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.
#4100
This was the second album that Jimmy Barnes released within a year, although this came after the album cycle of Heat came to an end meaning he was at least pacing his career fairly well this decade. If you couldn't tell from the cover art, this was his foray into acoustic rock given he had learned to play the guitar around this time to help him further craft his identity away from Cold chisel.
#4099
Well, this was an obvious attempt at Andrew Lloyd Weber cashing in on the success of his (then) most recent theatrical production Phantom of the opera by reminding his fans of all the other shows he's put on and their highlights. Naturally this was a huge success for him given how well loved his shows are specifically for the music.
#4098
Spring of 1983 was such a hectic time here in Australia when it comes to our music scene that it makes sense that this greatest hits package would be a huge success here during our summer period of 83/84.
#4097
There was a lot of hype going into this concert given hot it was the official reunion for Simon and Garfunkel, needless to say these expectations were met effortlessly as the duo gave such a compelling show that audiences welcomed them back with open arms. There was talk of the two making new music together following the success of the show, however they remembered why they disliked each other and went their separate ways again.
#4096
He may have failed to score a hit single anywhere in the world since the soundtrack to his version of the Jazz singer, however it's obvious that Neil Diamond has remained a welcome presence in the music industry as evidence by how frequently his 1972 live album Hot august night recharts in the mainstream. Twenty years after that album, he released this greatest hits package that detailed his success from his debut to its release.
#4095
I always did wonder if anyone cared much for Jay-Z's verse on this track, it turns out many didn't as it was the version of this song without the verse that managed to be successful on our digital charts with the rap version only barely scraping the top twenty just as this version was dropping out of our charts.
#4094
This is another rock track to see a massive improvement on the rankings of this list compared to the hypothetical physical list, as such it's safe to assume that Maroon 5 would've greatly benefitted on our charts on their first album had digital sales been tracked during the first half of the decade here in Australia.
#4093
Well, I guess calling yourself a Bootleg band is one way to let people know you're nothing but a covers band cashing in off the success of much more famous bands and artists, here was the first of their two hits in Australia which came at the expense of the original from Loggins and Messina. At least their other big hit was a cover of a song from a decade prior.
#4092
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4091
These guys were on a roll when they released their second single to their biggest album II, so much so that this replaced their previous single "I'll make love to you" at number one on Billboard making them one of the few artists to replace themselves at number one in America. I'm sure this opened up some doors in allowing RNB artists to crossover in Australia which would happen more frequently as the decade went on.
#4090
This was the third single from MJ's album Bad, a song where he declares his love for a significant other who makes him feel good whenever they're around. This would be his final hit single in Australia for the decade as the next hit he would have down under would be "Black or white" from his next albums Dangerous.
#4089
This was the biggest hit to come from the Hoodoo gurus, likely due to the video which perfectly mirrors the lyrics about who these guys are supposed to be with their respective relationships. If you can believe it, these guys remade this song many years later titled "That's my horse" which was made for a marketing campaign to promote gambling, how the mighty have fallen if they resorted to doing that.
#4088
Well true to the title of this song, this is indeed a composition that comprises of a banjo duel that was apparently made for a film known as Deliverance. The film was well received back in the day, meaning that this was likely a hit due to how popular it was with us Aussies (box office numbers are hard to come back even for modern movies outside of America.)
#4087
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4086
This is another entry from the sub-genre I've dubbed as late-night rock, this is the type of rock music I picture myself listening to whenever I'm at a cocktail bar at two in the morning drowning my sorrows away. I guess this is my way of saying this is something you'd expect at a jazz bar, which I feel was what the band was going for with their one and only hit about a hot summer night.
#4085
It looked like the album cycle for Dangerous had concluded when both "Heal the world" and "Who is it" failed to catch on here in Australia, however MJ had other plans as he wanted people to know that Slash provided the guitar solo for the one rock track on the album which seemed to be enough of an incentive for it to be a huge success from the album despite said album being over a year old at this point.
#4084
This was the second hit in a row for Salt n Pepa as well as the first for En vogue in Australia, likely due to their catchy chorus they provide to connect the verses of how awesome the men each rapper is with is for her. The real victory here comes from the person these women of colour sampled from, that being Linda Lindell who was originally blacklisted from the music industry for sounding like a woman of colour despite being Caucasian began performing again after spending 25 years in hiding.
