Here it is, the long-awaited NZ equivalent of my greatest hit singles/albums of all time list I made a while back. Just like last time, I’ll be presenting this as a countdown, meaning that each entry will be more successful than the last as we go down this list. The main difference here of course is that unlike here in Australia, there was only one chart in NZ over the years, meaning that there won’t be multiple entries from singles/albums from the late 80’s/90’s/00’s like there was on my Australian list. Also, I won’t be including entries from the RIANZ charts given how they didn’t track album sales and that they were based on popular votes rather than sales, that and there was only ever a top twenty which means there’s a good chance they were struggling to fill out the top twenty each week during its run.
#4100
This was originally a hit for Jim Steinman thirteen years prior in NZ as well as it being a minor hit here in Australia, it was one of the only tracks salvaged from his one and only album for Meat loaf as it was originally written to be on Bat out of hell II all those years ago. It’s hard to say if this was always meant to be a single since its inception in the late 70’s, however it was a big hit for Meat loaf over there this year.
#4099
Well, I guess the kiwis were more neutral to Mondays than the rest of the world was, not so much that this would be a flop for the Bangles but just enough that it would underperform over there compared to here, the UK and their native America. It could also be the kiwis not being that into the girl band as their popularity overall was considerably less so over there than it was internationally.
#4098
Well, this proved to be less successful for Bette Midler in NZ than it was here in Australia, it wasn’t because the kiwis weren’t as emotionally invested in the film Beaches as that soundtrack proved to be equally successful over there as it was over here. I guess they didn’t like that they cried during the scene that this song plays in the film, or more accurately they felt this song doesn’t work outside of that context.
#4097
The hits kept on coming for SWV in NZ as this was a huge success for the trio over there this year, I’m guessing because their popularity was still intact in their native America as this was also a huge success on Billboard this year. The girls would have one more hit the following year with Missy Elliott of all people before their popularity was no more.
#4096
Not only was this song a bigger hit for Tiffany in NZ (albeit only slightly bigger as it was still a huge hit here in Australia) it was also released on time over there given the instant success of her earlier entry on this list. She scored one more hit in both countries with a gender flipped cover of the Beatles “I saw her standing there” before she faded into obscurity, presumably due to upsetting Beatles fans with the cover.
#4095
It looks like this was the least successful hit to come from the Saturday night fever soundtrack, although I guess this was more due to it being sung by someone who wasn’t a member of the Bee gees as Yvonne Elliman did have success in NZ earlier in the decade with “Love me.” Like most parts of the world, she remains a two-hit wonder with these two songs over there.
#4094
AKA Brown were a NZ hip hop duo who scored their one and only hit this year with this rap number likely in an attempt to become the new DLT or Che fu going into the new millennium. Though they made a huge splash with this song of theirs, their time in the spotlight was limited to when this was on the charts.
#4093
This will be the only repeat entry for Bros on this side of my site, well this and their album Push as that also did rather well for the trio over there back in the day. This was released rather late over there due to how long it took for the second single from the album to be a success, although “Drop the boy” was technically bigger over there despite it charting mostly in the lower half of their charts.
#4092
This was the soundtrack to the Disney channel original film Camp rock, a film that was panned by critics for having a formulaic plot and horrible performances from the Jonas brothers and the up-and-coming Demi Lovato. I will say that the 00’s was a terrible decade for Disney as they found themselves making horrible TV shows and movies that have similar issues to what they’re currently making nowadays.
#4091
This was a modest success for the Strawpeople upon its initial release in their homeland, however it achieved its true success when it was discovered by listeners of Triple J which helped boost its popularity in their native NZ for well over a year. Heck the lead single even appeared on the station’s year end list for 1995 which confirmed them as a hot indie act to look out for down under.
#4090
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.
#4089
Well, this album certainly took its sweet time in finding success in NZ, I’m guessing this was due to the album only being a hit here in Australia upon its initial release the previous year and the kiwis only checking this out once it spawned a second hit for her over here early in the new decade. To make up for this tardy release, her next album would be far more popular over there than it was over here.
#4088
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.
#4087
It looks like the kiwis were also fans of the biopic about pirate radio in the 60’s this year that they allowed the soundtrack from the film to be a massive success over there, either that or it was a success due to it being a convenient way of discovering many of the songs and artist that appear on the track listing.
