Biggest albums/singles of all time in Australia

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.

#7200

This was the only hit to come from Jeff St John, likely due to it being the lead single to his only album as he curiously called it quits when the album didn't become a massive success this year. I'm guessing he was dropped from his label even though he had at least one big hit to his name, there were a ton of Australian bands and artists who had a longer career despite not even having this level of success.

#7199

This is the last hit that Nickelback had here in Australia, although their popularity would extend to their 2011 album which was a huge success here despite it failing to spawn a hit single for them down under. The rest of the world had moved on from the band likely due to the internet making it impossible to defend their music.

#7198

Even though the Backstreet boys scored many more hits worldwide than these guys did, the fact that this was able to go to number one on Billboard did allow them to win the boy band wars in their native America as far as TRL was concerned. This song is also a breakup track much like their earlier entry on this list, further giving them an identity that separated them from their contemporaries of sentimental lover boys.

#7197

Although his earlier entry on this list was the big hit off of Billy's second RNB album Love zone, it was this song that was meant to promote the album as that track came from the Jewel of the Nile soundtrack and was later included on the album. Here Billy scores his biggest hit with and RNB ballad as the rest of his hits in his catalogue are more fast paced and more in line with his disco hits from the 70's.

#7196

Bet you didn't know that the Royal philharmonic orchestra had a hit single back in the day, did you? They did and it was with a song that was similar to what Stars on 45 released earlier on this list except instead of songs from the 50's and 60's, the orchestra recorded renditions of classical pieces. It was a surprise hit for them and allowed them to have a highly successful album which had more mashups from them.

#7195

This was the final hit single that Rod Stewart was able to achieve in Australia throughout the 80's, mainly because it was a chart topper for him in his native UK likely due to him experimenting with new wave with this track. Indeed, he wouldn't trouble the charts again until the early 90's where he returned to his adult contemporary sound that he scored massive success with throughout the 70's.

#7194

I have no idea why this song became a success this year in Australia, it would've made more sense it if were a hit last year as it was featured in not one but two highly successful films from Hollywood. Those films of course being Ferris Bueller's day off and The secret of my success which fun fact, this song soundtracks a montage of a car being showed off to the protagonist of the films in question.

#7193

I guess these kids were meant to be the 80's equivalent of the Jackson 5 as they began their career with something similar to the likes of "ABC" or "I want you back" with this track. This was a massive flop in their native America; however, it became a surprise hit for them in the UK which allowed it to become a hit everywhere else in the world. They did eventually find success in their homeland later in the decade.

#7192

I'm shocked this was only a moderate success for Bob Dylan here in Australia, although that might be due to how Guns n roses revived this song's popularity in the 90's with their rendition which coincidentally came out the same year I was born (1992.) In any case, this was the second hit that the folk legend had here in Australia following "Like a rolling stone" from 1965.

#7191

We Aussies didn't seem to care that Ashlee Simpson had embarrassed herself on SNL like the rest of the world did, otherwise she wouldn't have scored three more hits after the incident down under beginning with this third single from her debut album which I remember being inescapable back in the day despite it only ranking this high on this list. I guess this could've been bigger if more people were proud to admit they enjoyed it.

#7190

This was the only hit that Howard Jones was able to score here in Australia, even then it's a remix of a track from his second album he released the previous year which had little success upon its initial release down under. I think it's safe to say that we Aussies preferred Nik Kershaw over this guy even though I do tend to hear his big UK hit "What is love" from time to time on the oldies station.

#7189

There was no stopping these guys given how they saw massive success with their top entry on this list, although it's worth noting they weren't always in the glam rock genre as a lot of their earliest work was more in line with teen pop (at least what the early 70's would define as such.)

#7188

There were no signs of Wham slowing down here in Australia as this third single from their debut album Fantastic managed to be a huge hit for them here, this even somewhat made up for the dip in success that "Wham rap" had for them (don't worry it's still to come on this list) which just proves that their brand of hip hop was somewhat divisive amongst us Aussies back in the day.

#7187

You'd think that Duran Duran would've performed a bunch of their hits on Countdown back in the day, as far as I can tell, they only performed this and "Is there something I should know" from the following year. Their performance of this lead single to their second album was the reason why it was a hit here as it was a massive flop everywhere else in the world likely due to the video being rather mundane.

