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.
#3900
#3899
This was a decently successful album upon its initial release, likely due to it spawning two hits for Rick Price which was impressive for a debut album even for someone his age. It saw a massive rebound a year later when "Walk away Renee" became a surprise hit for him, thus making it a huge success for an Australian artist when that was becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.
#3898
I guess this song's success largely comes from fans of Packed to the rafters being those who preferred to buy their music through digital downloads rather than physical copies given how much bigger it was on our digital charts compared to our main charts.
#3897
Before he found massive success with his band, Ted Mulry was a solo artist who scored a decent hit with this breakthrough single of his. I guess this makes him one of the few artists to make it big during the first half of the decade to benefit from Countdown rather than be hindered by it given how popular he was on the show with his "gang."
#3896
Following the success of her breakthrough single "Forever" from the previous year, Tina Cousins decided to rerelease her debut single from two years prior where it became a massive hit here in Australia for her. It was at its most popular here given how it was only a modest success for her upon its initial release in her native UK, likely because it got lost in the shuffle of all the other EDM at the time.
#3895
Brandy might not have been one of the more popular artists of the decade in Australia, however at least both of her signature ballads managed to be a huge success here. There's honestly not much more I can say about this ballad in particular, it was a massive hit for her before she became yesterday's news as the decade was coming to an end.
#3894
This was the biggest hit that Wang Chung had in their career, likely due to the seizure inducing music video which likely made a bunch of people epileptics whenever it was shown on TV. I find it weird this wasn't their debut single or even their first hit considering this feels like an introduction to the band, although this could be another reason why it was their biggest hit given the potential of a TV show.
#3893
OK I'm giving you a three for one deal with this entry, mainly because all of these songs charted separately in the UK despite them being bundled as one entry here in Australia. I'm guessing this was done to allow these guys to have at least one hit single here, although "Cherish" was the song that was marketed as the lead single despite it being one of their cheesiest songs in their entire discography.
#3892
I get the feeling if we Aussies were more open to allowing British artists to make it big throughout the decade then this British trio would've had a ton of success here, after all they did have a minor hit with "One night stand" the previous year which sounded similar to their biggest hit. I guess the lyrical content is different as that's about having a one-night stand whereas this is about wanting more out of a relationship.
#3891
It looks like the trio were able to prove their haters wrong by succeeding with flying colours around the world this year, here's the second single from their debut album which may not have been as memorable as their earlier entry but was able to help their album become one of the most popular of the late 80's. They still have one more entry to come on this list, however that would be their last hit down under.
#3890
To think that this was Tiffany's biggest hit here in Australia, or it would've been had her debut single (which is still to come) not being a huge sleeper hit this year due to the success of this second single. Apparently, this was the first song that Tiffany recorded in her career, and by that, I mean it should be obvious as compared to the rest of her album, she sounds completely terrified on this ballad.
#3889
If you can believe it, this wasn't originally released as the theme to Romeo + Juliet and was instead released as the Swedish band's lead single to their third album from the previous year. Somehow Baz Lurhman got a hold of this track and included it in his film adaptation of the Shakespeare play where it became a massive worldwide success for them, probably because people thought it was a No doubt track.
#3888
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3887
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3886
This was sandwiched between the duo's two earlier entries on this list, meaning that it's possible that "El condor pasa" would've been even bigger here in Australia had that been pushed as the second single over this ballad about a woman named Cecilia. I guess this goes to show that we Aussies preferred experimentation over conventionality back in the day.
#3885
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3884
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3883
This was the debut single from Kids in the kitchen, an Australian new wave band who had an interesting album cycle for their debut album as it went for nearly two years before they finally released it in 1985. I guess this was to make it a success which it did to an extent, it wasn't among the biggest albums of the decade here, but it was a huge commercial success thanks to their brand of alternative new wave.
#3882
These guys claimed that they always wanted to be throwback artists and only went the teen pop direction in order to build their audience so that they could find success with the music they wanted to make. I guess this was the best proof people had for this claim as this feels like a throwback song rather than something to compete with the boy bands of the era, although it makes you wonder why they waited nine years to finally make that transition in their career.
