Australia and New Zealand had long enjoyed vibrant music scenes before the '80s broke, but the decade that brought new wave seemed especially kind to artists from Down Under locales. Artists like INXS, the Church, Crowded House and Men at Work combined quirk and a tuneful approach to guitar-based rock to establish a solid niche among the decade’s many sounds.
1. Crowded House
One of the best and most layered pop bands of the last 25 years, this four-piece group made a huge splash in America in 1987, overcoming weak record label support to become a pop success rather independently. Still, while best-known for simpler numbers like “Something So Strong” and “Don’t Dream It’s Over”, the band introduced a greater density to its sophomore release, 1988’s Temple of Low Men. “Better Be Home Soon” stands as one of the decade’s most beautiful and haunting performances.
2. The Church
As a college rock stalwart during the '80s, this Australian band emphasized sonic textures to inject its music with ethereal, dreamlike qualities. And although “Under the Milky Way” receives the lion’s share of attention from mainstream music fans, the band’s catalogue has far more to offer than gentle, chiming pop. In fact, some of its best songs feature instead a jagged, piercing sonic assault, especially the enchanting, almost sinister “Reptile” or “Spark”, both from 1987’s Starfish.
3. INXS
Rising out of the pub rock tradition of Australia during the late '70s, this hardworking band turned out to be Down Under’s most smashing new wave success story. Riding in on the wave of frontman Michael Hutchence’s good looks and abundance of charisma, the band made some fine, underrated new wave in the early '80s before becoming full-fledged pop stars by 1987’s Kick. Still, for my money, the band’s synth-flecked but hard-rocking earlier tunes “This Time” and “Don’t Change” are its best.
4. Men at Work
I really hate it when people use the term “one-hit wonder” incorrectly, and for some reason that term is too often applied, always erroneously, to this tuneful bar band that dared to inject flute and saxophone into otherwise guitar- and keyboard-heavy compositions. In fact, the quintet enjoyed four Top 10 hits during a brief early-'80s career, two of them number ones. I particularly favor “Overkill” and “It’s a Mistake”, the band's two "lesser" hits, both of which feature great guitar work.
5. Air Supply
I also hate it when people present a band, a concept, or even a food as “love-it-or-hate-it." I suspect that many music fans erase gray areas when they discuss this Australian duo that enjoyed a string of saccharine soft rock hits during the first half of the '80s. But the reality is that I love the great tunes “All Out of Love” and “Lost in Love” without loving the group in general or many of its other hits like “Even the Nights Are Better” or “Making Love Out of Nothing at All”. So there.
6. Rick Springfield
Soap star and heartthrob Rick Springfield was able to embark fully on the career he’d always wanted in 1981, when his debut solo album, Working Class Dog, became a huge hit in America. And while his extreme handsomeness as well as his participation in the film Hard to Hold conspired to make it hard for Springfield to garner respect as an artist, his best songs truly demonstrate a significant amount of pop songcraft bordering genius. “What Kind of Fool Am I?” is even better than “Jessie’s Girl”.
7. Little River Band
Come to think of it, artists from these two island nations seem to have in common a strong tendency to be criminally underrated. This Australian band never seems to get the appreciation it deserves for churning out a succession of not only hit singles but genuinely brilliant songs from the late '70s into the early '80s. Tunes like “Take It Easy on Me” and “The Other Guy” may have had trouble breaking the top 10 on the pop charts, but they possess a melodic hold that persists proudly today.
8. Hoodoo Gurus
For whatever reason, artists from Australia in any number of arenas have become known for sharp but somewhat odd senses of humor. Sydney’s Hoodoo Gurus were definitely one such band, a guitar-based outfit capable of a winking brand of nearly hard rock. The group’s quirky sound stemmed from the songwriting talents of frontman Dave Faulkner, who was a sucker for American trash culture, from which there has always been plenty to choose. “Come Anytime” and “I Want You Back” are highlights.
9. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
The two seminal Goth/post-punk bands led by singer Nick Cave make the Hoodoo Gurus look like straight-laced '50s crooners with guitars. Following the breakup of the Birthday Party, Cave, a stylized singer with a menacing, brooding look as well as a similarly spooky delivery, formed the Bad Seeds. That group’s “Red Right Hand” sidles in and plants a feeling of dread deep into the listener. The effect is at once exhilarating and unnerving, and Cave’s signature sound always defied categorization.
10. Olivia Newton-John
Although she had long been a successful recording artist, the '80s witnessed a rebirth for Newton-John the pop star. It was as if her attempted transformation from innocent to sultry seductress in the 1978 film adaptation of Grease had taken root also in her music career. Having graduated from her semi-country '70s roots, Newton-John had no choice but to embrace a more adult image if she wanted success in pop music. 1981’s “Physical” was a huge hit, but the aerobics thing was pushing it.
