NZ hits of 1999

The final year of the 90's, this year seemed more interested in celebrating the biggest hits of the century rather than promoting new music.

The kiwis were certainly in love with TLC throughout the 90's, so it stands to reason their anthem against loser boyfriends or "scrubs" as they call them would be a massive success over there for the trio. Interestingly the rap verse from Left eye Lopez was only included in the video as it isn't anywhere to be found on the single or even album versions.

Evidently this was originally written for TLC in mind, could you imagine if those girls had of sung this classic? In any case, we have the song that made Britney a household name thanks to how catchy it is as well as the lyrics which still resonate with audiences to this day.

Given how both horrible CGI and EDM had become the norm by the end of the 90's, it only seems fitting that this track from Eiffel 65 would find massive success over there like it did internationally even if that success pales in comparison to how well it did here in Australia. It's a reminder of how far CGI has come from the twentieth century as well as a nostalgia bomb for everyone born between 1980 and 2000.

Even though he had been dead for two years by this point, 2pac somehow managed to continue to release new material from beyond the grave beginning with this track which samples Bruce Hornsby's "The way it is" which served as nostalgia for both the original track and the rapper's body of work over in NZ this year.

This was the biggest hit that Savage Garden had in NZ, even though it didn't get to number one over there, the fact that it lingered so long on the upper echelons of their charts was likely what got it to number one on Billboard as it was neither a chart topper nor their biggest hit here in Australia. It was their final hit in most parts of the world; however, the rest of the album gave them minor hits in the southern hemisphere.

Well, this is a song about how German pop star Lou Bega reveals his dating habits set to the Mambo originally made popular by Perez Prado fifty years prior, it was an instant worldwide success for him for a multitude of different reasons and remains popular to this day for better or worse.

The delayed success of this song in NZ is the best proof I have that this became a hit in the southern hemisphere not through the merits of the song itself but rather due to P.E teachers making kids do the strange dance from the music video. Why else would this be so successful in the southern hemisphere but only a modest success in their native UK?

Well, there seemed to be no escaping the Britney vs Christina war regardless of where in the world you're from, both girls had catchy as hell music (even though only one of them had a phenomenal singing voice) and they both had a dedicated fanbase right from the very beginning of their music careers. One interesting note about this song is that this was originally recorded as a demo but was released as a final product due to how well put together it was.

Given how Boyzone was suddenly one of the most successful bands in NZ this year, it only seems reasonable that Ronan Keating's theme from Notting Hill would be a massive success over there given how that movie was also rather popular as the decade was coming to an end. This also serves as the advanced single of his solo debut which wouldn't coming until the new year.

Apparently, there was a theme to the Rugrats movie (shocking I know) the theme came from Blackstreet of all groups and featured a chorus from Mya who had still yet to have that big solo breakthrough despite being on another movie theme with "Ghetto supastar" with Pras from the Fugees. All of this was enough for the theme to the Nickelodeon theatrical film be a huge success in NZ and their native America.

The Backstreet boys were on a roll this year as they continued to score success worldwide with this lead single to their most recent album Millennium, it's an album that true to its word, was meant to signify the end of the current millennium as the world entered a new millennium with their music playing in the background.

This was another two for one deal that was available in the late 90's, this time it comes from Robbie Williams who wanted another hit from his second album which he got with this double entry in NZ.

This was released much later in NZ for Ann Lee than it was in Australia, so much so that it peaked in the 00's despite having some of its success in 90's over there which goes to show how long it took for them to gravitate towards this dance pop number from the British vocalist. It was equally as successful in both countries, and it also led to her being a one hit wonder in the southern hemisphere.

While this was released on time in NZ unlike here in Australia where it was slightly delayed due to our aversion towards RNB in the 90's, it took a while to become a success over there which means that it's popularity there came the same time as it did here.

This was a little late to the party in NZ, in fact I'm willing to bet this was only a success over there due to it being one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia given how few songs from what has been dubbed the Lilith Fair crowd became hits over there during the 90's.

