It remains their most popular album in their career, so naturally it would be a massive success for NZ back in the day given how it was a huge success around the world for Supertramp. Interestingly it proved to be even bigger over there than it was here, likely because they had more mainstream appeal there than they did here.
It appears that the world tour that Neil Young and Crazy horse gave for their Rust never sleeps album was so compelling for the kiwis to listen to that the live album proved to be more successful over there than the studio album it was based on. That’s impressive considering how huge the studio album was over there.
Given how he wasn’t competing with his family when he released his first album to be produced by Quincy Jones, MJ was able to flood the NZ charts with this album much more so than he did in Australia who had just discovered his family’s post Motown material around this time.
Much like in Australia, the success of this album in NZ was likely bolstered by it spawning the biggest hit in Pink Floyd’s career over there in the form of one of its title tracks. It also likely allowed their entry from the top of this list to keep charting well into the 80’s as it had still yet to drop off the charts over there like it did here in the mid 70’s.
This was another massive success that Fleetwood Mac had in NZ just like they did throughout the rest of the world, in fact what I said about this on the Australian side of my site applies here as its success there perfectly mirrors its success here.
Well at least the Eagles were able to go out with a bang when they embarrassed themselves during a concert promoting this album around this time in their native California, indeed it was more of a success in NZ thanks to the songs being able to become hits over there which wasn’t the case for them here in Australia.
This was the debut album from B52’s, an album that needed some incentive to become a success in the southern hemisphere which came when the band performed their signature track from the album on Countdown thus allowing it to find an audience in both countries due to how memorable it was.
It was a new decade and Tom Petty was already off to a good start as far as the kiwis were concerned as he scored a massive hit with this album by having it spawn one of his more iconic songs as the second hit single. I guess the kiwis were far more willing to embrace heartland rock than we Aussies were around this time given how much more popular the genre was over there compared to over here.
It looks like ELO’s venture towards disco was their biggest success over in NZ as this album remains their most successful album over there, likely due to it being released at the height of the genres popularity but also due to the band needing to find their footing over there given how rock operas weren’t as big as they were here in Australia.
While this collaboration between Neil Young and Crazy horse was initially as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, the fact the album spawned a highly successful live album from their world tour over there ensured that success would be repeated a year after its initial release for both parties involved.
These guys weren’t that big in NZ, or at least they weren’t compared to how well they did here in Australia despite them having more immediate success over there with their debut album. Here they follow up the success of Outlandos D’amour with this album which didn’t spawn that big hit over there they had here and on their previous album over there.
This was all set to be a mere minor success in NZ upon its initial release, however the lead single became a surprise success over there at the start of the 80’s which allowed it to become a massive success for Ry Cooder. He remains a one album wonder in both countries, although he was a part of the Buena Vista social club two decades later which had a successful album with their release.
Kiss never had much success in NZ back in the day, so I guess the kiwis weren’t that surprised that they went in a more mainstream direction with this album given how their earlier material all flopped over there earlier in the decade. They did have success with their follow up in the 80’s, although like Australia their popularity didn’t last very long in the new decade.
You’d think these guys would’ve had more success in Australia around this time given how they seemed like the perfect band to be promoted on Countdown back in the day, alas they flopped here but were a huge deal in NZ beginning with this album which should explain why they had so much more success over there in the 80’s than they did here.
Well at least these guys had a bit more success in NZ prior to this greatest hits package becoming a huge success for the band, although their success at least skyrocketed after its success over there and even carried over to the member’s solo material throughout the 80’s, so it’s not like it was little more than a pity success like it was here in Australia.
This wasn’t quite as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, however even with a different lead singer, these guys were able to retain their popularity over there until the end of the decade as the Doobie Brothers did indeed have massive success in NZ throughout the 70’s with their earlier material.
I guess a little controversy never hurt anyone as despite it being controversial even at the time, the lead single allowed this album to be a massive hit for Elvis Costello back in the day in most parts of the world. Unlike here in Australia where it was his only successful album, he saw a bit of a comeback over there four years later with Punch the clock, meaning he wasn’t a one album wonder with the kiwis.
This was an E.P that was released three years prior from Demis Roussos, I guess if we Aussies can give out success for a years old album this year, why can’t the kiwis give out success for a years old E.P from the same artist?
This had a bit of a delay to its success in NZ, likely because it was only a sleeper hit here in Australia for the NZ band. It became a more mainstream success a year after its initial release due to the success of the second single but also once they released their second album which allowed the album to rebound on their charts.
