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.
#4200
There were two artists to perform at Budokan this year, the first was Cheap trick who scored a massive international hit with their performance at the Japanese stadium and the second was Bob Dylan who also scored massive worldwide success with his performance there. Naturally it was Bob's live album that managed to become a massive success here in Australia proving how well loved he was this decade.
#4199
This was released the previous year to deafening silence, this is despite the fact that this greatest hits album was different depending on where in the world you're from in order to capitalise off of MJ's fiftieth birthday. It became a success this year the same reason why his other appearances did, the fact that he was no longer with us and people were celebrating his life's work.
#4198
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4197
This was the final album from Pearl jam that fans would consider to be part of their classic period, mainly because this was the last album of theirs to have any trace of grunge as they would move on to adult contemporary with their subsequent albums. Admittedly I feel that they wanted to make the move here but didn't fully commit to it so that they could ease their fans through the transition.
#4196
This was only one of two albums that Merril Bainbridge released in her career, the other one being so much of a commercial disaster it didn't even chart here let alone internationally. I'm guessing it was the success of this album which allowed her to see international success with its lead single despite how long it took for it to find an audience here initially, although it could also be that she was a popular female singer/songwriter.
#4195
The autumn of this year was a hectic time for the charts as this compilation album was a massive success here in Australia when it came out during our winter period. The choices on here were very good which explains why it was a huge success.
#4194
This was the second album to be released from Men at work, this is despite the fact that their earlier entry was still making waves around the world due to it being so successful here and in NZ. I think it was because of their earlier entry that this album didn't do as well as the band had hoped, it was a huge success thanks to their quirkiness still being infectious, but it definitely could've done better.
#4193
This was the penultimate album that Led Zeppelin released in their career, I'm guessing because the band was already ready to call it quits by this stage but needed to release one more album which they did in 1979 with In through the outdoor. Their artist momentum was what helped them find success over the likes of many artists who made it on Countdown in Australia.
#4192
It appears KD Lang was still able to find success this far into her career, then again, given how Michael Bublé and Rod Stewart were able to find success with music catered to the mothers of our world, it makes sense that KD Lang would also be the perfect choice for Mother's Day given that's when this album became a success for her.
#4191
We have another greatest hits package to become successful in Australia from the Beatles, this one was released exclusively here which means it wasn't a success anywhere else in the world due to it not being released anywhere else.
#4190
Named after the Breakfast club track, we have this compilation album which collects some of the biggest hits of winter for this year that became a success during our spring due to the good choices that were found on the album.
#4189
This was originally a flop for KD Lang, presumably due to the album being affiliated with her coming out as a lesbian which was seen as a risky move back in the day when LGBT representation was still in its infancy. It was given a second chance when her soundtrack to the Uma Thurman flick Even cowgirls get the blues became a surprise hit for her this year, thus making her a household name worldwide.
#4188
One of the most prominent shows of the early 90's was Twin peaks, even with the cliffhanger ending it was well beloved by critics and audiences alike to the point where the soundtrack became a massive success around the world. The true surprise is that the theme song was a number one hit here in Australia (at least on the ARIA charts) which further secured the shows legacy down under.
#4187
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.
#4186
Much like Choose 1985 from earlier on this list, this was also a huge hit during the summer of 84/85 here in Australia due to it having a fine selection of the biggest hits of the spring of 1984 on its track listing.
#4185
This was a bit more of a hit on our digital charts than it was as a physical release for Rob Thomas, this makes sense given how his band scored one of the biggest hits of the decade on that format despite them not having a huge physical hit single their debut single from 1997.
#4184
This was equally as popular on our digital charts than it was on our main charts, this is despite the fact that from what I can gather, the censored version of this track never charted on our digital charts meaning that we Aussies certainly loved our profanity in these types of songs.
#4183
I guess this song suffering in the rankings of this list is the best proof anyone has that Delta's popularity during the first half of the decade was a tad exaggerated according to the charts, it was still a hit on our digital charts but noticeably less so compared to its physical sales.
#4182
This was only equally as successful on our digital charts as it was as a physical release for P!nk, I guess the success of her fourth album didn't impact the success of either of these two entries here in Australia despite it being the second bestselling album of the decade down under.
#4181
This is one of the only new entries to this site on this list as well as the second new entry to the Australian equivalent side of this site following "Chasing cars" from earlier on this list. It's a duet between Mary J Blige and U2 which is a cover of one of the latter's more popular songs from the 90's that sadly was never released as a single here in Australia but was popular enough on our digital storefront to be a success regardless.
#4180
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4179
This was the only hit that the British freestyle band Freeez was able to achieve outside their native UK, although like many British bands this decade, they did have a couple of minor hits in their homeland that simply didn't rise up to the standards of those songs that did make it big internationally. Here they succeeded thanks to a killer synth riff as well as the falsetto in the vocals that rival that of early George Michael.
#4178
It was a new decade and Jenny Morris released this track which tried to change with the times given how some of her contemporaries failed to do so which resulted in their popularity dwindling throughout the decade. Although this was a success for the NZ pop star, it was merely through residual good will she acquired throughout the previous decade as she too found it difficult to keep her momentum going this decade.
#4177
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that reggae became a huge international success this decade given how many of the bigger hits fit into the genre perfectly. This was the second single from the Rockmelons that featured Deni Hines as the lead vocalist, as well as their second hit in a row that managed to crossover to NZ where reggae was an even bigger deal than it was in Australia. All of this led to the band receiving buzz over in the UK.
