This was where MTV truly kicked off, meaning that the new wave acts of the moment really let their creative juices run wild both musically and especially visually, resulting in some rather wacky music and videos. These were balanced out with the genres sophisticated cousin new romance which is a precursor to sophistopop as has the visual aesthetics of new wave but lacks the bombast of the genre which gave variety to what the music scene had to offer.
This album only came out this year in NZ due to it needing to be a success here in Australia before Men at Work’s label could market it to an international audience, indeed the album was a huge success over there despite the failure of their debut single which was made up for when the third single was a bigger hit there than it was here.
I guess this wasn’t the second biggest hit that Dire Straits achieved in NZ throughout the 80’s, although it was still a massive success over there even if their earlier entry proved to be a bigger success for them.
I said on the Australian side of this site that these guys had more success in NZ than they did here with their second album, this absolutely was the case and no doubt led to the second single here catching on in the UK given how the singles didn’t suffer too much for allowing the album to be a massive success over there.
This was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, likely because Roxy music was always more popular in NZ and that they didn’t need the news of Bryan Ferry disbanding the band for good to embark on a solo career to fuel its success like we Aussies did.
Much like Australia, this proved to be an even bigger success in NZ for Split enz than their previous album, I’m guessing because the name of the album remained consistent worldwide and wasn’t a reference to a countries indigenous population given how their music has remained a political over the years.
This proved to be an even bigger hit over in NZ than it was here in Australia for Dexy’s midnight runners, although they didn’t have any further success with their other singles or albums over there meaning they weren’t any better off there than they were here or in America.
Much like in Australia, this was the Alan Parson’s project’s biggest success in NZ due to it spawning a hit single for them, although the title track was indeed a huge success for them over there which gives you an idea as to how much more commercially viable this album was compared to their work from the 70’s.
I guess not having Bernie Taupin as a full-time collaborator didn’t seem to harm this albums success in NZ, heck in Australia this was only a hit due to Elton performing the lead single on Countdown which allowed that to be a hit for him here back in the day. That said, the two would officially reunite the following year for arguably their biggest album in NZ and have a more permanent reunion.
Given the success of the album’s second single in NZ, it was fitting that the debut album from Kid Creole would be a massive success over there even if it wasn’t as big as it was in the UK where all three of the singles were massive hits on the British charts.
These guys were more successful in NZ than they were here in Australia, I’m guessing because the kiwis were more enamoured by their flashy music videos which would explain why their debut single wasn’t a hit over there as that didn’t have a flashy music video to go with it. Here we have their second album which many agree is where their creativity peaked when it came to their visuals.
It looks like the kiwis were much more appreciative of the TV adaptation of the cult classic Fame than we Aussies were, although I feel this was more a success due to them ignoring the film at the start of the decade given how both it and its soundtrack was a huge flop over there compared to the rest of the world.
For whatever reason, these guys were completely inescapable in NZ throughout the decade given how all of their albums as well as several of their singles managed to achieve far greater success over there than they did over here throughout the decade. I guess the kiwis were bigger fans of their brand of lovestruck ballads over us Aussies despite them having better marketing over here back in the day.
This was Cold Chisel’s only successful album in NZ mainly through the strength of its lead single which incidentally was the second single here in Australia, hence why it was a much bigger hit over there compared to here in their homeland. Lead singer Jimmy Barnes would go on to have massive success over there once the band called it quits two years later, making this a launching pad for his own success.
This was an amazing time for ABC in NZ given how their success was twice that it was here in Australia and even their native UK over there, I’m guessing it was due to how infectious the two lead singles were which only enhanced the popularity of the album. They would score minor success over there as the decade went on, nothing substantial but certainly better than what they achieved here which was nothing.
This was one of two successful albums that the Psychedelic furs managed to achieve in NZ throughout the decade, although I’m guessing this was a success due to the lead single becoming a surprise hit over there despite it being a massive flop even in their native UK at the time. This is one of those bands that have since gained a cult audience since their initial popularity.
Well, it wasn’t quite the enz of an era for Split enz in NZ as they would continue to have moderate success until the bitter end over there, however it was a clever name for a greatest hits album which I’m sure was a factor into why the album was such a huge success over there.
I guess the hype for this concert in Central Park from Simon and Garfunkel wasn’t met upon its initial release in NZ, although the kiwis likely realised how great it was eventually when it skyrocketed up the charts likely due to rumours that their reunion would be more permanent. Those rumours proved to be false due to the pair remembering why they couldn’t stand each other.
This is another album that appears low on this list but only because it found its success in NZ on the lower half of the charts, in fact it lasted so much longer on their charts than it did on our charts despite it peaking higher over here as well as spawning a huge hit for Joe Jackson on our charts in the form of the lead single.
It appears the kiwis were also hungry for more material from the Eagles this far into the 80’s given how this second edition of their greatest hits package was also a huge success over there like it was over here. Unfortunately, fans would have to wait a quarter of a century before the band finally gave them new material after the release of this album.
Even though this didn’t last as long on the NZ charts as it did here in Australia, this debut album from Culture Club managed to be more of an immediate success over there likely due to the success of its lead single which perhaps explains why this didn’t stick around when they released their second album from earlier on this list.
This was the greatest hits package from Stevie Wonder that he released following the success of his (then) most recent album Hotter than July, it was a massive hit in NZ likely due to that album as well as his collaboration with Paul McCartney on “Ebony and ivory” (which curiously doesn’t appear on this album.)
This was a mere modest success in NZ for the Clash upon its initial release, heck if I based its success only upon its initial release over there, it would still be more successful than it was over here as this was a massive flop for them down under. Naturally this rebounded over there when “Rock the casbah” became a success due to how popular it was over here and in America.
