Much like with the 80's, I've also decided to do a list of the biggest hits of the 90's in Australia which includes entries based on both their AMR and ARIA stats. Just like before, I'll only make a mention for which entries are the ARIA entries as I feel their placement on this list will speak for themselves rather than me delivering redundant commentary that will highlight how well/poorly they did compared to the AMR charts.
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.
#24 for 1990
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#21 for 1990
There were many popular EDM acts to make it big in Australia throughout the decade, one of the more popular being Urban Cookie Collective who achieved massive success both here and their native UK thanks to the dulcet vocals of Diane Charlemagne set to some pretty timeless production that connected with audiences back in the day. They would have one more hit after this before fading into obscurity.
#27 for 1993
#25 for 1994
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#38 for 1997
It looks like Alannah Myles wasn't the only Canadian songstress to see success in Australia before taking America by storm. Indeed, months after this became a huge hit for her in her homeland, we Aussies made it an even bigger hit here likely due to her unique vocals connecting with us before it finally became a moderate success on Billboard the following year.
#23 for 1995
This was a bit of a sleeper hit in the band's native UK, probably because the Brits already had too many teen pop groups and felt that Steps didn't bring much new to the table. If you want to know how this became so huge in Australia, well we have the video to thank as the strange dance moves from the group inspired P.E teachers back in the day to include it in their dance routines which made this a surprise hit here.
#36 for 1998
One of the more critically divided films of the decade was Disney's adaptation of the Three musketeers, mainly due to it watering down the novel it's based on for a more mainstream audience while still being messed up enough to make you wonder why Disney made the film. Even its theme song divides audiences as though it was a huge success back in the day like the film, it features three rock legends who were admittedly past their prime inserting themselves as the titular musketeers on the track.
#26 for 1994
This was originally released the previous year worldwide for Monifah; however, it appears we Aussies were interested in this sex jam from the RNB singer and thus allowed it to become a massive hit when it finally hit our shores this year. It was such as success down under that she even scored a minor hit with her next release which is a double A-side of "Bad girl" and "Suga suga" before she faded into obscurity.
#31 for 1999
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.
#25 for 1990
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#22 for 1990
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.
#26 for 1990
This was the debut E.P from Ugly Kid Joe, an E.P which was largely ignored upon its initial release until the signature track "Everything about you" became a surprise hit for the band over in the UK months after its initial release. This allowed the E.P to become a huge hit in Australia and no doubt led to the band releasing their debut album which it too needed a surprise hit in the UK to take off down under.
#18 for 1992
Even though their album Angel dust was already a huge success here in Australia, it was this cover of the Commodores classic that made Faith no more a household name for the second album in a row due to how well it did on our charts. In all honestly, I could never tell these two songs apart despite knowing that this has a more rock sound to it as opposed to the original which was more RNB leaning.
#28 for 1993
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#26 for 1994
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#39 for 1997
This was the second single to be released from the Vengaboys which just like their debut from earlier on this list it was a massive success for the Dutch group due to the song continuing their gimmick of their music being the best the world has ever seen. The album itself was a huge success for them, proving that at least at the time, this was a band to whose music was considered the coolest to exist.
#32 for 1999
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#27 for 1994
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#26 for 1995
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#40 for 1997
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#19 for 1992
This is one of the stranger collaborations to come out of the decade, mainly because I don't think anyone was expecting Neneh Cherry to do a duet with a west African musician considering she was best known for being a rapper whilst Youssou N'Dor is more in line with new age and traditional Arabic music. The collaboration was a huge success for the pair likely due to it fitting in with the new age trend of the decade.
#27 for 1994
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#28 for 1996
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#29 for 1996
This was the third big hit in a row for Aqua in Australia, although in some parts of the world "My oh my" was the third single meaning that we were among the first to have this be a huge success for them. I guess if there was a reason to dislike this song, it would be that it began the trend of comparing sex to candy given how the lyrics are sexually driven if you're familiar with double entendres.
#37 for 1998
This was one of only two hit singles this sister duo managed to achieve in Australia, although it's easy to see why this succeeded given how it's an affectionate track about how they'll always be there for each other. Unfortunately for them, their legacy has since been overshadowed by another duo from Australia comprising of twin sisters that since went on to have massive international success, that of course being the Veronicas.
#33 for 1999
It seemed like it was open season when it came to EDM taking over the mainstream in Australia this year, as such we have this track from Dutch duo Twenty 4 Seven scoring a massive hit at the start of the year with this track that largely went ignored in the UK, NZ and America back in the day. Many other EDM artists throughout Europe would follow suit and find varying degrees of success here.
#28 for 1994
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.
#27 for 1990
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.