#3881
This is probably the most distinct song from AC/DC's catalogue as it doesn't have the same melody structure as the rest of their catalogue, naturally this helped it become one of their signature tracks due to casual fans being able to easily identify it from the rest of their discography. It allowed the album it came from to be a huge success for the band, thus setting them up for further success throughout the 90's.
#3880
The original version of this track was a fun dance pop number about how a boy that Britney's into is driving her crazy due to having conflicting emotions about these feelings, naturally this wasn't a strong enough premise for this to be a huge hit, so it was given the remix treatment to help it achieve the success her earlier entries on this list had. Suffice to say I'm not a huge fan of this remix as it kills the groove for me.
#3879
A word of caution when going through the lyrics of this seemingly upbeat track from Third eye blind, this is a song about a crystal meth addiction and the band has made little to no effort to hide the serious subject matter of the song other than putting it in one of the catchiest pop rock tracks to come out of the decade. This left them a one hit wonder in Australia, although they saw massive success in their native America.
#3878
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3877
It's hard to think that this woman began the decade as a member of Wilson Phillips, one of the most successful artists of the early 90's in their native America that only managed a single hit song internationally with their debut single "Hold on." Fast forward six years and we have the second of two hit singles she had in Australia and seemingly nowhere else in the world.
#3876
This is the final hit to come from 50 cent before he became yesterday's news in the realms of hip hop, I think he already was by this stage but still scored a hit due to having JT on the chorus during the height of the RNB singer's own popularity. Nowadays 50 cent is best known for his problematic social media where he constantly says inappropriate things online to further justify him getting cancelled.
#3875
Given that he had one of the biggest hits of the decade with his earlier entry, it only makes sense that Coolio was welcomed into the Australian music scene with open arms throughout the second half of the decade. Here he scores a massive hit with this track which is a return to his breakthrough hit worldwide "Fantastic voyage" with the bouncier hip hop and less serious lyrics to his rhymes.
#3874
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3873
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3872
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3871
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3870
They've been described as John Farnham fanboys over the years, and listening to their debut album it's easy to see why as this does sound like something Farnham would make if he were fronting a band around this time period. That obviously didn't prevent this album from being a huge success for Southern sons, however it did leave them as a one trick pony as their next album failed to replicate its success.
#3869
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3868
Harry Connick Jr was always a crooner in the music industry; however, his career received a massive boost when he appeared in the film Little man Tate which compelled audiences to check out his music catalogue with this greatest hits package he had conveniently released around the time the movie came out. It was a slow rise to success here in Australia, however we were eventually won over.
#3867
Wings were so inescapable this decade that even this greatest hits package managed to be a huge success for them, heck there were simply no signs of Paul McCartney slowing down in the music industry until the mid 80's where his music became less critically acclaimed.
#3866
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3865
There seemed to be no stopping these guys as they managed to score a huge hit with their second album this year which spawned two of their more popular tracks in their catalogue. For whatever reason, they would sport themselves as T.M.G after this album, presumably to seem more "hip" and "cool" with the youth of the moment.
#3864
This was the third time that this soundtrack became a success here in Australia, this time it was due to it being the twentieth anniversary of the film and it being rereleased to cinemas this year to massive success.
#3863
While this was late to the party here in Australia even on our digital charts, the fact that it fitted in nicely with the likes of Good Charlotte and Fall out boy allowed it to be far more popular on our storefront than it was as a physical release for the former nu metal band.
#3862
I guess this song from Happy feet really connected with those who consumed music from digital downloads considering how much more successful it was on our digital charts than it was as a physical release, although I'm sure this would've been an even bigger hit on the latter format if anyone knew who Gia Farrell was outside of the film's soundtrack.
#3861
This was the only notable success for the Spanish duo Baccara, mainly due to their unique vocals as well as the groovy disco beat which helped it stand out from many of their contemporaries this decade. There was little surprise this would be a hit in Australia given how inescapable it was in the UK, although I get the feeling this still would've been a hit here regardless because of how bit it was throughout Europe.
