This is my biggest project yet! I've decided to rank all the biggest songs and albums to make it big here in Australia by how well they did on our charts from 1970 to 2009. The reason I'm not including the 2010's and beyond is because let's face it, I want this list to be a celebration of all the biggest and best songs to appeal to us Aussies and I feel that the vast majority of songs and albums that made it big after 2009 won't have the lasting cultural impact that even amid level hit from 1973 still has decades later. I'll be including stats from both the ARIA AND AMR charts meaning that all singles from mid-1988 onwards as well as albums that charted between mid-1988 and late 1998 will have two entries on this list to showcase how well they did on each chart (you'll know the difference when an entry has THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY rather than my commentary on it.) One final thing, this will be presented as a countdown, meaning that I'm breaking tradition by having each entry be more successful than the last as opposed to the opposite like every other list on this site.
#6100
This was the second hit that Michael Bolton scored off his breakthrough album, it's a more upbeat track about him telling his partner that they can't hook up unless they're friends, making this a pseudo-Spice girls track as that was effectively the message of their biggest hit "Wannabe" later in the decade. I think because of these two factors, this ranks as one of his better hits in his catalogue.
#6099
Dee C Lee was the backing vocalist for the Style council, so it seems fitting that she would launch a solo career given how she's likely the reason why Paul Weller found more success with them than he did with the Jam earlier in the decade in Australia. Indeed, this was a huge hit for the singer of colour despite it being a haunting ballad that's a far cry from the post punk she made with her band.
#6098
Uncle Kracker got his start as the turntablist for Kid Rock who was (at the time) a rap rock artist making songs such as "Bawitdaba" and "Daddy cool" from the Osmosis Jones soundtrack, so to see him with the first of only two hits he had as an adult contemporary artist is a bit of a surprise to say the least. I remember this receiving tons of airplay back in the day, so perhaps it was pulled from shelves to promote his album which sadly didn't work.
#6097
This was the last hit that MJ had in his lifetime, it feels odd that it would come from a remix album given how historians will tell you that he only released one studio album this decade. His popularity in the new millennium was non-existent due to the media frenzy he experienced throughout the 90's, between his failed marriage with Lisa Marie Presley and his bizarre sleepover parties he had with young boys.
#6096
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6095
This was the last hit that these guys had here in Australia before they broke up so that Adam Ant could pursue a solo career the following year, I guess it retains their bombastic sound that they promised from earlier on the list even though the visuals in the video are far wackier than they have any right to be. They did score a couple of more hits in their native UK before they broke up for what it's worth.
#6094
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6093
Well, we had "Beat it" from MJ the previous year, now let's look at the Weird al parody that put him on the map by ripping off that classic from the king of pop (which his permission of course.) This was a surprise chart topper for the comedian here in Australia, likely due to how instantly funny we felt this song was, although it was one of the weaker chart toppers here due to how quickly it fell on our charts.
#6092
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6091
This was the only solo success that Don Henley managed to achieve in Australia, although it's worth noting that his second album was a huge hit here as opposed to Glenn Frey's which was a massive flop despite the success of his earlier entry on this list. Even though this is a distinctly summer jam, it was a hit here during our autumn which is perhaps why it wasn't as big a success as it should've been.
#6090
We looked at Kelly Rowland's solo debut from earlier on this list, now let's look at the song that introduced Beyonce as a solo artist which comes complete with a guest verse with her future husband Jay z who she's obviously crazy in love with on this track. It feels weird that this wasn't among the bigger hits of the year in Australia, mainly because I remember this being overplayed to hell and back.
#6089
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6088
This was the victory single for by far the least popular winner of Australian idol, it was a hit as expected, however I doubt anyone even remembers who Natalie Gauci is considering she didn't even release a studio album following her win on the show.
#6087
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6086
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6085
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6084
Hit machine strike once again this year with their third seasonal album, I guess they finally had some good choices to put on their albums which 100% hits struggled to do this year.
#6083
For the second year in a row, the Hit machine franchise played second fiddle to the 100% hits franchise, this won't be the case the following year where it was the inverse of what happened this year, however it's worth noting that both franchises were still plenty successful regardless of which one we're looking at.
#6082
Well, you knew this was coming, we have the first 100% hits album of the year which overlooks the success artists had during the summer of 1992/1993 in Australia.
#6081
The summer of 90/91 was a hectic time in music, so much so that this was the biggest compilation album of this year which allows it to appear at the top of this bonus list of mine (or it would've had I ranked these by calendar releases and not how well they did overall.)
