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.
#5100
Following the demise of the Gogo's earlier in the decade, Belinda Carlisle embarked on a solo career which went off to a good star with this track becoming a huge success for her here and in her native America. It's essentially a love letter to her husband (who it turns out is a politician who served under Ronald Reagan) and was the launching pad for a highly successful solo career for a decade.
#5099
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5098
This was a hit for Alicia Bridges twice in Australia, of course we'll be looking at its original success where it rode the disco bandwagon for a song that seems more in line with RNB than anything. It wasn't among the most inescapable tracks of its day; however, its legacy got a massive push fifteen years later when it was remixed for the soundtrack of Priscilla queen of the desert.
#5097
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5096
We have one final double entry on this list, this time it's the third and fourth single from All Saints which were bundled together as they were both covers of popular tracks from yesteryear. I guess "Lady marmalade" fits in with the rising trend of vaudeville tracks becoming hits around this time, however their take on "Under the bridge" sparked outrage from Red hot chili peppers fans for ruining the original for them.
#5095
This was the only hit that Ja Rule had from his album the Last temptation in his native America, I'm guessing it was mainly for the video which is an homage to the final song sequent from Grease only with Ja Rule as Danny and Ashanti as Sandy (this was a good year for musicians of colour taking on roles originally done by Caucasian actors.) It's also the second "thugs need love too" ballad from the pair in question.
#5094
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5093
I'm not sure what to feel about this signature track from Joni Mitchell having most of its success come from Australia back in the day, I guess it was a modest hit in the UK and her native Canada which would explain how we Aussies came across it in the first place. For a song that's quintessentially a hippy track, it's amazing how well it holds up all these years after DDT has been outlawed.
#5092
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5091
It took a while for Maroon 5's debut album to find success worldwide, in fact I remember hearing the lead single "Harder to breathe" on the radio from the previous year quite a bit back in the day, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out it was a flop for them even in their native America years later. Their second single is also much lower on this list than I otherwise would've predicted if I'm being honest.
#5090
This was the second and final hit that the Babys managed to score here in Australia, making them the only artist from back in the day to score multiple hits with what I've described as late-night rock given how this also feels like the type of song that would play in the scenario I described earlier in this list. The band would struggle to find success going into the 80's, however this wouldn't be the last we hear from lead singer John Waite.
#5089
Well, we had to get to this track eventually, this is yet another song on this list that has gone down in infamy due to the subject matter which depicts Ringo Starr "owning" a sixteen-year-old he has the hots for. This was originally a hit for Johnny Burnette in 1960 (the father of Rocky Burnette of "Tired of toeing the line" fame) who would tragically pass away four years after his version made it big.
#5088
This was the only hit that Hootie and the Blowfish managed to score in Australia, although admittedly their album was one of the biggest of the decade worldwide so it's not like their music went ignored here even if this was the best they could do on our singles chart. Darius Rucker is now known as a country singer, however back in the day he was the front man for a band that received backlash in their native America with how successful their album was.
#5087
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5086
I'm not sure how he was able to do it, but Chris Rea managed to see a massive comeback this year eight years after he first charted with "Diamonds" in Australia. I'm guessing this was due to the song almost topping the NZ charts which in itself was bizarre as the British musician never saw any success over there prior to this pop rock track. It was a short-lived comeback but a notable one.
#5085
It's one of the greatest ironies in music that Barry Manilow didn't write this song about how he writes all the songs of the world, admittedly this needs the arrogance of its actual songwriter Bruce Johnston (of the Beach boys) in order to be the way it is. Apparently, it was originally given to the Captain and Tennille but was eventually given to Barry when the husband-and-wife duo felt it wouldn't make for a good single.
#5084
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5083
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5082
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5081
This was the only hit from American boy band E.Y.C, even then it was only a minor success in the UK due to them wanting to compete in the first round of the boy band wars and only crossed over here due to how incessantly catchy the song is. This is one of the first hit singles to incorporate Panjabi influences in the production, no doubt leading to the genre exploding once the teen pop craze came to an end in the 00's.
