Well Sisqo's success the following year had to come from somewhere, so here's the final hit that his band Dru hill had before he embarked on a solo career which began with his infamous song "Thong song." This has nothing to do with the Bee gees classic of the same name, I'd just thought I'd mention that here as there were two RNB covers of that track throughout the decade from Portrait and Take that.
Britney was on a roll with this third single from her second album worldwide as it was one of many songs to proclaim that she came out of a relationship stronger than she was before entering it to become a success this decade, indeed this set the template for the likes of "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera and "Thank you" by Jamelia as positive songs about a woman coming out on top after a breakup.
It's a bit weird that this was only a sleeper hit here in Australia given how vividly I remember hearing this getting overplayed on the radio back in the day, admittedly it was a bigger hit here than Sonique's international hit "It feels so good" (stay tuned for that in a bit) and is second only to her appearance on "Theme from S'express" from over a decade prior as the biggest hit of her career down under.
This was a hip hop track that came out of nowhere here in Australia given how it wasn't a success for him anywhere else in the world including his native America, not even the kiwis gravitated towards this track which is really odd because they were the ones who discovered these hidden gems throughout the 90's.
I did say when I featured this on the NZ side of my site that it was strange how this failed to feature on this side of my site, this is because of Bow wow's earlier entry on this list which suggested that we Aussies were more receptive towards making him a household name as an adult than the kiwis were. Indeed, we were initially on board with this prospect but changed our minds the older he got.
This was the third and final hit that the Sugababes had here in Australia, it was a song about how you shouldn't care about what people look like as its their actions that make a person what they are and not their physical appearance. It's a song that was absolutely necessary for the time given how people had become so caught up in their appearances that they didn't realise who they were hurting in the long run.
Robbie was on a roll when he released the second single from his album Intensive care given how this is another single that only barely failed to appear on one of my lists due to it being more of a sleeper hit for the British singer/songwriter here in Australia than a mainstream success. It would be all downhill from here for him as his next album would see him embarking with hip hop.
This was the only hit that Bell Biv and Deveo were able to achieve here in Australia, I'm guessing this was due to the success Bobby Brown had around this time which likely explains the success of Johnny Gill from earlier on this list. They had better luck over in NZ where all of their recognisable songs were massive hits for them.
While this wasn't their debut single or even from their debut album, this was the song which got Smashing pumpkins (what is with that name?) off the ground in most parts of the world due to how melodic it sounds compared to how bombastic everything else is on this list. Indeed, these guys feel like the antidote to all of the loud EDM and grunge that was coming out this decade given how downtempo they were.
There's this movie known as Above the rim which stars Tupac Shakur as a basketball player, from what I can gather the film was poorly received for being nothing more than a string of cliches carried by the rappers admittedly compelling performance (maybe he should've played Michael Jordan in Space jam.) The film spawned a massive hit with this duet between Warren G and Nate Dogg, the former being one of the few rappers to have massive success here in Australia.
This was the only hit to come from jazz musician Lucas, a Danish musician who made a song which I think is meant to be a theme song to a show he was planning on making given what the lyrics are on here. I guess people wanted something to offset all of the EDM that was getting big this decade, and this appealed to them before the likes of RNB and hip hop in Australia.
This was the second single to come from These days, an album that still divides Bon Jovi fans to this day due to it being a far cry from their arena rock days and instead goes for more mainstream rock with the occasional exception such as this track which is more in line with hard rock.
From what I can gather, this only took off here in Australia due to it being chosen as the theme song to the 1996 film Flipper rather than there being any hype for Shaggy's second album here. To this day, I'm not sure why this and "Boombastic" from earlier took so long to connect with us Aussies as he didn't have any issues winning us over three years prior with "Oh Carolina."
There was still no shortage of EDM making it big in Australia this year, here we have a big hit from Italian DJ Brainbug who made it big with this song that feels like another entry into the DDR soundtrack that seems to be made to cash in on all of these songs from Europe throughout the 90's.
This was one of the more overplayed songs of the late 90's here in Australia, so of course it would be a massive success for Fastball given how it wasn't from a highly successful album of theirs. Evidently, they saw minor success in their native America after this breakthrough song, although they remain a one hit wonder here likely due to how incessantly catchy this is compared to their other songs.