#4086
Give how his solo debut She’s the boss was a massive success in NZ, it’s a bit strange to see that Primitive cool was a massive flop over there for Mick Jagger. It appears his third solo album managed to pick up its slack which is interesting given how it was a complete bomb here in Australia.
#4085
Although it failed to appear on this side of my site, White stripes second album Get behind me Satan made up for its failure in NZ by producing a genuine hit for the duo over there with “My doorbell.” Their third album failed to spawn a charting single for them, although it was at least a decent success for them in exchange.
#4084
Well, this was much less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, hey at least it charted much higher than their breakthrough album even if the singles were much less successful over there than that albums hits. I guess the kiwis weren’t as invested with them adapting with the times as we Aussies were, then again, these guys sadly didn’t have that much success over there overall.
#4083
Well, this was only barely a hit for Dr Hook in NZ this year, I’m guessing because they did score a string of hits over there which makes sense for it to be a success this year for the band. It did much better over here likely due to us Aussies feeling nostalgia for their 70’s work even though we had clearly grown tired of them by this point (save for their two hits this year on the Australian side of this site.)
#4082
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 Grammies, 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.
#4081
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.
#4080
Well, it appears that the kiwis weren’t as impressed with the film which was a fictional account of how the Village people came to be, either that or they weren’t as impressed with the soundtrack as we Aussies were which I doubt was the case as disco seemed to be even stronger over there than it was over here this year.
#4079
It appears that the kiwis didn’t have much left for Norah Jones by this point in her career, sure this third album of hers was still a success given how influential she had been throughout the decade, however it was clear that they wanted to move on from her to the likes of Amy Winehouse and Duffy moving forward.
#4078
This was another album that managed to find more success in NZ than it did here in Australia, I guess the kiwis really didn’t allow the media frenzy that MJ was going through at the time to affect their opinion of his music like the rest of the world did.
#4077
While this wasn’t as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia for Frente, it was nonetheless a huge success over there due to the success of its second single as well as the personality on display giving the album a sense of life to it for the listener (it does have feelings after all.) Sadly, the second album from the band wasn’t a success for them which led to them breaking up later in the decade.
#4076
This proved to be way more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly due to the nostalgia circuit beginning much sooner over there due to the rise of digital downloads as well as the internet in general having more of a grasp on dictating what was cool in the mainstream.
#4075
Bow wow was certainly on a roll in NZ and his native America now that he was a full-grown adult, here he is as the lead artist with this hit single he had likely due to the assistance of Chris Brown who was also on a roll during this point in his career throughout the world. Bow wow would have two more hits after this, both of which are still to come on this list.
#4074
Much like here in Australia, this was the final hit that Gwen Stefani managed to achieve in NZ even if it proved to be more of a hit over there than it was over here for her. I guess this was meant to be her version of “Big girls don’t cry” given how much more serious this is compared to her other two entries on this list, although it wound up having the opposite effect for her in the mainstream than what that song had for Fergie.
I mentioned on an earlier list that these guys had a massive hit this year over in NZ, here it is which is more in line with a typical west coast track as opposed to the funky new jack swing that permeated their success during the first half of the decade over there and in their native America. As it turns out, their fellow American’s didn’t want to hear anymore from these guys which resulted in this flopping on Billboard.
#4072
This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, there was little doubt it would be considering that it was a plea from the rapper to his critics to stop taking his music so seriously and to give his fanbase some credit that they won’t emulate the violent behaviour he displays on his lyrics, basically making the same argument that video game nerds have been making for the gaming industry since its inception.
#4071
I guess the kiwis were a bit late in discovering this track from IIO compared to us Aussies, although once they did, it managed to become a decent success over there even if it wasn’t as popular there as it was over here for the American duo. This unfortunately meant that they remain a one hit wonder over there like they are over here as nothing else became popular in the southern hemisphere for them.
#4070
Although this wasn’t a huge success for J-Lo in NZ like I’m sure she was hoping this would be (likely due to her dropping the F-bomb that radios had to censor) it did become more popular over there than it did over here in lieu of the albums success which suggests that the kiwis weren’t part of the initial hostile reception to the album I remember it having back in the day worldwide.
#4069
This was an oddly good year for contemporary RNB in NZ following the success that Surface had in their native America from earlier on this list, indeed this proved to be a much bigger hit over there than it was in the Rude boys native America which is one of many RNB tracks from American groups to do so this decade.
