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.
#4900
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4899
This was the first song that Elvis Presley released this decade, naturally it was a hit here in Australia given that it followed up "Suspicious minds" which remains one of his most iconic hit singles in his catalogue.
#4898
These two were already part of some of the biggest bands to come out of Australia throughout the 70's, so it seems fitting that they would conclude the decade with a collaboration album which scored a massive hit with this ballad they made together. Their next hit wouldn't come until 1982 when John Farnham replaced Glenn Shorrock as the lead singer of Little river band.
#4897
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4896
This was the second Billboard chart topper in a row for MJ, even though it was technically released the previous year over in America, it didn't peak until this year which once again makes me question whether the disco backlash was as severe as modern historians make it out to be. Indeed, he would see more success this year with his album which is by all accounts a disco record than the previous year.
#4895
This was the last hit that 2 Unlimited had in Australia, although as I said earlier, they would continue to have massive success throughout Europe as the decade went on. These two hits ensured that their second album would be a modest success here which no doubt led to the success of a bunch of other EDM albums throughout the 90's here as our love of the genre grew.
#4894
I guess Snoop Dogg had return to what made him a household name a decade prior on this track given how he presented himself as a pimp that was in charge of the club scene on this track, although he brought back Pharrell from "Beautiful" to ease his new fanbase into the type of music his core fanbase loved him for. It was a much bigger hit worldwide for the rapper likely due to us Aussies not being into club music at the time.
#4893
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4892
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4891
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4890
For everyone who reckons that body positivity songs are only a recent phenomenon, allow me to acquaint you with this hip hop track from Sir mix a lot who made the brave decision to attack Cosmopolitan magazine for promoting unhealthy standards for women and how he prefers women who as he puts it "have big butts." The song was a massive success for him worldwide as it takes a positive stance towards inner beauty.
#4889
Oh, wow is this song way too catchy for its own good, this was the only notable success that Renee Geyer was able to achieve in her career likely due to it being a cover of an Eddy Grant track from before he became a household name. This was an even bigger success over in NZ which no doubt inspired international interest in Renee that sadly never translated to actual worldwide success.
#4888
This is another musician of colour that had to wait for quite some time before they finally found any success in their career, in this case we have Dorothy Moore who scored a massive hit this year with this cover of an obscure track from around the time she began said career. This led to her album of the same name being a massive worldwide success before she was sadly relegated to yesterday's news.
#4887
This was the final hit that Leo Sayer was able to score in Australia, mainly because the 80's didn't seem to have much love for once the MTV era took off. At least he got in one more ballad on the charts before he was relegated to yesterday's news, and hey he did score some buzz the following year with "Orchard Road" which sadly didn't do much to revive his popularity.
#4886
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4885
This was a flop in 2 in a room's native America, likely because dance tracks in general don't do well on Billboard especially if they're from local artists over there. This didn't prevent the track from being a huge success throughout Europe which had its success translate here in Australia where dance music was often welcomed with open arms. Like many American dance acts this decade, they were a one hit wonder.
#4884
The last time anyone had heard from Eric Carmen was back in the mid 70's where he scored a hit with "All by myself," this means that for twelve years he was a one hit wonder before this song appeared in one of the more iconic scenes in Dirty dancing where Patrick Swayze teaches Jennifer Grey how to dance. This allowed the song to become a huge success and even give Eric a second hit later in the year.
#4883
This was the band where Madonna began her music career with, albeit as their drummer as the lead singer was always Dan Gilroy during their time together. I'm guessing the success that their former drummer was having worldwide allowed audiences to check out their music which would explain the success of this track, well that and the fact that it's one of the catchiest songs to come out of the decade.
#4882
This was written for this year's opening ceremony for the Commonwealth games in Melbourne by Delta Goodrem and her (then) fiancé Brian McFadden, it was an instant success due to how inescapably popular she was following the success of her first two albums throughout the decade.