#7186

The hits kept on coming for RHCP during the 00's, true they didn't reach the dizzying heights of their hits from the 90's, however considering their albums were still selling like hot cakes this decade (granted all two of them) it was impressive, nonetheless. Here they have their first hit of the decade in Australia with the title track to their first album of the decade which remains a staple on oldies stations to this day.

#7185

This was the debut single for Paul Young (not to be confused with Australia's John Paul Young) it was a cover of a Marvin Gaye song which technically means the Motown icon had two hits in Australia this year. In any case, Paul would score a second hit here the following year with his Christmas track "Love of the common people" which in turn would allow his album to be a success here.

#7184

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7183

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7182

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7181

This was technically the biggest hit to come from the Smashing pumpkins in Australia, it's by far their most iconic song as the instrumentation is a perfect example of their sound and how its endured over the years. I'm guessing if this had of been the lead single from Mellon collie and the infinite sadness then it could've been one of the biggest hits of the decade instead of it being a mere modest success.

#7180

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7179

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7178

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7177

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7176

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7175

Googling this guy will likely yield you results for the Rick and Morty character, however he was a session musician who scored his one and only hit worldwide with this ballad before forever fading into obscurity. If only fans of the show weren't so prevalent so I can dig up more information about this guy's other achievements.

#7174

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7173

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7172

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7171

Well, it was only a matter of time before we looked at a song from Limp Bizkit on this site, although it may surprise you to learn that these guys never had a hit in their native America and that their success worldwide more came from how well they did in the UK of all places where this was a chart topper for them. I guess the Brits really enjoyed the combination of rap and rock on this track more than their fellow Americans.

#7170

This was the final hit that Russell Morris had in his career, he did quite well for himself all things considered even if he definitely could've benefitted from the likes of Countdown promoting his music which the show failed to do in the second half of the decade.

#7169

This was a bit of a surprise hit for Hot chocolate given how it seemed like they were yesterday's news once the new decade rolled around, although their popularity didn't waver entering the 80's as they scored a massive hit with "No doubt about it" at the start of the decade in their native UK. This was one of two hits they had internationally this year, the other being "It started with a kiss" which sadly underperformed here.

#7168

This was the big breakthrough his for one of the more divisive British RNB singers of the decade, mainly for her other big hit "Life" which has gone down as one of the worst songs of all time for its shoddy lyrics. This was chosen as the theme song to the Next karate kid which allowed it to become an even bigger success in America, although it was big enough worldwide without that film's affiliation.

#7167

This was originally the debut single for the Backstreet boys released three years prior, due to the success of their second album, their first album was given a second chance this year where it became a modest success for the boys. All of this led to them winning the boy band wars by their third album the following year.

#7166

This was the lead single to David Soul's second album, an album that wouldn't see much success despite it spawning two of his biggest hits worldwide likely due to those songs failing to become as such in his native America. Yeah, it turns out he's a one hit wonder with his first entry on this list on the Billboard charts, proving how much more popular he was internationally back in the day.

#7165

This was the final hit that Sherbet was able to score during their time together, I guess their overexposure had finally caught up with them much like Abba and Bay city rollers around this time. Unlike Abba and much like Bay city rollers, they would never recover after this, although lead singer Daryl Braithwaite would which makes him in the middle of those two bands.

#7164

This is the only hit to come from the Australian band the Strangers, it's a pop track about how someone named Melanie makes the narrator smile which was in keeping with the feel-good hippy nature of songs that made it big at the start of the decade.

#7163

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7162

You'd think that the big hit from the Rock steady crew would be their signature track "Hey you," it was their big hit over in the UK for the American breakdance band after all. Instead, it was their second single that was the big hit here, likely due to them performing both tracks on Countdown and their performance of their big UK hit being little more than a breakdance whereas this was sung by the members.

#7161

Following the demise of Shakespear's sister, Marcella Detroit managed to score a solo hit here in Australia with this ballad proving that had they kept things together, we would've supported the duo going forward this decade. Apparently, they couldn't agree upon whether they should be wacky like Siobahn's previous band Bananarama or go in a more serious direction like Marcella wanted to.