#4068
It was hard to find information about this guy, although from what I’ve discovered, it’s best that he’s been lost to the sands of time as he’s been in prison since 1993 for several crimes he committed during his short time in the music industry that I won’t get into here (trust me, it’s not safe for work.) Before this came to light, he had a hit in NZ with this cover of the Temptations classic which was much bigger there than it was on Billboard.
#4067
This was the final hit that Midnight oil had anywhere in the world, and it’s a return to them standing up for Australian aboriginals as this is a song dedicated to an elder by the name of Truganini who was one of the last traditional owners of Tasmania before it was taken off them by the Australian government. Yeah, the Australian government are notorious for how they treat the local community throughout history, which is perhaps why this underperformed here and was a big hit in NZ.
#4066
At least this was a much bigger hit for Janet Jackson in NZ than it was here in Australia, although that might have doomed the rest of the singles from the album as she wouldn’t score another hit from Rhythm nation 1814 over there like she did over there in the new decade. It’s a bit disappointing that she wasn’t more popular throughout the 80’s in the southern hemisphere like she was in her native America.
#4065
This was the second hit that J’son managed to achieve in NZ this year, he really did seem like the new equivalent of Tevin Campbell or even Kris Kross as those guys were struggling for mainstream popularity even in their native America around this time. Alas his popularity would come to an end after this fell off the charts as he never bothered the charts anywhere in the world ever again.
#4064
This was about as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, you’d think it would’ve been even bigger over there given how it remains their most popular song in American and their native UK, but I suppose the kiwis found it a bit too ridiculous for that to be the case back in the day. Still, it was a massive hit for the band regardless of where in the world you’re from.
#4063
We looked at the Peter Andre version of this track on the Australian side of this site, so now let’s look at the original version from Kool and the Gang who managed to score a second hit in NZ and the UK with this disco classic as well as having another hit on Billboard despite it being a disco song during the disco backlash era. Their popularity would dwindle after this, however they would still score the occassional hit.
#4062
Given how this has a similar placement on this list as it does on the Australian side of this site, this means that the third single from Enrique’s second English language album was slightly more popular over there due to having stiffer competition than on the Australian counterpart. Once again, this is due to this coming from a highly successful album that didn’t affect its popularity over there like it did over here.
#4061
This was the first song that Wyclef Jean had as a lead artist in NZ, or at least technically it is as he recruits the Refugee Allstars on this track which is comprised of a former bandmate of his from the Fugees Pras making this a Fugees track but without Lauryn Hill. This song has become notorious over the years for sampling “Staying alive” from the Bee Gees, it’s not even the first hit in the 90’s to do so.
#4060
This was a bigger hit for Blondie in NZ, likely because their fourth album Eat to the beat was much more successful over there back in the day than it was over here for the band. I guess this was the kiwi’s way of atoning for the lack of success they gave the band with their debut album, although in fairness it’s not like they could’ve known about it given how it was only a hit here due to them appearing on Countdown.
#4059
Sadly, “Another night” failed to appear on this side of my site due to being way too much of a sleeper hit to do so even though it was a huge success over there. Fortunately, this second single was able to rack up the points to appear on this side of my site due to the success of that song which in turn translated to the album’s success over there.
#4058
I’m not exactly sure how this managed to be a huge hit for Pseudo Echo in NZ and not their debut single “Listening,” perhaps the kiwis felt that the official version of that track was too overproduced (compared to the stripped back original version) and passed that up in favour of this more stripped back follow up which was much less successful here in Australia.
#4057
This was meant to be on the second Bat out of hell album from Meat loaf, in fact it eventually did find its way onto that album twelve years later when Jim Steinman was finally able to patch things up with the troubled rock singer and release the long-awaited sequel to what many will tell you is the greatest album of the 70’s (no arguments here.) In the meantime, Jim used this track to launch his own solo career to minimal success.
#4056
I should warn my readers that are fans of ELO that they didn’t have nearly the level of success in NZ that they did in Australia back in the day, heck this was one of their bigger hits over there and yet you can see it didn’t do as well over there as it did over here around this time. Still, they did manage to impress the kiwis from time to time with their orchestral arrangements and vocal harmonies.
#4055
This was the fourth and final single to be released from Supergroove’s debut album Traction, it was a massive success over there proving how inescapable the NZ funk rock band was around this time which no doubt led to them sparking international interest in their music which sadly never translated to actual success for them.
#4054
This was the song that made the Mutton birds a household name given that it was their first hit in their homeland right around the time they dropped their highly successful debut album. They had potential to crossover to Australia as did many NZ bands from the 90’s, however it was sadly never met as Triple J never promoted their music despite being a rock band.
