Have you ever wondered what the Australian charts would look like if you were to combine the AMR charts with the ARIA charts? Between 1993 to 2007, a group of music historians did just that on their website known as Oz net music charts which sadly went defunct in 2008 due to ARIA completely taking over the music charts (although this was nine years after David Kent stopped releasing his charts publicly.) You can access the site through here to see what our music landscape would look like had ARIA not parted ways with David Kent throughout most of the 90's and 00's.
In honour of this site's achievements, I've decided to rank the biggest hits of this time period according to their charts (although I won't include songs from 2006 and 2007 as they would dominate the upper regions of this list and have also seen representation on my digital lists for the 00's.) As usual, I won't be making any new commentary here as there's nothing more, I can add to each of these entries I didn't cover when looking at them previously on this site. Also, this will differ from the site's official recap as A: they didn't update it after mid-2002 and B: it only covered songs popularity while they were in the top ten. Also starting with this list, I'm including songs that almost qualified for my main lists but didn't because they were pushed aside for all those "fan singles" that clogged up our charts during this time, I feel it's only fair to finally give these sleeper hits the attention they deserve on this site.
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.
Given how much of a big hit this was for Emilia worldwide, it makes sense that we Aussies would check out what all the fuss was about by making this a sleeper hit for her months after its international success. It does feel out of left field with all the other entries on this list which explains why it didn't appeal to us Aussies that well.
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.
File this in the increasing category of songs that I thought were way bigger than they actually were back in the day, this time it's the one and only hit that British EDM group Moloko had even in their homeland. I think this is a victim of heavy airplay as I distinctly remember this more so than many of the entries that made it on my official lists, that or illegal downloading has been around longer than I thought.
This is the third single from Five's second album, it was a bit of a dud for the boy band given how it felt like more of the same even at the time of its release. They would of course rebound with the next single from said album as it was a cover of the Queen classic "We will rock you" complete with instrumentation from the original band themselves.
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.
This is another song I'm convinced was harmed by illegal downloads as I have way more memories of this on the radio than many of the songs that made my official year end lists. Even so, this was a massive sleeper hit here in Australia for Basement Jaxx thanks to the vocals of Lisa Kekaula who saw some much-needed success due to the failure of her band the Bellrays.
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.
I guess we Aussies were fans of Cool Runnings after all as this managed to be a moderate success here in Australia even if it was a massive success over in NZ. I think it being a chart topper over there comes more from the fact that this is a reggae track from an artist who already had a massive hit over there more than anything else.
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.
It looks like Rick Price was able to score one final hit in his career with the lead single to his long awaited second album in 1995, although our music scene was unnecessarily hostile towards local artists by the mid 90's, this didn't prevent Rick from making his mark with this ballad which no doubt would've been as big as his first two hits from earlier in the decade had it been released at that point in time.
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.
I guess we Aussies were able to give these guys a second hit after all as this peaked during the Christmas period of 1996/1997 much like it did over in NZ, yes it was only a sleeper hit, however those strong sales during that period ensured it a spot on my list.
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.
We looked at Marc Anthony's other big hit on the NZ side of this site, time now to look at by far his most recognisable hit in his catalogue as that managed to be a sleeper success for him here in Australia right as the 90's were becoming the 00's. I guess we Aussies allowed this guy to become a success due to this coming out right at the height of the Latin craze dominated by Ricky Martin and J-lo.
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.
This was the only hit that Danish duo Junior senior was able to achieve here in Australia given how incessantly catchy the song remains to this day, indeed it was due to its catchiness that it found itself in just about every commercial you can think of which only lengthened its presence on our charts long after its initial release here.
Also, I need to talk about this even if it seems odd for me to do so, when going through the AMR charts of the 00's, this seemed to mirror the success that "Numb" by Linkin Park had, as such that song's placement on my official lists technically should've gone to this track even if I felt that David Kent mixed up these two songs when compiling his charts back in the day.
We have another sleeper hit for this list that I feel was as such due to it coming off as a guilty pleasure for us Aussies rather than out of genuine enjoyment for the song in question, although it appears the kiwis were more in love with this track unironically given its placement on that side of my site. With this entry, I've officially evened out Chingy's representation on both sides of my site.
