Although she had already seen massive success with her song "I found someone," this was the comeback that Cher needed to reinvigorate her career following a long absence in the music industry. Admittedly this absence was due to her involvement in Hollywood where she starred in a string of some of the more memorable flicks of the decade such as Silkwood, Mask and the Witches of Eastwick.
Well regardless of what you think of this song (it has a great bassline even if Vanilla stole it from Queen to use for his weak rapping) you can't deny this songs achievement for becoming the first hip hop track to top the Billboard charts, thankfully both MC Hammer and Young MC topped the Australian charts before this did. It's a bit of a tragedy to see how quickly Robert's fall from grace was following this songs success.
Well mashup singles were all the rage this decade, so why not have one of the final hit singles be a mashup from this British group? I guess the gimmick here was the band's mascot which appears to be a (in my opinion) poorly drawn rabbit dancing around to this mashup in the video. Needless to say, this doesn't rank among the more popular mashups of the day despite it easily being the biggest hit in this genre.
I guess we Aussies can breathe a sigh of relief by allowing a rapper of colour (even one as goofy as MC Hammer) to claim the prize of having the first hip hop chart topper on our charts over Vanilla ice like what happened in America. I think a part of why this happened was us somehow remembering the Rick James track this song heavily samples throughout its runtime in order to create the atmosphere he was going for.
This was originally a hit for the Righteous brothers back in the mid 60's, however when this ballad was used in a steamy love scene with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in the comedy horror Ghost, it became a hit all over again as the scene turned the love ballad into a raunchy sex jam overnight.
Although he had already achieved success worldwide with his misguided cover of Otis Redding's "Dock of the bay," many consider this to be the moment when Michael Bolton began his chart dominance worldwide due to much more of a hit it was compared to his earlier work. Despite him being the writer for this ballad, it was originally a hit for Laura Branigan seven years prior in America.
This was the first of several songs to be released from Black box's one and only album Dreamland, although that's likely due to the behind-the-scenes drama the band went through when lead vocalist Martha Walsh (of Weather girls fame) was replaced with a more attractive woman on the cover art and in the videos. This led to her leaving the group which in turn led to them disbanding once the album cycle was done.
One of the more sombre tracks in Prince's catalogue was the original version of this track, even so it's certainly more upbeat than Sinead O'Connor's rendition who injected raw emotions she was going through at the time which tugged at the heartstrings of the general public of this year. This was her only major success worldwide given how she ruined her career in 1992 with her infamous SNL performance.
Given how tragedy struck the band during the midpoint of the decade with the death of one of its members, there was a very real possibility that this signature track of theirs and the album it came from never would've come into fruition had the band decided to call it quits once they lost their key member. Fortunately, the band soldiered on which resulted in this party jam coming into fruition for them and becoming their big breakthrough in their homeland of America.
This was a huge comeback success for Alice Cooper who had been MIA on the charts for exactly a decade worldwide as the last hit he had was with "How you gonna see me now" from the end of the 70's. Here he is with a song that seems to be a perfect fit into the hair metal that was popular around this time, meaning that he sadly wasn't able to retain his popularity going into the 90's.
The last time we saw Linda Ronstadt in the mainstream was over a decade prior when she scores a massive hit with her album Living in the U.S.A, although it's worth noting that Linda is known for experimenting with her sound and as such often reinvents it to varying degrees of success. Here she decides to release a song about how growing old kind of sucks but at least she's with the person of her dreams, that apparently being Aaron Neville who is the person she's duetting with here.
If you're wondering what took these guys so long in finding an audience here in Australia, I think it's because we Aussies were sceptical of their musical talent initially given how they had sung with perfect American accents on record and yet could barely speak English in interviews. We gave them the benefit of the doubt this year by allowing this to become one of the biggest hits of the year, however our scepticism was proven right by the end of the year.
The last time we mentioned Maria McKee on this site was when she wrote Feargal Sharkey's biggest hit "A good heart" from five years prior, here she is now with a song of her own that she wrote for the Tom Cruise flick Days of thunder which sees the heartthrob play a race car driver hotshot. The film is noticeable for being the first of three he made with his future wife Nicole Kidman.