#4053
Well not even their stalking anthem was able to become that big of a success for the Police in NZ, it was still a hit hence its placement on this list, however they certainly weren’t too keen on making it a number one hit over there like it was in America and their native UK. I know people have made jokes about this song for decades now, but it really does seem like the sweetest song in the world if you don’t read into the lyrics.
#4052
This was slightly more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, or rather, it wasn’t pulled from shelves over there despite it quickly falling off the charts given how families who went to see Rugrats in Paris eventually discovered the mature content of the lyrics which caused quite the outrage back in the day. This has since been used in sporting events, or rather the chorus has for teams that have a dog as a mascot.
#4051
The legends are true people, Freddie Mercury did have a solo career away from Queen (although his decision to do so was done amicably with his band) with this cover of the Platter’s track from the 50’s being his biggest hit in NZ and his native UK during his lifetime. I’m not sure why this flopped here in Australia back in the day, although I can say the same thing about Queen’s discography from the late 80’s.
#4050
Well, this is a surprise, mainly because it wound up being the least successful song that U2 had in NZ from the Joshua Tree despite it being their biggest hit here in Australia. For what it’s worth, it was still a bigger hit over there than it was over here, meaning that the kiwis in general had allowed them to have more success over there than they did over here during this phase of their career.
#4049
When we last saw Eric Clapton on this site, it was with his emotional tribute to his son which he wrote not only for him but also a long-forgotten film by the name of Rush. Fast forward four years and he manages to score another hit in NZ with this theme to the film Phenomenon which doesn’t have the emotional baggage that his previous hit had but was a compelling ballad to the kiwis regardless.
#4048
This was a much bigger hit in NZ than it was here in Australia for Paul Young, I’m guessing because the kiwis were suddenly more interested in the works of Marvin Gaye given how much more popular Marvin’s entry from earlier was over there compared to over here. Aside from “Love of the common people,” everything Paul released was more successful in NZ during his career.
#4047
From what I can gather, this is a novelty track from novelty country singer Fred Dagg which managed to become a success in his homeland due to how silly country music had become from Nashville. Admittedly none of the sillier tracks managed to crossover outside of America save for perhaps “Convoy” from earlier on this list.
#4046
Well, it looks like the west coast of the hip hop wars already had a strong leg in with the kiwis given how this track from Brotherhood of Creed was a massive success over there and not in the duo’s native America. I guess their fellow Americans initially felt they were the British novelty group Brotherhood of man given how the two groups share a similar name to each other even if they’re from two different genres.
#4045
Ever want to know why Jason Priestly from 90210 ever took Hollywood by storm outside of his starring role in the TV series? Well, it may have something to do with his first feature length film which was so poorly received that history has done its best to try and erase its existence. I bring this up because there’s no information on who provided the theme song to the film other than it being a cover of a Diana Ross classic.
#4044
Much like in Australia and the UK, this was the only hit that Jon Secada had in NZ likely due to the Latin elements connecting with audiences for this one and only song from the American singer. At least he was a lot more popular in his homeland throughout the decade which may have even led to the rise of the Latin craze from the second half of the 90’s.
#4043
This wasn’t as big for George Michael in NZ as it was here in Australia, mainly because we Aussies were very excited to see what the second volume for Listen without prejudice would look like as opposed to the kiwis who likely saw the writing on the wall when it was announced that George would become the new lead singer for Queen following the tragic death of Freddie Mercury.
#4042
Well, it appears that the film this ballad was named after didn’t appeal as much to the kiwis as it did internationally, then again Phil’s solo career over there has been noticeably less successful given how this was one of his highest charting singles over there despite it not getting to number one. In fact, he never had a number one hit over there both solo and with Genesis, unless of course you count that ad jingle from 2008.
#4041
This was one of the last hit singles that Will Smith had in his career anywhere in the world, granted he would come back in the midpoint of the 00’s with “Switch” which is arguably his biggest hit in the southern hemisphere, but this was his last big hit in his native America given how it was the theme song to his film of the same name which was torn apart by critics for various reasons.
#4040
This was the only chart topper that Guns N Roses had not just during the Use your illusions era but overall in NZ, they were one of the biggest bands of all time in NZ and yet this cover of the Wings classic was the only song of theirs that made it further up the charts than number two. For what it’s worth, they never made it to number one in Australia with any of their singles despite how big they were here.