#4083
This was the biggest hit the New seekers had in their native UK, naturally this meant that it would be a huge hit here in Australia despite the fact that these guys struggled to follow up the success of their earlier entry with their releases from between these two songs. If you can believe, it was NZ where these guys were at their most popular given how they clogged the Listener charts.
#4082
It seems odd that David Essex would score massive success with his pop ballads during the midpoint of the decade when his first hit "Rock on" is more in line with the art pop that would be a huge success for the likes of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush in their respective careers. This was his biggest hit down under likely due to how sickly sweet he comes off on this track, again a far cry from his debut single.
#4081
One of the most popular films of the decade was the first Mission impossible flick, a theatrical adaptation of the TV series which spawned a massive franchise as well as confirm Tom Cruise to be an action star which aside from Top gun from a decade prior he really wasn't at this point. The theme song is the films strongest asset, it was composed by members of U2 Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen.
#4080
This was the final hit to come from No doubt before they went their separate ways to allow Gwen Stefani to embark on a solo career, although the real accomplishment this song achieved was it that it allowed people to discover the original from Talk talk as it wasn't a hit anywhere in the world back in the 80's. I don't think the original even appeared on oldies stations until this version became a massive worldwide hit.
#4079
This was the third single to come from Make it big, unless of course you're from America in which case it was pushed back as the fourth single so that "Everything she wants" would top the Billboard charts for the duo. This is often confused with George's solo hit of the same name from 1990, so much so that version is credited as "Freedom 90" to avoid confusion with this track.
#4078
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4077
Given how inescapable Boyz II Men had become around this time, it only makes sense that this a Capella group would follow in their footsteps and also find massive worldwide success with this ballad. Although this was their only hit outside of their native America, they scored a bunch of other hits on Billboard this year proving that they were indeed in the same league as Boyz II Men over there.
#4076
This was supposed to be the song which confirmed J-Lo as someone who was down to earth and not a spoilt rich diva, I guess it's safe to say that she's long given up on this endeavour as there is countless evidence to support the fact that she is a toxic celebrity who only ever thinks of herself in recent years. None of this stopped the song from being a huge success for her back in the day, likely due to how bouncy it is.
#4075
From what I can gather, this song was released internationally purely thanks to the success of Shocking blue's earlier entry on this list given how Tee set was another band from the Netherlands to find success at the start of the decade worldwide. It's even in the same genre which further links these guys to the geniuses behind "Venus," although sadly there's no 80's cover of this song like that track has.
#4074
This was the first song that Bananarama released without Siobahn Fahay, she left the group claiming that she wanted to spend time with her husband David Stewart (of Eurythmics fame) but later admitted she had issues with the direction the trio was heading with their music when she returned with Marcella Detroit as Shakespeare's sister later in the decade. Indeed, her vocals were replaced with her replacement Jacquie O'Sullivan which helped this become one of their bigger hits down under.
#4073
This is the final hit single that Billy Joel has been able to achieve in his career, although that might be due to him failing to release another album after the album this is named after despite said album being a huge success for him back in the day. I guess he wanted to end his non touring career on a high note as he's been touring extensively since he released this.
#4072
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4071
This was already a hit twice here in Australia and around the world, the first time was its initial version from Johnny Mathis in the 50's and the second was from Cliff Richard about a decade prior to this version from Donny Osmond. If I were to rank these three versions based on how well they did, it would go as Johnny, Donny and Cliff.
#4070
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4069
Following the departure of Jimmy Somerville, Bronski beat picked a new vocalist by the name of John Foster and soldiered on with their second album which was off to a good start with this lead single becoming a huge hit both here and in their native UK. Unfortunately, the album itself was a massive flop, which is especially embarrassing considering Jimmy found massive success with his new band the Communards.
#4068
This was originally a minor hit for Elton John from his 1974 album Caribou here in Australia, however it was given its full due when George Michael agreed to perform it with him at a concert which was so well received that it became a chart topper for them both in America and their native UK. I'm guessing this was meant to be included on George's second Listen without prejudice album just like his earlier entry.
#4067
It appears that Cliff Richard was here for the long haul as this ballad managed to become a hit for him worldwide including in America where this got him out of the one hit wonder bin over there that "Devil woman" threatened to trap him in. Indeed, he would go on to have massive success throughout the 80's proving he was far from yesterday's news.
