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.
#3200
This was the debut single for Martika as well as her only hit in her native America as the rest of her catalogue sadly bombed on the Billboard charts. Fortunately, the rest of her catalogue was a huge success internationally likely due to her emotional vocals she gives on each of her tracks, this one in particular being the most emotional due to it being an ode to a fallen friend who died of a drug overdose.
#3199
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3198
One of the happiest songs to come out of the decade, we have this half disco half RNB jam from Errol Brown and company which managed to be so joyous that it even crossed over to America for them. They often get compared to their American counterparts Kool and the gang since both groups have a predominantly black sound that still resonates with audiences to this day.
#3197
This was the third single from Celine's magnum opus Falling into you, one that apparently was written for the Bat out of hell albums given how it was written by Jim Steinman and has the same bombast as the other tracks he's written for Meat loaf and others over the years. Another factor towards this song's success was the video which has gone down as one of the most expensive to ever be made.
#3196
This was the first of two big hits that Sophie B Hawkins was able to achieve worldwide, I feel that she deserved so much more success than what she got considering how sharply written and well performed both songs were back in the day. This is another song which caused speculation towards an artist's sexuality as there's lyrics in here which suggest that Sophie is talking to a woman throughout the song.
#3195
So, there was a phase one for the boy band wars of the decade, I don't blame my American readers for not knowing that as it largely took place in the UK between these guys and Take that. Even though Take that won the first round of the boy band wars in their homeland, these guys took home the prize in Australia likely due to the majority of their discography being more upbeat than their rivals.
#3194
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3193
I'm a bit surprised this guy didn't see much success here in Australia back in the day, mainly because of how fondly remembered he remains in the music industry if his presence on oldies stations is anything to go by. This was his biggest album here, likely suggesting that the 80's was going to be the decade he becomes a mainstream megastar but didn't due to the rise of MTV.
#3192
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3191
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3190
The decade might have been coming to an end, however that didn't mean Abba was yesterday's news quite yet as they were able to score a massive hit with this album and even several hit singles to spawn from it. While their popularity wasn't as unavoidable as their earlier material, it was still noteworthy which is more than I can say for several other bands and artists that dominated the midpoint of the 70's.
#3189
Given how inexplicably popular Eminem was at the start of the decade, he was able to find success with his posse D12 who were a bit more on the vulgar side of hip hop as opposed to Eminem who was much more serious with his material (at least with his more popular albums he was.) Although neither of their albums reached the dizzying heights of Eminem's own material, they were nonetheless quite popular back in the day.
#3188
This was the final album to be released from Dire straits before they broke up for good later in the decade, heck this was only made due to them needing to fulfill their contractual obligation as they needed to release one more album in their career. Even with this in mind, the album was still a massive critical and commercial success proving that they were still professionals when making their music.
#3187
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3186
This was another greatest hits package from CCR to be released exclusively in Australia and NZ, this time it's the 21st anniversary of when they first started having success here which I guess was enough of an incentive to have another greatest hits album from the band despite them not releasing anything new since 1972.
#3185
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3184
It's entirely possible that James Blunt would've had even further success with the first two singles from his debut album had the digital charts launched when they were initially released, as is, the third single from the album was far more popular on our storefront likely due to it being unaffected by the albums success on there as opposed to how its success as a physical release was impacted by it.
#3183
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3182
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3181
If this sounds like it belongs in the 60's to you, that's because this is a cover of an obscure 60's track from Shirley Ellis that the Belle stars somehow knew about when this became a hit for them in Australia. Naturally this wasn't their big hit in their native UK as that honour went to "Sign of the times," a track that has no relation to the Prince song of the same name.
#3180
To think that the debut single for one of the more divisive boy bands of the decade was originally meant for the New Jack city soundtrack, indeed I have a feeling the movie's critical and commercial success was what helped it become a hit for Color me Badd as public opinion on the song hasn't been kind over the years. I guess if you want this otherwise family friendly group to get their sexual charge on then this is for you.