#4039
If you thought it was confusing that this album became popular here in Australia the following year, apparently the same thing happened over in NZ this year for what I can only imagine to be similar reasons.
#4038
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.
#4037
This was supposed to be Atomic Kitten’s debut album over in America given how the trio had sparked interest over there due to how popular they were during the first half of the decade; the kiwis saw this as a greatest hits album as it was released over there to overlook how well they had done up until this point.
#4036
Much like here in Australia, it had been a while since Bob Seger troubled the NZ charts prior to the release of this greatest hits package. Unlike here in Australia, this was released on time over there which means it began the year in the upper echelons of their charts long before it saw the light of day on our charts.
#4035
This was a moderate success in NZ like it was here in Australia, in fact I’m guessing it was largely pulled from shelves back in the day as this is technically a Christmas album even though it did chart well into the new year upon its initial release during the Christmas season albeit on the lower half of the charts worldwide.
#4034
I mentioned this was a massive success over in NZ, this is certainly the case as the kiwis fell in love with the lead single to this album as well as the overall idea of Mike Oldfield featuring vocals on his albums even if his longtime fans objected to this when this first came out. As such, it became a huge success for him, likely his biggest success too as Tubular bells was released before the kiwis tracked popular albums.
#4033
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.
#4032
It only seems natural that this would be more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia for the Foo fighters, after all, Nirvana saw plenty more success over there than they did over here throughout the decade as did most alternative bands now that I think about it.
#4031
Well at least this second album from the Offspring managed to be a success on time in NZ as opposed to their previous album which needed to become a success here in Australia before it even touched their charts. Even so, it failed to produce that big hit that all of their albums spawned here in Australia over there, in fact these guys never had a hit single on their charts in NZ for some reason.
#4030
Eddy Grant was indeed one of the biggest names of the 80’s in NZ, as such it makes sense that his greatest hits package would be a huge success over there this year even if it came completely out of nowhere.
#4029
I’m guessing the reason why Bob Dylan had so much more success in Australia than he did in NZ was due to the success of the lead single from this album he had over here, I’m sure if it had of been a hit over there, he too would’ve been able to be considered one of the most inescapable artists of the decade there.
#4028
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.
#4027
Much like in Australia, this was also the final album that Pearl Jam found any success over in NZ, I’m guessing it was because they turned their back on the band once they begun to sell out by the end of the decade.
#4026
Cher was certainly on a winning streak over in NZ during the first stretch of the decade, so much so that this greatest hits package she released proved to be a huge success over there despite it being a massive failure here in Australia as was the case for several of these new entries on this side of my site.
#4025
It appears that Wings were seeing diminishing returns in NZ as the 70’s began to wind down, so much so that this was their final successful album over there as Back to the egg failed to make a second appearance on this site due to it being a flop for them the following year.
#4024
Given how the lead singer Aaron Neville managed to score a massive hit this year with his collaboration with Linda Ronstadt, it only makes sense that the rest of his family would follow suit in NZ with this album that also had the luck of having one of the singles be affiliated with a (then) popular Mel Gibson flick.
#4023
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.”
#4022
Well, this wasn’t as big a success in NZ as it was here in Australia, although it’s obvious that the kiwis still had enough for the album to make it a hit over there which is further proof I have that whoever wrote that article for the A.V club had a serious bias against this album when they declared it as one of the least essential of the decade.
#4021
Unlike here in Australia where this continuously charted throughout the decade, in NZ it was only a success upon its initial release for Fleetwood Mac which suggests that the love for their back catalogue hadn’t fully set in during the 00’s and would only come in the 2010’s during the age of streaming.
#4020
Classical music was still one of the most popular genres in the mainstream in NZ this far into the decade, as such we have this classical album from soprano singer Dawn Upshaw who managed to score a massive hit over there with this album and even briefly charted here in Australia as well.
#4019
It was a new decade, and this NZ band was already off to a good start when they released this album given how it gave them a huge hit in the form of its lead single over there, indeed this album has gone down as one of the most critically acclaimed to come out of NZ due to how fondly remembered it seems to remain on the internet.
#4018
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.
#4017
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.
The kiwis were far more invested in the post death career of Freddie Mercury than we Aussies it seems, not only did he score a huge hit posthumously with an opera singer from his 1987 album, but he also saw huge success with this greatest hits package over there which was more or less his two solo albums compiled together for one convenient release.
