There was a bit too much soft rock for my liking for this to be any higher on this list, however with the rise of disco and rock opera taking place, it was more than enough to forgive the stale adult contemporary that those genres were competing with. Also, I had to dock points due to us Aussies largely ignoring the punk scene that popped up in the UK this year.
It’s hard to say what was popular in NZ during the first half of the decade, what I do know is that this was the most popular album over there during the second half of the 70’s thanks to the drama that went into this album resonating with them back in the day. Sadly, there weren’t any improvements with the success of the singles over there like so many other albums on these lists.
Well, it might not have been as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, however at least this album from the Eagles was able to spawn hits for the band over there which I feel more than makes up for it as the album was still a massive success there whilst also making the band a household name on NZ’s singles charts.
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that these guys were so much more successful in NZ than they were here in Australia during the disco phase of their career, then again, they saw massive success over there during their early Beatles esque era so perhaps the kiwis just loved these guys overall more so than us Aussies.
This albums success in NZ was about the same as it was here in Australia, meaning that Linda’s popularity was on equal footing in the southern hemisphere even though the second minor hit from the album varies depending on which country you’re referring to. Here it was “Poor poor pitiful me” which was written by Warren Zevon of “Werewolves of London” fame and in NZ it was a cover of a Buddy Holly track.
This was the only successful album that Leo Sayer had in NZ, mainly because it was the album that made him a superstar in America given how it spawned two Billboard chart toppers for him over there. Indeed, these two songs remain his biggest hits in most parts of the world despite being very different from each other.
I think it’s weird that these guys weren’t more successful in Australia, not with the albums so much as they did fine, but rather with the singles because not only do they remain iconic to this day, but they also would’ve easily fitted in with all of the rock opera making it big worldwide from around this time.
This album really did take its time in finding an audience in NZ, so much so that it wasn’t until the success of his next album that this finally reached the upper echelons of their charts due to it lacking that hit single over there. That said, it did hover in the lower half of the charts for a year which is why it wound up being the bigger album over there.
This had a bit of a slow start to its rise in popularity in NZ, mainly because the lead single was far from the most successful of its time and the second single didn’t even chart over there for some reason. The album finally reached its peak when the third single became one of the biggest of the decade over there much like how it became a success for the band in America.
From what I can gather, Barbra Streisand didn’t have any hits in NZ prior to when she starred in the third adaptation of A star is born, meaning this soundtrack was likely many kiwis introduction to her music as it and the lead single became a massive success for her and her co-star Kris Kristofferson over there.
This was another successful album to come from Rod Stewart worldwide, I guess this was slightly more successful in NZ with the singles given how it had one more minor charting hit over there than it did over here.
This proved to be an even bigger success over in NZ than it was here in Australia, again likely due to Elvis not having to compete with much competition over there as his death was likely the talk of the town compared to all of the exciting new local talent that it had to share the news with here in Australia.
Although we Aussies largely ignored these guys back in the day, this wasn’t the case with the kiwis who openly embraced Steely Dan likely due to them not having a Countdown equivalent to discourage them from making these guys a success over there. Indeed, soft rock in general seemed to be far more popular with the kiwis this decade given what we’ve seen on these lists so far on this side of my site.
It appears the London Symphony Orchestra wasn’t the first orchestra to have a successful album in NZ as their own symphony orchestra managed to score a huge success with their renditions of classical music from the golden age of classical music.
Much like here in Australia, this one and only album that anyone knows from Al Stewart was a massive success in NZ likely due to the novelty of what he named the album and the big hit that came from it.
This was only a success in NZ following the success of their earlier entry on this list, I guess the kiwis really needed some incentive in making these guys one of the most popular bands of all time back in the day because I can’t think of why else this only became a sleeper hit nearly two years after its initial release over there.
The hits kept on coming for Neil Diamond in NZ as they did throughout the rest of the world, this album was just the latest in his discography which had already seen massive success by this point in his career.
While their debut album wasn’t that big of a hit over in NZ, this sophomore effort from the Dutch group Pussycat managed to be a massive success due to it spawning two gigantic hits for them over there. To think these guys were a mere one hit wonder here in Australia and with a song that doesn’t even appear on this album.
Given how this managed to spawn a huge hit for Jean Michel Jarre over in NZ, it only makes sense that the album managed to become a huge success over there even though it was a huge flop over here in Australia. I’m not sure why this flopped given how immensely popular prog rock was during this point in time.
Although Eye in the sky was this duo’s most successful album in NZ as it was in Australia, their 70’s output gave it a run for its money likely due to how much more successful prog music was throughout the decade over there.
