If it weren’t for the last quarter of the year being where the trend of older songs being featured in commercials took off internationally, this year would be even higher on this list as we had great offerings from the many pop divas of the moment as well as the introduction to sophistopop which sadly took a back seat by the end of the year in favour of those classics turned commercial jingles. We also saw fewer new waves in favour of hi n r g tracks, which is basically 80s disco given the similarities the two genres have.
I’m sure this was as big of a surprise for the kiwis as it was everywhere else in the world that Paul Simon managed to achieve massive success with this Grammy award winning album, sure the lead single wasn’t as big over there but who cares when he had such a massive hit with the album?
I guess the success of Genesis really did help out everyone involved with the group during this point in time as Peter Gabriel was able to score massive success in NZ with this album due to how similar he sounded on here to Phil’s solo work from around this time. Much like in Australia, this rebounded on the charts due to the success of the third single worldwide.
Given how Genesis already scored massive success with their previous album from earlier in the decade in NZ, it only makes sense that this magnum opus from the trio would be an even bigger success over there compared to its success here. Again, this came at the expense of the singles not being as big there as they were here.
We have another album that was much bigger in NZ than it was in Australia, although in this case it did come at the expense of the singles as they weren’t the runaway success over there like they were here for Eurythmics. Their next album did fairly well over there despite it being a huge flop over here.
Much like in the rest of the world, Madonna was on a roll when she released her third album in NZ due to it spawning multiple hits for her throughout the world. An interesting thing to note is that with the exception of her big chart topper in Australia, all of the songs on here had a higher peak in NZ than they did down under.
He may have already achieved massive success in NZ with his band Cold chisel, however it appears the kiwis weren’t initially convinced with Jimmy’s solo venture as Bodyswerve was a massive flop for him from the previous year over there. Fortunately, the remix album of his debut was a massive hit there due to the title track being selected as the theme for the Michael Keaton film Gung ho.
I should point out that Billy Idol’s success in NZ was the exact inverse of what it was here in Australia, that is his albums progressively got less successful over there as opposed to becoming more successful over here for him. That said, he still found massive success with his third album which goes to show that even him dialling back his sound he still found success with the kiwis here.
Even though this was released around the same time in NZ as it was in Australia, this debut album from Crowded house didn’t have a single of any kind over there until the third single became a huge success here in Australia. That song was chosen as the lead single internationally which allowed it to become a much bigger hit worldwide than it was locally.
This was the last project that Talking heads were able to find success with even in NZ, I guess the world had become fed up with their brand of new wave mixed with their eccentricities which led to their next album being a massive flop for them later in the decade. It could also be that the film this serves as a soundtrack to wasn’t well received at the time despite since gaining a cult following.
You’d think these guys would’ve had one of the biggest albums of the decade here in Australia, oh well at least their debut album was a massive success in NZ likely due to the kiwis getting their album cycle right as opposed to us Aussies who wanted to mix things up over here for some reason. They would continue their winning streak over there with their next album and its singles.
This was the final album that Wham released together, although technically it isn’t an album unless you’re from America where all of the duo’s previous singles were taken out of the album and it was marketed as their third album. It was much more popular in NZ likely due to the singles being more popular over there this year than they were here.
This was a bit of a surprise hit for Chris Rea in NZ, mainly because he hadn’t had any success over there prior to this album and that it wasn’t much of a hit for him here in Australia where he did achieve minor success in the late 70’s by appearing on Countdown. This led to him having a hit single in both countries on his next album which was also a massive success in the southern hemisphere.
This turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for the kiwis as not only were the singles not as popular over there, but the album itself didn’t bring in the numbers like his previous two albums did. That said it was still a huge success for Lionel Richie, which I’m sure led to his fans frustrations over there as it took him ten years to follow it up with his fourth album.
Not only did these guys have huge success with their debut album in NZ at the cost of their signature track being a massive hit, it appears that A-ha also managed to have their second album be a huge hit over there as well as it even managed to spawn a couple of minors hits for them that weren’t as such over here. Sadly, this was the full extent of their popularity outside of Europe as their next albums would flop in NZ.
While this wasn’t an immediate success for Cyndi Lauper in NZ like it was here in Australia, it was popular long enough over there for it to qualify for my site for one last time proving that there was still plenty of love for her that the kiwis had around this time. That love wouldn’t carry her any further as her third album would be a huge failure by the end of the decade due to her becoming more mature in her music.
