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.
#6200
These guys were on a roll this year as this became their third hit in a row thanks to it being a story about how Colin Hay takes an interest in a young boy and his ambitions (mind's out of the gutter please.) It connected with audiences this year (again in an innocent way) thus making it a huge hit for the band, although they wouldn't trouble the charts again until the lead single of their second album.
#6199
You knew there had to be a newer version of Pseudo echo at some point, so here we are with Indecent obsession who were a younger version of the band who managed to score their one and only hit this year with their debut single. Even though the marketing depicts them as the Australian equivalent of NKOTB, they were a proper band who played their own instruments who just happen to be conventionally good looking.
#6198
This was the last hit that Bardot were able to achieve in their short time together, mainly because the main star of the group Sophie Monk wanted to embark on a solo career following the departure of one of their other members during the production of their second album. While Sophie did achieve moderate success on her own with her solo album, it didn't reach the success she had with her group.
#6197
If you thought that "How do I deal" was a fluke hit for Jennifer Love Hewitt due to it being the theme to a film she starred in, it turns out it wasn't as she was able to score two more hits here in Australia with songs that were akin to what Avril Lavigne and Michelle Branch were releasing at the time. This was the first of those two songs which was well received here in Australia and nowhere else in the world.
#6196
This is my personal favourite track from the Spice girls, mainly because of how happy they are on here as well as them promoting a positive message about not getting too worked up over stuff that ultimately doesn't matter in the long run. Despite this being a huge success for them, tensions from the girls grew to the point where Ginger Spice could no longer handle the pressure and as such called it quits from the group.
#6195
This was the third and final hit that Bros were able to score worldwide, although in their native UK they kept at it for two more albums before finally calling it quits in the early 90's. Here they have a song about how they owe their exes nothing after the relationships had ended, although you can make the argument this is also meant for their haters as they no longer had anything to prove to them.
#6194
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6193
Well, it was the fourth single from the Grammy award winning soundtrack, oh yeah, I should mention that the Saturday night fever soundtrack won album of the year at the Grammys this year. In any case, we have this third hit that the Brothers Gibb were able to score this year, once again due to the vocal harmonies of the brothers as well as the irresistibly catchy disco beat they were synonymous with.
#6192
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6191
You knew she was going to make one of these lists eventually, so here's the big hit that Bjork managed to achieve outside of her native Iceland thanks to being quite possibly the most bombastic hit single of the 90's with the combination of her vocals and the swing jazz production on display. She already had success with her solo album Debut from two years prior, however this lead single from her second album Post was what made her a household name.
#6190
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6189
This is the last hit that the Rogue traders achieved in their career, mainly because Natalie Bassingthwaighte would leave the group after the third single to their second album failed to become a hit for the group, suggesting she only joined them to further her singing career which in turn led to backlash against her when she released her solo album the following year.
#6188
This was the final hit for Tommy Roe anywhere in the world, although this was another 60's carryover so it's tough to say if this was a last hurrah for the previous decade that just took too long to take off or if there was genuine interest for keeping this guy around in the 70's that was quickly discarded. Either way, it's a good representation of his bubble-gum pop sound as well as a bad representation of his early rockabilly sound.
#6187
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6186
People have criticised this song for its lyrics about how Madonna enjoys a spoilt lifestyle or as she puts it "living in a material world," I guess they don't realise that this song is meant to be ironic given how they also claim her delivery is beyond irritating and that the production sounds sarcastic. A lot of people either got the joke back in the day or more likely, didn't care given how this was a huge hit regardless.
#6185
It seemed odd that these guys would be able to score a hit this year considering how grunge had taken over the mainstream with the likes of Nirvana and Pearl jam, however Def Leppard had one thing over those guys which was a music video that has (even at the time) some of the worst CGI you'll ever witness on screen. This helped the glam rock track become a hit long after the genre had lost its popularity.
#6184
Well, these guys chose a strange song to launch the album cycle of Zooropa didn't they? Fortunately, once "Numb" had left the charts, they released this song which had Bono back on vocals while the Edge provides backing vocals to justify why they had him on lead vocals from their earlier single. People remain divided on this album to this day due to how they feel about the band heading in an industrial direction.