This was only a moderate success for ELO in NZ back in the day, at least here in Australia it was a massive success even if it also failed to spawn that big hit down under like it did in their native UK. At least their 70’s albums all managed to reappear on this side of my site unlike some of their singles and their 80’s material.
While this wasn’t her debut album, it was the album which got Joan Armatrading off the ground in NZ years before she got any buzz here in Australia. I’m not sure how the LGBT folk singer managed to connect with the kiwis (or indeed how the kiwis even came across this album) but it would explain her success over there throughout the 80’s.
Mario Lanza was an Italian American performer from the first half of the twentieth century, he died relatively young in life in 1959 (that was a bad year for musician now that I think about it) but leaving behind a rich recording history that the kiwis felt nostalgic for this year for some reason.
It’s clearly obvious the kiwis weren’t ready to say goodbye to the King of rock and roll this year given how this was one of two albums that look over his rock hits from his lifetime to become a success over there following his tragic death this year.
While it wasn’t as big as his first live album this decade in NZ (impressive considering it came out two years prior to when the RIANZ charts launched) this album recorded as the Greek theatre was nonetheless a huge success over there for Neil Diamond back in the day.
This was originally released earlier in the decade to deafening silence, I’m not sure why it wasn’t a hit upon its initial release given how Elvis was still able to find success with his singles throughout the world. This became a hit this year due to his tragic passing just like the second edition of this series.
This was another success for Pink Floyd in NZ this year, the top entry on this list was their 1973 effort, so it was inevitable that this would make a reappearance on this side of my site.
Much like here in Australia, this album was initially a huge flop for the brothers Gibb in NZ the previous year, thankfully it was a much bigger hit once it was given its second chance over there given how their earlier entry on this list encouraged the kiwis to check out what they were missing from this album.
I’m not sure how the kiwis came across Steve Miller back in the day given how “The joker” was a massive flop over there during the first half of the decade (according to the Listener charts it was at least.) I’m guessing this was a success over there due to how big it was here in Australia as well as the kiwis wanting to see how this guy kept topping the Billboard charts throughout the decade.
This was a compilation album from NZ collecting some of the most well-known classical pieces for the convenience of the kiwis discovering them on one convenient album.
It’s a bit of a surprise that this wasn’t a success here in Australia for Elton John given how much we Aussies have loved the English piano man over the years, then again it wasn’t that huge in NZ either and only appears on this site due to the lack of competition it had back in the day.
I guess the trade-off of Peter’s earlier entry on this list being as successful as it was resulted in this follow up achieving half of the success in NZ that it did here in Australia, it could be because the big hit off the album down under wasn’t as such over there but it could also be overexposure from his live work.
I’m a bit surprised this concept album wasn’t as big in NZ as it was here in Australia, I’m guessing the kiwis only made it a success due to the standout track from Julie Covington being a chart topper over there like it was over here.
Following the success of their rock themed greatest hits package from 1976, the kiwis decided to make this love themed album from the fab four a success a year later which makes it the first of two love themed greatest hits albums to make it big over there.
This was another successful compilation series to make it big in NZ back in the day, although it doesn’t escape my notice that all of these compilation albums centre around disco which should tell you the type of music the kiwis were supporting back in the day.
Well, this proved to be much less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, I’m guessing because the kiwis didn’t jive with the lead single as much as we Aussies did back in the day. In fact, I’m willing to bet this was only a hit over there because it was so successful down under upon its initial release.
I guess Split Enz were able to achieve some success in their homeland prior to making it big here in Australia after all given how this album of theirs managed to be a huge success over there in lieu of its lead single becoming a moderate success like it was here in Australia. They would of course go on to dominate both countries music scenes in the 80’s by reinventing their image with each new album.
This was another successful greatest hits album from the Rolling stones to be a success back in the day, there’s not much to say about it as it doesn’t have much of a legacy anymore given how much more popular their other greatest hits packages have been in their catalogue.
We have another album that charted higher in NZ that ultimately wasn’t as popular over there as it was here in Australia, this time it’s this live album from the Rolling stones which nonetheless serves as further proof that band were far from yesterday’s news during the second half of the decade.
I’m guessing we Aussies weren’t big of fans of the Muppet show back in the day given how this was a complete flop over here, this wasn’t the case in NZ where it was a huge hit for the TV cast right down to it spawning a huge hit for them over there. Their love for the series wasn’t present for the film soundtrack where even we Aussies gave Kermit a hit with “Rainbow connection.”