#7160

This was the only solo hit that Steve Winwood was able to achieve in his career in Australia, yes, he had other hits with his bands Spencer Davis group and Traffic as well as having a huge album earlier in the decade with Arc of a diver, however this was the only hit he had to himself here. It's surprising to me it wasn't a bigger hit considering A: how passionate he sounds on the track and B: it being a huge Billboard chart topper for him.

#7159

Well, I can certainly see where P Diddy earned his reputation of being a derivative producer when many of his own songs have him using such obvious samples, although he did do a great job for his clientele in the east coast hip hop wars such as Biggie Smalls and Ma$e. Here he samples the Led zeppelin classic "Kashmir" and even has the blessing of Jimmy page as he provides new vocals to go with this theme to the Godzilla remake.

#7158

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7157

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7156

OK so I'm throwing a curveball with this final entry on my list as this was obviously originally released three years prior for Lily Allen where it was a minor success for her here in Australia. ARIA does have this listed on their yearend list likely due to the success of her earlier entry on this list, however I feel this is more of them making up for failing to have this on their 2006 and 2007 lists than anything else.

#7155

This was originally a flop when it came out the previous year, so much so that it didn't even chart here due to how much of a disappointment it was compared to Shakira's first English language album. It was given a second chance with the deluxe edition as that spawned one of the biggest hits of the decade with her collaboration with Wyclef Jean, which allowed the album to finally achieve success here.

#7154

This album was six years in the making given how it took that long for Peter Gabriel to follow up his magnum opus So, as you can imagine, it's a bit of a disappointment given how much lower it appears on this list than that album would have. That said, it was still a big success even if that largely came from the singles helping it rebound whenever they were released.

#7153

It's a bit surprising that Steely Dan didn't have much success here in Australia back in the day, even taking into account that Countdown usually swept aside American bands in favour of our local artists, the fact that their music is constantly played on oldies stations makes their lack of success throughout the decade completely jarring to me. At least this magnum opus from them was a decent success here.

#7152

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7151

This is the second greatest hits package that Sweet found success with here in Australia, mainly because this time it comes packaged with a live album which showcases how great they were as a live band back in the day which no doubt helped it stand out from their other successful album from the previous year.

#7150

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7149

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7148

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7147

There were indeed plenty of women in the rock and roll scene around this time, as such a label put together some of the biggest hits to make it big in Australia from women which allowed the album to become a huge success this year.

#7146

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7145

While I did say that Van Halen would never again reach the dizzying heights of their previous two albums, that didn't mean they didn't find moderate success with this album given how they weren't too far removed from hair metal and that their sound fitted in nicely with the likes of Bon Jovi and Whitesnake. That said, this was the last album that anyone would care about as they found little success in the 90's.

#7144

This was far less popular than Fall out boy's previous album here in Australia, although at least it was a success here which is more than I can say for the rest of the band's output given how their earlier catalogue failed to find an international audiences and their post breakup material from the 2010's fell victim to rock being exiled from the mainstream as well as their fanbases disappointment in the band by that point.

#7143

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7142

Given how inescapable "I see you baby" was at the start of the decade (trust me it was EVERYWHERE on the radio) it only makes sense that the band behind that earworm would eventually have a successful album to their name which came with this album which all but confirmed that country music was out and EDM was in. It had a bit of a slow start to its success but eventually found its audience this year.

#7141

It appears that we Aussies had a love for TV themes during the midpoint of the decade, as such we have this compilation album becoming a modest success here in lieu of some of the seasonal compilations released this year.

#7140

You have no idea how inescapable the Hampsterdance craze was here in Australia, it was so unavoidable that the album it spawned from managed to be a massive success here and that doesn't even surprise me giving how it managed to spawn a second hit down under to boot.

#7139

This was released mere months after Ray Charles tragically passed away from health complications, this is kind of similar to David Bowie's final album ★ except Bowie was able to live to see that albums initial release as opposed to Ray being unable to do so for his album. Naturally this swept the Grammy awards for this year for the RNB legend as well as it becoming a massive success worldwide out of sentimentality.