If you're wondering why this incessantly catchy song didn't at least make one of my year end lists, that's because Regurgitator made the strange decision in not having this be the lead single to their magnum opus Unit likely to avoid any accusations of them selling out as this is admittedly very different from the rest of their catalogue due to how bouncy it is. Also yes, the video is bizarre and a worthy candidate for my weirdest videos lists.
I guess credit where it's due, this is a creative way to recontextualise the Jacksons song "Can you feel it" by having it be about a woman essentially decking someone for trying to steal her partner from her. It was a massive hit for the Dutch group mainly through nostalgia but also for audiences getting on board with the message of the track, although it was their only hit here in Australia.
This is another EDM track that was a huge bomb on the ARIA charts but did fairly well on the AMR charts, as such it was a shoe in for this list as it didn't quite rack up the points from the latter charts to qualify for a year end list of mine but was definitely noteworthy to appear on this list alongside the other near hits that appear on here.
Before they were Disco Montego, this family duo went by Kaylan who scored a massive sleeper hit at the start of the 00's with this EDM track proving that the genre still had plenty of appeal left even if it was largely pushed aside in favour of all the teen pop of the moment. Naturally they would find further success once they rebranded themselves with their earlier entry on this list.
We haven't had many Asian pop stars making it big in the west, have we? Here we have one of the lucky few to do so as Coco Lee is from Hong Kong who scored a massive hit this year exclusively in Australia with one of her few English language tracks about whether the person she's singing to is interested in her or not. It easily fits in with all of the teen pop that made it big on this list.
It was a new decade, so naturally Aqua felt it would be the perfect opportunity to drop the lead single to their second album which was a modest success worldwide thanks to a video which saw a massive improvement in the budget compared to their earlier work. It was more of the same fun bubble-gum pop mixed with EDM that they had offered before, however this formula didn't work out for them on their second album overall.
These guys are best known for their big hit in their native America "I believe," however five years later they scored a huge sleeper hit here in Australia with this gem making it one of the first hits going into the 00's here. I'm not sure why we gravitated towards this and not their big American hit given how they both sound similar to each other and have the same spiritual lyricism to boot.
As far as we Aussies are concerned, this was the third single from Robbie's third album Sing when you're winning and not "Better man" from way earlier on this list. As such, we had a bit of a mixed reaction when this song came out as it succeeded "Kids" which meant that his attempts at being hip weren't as passe to us as I'm sure it was for the kiwis and his fellow Brits but was still jarring regardless.
It looked like Matchbox 20 going to just be an album band here in Australia given how "Bent" underperformed here despite it being a Billboard chart topper for them the previous year, however that wasn't the case as the second single from their sophomore album did become a genuine hit here in Australia albeit from the lower half of the charts which is why it isn't appearing any higher on this list.
I guess we Aussies weren't as kind towards Shania Twain's third international album as the kiwis were given how this was only a sleeper hit here despite being another entry on this list that debuted high on our charts. At least this was an eventual success here which is more than I can say for any of the other tracks from the album, I guess that explains her fifteen-year hiatus she took after making the album.
This was originally an album track from Britney's (then) most recent album Britney, it was given the remix treatment for the third Austin powers flick Goldmember when the song opened up the film with a Britney fembot performing the track before being exposed for what it was. Speaking of the film, it's not very good as it moves the setting from the 60's to the 70's and is very heavy handed with its meta commentary.
Much like her other Razzie nominated track on this list, this song is about how Britney feels that she needs the freedom to do what she wants in her life given how she was on the cusp of turning twenty when she released her third album which also serves as the soundtrack to her film Crossroads. Speaking of the film, it's as bad as everyone says it is due to Britney not being a good actress as well as its cliched storyline.
This was meant as both the theme song from the Lizzie McGuire film as well as the lead single to Hilary Duff's debut album, it kick started her career outside of Disney as she found herself in acting roles that showcased a more risqué side of her in addition to her albums slowly becoming less kid friendly with each release.