This was the biggest hit to come from Chrissie Amphlett and company, mainly because it was a clear display of Chrissie's sexual appeal which naturally turned many listeners on whenever it came on the radio. The success of this track here in Australia led to it being released internationally where it became a huge hit for the band a decade after they first broke through with the likes of "Boys in town" and "Science fiction."
It looked like Paula Abdul wasn't going to be able to find an audience in Australia given how "Straight up" was a huge flop here the previous year. Fortunately, this duet with the Wild pair was a success for her, presumably due to the duo being depicted in the video as a cartoon cat by the name of MC Skat Kat. This cat would go on to release a hip hop album the following year which many consider to be one of the worst of all time.
This was originally released as a Christmas track three years prior following the success of the duo's debut album in their native Sweden, there the song had a parenthesis that read "Christmas for the broken hearted" meaning that the song was originally meant for those who knew the horrors of being alone on Christmas day. As Pretty woman wasn't a Christmas flick, the song was slightly reworked into a typical breakup ballad that was played during the emotional low point of the film.
Many people feel this to be a lazy retread of "Wanted dead or alive" since both songs not only sound similar to each other, but also have the same theme of a loner cowboy who doesn't abide by the laws of the wild wild west. Naturally this theme fits in perfectly with the film this song was commissioned for, and to be fair there are enough differences between both songs for this to justify its existence.
Many people find this to be Billy's most annoying song due to how the melody is structured, I don't agree but can see where they're coming from as it does seem like it was metered this way to accommodate for the lyrical structure which is just him shouting out a bunch of pop culture references that took place during his lifetime. This gimmick paid off for Billy commercially as this remains his biggest hit worldwide despite the backlash it's received.
If you can believe it, Carole King's version of this classic was never released as a single as it was only ever the B-side to her biggest hit "It's too late" from almost two decades prior to when Martika made it her own with this cover. I guess her fellow Americans didn't appreciate this cover from her as this flopped hard on Billboard despite her previous single being a chart topper on there.
This was the magnum opus for Heart's discography as far as their singles are concerned, admittedly it's one that received controversy over the years due to the story having a few problematic elements to it. If you're like me, it's best if you avoid reading too much into the lyrics and instead enjoy the track for its catchy instrumentation and some of Heart's best vocal performances.
The decade had barely even begun and there was already a huge demand for 70's nostalgia, enter Dee lite who obliged and gave us what's known as a house track which is a type of EDM where there's emphasis on the groove rather than the lyrics or vocals. This was a huge hit for the American trio internationally months before they finally found success at home, a trend that was all too common for American EDM artists.
Well, we saw massive success here with the Gipsy kings the previous year, so why not have this track from French group Kaoma find success with their Spanish influenced pop music? I guess you can say that the Latin craze began much earlier than you otherwise thought given how many Latin influenced tracks there were to make it big, however it saw a large dry spell this decade before regaining its popularity.
I will say that as iconic as this song remains to this day, it does feel weird that it originally came from the Dick Tracy soundtrack given how out of place it feels on that album (save for all of the shout outs to Hollywood legends she has on this song.) This was sadly Madonna's final chart topper in Australia for exactly a decade, although that didn't stop her from having some of the bigger hits of the decade here.
This was a massive success for Concrete blonde who began the decade with lead singer Jonnette Napolitano reassuring her ex-Joey that she was no longer angry with him for all the horrible things he did to her during the relationship. For whatever reason, I always felt that these guys had a male lead singer, maybe that's just my queer brain trying to see a queer narrative in something that doesn't have one.
Before Rage against the machine and even the commercial breakthrough of Red hot chili peppers, we had Faith no more bridging the gap between rock and hip hop which led to them having a massive hit with this lead single from their third album here in Australia. These guys are one of many American bands to see more success here than in their homeland, joining the ranks of P!nk, Suzi Quatro and the Offspring.
It may be a new decade, however that didn't mean that Jimmy Barnes needed to change his sound in order to score a massive hit with his third album. Here he is bringing us more of the same kick ass pub rock that made him and his band a household name throughout the 80's and it was one of the more successful songs of this year, although he did change his sound on his next album to avoid being seen as a one trick pony.
