huge hit from his second album Touch me despite failing to reach out top ten (the highest entry on this list to do so.) It’s easy to see how he made it big in the glam scene given how energetic he is on record; let alone the energy he displayed on stage when performing these tracks.
This was the first solo single from John Fogerty which he confusingly credited as the album that it appeared on; it was likely due to this confusion that prevented it from matching the success of his earlier entries with CCR he had on this list. It could also be due to the rocky reception of their final album Mardis gras which caused them to breakup to begin with.
This was released the day of the moon landing, meaning that it took four years for it to finally become a success here as well as several parts of the world for David Bowie. This was due to it being rereleased as a live track where it became a success in America which translated its success throughout the rest of the world for Ziggy Stardust.
This is the final entry from Donny Osmond on this list, he did quite well for himself with us Aussies despite his band being MIA on our charts back in the day. Heck if it wasn’t for his sister Marie having a hit with her entry on this list as well as his younger brother Jimmy, he would’ve been the only member of the family we knew about.
This was the only other chart topper that Gilbert O’Sullivan had in his native UK, it was his first chart topper there given how this came out before “Get back” and likely got there due to the success of “Alone again” over in America. This ballad is actually about the mother’s love for her daughter Clair rather than a traditional love ballad, likely explaining its success over other contemporary love ballads.
