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.
This was the third big hit that Shannon Noll had in a row this year from his debut album, at least he was well liked by the general public outside of the Australian idol sphere which is perhaps how he managed to retain his popularity with his second album he released the following year.
You may have noticed that Madonna had released a bunch of ballads throughout her career, she certainly noticed as she collected all of her biggest hits in this vein onto her themed greatest hits album Something to remember which she released around this time. This was the first of three songs released from the album, proving that audiences wanted to hear more of her sombre tracks going forward.
This is the last hit that Human Nature were able to achieve in their career, this is less because their popularity faded after this song and more because this came from their final album as a boy band before they reinvented themselves as a throwback group to the likes of Motown and other music from the mid twentieth century. Indeed, their popularity wouldn't die out for another decade because of this shift in their image.
This was the second single to come from Nickelback's second breakthrough album the Long road, it was only a hit here in Australia which suggests that the band was more popular here than anywhere else in the world which is backed up by their songs being hits much sooner than they are in most other places. I think the less said about the subject matter of this song is for the best, although that would explain why it flopped internationally.
The Wrights were a supergroup consisting of members of bands and artists that were some of the biggest names in Australian music during the 00's, here they cover the Stevie Wright classic for its thirtieth anniversary (they were a little late when they released it as a single) which was promoted for charity and thus became a success as a result.
You know Metallica was the hottest new band of the day when this live recording of their signature tune becomes a huge success this year, I'm guessing we Aussies hopped on board with this track when we realised we ignored their back catalogue from the 80's and wanted to have this be a success in some shape or form.
#47 for 1994 website
This was the second single to come from the Spice girls second album/soundtrack to their critically panned film Spiceworld, it's one of their rare ballads which obviously didn't win filmgoers over as it was nominated for a Razzie for worst original song this year (although so was Aerosmith's earlier entry so take that with a grain of salt.) Even with the backlash the girls were receiving, there was no signs of them slowing down this year.
This was the other big hit that Sophie B Hawkins was able to achieve worldwide, although it was originally released the previous year to deafening silence likely due to people thinking she was gay due to some lyrics in her other big hit from three years prior suggesting as such. Here there's no such subtext, it's just Sophie professing her love towards this person (who could be a guy or a girl) in a sweet and humble way that connected with audiences.
This was the only hit that Montell Jordan was able to score here in Australia, although considering how new jack swing and RNB in general weren't that big here, it's impressive that he managed to have a hit even if this was a huge Billboard chart topper for him this year. He would have a string of hits on Billboard during the second half of the decade, some of which even crossed over to NZ.
This was the theme to Whitney's third and final film the Preacher's wife, I think by this stage audiences had grown tired of her attempts to be a Hollywood star and only supported her films in the hopes that she would return to making music full time. It turns out that this was around the time that she was facing serious relationship problems with her husband Bobby Brown due to their presence in the tabloids.
Given how she received critical acclaim for her role as the titular Evita (a rare feat for Madonna in Hollywood) it only makes sense that her showstopping rendition of the signature track from the original concept album would be a huge success for her this year. This was pushed back as the second single due to the film wanting to push her Oscar winning ballad "You must love me" as the lead single from the album.
This often gets lost in the shuffle for the singles from Mariah Carey's comeback album, mainly because it wasn't a huge number one hit in her native America like "We belong together" or "Don't forget about us" was nor as memorable as "It's like that" despite that being her lowest charting song on the album worldwide. It could also be that a much more famous song with this name has since come out over the years.
#50 for 2005 website
This was the only notable success for Berri, a British singer who initially flopped with this cover of an Elkie Brooks track in her native UK before finding success with a remix from the EDM group New Atlantic's. This allowed the track to become a huge success here in Australia given how much we loved EDM this decade, although it flopped across Europe despite it being a huge hit in her homeland.
Brandy might not have been one of the more popular artists of the decade in Australia, however at least both of her signature ballads managed to be a huge success here. There's honestly not much more I can say about this ballad in particular, it was a massive hit for her before she became yesterday's news as the decade was coming to an end.
