Well, I've mentioned them thoroughly throughout my site, so I guess it's finally time to look at which songs were popular on the Billboard charts that were also big hits in the southern hemisphere throughout the 90's. For the sake of my sanity, I've decided to only include songs that have already appeared on this site given how I've already stretched myself thin in contextualising what was popular in Australia and NZ during a time where I was only an infant. That said I will be including fresh commentary for each entry on this list given how what I've said about them previously obviously will feel out of place on this list, I've also decided to rank this based on the top 500 that's on the website, meaning that this is by no means a comprehensive list of every song to make it big in America this decade.
Given how Sisqo went on to have a massive hit as a solo artist at the start of the 00's worldwide, it's only fitting that the group that made him a name in music would find massive success in their homeland prior to that happening. Their biggest hit on Billboard was actually "In my bed" a year prior to when this caught on over there, however that was a flop internationally and this won't be appearing on this list.
As you can imagine, the Billboard chart toppers are becoming increasingly rare as we go further down this list, here we have one from Enrique Iglesias as this was his debut single in English that became a massive worldwide hit for him thanks to his connections to Julio Iglesias (his father.) Despite having the strongest start in America, he actually found more success in the long run here in Australia of all places.
Although this wasn't Tom Petty's only hit in his homeland, it remains his biggest as his fellow Americans didn't have much love for his music back in the day. That said, this track was a huge hit on Billboard like it was over in NZ which is far more than I can say about its success here in Australia where it was non-existent.
For whatever reason, this third single from Backstreet’s back was delayed by a full year in America despite it already being a massive worldwide hit for the boy band. Its delay did little to hamper its success as it was a massive hit on Billboard when it finally hit store shelves in early 1999, I'm guessing this was a cross promotion for their third album Millennium as a result.
This is the final appearance from Michel Bolton on this list, although he did have one more entry on Billboard's 90's list with "When I'm back on my feet again" which was a flop throughout the rest of the world and thus won't be appearing on here. It seems odd this was as big when it was given how most of his contemporaries from the start of the decade were yesterday's news when it caught on.
I did mention this was a hit here in Australia thanks to its surprise success in Billboard a year after its initial release, this was the case even if it wasn't as huge in America as I might have led on given how low it appears on this list. Even so, it was proof that UB40 were able to survive the transition from the 80's to the 90's as their earlier entry on this list would attest.
Given how this was the song that got TLC out of our one hit wonder bin here in Australia, you can imagine it being a huge hit in their homeland which indeed it was. This was set to be their final single due to legal issues which led to them declaring bankruptcy shortly after its release, however they fixed things up behind the scenes shortly before their third album.
This was the only hit that Blessid union of souls had in their homeland as "Hey Leonardo" wasn't as such by the end of the decade despite its success here in Australia, it's fitting this would've made the cut for this list given how much in line it was in with the singer/songwriter ballads that filled up the Billboard charts during the midpoint of the decade.
This will be the final appearance of Mariah Carey on this list, fitting how her last entry is as a duet with someone else even if said duet is a cover of another duet from over a decade prior. This didn’t quite reach the dizzying heights of success on Billboard that the original did, however it was a huge hit regardless due to the star power of both artists in question.
We have another final appearance on this list, this time it's from the queen of pop who scored a massive hit with this lead single to her critically acclaimed album Ray of light throughout the world. This was almost a Billboard chart topper for her, it wasn't due to having weak airplay in America as this was a hit mainly through strong sales.
I guess there was some love for EDM in America after all throughout the 90's as we have a second appearance from the Real McCoy to feature on this list, they had other hits on Billboard off their debut album which sadly didn't make the cut due to them all being too minor to do so.
It may shock you to learn that this was actually the weakest of the three hits that spawned from the Bodyguard soundtrack in America given how much of a failure "I have nothing" was internationally, then again that was the Oscar nominated song from the movie (along with "Run to you") given how the two entries from the soundtrack that were international hits were covers of older songs.
Although it wasn't a massive hit on Billboard, the fact that this became as such in America ensured that Chris Isaak would be a name to look out for as the 90's unfolded. That was certainly the case here in Australia where his fifth album Forever blue became a massive success, however not so much in his homeland as this remains his only hit to this day over there.