#4881
This was the lead single from Abba's album Voulez vous, an album that proved to be more successful than their previous effort likely due to it being released when the decade was coming to an end and audiences were overlooking the biggest music trends of the 70's. Indeed, this is one of their most well-known songs to this day, so there's little surprise that it was a huge success for them back in the day.
#4880
This was meant to be a farewell track to Ginger Spice following her departure from the band during their Spiceworld tour, although given the behind-the-scenes drama, I doubt the girls had much love for her when they originally recorded this track even though they do sound heartfelt on this track. This is often considered to be the final song in their catalogue that displays any sort of personality from any of them.
#4879
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4878
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4877
We have another entry from the 100% series on this list, again it was covering the summer of 1997/1998 due to how hectic that time was in the music industry down under.
#4876
For whatever reason, the 100% hits series skipped over the spring of 1996 and would continue to do so for ever spring for the rest of its existence. As such their yearly recaps they released became more successful from here on out likely due to it serving as a recap as well as the big hits of spring of each given year.
#4875
This was another greatest hits package that Elton John released in his career to achieve moderate success worldwide, there's not much I can say about it as it's further proof that fans will always love his back catalogue even if that love doesn't extend to his newer material.
#4874
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4873
This is our final entry from Chicago on this site, it's their third album which picked up the slack from their second album. It seems like every second album from the band was destined to be a failure for them, although their tenth entry put an end to that curse.
#4872
Named after the Madonna classic from two years prior, this album manages to collect the biggest hits in Australia for the summer of 86/87 which helped it become a massive success here due to the good choices made by those who assembled the album.
#4871
This was the final album that Shania Twain released for fifteen years, I'm guessing because though this was a hit for her, it failed to reach the dizzying heights of Come on over likely due to country pop not doing as well throughout the new millennium as it did in the twentieth century. Still, it was a massive success as anything that follows up one of the most successful albums of all time would be.
#4870
Well, the films might have been critically panned (as were the source material mind you) however at least the music was still well received which is perhaps why the soundtrack to the second film was a massive worldwide success for the franchise.
#4869
Bob Dylan was among the most popular artists of the 70's in Australia when it came to his albums, sure his singles were something to be desired success wise (barring "Hurricane" of course) but that didn't mean he wasn't able to find success with this greatest hits package this year.
#4868
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4867
Following the success of their previous album, Pink Floyd decided to release the highlights of that albums tour which proved to be a massive worldwide success for them which I'm sure was further salt in the wound for their former frontman Roger Waters who was really struggling for success around this time.
#4866
We have a couple of posthumous albums to come from Jimi Hendrix on this list, the first is this album which was meant to be his final studio album but got delayed due to his untimely death similar to Janis Joplin's entry on my previous list. He's another artist that's been milked for nostalgia alongside 2pac and Juice wrld.
#4865
This was the third and final High school music soundtrack to the third and final film of the franchise, it's worth noting that the film was the only one out of the trilogy to be released in cinemas given how popular the other two were as Disney channel originals (the pre streaming equivalent of Disney +.) Although these were massive hits for Disney, they were torn apart by critics for their weak acting and storylines.
#4864
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4863
The spring of 1987 was a hectic time in our music scene as was any season throughout the decade here in Australia, as such this album which marketed those big hits as summer jams managed to be a massive success during our summer period around this time.
#4862
This was a massive success during our summer of 81/82 due to it successfully collecting some of the biggest hits of the spring of 1981 in our music scene.
#4861
Even though this is credited to George Harrison, this is really a concert album which contains live tracks from him along with Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, Billy Preston and Ravi Shankar, the latter of which is the father of jazz singer Norah Jones.
#4860
These guys were always described as a killer live band, so it only makes sense that this live album would be a huge success for them when they released it. They wouldn't have any more hits after this save for a song that they gave to be used as the theme to Last action hero.