Peter Blakeley must have been kicking himself when he initially broke away from the Rockmelons in order to pursue a solo career right before they made it big with their debut album. Fortunately for him, his own album was a massive success two years later thanks to this lead single which has no relation to the Elvis Presley track of the same name. His success was short lived; however, it was a huge success for him regardless.
It's a shame that Alannah Myles remains a one album wonder outside of her native Canada considering how rich and dynamic her vocals are throughout her debut, indeed we Aussies were quick to recognise how special she was given that this was released shortly before it saw the light of day in America. This songs success encouraged us to give her debut single "Love is" a second chance which allowed both songs to chart in the top twenty for a while simultaneously.
This was the first of many hits from the house sub-genre of EDM music, as I mentioned earlier, this is where the emphasis of the track is placed on the groove rather than the vocals or lyrics and that's a description that perfectly describes Technotronic despite them having a pretty good vocalist to sing over these beats. This was a surprise hit over in America which no doubt led to EDM exploding in popularity worldwide.
This was originally released the previous year to deafening silence in Australia, I'm guessing because we hadn't got on board with the hip hop trend despite it being a hit for Young MC in his native America. It became a surprise hit this year likely due to the success of MC Hammer's classic from the start of the list, which allowed it to become the second hip hop track to top the Australian charts.
Deborah Harry saw plenty of ups and downs throughout the previous decade, so to see her come out of it with the biggest hit of her solo career (in Australia at least) must have been reassuring for her that she would still be popular throughout the 90's. Alas that wasn't to be as while the album this came from was successful, her popularity dwindled out once the album cycle was done.
This was the biggest hit that Maxi Priest achieved in his career, mainly because it was a surprise Billboard chart topper for him this year and a good sign that reggae would be a huge success this decade. Maxi is one of many British artists to find more success outside of his homeland over the years, I'm guessing because of his connections with UB40 who were very popular in America around this time.
This was the debut single from Tina Arena which was apparently released two years prior to deafening silence, well so much for this being a cheap knockoff of Paula Abdul if this came out before we Aussies knew anything about the American pop star. I'm not sure what took this so long to finally become a success here, however once it did it put Tina on the map despite her secretly hating the song at the time.
There were no signs of Belinda Carlisle slowing down in the music industry, unless of course you're from America in which this single and album it served as the lead single to wound up being a massive flop on Billboard. I guess the Americans were tired of her passionate vocals set to upbeat pop rock, however the rest of the world certainly wasn't as this managed to be a huge success for her because of those traits.
This was the second act that John Waite managed to find success with here in Australia, the other one being the Babys from back in the 70's as well as him finding solo success during the mid 80's. Even with his name being well familiar with the average Australian, it appears this song was a bit delayed with its release here as it came out months after it already topped the Billboard charts for the super group.
Well, if you wanted to know what the Models would sound like if they replaced James Freud with Wendy Matthews, this is your chance as both parties joined forces to make an album this year under the alias Absent friends which spawned this huge hit for them as well as the album doing fairly well. This is a cover of an obscure 60's track, something that would become a phenomenon as the decade went along.
Well, here's a song that requires a certain level of arrogance from the performer in question, I guess this follows in the footsteps of Adam and the Ants as they too entered a new decade with a song about how awesome their music was. Hilariously this was Guru Josh's only hit single throughout the world, although this did receive a popular remix in 2008 which technically helped him escape the one hit wonder bin.
Aerosmith are known for their sentimental side in their music; however, it seems surprising that their only two big hits here were with ballads considering how well remembered they remain to this day down under. Here we have the first of their two chart toppers which tells the story about the titular Janie and how she went insane after a rocky relationship with her partner and how she shot him.
Even though this was a massive comeback success for Skyhooks following a lengthy breakup from the mid 80's, it sadly wasn't well received by critics who felt that this didn't live up to the standards they had set throughout the 70's. Apparently, the band didn't take to well to this criticism and as a result, they broke up shortly after this became a success.
Although this was recorded long before it became the theme to the TMNT theatrical film this year, it only became a success due to its inclusion in the film as well as the success that rapper Ya Kid K had with Technotronic throughout the year. It seems that Hi tek 3 have all but faded from existence as aside from this becoming a huge hit for them because of the film, their legacy seems to have been erased.