#49 for 1999 website
Following the success of her breakthrough single "Forever" from the previous year, Tina Cousins decided to rerelease her debut single from two years prior where it became a massive hit here in Australia for her. It was at its most popular here given how it was only a modest success for her upon its initial release in her native UK, likely because it got lost in the shuffle of all the other EDM at the time.
This is often considered the best song to come from JT given how it airs out his dirty laundry with Britney Spears as it was recorded not long after their breakup, I won't go into the details of what drove them apart except by mentioning that it involved her hooking up with Wade Robson while she was dating Justin. It was the weakest selling single on the album at the time, although time has made it more popular over the years.
This was the lead single to Guy Sebastian's second album, an album he released less than a year after his debut which goes to show you how quickly he was trying to become the next big thing in the Australian music scene.
To date, this is the final hit that Darren Hayes has been able to achieve in his career, I'm guessing it was a hit because people felt it was enough like a Savage Garden track that they felt it was an unofficial reunion with him and Daniel Jones which it didn't wind up being. Still the fact that it was a hit was proof that we Aussies was willing to give his solo career a chance this far after the band was no more.
Well, this is just bizarre, we have this diss track that Eminem made to Insult the comic dog that somehow managed to become a hit for the rapper despite the fact that he was going after a comic strip whose gimmick was that they were poking fun at people like they were the Muppets. I guess people found this funny back in the day, it's certainly hilariously ironic that Eminem of all people would attack the publication.
This was the fourth hit to come from Mariah Carey's comeback album, although like the other entries from the album, it was far more successful in her native America as the rest of the world was likely still sceptical at the time that she had recovered from her erratic behaviour from earlier in the decade which she clearly had by this point in her career. It could also be that love ballads weren't doing so well in the mainstream at the time internationally.
It will forever be known as the song which tops the Christmas charts for the rest of time, however this holiday classic from Mariah Carey was originally released this year where it was a massive success for the final few months of the year before it dropped off the charts completely in the new year. This is arguably the first song to become a success despite having such a limited chart run because of record label's pulling the single from the shelves.
Well, this was a surprise hit for Belinda Carlisle this year, she last troubled the charts five years prior with "Live your life be free" from the album of the same name which became her first album to not be released in her native America. I'm guessing this was a hit to commemorate the tenth anniversary of her solo single "Mad about you," the times may have changed but Belinda's appeal certainly hadn't.
Although she managed to score two hits from her third album here in Australia, neither of them was that big and the album wound up underperforming for P!nk which suggested that her time in the spotlight was up which thankfully wasn't the case as we'll see later in the decade. It's a shame this underperformed because it's one of her more fun tracks about how much of a troublemaker she can be.
This was a bit of a surprise hit for the Pet shop boys considering they hadn't had a huge hit here in Australia since their cover of "Always on my mind" on the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. Then again, the lead single to their album Very was a modest hit earlier in the year, so perhaps they were due for a comeback this year even if it came with this cover of the Village people classic.
Well, this was a massive surprise given how unconventional Beck has always been in the music industry, although this was a hit in his native America as well so perhaps this was us Aussies getting in on the hype of this guy for his one and only hit worldwide. Although he's technically a one hit wonder worldwide, he continues to release albums that while not a commercial success, are critically acclaimed.
It took this song three times to find success in N trance's native UK, given how it was originally released three years prior and was given a second chance the previous year both to little avail. It looked like third time was the charm as this track managed to become a huge success for them in their homeland this year which allowed it to crossover here in Australia where they saw massive success.
Well, I can certainly see where P Diddy earned his reputation of being a derivative producer when many of his own songs have him using such obvious samples, although he did do a great job for his clientele in the east coast hip hop wars such as Biggie Smalls and Ma$e. Here he samples the Led zeppelin classic "Kashmir" and even has the blessing of Jimmy page as he provides new vocals to go with this theme to the Godzilla remake.
These guys had already achieved minor success earlier in the decade as Kaylan, however they decided to rebrand themselves as Disco Montego where they released the first of two songs that featured fellow Australian singer Katie Underwood with this being the only hit of the two songs. The duo did score a second minor hit with "U talking to me" which was another disco throwback from their album.