This was the final hit that Enrique Iglesias was able to have in the English-speaking world for the remainder of the decade, this is despite the fact that his next album would also be in English and yet it failed to produce a hit single for him during the second half of the decade. This song features Kelis, although only on the single version as she was absent on the album version for some reason.
This top twenty hit in Australia happens to come from a group of literal plastic dolls given how the creators of the Bratz brand decided to make their equivalent of "Barbie girl" for the dolls (side note whatever happened to these dolls?) Naturally we Aussies made this a success, although it appears there were fewer teenage girls with disposable income than usual as this was a mere sleeper hit down under.
This feels like something the band released as a single to bait the people who don't like them into making angry rebuttals to them (I certainly have over the years, but I digress) given how this was back in the day that people went out and bought music, this means that enough people enjoyed this track to make it a success for the band here in Australia.
This is another song that took a while to find success here in Australia back in the day given how it was the debut single from Joshua Kadison, although it did eventually crossover here when it became a surprise hit for the singer/songwriter in the UK of all places which eventually led to the success of his earlier entry on this list.
He managed to have one of the bigger albums of the decade with She, so it only makes sense that Harry Connick Jr would have a massive hit in Australia with the albums lead single which admittedly was very different to all of the other songs on this list due to it being a jazz single. This helped him balance out his popularity in both the music industry and in Hollywood as he kept getting high profile acting gigs.
It did seem weird that this failed to appear on this side of my site given how it made the cut of the NZ side, although this was because it was technically a hit twice here both upon its initial release and when it played during the finale of season one of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. It's the only entry on here that became a hit twice during its run that failed to appear on this side of my site any sooner.
While it didn't quite make the cut for my 1995 list on this side of my site, it appears we Aussies were intrigued by this RNB cover of the Bee gees classic enough for it to be a sleeper hit down under back in the day. Naturally it did take a while for this to see the light of day here as opposed to in NZ where it was an instant success months before it was released here.
I guess RHCP was able to score a hit from their divisive One hot minute here in Australia after all given how this lead single from the album did stick around for quite some time on our charts back in the day, indeed the album has since seen a reappraisal as it being merely different from the band's catalogue rather than being a complete disaster like it was seen as back in the day.
This was the first big hit that Chynna Phillips was able to score here in Australia this year, again I get the feeling we Aussies were feeling nostalgic for her bands one and only hit from the start of the decade and decided to give her two more hits this year to compensate for us ignoring Wilson Phillip's other American hits back in the day.
This was the only hit that the Butthole surfers (oh wow that band name is both problematic and stupid) were able to achieve in their career, probably because it's by far their most normal song in their catalogue which takes all kinds of strange directions throughout their career. I get the feeling this was featured prominently on MTV in addition to Triple J heavily promoting the track.
Given how "One sweet day" became the longest running Billboard chart topper this year, it only makes sense that other artists would copy the formula of making a song that serves as an ode to the fallen friends of the people who made it. Enter Bone thugs n harmony who saw massive success with this track worldwide, although this was their only hit here in Australia likely because of the formula.
These guys had been active in the industry for exactly ten years when they finally had their commercial breakthrough this year, it's with a song you may recognise as the American theme to the TV drama House (it had a different theme depending on where in the world you're from.) I guess this was a success six years prior to the show premiering due to its music video which still haunts my nightmares to this day.
You didn't think the two girls who were responsible for "This is how we party" from earlier were a one hit wonder did you? Well history might have relegated them as such; however, they did in fact have a second hit in the southern hemisphere back in the day with this gem albeit a sleeper one here in Australia and as a fan single over in NZ.
Alanis's second international album wasn't as well received as Jagged little pill, likely because it didn't have the same level of raw emotion as that juggernaut that still connects with audiences to this day. That said it was still a massive success and even has its fans nowadays, although this lead single was the only notable success to come from the album aside from its sales.
Although their previous album One hot minute was a huge commercial success for the band (regardless of what the A.V club will tell you) it didn't spawn a hit for them which makes this lead single from their album Californication a comeback for them on the singles chart. This was a return to their sound from earlier in the decade now that John Frusciante was back in the band, and they weren't political anymore.