#5080
This was the second Oscar winning ballad this decade to come from Maureen McGovern, an actress/singer who scored both of her hits with these two ballads in Australia as they were both attached to highly successful films that she also appeared in. This came from the Towering inferno, a disaster film about how a fire starts in what was supposed to be the tallest building in the world and the struggles that were had containing the fire in the building.
#5079
This was an excellent year for everyone who's ever been involved with Genesis, we have the breakthrough single from Mike Rutherford's side project Mike and the Mechanics who scored a massive hit with this track about relying on a miracle to make a relationship work (or in the video's case, paying off a debt to a bar manager.) This song clicked with audiences this year and allowed lead singer Paul Carrack to find solo success the following year.
#5078
This was the first hit that Wet wet wet (wow that's a stupid band name) managed to achieve in Australia, it looked like it would be their only hit here given how their other songs failed to crossover despite how well they did in their native UK. That changed later in the decade when their cover of a Mindbenders tracks from a Hugh Grant flick became one of the biggest hits of the decade thanks to their tender vocals.
#5077
This was the breakthrough single for Heart, one of the more popular bands from America that unfortunately didn't receive much love here in Australia back in the day save for the occasional hit single here and there. Indeed, their next hit wouldn't come for another decade down under when "Alone" cracked the top ten here, by that stage they had changed their sound drastically from what it was here.
#5076
This is another song I'm surprised wasn't that much bigger in Australia back in the day, then again that might be due to how many times I've seen the scene where this is played in Priscilla queen of the desert which turned this heteronormative track about getting over a bad relationship into a queer anthem about coming out of the closet. This needed two attempts to become a hit in the UK, likely due to the dozens of remixes it has.
#5075
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5074
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5073
This was the debut single for Seal, an RNB singer who began his career as an EDM vocalist with this song about how it was good to take chances in a relationship or as he puts it "being a little crazy." This would be a far cry from his later material which would have him become a more contemporary RNB singer which would lead to his biggest success not just in his native UK but throughout the whole world.
#5072
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5071
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5070
Well, this is just depressing, not the song itself as it remains a disco classic to this day but rather that it was the only hit that both bands involved had here in Australia. There was little chance this was going to fail as it's a celebration of disco right when the genre seemed to be at the peak of its popularity, although it's likely due to this oversaturation that the disco backlash took place in America.
#5069
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5068
In most parts of the world, this was the third single to be released from Colour by numbers as it displays a more sombre side of the band as opposed to their more upbeat tracks about racial harmony. In America, this was never released as a single as they skipped over this in favour of "It's a miracle" likely due to them being seen strictly as a fun band over there.
#5067
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5066
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5065
Anastacia had only been able to achieve one hit from her first two albums in Australia, this second single from her third album broke tradition by being a massive hit for her likely due to it continuing the theme of her entry from the start of this list of being a gospel rock track about her being done with a relationship she was in. It would be her final hit in most parts of the world as her next album was a huge flop for her.
#5064
We haven't had many actors from Home and away to make it big in the music industry, one of the lucky few was Tammin Sursock who scored a massive hit with this song about being in a pointless relationship with someone who isn't willing to meet her halfway in said relationship. It was a big hit for the Australian actress; however, it was also her only hit as she's more well known for her TV roles these days.
#5063
This was the only major hit that Candice Alley managed to achieve in her career, it was a massive hit upon its initial release likely due to it being well promoted this year along with many other tracks from Australian artists prior to when Australian idol took over our music scene by the end of the year. Candice would have a second minor hit later in the year with "Obsession" which has a similar subject matter to this ballad.
#5062
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5061
While this wasn't his debut album, it was the album that made Bruce Springsteen a household name thanks to the title track becoming a staple on oldies stations despite it not being a success at the time. Indeed, Bruce would continue to find varying levels of success over the next two decades, some of it being massive like his magnum opus Born in the U.S.A and others being modest like his album Nebraska.
#5060
Who says teen pop was dead during the midpoint of the decade? Granted it wasn't anywhere near as successful as it was entering the new millennium, however that didn't prevent this debut from Jesse McCartney from being a success here in Australia likely due to how attractive his core audience found him to be. Sadly, he wouldn't find any further success here even after he finally crossed over in his native America.
#5059
This was one of three albums that Nikki Webster released following her performance at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympics, although most Australians like to pretend that her singing career only consisted of the lead single to this album given how you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who liked her music even back in the day. I personally think it gets too much hate even though I'm not a fan of it either.