#28 for 1990
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#19 for 1991
This was the second hit that JX managed to achieve in Australia, although just like his first hit "Son of a gun," this was a huge flop in his native UK which gives you an idea of how well loved EDM was down under this decade. His third hit "There's nothing I won't do" finally broke him through in his homeland, and hilariously it wasn't a huge hit here like his other two entries were.
#24 for 1995
This was the first of two big hits that Jamaican singer Diana King managed to achieve worldwide that came from a Hollywood blockbuster, although this was an original track that was released to promote the Bad boys soundtrack as opposed to her other big hit which was a cover of a 60's classic. This proved to be a massive success for Diana across the world likely due to it being a catchy pop reggae track.
#25 for 1995
This was both the lead single to No Doubt's breakthrough album Tragic kingdom as well as the theme song to the cult classic Clueless, this inevitably made the song into a huge success worldwide but didn't translate into album sales for the album or soundtrack. A bit of a fun fact with this song, its success in the UK only came when "Don't speak" became one of the biggest hits of the decade worldwide.
#25 for 1996
This was the only notable hit that American RNB group Allure managed to have throughout their career, although like many RNB songs this decade, it took a while for this to become a success in Australia due to us slowly warming up to the genre compared to the rest of the world. This is a cover of a Lisa Lisa and the Cult jam track from the 80's, although I think it's safe to say that this is the more memorable hit.
#38 for 1998
It looked like that Vanessa Williams would never touch a chart outside of her native America with one of her songs given how her second album was initially a flop for her just like her debut, however her fortunes changed for the better when she released this song from her second album which became a surprise hit for her worldwide. It turns out that in addition to being a talented actress, she's an amazing singer as evidence by her performance on this track.
#19 for 1992
This was the biggest hit that Snap was able to achieve in their career, although there's a bit of minor controversy with this song as it contains the line "I'm serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer" which rubbed people the wrong way upon its initial release. That didn't prevent the song from being a massive success for the German band, although it would prove to be their last hit in certain places.
#20 for 1992
There were a lot of songs about jumping around during the early 90's weren't there? Here we have a hit from the Movement which was an American EDM group who scored a surprise hit here in Australia with this track given how EDM generally doesn't do well on the Billboard charts. The lack of success they had back home caused them to give up on music soon after this became a hit here.
#21 for 1992
#29 for 1993
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#30 for 1996
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#23 for 1990
This was the debut single for one Melissa Tkautz, a rising star in the acting scene in Australia who was looking to get into the music industry much like her fellow actors from Neighbours. I will say that it's a bit uneasy listening to this track knowing that she was only sixteen when she recorded it, it would've been fine if she were older but hearing the lyrics "if you wanna wait till later, hands off my detonator" coming out of a minor is disturbing.
#17 for 1991
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#20 for 1991
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#20 for 1992
It had been seven years since Tracy Chapman troubled the charts with her debut single "Fast car," so to see her back in the spotlight with this led single to her fourth album was a bit of a welcome surprise given how well she adapted to the changing sounds of folk music from these two albums. Unfortunately, this comeback was short lived as she once again fell into obscurity after this dropped out of the charts.
#26 for 1996
Want to hear a Boyz II Men cover of a popular Japanese track from the 60's? Well, you'll sort of get that here as 4PM (short for four positive music) covered the Kyu Sakamoto track "Ue o Muite Arukō" which roughly translates to "I walk with my head high." This became a huge success for the RNB group likely due to people confusing them for Boyz II Men during the height of their popularity, although audiences weren't fooled for long.
#26 for 1995
This was technically the first song that the Spice girls released following the departure of Ginger Spice earlier in the year, admittedly the plan was to always have this as the fourth and final single from Spiceworld, however I get the feeling this wouldn't have been as big as it was if it wasn't for the drama going down with the girls prior to its release.
#39 for 1998
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#28 for 1994
This is a song that was false advertising for the music the band in question was making, Extreme are best known for their hard rock tracks and hair metal image and yet it was this acoustic ballad that made them a household name worldwide. The lyrics are often misinterpreted as people seem to think it's a love ballad which it technically is, however, it's actually about how the phrase "I love you" no longer has any meaning given how easy it is for anyone to recite.
#18 for 1991
You'd think that a reggae cover of a Marvin Gaye classic would be sacrilege, although you've also likely noticed that I've never had much of an issue with reggae covers of older tracks with the occasional exception. In any case, we have this reggae trio covering Marvin's only hit he had in Australia (shocking I know) where it became a huge success for them, more so than the original I might add.
#27 for 1996
While "Cup of life" was the first song that Ricky Martin released in English from the previous year, it was this song that finally got him a crossover hit in America as this become a Billboard chart topper for him. The lyrics describe a crazy night out with a woman and how it ruined his life, I'm guessing it was a man in real life but he gender swapped him to allow it to find a more mainstream audience.