#3860
This was the second single to come from Nelly Furtado's debut album, it was a big hit everywhere in the world except her native Canada where it wasn't even released as a single. I'm guessing because they weren't interested in her paying homage to her Portuguese heritage like the rest of the world was, in fact this was her big hit off her debut album in NZ and on Billboard because of this appeal.
#3859
Although he's best known for his ballad "Lady in red" from three years later, this was the first hit that Chris De Burgh achieved in most parts of the world which is about as far away as you can get from his bigger hit in terms of sound and tone. Instead of a lightweight ballad about love, we have a borderline angry track about not paying for a service until the service is delivered to one's satisfaction.
#3858
I think this was meant to be the debut single for Bow wow (then known as Lil bow wow) if it was then it was a massive flop in his native America as "Bounce with me" was the hit that introduced him to his fellow Americans. This was a surprise hit throughout Europe for him which likely explains why it was a hit here in Australia, although it was his only hit as a kid as he wouldn't have another until he became an adult.
#3857
This is primarily known for its "no no no" phrase throughout the track, as such it's become a popular choice for commercials which promise a lack of negative downsides from a product of service as well as a popular club banger over the years. This was the Dutch group's biggest success in the UK likely for similar reasons, and indeed they would continue to have success throughout Europe as the decade went on.
#3856
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3855
This was the only notable success that Utah saints had outside of their native UK, I'm guessing because of the samples throughout the track which made it appealing to the Australian EDM scene that was quickly growing this decade. We'll be looking at plenty of other dance tracks from one hit wonders, so I hope you're in the mood for more of this type of music.
#3854
This was the first of many hits that Slade would have in their career, it was their biggest hit here in Australia likely due to it not being included on any of their albums like some of their other entries on this list we'll get to in a bit. I'm not sure why they titled their earliest songs the way they did other than to offend the Grammar Nazis of the world, at least they stand out among other generic titles.
#3853
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3852
This was originally Abba's debut single which was released to deafening silence here in Australia likely due to it being a little ahead of its time back in 1973, indeed it was given a second chance once the band had conquered the world where this became yet another hit they had in a year where they had a ton of hits.
#3851
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3850
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3849
This was a flop for the brothers Gibb upon its initial release, this is despite the fact that the lead single was their first Billboard chart topper for the trio as well as a big hit here at home. For whatever reason, the album took off in the early months of 1972 which allowed it to appear on this list.
#3848
This is Bob Dylan's only new entry on this list, although we will be revisiting his 1974 effort Before the flood later on as it was a decent success here in Australia that year. It makes sense he would find success with this album given how his two entries on my previous list did so well down under.
#3847
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3846
You'd think that a man who swept the Grammys at the start of the decade would have a much bigger follow up to his debut album, it turns out that even back then Christopher Cross's sweep of the awards ceremony was harshly criticised due to the competition he won over that year. In any case we have his second album which was a decent success back in the day but has since been largely forgotten in recent years.
#3845
I haven't seen the Woman in red, and chances are I'm not going to like it based on what I've heard even if it has Gene Wilder and the woman from Weird science in it. The soundtrack was a success due to the lead single becoming one of the biggest hits of the decade worldwide, all of this before it took home the prize of best song at the academy awards the following year.
#3844
This is the other big hit that Emerson Lake and Palmer had here in Australia during the first half of the 70's, although they did have other albums that charted here before they were seemingly negatively impacted by the Countdown purge from 1974. They briefly recovered with their 1977 effort the Works.
#3843
This was the first album to come from Wings, a band initially formed by Linda McCartney only to have her husband join them as their lead vocalist, this also means I've officially featured all of their albums on this side proving how consistently popular they were back in the day.
#3842
This was another successful album to come from KD Lang here in Australia, it was released fairly late in the year, which means it wasn't a Mother's Day gift like many of her other albums.