Although they had moderate success earlier in the decade in NZ with Sports, this was the big breakthrough album that Huey Lewis and the News had over there just like it was for them everywhere else outside of their native America. I’m not sure why their popularity all but faded as the decade was coming to an end but their next album was a massive flop for the band even on the Billboard charts.
Much like the rest of the world, this was initially a flop for the Bangles in NZ from the previous year as people quickly discovered the lead single was written by Prince and thus was likely donated to them by him in order to boost their career and little else. Much like the rest of the world, they realised the band was worth making a household name when the third single became an inescapable hit worldwide.
Like their previous two albums, this was more of a success in NZ for Icehouse, suggesting the kiwis were on board with the band experimenting with their sound more so than we Aussies were. The best proof I have for this is that their next album wasn’t as big over there as it was here.
It seems weird that this would be named after the biggest hit the Police had worldwide and yet Sting would only rerecord one of the songs for the album that wasn’t their big Billboard chart topper for them. In any case, this album was a huge hit for the band after they broke up in NZ due to the popularity Sting was enjoying with his solo material around this time.
It’s no surprise that this was a bigger success over in NZ than it was here in Australia given how much more popular Grace Jones was over there than she was over here throughout the decade, although I get the feeling a large reason for why this album was a success with the kiwis was why it was a modest success here in Australia, that of course being the album art.
Icehouse proved to be more popular in NZ throughout the 80’s than they were in their homeland, likely because the kiwis were willing to reward the band with their experimentation this decade much more than we Aussies were as evidence by how much more popular this was over there than it was down under.
This was the only successful album to come from the Waterboys in their career, although in Australia and NZ, it was an instant success due to the lead single being a modest hit in the southern hemisphere unlike in their native UK where it sat on shelves ignored until the early 90’s where it became a surprise hit due to appearing in an ad.
This was the first taste of success that George Thorogood managed to achieve anywhere in the world, I’m not sure how the kiwis managed to come across this album from the rock and roller, but they did and they were immediately blown away by how great he and his bands were live which prompted it to be a success over there.
Given how successful the Cure were in NZ throughout the 80’s (except for the one big album they had here in Australia funnily enough) it was inevitable that this greatest hits package from the band would be a huge success over there. Heck one of their earliest songs even recharted over there and became a minor hit for the band, which more or less restored their popularity.
Well, this was also the final successful album to come from the Rolling Stones in NZ, at least the lead single managed to make its mark on the mainstream with its bizarre music video (complete with some truly stilted animation from a future icon/creep in the animation world.) I also find it funny that this album’s success came around the same time as the Whoopi Goldberg film Jumping jack flash.
Unlike here in Australia where this was more of a sleeper hit for Tina Turner due the surprise success of the third single, this was more of an immediate success for her in NZ due to the lead single being one of her bigger hits over there. Her third album of the decade was a huge flop over there likely due to the lead single failing to catch on with the kiwis.
This was less of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I’m guessing because the kiwis had only just started handing success to Bryan Ferry as a solo artist and likely didn’t realise he had a solo career in the 70’s like we Aussies did. Even so, this was a good opportunity for them to discover his back catalogue while also reliving their favourite memories they made with his band Roxy music.
Although this album appears fairly low on this list of mine, it was actually a massive (albeit sleeper) hit for Janet Jackson over there likely due to it spiking in popularity whenever she released another song as a single from the album. This also explains why none of the singles were particularly big over there, although you’d think they would be given how singles from other successful albums weren’t affected on their charts.
Given how the big hit from this album wasn’t as big in NZ as it was here in Australia, it’s fitting that this magnum opus from Chris De Burgh saw less success over there than it did over here even if most of its success over here was confided to the lower half of our charts.
Thought that it was weird this was a success here in Australia three years after its initial release? Well, here we are three years after that where it was a surprise success in NZ six years after the film’s release. I have no idea why as nothing about pop culture this year could justify this album’s success this many years after its initial release.
I guess the kiwis weren’t as big a fan of the soundtrack to Top gun than the rest of the world was, I would say it was because they didn’t like the film as much except even I know that’s absurd given that it was one of the biggest films of the decade worldwide. No, the reason why the album underperformed over there was due to the love ballad being from Berlin which was a band who already had success over there two years prior.
This album often gets overlooked in UB40’s catalogue, likely because it doesn’t have one of their covers that made it big and is instead mostly filled with original tracks that the members wrote. Indeed, the lead single was a rare hit they had in NZ that was an original track, much like their debut single from the start of the decade.