#3179
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3178
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3177
This was written and recorded for the James Bond film of the same name, it has the distinction of being the only Bond theme to have the performer appear in the opening credits which should give you an idea of how popular Sheena Easton was during the first half of the decade. It also should tell you that despite beginning her career with what I've dubbed as nursery pop, she really wanted to be a sex icon in music.
#3176
I don't think anyone was expecting these guys to see as much success here in Australia as they ended up getting, true they made it big here with the second single thanks to it sampling a Sly and the family stone track, however it's not like the original was that big down under either. In any case, we have this fun track with its political lyrics making it big which resulted in the album also being a success.
#3175
This was the debut single from Radiohead, although the band wishes they never recorded it as they feel it makes them a rip-off of Nirvana during the height of their popularity (no arguments here.) They would evolve their sound throughout the decade and even into the new millennium as they didn't want to be pigeonholed into a specific genre.
#3174
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3173
This was the second act that John Waite managed to find success with here in Australia, the other one being the Babys from back in the 70's as well as him finding solo success during the mid 80's. Even with his name being well familiar with the average Australian, it appears this song was a bit delayed with its release here as it came out months after it already topped the Billboard charts for the super group.
#3172
Although this was recorded long before it became the theme to the TMNT theatrical film this year, it only became a success due to its inclusion in the film as well as the success that rapper Ya Kid K had with Technotronic throughout the year. It seems that Hi tek 3 have all but faded from existence as aside from this becoming a huge hit for them because of the film, their legacy seems to have been erased.
#3171
Even without the assistance of Countdown, Sherbet were already one of the biggest Australian bands of the 70's when they released their third album Slipstream. The title track was a huge hit earlier in the year for the band, however it was this second single from the album that made them a huge success due to it being one of the first songs to be performed on the show when it launched late this year.
#3170
These guys were known as British Jigsaw in Australia due to there being a more popular band by that name during the first half of the decade, this was a common trend when it came to international artists finding success after a local act with the same name made it big here. In any case, we have another song that was made more popular in the 90's thanks to there being a dance track that covered it.
#3169
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3168
Patty Smyth had previous success with her band Scandal eight years prior with their hit single "The warrior," so to see her back in the spotlight with this duet between Don Henley was a bit of a welcomed surprise given how neither of them had touched the charts since 1985. This unfortunately didn't lead to a revival of either of their careers, although Don did reunite with the Eagles not long after this.
#3167
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3166
This was the second single from P!nk's album Funhouse, it has a double meaning to it as on the one hand it can be taken literally to be about her sobering up from a bad night out and coming to terms with her drug addiction. On the other hand, and what the song is really about is that it's her sobering up with how toxic her relationship is with her husband (even if it turns out it wasn't that toxic) and how she needs to get away from him.
#3165
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3164
This was billed as a Christmas single from East 17, meaning it was always meant to be a UK chart topper for them during the Christmas of 94 even though it remains their only chart topper in their homeland. As we Aussies were already well familiar with these guys from their previous album, they had very little issue with finding success here albeit well into the new year as it wasn't a Christmas track here.
#3163
This was a huge surprise success for Shania Twain given how this failed even in her native Canada, I'm guessing we Aussies caught wind of by far one of the sexiest tracks in her catalogue and thus made it a huge success for her just as the rest of the world had given up in making her third album a commercial success. This no doubt led to her next album being a huge success here even before it received its pop treatment.
#3162
This was the only notable success for the Canadian band Len, I'm guessing because they could only interest audiences with one summer jam about how both lead vocalists (who incidentally are brother and sister) missed out on hooking up with the love of their respective lives for one reason or another. They join a long line of one hit wonders who made it big with a summer jam before fading into obscurity.
#3161
This was the only notable success that Leonardo's bride was able to score here in Australia, heck it suffered a similar fate to what Merril Bainbridge went through earlier in the decade as this was originally released the previous year to deafening silence only for it to be given a second wind this year. Sadly, this didn't lead to the band having international success like Merril did around this time.
#3160
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3159
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3158
This was a happy ending for Jenny Morris's career given how she had struggled to score a hit throughout the 80's and finally achieved massive success just as the decade was coming to an end here and in her native NZ. Here she sings about how this woman (presumably herself in the third person) needs to be treated with love and respect from however she's singing to, and it happened to be well appreciated by audiences of the time.