#3841
It's interesting these guys would find success here in Australia prior to the John Butler trio considering they were among the first to be signed to John Butler's label despite the trio releasing two albums under the same label. Admittedly this album had quite a long shelf life given how it was a hit twice here for the Waifs, the first was upon its initial release and the second was after a successful tour they had with it.
#3840
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3839
This will be Lady Gaga's final entry on this list given how "Eh eh" failed to make much of an impression in our music scene back in the day, I guess we Aussies preferred her the most eccentric her music was regardless of the music videos.
#3838
Much like his earlier entry on this list, I'm a bit surprised that this wasn't more of a hit for T.I on our digital charts especially considering how it had JT as a guest feature, although their other collaboration from earlier on this list also didn't do as well on our digital charts as it did as a physical release.
#3837
While this wasn't as big on our digital charts as it was as a physical release, the fact that it still comfortably makes this list does suggest that it's possible Sean Paul would've had bigger success down under had ARIA bothered to track digital sales during the first half of the decade.
#3836
This was the winner of Eurovision for this year, boy howdy did the marketing want you to know that as it's impossible to find album art for this song that doesn't mention that it one Eurovision this year. It's easy to see how this British band won as they were effectively a British version of Abba and Abba was still one of the most popular bands throughout Europe even leading up to their breakup.
#3835
This took a while for it to find success here in Australia, again because RNB wasn't that big here in Australia until the second half of the decade. This song was likely a success thanks to the angelic chorus from an RNB group known as Kut Klose, a group that I and many others feel deserves better than to play second fiddle to Keith Sweat given how much better their vocals are than his on here.
#3834
Two of the biggest names in NZ music managed to score a massive hit this year here in Australia with this collaboration, here we have P-Money who was ahead of the curb when it came to producers taking lead credit for a song they don't provide any vocals on and Scribe who delivers one of his solid rap performances which made him such a household name in his homeland.
#3833
This was a massive hit due to it being the Bond theme for the Spy who loved me, one of the more popular films during the Roger Moore era of the franchise. Of course, Carly Simon was a good choice for submitting a Bond theme given that she was one of the more popular artists of the decade, even though this was her first hit in Australia since her cover of "Mockingbird" four years prior.
#3832
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3831
Well, I did mention when I talked about the original version of this track that this version was a much bigger hit here in Australia a mere three years later, so here we are with this version which was the only other hit that Blue was able to achieve here likely due to our familiarity with the original. I feel they were the 00's equivalent of MN8 as they too combined harsher RNB elements with the boy band sound.
#3830
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3829
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3828
One of the biggest contemporary Christian artists of all time, Amy Grant was able to find success this year by temporarily moving away from her comfort zone and into a more adult contemporary sound which resulted in her scoring two hits this year with this being her first. She did have a Billboard chart topper prior to this become her second number one hit in America with Peter Cetera of all people.
#3827
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3826
Following the success of her film Grease, Olivia Newton John decided to use the transformation that her character in the film Sandy went through and apply it to her real-life music career as she went in a more risqué direction with her music. This was the first song she released in this vein which while quite tame to what would come in the 80's, was still sexier than anything she had released up until this point.
#3825
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3824
This was the second big hit that Axiom had during their brief time together, I forgot to mention earlier that "Arkansas grass" was a carryover from the 60's, meaning that they were another band that began the 70's in the top ten that fell off fairly early into the decade.
#3823
Although they had success prior to this song becoming their first top ten hit in Australia, this is the point where they went from a mere pub rock band into a huge household name here that had them spark international interest in them. Indeed, this track about wanting a relationship to continue even after its clearly over was a minor success over in NZ and even allowed the album to be a hit over there.
#3822
We haven't had many musicians of colour on this list so far, let's change that by featuring the final hit from 5th dimension which was a huge success for them here in Australia as it was in their native America. I will say that these guys did quite well for themselves with us Aussies throughout their career given how they scored a few hits in the 60's in addition to this late entry from their catalogue down under.