My NZ readers will recognise this guy for several of his hits from the 70's, indeed how he was able to find a huge crossover hit with this track here in Australia when he hadn't troubled his local charts in over a decade is a bit of a mystery to me but here we are. This sadly didn't lead to him having much success after this even in his homeland, proving this to be a fluke hit for the aging pop star.
This was the only Billboard chart topper that Taylor Dayne managed to achieve in her career, and admittedly this was the song which saved her second album from tanking across the world given the crushing failure of its lead single "With every beat of my heart" outside of America. In Australia, the song which saved the album was the next single which was more upbeat than this ballad.
This was the only hit single that Wilson Phillips managed to achieve outside of their native America, although considering how big they were on Billboard during the first half of the decade, I doubt they minded that their success was largely contained to America and little place else. Lead singer Chynna Phillips would make a comeback here in Australia later in the decade with her solo material.
With the negative press that Madonna received from her album Like a prayer, I think Bette Midler wanted to reassure audiences that God was real with this song originally written by Nanci Griffith while also acknowledging that yes, bad things do happen to good people sometimes because God simply isn't looking hard enough at the problems of the world. The only thing I'll say is that it's songs like this that make me glad I don't follow religion.
I guess we Aussies were willing to give these guys a chance once they won the Grammy for best new artist this year, as such we have probably their best song as it was written by Diane Warren who is best known for writing power ballads for many artists over the years. No sooner did this become a hit for the German duo that the scandal was revealed that they didn't in fact sing a note on any of their songs.
His Neighbours co-stars saw massive success with their transition from acting to singing, so why not have Craig McLachlan follow in the footsteps of Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan with a singing career of his own? While this did work initially for this song as well as the album it was pulled from, he quickly found that singing wasn't his strong suit and stopped making music later in the decade.
This was a modest success in Betty Boo's native UK as was her second single "Where are you baby," so to see this be a huge success here in Australia is a bit surprising considering how rarely hip hop, let alone British hip hop makes it big here. I'm guessing the video had something to do with its success as it depicts her as a schoolgirl in a science classroom with hijinks ensuing from that premise.
Much like the rest of his album, this was initially a flop for Bobby Brown likely due to us Aussies not being interested in the drama he had with his former band New edition. His fortunes changed when he released his theme to Ghostbusters II which helped this upbeat track from his album become a surprise success as the 80's was coming to an end, this allowed the album to also be a success for him.
This was the third single to be released from Taylor's second album, it's a song that took a while to take off here as her earlier entry was a bit of a sleeper hit down under, however once it did it encouraged us Aussies to check out her album which in turn helped it become a huge success as well. She would return later in the decade with a cover of a Barry White track that would become her biggest hit here.
This was the title track from John Farnham's third album from his comeback period, it's a song that largely gets overshadowed by the rest of the album despite it being the biggest hit from said album. This is because the other two hits from the album (which are still to come) get more love on oldies stations than this does, although this does remain a fan favourite for what it's worth.
This was the biggest hit from Poison in Australia, I'm guessing because they were coming off the overwhelming success of their second album Open up and say ahh which was one of the biggest here in Australia of the 80's. From what I can tell, this is a song about nothing which admittedly is a far cry from their earlier work which at least had individual messages for each song.
Well, they may have switched from standing up for aboriginal rights to fighting for the Australian miners and their rights, however that's the only change that Midnight Oil made for their first album of the 90's as music wise it's the same rock and roll that made them a household name throughout the 80's. This was their final hit in their career in Australia, although they did score one more hit in NZ with "Truganini" in 1993.
Yeah, as far as the music industry is concerned, the 80's didn't officially end until around the time where Nirvana took the world by storm by introducing grunge to a wider audience later in the decade. In the meantime, we have this lead single to INXS's album X which details the type of woman that Michael Hutchence is into by describing her as a "suicide blonde," whatever that's meant to mean.
The 90's were here, which means it was time to get our love for the 70's into gear which Kylie was here to do with the second single to her third album Rhythm of love. Indeed, this was a huge hit for her due to everyone's love for the 70's, specifically the O'jays despite them not having any success here back in the day. The decade would have many highs and lows for her as she would experiment with her sound.