If you need proof that Aqua were indeed a real band who just happened to appeal to the youth of the day better than their peers, allow me to present to you the fourth song from their debut album which was so mature and unlike the rest of the album it came from that it was chosen as the theme song to Sliding doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow. The film has two stories that run parallel with each other based on whether or not she makes it onto a train, something that makes this ballad seem appropriate to soundtrack.
Given that "Stronger" was a defining moment in Britney Spears career when it comes to female empowerment, I guess it's only fitting that Christina Aguilera would make a song of her own where she overcomes an abusive relationship only to thank her toxic partner for making her a stronger person in the process. It was as successful as her former rival's track from earlier in the decade even though it was far better received by critics.
I've heard people describe P!nk as little more as little more than an industry plant for the pop rock sphere to seem as real as possible despite being completely fake, to those people, I point them to this fourth and final single from her sophomore album which is about her coping with the divorce of her parents which greatly connected with people back in the day to allow it to be a huge hit for her.
I bet audience were surprised to see this RNB jam become a hit in Australia back in the day, mostly because these two while big in their native America, weren't exactly chart toppers on Billboard like so many of their contemporaries that failed to crossover here. That said, boy does it make sense that this was a hit down under due to how groove the production is, it's like the two women went back to the 70's and picked out the grooviest melody they could find for this number.
Following the demise of Shakespear's sister, Marcella Detroit managed to score a solo hit here in Australia with this ballad proving that had they kept things together, we would've supported the duo going forward this decade. Apparently, they couldn't agree upon whether they should be wacky like Siobahn's previous band Bananarama or go in a more serious direction like Marcella wanted to.
It took him over a decade, however LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool Joe for short) finally managed to score a hit in Australia with this track where he has the assistance of Boyz II Men on the chorus fresh off the success of their earlier entry on this list. This would be his only hit as a lead artist down under, however he did score a massive hit with J-Lo in 2003 with their duet "All I have."
This was the last hit that Jimmy Barnes managed to achieve here in Australia, it came from his greatest hits package which he released this year to commemorate how far he had come since going solo from Cold chisel twelve years prior. This was to anticipate the return of the band later in the decade when they release new material for the first time.
There was a good chance that these guys would be the biggest British band of the decade and not Coldplay, they were certainly off to a good start with this Britpop track that became a huge hit here in Australia despite it flopping in their native UK for some reason. The Scottish band would release their third album the following year, however it would be largely overshadowed by Coldplay's debut album.
Five were so inescapable this year that they managed to score a fourth hit in a row from their debut album, which meant that they scored a total of six consecutive hits here in Australia with all of the entries we've looked at so far on this site. That's impressive given how the band would be yesterday's news within a few years into the new millennium.
This was one of two sentimental songs that can be found on Encore, here it's about Eminem rapping to his daughters Hailee and Lainnie about how he was doing his best to support them even though he was considered one of the most controversial people of the decade (despite his previous album successfully addressing these controversies.) It was his biggest hit from Encore on Billboard likely due to audiences finding the sentiment to be sweet.
While this wasn't the debut single to come from Ricki Lee (we'll get to that in a bit) it was the song that confirmed the Australian idol contestant from season two that she was the real deal despite being eliminated early on that season. Indeed, she was a fan favourite for that season which makes her early elimination that much more shocking at the time and especially in retrospect.
This was the second hit that Lenny was able to achieve from his third album internationally, he does so with a self-empowerment anthem about how the listener should believe in themselves which no doubt was why this was able to connect with audiences back in the day. This would be his last hit until much later in the decade when he scored a surprise hit with "Fly away" from his fifth album.
This was a huge hit for Amber who managed to crack the Billboard charts with this EDM track thanks to her strong vocals as well as the campy nature of this track which I'm sure has made it a queer anthem over the years. There was little doubt that this would be a hit here in Australia given how the decade has been filled with dance tracks such as this, and indeed she would have another hit later in the decade with "If you could read my mind" as part of a supergroup.
This was the only hit for everyone involved with the song, it was a massive success in their native UK as well as here in Australia due to it being a catchy EDM track during a time where EDM was about to take over the mainstream in the latter country. This was yet another act who made it big with one hit this decade only to forever fade into obscurity once their said hit had fallen off the charts.