This is the final new entry from the Divinyl's I'll be featuring on this site; it was the theme song to the theatrical release of Buffy the vampire slayer five years prior to when the TV series became a ratings juggernaut. It's actually bizarre that the show has eclipsed the film given how said film was a critical and commercial failure upon its initial release.
We finally have a second single from the Screaming jets to feature on this site, although this is a far cry from the grunge sound that "Better" resembles as this is more of a blues rock track for the band. It was a decent success upon its initial release, although the album it came from wouldn't be a success until the release of "Helping hand" which was released the year after this came out.
"Earth song" might've been the bigger hit that MJ had here in Australia, however his other song about the environment he released in the 90's also did decently well with us Aussies even if it took its sweet time in finding an audience with us as opposed to the rest of the world where it was an instant success for the king of pop.
Although this was originally intended to be the third single from Janet's album err.... Janet, it was also chosen as the theme song to her film Poetic justice which was panned by critics for her terrible acting. Despite that, the ballad received an Oscar nomination which explains why it was a Billboard chart topper for her, well that and audiences did appreciate the performance of her co-star Tupac Shakur.
This is another two for one deal as many people forget that RHCP's cover of the Ohio players classic was bundled with a song from Engelbert Humperdinck back in the day (side note, the fact that a song called "Lesbian seagull" is from one of the most chased crooners of the 60's boggles my mind.) This was of course taken from the theatrical film Beavis and Butthead released during the height of their popularity.
This is perhaps Jewel's most well-known song even though it was far from her biggest hit even on the Billboard charts, I'm guessing audiences passed this up back in the day in favour of her album to ensure said album didn't sit on shelves ignored for two years like her debut did. She would continue to find success going into the 00's, although nothing on the level she achieved with her debut.
Whereas the kiwis and Brits passed up this second single from Anastacia's debut album in favour of the album itself, it appears that we Aussies did have enough love for this track for it to be a sleeper hit even if we too made her album an instant success here due to her top entry on this list. It's interesting this is different from said single compared to "One day in your life" which is considered its unofficial sequel.
I did mention this was a minor hit for All saints here in Australia on the NZ side of my site, indeed it was a hit over here albeit mainly in the lower half of our charts given how ewe Aussies were clearly ready to move on from the girl group by the time the new millennium rolled around.
Although he's had plenty of representation on this site, this is the only solo entry from Jay Z to feature on here as we Aussies checked out what all the hype was about with this lead single to his first album of the 21st century. This would lead to his success with his future wife Beyonce as well as Linkin Park, his BFF turned mortal enemy Kanye West and friend Rihanna.
We're finally getting some representation from Michelle Branch on this side of my site as both entries she had on the NZ side of my site managed to be huge sleeper hits here in Australia for her back in the day. I'm genuinely shocked this wasn't a mainstream success here like it was in NZ and her native America given how perfectly it fitted in with the music landscape we Aussies cultivated at the time of its release.
Nelly was on such a roll around the turn of the millennium that he managed to score a major sleeper hit here in Australia with his posse group St lunatics much like how Eminem propelled the popularity of his posse D12. I guess in order to let people know this was his group, he was given a featured credit on the track which did wonders for him down under and virtually nowhere else in the world.
Here's the other big hit that Michelle Branch had here in Australia so soon after her first big hit, yeah it turns out that we Aussies were a bit iffy towards making her a household name even with the endorsement that Santana gave her with this collaboration back in the day. Again, I'm not sure why as Avril Lavigne and P!nk were able to find success around this time with little issue.
It looks like we get to feature a second single from Live on this site after all as this became a surprise hit for the band in 2003 here in Australia, it was also a surprise hit for them in NZ but I didn't think to cover sleeper hits for the 00's on that side of my site due to it being a wasteland of songs that would've made the list purely through airplay.
This feels more in line with Jewel's 90's material following the bizarre turn she made with "Intuition" from earlier on this list, although we Aussies were on board with her venture towards pop music at least with the album's singles as this too managed to linger around for quite some time on our charts due to strong radio play. Sadly, this would be the final hit she had anywhere in the world due to alienating her fanbase.