#4066
Aerosmith are known for their sentimental side in their music; however, it seems surprising that their only two big hits here were with ballads considering how well remembered they remain to this day down under. Here we have the first of their two chart toppers which tells the story about the titular Janie and how she went insane after a rocky relationship with her partner and how she shot him.
#4065
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4064
Boy was this a pain to do research on, apparently this is from an Italian trio whose initials make up the name of the project. It was a massive flop throughout Europe; however, it became a surprise hit here in Australia thanks to a popular remix from Nick Skitz as did many obscure dance tracks from this decade. Naturally I'm judging the songs by their original mixes, however I can't in this case because I don't know where to find the original.
#4063
Although they would go on to have massive success with their second album later in the decade, it was the lead single to Screaming jets debut album that made them a household name due to how angry they came off on this track similar to how Nirvana launched their career with their seminal classic "Smells like teen spirit." In a way, these guys were able to help the trio find success here due to their similarities.
#4062
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4061
One of the more prominent glam rock bands of the decade was T Rex, this was their biggest hit which feels like a hybrid of a psychedelia track and a glam track which I feel is the perfect song to see how the former became the latter as the decade found its own identity. Even though this was their biggest hit here in Australia, it's far from their most well known as we'll get to those tracks later on this list.
#4060
Much like their debut single from earlier on this list, this was another female empowerment anthem from Madison Avenue as Cheryl sings about how she feels like she's been mistreated by the person she's singing to and how they won't be treating her as such for much longer once she's done with them. It was another instant hit for the duo and a song that promised them so much success moving forward in the decade.
#4059
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4058
Well, this is a surprise, I don't think anyone had expected the Backstreet boys to have a hit this far into the decade given how the boy band wars had come to an end by 2001 and that they were crowned the definitive champions of said wars. Even so, this finally gave them a chart topper here in Australia as none of their other songs managed to reach the top spot like this did down under.
#4057
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4056
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4055
I used to like this song, granted I was only nine years old when it came out, but there's a certain innocence to it that makes its popularity back in the day make sense to me. I do feel bad for it as it's often considered one of the worst songs of all time from an Australian artist, likely due to it being the rare, manufactured teen pop track from Australia in comparison to the rock and roll audiences are used to.
#4054
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4053
Well it looks like this was an excellent year for European DJ's (or in this case a group of German DJ's) to dig up older songs and put their own spin on them for the clubs of the day, this time we have Scooter who dug up the Supertramp classic of the same name and scored a massive chart topper here in Australia with this formula much like DJ Otzi did earlier on this list.
#4052
This by all accounts should be much higher on the list given how inescapable it was on the radio in Australia back in the day, however it was unfortunately pulled from shelves as were the other singles from Avril's debut album to encourage album sales which I guess worked out as the album was a massive success for her. Still, it drives me insane that this song is much lower than it should be on this list, but rules are rules.
#4051
And who says that teen pop was dead by the midpoint of the decade? Granted it certainly didn't have a stranglehold of the music scene like it did at the start of the decade, but that didn't mean that songs such as this debut single from Jesse McCartney didn't have a chance at being a massive worldwide hit. Interestingly this flopped in his native America even though he would have massive success over there later in the decade.
#4050
This was the big hit off Split enz's album Time and tide, although it wasn't the lead single which is perhaps why it wasn't as big a hit as you'd otherwise expect from the band. You'd think that a band who seemed tailor made for MTV would find more international success with their material from around this time, they did chart in the lower half of international charts but didn't find much success outside of Australia and NZ.
#4049
This was originally released the previous year to massive success for Nena throughout Europe, largely due to the lyrics being about how the end of the world came when a sentry mistook a bunch of red balloons for an attack against them. The song was liberally translated into English which didn't match the ton of the original story or the melody of the song, this resulted in the original version becoming the big hit internationally except for America where the English version was the big hit.
#4048
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4047
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4046
If you need proof that Tina Turner was always a welcomed presence in Australia, consider the fact that she starred opposite Mel Gibson in the third Mad Max film as well as providing the theme song to the film which went on to be one of her more iconic songs in her catalogue. The film was a critical and commercial success despite it being the final film in the franchise for thirty years.
#4045
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4044
This was the first big hit that Gary Glitter had in his career, mainly because it's another two for one deal on this list given how we have two tracks that were billed as two parts of a song he released to appeal to the rising trend of glam rock. Now if the melody sounds familiar to you and you've somehow never heard of this track on oldies stations, that's because it was interpolated for "Doctoring the tardis" in 1988 by the KLF.