Although "Because we want to" was a sleeper hit over in NZ this year, it was this second single from Billie Piper that would help her stand out from the countless British and European teen pop stars that seemed to be clogging up the mainstream worldwide as the decade was coming to an end. Billie is perhaps best known nowadays for her role as Rose in the Doctor Who franchise.

Following the success of their comeback hit "Love so right" from the previous year, Ardijah managed to score a huge success in their homeland with this cover of the Wings classic just as the decade was coming to an end. It was their biggest hit over there given how it went to number one, not bad for a band who had been active for almost a decade and a half by this point.

*Apologies for the lack of album art for this entry, there doesn't seem to be one in existence. The song is "Silly love songs" from Ardijah if you couldn't tell from my commentary*

Well, this isn't a rock and roll rendition of the Shocking blue classic made popular by Bananarama twelve years prior, instead this is a unique track which happens to share the name of those two songs from NZ rock band the Feelers which became a massive success over there following the release of their debut album.

Given how this was the fourth single from Five's debut album, it was slightly less successful over there than the third single despite being released around the same time as it was here in Australia where it was only the third single. I still don't fully understand the logic behind the slightly different album cycle the album had here in Australia compared to the rest of the world.

This was a much bigger hit for Enrique Iglesias in NZ, likely because the Latin craze took off during the final year of the 90's which also resulted in huge hits for the likes of Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez over there. Enrique was by far the one who had the biggest improvement on the success he had in NZ compared to what he achieved in Australia, at least that was the case for his first English language album.

I'm not sure why Britney Spears was a borderline one hit wonder in her native America until her post meltdown era, sure she had the occasional hit on Billboard, but nothing that even came close to what she achieved with her earlier entry and especially with her other hits internationally. This was her second single which confirmed her as a force to be reckoned with going into the new millennium.

Much like the rest of the world, this was the final hit that TLC had in NZ given how the girls would never make another album after their third album due to tragic circumstances surrounding Left Eye Lopez in 2002. This was their second self-empowerment anthem following the success of "Waterfalls" from earlier in the decade, the two have been commonly compared to each other over the years.

So, it turns out Lauryn Hill had a hit in NZ after all, although it wasn't from her magnum opus the Miseducation of but rather as a virtual duet with Bob Marley on a track from his 1977 album Exodus (side note, how come so many of his posthumous hits have come from that album?) It's the last successful song from either artist as death finally caught up with the late reggae legend and the less said about Lauryn the better.

This turned out to be the biggest hit that Shania Twain had in NZ, I'm guessing it was due to A: airplay finally being a factor this year which further boosted the popularity of songs from highly successful albums and B: the kiwis embracing this as the (then) new female empowerment anthem going into the new millennium.

This was the biggest hit that the Vengaboys had in NZ until "Shala lala" took that crown the following year from their second album, I would be surprised at how big this Dutch band got due to being an EDM act except A: Aqua achieved massive success over there with a similar (albeit much better in my opinion) sound and B: they seemed to have reinstated the unwritten rule of Dutch acts being inescapable in NZ that was discarded throughout the 90's.

This was a huge hit over in NZ for Swedish singer Emilia, I'm not sure how this became such a big hit over there as this feels like something that should've been big here in Australia but wasn't for whatever reason. In any case, she scored a massive hit before fading into obscurity even throughout Europe.

Either the kiwis weren't that big into Savage Garden going into their second album (although I doubt this was the case given their earlier entry) or they really didn't like the Other sister because either way, this was far less successful over there than it was here despite the duo already being an international household name but this point. I guess it was the latter given that it was still a hit over there unlike anywhere else in the world.

This was the second time that the Anne Murray classic from the late 70's was a hit in NZ, this time it was a hit for Boyzone who managed to out chart the original likely due to the nostalgia the kiwis had from around this time for Anne Murray's work. This was the last hit that the Irish boy band had anywhere in the world before they went their separate ways to pursue solo careers.