#34 for 1999
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#24 for 1990
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#21 for 1991
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#29 for 1993
This was the first of three hits that La bouche achieved in Australia, this was keeping in tradition of EDM artists scoring three hits from a highly successful album before the artist in question forever fades into obscurity. They were the most successful act to pull off this formula as they managed to find massive success on Billboard with their album which made their songs even bigger here in Australia.
#28 for 1996
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#31 for 1996
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#21 for 1992
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#30 for 1993
#29 for 1994
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#30 for 1994
Well, this was certainly a change in direction that Kylie made following her departure from working with Stock Aiken and Waterman, I know she had to move away from bubble-gum pop eventually, but I don't think anyone was expecting her to gravitate towards indie this soon after her first phase of her career. This paid off massively for her as she not only won respect from the music snobs but even scored a massive hit with this track.
#29 for 1994
Well leave it to Joan Osborne to ask the heavy questions in life with her one and only hit worldwide, although by this stage the stigma for addressing one's fate had long since been lifted given how the likes of Madonna and Sinead O'Connor normalised attacking religion throughout the decade. This did lead to her album being a moderate success even if it failed to give her a second hit.
#29 for 1996
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#32 for 1996
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#38 for 1998
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#33 for 1999
Wow is this song so much more over hated than it has any right to be, granted the meaning of the lyrics is lost as Lene's delivery fails to highlight just how sarcastic these lyrics clearly are (this is a diss track towards Matel in case you didn't know) however it's just so much innocent fun for people to get mad at. It could've easily appeared much higher on this list were it not pulled from the shelves in order to promote the band's debut album.
#33 for 1997
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#22 for 1991
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#23 for 1991
It looked like that Richard Marx would be considered as yesterday's news when he released his third album Rush Street, after all Bryan Adams was back in the spotlight and it appeared that the world didn't have any use for this American singer/songwriter. They were proven wrong when this ballad about how he witnessed a murder became a surprise worldwide hit, proving there was room for multiple singer/songwriters in the 90's.
#22 for 1992
Given how UB40 managed to score a huge hit the previous year with a reggae cover of an Elvis Presley track, I suppose it makes sense that these guys would score a hit with their reggae cover of a Peter Frampton track a mere five years after Will to power made a soft rock cover of the song in question. This was commissioned for the film Reality bites which is one of the more critically divided films of the decade.
#30 for 1994
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#24 for 1991
So, this is the song which introduced the world to Prince as an unpronounceable symbol, this was such a conundrum when it came to printing this songs placement on the charts worldwide that the UK charts hilariously referred to him as the Artist formerly known as Prince. The song itself is a step down from his earlier work, mainly because it's your typical RNB ballad that would fit in with Boyz II men's catalogue.
#31 for 1994
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#27 for 1995
I'm not sure what took so long for this song to be released in Australia, it was a massive international success for Shaggy and an instant success for him once he finally released it this year here. I'm guessing it was due to how his previous song "In the summertime" was looking to become a success here given how it was included in the soundtrack for the Paul Hogan film Flipper which likely caused us to delay this songs release.
#30 for 1996
Babyface never had that much success here in Australia even as a producer, so to see him score a massive success with this duet with Stevie Wonder was a bit of a surprise given how Stevie Wonder hasn't had a hit since 1985's "Part time lover." The collaboration helped his album become a moderate success here, although it unfortunately failed to make Babyface a household name in RNB down under.
#34 for 1997
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#41 for 1997
#39 for 1998
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.
#29 for 1990
Well, they may have been late to the party here in Australia compared to everywhere else in the world, however that didn't mean that the Real McCoy saw failure with their singles as evidence by this second hit from their album becoming a massive success here. This was the last song they released where they were credited as MC Sar and the Real McCoy, presumably because it was an unnecessarily long band name for them.
#27 for 1995
This was a song that came out of nowhere this year, we have Tracy Bonham who scored a massive hit in Australia with this post grunge track that seemed to connect with us a mere two years after the death of Kurt Cobain. I feel that this is a companion piece to Meredith Brook's "Bitch" as both women seem to be unapologetic with airing out their grievances on both tracks which is why people love these women.
#31 for 1996
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#22 for 1992
There haven't been that many Olympic themes to make it big over the years, in fact this is technically the biggest hit to spawn from the games as the only other big hits I can think of to be affiliated with the games are "Absolutely everybody" and "Moscow." Even then those songs weren't officially affiliated with the games and only were due to the Australian press. In any case, we have this duet between opera singers Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman singing a song that translates to "friends for life."