#6183
My American readers are likely confused as to how this managed to become a hit here in Australia given how it wasn't even released as a single over there, I guess we Aussies didn't want a song as controversial as "Superman" to become a success here, so instead we went with this as the fourth single from the album instead of that which the rest of the world followed suit with.
#6182
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6181
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6180
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6179
Also known as the song that introduced the phrase "it's Britney bitch," we have this lead single to Britney's fifth album Breakout which saw a much more provocative side of the (then) troubled pop star following a string of public drama that forced her to be placed into her father's conservative ship (which the less I say about the better.) It was a massive hit for her likely due to fans wanting to support her during what was a dark period of her life.
#6178
This was the second single from Delta Goodrem's third album, here she incorporates new age into her sound which helps elevate the message of regaining one's personal believes in something after it's been destroyed. While it was a hit for her, it wasn't as big as a lot of her other entries on this site so far, suggesting that people didn't find it as inspiring as she had hoped.
#6177
This was a stellar year for Shaking Stevens who managed to score a third hit throughout the world, although this time it's with a cover of a very well-known staple of the 50's given how the original was one of the biggest hits of the decade for Jim Lowe in 1956. Shaky would have one more hit the following year with "Oh Julie" before his time in the spotlight came to an end here in Australia.
#6176
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6175
This was the lead single to the Corrs third album, an album which saw them branch away from their Celtic sound they had on their previous two albums in favour of more conventional adult contemporary. This paid off for them big time internationally as this was a massive worldwide success for them, however it wasn't as big here in Australia likely due to us feeling like they sold out with this track.
#6174
This was the only hit from Nick Cave and the Bad seeds throughout their career, even then I feel this was more a hit due to it being a duet with Kylie Minogue during the height of her indie phase. The two have surprisingly decent chemistry on this trach which is perhaps why it was able to find mainstream success passed the novelty of a pop princess duetting with a rock star who likely stood against her earlier catalogue.
#6173
This wasn't Nik Kershaw's debut single in his native UK, that honour goes to "I won't let the sun go down on me" which was given a second chance after this became a massive hit for him worldwide (sadly it won't appear on this list.) People like to compare him to Howard Jones as both men had massive American appeal back in the day, although only Howard managed to score any success on Billboard.
#6172
This was another song from P!nk's discography that was never released as a single in her native America, although this time it was released in many other parts of Europe in addition to the countries that "Leave me alone" was released in two years prior, proving that her popularity internationally had well exceeded what it ever was in her homeland. This would continue to be the case throughout the following decade for her.
#6171
This was Simple Mind's biggest hit in most parts of the world, likely due to it being the theme to the cult classic the Breakfast club which wasn't well received back in the day despite it being considered a masterpiece nowadays. The song essentially sums up what the movie is about, that being a bunch of misfits who unexpectedly form a friendship with each other due to circumstances only for them to wonder if that friendship would carry on once they go their separate ways.
#6170
While this was far from the first single they released, this was the song which made Twisted sister a household name likely due to its music video depicting the band going from abused children to who they were which connected with audiences here and especially in NZ where this nearly topped their charts. It was a short-lived success for the band, however one that I'm sure people look back on fondly.
#6169
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6168
This was a hit for both British DJ Tim Deluxe and Irish singer Sam Obernik here in Australia but not in their native UK, I'm guessing it was due to their fellow Brits finding the production too irritating to realise this was actually a female empowerment anthem due to Sam standing up to the person who's supposedly trying to chat her up. That's honestly my assessment of the song and why I don't enjoy it despite its good intentions.
#6167
It seems weird that Guess who never much success had here in Australia given how well remembered their catalogue is on oldies stations, what's even weirder is that the lead singer Burton Cummings managed to find success following the bands brief demise in the mid 70's. Burton never officially rejoined the band, likely due to the surprise hit he had with this ballad that he's been trying to replicate.
#6166
This was the centrepiece of Phil Collin's Grammy award winning album No jacket required, a ballad about how he wants to spend one more night with this person before they go their separate ways. It remains one of his more popular songs in his catalogue due to it being one of his biggest hits of the decade, although it's often cited as one of the reasons why he was so hated throughout the decade.
