I’m tempted to leave my explanation of why this is my favourite year in music with two words, live aid. I’ll elaborate as naturally a concert that brought together the biggest names in music wasn’t the only thing this year had to offer. First off, there was the combination of older artists recharging themselves to make music that would stack up with the younger artists of the day rather than making boring crooner music like their predecessors did a decade prior, then there’s the countless sub genres which were given a platform thanks to the charity concert which further spiced up the variety this year had to offer. This year had more top ten hits than another other here in Australia, many of which widely differed from each other which made going through each week a joy for me as it was hard to predict what would go to number one looking at each chart the year had to offer. For all these reasons and many more, this will forever be my favourite year in music.
Given how John Farnham wasn’t the most successful artist of the 80’s in NZ, this allowed Dire Straits to have the most successful album of the decade over there with their biggest album. It also managed to be more successful with the singles due to having the correct release schedule over there.
Much like in Australia, this album took its sweet time in becoming a best seller in NZ due to the lead single being released without a music video, I’m sure this albums success would’ve been more immediate if either A: “How will I know” had been released with a music video or B: this wasn’t the height of the MTV era where a single without a video was a death sentence to its success.
While the previous entry remains Talking head’s biggest success in NZ, this was a close second due to it spawning multiple hits over there that have remained on oldies stations worldwide to this day. Interestingly the big hit here in Australia was their weakest hit over there for some reason.
Given how Genesis were able to achieve massive success in NZ even prior to their magnum opus Invisible touch this decade, I guess it makes sense that this Grammy award winning album from Phil Collins wasn’t as big over there as it was internationally both as an album and especially with its singles.
Well, the album didn’t have a rebound over in NZ due to the sudden success of its final single like it did here, although that didn’t mean that this solo debut from Sting wasn’t a massive success over there given how it still remains his most popular album to date both solo and with the Police.
I guess the kiwis passed up the singles on the album in favour of it being more of an immediate success over there, this means that while it had a stronger run in the upper echelons of their charts, the albums overall success was about the same there as it was in Australia for Bryan Adams.
Although they never had that one inescapable hit over in NZ, A-ha made up for that by having their debut album be a massive success for them there arguably more so than the rest of the world. I’m a bit surprised this wasn’t a bigger success here considering they did appear on Countdown to perform three of the tracks on the album, although the lead single not being a huge success in NZ is also surprising.
This was a massive hit for Go west in NZ, so much so that it even managed to be more popular over there than the duo’s native UK which was impressive to say the least. Part of that was due to how long it lasted on the charts over there, they must have had a memorable performance on whatever equivalent NZ had of Countdown back in the day in order for this to be so successful over there.
This was slightly more successful over in NZ than it was in Australia, I’m guessing because the kiwis were more in love with the band’s more upbeat direction they took from their second album compared to their first considering how their first album was less of a success over there due to it failing to spawn a hit single for them.
This proved to be even more of a success for ZZ top in NZ than it was here in Australia, likely because they already managed to achieve success with their previous album without it spawning a runaway hit over there like it did internationally for the band. Sadly, they would fade into obscurity after this album over there like they did in most parts of the world.
This album’s success seemed inevitable in NZ given how inescapable the band was during this point of their career, although like in the rest of the world, they weren’t able to retain this momentum during the second half of the decade over there due to their next album being a massive bomb for them.
Unlike in Australia where Billy Joel was able to retain his popularity during the second half of the 80’s after releasing this double album, in NZ his popularity tanked after this due to his next album the Bridge being a huge commercial failure everywhere in the world except for Australia.
This was a massive success in NZ for Mick Jagger, mainly due to the surprise success of “Hard woman” which nearly became a chart topper for him over there nearly a year after the albums initial release. Even with how big this album was, it was still his only successful solo work over there due to his next album with his band being a critical failure for him.
Much like in Australia, it appears that each new album that the Eurythmics released in NZ was more successful than the last as this managed to be a huge success for the duo thanks to it spawning multiple hits from the album worldwide. Their popularity would peak on their next album as it was one of the biggest of the decade at the expense of it spawning a hit single for them over there.
I guess the kiwis were bigger fans of Miami vice than we Aussies were given how the soundtrack was more popular over there than it was over here back in the day, this could be due to the theme song being a genuine hit over there which boosted its sales, but it could also be what a cultural phenomenon the show was back in the day.
Much like their previous two albums, this third and final album that the Thompson twins released as a trio was far more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia likely due to the presence of Alannah Currie which encouraged her fellow kiwis to make the album a success through patriotism. Said patriotism didn’t carry over to their subsequent follow ups when they were reduced to being a duo.
While this also didn’t have that inescapable hit in NZ just like here in Australia, that didn’t prevent this sophomore album from Paul Young from being a massive success over there given how the third single was a Billboard chart topper for him. He would also struggle to find success in NZ during the second half of the decade, however at least his first two albums were more successful in NZ than they were in Australia.