This was the final hit single that Salt N Pepa managed to score before they initially called it quits, although can we even say this is one of their songs when it's a mashup of "Gitty up" and Pink Floyd's "Another brick in the wall?" I think this was meant to be released as the twentieth anniversary of the latter song which is perhaps why it was such a huge success for the trio here and in NZ.
It did feel weird that this failed to appear on one of my lists given how I remember this being everywhere back in the day, although I guess this was the introduction to one of the most successful emo bands of the 00's (at least here in Australia) with a song that's about taking the rich and famous down a peg or two. I guess in retrospect this song is hypocritical given what these guys would achieve in their career.
You better believe this was a sleeper hit here in Australia back in the day, I guess we Aussies and kiwis were bigger fans of Growing pains than the rest of the world given how the son of Alan Thicke managed to score a massive success in the southern hemisphere despite this being a massive flop in the northern hemisphere back in the day.
Obie Trice was another one of Eminem's protegees from back in the day, although he wasn't nearly as successful as 50 cent given how this was his one and only hit anywhere in the world. He would have problems with his mentor which would cause him to leave his label later in the decade, however he probably regrets doing so as even after cutting ties with him, he still failed to score a second hit.
I debated on if I could include both of these songs on this list as technically, they were separate chart entries even if the former was deleted from the chart the week the latter was released, in the end I've decided to allow them on here since ARIA insists on counting this as a two for one deal even if that wasn't the case originally. In any case, the former is the song which helped Michael's self-titled album finally take off here in Australia given how catchy it is even outside of the swing revival genre whilst the latter is a swing cover of the Spider man theme which was included in the Spiderman 2 soundtrack and was only a success here in Australia.
This will be the only other new entry from Good charlotte on this list given how it was the lead single to their second international album, although it doesn't escape my notice that both new entries from them on here are the lead singles to their respective albums even if this didn't have as strong a message as their earlier entry did.
I really wasn't expecting to feature a song from the Hunters and collectors on this site given how they were always more of an albums band when it came to their success here in Australia, however this song did allow their album Cut to become a massive success for them right when the purge of Australian music took place in 1993 due to how long it managed to stick around on our charts back in the day.
Shortly before they scored their final top ten hit with "Go west" here in Australia, the Pet shop boys were able to score a sleeper hit with this lead single to Very which suggested that the EDM duo was here to stay following the purge of 80's bands and artists that took place around the time these songs were released. Alas these songs being a success here was more of a last hurrah for the band than anything else.
This was the final hit that John Farnham scored from one of his albums in Australia, although it wasn't his final hit overall as he did score another huge hit with Human nature later in the decade and his albums were still selling big numbers throughout the 90's. I like to interpret this song as him explaining his early teen pop success, yes, the song is actually about a relationship gone wrong, but it can also apply to his earlier work.
Although she's best known for being a fitness instructor in her native UK, Efua Baker briefly had a singing career in the mid 90's which began and ended with this novelty track about how she fell in love with a guy that turned out to be married. The tale struck a chord with Australian listeners enough for it to be a modest success here, although it also stuck her in the one hit wonder bin.
Although it wasn't a top ten hit here in Australia like it was internationally, it appears we Aussies still had enough room in our mainstream to allow this second hit that Enigma had in their career to become as such upon its initial release. I'm guessing you can blame the strong album sales for why this didn't do as well here as it did in NZ and America.
There are so many versions of this song that it's impossible to tell which one was the version that became big here in Australia, I'm playing it safe by featuring the original version even though that sat on shelves ignored in the southern hemisphere for almost a full year despite it nearly topping the Billboard charts upon its initial release. I guess you can thank the Addam family remix of the song for its success down under.
Jaki Graham first had a hit in her native UK a decade prior with "Could it be I'm falling in love," it wasn't a hit here in Australia, but this cover of the Chaka Khan classic was likely due to us Aussies realising how little success Chaka had back in the day and rewarding her with given success to her covers whenever we could. This flopped in Jaki's native UK, possibly due to her being part her prime at this point.
Well, this may come as insensitive to some, mainly because this song which you can consider a remix of "Smells like teen spirit" was released mere months after the tragic death of Kurt Cobain which likely explains its success here in Australia and Tinman's native UK back in the day. It wasn't a mainstream success here mind you likely due to how much in poor taste it was to release this when they did.