#6165
This was that other big hit that Dr Hook managed to score this year, although given how it's the story of an Irish settler in Australia that was apparently written in the first half of the century, I get the feeling this was the band's thanks for us having them be one of the biggest bands of the 70's as it was unsurprisingly released exclusively here and nowhere else in the world.
#6164
This feels more like an introduction to the Badloves than the lead single for Jimmy's second album of the year Flesh and wood, indeed the success of this collaboration helped the band find massive success with their album Get on board which allowed them to find success with audiences outside of listeners of Triple J.
#6163
This was the theme song to the theatrical adaptation of Orson Welle's book 1984, a film that coincidentally came out in the year it was named after and was a box office success back in the day. I guess that explains the dystopian sound of this song which is very different from what we'd expect from the Eurythmics, after all the film and book had a dystopian setting for the year it was set in.
#6162
Given that they were able to sort out the drama I mentioned with their earlier entry on this list, Euphoria released this second single from their debut album which saw no issues with becoming a huge hit for the trio and even sparked international interest in them due to how incessantly catchy their tracks were. There's still one more entry for them to come on this list before they faded into obscurity.
#6161
We have another two for one deal on this list, this time it's from the king of rock and roll as Elvis Presley bundled his cover of a Dusty Springfield classic with a song that's long been forgotten by even his diehard fanbase for decades at this point.
#6160
This was meant to be the last song that Eminem released before he retired from music, of course that retirement lasted all of four years as he would return by the end of the decade with his album Relapse which was a commercial success for the rapper despite also being panned by critics like Encore was. In America, the big hit off his greatest hits album was "Shake that" which was his attempt at a strip club anthem.
#6159
Although it has a low placement on this list, this was the first chart topper that Kylie Minogue had here in Australia since "Confide in me" from six years prior. Again, we have a song that debuted high on this list due to strong first week sales and then quickly dropped off the charts once the initial hype had died down, although there was a lot of hype with this song as it was a return for Kylie to bubble-gum pop.
#6158
Christina Aguilera was another victim of having her songs pulled from the shelves in order to promote her album, again it worked as Stripped was a massive success for her and to be fair, the singles still did fairly well such as this lead single from the album. Here she decided to go straight for the shock factor by releasing something that Disney would've never allowed on her debut album now that she was no longer with them.
#6157
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6156
Spring of 1995 was pretty interesting for the Hit machine franchise given that this was a decent success during the summer period of 95/96.
#6155
Just as the previous entry successfully collected the biggest hits of summer for an autumn release, this entry from the Hit machine franchise collected the big hits of autumn for a winter release resulting in its success.
#6154
This was a decent success during the summer of 91/92 due to having a nice selection of songs to choose from that was a hit during the spring of the previous year.
#6153
This was the first album to come from the very lucrative 100% hits catalogue, a series that lasted two decades and only came to an end due to compilation albums being made redundant in the age of streaming and digital downloads. It was off to a great start thanks to it collecting the biggest hits of our winter of this year which it had plenty of worthy songs to choose from
#6152
Well the winter of this year was a success for these compilations, as such we have the third entry in the uncreatively named hits of 89 series that was a success here.
#6151
The autumn of this year was a winner here in Australia, as such the second volume of this uncreatively named series was a success.
#6150
This was always meant to be the second album to come from Jeff Buckley, in fact it was meant to be released the previous year but was delayed until this year due to his tragic death in 1997. When it was finally released, fans immediately fell in love with it, although naturally this would be the last they would get from him now that he was no longer with us.
#6149
Following the commercial disappointment of Lionheart, Kate Bush was able to bounce back with her third album thanks to how quirky the lead single was and remains to this day. It proved to be far more popular here in Australia than in her native UK which in turn allowed the album to also find more success here than it did in her homeland.
#6148
This is the album from Leif Garrett that my American readers will be more familiar with given how it was the only one of his to find success in his homeland, here in Australia it didn't see as much success likely due to us Aussies already falling out of love with his music, however it was a huge success here regardless.
#6147
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6146
One of the better musicals to come out of the decade was this remake of the 1988 film which tells the story of a young girl becoming an overnight sensation on a TV program whilst diving into the social climate of the 60's which the film is set in. It was a massive critical and commercial success thanks to the strong performances from its cast as well as the soundtrack resonating with audiences.
