Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later band members included Neil Finn's brother, Tim Finn, and Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod. Neil Finn and Seymour have been the sole constant members of the group since its formation.
Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1979 and best known for hits such as "Who Can It Be Now?" and "Down Under". Its founding member was Colin Hay on lead vocals and guitar. After playing as an acoustic duo with Ron Strykert during 1978–79, he formed the group with Strykert playing bass guitar, and Jerry Speiser on drums. They were soon joined by Greg Ham on flute, saxophone, and keyboards and John Rees on bass guitar, with Strykert then switching to lead guitar. The group was managed by Russell Depeller, a friend of Hay, whom he met at Latrobe University. This line-up achieved national and international success in the early 1980s. In January 1983, they were the first Australian artists to have a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single on the United States Billboard charts: Business as Usual and "Down Under" (1981), respectively. With the same works, they achieved the distinction of a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single on the Australian, New Zealand, and United Kingdom charts. Their second album Cargo was also No. 1 in Australia, No. 2 in New Zealand, No. 3 in the US, and No. 8 in the UK. Their third album Two Hearts reached the top 20 in Australia and top 50 in the US.
Bonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album The World Starts Tonight and its singles "Lost in France" and "More Than a Lover". Her 1978 single "It's a Heartache" reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The Datsuns are a hard rock band from Cambridge, New Zealand, formed in 1998. Founding mainstays are Rudolf "Dolf" de Borst on vocals and bass guitar, Christian Livingstone and Phil Somervell, both on guitar. They released six albums with their debut self-titled album from October 2002, peaking at No. 1 in New Zealand and reaching the top 20 on the United Kingdom's Official Charts. They had relocated to London in 2002. Their second album, Outta Sight/Outta Mind, appeared at No. 7 in New Zealand and top 60 in the UK. Smoke & Mirrors, peaked in the top 20 in New Zealand. Early drummer Matt Osment was replaced by Ben Cole, after that album, Their top 40 singles in the UK are "In Love" and "Harmonic Generator". In New Zealand, their highest charting single, "Stuck Here for Days" (2006), reached the top 30. By the end of 2016 there were no more new shows or recorded material.
Whitesnake are a hard rock band formed in England in 1978 by David Coverdale, after his departure from his previous band Deep Purple. Their early material has been compared by critics to the blues rock of Deep Purple, but they slowly began moving toward a more commercially accessible rock style. By the turn of the decade, the band's commercial fortunes changed and they released a string of UK top 10 albums, Ready an' Willing (1980), Come an' Get It (1981), Saints & Sinners (1982) and Slide It In (1984), the last of which was their first to chart in the US and is certified 2x platinum.
INXS were an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly. For 20 years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.
Patricia Mae Giraldo, known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer-songwriter and four-time Grammy Award winner. In the United States, she has had two multi-Platinum albums, five Platinum albums, and 15 Billboard Top 40 singles, while in Canada she had eight straight Platinum albums.
Sir David Joseph Dobbyn is a New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and record producer. In his early career he was a member of the rock group Th' Dudes and was the main creative force in pop band DD Smash. Since then he has released the majority of his recordings as a solo performer.
Brian Timothy Finn is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowded House and joint efforts with Neil Finn as the Finn Brothers.
Sharon Lea O'Neill is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and pianist, who had an Australasian hit single in 1983 with "Maxine" which reached No. 16 on both the Australian Kent Music Report and Recording Industry Association of New Zealand charts.
Jimmy Barnes is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer and songwriter. His career both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists of all time. The combination of 14 Australian Top 40 albums for Cold Chisel and 13 charting solo albums, including 17 No. 1s, gives Barnes the highest number of hit albums of any Australian or International artist in the Australian market.
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a song recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. It was written and produced by Jim Steinman, and released on Tyler's fifth studio album, Faster Than the Speed of Night (1983). The song was released as a single by Columbia Records on 11 February 1983 in the United Kingdom and on 31 May 1983 in the United States.
Mi-Sex is a New Zealand new wave band originally active from 1978 to 1986, and led for much of its existence by Steve Gilpin as vocalist, Kevin Stanton as guitarist and songwriter, Murray Burns as keyboardist and songwriter, and Don Martin as bassist. The group's manager for much of its career was Bob Yates. Mi-Sex achieved two top 10 hit singles in 1979-80: "Computer Games" in October 1979 and "People" in 1980. Their first two albums both reached the New Zealand top 10, Graffiti Crimes and Space Race. They were known for their cutting edge production and dynamic live shows. Gilpin died in January 1992, two months after a serious car accident from which he never recovered. Mi-Sex have periodically reformed, including in 2011 with Steve Balbi (ex-Noiseworks) on lead vocals. Stanton died on 17 May 2017, Martin on 10 August 2020.
The following lists events that happened during 1983 in New Zealand.
The Exponents, formerly The Dance Exponents, is a New Zealand rock group led by vocalist and songwriter Jordan Luck.
The English pop rock band Tears for Fears have released six studio albums, along with numerous singles, compilations and videos. Formed in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, the duo signed to Phonogram Records in the UK and released their first single the same year. It was not until Tears for Fears' third single, "Mad World" (1982), that they scored their first hit, and their platinum-selling debut album The Hurting (1983) was a UK number one.
Melt is the second album from Dunedin, New Zealand band Straitjacket Fits. It was the last to feature the original line-up of Shayne Carter, Andrew Brough, John Collie and David Wood; Brough was to leave before the third album, Blow. The album reached no. 13 on the New Zealand music charts, and sold 40,000 copies in the United States.
Cool Bananas is the first album by the New Zealand band DD Smash led by Dave Dobbyn, released in 1982. It entered the charts at number 1, purely on tour exposure.
"Outlook for Thursday" is a single by New Zealand band DD Smash. It was released in 1983 unrelated to any album (though a live version appears on the 1983 live album Live: Deep in the Heart of Taxes. The single charted at No. 3 in New Zealand. and was voted in 2001 by members of APRA as the 31st best New Zealand song of the 20th century.
"Nature" is a 1969 single by New Zealand band The Fourmyula. The song peaked at number one in the New Zealand singles chart in 1970, won the APRA Silver Scroll songwriting award the same year, and in 2001 was voted the top song in APRA New Zealand's Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time. "Nature" was notably covered in 1992 by New Zealand rock band The Mutton Birds.