I'm sure if the kiwis hadn't already allowed EDM to dominate their music scene by the time this song came out then the track would've compelled them to finally check out what all the fuss was about in the genre throughout the 90's in Australia. Indeed, this was a song that feels like it could fit into any music landscape thanks to the vocals and production being oddly timeless for a dance track.

Given how the band managed to score a massive hit with their earlier entry on this list in NZ (even if it came a year after its initial release) it makes sense that this Christmas release in their native UK would be a massive success for them at the start of the year even if its success largely came from their Bee gees cover as it came twenty years after the original came out.

 

This was a bit of a comeback for Whitney Houston in NZ, namely that it was her first hit single since the 80's over there to not be affiliated with one of her films meaning she finally had a hit that was able to stand on its own and not be as such due to audiences compensating her for her acting skills (or lack thereof.) I get the feeling this was meant to be released earlier in the decade given how it was clearly meant for Bobby Brown who she had a rocky relationship with by this point.

This proved to be equally as popular in NZ as it did here in Australia, although it's worth noting that despite it failing to crack their top five, this was the biggest hit that Five had on their second album over there due to it having much less competition going into the new millennium than what the lead single from the previous year had. This was also their final hit over there as they didn't score any more hits after this.

Well, it appears the kiwis were torn in whether or not to make this a hit over there, on the one hand it came from a Dutch group which they seemed to be contractually obligated to make a success but on the other that didn't seem to be the case for most of the 90's as other Dutch groups were popular over there. Eventually this did chart long enough over there that it was a massive hit, just not as big as it was here in Australia.

This was an even bigger hit for RHCP in NZ than it was here in Australia, I guess even with airplay being factored into the charts, rock music was still able to find an audience during the final year of the 90's as it saw diminishing returns going into the 00's over there. Then again Californication produced multiple huge hits for the band over there, so perhaps the kiwis just wanted to give them more hits.

Two years prior, Mr. president managed to score a massive success in the southern hemisphere with "Coco jambo," fast forward to this year and we have Dutch group T Spoon following the same formula of a sex jam to a reggae beat scoring a hit over in NZ and it flopping here in Australia. I guess the kiwis were still in love with EDM at a time where we Aussies were beginning to grow tired of the genre.

Well given how these guys managed to score massive success in NZ with their previous album two years prior, it seems fitting that this big hit they had here in Australia and the UK of all places managed to be a success over there much sooner than it was in either country. For what it's worth, these guys didn't have any success in their native America with any of their songs likely due to their sense of humour not connecting with their fellow Americans.

I guess the kiwis did allow "Maria" to become a hit upon its initial release over there as opposed to them needing to bundle it with "Cup of life" like we Aussies did, this was all the incentive that they needed to make this a number one hit over there for Ricky Martin which is often considered to be the song which confirmed the Latin craze as a genuine trend rather than it being a fad like it was earlier in the decade.

I still can't believe this was a flop for the New radicals in their native America, I know those shout outs to all those celebrities that the band didn't like were a bit uncalled for, but was that really enough of an incentive to boycott this track back in the day? It certainly wasn't outside of America as this became a huge success for the band thanks to how catchy it is as well as the lyrics being more intelligent than you'd realise.

This is a cover of a Toto track that was a modest success in NZ exactly two decades prior, I'm not sure how the kiwis got a hold of this cover given how it was a flop in Eric Benet's native America at the time (it might be due to Faith Hill being on the chorus.) Nowadays Eric is best known for being married to Halle Berry during the first half of the 00's.

As far as fans are concerned, this was the last thing that the Spice girls released as they (including me) like to pretend that their third album never came to be instead of it crashing and burning the following year when it actually came out. This was just as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia despite it also managing to chart higher over there than it did over here as with most of these repeat entries.