#6145
It seems fitting that Madness would suddenly find success here in Australia around the time they released their first greatest hits package, it almost seems convenient that this would become a success in lieu of their previous albums due to a memorable episode of Countdown where they performed all their latest singles to promote the album. In any case, this was the full extent of their popularity here in Australia.
#6144
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6143
Even though this wasn't a huge success for Darren Hayes anywhere in the world, the fact that this was following up one of the biggest albums of the turn of the century meant that it was guaranteed some success this year even if fans felt that this was a disappointment compared to his work as Savage Garden. At least it kept his head above water long enough for his fans to accept his sexual identity which he revealed at the time.
#6142
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6141
I guess Neil Finn wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Tim by releasing this solo album following the demise of his band Crowded house, he was off to a good start in his solo career as this was a huge success for him upon its immediate release both here and in his native NZ. He would struggle to retain his popularity going into the new millennium much like his contemporaries.
#6140
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6139
Following the success of the theatrical adaptation of Mamma Mia this year, this greatest hits package managed to become a success in Australia for the fourth time proving how much we Aussies truly loved the Swedish quartet from the 70's.
#6138
This was the final successful album that Taylor Dayne had anywhere in the world, in fact it was only a success here in Australia due to how big the lead single was which in of itself was a surprise hit for her given how it's a cover of a Barry White track and how Barry was never a household name here.
#6137
The name of this album implies that it would have a rock theme to it, while there are plenty of rock songs on here, it's actually a collection of some of the biggest hits of winter of this year in Australia which helped it become a massive success due to the good choices to be found on the album.
#6136
The spring of 1985 was a hectic time in music here in Australia if this compilation album is anything to go by, we have a fine selection of songs on here that were naturally marketed as summer jams to ensure its success.
#6135
I'm not sure why this album sat on shelves largely ignored for over a year in Australia, however once MJ was able to make it big with his album from earlier on the list his family had little issues with following suit in making it big with this album. Like MJ, the band had continued success into the 80's, making this the second album on here to be a comeback for his career.
#6134
There were some pretty strong choices to represent the biggest hits of our winter of this year, as such this compilation album was a huge success upon its initial release proving how lucrative these albums were.
#6133
Now that the compilation albums were taking off in our mainstream here in Australia, it only makes sense that we'll be seeing far more of them as we go further into the decade on my site. Here the people who assembled this album got together a good selection of songs that made it big during the summer period of 81/82.
#6132
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6131
The summer period of 87/88 really was a hectic time in music as we have the second compilation album collecting the big hits of that season to make it big on this list. So long as you make good selections like the ones found here, these albums would be a massive success for those who compiled them.
#6130
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6129
Winter of this year really was an explosive time for the Australian music scene as we have a second album released during our spring to look over the big hits from the midpoint of the year. Again, we have some really good choices on this album which no doubt led to its overwhelming success.
#6128
There were no signs of 12th man slowing down in his catalogue as this was merely the latest album of his to find massive success upon its initial release, there's not much more I can add to it as it continues the tradition of him impersonating cricket commentators which amused audiences during his time in the spotlight.
#6127
The winter of 1986 was a great time for music if this album is anything to go by, we have big hits from some of the biggest names in music to make it big for this album to be a success during our spring of this year.
#6126
This seems like it was made for the club boom about twelve months prior to when it officially launched by the end of the decade, as such it wasn't as big a hit for Usher here in Australia as it was internationally where this became almost as big as his earlier entries from the decade.
#6125
This was the lead single to the Velvet rope, although I wouldn't blame you for thinking her earlier entry was considering how that completely overshadowed this cover of the Joni Mitchell classic. OK so it's not really a cover as Janet only samples the chorus to the original while she and Q tip have original verses, much like a bunch of other songs throughout the decade that managed to get big with this formula.
#6124
This is the final hit that Janet Jackson scored in her career worldwide, mainly because she would find herself getting cancelled at the 2004 Superbowl for her wardrobe malfunction despite the fact that Justin Timberlake was the reason for why the world got a peak at her breasts that night. She hasn't made any comment about how she feels about that night, although I doubt she has positive feelings towards the N sync member.