While there's no denying that this is a silly hair metal track that was clearly meant for the ladies, it's still a ton of fun to listen to thanks to the killer instrumentation and how much fun the band is having while recording this track. Strangely this was their only hit in Australia despite it not being their biggest hit in their native America, although their other songs are nowhere near as fun as this track.
If this song sounds familiar to you, that's because you likely recognise the melody from the Gap band's "Oops upside your head" which was a hit for the RNB trio exactly a decade prior to when this became Snap's second hit single worldwide. Their first hit was what put them on the map (which we'll get to) however it was this song that confirmed them to be one of the big names of EDM this decade.
This was the third single to come from John Farnham's album Chain reaction, it's a song that's a lot more subdue than most of his other catalogue which is perhaps why it was able to find an audience from around this time. Although he would see massive success as the decade went on with his albums, he would only have one more solo hit and two more hits with as duets with Jimmy Barnes and Human nature.
With the popularity of John Farnham being at its peak around this time, it only makes sense that a band clearly inspired by his comeback would follow in his footsteps and find massive success in their own right. Enter Southern sons, an Australian band who wanted to lead of the decade with their album which many have mistaken for one of Farnham's, it's a large reason why they were a huge success this year.
Black box were on a roll when they released their first single of the 90's which helped them become established as the hottest EDM group of the moment, although there's still the issue of Martha Davis not being promoted as their lead singer in their marketing despite her clearly distinct vocals and people having fond memories of her hit single "It's raining men" during her time with the Weather girls.
Given that she was now the face of Technotronic, it only makes sense that Ya Kid K would appear in the video for the group's second single which helped it become a massive success worldwide. Apparently, the woman in the video from their earlier entry wasn't part of the group which annoyed the rapper, making this a surprisingly good time for models of colour to appear in videos over much less photogenic musicians.
This was one of two new tracks to be found on Madonna's Immaculate collection, and it's a song that came with a highly provocative video meant specifically to shock audiences back in the day. Because of this, the song has been criticised for being little more than a cheap porno track meant to shock bible bashers, although it also has its defenders (including me) who claim there's more to the track than its video.
This is probably the most distinct song from AC/DC's catalogue as it doesn't have the same melody structure as the rest of their catalogue, naturally this helped it become one of their signature tracks due to casual fans being able to easily identify it from the rest of their discography. It allowed the album it came from to be a huge success for the band, thus setting them up for further success throughout the 90's.
This was bundled with the lead single to Sleeping with the past in the UK, presumably to give Elton a chart topper in his homeland which compared to the rest of the world, he had very few of in his career. Here in Australia this was the song to help his album become a huge comeback for him after struggling over the past few years with mental health problems as well as a well-publicised drug addiction.
This was the only other hit that Glenn Medeiros was able to achieve in his career, mainly because it has a guest verse from Bobby Brown during the height of the former New edition rapper's popularity. This is a song about how an ex-partner of Glenn Medeiros is now going out with the listener and how as he puts it "she ain't worth it" because of all of the heartbreak she brought him during his relationship.
This was the first hit that Dannii Minogue scored in her career, although initially she credited herself as simply Dannii in a pointless attempt to differentiate herself from her older sister despite the two having similar sounding voices throughout their respective careers. Even though this wasn't the biggest hit of the year down under, it was nonetheless released in the UK the following year to moderate success.
This was the first hit that Wet wet wet (wow that's a stupid band name) managed to achieve in Australia, it looked like it would be their only hit here given how their other songs failed to crossover despite how well they did in their native UK. That changed later in the decade when their cover of a Mindbenders tracks from a Hugh Grant flick became one of the biggest hits of the decade thanks to their tender vocals.
Well, we have a second hit to come from the cartoon rabbit who felt the need to mashup a bunch of songs from yesteryear into a hit single, at least this was their final hit single here in Australia unlike in their native UK where they scored a third chart topper there with another one of these mashups.
It seemed like these guys were accused of being frauds much like Milli Vanilli this year, as such they gave a live concert proving that they sung on their songs which got them in the clear in the music industry. Before all of this went down, they released the title track to their third album which became a massive hit for them worldwide, although it would be their final hit due to those allegations.
This was the only other success that Iggy Pop was able to acquire anywhere in the world, although here he required the assistance of Katie Pierson from the B52's fresh off the success she had with their album Cosmic thing. Neither artist on this track would see any further success with their subsequent material.