#3821
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3820
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3819
This was the double A-side that cemented Queen as one of the most endearing bands to ever make it big in the mainstream, after all you begin with the stomping beat of "We will rock you" before immediately preceding to the soaring victory lap of "We are the champions" which helped this become a massive hit worldwide for them. They would have a bit of a quiet period for the remainder of the decade before they scored a massive hit with "Crazy little thing called love."
#3818
This was a surprise hit for Rick Nelson (formerly Ricky Nelson) given how this is actually about how he had faded into irrelevancy since his heyday as a teen idol from the 50's and early 60's. I guess we Aussies and his fellow Americans felt pity for his career trajectory (particular him getting booed while on stage) which is how this managed to become a huge hit for the former teen idol.
#3817
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3816
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3815
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3814
Although this was always intended to be the second single from J-Lo's debut album, the fact that it was marketed as the theme song to the new millennium (despite needing to come out the following year for that to happen) likely helped it become a huge hit for her despite the mediocre reception of her album. Indeed, it looked like her popularity would come to an end after this dropped off the charts, however as we all know, it didn't.
#3813
We've featured several tracks from his ex-wife Jessica Simpson on this site so far, so I guess it was only a matter of time before we got a hit from Nick Lachey here in Australia which came in the form of this lead single from his second solo album. Nick of course was previously known for being a member of the boy band 98° who also didn't have any success here in Australia, that would explain why this was his only hit here.
#3812
Man staying positive on this site has been a challenge for me, I guess one thing I can say in this songs favour is that Collette does seem like a better fit for the lyrics over Anita Ward, although that's about it. This was her one and only hit in Australia and her native NZ, meaning that this is an example of a one hit wonder covering a one hit wonder as opposed to Pseudo echo who were massive here.
#3811
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3810
As with most RNB albums, this initially sat on shelves in Australia likely due to us Aussies not being into RNB that much. Toni's fortunes changed here when "Breathe again" became a surprise hit which allowed this album to follow suit in becoming a huge hit here months after it already became a success in NZ and her native America. This led to her having no issues with finding success with her second album.
#3809
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3808
Following the success of their live E.P, Devo was able to find success with their breakthrough album of theirs as their wacky antics really struck a chord with us Aussies back in the day. This led to both of their albums this year being successful and even the band performing a song on each album on Countdown in the new year, although their popularity would fade once MTV took over.
#3807
It looked like these guys wouldn't have any success with their albums here in Australia, for the most part that's true but they did see massive success with this greatest hits album around the time it was announced they would be going their separate ways this year. They've reunited since but with only a fraction of the success they had throughout the 90's.
#3806
One of the more popular films of the 90's was the Full Monty, a film where a bunch of unemployed British men put on a striptease show with hijinks ensuing from there (forgive me but I haven't seen it yet.) As the plot revolves around a musical theatre of sorts, the soundtrack was a huge success due to it having a bunch of popular songs that the cast use during their shows.
#3805
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3804
She was certainly one of the most popular artists in Australia throughout the decade, she was definitively the most popular female Australian artist of the 70's (that is if you count her as such as she was from America initially) so it makes sense that this live album would be a success for Marcia Hines when it was released.
#3803
It's odd how this song that was only released in certain parts of the world wouldn't be as successful on our digital charts as it was as a physical release, I'm guessing her fanbase considered this as a collector's item which would explain why it did better on our physical charts than on our storefront.
#3802
This was more of a hit on our digital charts than it was on our physical charts, although considering how Evanescence were often regarded as an emo band (despite being more in line with nu metal) it makes sense that they would achieve most of their success on our digital storefront with this lead single to their second album.
#3801
This was the first hit that Bette Midler had in Australia since her 1973 cover of the Andrew sister's classic "Boogie woogie bugle boy," it happens to come from her theatrical debut The rose which is loosely based on the tragic life of Janis Joplin that was well received by critics. While the film isn't historically accurate by any means, it remains a good film due to Bette's performance which she was Oscar nominated for, unlike this song which missed out on a nomination.
No comments:
Post a Comment