If I were merely going off what was popular solely here in Australia, this would be much higher as this was an excellent year for queer music given how hi n r g dominated our airwaves this year. Alas, I have to factor in what was happening internationally this year, which drags it down as the rest of the world was more interested in oldies tracks due to them being used in commercials throughout the world. Basically, if it wasn’t used in a commercial at the time, the rest of the world wasn’t interested in it.
It was already a huge success for U2 here in Australia, however its success down under was pitiful compared to how well it did in NZ thanks to the singles being massive hits over there from the album. I’m not sure why this album underperformed here in Australia comparatively, I guess we were a little slow in realising the genius of the songs from the record.
It appears the kiwis were quicker to make this soundtrack from the most lucrative theatre show of all time a huge success than us Aussies, I’m guessing because they would see the show before us Aussies who had to wait for the 90’s to experience the magic of this adaptation of the crime noir from the 1800’s.
This proved to live up to the standards of Thriller as far as the kiwis were concerned as it was only slightly less successful over there than it was on Billboard, as such his next album didn’t feel like a comeback over there despite it still being bigger than this was throughout the 90’s.
Much like the rest of the world, this was INXS’s biggest album in NZ due to how big the singles were at the time, although like in Australia, it didn’t reach its peak until the success of the fourth single which is often considered to be their signature track even to this day.
While this was far from the most successful album of the decade in NZ, it was still a massive hit for John Farnham which also makes this a comeback for him as “Sadie the cleaning lady” was a success for him twenty years prior over there and throughout the rest of the world. Indeed, this albums success would crossover throughout Europe when the lead single got him out of the one hit wonder bin in the UK.
While this album did still take its sweet time in finding an audience over in NZ, at least it wasn’t as long as two years after its initial release as the kiwis finally gave this a chance when it became a huge success over in America for the British band. Indeed, it managed to spawn multiple hit singles over there that were only minor hits at best here.
I’m not sure what was so special about this movie that the soundtrack managed to become a success three years after its initial release in the southern hemisphere, what I do know is that it was even more of a success in NZ due to it lasting well over a year in the charts with its rerelease.
This had a bit more of a delay to its success in NZ given how John Mellencamp had yet to have that big crossover success over there like he did here in Australia a decade prior, however once the album started spawning hits for him, he found little issues with scoring a massive hit with the album over there.
This is another Australian album to find more success in NZ this decade, although I guess the theme for aboriginal rights could be appreciated by the kiwis considering they don’t have the best track record for how they’ve treated their indigenous community and that this album would help people realise that.
Well, there shouldn’t be any surprise that this album managed to be a huge success in NZ, although it’s worth noting that the kiwis didn’t even both looking into the lead single until the second single became a worldwide hit for them. This allowed the album to spawn three top ten hits over there as opposed to just the one here.
The success of this album for this RNB singer in NZ was the exact inverse of what it was here in Australia, from the order of how big the singles were to it being an immediate success over there as opposed to it needing the success of its fourth single to crossover here. Naturally this was all due to RNB being much more accepted in NZ back in the day compared to how it was here in Australia.
While this wasn’t as inescapable in NZ as it was here in Australia, this was nonetheless a huge success for Fleetwood Mac due to them making a surprisingly good album considering all of the behind-the-scenes drama that went into its creation. Lindsey Buckingham infamously quit the band while promoting this album on tour which no doubt helped its popularity grow worldwide.
This was a bit less of a success for Simply red in NZ, again because it lacked that giant hit over there like it did everywhere else in the world despite the lead single being a modest success over there this year. They would bounce back with their third album by the end of the decade which contained their biggest hit over there.
There were no signs of Pink Floyd slowing down anywhere in the world even with the departure of Roger Waters from their previous album earlier in the decade, indeed this album managed to spawn a few minor hits for them worldwide proving the band were likely better off without him after all.
While this wasn’t as successful as either of the albums this was sandwiched between in Jimmy Barne’s career either in Australia or NZ, the album made up for that by spawning his biggest hit in both countries in the form of the lead single which no doubt ate up some of the album’s sales in both countries back in the day. Besides this was still heaps bigger than most of the competition back in the day regardless.
George Michael already had plenty of success in NZ during his time with Wham as he did everywhere else in the world, so really his Grammy award winning album being a success over there should come as no surprise to anyone given how all of the singles managed to become a top ten hit on their charts.
This was less of a comeback for Icehouse in NZ given how A: this wasn’t as inescapable over there as it was here and B: their previous two albums were still massive hits for them over there. Even so, it’s success in the southern hemisphere did allow it to finally crossover to America where they scored a huge Billboard hit with the second single.
While this wasn’t as inescapable in NZ as her solo debut was from a few years prior, it was still a massive success for Alison Moyet thanks to the kiwis still being in love with her voice which allowed the album to spawn two more hits for her over there. Unfortunately, this cycle wouldn’t repeat for a third time as her third album was a massive flop over there.
These guys were among the biggest names in music throughout the 80’s in NZ, as such this greatest hits package managed to be a huge success over there for basically the last stretch of the 80’s.
I guess Whitney going urban in the 90’s might have something to do with her failing to score much success with her singles this decade internationally, oh sure she had a string of Billboard chart toppers with her first two albums but her second album only spawned one hit for her outside of her native America. Admittedly the album was still a massive success so it’s not like she was failing here or anything.
From what I can gather, this is a remix album that was released exclusively in NZ due to it failing to become a hit here in Australia even though the title track was the band’s biggest hit here as well as the rest of the world. Perhaps this is why they failed to score any further success if even we Aussies weren’t interested in making this a success back in the day.