Given how the east coast had finally broken through to the mainstream worldwide, this meant that Ma$e had little issues with finding international success which began with Diddy's tribute to Biggie smalls from the top of this list. He broke through on his own with this entry which became a huge success in NZ and in his homeland.
Like many big hits from Canadian artists, this wasn't a huge hit in the homeland for the artist in question even though it was the lead single from the album upon its initial release over there. I'm not sure how this caught on in America, but it did which led to it becoming a huge chart topper here in Australia, meaning this was more successful down under than it was anywhere else in the world.
Even though this wasn't the big hit off of Skid row's debut album in their native America (that honour goes to "18 and life") it was the big international hit for the hair metal band which allowed it to appear on this list. Had this been released even six months later, it probably would've flopped for the band due to how distinctly 80's sounding it is compared to everything else on this list.
Tone Toni Tone might've failed to score another entry on this list; however, their contemporary Joe public were able to keep the trio company as they too saw a massive hit in their homeland with their one and only hit in their discography. I guess their fellow Americans felt they were a rip-off of the trio as they're a one hit wonder even on the Billboard charts.
This remains as Busta Rhyme's biggest hit in his native America, some people will say that it was "Woo hah" as that was a huge success on the Billboard charts, however that didn't make it on their 90's list whereas this did, making this the big hit in his catalogue as far as his fellow Americans are concerned. I'm guessing this was due to the presence of Janet Jackson as she was still on a roll when this came out.
OK so I'm kind of cheating with this entry as obviously this wasn't a hit in the southern hemisphere when it was in America, however it was only a success on Billboard in 1993 due to it being a bomb upon its initial release in 1988, so I'm counting it here. Naturally this was a success due to it being rereleased to cash in on the Johnny Depp flick Benny and Joon which had this on its soundtrack.
We are truly scraping the bottom of the Billboard barrel when it comes to filling out this list if this second single from George Michael's album Listen without prejudice managed to make the cut over much more lucrative entries on their charts throughout the 90's. I don't doubt this was more of a success than its paltry chart run would suggest, however I feel this goes to show how week their charts were after 1991.
I'm a bit surprised that we didn't have a reappearance of Eric Clapton's single from his MTV unplugged episode given how both Mariah Carey and Rod Stewart were able to make the cut for Billboard's 90's list with their respective appearances. This one's particularly interested seeing as though this was originally an album track from his (then) most recent album Vagabond heart and little more.
Although this was a massive hit in All saints native UK, it was only a chart topper in Australia and NZ as it peaked in their homeland during the lucrative Christmas season of 1997. All of this was incentive enough for Americans to check out was all the fuss was about, although it's worth noting the music video was different over there than the one that was shot for international audiences.
It seemed inevitable that Five would have at least one hit in America given how inescapable the Backstreet boys were on the Billboard charts, although this is the only boy band entry not to come from those guys as the boy band wars didn't take off in America until the TRL era began in 1999. At least they had a hit over there which is more than I can say for most other boy bands of the decade.
This was the other big hit that Enigma had in their career worldwide, again it had the better chart run in America than their earlier entry but mainly because of the lack of competition it had when it was released over there. Even so, the fact they had two entries on one of these lists on Billboard's site as opposed to the zero entries Enya had makes them the definitive new age act as far as Americans are concerned.
This was what got Monica out of the one hit wonder bin that "Don't take it personal" threatened to trap her in both in NZ and her homeland, it curiously became a hit in both countries around the time her debut finally caught on here in Australia as a bit of an extra fun fact. I think the final tallies show that she was slightly more successful than her rival Brandy given how she had more entries on Billboard's 90's list overall.
I would've been surprised if this didn't make the cut for Billboard's 90's list as it’s a song many people to this day think is from Boyz II men rather than from one of their many knockoffs of the day. That said, it appears this was more popular in the southern hemisphere likely because of the knockoff quality of this track, either that or Americans weren't as nostalgic for the Japanese original as we Aussies or kiwis were.
You didn't think I'd make it through this list without mentioning this iconic track, did you? Well, I almost did as it turns out this wasn't that big of a hit in America compared to the rest of the world despite having a chart run that suggests otherwise on Billboard. What's more surprising is that this was more of a hit through sales, meaning you can blame weak airplay for why this didn't do better on this list.