#4043
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4042
You'd think that this lead single from Tears for fear's second album Songs from the big chair would be a number one hit in their native UK, it wasn't due to it being released during the height of by far the busiest Christmas season Britain has ever seen in the music industry. Fortunately, this had little issues with topping the charts throughout the rest of the world thanks to the instrumentation and Roland Orizabal's passionate vocals.
#4041
While it was a little late to the party in the southern hemisphere, this debut single from Chris Brown was a massive success in Australia and NZ and ushered in one of the most divisive RNB singers of all time. This was even prior to his string of controversies as a person as even from the beginning, people felt he was little more than an Usher wannabe and later on would refer to him as a Justin Bieber of colour.
#4040
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4039
Although this song has a relatively low placement on this list, this is mainly because it was slightly delayed here in Australia and then released where it became Kylie's biggest hit in her career despite having a relatively short chart run. This was a practice that had ruined the Billboard charts throughout the 90's and would have similar damage to the ARIA charts throughout the 00's.
#4038
To think this signature track from Oasis failed to reach the top spot in their native UK, oh well it was a number one hit in most parts of the world, so I don't think the band minds too much in the long run. This has sadly received a ton of backlash in recent years due to people noticing how monotone Liam is on this track, I feel that only enhances the song as it allows the beauty of Noel's poetry and instrumentation to shine through.
#4037
This was the debut single for Dr Hook and the medicine show, it was a decent hit in their native America and a massive international hit for the band likely due to the comedic lyrics in the song. That said, this isn't too far off from their material from the second half of the decade musically, I bring that up because a lot of their earlier work is straight up comedy tracks written by children's novelist Shel Silverstein.
#4036
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4035
It looked like Roxette were also able to survive the transition from the 80's to the 90's as this title track from their third album became a huge hit throughout the world, although admittedly they did tweak their sound to have less synthesizers compared to their earlier work so perhaps, they did make more of an effort to change with the times than many of their peers. Their time would come to an end when they appeared on the Super Mario brother's soundtrack two years later.
#4034
There haven't been that many Olympic themes to make it big over the years, in fact this is technically the biggest hit to spawn from the games as the only other big hits I can think of to be affiliated with the games are "Absolutely everybody" and "Moscow." Even then those songs weren't officially affiliated with the games and only were due to the Australian press. In any case, we have this duet between opera singers Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman singing a song that translates to "friends for life."
#4033
If you're wondering why this song only appears on this list and not the previous list, that's because it wasn't released as a single here in Australia until this year despite it being a massive worldwide success for Hinder the previous year. This is another song that's gone down in infamy as one of the worst songs of the decade due to how melodramatic the situation is in the lyrics, although I don't agree with this sentiment.
#4032
Given how this managed to spawn three UK chart toppers for the band in question, it makes sense that this debut album for Jive bunny and the Mastermixers would be the first chart topper of the decade here in Australia given how it came out at a time where mashup singles were all the rage in the mainstream.
#4031
This was a stellar year for Devo given how they not only scored two successful albums here in Australia but also a successful E.P which charted both on the singles and albums chart for them. This was the album that they released once their mainstream crossover happened with their earlier album which continues in their new wave direction complete with wacky visuals to accompany their singles.
#4030
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4029
So Frank Sinatra was able to score a successful album this year, this would've been four years prior to his death meaning that even in his twilight years he was still managing to connect with audiences with new material. Here he collaborates with the likes of Aretha Franklin and Barbra Streisand which managed to appease audiences of the day.
#4029
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4027
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4026
In a way, this feels like a greatest hits album as we have Michael Crawford singing all of the best-known songs from all of Andrew Lloyd Webber's productions at the time of the album's release. The success of this album was likely due to when the Phantom of the opera began its tour here in Australia which happened to star him in the titular role, thus making this a tie into the show.
#4025
This is one of the strangest songs to become a hit in Australia, mainly because it's literally about how the singer daydreams about being a cowboy and how he wants his girlfriend to be his cowgirl. I don't know how we Aussies and kiwis discovered this track; however, we did, and it became a huge hit in both countries for the British band.