#23 for 1992
This was the other Billboard chart topper that Savage Garden had, although it's worth noting that this wasn't a number one hit in Australia likely due to how inescapable the album itself was upon its initial release. Another fun fact about this song concerning the American charts is that it was the final chart topper for a while for anyone who wasn't from North America or Jamaica as the next person to top the Billboard chart outside these demographics was James Blunt with "You're beautiful" in 2006.
#35 for 1999
This was a huge comeback for Rod Stewart given how he hadn't had a major hit on the Australian charts for nearly a decade, it goes to show that while he is willing to experiment with his sound on occasion that his bread and butter are the ballads that appeal to his core audience. This would be his last major hit single on the charts, although he did score a moderate hit later in the decade through his appearance on MTV unplugged.
#19 for 1991
This was the lead single to Martika's second and to date final album Martika's kitchen, an album that was largely a collaboration with Prince around the time he was reinventing himself following the disaster that was his third film Graffiti bridge. This was a huge hit for Martika here in Australia despite it not being as big anywhere else in the world, I'm guessing more for her vocals than anything.
#20 for 1991
This was originally meant to be the lead single from the second volume of Listen without prejudice, however the album was cancelled when George Michael decided to instead take over from Freddie Mercury as the lead singer for Queen following his tragic passing the previous year. That didn't prevent him from releasing this track where it became a massive success for him due to how sexually charged it is.
#24 for 1992
I should point out that TLC stands for the initials of the trio in question, that being T-Boz, Left eye Lopez and Chilli. I feel this is a good place to point that out as aside from this fourth single from Crazysexycool being a massive hit for the trio in Australia for some reason, there's not much I can say about it as it doesn't have the personality that defined them throughout the decade.
#32 for 1996
You'd think that this Italian group would've had more success here in Australia considering they saw massive success in the UK with their songs from earlier in their discography. This decade has been filled with surprises given how they weren't the only acts to make it big in the UK with songs that flopped here in Australia only to find success here with songs that weren't that big in the UK.
#33 for 1996
#35 for 1997
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#25 for 1990
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#26 for 1990
This song was written by Michael Jackson, I just thought I'd put that out there as this not only explains his guest appearance in the first episode of season three but also how this managed to become a huge success given how cartoon shows (even adult oriented ones like the Simpsons) don't tend to produce chart topping singles like this. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that MJ was a huge fan of the show given that it's a spinoff of the Tracey Ullman show.
#21 for 1991
Well, this was the decade of obvious sampling, so it makes sense that this short-lived Hispanic hip hop group would score a massive worldwide success with this track given how it samples the Champs classic from 1958. I will say that hip hop was able to find success down under back in the day provided it had a gimmick to go along with the rhymes, this happened to use nostalgia baiting.
#25 for 1992
#30 for 1993
This was the only hit single to come from RNB group Silk, I'm guessing this was so big here in Australia due to how sexually charged the lyrics are which made this the perfect soundtrack for baby making if you catch my drift. It was written and produced by Keith Sweat who would go on to have massive success later in the decade as a solo artist with equally sexually charged tracks.
#31 for 1993
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#28 for 1995
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#42 for 1997
This was the song that saved Ricky's earlier entry on this list from being a flop here in Australia, although I should point out that while the AMR charts considered these to be two separate entries, ARIA bundled them together presumably to save up space on their charts to allow for one more song to chart on their charts. As I said earlier, this was the official theme to the FIFA world cup hence its success.
#40 for 1998
I wouldn't have thought that a hip hop track from two underage rappers would be among the bigger hits of the year in Australia, boy did these two prove me wrong as their infectious flow combined with as they put it the "smooth groove melody" helped them find an audience in a country that seemed to be very picky with which hip hop tracks made it big. Indeed, the rest of their catalogue didn't find much success down under.
#26 for 1992
This was incredibly hard to come up with commentary, mainly because it's hard for me to talk about this family group without coming off as snarky and mean given how much I don't like their music. I guess if I had to say something positive about them, it's that their music is ultimately harmless as though their Celtic influences are egregious in their music, it's not like it makes their songs unlistenable.
#41 for 1998
#36 for 1999
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#31 for 1993
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#33 for 1996
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#23 for 1992
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#24 for 1992
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#32 for 1993
To think this signature track from Oasis failed to reach the top spot in their native UK, oh well it was a number one hit in most parts of the world, so I don't think the band minds too much in the long run. This has sadly received a ton of backlash in recent years due to people noticing how monotone Liam is on this track, I feel that only enhances the song as it allows the beauty of Noel's poetry and instrumentation to shine through.
#34 for 1996
This is one of the stranger songs to become a hit this decade, mainly because it does indeed use alien metaphors in order to talk about a sexual encounter that the singer had with this person. The unique sound of the song helped it find an audience for the British band Babylon Zoo, although it also firmly put them in the one hit wonder camp even in their homeland which is why this was their only hit.
#35 for 1996
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