We have another RNB hit from the second half of the decade to make it on here, this time it's from Uncle Sam who remains a one hit wonder in his homeland just like he does over in NZ where this was also big. Even though the main charts were filled with RNB ballads just like this, I'd like to think all of the ones Americans actually cared about at least found minor success in NZ back in the day.
Hey, you may hate the film (even if it's only because Twitter tells you to) however there's no denying that Pocahontas was a genuine success back in the day which is partially due to its theme song from Vanessa Williams that managed to be a huge hit for her on Billboard. This actually got her out of the one hit wonder bin here in Australia, so I would've been surprised if it flopped over there.
I'm shocked this wasn't higher on this list given how it was easily one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia, although I'm guessing that was due to us Aussies waiting to see what the fuss was about as this admittedly was a hit in America and NZ months prior to it ever seeing the light of day on our charts. Ginuwine did have other hits in his homeland, although none came close to what this achieved.
Although these two achieved minor success on Billboard with their debut album from 1985, it wasn't until their involvement with the Pretty woman soundtrack that they scored a genuine hit in America even if it bombed in their native UK and in NZ where they found the most success prior to this hit. Naturally this was also a hit here in Australia due to our love of the film as well as the song itself.
Even though this wasn't the most successful song in the UK at the time of its release, it was enough of a hit over there as well as here in Australia and NZ for Americans to check out what the fuss was about for this British EDM singer turned RNB legend. The best was yet to come as we've seen earlier on this list, however it was a solid start to a highly lucrative career regardless of where in the world you're from.
It looks like we have another entry from a boy band on this list whose name isn't the Backstreet boys, it turns out the Americans wanted to see what the fuss was about with Take that given how this was a massive chart topper here in Australia after all their other singles had flopped outside of their native UK prior to this point. This allowed it to be a huge hit on Billboard even if it was their only hit there.
It was fitting that this would make the list given how it comes right after the success of Coolio's top entry on this list, indeed it was even the song that got him out of the one hit wonder bin here in Australia given how "Fantastic voyage" was a massive flop for him here two years prior. His presence on this list is sadly incomplete given how "C u when u get there" failed to appear on Billboard's 90's list.
One of the rare Canadian tracks to be a massive hit in the homeland of the artist in question, this is the international breakthrough single for Tom Cochrane who had been active in the music scene for nearly two decades before he finally caught on in America and then the rest of the world with this track. This was actually a bigger hit here in Australia and NZ given how it charted much higher than it did on Billboard.
While this wasn't as big a hit for Sophie B Hawkins in her homeland, at least it managed to be a massive success throughout the rest of the world as opposed to just here in Australia like "As I lay me down" wound up being for her. I get the feeling it was this track that finally gave Melissa Etheridge the breakthrough she needed in her homeland given how she dominated the midpoint of the decade on Billboard.
You'd think Tevin Campbell would've racked up the entries on Billboard's 90's list given how popular he was internationally throughout the decade, alas this was his only appearance on the site which makes this list due to how popular it was in NZ following its success in his homeland. Still, I get the feeling that "Can we talk" and "I'm ready" were near misses on Billboard's list.
While it's hard to say if this was a success due to the Led zeppelin sample, it being attached to the Godzilla remake or for Diddy's artist momentum, there's no denying that this did have its fans upon its initial release which has since faded away due to the critical derision it's received over the years.
Even though this was twice as successful here in Australia (it was even a chart topper on the AMR charts) it's worth noting that this was only the case a good six months after it was a huge hit in their homeland and a minor hit over in NZ, thus explaining why this is far lower than you'd think it was if you're from Australia like I am.
This seems like another obvious choice to make Billboard's 90's list given how well it did in America upon its initial release, although curiously it was Australia that made it a hit outside of America and not NZ even though the kiwis were more into RNB and hip hop around this time over us Aussies. I'm starting to think that was only the case for male artists given how their female counterparts seem to break this rule.
I guess we Aussies needed to know of the existence of Faith no more somehow, even so, the fact this was only a modest top ten hit in their homeland is shocking to me given how this was a huge chart topper here as well as a massive hit over in NZ. Naturally this was their only hit on Billboard even though they scored a ton of other hits down under including a second chart topper with a Lionel Richie cover.