Well, I did mention this was a sleeper hit here in Australia, naturally it would make this list even though I'm still shocked that it didn't make my 2004 list proper on this side of my site. I guess we didn't have that much room for emo rock for it to compete with all the Australian idol contestants when it first came out otherwise it would've seen some level of mainstream success with us Aussies.
Yet another song I'm dumbstruck wasn't more of a mainstream success here in Australia given how vividly I remember this being flogged on our radio; I've avoided bringing up digital piracy with the new entries on this list as the fact they stuck around for quite some time suggests that they were victims of the format change here back in the day. Still, it's hard to come up with another explanation as to why they underperformed.
One more song to feature on this list that I vividly remember from back in the day, although considering this was the song that finally got Thirsty Merc's album off the ground here, I guess it makes sense it was only a sleeper hit given how we Aussies likely would've passed up this radio favourite in favour of making the album a huge success for the band.
Even though MJ wasn't anywhere near as popular here in Australia as he was internationally (throughout his entire career the more I think about it) that didn't prevent SWV from having a sleeper hit with this remix of their debut single thanks to the nostalgia we Aussies had for "Human nature" from his magnum opus Thriller. Sadly, this was the full extent of the trio's success with us Aussies.
Although Yothu yindi had beaten her to the punch when it comes to Aboriginal (or first nations if you prefer) finding success in the music industry, she does have the distinction of having the first pop hit here in Australia from that community as this was a huge sleeper hit for her back in the day. She would have another sleeper hit in 2000 before she faded into obscurity forever.
While it didn't last very long in the upper echelons of our charts, this Billboard chart topper from 2Pac managed to stick around for quite some time for it to be a sleeper success with us Aussies. This sadly means that this was also the final hit the rapper had down under before his tragic passing, although at least this didn't rebound on our charts following the news of his tragic death.
Yet another song that I'm surprised wasn't an inescapable success here in Australia given how it's still a favourite with ad execs for their commercials to this day, indeed I'm dumbstruck how little success that Sheryl Crow had internationally outside of her debut album given how massive her sophomore album was in her native America. Even so, this was at least a decent success with us Aussies albeit as a sleeper hit.
The last time Underworld bothered the charts anywhere in the world was with their debut single "Underneath the radar," fast forward eight years and we have them finally escaping the one hit wonder bin with their theme song to the cult classic Trainspotting. This likely would've been more of a mainstream success here in Australia were it not for how popular the soundtrack was by the time it was released.
Yet another surprise I've made when going through the Australian charts of the 90's, I was five years old when this song came out and I can tell you this was overplayed to hell and back upon its release here. What's more curious is that the album it came from didn't even touch our charts until a year after its release, so you can't even say that this was the victim of strong album sales like most of the other entries on this list.
There weren't a lot of successful Australian shows geared towards children since the turn of the millennium, one of the lucky success stories was the Saddle club which ran from 2001-2009 which follows a group of country girls from down under and their adventures with their pet horses (look I didn't watch this back in the day, so I'm totally assuming this was what the show was about.) This was the theme song to the series which was a surprise sleeper success here likely due to the show’s popularity.
This is another entry that I'm surprised didn't spend too long in the upper echelons of our charts, although at least the popularity of this single allowed the album it came from to be a massive success here which is more than I can say for the previous entry on this list. That and the fact that its success in NZ is a better representation of its popularity here in Australia as far as airplay is concerned.
Much like Jet's new entry from earlier on this list, this is also a song I wasn't expecting to place on here given how it seemed to be allergic to the upper regions of our charts back in the day. Alas, this lead single to the breakthrough album of John Butler trio did appeal to our alternative scene back in the day, hence why it managed to stick around for quite some time on our charts.
It looks like we Aussies gave some more love to Sean Paul than I remember from back in the day, admittedly the Jamaican rapper was inescapable throughout the rest of the world, so it makes sense that we Aussies would join in on the fun even if I doubt anyone could understand a word he was saying in any of his songs.
This is the final new entry on this list (at least on this side of my site) it was the first hit that Pharrell had as a lead vocalist here in Australia given how he had already made his mark on the chorus to Snoop Dogg's "Beautiful" the year prior to when this came out. It's another song that was pushed aside here in Australia for all the reality show contestant’s Australian idol launched into our music industry.
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