#6123
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6122
There were two versions of this song floating around the charts this year, there's the English cover from British band After the fire which was a bit hit in America and the original from Austrian rapper Falco who scored the bigger international hit. I guess we Aussies had brushed up on our German throughout the decade as there were a few German language songs to make it big throughout the 80's here.
#6121
I'm not exactly sure if this song was pulled from shelves or if it just lost its popularity unusually quickly here in Australia, I guess it was the latter as it had a similar chart run over in NZ where it wasn't burdened by any tampering from the labels, but I wouldn't rule out the former either. This felt like a passing the torch moment given how Usher would explode in popularity this year whilst Diddy would fade.
#6120
This was the final hit that Foreigner were able to achieve in most parts of the world, heck this was a bit of a surprise hit here in Australia considering how these guys didn't have much success after their previous album Agent provocateur in their native America. I guess they were more popular here over the years hence why we were able to give them one more hit ten years after they first broke through.
#6119
Passengers was a side project from the members of U2, so this basically is a U2 track that managed to be a massive success worldwide under a pseudonym for them which goes to show you how popular the Irish band was throughout the 90's. They would come back later in the decade under their original name with their venture towards pop rock in 1997.
#6118
Even though Journey never found success outside of their native America, lead singer Steve Perry was able to score a massive hit with his solo debut single here in Australia. I'm not sure why we Aussies love this track so much but never cared for the rest of his catalogue as everything found on this track can be found on the likes of "Don't stop believing," 'Separate ways" and "Open arms."
#6117
This was the lead single to Guy Sebastian's third album, an album that seemed to have better luck with its singles as the second single will be making an appearance on the next list of mine as well.
#6116
This was the only hit that Debarge were able to score outside of their native America, likely because this was the theme to The last dragon which was a Motown produced film that was panned by critics. The family band scored other hits in their native America over the years, as did lead singer El Debarge who wrote the theme to Short circuit which was a huge box office success the following year.
#6115
While this was a hit for Blancmange in their native UK, there wasn't any indication that it would crossover to Australia given how it was far from the most popular song to come out when it did. I'm guessing we Aussies gravitated towards this track due to the middle eastern style of the melody as well as the admittedly funny lyrics about how this person is driving the singer insane in their relationship.
#6114
This is one of the catchier songs to become a hit this year, it comes to us courtesy of a British band who failed to score any success in their homeland once again making me wonder how we Aussies discovered this track back in the day. This is a song about how the Members prefer listening to the radio rather than the stereo, presumably due to the arbitrary nature of what they'll hear when they tune in to the radio.
#6113
At least Shannon Noll was able to have genuine success this year following his loss of the first season of Australian idol, this is because his second single was a hit that stuck around long enough to appear much higher than any of the other entries from Guy Sebastian which were hits but only because of his name recognition.
#6112
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6111
Well, this was a massive surprise, the last time Tom Jones has bothered the charts anywhere in the world was with his soft rock track "Say you'll stay with me till dawn" which was way back in 1977. Through a combination of a bizarre music video and endorsement from Triple J, he was able to score a massive comeback during the midpoint of the 90's which led to him releasing a highly successful covers album in 1999.
#6110
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6109
These guys were on a roll here in Australia given how their third single was a cover of the Pet shop boys debut single, it was proof that they were the real winners of the first round of the boy band wars of the 90's here in Australia. I'm guessing the success of this cover was what led to the success of the EDM duo having a hit here with a cover of their own, that being of a Village people track which we'll get to.
#6108
This was the only hit that Fat Joe had over here in Australia, I think it's mostly due to the "What's love got to do with it" interpolation on the chorus as well as it being another "thugs need love too anthem" which was becoming increasingly popular throughout the world back in the day. It even has Ashanti on the chorus which I guess was meant to reassure audiences that she wasn't exclusively for Ja Rule when it comes to hip hop collaborations.
#6107
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6106
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6105
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6104
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6103
You know if you can ignore the fact that both of Melissa's biggest hits this year were from a sixteen-year-old, you'll find that both of them are really fun dance pop tracks that showcases the confidence of a young woman who isn't afraid to explore her sexual nature to an audience. I guess audiences back in the day were able to walk this line as both of these songs were a massive hit for her and criticisms only came years later.
#6102
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#6101
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
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