#7138

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7137

This is where it all began for Alecia Moore AKA P!nk, although it's also considered the black sheep of her catalogue given how it was an RNB album rather than the pop punk that the rest of her catalogue would turn out to be. It had a bit of a climb to its success here in Australia given how she was an unknown artist at the time, and indeed she's since distanced herself from the album due to her dissatisfaction making it.

#7136

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7135

This is a bit of a surprise, mainly because I wasn't expecting to feature anything from Paul McCartney after the failure of his film Give my regards to Broad Street from 1984. I guess it had almost been a decade since that disaster which meant fans had long since forgotten about it and was willing to welcome him back with open arms in the mainstream.

#7134

While this wasn't as popular as their previous entry on this site, the fact that it did spawn a massive hit for Thirsty merc with its lead single did allow it to retain some of the success that their earlier work had achieved throughout the decade. This would sadly be the band's final success as their 2010's work would flop due to that decades seeming allergic reaction to rock and its many sub genres.

#7133

This is the last album that Ronan Keating released that can be considered mainstream music, after this he would reinvent himself as a crooner similar to the likes of Michael Bublé and what Human Nature had become, making him yet another former teen idol to transition into making music for our mothers.

#7132

Following the success of his MTV concert from two years prior, Eric Clapton was suddenly able to find massive success in the mainstream which is why this album managed to be a huge success for him in here in Australia. This would lead to him scoring one more hit later in the decade with "Change the world" from the Phenomenon soundtrack.

#7131

While he wouldn't have any more success further in the decade, Michael Bolton was able to find success with this greatest hits package overlooking the first ten years of his career. Granted most of his success came from the previous five years, however I guess this was a good way of fans discovering his mid 80's work which wasn't a success for him at the time.

#7130

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7129

This was the only notable success that Motley Crue had here in Australia, although the band members nowadays seem to be more famous than their music due to the antics that could take up an entire paragraph if I were to list them here (I won't.) It makes sense this was a success given how it was one of the last hair metal albums to be released in the 80's and that the songs on here still resonate with audiences to this day.

#7128

Now that Judith Durham had officially rejoined the band, the Seekers released this greatest hits album to remind fans of their back catalogue which helped them become a successful touring act which they still are to this day.

#7127

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7126

This was released on the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley's death in the duo's native UK, naturally it interrupted the album cycle for their sophomore album Actually which is perhaps why the album wasn't as big a success as their debut Please was. It's success this year was due to the album cycle not being altered internationally which means this cover came out months after the anniversary.

#7125

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7124

You know that Hilary Duff was inescapable when she's able to score a massive hit with a cover of a Belinda Carlisle classic with her less popular sister Haylie, this was commissioned for the Cinderella story soundtrack which stars Hilary in the titular role which was panned by critics but was a modest box office hit. Let's just say this cover was more popular than the film here in Australia back in the day.

#7123

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7122

While this wasn't their debut single or even the lead single from their biggest album, this was the song which made Midnight oil a household name given how we Aussies connected with the lyrics about how the political system was corrupt at the time (unfortunately it's always been corrupt here in Australia.) This was a bigger hit in NZ given how it was the lead single to their album over there.

#7121

This is the only other hit that Badfinger achieved here in Australia, it was also their breakthrough hit even though "Come and get it" was a huge worldwide success for the Welsh band at the start of the decade. This feels like a bit of an outlier for the band given how much heavier it is compared to the rest of their catalogue.

#7120

This is the only hit to come from singer/songwriter Marc Cohn, it's a song about the rich legacy of Memphis Tennessee and how music has evolved over the years in the city. It was a modest success here in Australia for him due to how well singer/songwriters were doing at the time (even if they were mainly women in this category) although his success would only be for this one and only song.

#7119

This was the third Billboard chart topper in a row that Usher had in his native America, it's easy to see why as it continues the theme of him airing out his dirty laundry from his relationship with Chilli from TLC where he admits that he screwed up in the relationship. It was a bit of a surprise hit here in Australia given how it didn't even chart over in NZ where Usher was infinitely more popular.

#7118

This was the only other hit that these girls were able to achieve in their career, at least it was an original track meaning they weren't among the dozens of artists I've featured on this site so far to only find success with a cover or two over the years. Like I said earlier, one of the members would return at the end of the decade as a member of Hi 5, meaning that this was a mere steppingstone for her future success.