#4859
Although it was never that much of a success, "Everybody wants to work" remains a staple on oldies stations to this day thanks to how relatable the song is. That song doesn't appear on this album as instead we have some more contemporary songs which nonetheless proved to be a huge success for the band likely thanks to the charisma of lead vocalist Brian Mannix as well as some catchy pop rock.
#4858
There were no signs of Korn's popularity slowing down going into the new decade as their final album from the 90's managed to become a massive hit as it was coming to an end. In fact, I'm surprised that their popularity died out this year considering how nu metal had taken over the mainstream, I guess fans had quickly discovered other offerings from the likes of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.
#4857
The summer of 87/88 in Australia was a stellar time given that it marked the 200th anniversary of the settlement of Australia (by British settlers that is) as such this compilation album became a massive hit due to having a great choice of songs to include on its track listing.
I guess it's safe to say that Jessica Mauboy just wasn't as appealing to those who consumed music through digital downloads comparted to those who still bought physical copies of songs given how this also managed to have a lower placement on this list than it would had I made a list based on physical sales.
#4855
This was the last song that the fab four released as a unit before going their separate ways, it was also one of the few songs of theirs that failed to reach number one here in Australia likely because of the news they were breaking up. This wasn't the case in America where it went to number one on Billboard.
#4854
This was the other big hit that Queen achieved from their album the Works, indeed it's the more recognisable song of their two on this list largely thanks to who Freddie longs to be free from a toxic relationship he found himself in around this time. There was a bit of minor controversy from the video as it depicted the members in drag during a time where homophobia was at the height of its popularity.
#4853
Apparently, this was the theme to the film Nothing to lose, a buddy comedy about Tim Roth and Martin Lawrence robbing a bank that Tim works at due to shenanigans happening at his workplace. Honestly this feels out of place on that soundtrack as the lyrics are clearly meant to be about a fallen friend of Coolio much like "One sweet day" was for Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey two years prior.
#4852
This was the breakthrough single from Dan Hartman, a closeted LGBT man who only scored two hits in his career before tragically passing away in 1994 due to complications with HIV. While he's more well known these days for his hit single "I can dream about you," this was the bigger hit in certain parts of the world due to it being a disco track released during the height of the genre's popularity.
#4851
This was the debut single for a band who would go on to have massive success throughout the decade worldwide, although curiously it was only a hit here in Australia as this flopped in their native America for some reason. I guess the song is on the shorter side which led people to believe it was over before it even began, a sentiment that wasn't felt here in Australia as it was a huge success here.
#4850
Bobby Goldsboro is a country singer whose best known for his 1968 hit "Honey" which was a massive chart topper throughout the world that year including here in Australia. Fast forward five years and he managed to escape the one hit wonder bin with this ballad about the summertime albeit only here in Australia and the UK of all places.
#4849
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4848
This was the second single to come from Footloose, although it almost never existed as the scene where this song plays had a different song given how the actor legitimately didn't know how to dance before shooting the scene. It became Deniece William's second Billboard chart topper after her duet with Johnny Mathis from 1978, although it was her final hit in most parts of the world despite how big it was.
#4847
This was the second single to come from Billy Ocean's comeback album Suddenly, and one that seems to combine his strengths of having a catchy beat with his heartfelt declarations of being the man of this person's dreams. At first glance it seems like he's coming on strong with this person in the lyrics, however he makes it clear they're playing hard to get which ultimately makes his advances justified.
#4846
This was the song that made Duran Duran a household name in America, likely because it was the first video they released to have a high budget which their earlier songs in their catalogue didn't have much of. The song remains a classic largely due to the video which depicts Simon Le Bon hooking up with a tribal woman in the jungles of South America which continues to captivate audiences to this day.
#4845
This was a bit of a comeback for Simply red who hadn't had a hit in Australia since their third album from the late 80's. Indeed, this song in general was a milestone for the band as it became their only chart topper in their native UK despite having five of the most successful albums of all time over there, it's also their rare upbeat track which showed they were willing to experiment with their sound for a hit.