#5058
This was the only successful album that Redgum had in their career, although they were described as a killer live band and the bonus track did become a massive hit this year due to it being a heartfelt tribute to the Anzacs who served in Vietnam war. They may be a one hit wonder with the song, but at least the band are still fondly remembered to this day.
#5057
Whether you love it or hate it, the original theatrical adaptation of Charlie's angels was a cultural phenomenon back in the day thanks to the three leads who not only gave fun performances of the 70's icons they were based off of, but also took the time to perfect their martial arts in order to convincingly kick ass which is something modern feminist icons could take a few notes on. Oh and the soundtrack was also quite the success.
#5056
I guess Steve Miller had at least one more successful album in him when entering the MTV era of music, although it's worth noting that his only other successful album was with Book of dreams from 1977 which this was very different from so perhaps this was a success due to a change in sound. It certainly gave him his biggest hit here with the title track which is an accurate reflection of the album.
#5055
From what I can gather, Save the last dance was meant to be the Flashdance of the 00's which didn't go over very well for the film given how the 80's classic is only well remembered for its song sequences and soundtrack which is something this film failed to replicate throughout its runtime (I've seen it numerous times and can still barely remember anything about it.) At least the soundtrack was well received for what it's worth.
#5054
This was a greatest hits package that Smokie released this year, I'm guessing because they knew their time in the spotlight was up by the 80's and wanted to remind us Aussies of their past success with this album. Indeed, it was a success proving once and for all they were more of a singles band than an albums band.
#5053
It was a new decade and Neil Diamond was able to find success with another one of his albums in Australia, although it's worth noting that aside from his appearance in the Razzie award winning Jazz singer remake, he didn't find much success worldwide after this album due to failing to adapt to MTV.
#5052
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5051
This was the final successful album to come out of Midnight oil's discography, it appears to be a return to them giving a voice to the aboriginal community which makes sense given how their magnum opus Diesel and dust had this theme as well. They did quite well adjust to the 90's to make it this far into the decade with their popularity intact, although this would be the last time they troubled the charts.
#5050
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5049
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5048
While this didn't live up to the standards set up by her previous album Jagged little pill, this album from Alanis Morissette was a huge success regardless thanks to it retaining the anger she displayed on that album as well as her exploring other facets of her life that connected with audiences. She did have one more somewhat successful album in the new millennium, but by then Avril Lavigne had taken over as the Canadian voice of a generation.
#5047
This feels like a greatest hits collection from the KLF given how it collected all of their big hits during the early 90's, indeed it likely launched the EDM craze here in Australia given how huge each of these songs were in Australia in comparison to the album itself. Despite how much success they had with this album, the duo decided to go their separate ways after the album cycle was done the following year.
#5046
This was unfortunately the final successful album that AC/DC had with Bon Scott on lead vocals, for some reason their popularity just fell off a cliff after this album became a success for them which is odd because it's not like they were overexposed this decade like many other artists whose popularity declined throughout the 70's.
#5045
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5044
One of the best rom coms of the 90's was Sleepless in Seattle, a film that deconstructs rom com cliches to tell a story that both subverts the classic rom coms of the golden age of cinema and also pays homage to them in a loving way. It was a huge critical and commercial success back in the day and spawned a soundtrack that was also a massive success.
#5043
This was the only notable success that Tiffany Darwish had throughout the world, presumably due to her inability to compete with fellow teen idol Debbie Gibson who had a more success likely due to her writing and producing her songs as well as being the main vocalist on all of them. For what it's worth, this album was more successful here in Australia compared to Debbie's catalogue even though she was also successful here.
#5042
It makes sense this would be more of a hit in our digital charts than as a physical release given how 80's nostalgia seemed to be more prevalent on our digital storefront than it was among those who still bought physical copies of songs, although the duo would still remain a one hit wonder worldwide with this track regardless of which format we're looking at.
#5041
While this duet between Beyonce and Shakira was more of a success as a physical release than on our digital storefront, it was still a huge hit regardless of which format we're looking at which makes the failure of the latter's third English album here all the more puzzling later in the decade.