There are two versions of this title track from Whitney's third album, the first was the one that topped the Billboard charts which is something akin to what Janet Jackson would release from around this time. The second version is the one that was released here and in Europe which is a more upbeat dance track that saved Whitney's album from flopping here in Australia as it wasn't received very well.
This was the second hit that Michael Bolton scored off his breakthrough album, it's a more upbeat track about him telling his partner that they can't hook up unless they're friends, making this a pseudo-Spice girls track as that was effectively the message of their biggest hit "Wannabe" later in the decade. I think because of these two factors, this ranks as one of his better hits in his catalogue.
This was the lead single to Kylie's third album which was the first in her catalogue that never saw a release in America due to the failure of her second album on Billboard. This is also one of the last hits that Stock Aiken and Waterman had before they broke apart from each other, although by this point, I think people had affiliated this sound strictly with Kylie due to how much she owns these tracks.
This was the only song to be found in Dick Tracy that was a hit in the real world, likely due to the songs in the film being sung by Madonna's character who was a vaudeville singer during a time where women's rights were non-existent. As such we have this track that can very easily be seen as sexist even when it first came out, however the context of the film allowed it to be a huge worldwide success for her.
This was the final solo hit that Phil Collins managed to score here in Australia, it's a song that's seemingly about living in paradise but is actually from the point of view of a homeless person wanting to find paradise in their life of poverty. This tugged at the heartstrings of his audience for one last time as it became the final Billboard chart topper of the 80's, this earning him the nickname of Mr. 80's.
The last time these two were able to score a hit anywhere in the world was from their debut album from five years prior, leave it to the producers of Pretty woman to commission them into writing a song that would appear in the opening scene of the film with a song about trying to get over a bad relationship with someone. This reignited their career over in America where they managed to score further success on the Billboard charts.
This was the solo debut single for Lisa Stansfield, although she was part of a band known as Bluezone who would technically go on to have a massive hit at the end of the decade with "Jackie" with Australian singer Joanne on lead vocals. Here she scores a massive hit worldwide with this song about what she did to lead to her boyfriend breaking up with her, it's silly but enjoyable to listen to.
This was a hit exclusively in Australia for Belinda Carlisle, it looked like Runaway horses would be yet another flop for her despite how big her earlier entry was here; however, this third single became a surprise success due to the bittersweet lyrics of her losing the love of her life after a summer fling. I'm guessing this was the song that convinced her label to release her next album here as it was never released in her native America.
This is arguably my favourite song from John Farnham, everything to admired about him can be found on this second single from Chain reaction from the passionate vocals to the inspiring lyrics to the melody and then some. It remains a staple on oldies stations to this day as do a lot of the songs on this list, although it wasn't the biggest hit of his career as you've likely noticed on this list alone.
This was the debut single from Mariah Carey, a song that was a massive hit in NZ and her native America but only a moderate hit everywhere else in the world due to it being little more than a showcase for her powerful vocals. Her later material in the decade is where she would find the balance between her vocals and her personality which would find her the success worldwide she had at home.
This was the final single to be released from Roxette's second album, although in the UK this was bundled with their previous song "Listen to your heart" to give the Brits a two for one deal given how "Dressed for success" flopped everywhere in the world except for here in Australia. No doubt these two were destined for greatness this decade which for the most part happened as their next album was a huge success.
This was the final hit that the Angels were able to score in Australia during their time together, although this was likely due to them taking their sweet time in releasing another album this decade as they wouldn't release one until 1998. That's an eight-year gap between Beyond salvation and their next album, and needless to say the times had changed against their favour which led to them breaking up.
This is the final hit that Billy Idol managed to achieve in his career, likely because it came out when the 90's was still considered to be the 80's and thus was able to connect with audiences upon its initial release. Now unlike many other people on this list, Billy did try to change with the times with his next album. The album was Cyberpunk which sees him moving towards industrial rock to hilarious results.
Well, I told you that Alannah Myles managed to have massive success here in Australia with both of the lead single from her debut album, although this had a very slow rise to its success here given how it was initially a flop for her much like it was throughout the rest of the world. I'm not sure why as this is catchier than her earlier track, I guess because it's happier compared to "Black velvet" which is more sombre.