#4015
This is another album that was an instant success for the artist in question as opposed to it finding success the following year (there were a few of these albums to follow this trend in the southern hemisphere.) This time it’s the one and only album from Black box which found all of its success this year as the kiwis had moved on to C+C Music factory the following year when it came to music from Martha Walsh.
#4014
This was also a moderate success in NZ like it was here in Australia at the start of the decade for CCR, perhaps this was proof that the kiwis wanted to hear more from the band like we Aussies did even though (at least as far as I can tell) they didn’t reach the same dizzying heights of success over there as they did over there during their heyday.
#4013
It had been a while since the Offspring troubled the NZ charts, so much so that it’s a wonder that this greatest hits package from them was a success at all, let alone a chart topper for them this year. I guess the kiwis had enough love for their 90’s material that they allowed this to be a success despite their recent failures over there.
#4012
Well, this seemed like as good as time as any to recap the success that Blondie had up until that point, although like most bands who released a greatest hits album, they didn’t have any further success after this which led to them breaking up later in the year.
#4011
I guess the kiwis really weren’t as amused by this third single from Fergie’s solo album as we Aussies were, that Fatman scoop breakdown has become infamous over the years and it’s admittedly hard to take a song seriously that comprises of a chorus spelling out the word its named after. She would go on a winning streak over there with her previous two entries which helped her album become a success.
#4010
Given that this was far more popular on our digital charts and that they had yet to be incorporated to the main charts during this song’s initial release, you’d think this would’ve been much bigger in NZ given how the kiwis had incorporated their digital sales onto their main charts from the start of this year. The fact that this wasn’t more popular over there suggests they were a bit more wary of Christina being a throwback artist.
#4009
It looks like Usher was able to score a second hit over in NZ this year as this manage to become a hit for him over there where it failed to do so down under, I guess even with the fact that Chris Brown was dominating the RNB scene over there, the kiwis felt there was still enough room for there to be two princes of RNB this year even if the crown clearly belong to his younger counterpart.
#4008
Even though we Aussies only gave Ciara three hits total throughout the decade, the kiwis gave her an additional two with this being one of them likely due to the presence of Chamillionaire on the track following the success of his earlier entry on this list. Both of these songs were the only hits the rapper had anywhere in the world despite having an impressive flow on both songs.
#4007
Following his failure in breaking into the girl band market with Dream, P Diddy decided to try his chances at making an RNB star out of Cassie Ventura which was off to a good start worldwide including in NZ where this was a bigger hit for her than it was here in Australia. Like Dream however, Cassie would be a one hit wonder with her debut single as she wasn’t given much worthwhile material to work with.
#4006
This was such an amazing year for Akon in NZ that this managed to go straight to number one over there despite having so many entries on this list that failed to do so outrank it, indeed it being a chart topper over there is the main reason why it performed slightly better on this list than on the Australian equivalent.
#4005
It appears the kiwis grew tired of this solo debut single from Fergie much quicker than us Aussies did, in fact you’d think this was pulled from shelves over there to encourage album sales of her album until you realise that it had a natural fall from the charts over there for that not to be the case. This can only mean that they were quicker to find this annoying than most demographics from around the world.
#4004
This was a massive hit for Phil Collins upon its initial release in NZ a quarter of a century prior, however it didn’t reach the dizzying heights of success it achieved throughout the rest of the world at the time. Fast forward a quarter of a century and the song finds itself in a Cadbury campaign where a gorilla plays the drums to this track which obviously amused the kiwis enough to make it a huge chart topper for him this year over there.
#4003
I mentioned in an earlier list that this duet between Shaking Stevens and Bonnie Tyler was a success in NZ back in the day, so here we are with their collaboration which is a rockabilly cover of a Priscilla Bowman track from the 50’s which was a continuation of the trends the two Welsh performers were making in their respective careers. For him it was rockabilly covers and for her it was getting established as a rock star.
#4002
Unlike here in Australia where this was the first we Aussies heard about this cover the 50’s staple, this briefly charted earlier in the decade in NZ for the Belle stars while they were still together despite the girl group not having a hit over there during their time together. It became a success there the same way it did here, by appearing in the Oscar winning flick Rain man starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.
#4001
I guess this was meant to be NZ’s rendition of the Cars track of the same name from the previous year (well similar if you discount the parenthesis) here we have the band’s third and final hit they had in their homeland before they called it quits to allow Dave Dobbyn to embark on a highly successful solo career.
Hits of Australia and NZ 