#6080
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6079
Even though this spawned his first Billboard chart topper in America, this was a bit of a dud for John Lennon here in Australia especially when you consider juts how well his former band mates were doing when he released it. Heck even Ringo Star had beaten him two to one with his entry from my previous list.
#6078
Although Kelly Rowland managed to get her album out first, Simply deep was a commercial disappointment for her which wasn't the case for Beyonce's solo album she released six months after that album. Granted this was only a modest success for her here in Australia at first as it only became a huge hit once the fifth single became a surprise hit for her almost a year after its initial release.
#6077
Autumn of this year was really explosive if this was able to compete with a double album that also covered this period of time in Australia, indeed the choices were really good on this album which no doubt led to its success here.
#6076
This was another greatest hits album that was released exclusively in Australia, this time it's due to the recent resurgence in popularity that Joe Cocker had due to his Oscar winning ballad with Jennifer Warnes from An officer and a gentleman. He would return later in the decade with Cocker and its hit singles.
#6075
This is the only other album from Moby that found success here in Australia, I'm guessing because he felt the need to allow all of the songs on here to be placed in every ad imaginable much like his previous album from the start of the decade. This led to him receiving backlash in the music community for essentially buying his way to success which is perhaps why his subsequent follow ups have failed since.
#6074
This was the second album to come from James Blunt, it wasn't quite as inescapable as his previous album given how that was one of the biggest albums of the decade worldwide, however it was popular enough to be a massive success here in Australia even if it didn't have that runaway hit that his previous album had. Still, this allowed him to continue his success well into the 2010's with his subsequent follow ups.
#6073
This was a greatest hits album that was released a year after Cliff's previous greatest hits album exclusively in Australia, I guess it had been 25 years since he first broke through into the industry but I'm sure why this was a success given how Love songs was a huge hit for him last year.
#6072
This was another successful album to be released during the autumn of this year that overlooks the popular summer jams of 83/84 in Australia, as such it was a huge success proving how good the label's taste in music is that assembled this album.
#6071
For the second year in a row, the runner up to Australian Idol managed to have a more successful album than its winner, proving that throughout the series, the show was controversial with who wound up winning the series given that Anthony Callea was the favourite to win over Casey Donovan. While I don't think it would've mattered at the time, nowadays it would've been more controversial that she won over a queer man.
#6070
This was the other hit that Feargal Sharkey had this year, as I said earlier this was written by the ex-partner of the person who wrote his biggest hit which makes his two hits a back and forward between the two during their breakup. Something I forgot to mention earlier is that "A good heart" had Boy George on backing vocals, which likely further boosted the popularity of Feargal's career this year.
#6069
This was the lead single to Bon Jovi's sellout album These days, I call it a sellout because they abandoned their glam rock roots and even their country roots for this album in favour of more mainstream adult contemporary. The album was a success for the band; however, fans weren't happy with the direction they took which resulted in them going on hiatus for the remainder of the decade.
#6068
This was the second single to come out of the Swing, although it wasn't quite as big as their two earlier entries on this list likely due to it not being as catchy as those tracks. Still, it was a huge hit for the band and likely strengthened their international interest which became a success the following year when they released their next album Listen like thieves.
#6067
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6066
Well, we have a second hit to come from the cartoon rabbit who felt the need to mashup a bunch of songs from yesteryear into a hit single, at least this was their final hit single here in Australia unlike in their native UK where they scored a third chart topper there with another one of these mashups.
#6065
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6064
This was another song that was heavily delayed here in Australia to allow Australian idol to take over the charts, as such it proved to be less successful here than if it had of been released on time like it was everywhere else in the world towards the end of the previous year. I guess its delay allowed this to out chart "Kryptonite" here even if that song was more successful down under than this ballad.
#6063
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6062
This was the other big hit that Livie managed to achieve worldwide from the Xanadu soundtrack, although this time she has the assistance of Electric light orchestra who were also present on the soundtrack as this play's during the final dance sequence of the film. As a bit of a trivia, her earlier entry was her big chart topper in Billboard this year whereas this was her big chart topper in the UK.
#6061
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6060
With all of the popular teen dramas coming out of the 90's, you'd think that the one that spawned a Billboard chart topper would be the most popular. You'd be wrong as the Heights was a musical drama that was heavily panned by critics for being a poor man's Fame as it centred around a group of kids looking to make it big with a band they were in, basically it was the 90's equivalent of glee except for teen rock rather than teen gossip.
#6059
This was released as a bonus track on the American issue of Duran Duran's debut album, as such it became a massive worldwide success as fans discovered that the band had more to offer them than what was already available at the time. Interestingly they didn't film a flashy music video for this song, presumably to help audiences understand they didn't always have the budget to do so.