#3157
This was the final hit that Ray Stevens managed to achieve anywhere in the world, at the very least it's neither one of his comedy tracks or a song about racial harmony to try and make up for his blatantly racist humour. Instead, we have this country ballad which no doubt connected with audiences due to it being released during the height of John Denver's popularity worldwide.
#3156
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3155
Although he already had success here in Australia as a member of Take that, this was the first big hit that Robbie Williams had as a solo artist despite him having huge success over in NZ and his native UK as the 90's was coming to an end. I have to assume this was due to the video which shows him literally peeling off layers of himself until only a skeleton remains, why else would this be the song that made him big here?
#3154
And who says that the band who gave us "Relax" (which is still to come on this list) was all about fun and games? Here we have their second single which is so politically charged you'd think it was written specifically for a smear campaign for a candidate they didn't like (most likely Margaret Thatcher.) To drive the point of the song home, they have a video where the political candidates fight each other in a wrestling ring.
#3153
So, if you know the name Lionel Rose, you're probably wondering how a heavyweight boxing champion managed to make it onto my site given how most professional athletes to try out a music career are usually laughed out of the industry. It turns out the aboriginal (or first nations if you prefer) managed to impress his fellow Aussies with his musical abilities to the point where he scored a massive hit at the start of the decade.
#3152
This was where it all began for one of the more critically divided bands of the twentieth century, although you'll notice that these guys didn't have much success outside of Australia until the start of the 80's where they randomly began scoring massive hits on Billboard with their soft rock ballads. Indeed, their biggest hit down under was their first song which didn't find a lot of success internationally.
#3151
Following the success she had with Josh Abrahams the previous year throughout Europe as the Puretones on their rebranded collaboration of "Addicted to bass," Amiel Daemion finally released a solo single which was a massive hit here in Australia due to it being about how she wrote as she puts it a "stupid love song" following the end of her relationship with someone that clearly connected with us Aussies.
#3150
Can you believe that Alanis Morissette began her career making teen pop in her native Canada? Going from that to an album that won album of the year at the Grammys must have been a bit of a shock for her at the time, however that's what happened when she signed onto Madonna's Maverick label and became an international superstar with her album Jagged little pill. This was the song to kick off that album cycle which showcases a raw and emotional side of her.
#3149
Here's the second single to come from Culture beat, and while it was neither as dramatic nor catchy as their first big hit, it did retain their popularity in most parts of the world which set them up to have a successful debut album. The album was indeed a success thanks to how catchy these songs were, however much like Corona and La bouche after them, they would be a one album wonder.
#3148
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3147
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3146
This was the only hit to come from B2K even in their native America, I'm guessing P Diddy's desires of managing boy and girl bands would only last him for one song each as the female counterpart to these guys Dream (well white girl counterpart) only scored one hit two years prior with "He loves u not" before they too faded into obscurity (not here in Australia obviously.) These two acts were his only notable success in this regard.
#3145
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3144
This doesn't feel like an 80's song to me, I'm guessing because there were so few songs whose main instrument was the violin this decade that it feels like something that came from the 90's or even early 00's. In any case, it took Sam Brown a few tries for this to become a success for her likely due to how different it sounded to everything else on the charts, she eventually got there in the early months of the year.
#3143
One of the biggest names in country music to never achieve much commercial success is Tanya Tucker, around this time, she was the Leann Rimes of her generation as she was looking to break into the country market in her native America with ballads such as this one that became a success for Australian singer Judy Stone who had a career of covering songs from international artists for Australian audiences.
#3142
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3141
This may have been their only hit in Australia, however it's obvious that we were touched by the band's inspiring tale that the best was yet to come for them that we granted their wishes in making them a household name with the song and the album it came from. Indeed, these guys have a lot to be proud of as this remains a staple on oldies stations to this day.
#3140
Suzi was definitely on a roll when she released this track given how it was sandwiched between "48 crash" and "Devil gate drive" from earlier on this list, although it obviously wasn't quite as inescapable as the three entries we've looked at already hence its lower placement on this list.