#4844
I wonder how many LGBT people signed up for the navy when this became a hit for the Village people back in the day, after all, the YMCA was a safe haven for queer men, and they gave their endorsement with their earlier entry on this list. This was their final hit in their native America, although they had one more hit in most parts of the world as it was the theme to their theatrical disaster Can't stop the music.
#4843
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4842
This was the only hit that Matthew Wilder was able to score worldwide, likely due to his strange vocals working for this one song as it's about the weird thoughts he has whenever he's singing about this woman he's with. The song was a massive success at the time, although in Australia it's been overshadowed by a cover from Unique II who flips the genders of the track and gives better vocals.
#4841
This was the last hit that Elvis Presley had during his lifetime, much like John Lennon after him, he died during the height of his popularity which resulted in the success of his final album worldwide. It's hard to say if this song would've been a success if he lived to see the end of the year, however his death certainly did prevent the song from failing much like some of his other ballads this decade.
#4840
It's strange to think that this was the biggest hit from the Reels and not one of their fan favourites like "Quasimodo's dream," then again, I guess we Aussies would've been nostalgic for the Herb Alpert classic they covered which would explain why it was a huge success for them right when MTV launched.
#4839
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4838
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4837
This was originally released in 1967 as the third single from Procol harum's debut album albeit only here in Australia, I guess we Aussies weren't that thrilled at having an exclusive track from these guys despite giving them two hits in the form of "A whiter shade of pale" and "Homburg" that year. It was given a second chance as a live track where it became a massive success worldwide.
#4836
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4835
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4834
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4833
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4832
In case you were wondering, yes, this song is deliberately gay as it was made by an openly gay band meant to shock and titillate audiences who seemed to be put off by the queer community in general. Basically, if Culture club was easing people into accepting others for who they are, these guys were forcing it down everyone's throat albeit with a highly catchy and provocative sex jam.
#4831
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4830
This was the third single to come from John Farnham's album Chain reaction, it's a song that's a lot more subdue than most of his other catalogue which is perhaps why it was able to find an audience from around this time. Although he would see massive success as the decade went on with his albums, he would only have one more solo hit and two more hits with as duets with Jimmy Barnes and Human nature.
#4829
World party is the solo project of Welsh singer Karl Wallinger who scored a massive hit with this track about how he didn't want to conform to the standards set up by politicians of the 80's or as he puts it "sail on this ship of fools." It resonated with audiences in Australia where it became a huge success for him, although we didn't check out any of his other material as his album and other singles flopped here.
#4828
We have another two for one entry on this list, although this time we're looking at a song that's already appeared on my site given how "Castles in the air" became a hit on its own a decade after this was released. "Vincent" was the main reason for this entries success due to it feeling like a John Denver track, particularly with the opening lyrics being "starry starry night."
#4827
Well at least MC Hammer wasn't a one hit wonder here in Australia, after all he found a way to sample Prince's "When doves cry" into the third single from his breakthrough album Please Hammer don't hurt em. Naturally this proved to be equally as catchy as the lead single from the album which propelled it up the charts, and indeed it even allowed the album to become a major success here.
#4826
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4825
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4824
Here's a song that causes minor controversy in rock circles, mainly due to how this relationship never had any legs to stand on due to the only thing that the narrator has in common with their partner is that they kind of liked the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's the ultimate song about a mediocre romance which is no doubt what led to it being a massive success during what was meant to be the height of irony in pop culture.
#4823
Well, we've finally come to one of the most politically charged songs to ever become a hit worldwide, there's not much to think about on this track as Green day make very clear that they felt ashamed to be Americans given the political climate they were living in at the time of the song's release. It served as the lead single to their biggest album which was a concept album that further explored this feeling they had.
#4822
The best way to describe Lynsey de Paul is if Olivia Newton John began her career as a country artist whilst also having her sexual appeal she acquired from the Grease soundtrack, at least that's how I'd describe her one and only hit she had here and in her native UK with this entry.