While this wasn't a number one hit here in Australia, that didn't prevent it from finding success in NZ this year proving that the kiwis were still into EDM and supporting Australian artists going into the new millennium. I doubt the kiwis understood the point in Joanne being "featured" by BZ given how the original from Bluezone was a flop over there as well and that they likely didn't realise Lisa Stansfield was the lead singer.

Here's a fact that may shock everyone reading this who isn't from NZ, Popstars was actually a reality series that originated over there this year before it became popular here in Australia and eventually the UK. The first winners of the series anywhere in the world was this all-girl group who were formed as such because Popstars had you competing in the show in groups rather than as solo artists.

I get the feeling this would've underperformed on the NZ charts were it not for the inclusion of airplay on the RIANZ charts, after all it bounced up and down the top twenty throughout its chart run as opposed to it being a more mainstream hit for the Christian band over here in Australia. It was their only major success over there like it was over here, although they did score a minor follow up with "There she goes."

This was the first of six consecutive chart toppers for Westlife in the UK, it would've been ten consecutive chart toppers if the Bob the builder theme didn't prevent one of their tracks from getting to number one over there the following year (do with that information what you will.) While they weren't that crazy popular over in NZ, they did still score a ton of success over there including this chart-topping hit.

Well, this was bound to be a success for S Club 7 in NZ just as the decade was coming to an end, after all teen pop and music made specifically to sell a product (in this case the band's TV show) were all the rage by the end of the 90's which is why music afficionados seem to despise this period of music nowadays.

I think this was the only swing revival track to make it big in NZ (correct me if I'm wrong) it was admittedly an instant success over there unlike here in Australia where it failed to catch on for some reason. I guess we Aussies were growing tired of songs being carried by trumpet instrumentation as this song is mostly known for its usage of the instrument throughout its runtime.

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.

This is a remix of a mambo track form the 50's (hence the name of the song) that became a massive hit worldwide for the British EDM group Shaft right as the 90's was coming to an end. This wasn't a hit here in Australia, although the group's followup single was as "Mambo Italiano" became a modest success in the new year given how it was a cover of the Rosemary Clooney classic.

It's hard to say how much airplay was a factor to this song's success for Shania Twain in NZ, after all her previous two singles underperformed over there despite them being massively popular here in Australia the previous year. In any case, the kiwis seemed to gravitate towards this pop rendition of her country track on Come on over where she shoots down guys who don't impress her, it's far less catty than I'm making it out to be.

This was an obvious success for Mariah Carey given the high concept music video as well as her still being one of the most popular artists of the moment even as the decade was coming to an end. I guess one thing I haven't mentioned yet about this track is the Jay z feature which was the east coast rappers first hit he had in the southern hemisphere despite him not even being credited on this track.

It feels a bit weird that this has a higher placement on this list than "If you had my love" (don't worry that's still to come on this list) although this did have to work its way up the NZ charts as opposed to that debuting at number one over there which is why this is ranked higher on the list. It also wasn't attached to the turn of the century over there like it was internationally which means it didn't rebound in the new year like it did down under.

Before there was Bow wow, there was A+ who was a teenage rapper who made it big this year with the lead single to his second and to date final album in NZ and his native America. I guess it isn't fair to suggest he was a pioneer of teenage hip hop given how both Outkast and Kris Kross predate him in that regard, however he was the first teenage rapper to make it big on his own and not as part of a unit.

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.

This was another easy hit that Five managed to achieve in NZ this year, although it wasn't as big as their other hits I've already featured on this side of my site considering that it fell off the charts rather quickly despite debuting high over there. Admittedly this was a very common phenomenon for a lot of these repeat entries on this list as they would made a huge splash over there and quickly drop down the charts.

This proved to be a slightly bigger hit in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'd say because the kiwis confused this for an Alanis Morrissette track except that didn't seem to do Meredith Brooks many favours two years prior. I'm guessing it was because they were surprised that Jennifer Love Hewitt managed to have a song that wasn't just a novelty hit for her like other Hollywood stars such as Eddie Murphy or Patrick Swayze.