#5040
This was the only hit single that Janis Ian managed to score in most parts of the world, it appears audiences weren't interested in her coming-of-age track "At seventeen" but were interested in this jazz track she released five years later. I think this was a hit here due to her performing it on Countdown, either that or we really enjoyed the groove on here more so than her fellow Americans.
#5039
This sounds like it was recorded forty years prior, I can assure you it wasn't as Fiddler's dram were a British band from the 70's who scored their one and only hit just as they were calling it quits but this really does sound like something made for a vintage Gene Kelly flick. I have no idea how this became a hit during the height of the disco era, but it somehow did.
#5038
There are two versions of this title track from Whitney's third album, the first was the one that topped the Billboard charts which is something akin to what Janet Jackson would release from around this time. The second version is the one that was released here and in Europe which is a more upbeat dance track that saved Whitney's album from flopping here in Australia as it wasn't received very well.
#5037
This is by far the biggest hit that Charlie Rich had throughout the world, although this wasn't the case in NZ given how this bombed on the Listener charts and that "On my knees" from later in the decade was his big hit over there. I guess the kiwis weren't that into country music like the rest of the world was given how few of these country entries were a success on those charts.
#5036
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5035
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5034
While Eminem had success the previous year with "My name is," it was this song that made him an overnight sensation due to it essentially being him calling out all of the double standards not just in the music industry but in pop culture in general whilst having a catchy beat and a hilarious video to go along with what he has to say. It was a massive hit for him whilst also reassuring people that his vulgar content wasn't meant to be taken too seriously.
#5033
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5032
This was the second single from Rihanna's Good girl gone bad album, it wasn't nearly as big a hit as her earlier entry on this list even though we Aussies certainly appreciated the rock edge this song has. It kind of reminds me of "Black cat" from Janet Jackson as that was another rock track from an artist who only released RNB tracks prior to its success, and indeed Rihanna would have more rock hits in her career.
#5031
Here we have the title track from Madonna's magnum opus Ray of light, an album that sees her returning to her indie roots by having stripped back production after over a decade of releasing albums with bombast and glossy production. Here we have proof that a song can be as catchy as hell with minimal production, in fact I and many others would've had this be the lead single rather than her earlier entry.
#5030
I've seen this title track to Donna Summer's breakthrough album be described as porn music, I can certainly attest for its album version which takes up the full side A of the album as it goes for sixteen minutes. Thankfully the single version isn't nearly as long and thus doesn't wear out its welcome as quickly, thus allowing it to become a huge success for Donna and a gateway to her making disco tracks.
#5029
This was an amazing year for Elton John given how he not only scored two massive hits this year but also managed to have each of his albums at this point be a massive worldwide success. Neither of his two songs this year appeared on his albums, and admittedly audiences likely wanted to hear this upbeat song about how awesome Philadelphia is over his more sombre ballad "Someone saved my love tonight."
#5028
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5027
This was originally a hit for Richard Harris (Albus Dumbledore for Harry Potter fans) ten years prior where it became a massive hit for the Irish actor despite often being hailed as one of the worst songs of all time. Donna Summer decided to resurrect this song about a cake melting in the park (that's literally what the song is about) and make it a disco hit where it became a success all over again.
#5026
This was a massive hit worldwide before crossing over to America where it topped the Billboard charts, it makes sense that it would be a success in America given how the rest of the world fell in love with the passionate vocals as well as how lovestruck the overall theme of the song is. Interestingly there was a separate video released for this song in America compared to the rest of the world, a common trend from this time.
#5025
Fans of Madonna's Confessions on a dance floor will recognise the beat to this song on her hit single "Hung up," however here it was used for a song that's about wanting to hook up with a man for a one-night stand in the middle of the night as opposed to Madonna being fed up with her partner wasting her time. The success of this track proved that Abba's popularity was still going strong entering the 80's.
#5024
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5023
This is one of several hits that Elvis Presley had during the first half of the decade that time hasn't been particularly kind to, I feel this is due to hindsight following his death from later in the decade as he would often perform many of these songs at Vegas which was obviously not good for his wellbeing.