This feels like it was tailor made to be on the soundtrack to one of those dance dance revolution games you'd find in the arcade, although that franchise wouldn't launch until 1998 meaning that this was a hit in its own right here in Australia and Herbie's native UK back in the day.
#50 for 1995 website
With a name like the one these guys gave themselves; you'd think that they would have politically charged lyrics in their music. While they did occasionally get political in their music, their main schtick was novelty tracks such as this that were obviously meant to be played on shows like Beavis and Butthead rather than have any critical analysis applied to them. Indeed, this was a huge hit for the band whose acronym reads POT USA.
#45 for 1996 website
This was the lead single to Celine Dion's album Let's talk about love, I'm guessing it was chosen as such due to the resurgence in popularity that Barbra Streisand had this year following the success of her earlier entry on this list. Of course, this songs legacy has long since been overshadowed by the albums second single which also serves as the theme to the blockbuster film Titanic.
Much like Ginger Spice, Sporty was also able to score more than one hit on her own around the turn of the millennium as this second single from her solo album managed to be a huge sleeper hit here in Australia following the success of her earlier entry on this list. Her last hit would be her reunion with the Spice girls also from earlier on this list before she became little more than a legacy act.
Well, it was only a matter of time before we looked at a song from Limp Bizkit on this site, although it may surprise you to learn that these guys never had a hit in their native America and that their success worldwide more came from how well they did in the UK of all places where this was a chart topper for them. I guess the Brits really enjoyed the combination of rap and rock on this track more than their fellow Americans.
It seems odd that of all the victory singles to make it big from American idol here in Australia, it would come from Fantasia who never had much success even in her homeland following her victory on the reality series. I guess this was a hit here due to the previous winner Rubben Studdard having success over in NZ the previous year along with the runner up Clay Aiken.
I guess it was inevitable that these Disney ballads would find mainstream success given how they were all sweeping the academy awards throughout the Disney renaissance. Here we have the second ballad to win best original song which was this duet between Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle covering the love ballad from the magic carpet scene from the movie Aladdin. It was a number one hit on Billboard and a huge success throughout the rest of the world.
This was the only hit that Tevin Campbell was able to achieve here in Australia, although he was very popular throughout the decade in America given how he scored multiple hit singles on Billboard throughout the 90's. I'm guessing this was a hit here due to it being bouncy enough to compete with all of the other dance tracks from this year, although it firmly placed him in the one hit wonder bin down under.
This is the second single where Robbie Williams is questioning his place in this world, while it isn't as anti-religious as "Better man" was, it does have references to how he feels that God doesn't think much of him throughout the song that makes it somewhat similar to that song. It was a massive hit for him worldwide and likely the reason why his third album this decade was a massive success here in Australia.
Evidently there was this teen comedy series from the 90's known as Party of five, it was apparently popular enough for its theme song to be a huge success this year for the band the Bodeans. The show premiered in 1994, which means this song was already two years old by the time it became a success this year, although the Friends theme from before also had this circuitous route to success down under.
It appears that Ace of base had moved on from being the reggae equivalent of Abba to now being a straight up 90's equivalent of the Swedish foursome from the 70's, this is perhaps why their second album didn't do as well internationally especially considering fans were becoming more nostalgic for the older band around this time thanks to the likes of Muriel's wedding and other films that glorify their catalogue.
Well at least there's one version of this track from the Beastie boys that made it big in Australia, unfortunately it comes to us from a German group who seemed to have missed the point of the original. Then again, a lot of people didn't realise that the original was being ironic towards frat culture as you often find it in soundtracks to frat movies, and the American trio have long since distanced themselves from it.
Kulcha was a NZ band based in Australia who of course managed to score a hit with their debut single both here and in their homeland this year, I guess its success was inevitable even though it's from the new jack swing genre which didn't do well in Australia throughout the 90's. I guess the quartet did resist the urge to "boom shaka laka" even though the song was clearly inspired by the phrase.
Well, this was a bit of a surprise hit for Paula Abdul, even in her native America she hadn't had any success since her sophomore album from earlier in the decade and yet here she is scoring a hit in Australia with something that sounds like it belongs in the world music genre.