Well, their debut album from earlier on the list became one of the biggest albums of the decade in NZ, so it’s only fitting that their second album would be a huge success over there even though it failed to spawn that big hit for them like it did here in Australia. Their third album would be a huge flop on the southern hemisphere; however, they would bounce back from that with their fourth and biggest album.
This wasn’t the big inescapable hit in NZ that it was here in Australia for Rickie Lee Jones, admittedly the lead single was an actual hit for her over there so perhaps the kiwis were too infatuated with that in order to make this even more of a success for her back in the day.
This was the first album that Roxy music released once they reunited the previous year, although I don’t think the kiwis even realised they had any material prior to this album given how much of a failure their music was throughout the 70’s over there. This led to them having massive success during the first stretch of the 80’s before they called it quits in 1983 for good.
Rod Stewart closed out the 70’s on top regardless of where in the world you’re from, although this was the last time he would trouble the charts in NZ until his next greatest hits album from ten years later.
While he wasn’t as inescapable in NZ as he was here in Australia throughout the 70’s, Leo Sayer was popular enough that it made sense that this greatest hits package closing out the decade would become a success for him over there this year.
This was also a success in NZ due to it also being released over there like it was here in Australia, again I’m not sure why this album was released exclusively in the southern hemisphere as between both countries, he only had a total of three hits to his name by this point.
This was the last successful album that the Brothers Gibb had in NZ for nearly two decades, admittedly their next successful album in Australia was also Still waters, however they did have a mini comeback in 1987 when “You win again” became a surprise hit for them which isn’t what happened over in NZ.
This was another successful greatest hits package to bookend the 70’s, although it didn’t become a success in NZ until this year for Donna Summer likely because the lead single was included on Barbra Streisand’s album which the kiwis didn’t seem to like that much until this decade for some reason.
This was the final album that Led zeppelin released as a unit worldwide, naturally it would be a success in NZ given how they were one of the biggest bands of the decade over there despite not releasing an album since the midpoint of the decade.
Much like in Australia, this album from Art Garfunkel likely took off in NZ due to the success of his theme to the animated film Watership down becoming a huge success for him over there. It was his only successful album over there as far as I can tell, although it’s possible his solo efforts from earlier in the decade were also big hits over there.
Given how Jon English suddenly had two successful hits to his name in NZ, it only seems reasonable that the kiwis would educate themselves on his back catalogue which included a third minor hit from the midpoint of the 70’s that didn’t crossover here to Australia. This is why his greatest hits album did slightly better over there than it did over here.
Well, it appears the kiwis were more forgiving towards these guys providing more of the same as their earlier entry on this list than us Aussies were, the results were a slightly more successful album over there than it was here in Australia as well as it occasionally popping back into the charts whenever the band released a new album throughout the 80’s.
Even though the Beach boys didn’t achieve a single hit in NZ throughout the 70’s (either on RIANZ or the Listener charts) that didn’t mean that they didn’t close out the decade without any success at all as this greatest hits album was a hit for them this year.
Given how these guys weren’t as popular in NZ as they were in Australia throughout the 70’s, it’s fitting that this was less successful over there for ELO than it was over here at the start of the 80’s even if this was coming off a highly successful album.
This was Donna Summer’s only successful album in NZ (not counting her greatest hits package of course) naturally it was the one which depicted her as a sex worker on the cover as well as some of the track referencing her as such including the two big hits from the album. While you could argue the pros and cons of marketing her as such (though not on this site if you don’t mind) it led to her becoming a devoted Christian in the 80’s because of the backlash she received from religious groups.
It may not have been as inescapable in NZ as it was here in Australia, however this greatest hits package from the brothers Gibb was indeed a success coming into the 80’s over there due to how popular the trio was with their pivot towards disco in their catalogue.
Well, you know the kiwis have a love for classical music when even the London Symphony Orchestra could score a massive hit over there with an album where they make classical renditions of popular rock and roll hits of the 60’s and 70’s.
I guess the kiwis weren’t that fooled with the hype that went into this band back in the day, I’m not saying these guys were hacks by any means, but rather their popularity was only limited to this one album worldwide and it appears the kiwis didn’t love it as much as the rest of the world did.
I don’t know why this underperformed here in Australia given how much we Aussies loved Abba back in the day, it did much better over in NZ for the band likely at the expense of the new single to appear on the album which wasn’t a big hit over there like it was over here.
If you were looking for more representation from the Commodore on this side of my site, there will be that albeit to a much lesser scale than you would otherwise think given how Lionel Richie and company weren’t that much more popular in ZN than they were here in Australia. Indeed, this was their final successful album over there due to how ubiquitous it was with the times.