Given how their previous album was a massive hit for the Style council in NZ, it only makes sense that their big crossover album here in Australia would also be a hit for the British band this year even if it once again failed to produce that big hit for them over there. This was the last we Aussies and kiwis heard from not just the band but Paul Weller as he hasn’t had any success through any other project since.
This was a huge comeback success for Bob Dylan in NZ, mainly because it spawned his only hit over there with the lead single which is surprising in of itself considering how none of his other tracks were a hit over there during his career. It remains his biggest album over there despite it being a huge failure everywhere else in the world due to him embracing the trends of the time.
I guess the kiwis also wanted to hear Barbra Streisand return to her roots as a Broadway performer during this phase of her career, as such she scored a huge comeback with this album over there which wasn’t the case for its sequels she’s since released over the years.
This was all set to be a mere modest success for INXS in NZ, certainly a step back from their previous album in terms of commercial success kind of like it was here in Australia but to a much larger scale. It saw a resurgence in popularity when it became a surprise success in America which allowed it to linger on the lower half of the charts for quite some time and thus making it a huge sleeper success over there.
This is a bit surprising to me given how Bryan Ferry had very little success with his solo material in the 70’s in NZ despite two of his four albums being massive hits for him here in Australia, and yet this was a huge hit for him over there despite only being a minor success at best here in Australia for the former Roxy music front man. I guess we Aussies didn’t want to hear him give into the trends of the 80’s on this album.
I would’ve been shocked if this was a flop over in NZ considering A: how big Falco’s tribute to this film was over there the following year and B: that it was the soundtrack to a film that many consider to be one of the best not just of the decade but of all time due to it shedding a light on one of the most underappreciated composers of all time albeit in a way that’s perhaps portrays him in a more sanctimonious way than he was in real life.
This looked like it would only be a modest success in NZ despite it being their biggest success over in America for the Scottish band, however for whatever reason, the lead single became a hit twice within a twelve-month period which resulted in the album being a massive success over there months after its initial release. This would be their final huge success over there as their next album didn’t bring in the numbers.
You’d think that Nik Kershaw’s biggest album in his career would be his debut given how that was what spawned his biggest hit, however that wasn’t the case as this proved to be his more successful due to it spawning two huge hits throughout the world back in the day. It makes sense it was his biggest hit in NZ given how it spawned his only hit single, however it was a minor success here in Australia as well.
Even though the lead single was a huge hit for these guys over in NZ upon its initial release, it appears the kiwis needed some further convincing to allow this debut album from Simply red to be a success over there which came when the third single became a massive success worldwide despite bombing over there. Even then, it was more of a sleeper hit which makes their further success a bit confusing.
This was the only successful album that Foreigner had in NZ, in fact if it weren’t for the fact that the lead single was a huge worldwide chart topper for the band, I doubt this would’ve had any success over there given how the kiwis clearly rejected these guys for the likes of the Cars and Bob Seger during the height of their popularity.
This was a soundtrack album that Clannad made for the TV series Robin of Sherwood, it was a show based on the Robin Hood legend that was a massive success in the UK and NZ if this albums success is anything to go by. This did lead to the band having a massive hit with a greatest hits album at the end of the decade over there.
I’m not sure why this was far less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, heck it managed to spawn a couple of minor hits for the band over there which it failed to do over here, suggesting the kiwis were still on board with these guys following the success of their debut album. This wouldn’t be the last time they troubled the charts as they would return in the 90’s like they did over here.
While they haven’t had any further appearances on this side of my site apart from this greatest hits package and Rage in Eden, Ultravox did see more success over in NZ during the first half of the decade than they did here in Australia which explains why this album was more successful over there than it was here.
Although he never had a charting single in NZ (at least on the RIANZ charts he didn’t) Neil Young did have a few bestselling albums in the 70’s which means it does make sense that this greatest hits package was a success for him over there this year.
This is one of the earliest albums to find success from the sophistopop genre, basically it’s the type of music that is similar to new wave except for bring nowhere near as bombastic or even particularly loud and was often accompanied by bands and artists whose image was more in line with the squares of the day rather than the androgynous crowd. China Crisis definitely fitted the mould which is why they made it big early on.
Although this was a modest success upon its initial release from the start of the decade in NZ, it didn’t become a best seller for Bruce Springsteen until this year over there thanks to his highly successful world tour from the top of this list.
This was a success twice in NZ for Billy Idol, although we’ll only be looking at the first time it was a hit for Billy Idol which was upon its initial release this year. Naturally the second time it charted worldwide was when “Mony mony” became a surprise hit for him two years later.
You’d think that these guys would’ve had more success back in the day given how they made it big in their native UK during the height of the new wave phenomenon, alas this was their only success in NZ which is odd considering how its lead single was more of a hit here in Australia for the former punk band. Still, they at least have some representation on my site even if it’s not with their most iconic work.