#6058
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6057
Much like her earlier entry, this second single from Avril Lavigne was much more successful here in Australia than its placement would otherwise suggest, however I've already gone over why that's the case, so I won't repeat myself here. Instead, I'll talk about the songs which are both iconic to this day due to them showcasing the complicated feelings that Avril has during throughout her life at this point.
#6056
This was the third hit that Shakira had this year, and just like her first entry on this list, this is an English cover of one of her tracks she originally recorded in Spanish which means the lyrics aren't as tightly written as her other entry on this list. Still, it was a massive hit for her and only wasn't as big as her other entries due to the album being a massive hit by the time it was released as a single.
#6055
There were no signs of Kylie's popularity slowing down going into her second album, that is unless you're from America where it was such a failure that she wouldn't be able to release anything over there for over ten years due to being dropped from her American label. I guess the hits from her second album were more of the same from her first, hence why they got fed up with her when the rest of the world didn't.
#6054
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6053
This was a two for one deal from Cosima, a fan favourite on the first season of Australian idol who had to drop out due to developing an illness during the show that affected her ability to sing. Here she scored her one and only hit with these two tracks, the first being a cover of a Cold chisel classic and the second being what I'm sure was meant to be her victory single had she won the season.
#6052
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6051
This is a song that should be much higher on this list but isn't due to having most of its success contained in the first few weeks of its release, this is due to it being the first victory single from a reality show contestant (or in this case group) to make it big in Australia which sets the tone for how the decade would turn out down under.
#6050
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6049
This may have been overshadowed by her earlier entry on this list due to how inescapable that was in her native America, however this lead single from Daydream was a massive success for Mariah Carey largely thanks to the sample she uses from the Tom Tom club (a side project of members of Talking heads) throughout the track. These two songs were enough to make the album be a massive success worldwide, although it did spawn one more Billboard chart topper with its third single "Always be my baby."
#6048
Following the demise of his band, Stuart Goddard AKA Adam Ant launched his solo career which was off to a good start with this track about how he felt like he had been a goody two shoes up until this point in his career. Although this promised him massive success throughout the rest of the decade, it never came for him even in his native UK as he never had another hit after this.
#6047
Surprised to see this meme fest so low on this list? The reason why isn't because it wasn't popular here in Australia, but rather because it was one of the many victims of Sony tampering with their release schedule and audiences rushing to buy the song upon its initial release and not allowing it to stick around to accurately reflect its popularity here. At least the response track this inspired was also a huge hit here.
#6046
This was the title track from Britney's second album, a title that seemed to be her trolling her haters which she had plenty of even this early in her career due to their criticisms of her destroying the music industry with her teen pop (they should wait until the 2010's with how bad things would get in that regard.) The song itself is fun and innocent and was clearly meant for a younger audience who made it a success.
#6045
The summer of 89/90 was a fascinating time for the Australian music scene, this album collected the big hits of that period to the benefit of audiences of the day.
#6044
This had a very tepid response upon its initial release this year, in fact it only makes this list due to it having a rebound in the new decade thanks to the success of its second single as well as the other tracks doing a much better job in connecting with us Aussies than its lead single did on the radio.
#6043
I wouldn't have thought that there was any nostalgic love for Garth Brooks here in Australia given how he only had one successful album thirteen years prior to this greatest hits package, it turns out there was plenty of nostalgia for his work given how successful this was years after his popularity faded here.
#6042
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6041
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6040
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6039
By this point Tina Turner had become royalty in the Australian music scene, so naturally this greatest hits album would be a massive success for her when she released it. Interestingly it was even more successful over in NZ meaning that the kiwis were likely bigger fans of her at this point than us Aussies.
#6038
It looked like Chris De Burgh would be a one album wonder with his album from earlier in the decade, however he was able to score the biggest hit of his career worldwide with this album which confirmed him to be one of the bigger crooners of the 80's despite crooners not being very popular throughout the decade. Indeed, if he had of had his breakthrough in any other decade, he would've been twice as big as he was.
#6037
If you're confused as to why this appears fairly low on this list, that's because Queen had begun to face backlash in the music industry due to them performing at Sun city which was a resort in south Africa that was known for many things that I won't get into here. As such, this was frowned upon by us Aussies back in the day, not enough for it to be a complete failure but enough to be a disappointment.
#6036
Well, here's an album that deserved so much better back in the day, apparently the lead single "Easy lover" wasn't promoted here to encourage album sales of the album which ultimately didn't work as it only did as well here as it did everywhere else in the world where the duet was a huge hit. That said, this is still the biggest album Philip Bailey had here both solo and with his band Earth wind and fire.