I'm guessing the world wasn't as on board with MJ's environmental songs back in the day as they were with the rest of his catalogue given how this was the only song of his in that vein to become a massive success here in Australia. It was the third single from his double album History past present and future which has largely been overshadowed by the other tracks on the album over the years.
This was the final hit that Faith no more was able to achieve in Australia, admittedly this was almost a decade after their final hit in their native America which gives you an idea of how much more popular these guys were here than they were in their homeland. Their lack of success back home led to them calling it quits the following year much to the chagrin of their Australian fanbase.
This was the only hit that Biggie Smalls had here in Australia, at least his rival 2pac managed to score one hit here during his lifetime with "California love." Indeed, I question if this even is a Notorious B.I.G track as this feels like more of a posse cut due to how much time both Diddy and Ma$e get on the track, although I get the feeling this song was only a hit due to the Diana Ross sample.
This is where the Willennium pun came from as Will Smith decided to cash in on the Y2K scare by releasing this track that became a success due to its meme status (or whatever we called a viral hit back then.) Naturally this was seen in poor taste for the rapper considering all of the stress people were going through due to Y2K back in the day.
There didn't seem to be any signs of Craig David slowing down in the mainstream as he released the lead single to his second album which became an instant success for him, I'm guessing because he was making the waves over in America this year with the material from his debut album which made him in the same leagues as Usher who was also enjoying a successful year around the world with his material.
This is the final hit that Five had in their career before they went their separate ways, although the boys already had signs of tension during their third album's production as ABS would leave soon after its release due to creative differences. At least this was a decent hit here in Australia given how the boy band wars had already come to an end by this point.
This will be Dido's only single appearance on the Australian side of my site, oh sure she scored a ton of success with her first two albums here and scored two additional hits over in NZ with "Thank you" and "Here with me," however this ballad from her second album was the best she could do here given how her fans knew that Sony would pull it from shelves soon after its initial release to promote said album.
This was only the second hit that Peter Andre was able to achieve in his career, although most of my non-Australian readers likely didn't even realise he had any success prior to "Mysterious girl" from two years later given how his earlier work as since faded into obscurity due to its failure outside of Australia.
Although this wasn't a huge hit here in Australia like their previous material was, it nonetheless a success for them largely thanks to how inescapable they were with their first two albums with their third album continuing their winner streak in the mainstream. A big complaint for their third album was their sound changing for the worse according to fans, it was certainly different, but I don't agree with it being for the worse.
Given how their American counterpart Az Yet were able to achieve massive success here in Australia this year, it only makes sense that British RNB group Damage would also see success here proving that we Aussies were slowly but surely becoming more susceptible towards RNB music and indeed music of colour in general as the decade was coming to an end. It was their only hit here despite them having a string of hits in their native UK.
Given how many entries on this list alone had to have their release schedules tampered with in order to allow Guy Sebastian to have success in Australia, I think it's safe to say that the general public widely rejected this move given how this only barely makes the list due to sheer prosperity.
This was the third single to come from Culture beat's one and only album, although it was released around the time Serenity hit shelves, so it likely boosted the success of the album for the band this year. They would metaphorically pass the baton to Corona who would also score three hits from their one and only album (albeit without any rapping) before they passed the baton to La Bouche the following year.
I never understood how this song was credited, mainly because it's Kenny Dope presenting, himself as the Bucketheads is just an alias he used on this one and only hit he had worldwide. The song was a massive success for the American DJ everywhere except of course his native America, this was a huge hit in the UK which is why we Aussies and most of Europe knew about it.
The original version of this track from Bobby Brown was a massive flop here in Australia back in the late 80's, so that means this cover from Britney Spears is likely the only version we Aussies are familiar with given that it was a huge hit for her from her first greatest hits album. Aside from gender flipping some of the lyrics to refer to her younger sister, it's essentially the same song as the original.
This was the third Billboard chart topper in a row that Usher had in his native America, it's easy to see why as it continues the theme of him airing out his dirty laundry from his relationship with Chilli from TLC where he admits that he screwed up in the relationship. It was a bit of a surprise hit here in Australia given how it didn't even chart over in NZ where Usher was infinitely more popular.
