Moving on from the one-hit wonders to the countdown, these are my favorite bands from down under, ranks 10 through 6.

10. Pseudo Echo
A great new wave band that produced highly danceable tracks like "A Beat for You", "Living in a Dream", and "Listening".

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9. Icehouse
This Australian band was a vehicle for Iva Davies to showcase both his pop sensibilities and his incredible mullet. In addition to "Great Southern Land", gems include "No Promises", "Electric Blue", and "Hey Little Girl".

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8. Men at Work
Perhaps the most overrated Aussie band, or maybe just doomed by their strong start to always be underachieving, Men at Work remain omnipresent on retro 80s radio. When I force myself to actually listen to it, I'm reminded what a wonderful song "Down Under" really is. My feelings are similar, if less warm, for "Who Can It Be Now" and "Be Good Johnny". But "It's a Mistake" and "Overkill" always feel fresh to me, especially when Colin Hay strips it down and sings it alone.

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7. Real Life
My love for 80s synthpop is so blind I once thought giving a girl the Heartland album would win her over. It didn't, proving she wasn't worth the Maxell cassette I tenderly dubbed Always and Burning Blue onto. "Send Me an Angel" is the obvious choice, but I more often find myself singing along to "Catch Me I'm Falling" and strumming an air guitar that, if you could only see it, looks exactly like the one at 2:47 in this video.

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6. Split Enz
Before Neil Finn's Crowded House there was Tim Finn's Split Enz, the first New Zealand band to make it internationally. "I Got You" and "Message to My Girl" are classics, but my favorite is "Six Months in a Leaky Boat", which has since been covered by The Wiggles!

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Honorable Mentions
• Hunters & Collectors: Solid post-punk pub rock, with hints of transcendence, like "When the River Runs Dry" and "Throw Your Arms Around Me".
• Divinyls: I never got in to the Divinyls, besides "Pleasure and Pain". And then they proved it's never too late to be transformed into a gimick.
• Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: I think I'm supposed to like Nick Cave. I fit the profile. But he just doesn't do it for me. Although I sometimes catch a glimpse, as with a track like Mercy Seat".