#6035
This was the penultimate album that Split enz released before they called it quits, their final album coming when they broke up later in the year which is why it wasn't a success since they weren't even together to promote it. I guess Tim wanted to focus on his solo career while Neil would go on to form Crowded house after their final album.
#6034
This seemed like a good opportunity for Hall and Oates to release a greatest hits package given the overwhelming success of their (then) most recent album from the previous year, it didn't kill their popularity necessarily as they would score another Billboard chart topper after this release, however it did prevent them from reaching the dizzying heights of popularity they experienced during the first half of the decade in their native America.
#6033
This was the final album to be released from George Benson to have any sort of success here in Australia, it's curious that a rare musician of colour who was able to thrive pre-MTV would struggle to retain his popularity once any prejudice towards black music was dispelled around this time.
#6032
I guess the success of his Oscar winning ballad with Jennifer Warnes didn't come completely out of nowhere as this managed to be a moderate success for Joe Cocker just before the release of that single from the film and Officer and a gentleman. In fact, were it not for that ballad's success, it's likely this would've been even bigger as he curiously omitted it on the track list here.
#6031
Given how their debut album became a huge (albeit heavily delayed) success here in Australia this year, it makes sense that Forteigner's follow up would find more instantaneous success here even if it too failed to spawn a hit on our charts. It's a bit weird they were considered an albums band back in the day considering how much airplay their singles receive on oldies stations nowadays.
#6030
There was this weird trend throughout the 70's where half an album would be just a song expanded into a full half of an L.P with the second half comprising of filler tracks to justify releasing said song as an album. This format was used for the one and only album from French group Santa Esmeralda who saw moderate success here in Australia with this album that stretches their one and only hit into sixteen minutes.
#6029
Following the success of her earlier entry on this list, Barbra Streisand released this album which was a modest hit for her here in Australia likely due to the good will she had from her Hollywood flicks this decade.
#6028
This was the first successful album that Bob Seger managed to have here in Australia, I'm not sure why he struggled for mainstream relevancy here as you'd think he'd have little issue with finding an audience with his brand of heartland rock. I guess we Aussies realised our mistake for sleeping on his music as his greatest hits package from the end of the decade would be a massive success for him.
#6027
This was the breakthrough album that Jackson Browne had in Australia, although it was more of a sleeper hit as it didn't quite reach the upper echelons of the charts as his next two albums did. Still, this was as good an introduction to his music as anything as it does contain some of his more iconic work in his catalogue.
#6026
This is another album that I'm sure would've been more of a mainstream success here had its big hit not taken so long to become as such on our charts, I'm kind of dumbstruck at how these guys were a one hit wonder given how their brand of funk rock fitted in perfectly with the rising disco trend of the day.
#6025
This was the breakthrough album for Billy Joel, although it was originally released three years prior to deafening silence likely due to us Aussies preferring Elton John when it comes to piano men in the music scene. We were eventually won over by this guy when the title track became a surprise hit this year for reasons I can't seem to fathom.
#6024
It seems odd that Roxy music would find success with a live album this early in their career here in Australia given how their popularity wouldn't peak until they reformed at the end of the decade, I guess it was this album which launched Bryan's solo career with his earlier entry on this list.
#6023
This was the first noticeable success that Roxy Music achieved here in Australia, I guess it's good to know that they managed to have some notoriety here before Bryan Ferry took our music scene by storm with his earlier entry on this list.
#6022
This would be the final successful album that Joe Cocker had here in Australia for well over a decade given how it spawned one of his more popular ballads in his catalogue that did flop on our singles charts in exchange for how well the album did for him here. Indeed, his next successful album would be his 1986 effort which spawned two more of his more popular songs in his catalogue.
#6021
This was a bit of a surprise from Steve Winwood considering he hadn't troubled the mainstream in Australia since the start of the decade with Arc of a diver, although this did spawn his first Billboard chart topper which remains a staple on oldies stations to this day due to how passionate his vocals are. Sadly, we Aussies didn't stick around for his next album despite that spawning his biggest hit in America.
#6020
This was a bit of a comeback for Elton John in America given the failure of his previous album over there, however this was only a modest success here in Australia at best which is why it appears so low on this list of mine.
#6019
While David Bowie did achieve more success throughout the 70's here in Australia than he did in the 80's and beyond, I wouldn't get your hopes up too high as each of his entries will be appearing on the bottom half of these lists from here on out. Hey at least his brand of creativity was able to achieve some notoriety down under during the height of the Countdown era.
#6018
Following the success of their greatest hits package from earlier on this list, Earth wind and fire managed to score moderate success with this album largely due to the lead single being their duet with the Emotions which became both groups one and only hit here in Australia (unfortunately.) At least their back catalogue was finally recognised down under thanks to the success of both of these albums this year.