It's a bit weird that this debut single from J-lo found less success than her earlier entry on this list in NZ, although it does have the distinction of debuting at the top spot as opposed to "Waiting for tonight" which had to work its way up the charts to reach its peak position. In any case, it's apparent that she had far less success over there than she did over here which will become more evident as we get into the new millennium.

This was technically a hit twice in NZ, the first time was upon its initial release where this song from the Australian duo Bachelor girl managed to appeal to the kiwis in a way that many other adult contemporary ballads failed to do so around this time. It began dropping out of the charts before rebounding in the new year due to airplay becoming a factor of the charts and it having a strong radio presence over there.

I'm a bit surprised this wasn't an even bigger hit in NZ than it was, granted it was still much bigger there than it was here in Australia, but I would've thought a hip hop track from the white rapper (even if it's a novelty like this track) would've been an easy chart topper over there as opposed to just being a mere top ten hit.

This was the second of three consecutive chart toppers that Boyzone had in NZ during the final years of the 90's, it seems rather bittersweet that the Irish boy band would finally see this level of success over there given how they went through most of the decade without so much as touching the charts.

Like everything she released this decade after the Immaculate collection, this wasn't as big in NZ as it was here in Australia which is why this theme to the second Austin Powers film appears much lower on this side of my site than it does on the Australian side. Still the kiwis did enjoy this bop of a tune enough for it to be one of the biggest hits of the year for the queen of pop.

This was the third and final hit that K-CI and Jo Jo managed to have in NZ on their own, this was impressive considering how little success they had as members of Jodeci from earlier in the decade. This is one of the first songs to use autotune to become a hit over there, although given how the duo had two hits earlier in the decade without the studio effect, I don't think the kiwis minded its usage here.

Well, that's one way to convince your audience to buy a single, although I feel this was meant to be ironic because this samples Madonna's "Material girl" similar to how their big hit in Australia sampled the Jackson 5's "Can you feel it." It's pretty obvious why neither of these songs have survived the test of time as even back then, they felt more like a gimmick than something audiences generally liked.

While Lenny Kravitz did have success throughout the decade in NZ, none of the singles during the midpoint of the decade were strong enough to appear on my site which means he was unable to score any new entries on these lists with his 90's material. Still the fact that all of his song's successfully managed to reappear on this side of my site should tell you how well loved he was in the southern hemisphere.

This was a minor hit here in Australia for Ricky Martin; however, it was too minor of a hit to appear on the Australian side of my site due to it charting too low to make any sort of impact in our music scene. Fortunately, it was much more impactful over in NZ likely due to the Latin craze being a lot stronger over there at the time, well that or the fact that this came from a highly successful album which affected its popularity down under.

Although this track came out two years prior throughout Europe, it wasn't until this year that it became a hit over in NZ despite the fact that the album it came from spawned two successful hits for Lutricia McNeal over there the previous year. I'm guessing this was a big hit on their radio given how airplay became a factor on the RIANZ charts starting with this year.

This was the second of three chart toppers that Deep obsession managed to achieve in their homeland, although it's worth noting that none of these covers exactly lit up their charts around this time which says more about how unpredictable the NZ charts had become by the end of the decade more than anything.

This was the third chart topper that Deep Obsession had in NZ, it was the perfect way to end the 90's given how it suggested that they would be one of the biggest local artists of the 21st century. Sadly, this was also their final hit which proves that they weren't destined for greatness in the 00's.

I bet you were wondering if these guys had any success back in the day considering how lead singer Nick Lachey was immensely popular during his marriage with Jessica Simpson throughout the 00's. It turns out they were in their native America as well as NZ for this one and only hit of theirs which is about the boy band singing to their audience about how they can't love them because of their significant others.