I guess the kiwis weren’t as apprehensive towards Queen back in the day like we Aussies were as this album managed to be more of a success over there than it was over here despite the controversy they had for playing at Sun city around this time. This didn’t extend to the singles however as the band wouldn’t have another hit there until the end of the decade like they did over here.
This was mostly a sleeper hit for Falco in NZ this year, likely due to the novelty of the two big hits it spawned for him over there. It did receive a massive spike in popularity for a solitary week (hence its high peak position) likely due to a memorable performance he gave on a music show this year.
I guess the kiwis were also big fans of Kevin Wilson given how huge this album of his was over there, granted it was more of a sleeper hit likely due to comedy albums not being as popular over there as they were over here, however there’s no denying that they appreciated the politically incorrect humour (even for the time) that’s on display here.
This will be the only album from Billy Ocean to reappear on this side of my site given how none of his other albums managed to be a success in NZ like they were here in Australia, I’m guessing this was due to RNB being rather popular this year with the kiwis as it would begin to dwindle in popularity as the decade went on for some reason.
This looked like it was going to flop over in NZ this year, however thanks to the success of Kate’s duet with Peter Gabriel from the latter’s (then) most recent album, this was able to skyrocket up the charts over there which helped the kiwis discover what they were missing out on from Kate Bush since she first broke through nearly a decade prior.
While he never saw the dizzying heights of success he achieved with his previous solo album (let alone what he achieved with Split Enz) Tim Finn was nonetheless able to achieve moderate success with his second solo album even if it failed to spawn a hit for him over there. His next album would be a complete dud for him, although it at least spawned a genuine hit with “How’m I gonna sleep.”
This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, although this was at the expense of the singles bombing over there given how only the lead single was barely a success whilst the album failed to spawn a second hit like it did internationally. This would also be the last the kiwis would hear from these guys as their 1994 comeback wouldn’t happen over there like it did internationally.
These guys didn’t have much success here in Australia back in the day, in fact the only reason why we Aussies know about them at all we because No Doubt covered their signature track “It’s my life” nearly two decades after it was initially released. The kiwis were a bit more familiar with them back in the day as this critically acclaimed album was a moderate success over there this year.
I haven’t seen Footrot flats (although from what I can gather, it looks terrible from the animation displayed in the music videos of its singles) so I can’t say how much of this soundtrack’s success was due to how good the film was and how much of it came from it being Dave Dobbyn’s first project away from his old band DD Smash.
This was the last successful album that Pat Benatar had in NZ, likely due to hit being led off with her theme to a now long forgotten film being one of the more prominent songs in her catalogue despite it underperforming over there like it did here in Australia. She would have one more successful album down under with her next album which contained one of her biggest hits here.
This was more of an immediate success for Suzanne Vega in NZ than it was over here in Australia where it was purely a sleeper hit (that made the cut due to its refusal to drop off our charts and me wanting to recognise that aspect of its success here.) Her next album would of course be even bigger over there than it was over here, even spawning a genuine hit for her in the form of its lead single.
Spandau ballet had a good run in NZ throughout the first half of the 80’s, it makes sense that this greatest hits package from the band would be a hit over there even if its success pales in comparison to what it achieved here in Australia.
Although they failed to make a second appearance with their album Famous last words on this side of my site, this greatest hits package from Supertramp was a big deal for them over there back in the day which allowed it to make another appearance on this site.
To my knowledge, this is the only successful album that Patsy Riggir had in her homeland. This is odd as this isn’t the album that had her big hit “Lay down beside me” from earlier in the decade, suggesting that there was some appeal to her brand of country when she released this.
It appears the kiwis were a little ahead of the curve when it came to making this a success compared to the rest of the world as it became more of a mainstream success over there compared to her and in the band’s native UK. Then again, sophistopop was more popular overall over there than it was over here, suggesting they preferred this over the bombast that populated our charts.
This is the only album to come from Peking man, a band that’s best known nowadays as the launching pad for its frontwoman Margaret Urlich who would go on to have massive success throughout the 90’s here in Australia and in her homeland. Indeed, this was a huge success thanks to its second single being a massive hit for the band over there.
Given how Dire straits were inescapable around this world this year, it makes sense that the previous album to their top entry on this list would not only see a rerelease but would also be a success once more over in NZ this year.
This is the last successful album that Grace Jones has in her catalogue, even then it was only a success in NZ due to her being on a roll over there following the success of her earlier entry on this list. Even her acting career petered off after this year despite the praise she received for her role in A view to a kill.