#3139
This was the lead single to Silverchair's second album Freak show, admittedly this album is a bit more mature than their last mainly due to the boys being closer to adults during its production.
#3138
This was the only hit from American RNB singer Mario Winans anywhere in the world, I'm guessing because it samples the Enya track "Boadicea" which is why she has a featuring credit on this track despite not having any vocals on here. Another featured artist was P Diddy who provides a guest verse to reinforce why Mario doesn't want anything more to do with the person he's singing about.
#3137
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3136
It's hard to say if this would've been as big a hit here in Australia had it been released well into the Countdown era as it seems to fit in nicely with all of the country ballads that permeated the first half of the 70's. In any case, we have the one and only hit from Billy Swan who made a huge splash worldwide with this ballad, although I guess even in his native America, he remains a one hit wonder with this song.
#3135
This was the second and final hit that Ronnie Burns had throughout his career, the first was with "Coalman" from 1967 which initially put the Australian singer/songwriter on the map during the height of the Freelove era of music. I guess he was pipped for good things this decade given how well he began it with this track, however his fate turned for the worst as he failed to score any other hits.
#3134
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3133
This was the only hit for British singer Lally Stott (boy what a stupid stage name) it's not the only version of this track to appear on this list as Middle of the road took their stab at the track shortly after this version was released. Tragically, Lally would die from a bike accident later in the decade, meaning that there's a possibility he could've escaped the one hit wonder bin had he lived to the end of the twentieth century.
#3132
So, Gene Pitney was able to score a massive hit single this year huh? I guess if Perry Como and Telly Savalas were able to find success during the midpoint of the decade throughout the world, I don't see the harm in this guy doing so only a mere decade after his last hit single "I'm gonna be strong."
#3131
Evidently the success of that EDM cover of the signature track from the Beastie boys was all that was necessary for their latest album to find success here back in the day, although I guess the lead single would've also made a strong case for them to make it big due to how shamelessly goofy it was. This was their only success here in Australia as the rest of their catalogue was a huge flop down under.
#3130
What better way to cap off the twentieth century and begin the 21st century than with an album collecting all of your biggest hits in your career? We have this greatest hits package that set Cher up for a four decade of success given how productive she was throughout the 90's with her singing and acting careers. Sadly, this would be her final success here even with a greatest hits album.
#3129
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3128
If you thought that Genesis was the prog band that received the most flak from audiences, then you've obviously never seen the backlash towards this British trio who haven't received much respect over the years for their work. This was their only notable success throughout their career mainly due to it spawning a huge hit in the form of its lead single.
#3127
This was a classical album consisting of a British girl group playing violins to classical pieces as well as some pop tracks that have made it big over the years, it was a surprise hit here in Australia likely due to a popular tour that the girls had at the time which helped them crossover from the classical audience to the mainstream.
#3126
This was a live album to come from Australian Crawl where it became a massive success for the band, likely due to the inclusion of "Reckless" which was technically their biggest hit here due to it being the main song from their E.P Semantics from the previous year. This would be the last success the band would have before their breakup, although James Reyne would return with his solo material.
#3125
This is widely considered to be David Bowie's best album, naturally this makes it one of the best albums of all time according to critics, although it was only a decent success at best for him back in the day likely due to it coming out around the time his debut single started gaining popularity worldwide.
#3124
It took them three years to make this album following the success of their fourth album from earlier in the decade, it looks like it was worth the wait as not only was this another successful album for Foreigner, but it also spawned their biggest hit worldwide in the form of its lead single. Sadly, this was the last successful album from the band, although they did score one more hit in Australia later in the decade.
#3123
One of the first noteworthy films to come out of the 80's was Fame, a film centering around a group of musically gifted students looking navigating their day to day lives in the (then) modern day New York. It led to a TV show that's been described as the 80's version of Glee which became a cultural juggernaut throughout the decade, although in Australia it began with the film as its soundtrack as a success this year.
