I've decided to rank the songs of the 90's based on how long they charted here in Australia, this is to give an idea of which songs became a success despite being pulled from shelves and which ones persisted with no resistance from our music scene. I've also included a few new entries from post 1992 given how I covered the lower half of the charts from the pre-Oz music charts era already on this site and thus wanted to give these entries some representation on my site. I’ll also spare my return readers commentary for songs that appeared on my other Australian list for the 90’s on this site and only include commentary from entries that are either new to this list or marked their debut on my Oz music charts list or the 1980-1992 list.
Also to note, I’m using the chart run from the AMR charts for this list as I feel that’s a better representation of how long these songs stuck around for back in the day as opposed to the ARIA charts. As such, many songs that refused to die on the latter charts will be appearing much lower on this list due to them going away much quicker on the former charts (particularly from late 1997 and early 1998.) The exception of course being from 1999 as David Kent ceased publication the final week of 1998 and has only reproduced top twenty charts from that point on, meaning I had to use ARIA charts for songs that charted in 1999. That said, I’ll bring up how long a song from 1998 charted on the AMR charts before it ceased publication as a bit of a fun fact even though I’ll be using its ARIA run to determine its placement on this list.
#42 for 1996
#30 for 1992
#54 for 1999
#45 for 1993
#46 for 1993
#31 for 1992
#55 for 1999
It turns out we Aussies were somewhat familiar with the Prodigy prior to their mainstream breakthrough with "Breathe" given how this second single from their sophomore album Music for the jilted generation managed to become a surprise sleeper hit here in Australia upon its initial release. I'm not sure why this was the song which saw them breakthrough here given how it wasn't among their biggest hits in their native UK.
#51 for 1998
This nearly made my 1999 list given how it cracked the ARIA top ten upon its initial release, however it appears we Aussies couldn't decide if we liked these guys because they were teen idols or a pop rock band which resulted in it spending most of its chart run in the lower half of our charts. Thankfully because of my decision to include sleeper hits on this list, it more than qualifies for this entry.
#43 for 1996
#37 for 1994
#48 for 1997
#56 for 1999
#39 for 1995
#40 for 1995
It would’ve been tempting for this to be a remix of the Human league track of the same name given how that came out eleven years prior to massive worldwide success, however this is an original track from the British DJ Felix that was a massive success in his homeland as well as a decent success here in Australia likely due to it being an EDM track during the height of that genre’s popularity here.
This was the lead single to Ugly kid Joe's debut album (bearing in mind that "Everything about you" came from their debut E.P despite that too being included on said album) the song was a huge sleeper hit here in Australia mainly for the presence of Julia Sweeney as her character Pat Riley in the music video. Now if you're looking to accuse a 90's property of being transphobic, Pat Riley and her movie it's Pat is something I wouldn't mind you going after given how offensive that is even for its time.
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.
Although these guys did achieve moderate success with their second album Live through this here in Australia (likely due to Coutney Love's explosion in popularity following the tragic death of her husband Kirk Cobain around the time of its release) it was this title track from their third album which really put them on the map despite their previous fans crying sellout due to how much more pop friendly it is.
"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.
Maybe dolls were similar to that of Baby animals (right down to the bizarre band names) in that they were a pop rock band that saw moderate success right before Australian bands had a hard time with finding success in the mainstream. Here they are with their only notable single that did fairly well despite failing to appear on the upper half of our charts during its chart run.
I'm not exactly sure why this entry from LL cool J became a huge sleeper hit here in Australia, I'm guessing it was due to us Aussies being more receptive of hip hop given how the rapper turned actor did have a huge hit here with "Hey lover" two years prior to when this caught on.
We have one more entry from JX to feature on my list, this one incidentally being his biggest hit in his native UK which is perhaps why we Aussies gave him a third hit even though we were clearly done with his brand of EDM by this point in time. Unlike his other two hits, I'm unable to determine who the guest vocalist is on this track.
23 weeks
#47 for 1993
#38 for 1994
#49 for 1997
#32 for 1992
#48 for 1993
#57 for 1999
#49 for 1993
#41 for 1995
#42 for 1995
#45 for 1990
#43 for 2000
#52 for 1998
#39 for 1994
#58 for 1999
#50 for 1993
#46 for 1990
#44 for 1996
#43 for 1995
#53 for 1998
#50 for 1997
#54 for 1998
#51 for 1997
#33 for 1991
#34 for 1991
#35 for 1991
#33 for 1992
#47 for 1990
#36 for 1991
#37 for 1991
#34 for 1992
#35 for 1992
#45 for 1996
#48 for 1990
#38 for 1991
#40 for 1994
#36 for 1992
#59 for 1999
#44 for 1995
#46 for 1996
#41 for 1994
#37 for 1992
#38 for 1992
#39 for 1992
#40 for 1992
#39 for 1991
#52 for 1997
#48 for 2000
#40 for 1991
#41 for 1991
#51 for 1993
#42 for 1991
#41 for 1992
#49 for 1990
#55 for 1998
(9 weeks on AMR)
#52 for 1993
#56 for 1998
#42 for 1992
#53 for 1997
#42 for 1994
#45 for 1995
#43 for 1991
#50 for 1990
#53 for 1993
#50 for 2000
#51 for 1990
#46 for 1995
#47 for 1995
This is a song that refused to die on our charts despite it failed to crack our top forty back in the day, I guess we Aussies didn't know what to do with Marilyn Manson when he initially broke through as he was too bizarre and alternative to chart with the likes of the Spice girls, but we were still somewhat intrigued by what he had to offer regardless.
As an extra fun fact this lasted 56 WEEKS ON THE ARIA CHARTS!!!!!!! Thought I'd bring this up to justify why this song made the cut for this list even though it flopped on the AMR charts.
#43 for 1994
If you’re wondering how this third single from 2 unlimited’s debut album managed to be such a huge success here in Australia despite said album being far from the biggest of its time, that's because this came bundled with a mega mix which makes this more of an E.P than a single even though most will say that the success of this bundle came from the song.
#60 for 1999
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.
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.
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.
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.
#57 for 1998
(11 weeks on AMR)
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.
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.
This was the only hit that Tasmin Archer had in her career (fun fact, that's her real birth name and not a stage name she chose for herself.) Despite it being a huge chart topper in her native UK, it took a while for this to take off here in Australia, hence why the RNB ballad failed to rack up the points to appear on one of my lists but was regardless a genuine hit with us Aussies back in the day.
Although this was released following the surprise success of "Fly away" from earlier on this list, this was in fact the second single from the Austin Powers Spy who shagged me soundtrack following "Beautiful stranger" which we also looked at earlier in this list. I guess we Aussies had bought both the soundtrack and Lenny's deluxe edition of 5 which both included this track to explain why it wasn't a bigger hit here.
This was technically the lead single to Living end's debut album (their top entry on this list was its own E.P even though both tracks appear on the album) I'm not sure why this was only a sleeper hit given how the second single managed to appear on one of my official lists on this site, however it did find its audience in the long run regardless.
This feels more in line with Gary Moore's brand of blues rock rather than his cover of the Easybeats classic which put his name on the map here in Australia, although it's worth noting this was only a success down under due to the surprise success of that cover from three years prior even if it remains his signature track on oldies stations to this day due to its success back in the day.
#48 for 1995
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