This was originally released in 1984 to deafening silence here in Australia, I'm guessing because Severed heads were a bit ahead of their time when it came to spoken word lyrics set to a dance beat. It was resurrected a decade later likely out of nostalgia for the Pet shop boys where it became a decent sized sleeper hit for the band.
This was the lead single to M people's biggest album Bizarre fruit, it was a continuation of their blend of dance rock and RNB which was a winning formula for the band throughout the 90's. While this and "Moving on up" where their only hits here in Australia, both albums were a massive success meaning there's a good chance the average Australian will be familiar with one of their other UK hits.
If this woman's voice sounds familiar to you, that's because she's the vocalist from Arrested development's debut album and a big component to that album's success given how she quit the group during the production of their critically panned follow up. Here she it with her one and only solo hit which was guaranteed success in her native America and even did quite well here as a sleeper hit.
I did mention on the NZ side of my site this was a sleeper hit here in Australia for After 7, well here it is on this list as proof of that statement as it did manage to crack our top twenty here albeit months after it was a huge hit with the kiwis just like the bulk of RNB hits throughout the 90's. I’m not sure why this song in particular crossed over here given the failure of their other songs with us Aussies.
We didn't see many songs of this ilk back in the day here in Australia, at least songs that saw any kind of success as we have two Australian DJ's collaborating with each other on what's known as a DJ battle where they bounce samples off each other to the pleasure of their audience in the EDM scene.
Well, you know the political climate isn't doing so well when even MJ has something to say about it, although he does so in the bluntest way imaginable as to remain as A political as he can so that he doesn't alienate too much of his audience. This was the third single to come from History and one that remains iconic to this day as the lyrics seem to be more relevant now than in the days of the Clinton administration.
I guess Neneh Cherry was still able to find success this far into the 90's, although she certainly adapted with the times as this isn't the same pop rap that she broke through with in the late 80's. This would be her final hit worldwide as she quit music shortly after she released her third album to become a mother.
This was the second single to come from Offspring's more mature album Ixnay on the hombre, it follows the success of the lead single "All I want" which helped branch the band away from their loser personas from their previous album Smash. It appears we Aussies were more interested in their loser personas as when they returned to that image on their next album, it wound up being their most successful here.
We have another song that's had its credibility taken away from it thanks to all of the terrible media it's been used in over the years, this time it's the only international hit that the Barenaked ladies were able to have outside of their native Canada. I read a joke somewhere suggesting they should've called this song seventeen weeks as it lasted one week on the Billboard charts, seventeen weeks being what a song needed to last at number one in order to break the record for the longest running chart topper at the time.
This was a two for one deal as Fuel were among the more popular international bands to emerge from Triple J's recommendations as the decade was coming to an end. As such we have their two songs "Shimmer" and "Sunburn" which were both popular enough to have this double track be one of the longer running hit singles of its time.
It turns out that the British duo Shaft was able to have an appearance on the Australian side of my site after all given how this remix of the Rosemary Clooney classic managed to rack up just enough points to appear on this list. There's really not much to say about this remix as the duo simply move the arrangements of the original to make it better suited for the dance floors of the turn of the millennium.
Although her earlier entry on this list was her big solo hit here in Australia, I'd be remiss not to mention Sonique's big international hit on this list as it did stick around long enough to qualify for this bonus list of mine. It's little surprise that "Sky" was her bigger hit here given how much stronger her vocals are on that track as opposed to here where they take a back seat to the ambient production.
Even though he didn't win in his season of Popstars Australia, that didn't prevent Selwyn from finding success with his debut single back in the day albeit as a sleeper hit given how this really struggled to crack our top twenty upon its initial release. In all honesty, I'm surprised that "Way loves supposed to be" wasn't his magnum opus here as that felt like his signature track back in the day.
This is the only other hit that Mis teeq had here in Australia and indeed outside of their native UK as for whatever reason, they couldn't compete with the likes of Atomic kitten or the Sugababes when it came to British girl groups of the 00's internationally. At least they managed to rack up the hits in their native UK before they went their separate ways in the midpoint of the 00's.