#4024
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4023
Given how both of them were established singers at this point (debatable so for Jason) it makes sense that Scott and Charlene from Neighbours would collaborate in real life and make a ballad to cash in on their onscreen wedding which had just aired in the UK when they released this as a single. The duo would go on to have further success this year thanks to how popular they were with the Brits.
#4022
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4021
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4020
Well, this is a Christmas staple that refuses to die in the current day and age of streaming payola, although at least this only comes around during the Christmas season so it's not like it's clogging the charts all year round or anything. I guess it's good to know that it was a huge hit for the duo back in the day, although it came at the expense of arguably their best song "Everything she wants" being a bigger hit here.
#4019
It's easy to think that the duo's earlier entry on this list was the lead single to their second album, it turns out this title track was as well as it being their highest charting single as it debuted at number one here which is something none of their other tracks were able to do throughout the 00's. This was passed up as the lead single internationally as "Untouched" was their lead single overseas instead.
#4018
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4017
This was the only hit single to come from the Tony Rich project, an RNB group named after its lead singer who scored their one and only hit with this ballad that became a surprise hit here in Australia considering how uncommon it was for RNB hits to be successful this decade. No doubt this was one of the first signs of us Aussies becoming more tolerant of black music during the second half of the 90's.
#4016
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4015
This is often considered as one of the worst songs of the decade, mainly for how repetitive it is as well as how awful the lyrics are. Basically, it's a song that serves more as a warmup to Fergie's solo album as it can be considered the predecessor for that album's single "Fergalicious" which also has her and Will I am gawking at how attractive she is.
#4014
I guess there was a tradition for the runner up of a season of Australian idol to have the bigger hit than the winner, although in this case Lee Harding cheated as he released a two for one deal as he has an original song he wrote for the competition as well as cover on here. Don't feel too bad for the winner Kate as she had more success than him both solo and as a member of the Young divas.
#4013
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4012
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4011
This was the song that saved Ricky's earlier entry on this list from being a flop here in Australia, although I should point out that while the AMR charts considered these to be two separate entries, ARIA bundled them together presumably to save up space on their charts to allow for one more song to chart on their charts. As I said earlier, this was the official theme to the FIFA world cup hence its success.
#4010
Well, this is a song that hasn't received much love since its initial release, I'm guessing this is due to the music video which depicts the two rock icons dancing around with some of the strangest choreography ever put to film. The fact this is a cover of a 60's classic made specifically for charity likely doesn't help its cause either as this suggests it was only a hit because of this charity rather than people like the song itself.
#4009
Wow is this song so much more over hated than it has any right to be, granted the meaning of the lyrics is lost as Lene's delivery fails to highlight just how sarcastic these lyrics clearly are (this is a diss track towards Matel in case you didn't know) however it's just so much innocent fun for people to get mad at. It could've easily appeared much higher on this list were it not pulled from the shelves in order to promote the band's debut album.
#4008
You may think that this songs appearance on this list was due to how much we Aussies love it during the 1979 Eurovision, until you realise that this wasn't the song they performed on there (that being "Dschinghis Khan" for the record.) No this was a number one hit in Australia due to it being chosen as the unofficial theme to the Moscow Olympics this year here in Australia during our coverage of the controversial sporting games, and the less said about them on this blog the better.
#4007
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4006
This was meant to be the middle ground between P!nk's earlier material and her second album given how it's a hybrid of a pop rock jam and an RNB joint to bridge her early fans with the music she wanted to make. It paid off for her as the rest of her career saw her moving in a rock direction to the point where her first album feels like a complete black sheep from the rest of her catalogue.
#4005
Although this can easily be seen as a typical breakup song (which is highly unusual coming from a boy band) this was actually a diss track towards the group's former manager who had screwed them over with their royalties during the early phase of their career. Although they had a big hit here in Australia the previous year with "I want you back," this was the song that finally put them in the league of the boy band wars here.
#4004
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4003
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4002
Well, if you wanted to hear what a Sam and Dave track would sound like if you replaced their vocals with Jimmy Barnes and John Farnham then knock yourself out with this duet between the two pub rockers. It was a huge hit for them off of Jimmy's Soul deep album so I'm guessing there are people out there who like this.
#4001
This was the lead single to Martika's second and to date final album Martika's kitchen, an album that was largely a collaboration with Prince around the time he was reinventing himself following the disaster that was his third film Graffiti bridge. This was a huge hit for Martika here in Australia despite it not being as big anywhere else in the world, I'm guessing more for her vocals than anything.
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