This is the lowest ranking Billboard chart topper on this list, hey at least every song that topped the American charts throughout the 90's is accounted for even if we're nearing the end of the list. It seems fitting that a song that won a Razzie purely because it was the only nomination for the category would be the least popular number one hit of the decade amongst Will Smith's fellow Americans.
You can rest assured that En vogue's signature track "My loving" would've made the list had it been a success anywhere in the world outside of America, I'm not sure why it wasn't but that's how it is. The big hit off that album in NZ was this cover of the Aretha Franklin classic which almost topped their charts despite it being the second single from the album.
This is another entry that only makes the list due to airplay stats even though it did eventually become eligible for the main charts due to it peaking when Billboard changed its chart format. I guess the Americans were aware this guy was related to Neneh Cherry (likely because of the surname) and thus decided not to release this as a single and to promote his album instead.
This was a mini comeback for Janet's album err.... Janet in America just like it was here in Australia, interestingly this honour goes to "Whoops now" in NZ which goes to show that the album was willing to spawn one more hit over a year after its release even if what the hit was differs depending on where you're from.
The purple one strikes again with his final appearance on this list, it's the theme song to his critically panned film Graffiti bridge which was enough of a success in his homeland to make it on the list over so many other notable entries from later in the decade that missed the cut for one reason or another.
Another entry that by all accounts shouldn't make the list if we were going purely by chart runs, this time it's the debut single from Cathy Denis which was a moderate success in America due to the buzz it had here in Australia as well as in certain parts of Europe. This led to her scoring a massive hit with "Touch me" which would've made it on here had it become a genuine success in the southern hemisphere.
Our final entry for the list, we have the only hit that Crystal Waters had in her homeland which only became as such due to it nearly topping the charts here in Australia of all places. This further proves just how kind we Aussies were to women of colour throughout the decade if her fellow Americans needed this to click with us Aussies before they gave it the chance it so thoroughly deserved.
As this is a shorter list of mine, I thought I’d use this opportunity to do a recap of what I’ve learned looking over Billboard’s best of list for the decade. My first observation is that contrary to popular belief, the charts were EXTREMELY diverse when it comes to race and gender as we’ve had several entries from the likes of women, people of colour and even women of colour throughout this list. That’s not even counting the entries I omitted due to them flopping in Australia and NZ as there were a ton of other entries from these groups that made the decade list on Billboard’s website. The flip side unfortunately is that you had to be American to have a shot at making it on here, yes there were a few outliers on the list (particularly from these groups) however unless you had good marketing or were inescapable in the rest of the world, you were unlikely to catch the attention of American audiences be it on the radio or with physical sales if you weren’t American or based in America. Another observation is that there was a constant battle between rock, RNB and hip hop as to what was the dominate genre of the decade with EDM being in fourth place with a noticeable distance from the other three genres. Again, unless you were dominating the charts in Europe and/or Australasia, chances are you weren’t going to get a look into the mainstream market in America this decade unless you were from one of the big three entries. Also to note is how few artists who began their careers prior to 1985 there were on this list, even then, the ones that did make the cut only did so due to how much of an advantage 1990 and 1991 had over the rest of the decade which is widely considered to be the 80’s hangover period in music. Speaking of, I can’t stress enough how biased this list is towards the start of the decade even if Billboard has an excellent excuse for doing so, I’d rather feature songs that had to fight their way to the top of the charts and didn’t quite succeed from these two years rather than trying to extrapolate why some random RNB number no one remembers in 1998 managed to become a massive success in America but nowhere else in the world. There’s only so many ways I can say “this was only a hit through sales but not airplay” or vice versa before that got redundant, although I will say that it was foolish of Billboard to prioritise chart records over tracking what was genuinely popular throughout the decade as it makes it impossible to determine what was genuinely popular amongst American audiences at the time.
So, to summarise, Billboard basically killed their validity by encouraging chart records rather than tracking what consumers were listening to, non-American artists had a dire disadvantage to scoring a hit and gender studies graduates are full of shit when they tell you women and non-white people had any sort of disadvantage in scoring a hit (provided of course they were Americans.) I had a ton of fun going over this list and thus am looking forward to doing so for the 80’s, until then, take care and I’ll see you around.
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