This was first heard during the end credits of the first Tomb raider film, apparently this song was so well received from the film that it was eventually released as a single where it became a huge sleeper hit here in Australia likely due to Triple J catching wind of the track. It remains Basement Jaxx's only hit worldwide, although I do remember hearing "Good luck" quite a bit on the radio two years later.
This was the other big hit that R Kelly had here in Australia, although it was more of a sleeper hit than anything hence its low placement on this list. This is a song that's clearly meant for him to showcase his love of oriental culture from the Asian inspired production to the video taking place in what appears to be a dojo; however, it feels very insensitive towards Asian culture which resulted in its backlash.
I did mention this was a modest hit here in Australia back in the day when I featured it on the NZ side of my site, I should elaborate in that it was a big sleeper hit here even though both JoJo and Bow wow managed to achieve success prior to this song's release here. Heck it was even released on time over here, further proving that tardiness is a good way of finding success in the southern hemisphere.
There didn't seem to be any signs of Peter Andre slowing down here in Australia despite his debut album being a massive flop for him here, he was always more of a singles artist anyway as were most teen idols and reggae artists now that I think about it. He would eventually conquer the international market with his second album due to how much of a runaway hit its lead single would be.
If you're wondering why this song that sounds like something the Spice girls would've released was a sleeper hit here in Australia about a year prior to that group's breakthrough, that's because it was the theme song to the Power ranger’s movie which I vaguely remember being a cultural phenomenon throughout the 90's (I was an infant after all.) It was the only success that British duo Shampoo managed to have.
I'm as surprised as you are that Def Leppard were able to still find success during the midpoint of the 90's, although this did come from their greatest hits package so it was likely a success more through nostalgia of their back catalogue which we Aussies largely ignored during their prime rather than us feeling this hair metal track was worthy of being a success among the likes of RHCP and Offspring.
This was a sleeper hit for 3T here in Australia, likely due to how popular the trio was in the UK as opposed to their native America as well as how RNB was still far from the most successful genre in our mainstream. This was their final hit as the novelty of them being the next entry in the Jackson dynasty had worn off after this.
This likely would've been able to dominate the upper echelons of our charts were it not released as the fourth single here in Australia from No doubt's breakthrough album, after all, it did last for quite some time on our charts proving how well loved the band was following the success of "Don't speak" from way earlier on this list.
It only seems fitting that this would be a sleeper hit here in Australia given how inescapable the Trisha Yearwood version was down under from way earlier on this list, this also managed to get Leann Rimes out of our one hit wonder bin that "Blue" threatened to trap her in to boot. In her native America, this was one of the biggest hits of the decade likely due to Billboard unofficially bundling this with Trisha's version.
Before there was Killing Heidi, we had the Superjesus as the Australian band with a kick ass female frontwoman in our alternative scene. This was their first big hit that they had which they released months prior to their debut album which was also a massive success for them, although Ella Hooper and company did unfortunately steal their thunder going into the new millennium.
There weren't many popular British girl groups who managed to find international success outside of their homeland throughout the 00's, one of the lucky few was Girl thing who was able to translate the success of their one and only UK hit over here to Australia albeit as a sleeper hit at the start of the 00's. Naturally they went their separate ways when they failed to score a second hit in either country.
I'm a bit surprised this wasn't a mainstream success here given how much the radio loved to flog this track back in the day, although the fact that it stuck around as long as it did is an indication it was somewhat a victim of digital piracy back in the day. Paul Mac is best known as being one half of the Dissociatives which was a project he had with Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns.
I'm guessing we Aussies didn't quite appreciate this cover of the Samantha Sang classic as much as the kiwis did given how it was among the trio's least successful songs in their catalogue here, although there did seem to be enough nostalgia for the original for this to be a sleeper hit for them here regardless of what the fanboys of the original had to say back in the day.
These guys were on a roll when they released their third single as Disco Montego as this managed to stick around for quite some time back in the day even if the absence of vocalist Katie Underwood is felt on here, unfortunately it appears that's what it took for their audience to abandon them after the fact as they failed to score any further success once this fell off the charts.