There haven't been that many Asian pop stars to make it big over the years in Australia, one of the select few was Seiko who scored a hit here with her duet with Donnie Wahlberg during the height of his popularity with NKOTB. Evidently this was the full extent of his solo career as he would go on to produce his younger brothers work while he fancied himself as a rapper.
Well, this was a huge hit for both Technotronic and mashup singles, so why not have this song which essentially combines both aspects be a huge success here in Australia?
This is the closest that Suzanne Vega will ever have to having a hit single worldwide, although this is more of a DNA track hence why they're credited as the main artist on this hit. The original is an a Cappella track from her album Solitude standing, however the British duo added production to the ballad which helped it become a hit on the radio and also made them an in-demand production team going forward.
This is the rare track to not have Fred Schneider's vocals, normally songs with Katie on the lead has him singing backup vocals but here it's all Katie and Cyndi Wilson as they sing about "roaming" from one relationship to another which is what they accuse their partners of doing. It was a massive success for the band and no doubt made Katie an in-demand vocalist for the likes of Iggy Pop and R.E.M.
This was the only other solo success that Jon Bon Jovi was able to achieve in his career, once again we have the second Young guns film to thank for this as this was also taken from the soundtrack which may as well serve as his solo debut album. He would release his first official solo album later in the decade when he received backlash for his band's album These days due to it abandoning their glam rock roots.
Well, this was something else from Janet Jackson, we have a rock track from her album Rhythm nation which I'm guessing she included on the album to appeal to the rock snobs of the world much like how her older brother included "Beat it" on Thriller seven years prior. It paid off for her as this became a huge hit in Australia and other parts of the world which would appreciate her attempts at rock and roll.
There haven't been that many instrumentals to make it big in Australia over the years, have they? Here we have David A Stewart (one half of the Eurythmics) and Dutch saxophonist Candy Dufler scoring a big hit with this track which I'm sure was the soundtrack to some steamy love scene that I wasn't able to track down to verify for this post. Candy would go on to be an in-demand session musician following this collaboration.
This was the second hit that Jimmy Barnes was able to score from his album Two fires, it continues his winning streak from his earlier entry proving yet again that he was one of the most popular artists to transition from the 80's to the 90's down under. The third single from the album bombed, however he would return the following year with "When your love is gone" became a surprise hit for him.
This was the debut single of Snap, a German band who took the world by storm with this song that's been used in many sports montages over the years thanks to the lyrics fitting well with workout routines. Naturally their earlier entry on this list was what confirmed these guys to be the hot new EDM act of the moment, however this remains their most popular song in their catalogue due to that chorus.
Well, this was a good year for mashup singles, wasn't it? Here we have British group Rococo scoring their one and only hit in Australia and nowhere else in the world by mashing up some of the biggest hit singles in the Italo house genre meaning that several entries on this list became a hit again because of this track.
Years before he became one of the leading forces of the EDM scene, Fatboy slim was a member of Beats international who scored their only hit in Australia with this remix of the S.O.S Band's hit single "Just be good to me" from 1983. The original was a decent hit here in Australia back in the day, meaning that audiences had nostalgia for that track when the band decided to rework it as a smoky jazz number.
Those who felt betrayed by Angry Anderson selling out for a wedding theme for a soap opera were likely relieved when he returned to form in the new decade with this song, although I'm sure they would've preferred it if Rose tattoo had a hit to their name which wasn't the case as they had broken up by this stage (even if they reformed later in the decade.) Indeed, this would be the last anyone would hear from the pub rocker.
This was the final chart topper of the 80's in Margaret Urlich's native NZ, so it stands to reason that it would be a huge success here in Australia given how we Aussies weren't able to resist how rich her vocals were on this breakthrough track of hers. It turns out she was part of a band known as Peking man who had a number one hit in their homeland with a song that had a CGI video in 1985.
It looked like Alice Cooper was back for good given how he managed to score a second single from his album Trash this year, unfortunately this was the final hit that he managed to score anywhere in the world given how glam rock and hair metal were quickly exiting the conversation in favour of newer trends that would take over the 90's. He continues to tour to this day as a legacy artist.
No comments:
Post a Comment