#4821
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4820
This was the only hit for Rupert Holmes, a British musician who was based in America who wrote a cheating anthem about how a couple was looking to mutually cheat on each other only to end up getting together when the narrator answers an add placed in the paper by his spouse. The story proved to be amusing enough for it to be a huge success for him but also trapped him in the one hit wonder bin.
#4819
Given that she was now the face of Technotronic, it only makes sense that Ya Kid K would appear in the video for the group's second single which helped it become a massive success worldwide. Apparently, the woman in the video from their earlier entry wasn't part of the group which annoyed the rapper, making this a surprisingly good time for models of colour to appear in videos over much less photogenic musicians.
#4818
While this wasn't the only hit that Daryl Hall and John Oates scored in Australia back in the day, it was by far their biggest hit thanks to a memorable performance of the track on Countdown as well as the lyrics which detail a money hungry gold digger that the audience should look out for. This was a success here slightly before it was as such anywhere else in the world, proving how much we loved these guys.
#4817
Aah comedy rap, when you're funny, you can find an endearing audience that will revisit your track time after time. When you're not (or at least only appeal to a niche audience) you may be popular for a little while like this lead single from D12's second and final album, however you'll eventually fade into obscurity as the general public no longer finds any humour in your track.
#4816
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4815
This was the second hit that 10CC managed to achieve in Australia, although this was different from their other hits as each of them were in a different genre in music. Here we have something that feels like it belongs in the sophistopop genre a decade prior to when it became a thing in their native UK, I guess the ambience of this track was what got it to become a massive crossover success in America.
#4814
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4813
This was the first of three big hits that Chaka Demus and Pliers had in the UK, proving that it was the Brits which led the reggae trend that would permeate throughout the decade. Here in Australia, this was their only massive success, although they did score a second hit the following year with their cover of "Twist and shout" likely to score points from Beatles fans who were also into reggae.
#4812
Although they made a big splash here in Australia with their cover of the Kinks "You really got me" back in 1978, it wasn't until this became a Billboard chart topper than Van Halen were able to score massive success here likely due to how frenetic the energy is on this track. Even though this finally put the band on the map down under, it was their only hit with David Lee Roth as the lead vocalist.
#4811
This will be the only appearance from Natasha Bedingfield on these lists as it was her only hit here in Australia despite having huge international success even in America, I guess we Aussies wanted to hear her song about how writing a song is difficult even when it's only meant to be a simple love song and not anything else from her. At least it was bigger than either of her older brothers hits down under.
#4810
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4809
This is another popular disco track that's survived the test of time, I'm guessing due to the Kym Mazelle cover from Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet which no doubt reminded audiences of this classic around the time where disco had regained its popularity in the mainstream. Like many women of colour who made disco this decade, Candi Staton remained a one hit wonder with this classic even in her native America.
#4808
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4807
This was another two for one deal from Nelly here in Australia (apologies for the lack of album art for "Flap your wings") as this serves as the lead single to his two albums Suit and Sweat which showcase two sides of the rapper from around this time. I remember "My place" being the big hit from around this time, although "Flap your wings" also remains fondly remembered to this day by his fans.
#4806
Well, this might be a depressing fact if you're a fan of Marvin Gaye, that being this was his only hit in Australia and NZ during his lifetime given how he was unfairly ignored in the southern hemisphere for some reason. The more depressing fact is this became a hit a little over a year prior to his untimely death, meaning there was a good chance he would go on to massive success this decade if he lived through it.
#4805
This is technically the biggest hit from Duran Duran, mainly because it was released as the bonus track from their live album which from what I can gather, helps boost a songs popularity if a band or artist released a sole studio track from a live album. This is also one of the most contentious songs from the bands catalogue due to how strange Simon Le Bon sounds on the track compared to their other songs.
#4804
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4803
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4802
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4801
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
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