#6017
It looked like this third album from Richard Marx was going to be a massive flop for him given how the lead single failed to find any sort of audience outside his native America from the previous year, fortunately the second single managed to become a massive worldwide hit albeit rather slowly as I'm sure most people didn't realise the dark subject matter of the ballad and thus not realise the true potential this guy had on here.
#6016
This was the only successful album to come from Van Halen with David Lee Roth on vocals, although they would score an even bigger album two years later when they replaced him with Sammy Hager. I'm guessing this was big due to arena rock beginning to have mainstream appeal around this time, yes it had been around since they guys first broke through, however it didn't fit in with the other trends of the 70's.
#6015
This was the only album from Renee Geyer to see notable success in her career, although it didn't contain her biggest hit "Say I love you" as that wouldn't come for another four years for the experimental singer. Renee had been active since the start of the decade, meaning she needed some heavy promotion from Countdown before she could rise up to the ranks of Marcia Hines and others.
#60144
Their first album was a flop earlier in the decade, so it must have been a bit of a surprise to see that Everclear managed to score a massive hit with their second album even if they owe that success in Australia to Triple J heavily promoting the album. Indeed, the album didn't receive much love anywhere else in the world likely due to them being lost in all of the other alternative bands that were coming out around this time.
#6013
One of the most popular shows of the decade was the X files, a sci fi crime show about two agents solving mysteries centred around aliens and paranormal activities. The show was a massive success, leading to this soundtrack of songs that appeared in each episode by this point which helped launch the sci fi craze of the decade out of nostalgia for the sci fi craze of the 70's.
#6012
One of the funniest movies to ever be made was the Life of Brian, a satire about the story of Jesus Christ (or perhaps more accurately Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ superstar) that was infamously banned in several religious countries for its depictions of blasphemy. This serves as both a soundtrack and comedy album as while there were songs in the film, it's largely known for its sketches that still resonate with audiences to this day.
#6011
This is the best proof I have that Suzi Quatro didn't benefit from Countdown in the slightest here in Australia, after all, you'd think this follow up would've been at least equally as successful as her earlier entry on this list given how that was one of the biggest hits of the decade here but alas this wasn't.
#6010
This was originally released two years prior from the Swedish pop star September (real name Petra Marklund) it wasn't a big hit anywhere in the world for some reason which led to it fading into obscurity. It was given a second chance this year when a British DJ remixed it where it became a massive success for her everywhere in the world including America which was unusual for a European artist by this point in time.
#6009
Although their previous album One hot minute was a huge commercial success for the band (regardless of what the A.V club will tell you) it didn't spawn a hit for them which makes this lead single from their album Californication a comeback for them on the singles chart. This was a return to their sound from earlier in the decade now that John Frusciante was back in the band, and they weren't political anymore.
#6008
Well Sisqo's success the following year had to come from somewhere, so here's the final hit that his band Dru hill had before he embarked on a solo career which began with his infamous song "Thong song." This has nothing to do with the Bee gees classic of the same name, I'd just thought I'd mention that here as there were two RNB covers of that track throughout the decade from Portrait and Take that.
#6007
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6006
It may surprise you to learn that this was slightly more popular here in Australia than the lead single from a band who has the acronym of POT USA (well get to it in a minute.) I guess we were more amused by this track which appears to be about nonsense given that the video seems more like something you'd expect from SNL rather than from an alternative band during the height of 90's rock.
#6005
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.
#6004
Jaki Graham first had a hit in her native UK a decade prior with "Could it be I'm falling in love," it wasn't a hit here in Australia, but this cover of the Chaka Khan classic was likely due to us Aussies realising how little success Chaka had back in the day and rewarding her with given success to her covers whenever we could. This flopped in Jaki's native UK, possibly due to her being part her prime at this point.
#6003
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6002
This is the rare track to not have Fred Schneider's vocals, normally songs with Katie on the lead has him singing backup vocals but here it's all Katie and Cyndi Wilson as they sing about "roaming" from one relationship to another which is what they accuse their partners of doing. It was a massive success for the band and no doubt made Katie an in-demand vocalist for the likes of Iggy Pop and R.E.M.
#6001
This is a song that seems to be way ahead of its time both in terms of its sound and the lyrics. The sound heavily reminds me of a Sega Genesis game which is why I believe it's ahead of its time there, however the lyrics are very ahead of its time as it's essentially this guy talking to his computer as if Facebook existed back in the 80's. The gimmick of him getting love advice from his computer helped it become a huge success here.
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