This was released much sooner in NZ than it was here in Australia, although the law of averages take place here which is that a song that was delayed in a country would find more success in that country than they did in a country where it was released on time. I guess there's also the fact that these guys were a tad late to the boy band wars for the gimmick of playing their own instruments to matter over there.

I guess this was originally not released as a single in NZ given how it only began charting in the first week of this year for Cher over there, naturally it having a strong presence on the radio must have encouraged her label to release it as a single over there to allow it to become the first chart topper in NZ with the new way the charts were calculated over there even if it quickly fell from their charts.

This was also a big hit for Britney in NZ this year, although at least this remix was also a modest success in her native America which likely explains its popularity worldwide given that "Sometimes" was only barely a hit for her on Billboard this year. Unlike in her native America, her popularity would continue to grow in NZ going into the new millennium.

Much like Step's earlier entry on this list, this was marketed as a Christmas single (hence the cover art) which resulted in it becoming a Christmas chart topper in the family group's native UK the previous year. This naturally wasn't the case anywhere else in the world given how it was only released as a single early in this year, however that didn't prevent it from becoming a success over in NZ for them.

Every one of Will Smith's solo entries have had an obvious sample to them from a song that was a big hit back in their respective day, his latest entry on this site samples the Whisper's "And the beat goes on" from 1980 which he recontextualises as a song about how much he loves Miami. I'm guessing this was meant for the soundtrack to Bad boys II which wouldn't come out for another five years after its initial release.

This was a surprise hit for Neil Finn this year, likely because this is a song that I've heard be described as an unofficial national anthem for NZ which seems appropriate given how it was among the last songs to be released in the year and for it to debut at number one when it saw the light of day.

911 was one of many British boy bands that didn't achieve much love during the second round of the boy band wars this decade, however they did score one hit with this cover of the Bee Gees classic, suggesting that they would've had a shot in this round were the competition not so stiff.

I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this solo debut from Ginger Spice, although admittedly they were at first as this managed to debut at number one over there as opposed to here where it never reached the top spot, however the novelty quickly wore off shortly after its release which is why is has a much lower ranking on this list.

I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with the Backstreet boy's incorporation of a guitar solo as we Aussies were given how much less popular this second single was over there compared to over here, although they would make up for this by having their third single from Millennium be a far bigger hit over there the following year which was a return to their roots as the white Boyz II men.

It appears the kiwis weren't as impressed with this tribute to Abba that some of the biggest names in British teen pop of the late 90's made on this track (fun fact, there's only two male vocalists here out of fourteen performers.) It would be a death nail in the coffin for each and every one of them save Billie Piper who scored one more hit the following year before this song's curse affected her career.

Busta Rhymes was on a roll during the last stretch of the decade as he was able to recruit Janet Jackson at the height of her popularity to provide him a chorus for this latest entry of his. His popularity would dwindle going into the new millennium; however, he was still able to find the odd hit here and there as the 00's went on.

Thematically, it makes sense that Celine Dion would team up with R Kelly for this Christmas themed track (it's not explicitly a Christmas song but it may as well be given how it became popular in America.) It was a decent success for the duo at the start of the year in NZ, although I doubt either party looks back on this collaboration fondly given what's since unfolded about one of them.

This was a moderate success for Stellar this year, it's a bit of a commercial disappointment considering their frontwoman is Boh Runga who is the older sister of Bic Runga who had scored massive international success the previous year with her debut album. Indeed, their popularity wouldn't explode in their homeland until the following year with their LGBT anthem "Every girl."

This was another hit that Che fu was able to achieve off his solo debut album around this time, it's further proof that this was an excellent time for local artists in NZ as more and more of their fellow kiwis were checking out what they had to offer in lieu of what was becoming popular internationally.

This was certainly late to the party over in NZ given how it had already dropped out of our charts here in Australia by the time it saw the light of day over there, I guess they didn't want to acknowledge this theme song from the Prince of Egypt initially but quickly changed their minds when it won an academy award for best original song.