It appears the kiwis were a bit ahead of the curb when it came to the female singer/songwriter phenomenon as Suzanne Vega managed to score even more success in NZ than she did here in Australia back in the day. That said, aside from a remix of a song from this album in the 90’s, she didn’t have much success anywhere in the world after this album.
You know that heartland rock was a massive deal in NZ when this guy managed to score a massive hit over there, Robbie Robertson was the lead singer of the Canadian band err…. the Band who saw a ton of success throughout the 70’s before they broke up in 1977. They had since reformed in 1983, however Robbie didn’t re-join them and instead waited a few years before he released this album.
This wasn’t quite as successful in NZ for the Pet shop boys as it was here in Australia, mainly because the album cycle was delayed over there to allow the duo’s cover of “Always on my mind” to become a success before it resumed this year with the final single. This meant that the album actually dropped out of the charts for a little bit which affected its placement on this list.
I guess the kiwis still had enough love for Barbra Streisand to make this live album of hers a success this year, it was certainly more successful over there than it was here in Australia despite how well loved she was down under throughout the 70’s.
This was one of the bigger British bands of the mid to late 80’s in their native UK, so naturally this album from Level 42 would be a massive success in NZ where sophistopop was more commercially mainstream than it was here in Australia. They even managed to score a hit with the title track which no doubt helped boost the albums popularity over there.
Well given how there was a much higher ratio of black to white musicians in NZ, I think it’s safe to say that Robert Cray’s popularity over there doesn’t feel as out of place as it does here in Australia. This wasn’t even his only successful album there as he would return a year later with his band for another successful release.
This was a very successful decade for Pat Benatar in NZ, so much so that the inclusion of this greatest hits package from her on this list shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. In fact, I still can’t believe how much more successful she was in NZ than she was here in Australia, mainly because I would’ve thought she’d be inescapable down under back in the day.
It looks like the kiwis were more forgiving of Annie’s image makeover on this album than we Aussies were given that it was a genuine success over there despite being a minor success over here back in the day, this would be their final success over there as their last album was a complete flop over there despite being a decent success over here as the decade was ending.
Given how they saw massive success with Dave Dobbyn around this time, it makes sense that Herbs were able to achieve a huge hit with their fourth album this year even if it was more of a sleeper hit for the reggae band. You’d think this would’ve rebounded the following year when the deluxe edition came out and spawned a second hit from the album, alas you’d be wrong.
Much like here in Australia, there was every chance that these two would dominate the charts for many years had Mel lived to see the 90’s past its first few months. The songs were even bigger over there likely due to the girls blending of RNB and dance pop better connecting with the kiwis than us Aussies (only slightly though) making it one of the bigger albums to come from Stock Aiken and Waterman.
There were a lot of successful women of colour to make it big around this time in NZ, one of the more popular entries was this debut album from British singer Ruby Turner who scored a string of hits over there with the singles that weren’t even popular in her native UK at the time. She did have further success over there with her second album the following year.
Given the surprise success of his previous album in NZ from the previous year, I guess it’s somewhat fitting that Chris Rea was able to score a massive success over there this year with the album that finally got him out of the one hit wonder bin here in Australia. This was the last time he troubled the charts in either country as his next album would fail to become a success anywhere in the world.
This was the first of several albums from the Piano by candlelight series from NZ pianist Carl Doy, I guess he was meant to be NZ’s answer to Richard Clayderman who coincidentally was deemed yesterday’s news when his NZ counterpart started finding success this year.
This wasn’t as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, I’m guessing because the kiwis didn’t care much for the back catalogue of Ritchie Valens which would also explain why the title track wasn’t as big a hit over there as it was over here.
This was an impeccable year for Aussies over in NZ given how we have the first appearance of the Angels on this side of my site, indeed they saw a lot of success with this album likely due to its big hit over here being released as its lead single over there which resulted in its success for the band. Their popularity would remain over there for as long as it did back home.
This was a modest success for Prince over in NZ, I’m guessing it was mostly for it rebounding whenever one of the singles were released given how it lingered for quite a while in the lower half of the charts over there during its lifetime. Admittedly it’s probably his less commercially viable album given how many different directions the album takes during its runtime.
This proved to be more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, this is odd as of the three ladies on here that had found prior success to this album, both Dolly and Linda were far more popular down under than they were over there both with their singles and albums. This was certainly the case after the fact as Linda’s next album was bigger here and of course, Dolly and Emmylou’s subsequent material bombed worldwide.
Whereas this was only a decent hit for Madonna here in Australia, it appears the kiwis were far more impressed with this remix album from her given how it makes it onto this site proper as opposed to being an honourable mention. She would sit out 1988 due to her failing marriage with Sean Penn, however she would be back by the end of the decade stronger than ever.
Even though the film was panned by critics and was a box office flop, I’m a bit surprised that this soundtrack to Who’s that girl was a flop here in Australia given how it spawned not one but two of Madonna’s bigger hits of the decade worldwide. Admittedly we Aussies didn’t seem to be that impressed with the two hits it spawned, so perhaps we only made them hits out of obligation.
This was more of a mainstream success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I’m guessing the kiwis were more open to Jennifer Warnes covering songs from Leonard Cohen than we Aussies were as I feel this only made the year end list here in Australia due to a lack of competition it had rather than we Aussies being on board with this project.
They may have failed to score a genuine hit in NZ like they did throughout the rest of the world, however that didn’t prevent this breakthrough album from Europe from becoming a massive success for the band over there as it managed to chart higher there than it did over here for some reason. Again, this is the full extent of the band’s popularity regardless of where in the world you’re from.