This was a fantastic year for XTC in NZ given how they have two appearances on this list, this was their debut album which was a minor success upon its initial release the previous year but saw a massive spike in popularity when their second album became an instant success over there six months after its initial release.
I guess the kiwis allowed compilation albums to chart on their album charts back in the day, although I’m guessing these albums were given their own charts going into the 80’s as there weren’t any on there like there were in Australia. As the name implies, this was a collection of the biggest disco hits of the day that was originally released in the UK before finding its way over there.
I told you the popularity of these guys skyrocketed going into the 80’s, here we have the album that Earth wind and fire released after the success of their greatest hits package from earlier on the list. This managed to spawn two hit singles in NZ as opposed to just the one here in Australia, and likely kept the bands popularity going around the launch of MTV which certainly wasn’t the case down under.
This wasn’t quite as successful for Abba in NZ as it was here in Australia, I’m guessing because the lead single did eat up a bunch of its success over there as opposed to it being less successful here to allow the album to flourish. In any case, it was their final big hit over there as they band struggled for mainstream relevancy going into the 80’s which certainly wasn’t the case down under.
They may have had less success in NZ overall than they did here in Australia, but at least the Police were able to have immediate success over there rather than having to wait until the new decade for this to take off after the success of their sophomore album. To be honest, I’m not even sure why this album initially failed here given how it not only had massive international success but fitted in perfectly with our music scene.
If you’re wondering how this album from a Greek conductor managed to become a success over in NZ just as the decade was coming to an end, that’s due to it also serving as the soundtrack to the BBC series of the same name which proved to be quite popular throughout the world upon its initial release.
Given the success of their concert at Budokan over in NZ (which we’ll be getting to in a bit) Cheap trick had little issue with finding success with this album over there like they did at first over here. It’s a bit of a shame that they would be a one album wonder over there given how much success they had over here, particularly with their sell-out album Lap of luxury almost a decade later.
Unlike in Australia where Neil Diamond managed to score one more successful album with his contributions to the Jazz singer remake, this was the final successful album that he had over in NZ mainly due to the success of its title track he had with Barbra Streisand upon its initial release.
Well at least Bob Dylan still managed to have success in NZ during the 70’s, nothing he released this decade came close to what he achieved in 1985 over there, but it would be wrong for me to say that he was a no name prior to that album.
Just like here in Australia, this was only a success in NZ following the success that Ian Dury and company had with the lead single from their next album “Hit me with your rhythm stick.” Again how this wasn’t a success upon its initial release is beyond me, but I guess its appeal was better late than never.
From what I can gather, Diana Ross didn’t have much success in NZ prior to this greatest hits package even during her time with the Supremes. This makes this album one of the rare examples of a greatest hits release boosting an artist’s popularity as opposed to harming it as she would of course go on to massive success in the 80’s over there.
Here’s that live album from Cheap trick I mentioned earlier on this list, indeed it had a bit of a slow start to its success over there given how it became a surprise hit in their native America around the time Bob Dylan released his live album capturing his greatest moments of his performance at Budokan this year. It finally peaked in popularity when their earlier entry on this list became an instant success in NZ.
This is the only other album that Kamahl had success within NZ following his self-titled breakthrough from the previous year, I have no idea why this was so big over there given how he was originally from Australia.
This was the second volume of the Don’t walk boogie series to make it big in NZ, who’d thought a disco compilation series would be among the more popular sets of albums over there throughout the decade?
This is the only other success that the Village people had with their albums in NZ, I guess the reason for why the soundtrack to their feature film underperformed over there is more due to the kiwis not being as big of fans of the LGBT group as we Aussies were back in the day.
It had been fourteen years since the death of Nat King Cole by this point, that seemed like a good enough incentive for the kiwis to make this greatest hits package a success given how I’m sure he was one of the biggest names over there in the 40’s and 50’s (I can’t say for sure due to a lack of info on what was popular prior to 1966.)
You’d think that David Bowie would’ve had more success in NZ than he did here in Australia throughout the 70’s given how the kiwis didn’t have a Countdown equivalent to push his music aside, that’s only partly true as while he generally charted higher with his albums, they all didn’t chart as long which balanced out their success in both countries.
While Jon English did find success earlier int he decade with “Turn the page” in NZ, I wasn’t expecting to see him on this side of my site with the soundtrack to a miniseries he starred in. I’m guessing this was more due to the show being a huge success over there as the show would be released throughout Europe to varying degrees of success.