#3122
While the Hannah Montana albums were only minor hits at best here in Australia, that didn't mean we Aussies weren't interested in hearing an album form Miley Cyrus that was made for the real world as her first album as herself was a massive success for her here like it was worldwide. It's the bridge to what she made on the show and the type of music she always wanted to make later in her career.
#3121
These guys were often described as a killer live act throughout their career, so it's only inevitable that this live album of theirs would be a huge success for them given that it captures their best moments while on tour.
#3120
Autumn of this year was an interesting time for the Australian music scene if this album is anything to go by, after all it collected some of the biggest hits of the year and was able to become a huge success in its own right.
#3119
This is another album that sat on shelves largely ignored until the singles were discovered on the digital storefronts this year, well actually they were discovered the previous year but didn't become a success here in Australia until this year. Although this was the Fray's biggest album down under, they did score a chart topper with the lead single to their next album right when the decade was coming to an end.
#3118
While it has a much lower appearance on this list than her predecessor did on its respective lists, Delta Goodrem nonetheless was on a roll with her second album which helped her break another record by having the lead single be her sixth consecutive chart topper here in Australia. All of this success from what many have described as Celine Dion with an Australian accent led to her receiving a lot of unfair backlash.
#3117
The Autumn of 1983 was a hectic time if this greatest hits package is anything to go by, there were plenty of big names scoring big hits for this album to choose from and it certainly delivered making it a huge success.
#3116
Their debut album wasn't much of a success here in Australia, I'm guessing because we Aussies weren't that into sophistopop in the late 80's like the rest of the world was. Fortunately, the band saw massive success with their second album due to their cover of a Johnny Nash classic, even then the cover wasn't the first single from the album which is why it took a little while to find an audience here.
#3115
I have a feeling that Linkin Park would've greatly benefitted from digital sales during the first half of the decade here considering how both of their big hits during the second half of the decade did considerably better on our digital charts than they did as physical releases.
#3114
This proved to be slightly more popular for Lily Allen on our digital charts likely due to it skyrocketing on there once the video dropped as opposed to our main charts where it already had some of its success prior to the release of the video due to it being released here sooner than it was in her native UK for some reason.
#3113
This proved to be equally as popular on our digital charts as it was on our physical charts, I'm guessing she won over those who were put off by her third album on the digital storefront given how much less popular "Never again" was earlier in the decade on there (it's still to reappear on this list regardless.)
#3112
Given how Mika's other two entries on this list saw a massive improvement in the rankings compared to my hypothetical physical list, it only makes sense that the third single from his debut album would follow suit even if once again it was a massive flop in NZ where the kiwis had fully incorporated their digital data onto their main charts when it was released.
#3111
This is the oldest song on this list, suffice to say that even though it does appear lower on here than it would on my hypothetical physical list, the fact that it retains a high position on here despite how long it charted on our main charts easily suggests that it was far more popular on our digital storefront than it was as a physical single here in Australia.
#3110
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3109
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3108
This was the only notable success that Jimmy Nail managed to score outside of his native UK, although he did score a string of hits over there throughout his career suggesting that the Brits were in love with his spoken word poetry that he would occasionally break up with singing. I guess the story of how his partner was lying to him and him seeing right through them was engaging to make it a hit here.
#3107
Following the mixed reception of her third album My December, Kelly Clarkson found herself needing to conform to what her management wanted rather than making the music she believed in which resulted in her becoming a solo version of the Veronicas on her fourth album. Now I'm a huge fan of the Australian duo, so this isn't a bad thing to me even though many people felt that this was.
#3106
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3105
It appears that Jenny B was only called upon to provide the vocals for "Rhythm of the night" as the rest of Corona's one and only album had Sandra Chambers as the vocalist for some reason. I'm not sure why they didn't allow Olga to sing as she was a decent vocalist, then again at least she did sing on these tracks live which is more than I can say for other attractive women of colour from EDM groups this decade.
#3104
This was the song that made Hot chocolate a household name outside their native UK as they had struggled to translate the success they had earlier in the decade internationally prior to its release, it's one of their low tempo ballads dedicated to an Emma in Errol Brown's life that naturally connected with audiences at a time where RNB struggled to find success here in Australia.
#3103
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3102
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#3101
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
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