Sandwiched between their two earlier entries on this list was this second single from Big Brovaz, it's a song that interpolates the song from the Sound of music and updates the lyrics to be about how much the female members are into expensive luxuries that their male counterparts could give them. It was an easy hit for them in Australia and their native UK, however the rest of the world was obviously turned off by this interpolation.
This was yet another double release that became a hit in the late 90's in Australia, although at least there's nowhere in the world where either of these songs were released individually so it's not like we Aussies bundled them together because we wanted to or anything. I guess "Who do you think you are" is the lead single from this release given how it's a disco revival track whereas "Mama" is one of the more subdue tracks that often slips under their radar.
This was the second single to come from Holly Valance, this time it's an original track where she's telling the person she's with to pump the breaks on their relationship, although it's easy to interpret this as her being a sex worker as well given that's how I imagine them dealing with rowdy customers. Of all the cast members from Neighbours to have a music career, I can say that Holly was by the most sexually provocative.
This was a huge success for Things of stone and wood (again with a silly band name on this site) mainly because it was an E.P named after their signature tune which helped them find an audience during a time where it was beginning to become difficult for Aussies to make it big in the mainstream. Indeed, they wouldn't find any success with any of their singles despite having a decently successful album.
The legends are true people, there was a Christmas rendition of the Macarena that was a huge success here in Australia during the Christmas season of 1996. No wonder the trend became kitsch once every version of the dance dropped off the charts worldwide.
This may seem a little low to my Australian readers given how inescapable this was on the radio and even to this day how often it appears in commercials, however it wasn't as big a hit as you might think likely due to some of its success being eaten up by illegal downloads as well as it being the lead single to a highly successful album from him. It was a much bigger hit in NZ where it didn't have these hinderances.
This was the fourth and final hit that Mariah Carey released from her third album Music box, it was a continuation of the theme of having a music box played to you from the CD as here she uses that melody to reassure the listener that she'll be there whenever they feel like they need a friend. What really sells this track is the Motown choir which compliments her vocals and lyrics really nicely.
This is one of those songs that was well promoted by Triple J which resulted in its success, although the song was a catchy throwback to the psychedelia complete with a video that seems to be an homage to the Alice in wonderland books. This was the only hit for Swoop, likely because the rest of their catalogue wasn't nearly as catchy as this breakthrough single was for them.
It took him five years, but Armand Van Helden was able to escape the one hit wonder bin here in Australia with this track that comes complete with a video that depicts a peeping tom ogling on women in bikinis. I'm not sure what the fascination was with EDM tracks objectifying women as there'll be plenty of other entries as we go further in the decade where this was the case.
You know this thing was inescapable when the inevitable Christmas track was a massive hit for it back in the day, the Crazy frog was so hated back in the day that many publications gave it alternative names to "the annoying thing" which its official creators called it.
Well, if nothing else, you can't accuse Robbie Williams of being one dimensional as this was his venture towards ska pop which I suppose wasn't too far removed from his venture towards swing from earlier in the decade. It was a big hit for him worldwide, although it would be one of his last hits as his next album would see him venture towards hip hop which fans didn't appreciate.
This was the big breakthrough his for one of the more divisive British RNB singers of the decade, mainly for her other big hit "Life" which has gone down as one of the worst songs of all time for its shoddy lyrics. This was chosen as the theme song to the Next karate kid which allowed it to become an even bigger success in America, although it was big enough worldwide without that film's affiliation.
This was the final hit that Meat loaf had worldwide, although considering it's more of the 70's rock opera that made his two Bat out of hell albums a huge success, it's impressive he was able to have this be a success given how the 90's was more in line with grunge and alternative rock.
The hits kept on coming for RHCP during the 00's, true they didn't reach the dizzying heights of their hits from the 90's, however considering their albums were still selling like hot cakes this decade (granted all two of them) it was impressive, nonetheless. Here they have their first hit of the decade in Australia with the title track to their first album of the decade which remains a staple on oldies stations to this day.
This was originally the B-side to Elvis's hit single "Don't cry daddy" from 1970, there it was a big hit here in Australia and in most parts of the world given that it was the first song he released after the success of "Suspicious minds." British DJ Paul Oakenfold decided to remix the track where it became a big success for the king of rock and roll posthumously just like "A little less conversation" the previous year.