This was the soundtrack to a now long forgotten film about humanoid cat people, basically it’s a theatrical adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats but presented as a horror film rather than a joyous musical. I’m guessing the soundtrack was a hit in NZ due to the title track from David Bowie being a massive success over there as well as the score from Giorgio Moroder also being neat.
Given how she had two greatest hits albums in NZ like she did in Australia, this was also released as the third volume over there as opposed to just the second volume throughout the rest of the world.
This was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, although it did seem to come at the expense of the singles popularity as they weren’t as big over there as they were here down under. That said, this was enough of a success to allow the band to have their biggest hit over there upon its initial release later in the decade rather than it only being a hit from the Crocodile Dundee films like it was throughout Europe.
Even though it charted higher for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts in NZ, this breakthrough album for the band was only equally as successful in both countries as each other as opposed to it being bigger over there than it was over here. They would return later in the decade with “I hate myself for loving you” in NZ and their native America whilst remaining a one album wonder down under.
While these guys didn’t see as much success in NZ as they did here in Australia with the lead single to this album, the kiwis made up for that by having the album be a massive success over there despite it being a huge flop over here for the band. This didn’t do them any favours with their subsequent follow ups as they failed to adapt with the trends of new wave with those releases.
Given how this spawned one of the biggest hits of the decade in NZ, it makes sense that this album from Toots and the Maytals would be a decent success over there even though it appears it was only a success with the kiwis specifically due to the big hit it was associated with.
I guess the kiwis weren’t as sentimental over the two-year anniversary of John Lennon’s death as we Aussies were given how quickly this exited their charts following its release, at least they were somewhat sentimental about it as it does make a reappearance on this list which is more than I can say about his final album Milk and honey from the following year.
This was the first of only two albums from D.D Smash to come out this decade, a band that’s best known for having its lead singer be one of the most popular NZ artists of all time given how he would go on to have one of the biggest hits of the decade with “Slice of heaven.”
This was more of a success over in NZ than it was here in Australia for the Rolling stones, I’m guessing the kiwis were able to use this as a supplement to them being unable to attend the band’s tour from the previous year as it manages to capture the best moment from the tour.
Suzanne Prentice is best known nowadays as a politician, however back in the day she was a country singer who scored a massive hit with this album of hers due to the title track becoming a minor hit upon its initial release. She did have middling success over the years with her material, but this was the peak of her popularity.
Unlike in the rest of the world where the popularity of this album peaked the following year when it won album of the year at the Grammys, in NZ it was a hit upon its initial release likely due to the second single being an instant success over there this year which meant the kiwis knew this was an album worth checking out instantly.
Whereas this album was able to spawn a hit for Supertramp here in Australia, that didn’t seem to be the case in NZ likely due to the kiwis feeling like their time in this spotlight was up despite how strong they began the 80’s over there. I guess the MTV effect took hold much sooner over there than it did over here as it is a surprise in retrospect this managed to compete with the likes of Culture club and Duran Duran down under.
This was the first of only two albums that Haircut 100 released in their short time together, it did produce a hit here in Australia with the second single, however that was the full extent of its popularity down under as the rest of the singles and album flopped here. It fared much better in NZ despite the singles all flopping over there, however its biggest success was in the band’s native UK.
I’m not even sure why this managed to become a success for Joe Cocker in NZ when it did as this was released a full year prior to when he won an academy award for best original song at the Oscars which is why the Australian exclusive version of this album from the following year was a massive success for him down under.
This was much less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia as was everything that Cliff Richard released at the time of MTV’s launch, although at least the kiwis had enough nostalgia for his love ballads in his back catalogue to make this a success over there as opposed to his (then) most recent album Wired for sound.
This was the true final album from Led Zeppelin, although given how the band had been broken up for two years at this point, I feel this shouldn’t exist given how their label released it to fulfil their contract similar to what John Lennon’s label did with his album Milk and honey the following year. It appears the rest of the world had this sentiment back in the day as this was only barely a hit back in the day.
I’m a bit surprised this flopped here in Australia given how inescapable the lead single was throughout the world; however, it was a decent success in NZ likely because of the huge hit it spawned as well as a lack of competition the duo had in the music scene over there. That said, it did far better in their homeland given how it spawned more hits for them on the UK charts.
While this wasn’t anywhere near as popular in NZ like it was here in Australia, it appears the kiwis did have enough love for this album for it to at least chart higher over there than it did over here largely through the strength of its second single.
What’s interesting about this album is that Richard Clayderman would go on to have another live album that was a success here in Australia much later in the decade, although that was due to different circumstances as we Aussies didn’t really care much for the French pianist at this point in time.
In a bit of a cruel twist of fate, this breakthrough album from Prince Tui Teka proved to be his final album as he would tragically pass away from a heart attack three years after its release. Naturally it was a success thanks to the surprise hit of its lead single which was one of the biggest hits of the decade in his homeland.
This was all set to flop in NZ just like everything Hall and Oates had released over there prior to it, however it became a modest success due to the second single taking off over there for some reason. This is particularly interesting as the album bombed here in Australia despite how well the duo were doing prior to its release here.
There was no stopping Richard Clayderman in NZ this year as we have yet another appearance from him on this list, although his luck was starting to run out by the end of the year given how he will have fewer appearances on my site going forward.
From what I can gather, this was a mashup album from NZ composer Bob James that he released to cash in off the success of RPO from earlier on this list which admittedly was a decent success for him this year as a result.
This was all set to be a minor sleeper hit in NZ like it was here in Australia for the Motels, however it received a boost in popularity when the second single became a minor success over there likely due to it becoming the band’s first big hit in their native America shortly after its release over there. As a result, it managed to have more of a mainstream success with the kiwis than it did with us Aussies.