#5022
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5021
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5020
This was the first solo hit that Tim Finn released, although it was his only solo hit in Australia despite him having multiple other hits by himself in his native NZ over the years. I'm guessing this was released to ease the blow that Split Enz were considering calling it quits around this time, indeed that's exactly what happened the following year when they broke up due to creative differences between them.
#5019
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5018
This was the only hit that Black sorrows were able to achieve during their career, although they had better luck with their albums as this song did allow their album Hold on to me to become a huge success as the decade was coming to an end as well as set them up for a very successful album in the 90's. The band is best known for their lead singer Joe Camelleri who previously had success with Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons.
#5017
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5016
This was the only hit for the two singers in question, both Dean Friedman and Denise Marsa managed to win over an audience with their ballad about how they felt lucky to have found each other the way they did and attributed their good fortunes to the lucky stars in the universe. Naturally this ballad didn't lead to any further success for them.
#5015
Following the demise of Abba, Frida decided to embark on a solo career which was off to a good start with this song about how she believes her partner is cheating on her, basically how she felt about her relationship with Benny during their final years together. To date this is the last anyone has heard from any of the members when it comes to them in front of the mic, however Benny and Bjorn have seen success as songwriters.
#5014
Given how he had one of the biggest albums of the decade with the Stranger, Billy Joel no longer had any issues with finding success with his ballads even though he was criticised at the time for making the type of music that seemed to be catered to the soccer mums of the world. Naturally this criticism has died out over the years thanks to his complex songwriting as well as how memorably his compositions are.
#5013
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5012
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5011
I never quite understood how George felt about being tied to the pop machine on Faith as there's plenty of artistic merit on his solo debut as evidence by his third single from the album, although it does have a similar issue to "Daddy's home" in that it can be taken the wrong way by bad faith music critics. It clearly wasn't back in the day as it was his second solo chart topper on Billboard and sixth overall.
#5010
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5009
We've looked at the second hit that James Taylor had here in Australia (at least as a solo artist) "Handy man," time now to look at the fire big hit he had which is of course his signature track that he released at the start of the decade. This was such an instant success for the folk singer that it boosted the popularity of the album it came from to the point where it became a best seller here.
#5008
This was the third Billboard chart topper Britney Spears had in her career, it continues her streak of making blatantly sexual tracks to titillate audiences who find her attractive and offend those who claim that she's ruining pop culture but really isn't. The song sparked massive controversy due to its reference to Peter Paul and Mary in the chorus due to it coming out right after Mary from the folk trio tragically passed away.
#5007
Following the success she had with the Young divas from the previous year, Ricki Lee decided to give her solo career another shot which went over much better as this became a huge success for her. The supergroup also kept going this year by replacing her with Jessica Mauboy, she would follow suit the following year and have a much more prominent career as well.
#5006
Time to look at what I believe is the most over hated song of the decade, yes, this lead single from Nickelback's third album All the right reasons does have strange lyrics about reminiscing on the good times, however there are far worse songs on this list alone and even from Nickelback that I don't understand why this is often considered to be one of the worst songs of the decade by the internet.
#5005
It appears that P Diddy was still trying to find the next teen idol for his label as he signed (then) teenage model Cassie Ventura to his label where she scored a massive worldwide hit with this RNB track before fading into obscurity. There were a lot of female RNB stars in this vein who were likely trying to become the next Ashanti or Ciara, although Cassie was by far the most successful in this vein.
#5004
This was one of only two hits that ABC scored in Australia, the other still being to come on this list meaning that their popularity down under was limited to this year. Admittedly their popularity in their native UK was also quite limited as they were much bigger in America throughout the decade, I'm guessing because they confused them with Devo as I certainly did when I was younger.
#5003
This was the theme to the Stephen King film Maximum overdrive, a film I've seen described as one of the most ridiculous to come out of the decade due to how over the top the storyline is which involves electronic appliances rising up against humanity to destroy us all. Naturally the soundtrack is the only part of the film that anyone seems to have fond memories of, even then it's because it's AC/DC.
#5002
Long before she was an Oscar nominated actress in Hollywood, Bette Midler was a throwback performer who scored her first big hit with this cover of the Andrew sisters track from thirty years prior. It was equally as popular here in Australia as it was in her native America, likely due to nostalgia for music made during the height of WWII.
#5001
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
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