#7117

This was one of the last hit singles that the king of rock and roll had in his lifetime worldwide, it was made during his Vegas years which wasn't having a positive aspect towards his mental and physical health due to all of the controversies he was finding himself in. At least the public hadn't forgotten about him given how he kept finding hits all the way up to his untimely death.

#7116

You know that Nicole Scherzinger was inescapable this year when she was able to revive the popularity of Diddy after four years of him not having a hit anywhere in the world, here they are with that song which is a sex jam about how much they're both into each other which naturally titillated audiences this year.

#7115

This was the first big hit that AC/DC had in Australia, although curiously it wasn't included on their album of the same name as this was the lead single to their second album T.N.T which came out at the tail end of the year for the band. They would score a total of three hits throughout the decade, which is a far cry from the success you'd expect from the band as their first best seller wouldn't come until 1980's Back in black.

#7114

This is the only hit from the American rapper Del tha funkee homosapien (man what a weird stage name) this was mainly because of it being a conscious hip hop track with what has to be one of the strangest production gimmicks I've ever heard in any single. The title of the track is chanted throughout its runtime, which I guess was what helped this stand out from the other hip-hop tracks of the day for us Aussies.

#7113

Shona Laing was a NZ songwriter who broke through in her homeland as a child start in 1973 with her hit single "1905" before fading into obscurity over there, however she eventually came back this year with this folk track thanks to it being one of the last songs to be performed on Countdown which allowed it to be a success here and, in her homeland, before she once again faded into obscurity.

#7112

One of the funniest films to ever be released is Monty Python's the Life of Brian, a film that admittedly caused controversy back in the day due to it mocking Christianity which got it banned by many Christian groups in several countries (then ban has since been lifted.) The film ends with this novelty track that was so popular here in Australia that it became a genuine hit eleven years prior to doing so in the UK.

#7111

Even though Lionel Richie had long since left the band by this point in time, that didn't mean the Commodores couldn't still find success without him as they had replaced him with British vocalist JD Nichols and soldiered on. They scored their one and only hit without Richie with this tribute to both Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye who died the previous year, making it an emotional ballad that resonated with audiences.

#7110

This is the only hit to come from Brownsville station, a rare American glam rock band who quite surprisingly managed to make it big in their homeland give how rare it was for glam rock to become a success on Billboard (even from local artists such as Suzi Quatro.) Motley Crue fans will know this as one of that band's signature tracks due to their rendition being a minor success on Billboard in the 80's.

#7109

This was the first big hit that Daryl Braithwaite had in over a decade, in fact he had become a tradie in the time it took to release his second album during the days of his band Sherbet. When he finally decided to give his singing career another go, he was given instant success as the public welcomed him back into the music industry as if no time had passed since his heyday, just like fellow aging star John Farnham

#7108

This was a one-off project for INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence, I'm guessing he wanted to make a name for himself away from his band, so he released this in an attempt to do so following the failure of his solo single "Room for the memory" two years prior. It was a huge success for him both here and NZ, although he would dissolve the project and return to making music with INXS the following year.

#7107

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7106

This is another entry from the Partridge family on this list, making it the fourth appearance from the TV band so far and proving just how popular they were with Australian audiences.

#7105

It took him five years, but Armand Van Helden was able to escape the one hit wonder bin here in Australia with this track that comes complete with a video that depicts a peeping tom ogling on women in bikinis. I'm not sure what the fascination was with EDM tracks objectifying women as there'll be plenty of other entries as we go further in the decade where this was the case.

#7104

If you're wondering where this track came from, it was the theme song to a film that starred Cyndi Lauper known as Vibes which was so poorly received that it's now long been lost to the sands of time. Indeed, this has gone down as one of Cyndi's worst songs (not just because of that strange title) as she likes to pretend that this doesn't exist, suggesting that she has bad memories of making the film in question.

#7103

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7102

(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)

#7101

This was one of only three hits that Dolly Parton had in Australia, although she did appear on Countdown back in the day so it's not like we weren't aware of her country classics here. This was her big breakthrough in her native America which is perhaps why she was able to find success with this ballad here, her other two hits came when she began her acting career and with her BFF Kenny Rogers.