We Aussies didn't seem to care that Ashlee Simpson had embarrassed herself on SNL like the rest of the world did, otherwise she wouldn't have scored three more hits after the incident down under beginning with this third single from her debut album which I remember being inescapable back in the day despite it only ranking this high on this list. I guess this could've been bigger if more people were proud to admit they enjoyed it.
This was a surprise hit for west coast rapper Terrance Quaites AKA TQ considering it was released the previous year to massive success worldwide except for Australia, I guess the popularity of 2Pac from beyond the grave convinced us there was still merit to be found in west coast hip hop in the final year of the 90's. He wasn't able to achieve any other hits worldwide, making him a one hit wonder with this track.
This was the only hit to come from Leah Haywood, a rising star in the Australian music scene who curiously called it quits after just one album likely due to her feeling that she couldn't adapt with the times after said album underperformed on our charts. Indeed, this feels like it was only a hit due to the success that Mandy Moore and Jessica Simpson had this year with their ballads being similar to this one.
This was the other big hit that Lindsay Lohan had here in Australia, with this being a song she wrote about her estranged relationship with her father who had been exploiting her fame since she joined Disney almost a decade prior to this coming out. Even though she was panned by critics for not being a good vocalist in their eyes (I personally disagree with that assessment) it still resonates with fans to this day thanks to its honest lyrics.
Well, here's a song that took its sweet time in finding success here in Australia, again mainly due to RNB not being the most popular genre of the decade here despite this debut single from Monica being a huge success in NZ and her native America. She would go on to have far more success than her main rival Brandy throughout the 90's, in fact it wasn't until their collaboration that Brandy would be as successful as Monica.
Well, this was the song that led off the album cycle to the first U2 album that was poorly received by critics, I get that U2's schtick had become centred on irony throughout the 90's, but they perhaps took it a bit too far when they released an entire album based around the pop rock of the day.
U2 where on a roll with their album Zooropa as this managed to become a hit for them worldwide likely due to Bono returning as the main vocalist on this track compared to their previous two singles which had the Edge on vocals.
Although they saw massive success in Europe the previous year with "Don't give me your life," this wasn't a bit hit over there which makes its massive success here in Australia for Alex party a bit confusing until you remember that EDM was still all the rage here upon its release. I feel this was their loss as this is a much better song than their international hit largely due to it being catchier and better performed.
This was arguably the final song to be released in the 90's that became a huge hit worldwide, mainly because this serves as both a Christmas song as well as an unofficial anthem for the turn of the millennium despite that not happening until the end of this year. It's also considered to be one of the worst songs of all time and a good reason as to why Cliff Richard hasn't had any more hits since.
Baby Spice was always my favourite from the Spice Girls, so it brings me great pleasure in presenting her one and only hit she had in her career away from her friends which sadly wasn't as big here as it was in NZ and throughout Europe. She was the member of the group most affiliated with adult contemporary, which is perhaps why she didn't find as much success as the likes of Ginger and Sporty.
This was the only other hit that Toni Pearen was able to score in her singing career, although like I said earlier, her acting career did lead to her becoming a popular TV host once the hits dried up later in the decade. Again, she never released anything as embarrassing as her E-Street co-star Melissa Tkautz, which means she hasn't been relegated to a reality star over the years and is still respected in the industry.
This was the final hit that the Smashing pumpkins were able to score here in Australia, mainly because this was a Razzie nominated theme to what is considered to be one of the worst films of all time Batman and Robin. Obviously, the theme was nowhere near as bad as the film and that the Razzie's simply hated everything affiliated with it, however this did leave the band with a bad reputation in the music industry.
This was originally released as a B-side to "Where the streets have no name" all the way back in 1987, although it did receive a release here in Australia as a lead single back in 1989 likely to cash in off the success of Rattle and hum that it didn't end up accomplishing. It was given a second chance as a lead single this year when it was repackaged as a bonus track for their greatest hits album covering their 80's material.
This was the highest charting song that Metallica had from their Reload album in Australia, it goes to show that as much as their fans hated this phase of their career, audiences clearly loved them due to how big they were.
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