Well at least this song didn't have to rebound on our charts in order for it to be a success here in Australia, sure it never quite saw the dizzying heights of success it had in NZ (let alone on Billboard) however it stuck around consistently for quite some time which suggests how much we Aussies at least viewed this as a guilty pleasure when it was first released.
I guess we Aussies weren't really into this dance track from Janet's magnum opus err.... Janet, either that or we were finally willing to give her RNB ballads more of a chance given how she hadn't had success with any of them over here prior to "That's the way love goes" from earlier in this list. Still, this did stick around for quite some time, hence why it appears on this list.
This is another song that likely would've made one of my lists proper were it not for the strong album sales eating up its commercial success here in Australia, then again, this was the second single from the sequel to Bat out of hell following Meat loaf's triumphant comeback from way earlier on this list. As it turns out, this proved to be equally as successful in Australia and NZ respectively as the Jim Steinman original was.
This is a bit of a surprise to me, mainly because we have a Jamaican artist scoring a sleeper hit with a reggae track here in Australia and in the UK but not over in NZ for whatever reason. I'm not sure why the kiwis passed this up considering how they allowed Inner circle to be one of the biggest names of the decade over there, however they did despite the enjoyment we Aussies had for this track.
This was the theme to Whitney's second film Waiting to exhale, a film that was supposedly a huge improvement over the Bodyguard (I haven't seen it yet) thanks to Whitney being surrounded by much better actors to play off her as well as her giving a better performance in the film. Interestingly people say that this theme song is the worst aspect of the film as the chorus is admittedly quite ridiculous to listen to.
This was a huge sleeper hit here in Australia back in the day, although like many RNB ballads, it had a bit of a delayed released here which is odd considering that's usually a sign of a song doing much better than in NZ as we've discovered throughout this site. This remains Blackstreet's only notable hit down under, although they were naturally more successful internationally throughout the 90's.
This is another song that I'm surprised was merely a sleeper hit here in Australia given how I feel this would've been a perfect candidate for a song that dominated our charts despite only achieving sound success in Alisha's attic's native UK back in the day. They tried to replicate the success of this ballad for a few years before finally calling it quits in the early 00's.
It seems natural that this would be a sleeper hit for Keith Sweat here in Australia given how "Twisted" from earlier did manage to connect with us Aussies, although it was VERY late to the party here, hence why it didn't reach the dizzying heights of success it achieved in NZ or what his earlier entry achieved over here.
I'm a bit surprised that this was a sleeper hit here in Australia considering that it didn't even chart in NZ where this brand of new jack swing was more in vogue even during the late 90's, then again, this was from a British boy band and is a cover of a song from a decade prior that did quite well on Billboard and on the British charts but not in the southern hemisphere.
I did mention on the NZ side of this site that this was a sleeper hit here in Australia, that was certainly the case as despite it barely cracking our top twenty back in the day, it managed to become one of the bigger hits at the turn of the millennium largely due to the surprise success this achieved in Lonestar's native America.
I'm willing to be that many of you are surprised to see this on my site rather than "Sandstorm" which is the song most people affiliate with Finish DJ Darude even to this day, that song was unfortunately a flop for him down under even though it seemed like a shoe in for success during the final months of the 90's when it was released. I guess this being a sleeper hit here was our way of making up for our initial blunder with that song.
This was the debut single for Nelly, one of the most popular rappers of the 00's as we've already seen on this list alone. I guess this is proof that he was capable of harder hip hop topics rather than the pop rap that he would become synonymous with as the decade went along, meaning that it was always going to be hard for this to find a mainstream audience no matter how much street cred it had.
Well, it seems fitting that I feature at least one song from P.O.D on this site of mine, so here we are with their breakthrough single which manages to be one of the few nu metal tracks that still has critical acclaim even to this day given how fondly remembered these guys are along the likes of Linkin Park. This is impressive given how they were a Christian band in addition to making nu metal.
This was the first of three hits two have these three Aussie artists together, although the biggest hit they had also had vocalist Lolly which we'll look at on the following list as that's when it became popular for them. It was the first Aussie hip hop track to become a success which no doubt eventually led to the success of the Hilltop hoods much later in the decade.
