Hits of Australia and NZ: Hits of the 90's Australia VI

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.

If these guys seem familiar to you, that's because they appeared on the chorus to Peter Andre's cover of "Get down on it" as Past to present which meant they already had some form of recognition when they rebranded themselves as Ilanda (due to the departure of one of their original members.) This track did decently well going into the 00's, although I doubt many people remember it these days.

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.

Although it wasn’t an instant success here in Australia like it was over in NZ, we Aussies were intrigued enough with this lead single to the Spin doctor's debut album that we allowed it to chart for quite some time on our charts back in the day. Heck, it didn't even rebound when "Two princes" from earlier on this list was released and became an instant success for the band here.

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.

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.

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.

22 weeks

#47 for 1996

#54 for 1997

#48 for 1989

#52 for 1990

#61 for 1999

#54 for 1993

#53 for 1990

#44 for 1994

#54 for 1990

#43 for 1992

#58 for 1998

#62 for 1999

(12 weeks on AMR)

#48 for 1996

#45 for 1994

#63 for 1999

#49 for 1995

#64 for 1999

#54 for 2000

#44 for 1991

#44 for 1992

#55 for 1990

#46 for 1994

#50 for 1995

#49 for 1996

#55 for 1997

#55 for 1993

#47 for 1994

#50 for 1996

#56 for 1993

#48 for 1994

#45 for 1991

#49 for 1994

#51 for 1995

#59 for 1998

#52 for 1995

#60 for 1998

(12 weeks on AMR)

#61 for 1998

#46 for 1991

#50 for 1994

#56 for 1990

#65 for 1999

#52 for 1989

#57 for 1990

#53 for 1995

#66 for 1999

#58 for 2000

#67 for 1999

#62 for 1998

#54 for 1995

#51 for 1996

#52 for 1996

#58 for 1990

#45 for 1992

#46 for 1992

#51 for 1994

#47 for 1991

#63 for 1998

#56 for 1997

#57 for 1993

#58 for 1993

#68 for 1999

#48 for 1991

#59 for 1993

#52 for 1994

#57 for 1997

#69 for 1999

#53 for 1996

#60 for 1993

#49 for 1991

#70 for 1999

#50 for 1991

#64 for 1998

#53 for 1994

#58 for 1997

#71 for 1999

#65 for 1998

It looks like Lisa Stansfield managed to get herself out of the one hit wonder bin here in Australia with this gem, although once again, that's mainly due to this being a sleeper hit despite it being very similar to her biggest hit "All around the world." The next time her influence would be felt was when Joanne covered one of her tracks during her time with Bluezone years after this became a hit for Lisa.

#66 for 1998

(9 weeks on AMR)

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.

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.

It looks like Extreme were able to have a second hit here in Australia just like they did in NZ and their native America, although we Aussies were a bit more confused with this second single than the kiwis and their fellow Americans were given how it was more of a sleeper hit for the band here than it was in those two countries. I guess they're another example of a band breaking through too late to have more of an impact in the music scene.

#51 for 1991

We have a second appearance from Margaret Urlich on this site, this being her second solo single from her solo debut which lasted for quite some time on our charts as well as it being a minor hit in her homeland (too minor to appear on that side of my site.) She would have another near miss on her second solo album with "Boy on the moon" before officially fading into obscurity.

Whereas these guys were able to make it onto the NZ side of my site proper with "The hardest thing," this was the best they were able to do here in Australia as we Aussies didn't seem interested in hearing from Nick Lachey and company back in the day. That said, Nick would score a massive solo hit several years later thanks to his failed marriage with Jessica Simpson.

This cover of the Neil Diamond classic was originally a part of Urge overkill's 1992 E.P Stull which naturally received little attention due to the E.P coming from an alternative band that saw little success in their native America. It was finally given a chance to shine when it was chosen as the theme song to the cult classic Pulp fiction which was one of the most popular films of the mid 90's worldwide.

I guess we Aussies were moderate fans of this "theme song" to the Cleopatra universe as it stuck around on our charts for quite some time back in the day. Granted it wasn't as big here as it was in NZ or their native UK, however it did show signs that we Aussies would be interested in what else the trio had to offer which sadly never materialised into success.

21 weeks