#4176
Technically the first solo hit to come from Lionel Richie was his duet with Diana Ross from two years prior, however this lead single from his solo debut was the first hit he had completely on his own which sounds like something he would've made with the Commodores during his time with the band. Apparently, this was a calculated move to help ease fans into the music he wanted to make.
#4175
This was originally released as "European queen" throughout Europe, although it appears nobody wanted to hear about such a queen as it promptly flopped for Billy Ocean. Feeling that the song had a chance to be a success albeit with different marketing, he changed the name to what it is now and simply replaced the world European with Caribbean on the track. This proved to be a winning formula as the song became a massive worldwide success.
#4174
This was the only hit single that prog trio Emerson Lake and Palmer were able to achieve anywhere in the world, this no doubt led to the success of their album the Works vol 1 here given how it had a genuine hit single to its name down under. If you thought Genesis gets a bad rep when it comes to prog fans, I'd advise asking them what they think of these guys unless you're prepared for a foul-mouthed rant.
#4173
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4172
This was the only hit that Tupac Shakur was able to achieve in Australia during his lifetime, hey at least he managed to score one hit here prior to his murder this year unlike his rival Biggie Smalls who only saw success down under after he was assassinated. Here we have a guest verse from the king of the west coast Dr Dre, a verse that curiously references the sunshine state which is odd because that's how the east coast is described.
#4171
This was the first pop hit that David Essex was able to score in his career, I bring this up because he scored massive success earlier in the decade with "Rock on," which is more in line with glam rock than any of his other hits. This is also his cheesiest song as he claims that associating with him will make the person in question a star.
#4170
This was the other big hit to come from Reality bites, although this one has a more interesting story to it as Lisa Loeb and Nine stories weren't even signed to a label when this became a Billboard chart topper for them. This more than anything makes the song more famous than the film it was commissioned for as it helped them break a record by being the first act to top the American charts without having a label.
#4169
Much like the rest of the world, we Aussies didn't realise the beauty of this track from Toto's fourth album until the album won album of the year at the Grammys, I think NZ was the only country in the world that made this a hit upon its initial release which is something they can absolutely brag about. This sadly proved to be their last hit as their subsequent albums flopped around the world.
#4168
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4167
This was the first big hit that Usher was able to achieve anywhere in the world, although apparently it was with a remix as this sat on shelves for a while even in his native America before it unexpectedly took off over there. As with most RNB ballads of the decade, this was heavily delayed here in Australia, however that didn't prevent it from being a massive success here as evidence by its placement on this list.
#4166
We have another instrumental track that's loosely based on classical music for this list, this time it's the one and only hit from British band Apollo 100 (I'm assuming a reference to the Apollo 11 landing) where they make a musical arrangement of a Sebastian Bach track which impressed us Aussies and the Americans but not their fellow Brits.
#4165
It blows my mind when people say that teen pop was dead once the turn of the millennium happened at the start of the decade, it's true that the boy band wars had died off (for the most part) however teen pop still had its place in the mainstream as evidence by the two entries that Stacie Orrico has on this list alone. This was the bigger of the two hits due to how she was in a complicated relationship with her partner.
#4164
This is the second and final hit to come from Geri Halliwell, it serves as the lead single to both her second album and the Bridget Jones' diary soundtrack given how it's a cover of the Weather girls classic that recaptures the camp nature of the original. This was the last hit to come from any member of the Spice girls as none of their other material would touch the charts once this fell off.
#4163
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4162
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4161
This was one of the more popular bands to emerge from Countdown during the 80's, mainly because despite this not being among the bigger hits of the year down under, it became a huge success in NZ and even decently successful throughout Europe for the band likely due to audiences mistaking them for Icehouse. This would eventually receive a popular remix by the end of the decade just as the band called it quits.
#4160
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4159
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4158
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4157
I know that this is one of the most quintessential ballads of the 80's, but something about it feels like it was made in the 90's to me. I think it's the way the synths create a dreamy atmosphere that would become more popular in that decade than in this one, although I definitely see how this was able to help the trio become a massive international success given how lovestruck Tom Bailey is throughout the track.
#4156
This was the first of two hit singles that this Danish duo managed to achieve worldwide, it's a song that fits into the teen pop demographic right down to the two performers being teenagers on the track. Naturally this was a huge hit throughout Europe as well as in the southern hemisphere given how kid friendly tracks such as this was all the rage as the decade was coming to an end.
#4155
This was the penultimate hit that Akon had as a lead artist here in Australia, although he would still have a ton of hits moving forward as a featured artist for the likes of David Guetta and even the king of pop himself before his tragic death in 2009. This was a bit of a contrast to his other big hit this year given how this is him being remorseful about a relationship ending rather than wanting to force his love on someone.
#4154
This was the first song that Diana Ross released following her acting debut in the Billie Holliday biopic the Lady sings the blues which she received an Oscar nomination for, naturally this song was guaranteed success given how that film was able to remind audience of her phenomenal talent as a vocalist given how well received her performance of Billie was both as an actress and singer.
#4153
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4152
This was mean to be the lead single from Whitney's self-titled debut, however it was a huge flop for her given how it didn't come with a music video which was a death nail for songs released during the height of MTV. Once a video was shot, it was rereleased as the third single where it performed much better worldwide, likely due to it being a shoutout to her godmother which happens to be Aretha Franklin.
#4151
Well, this is a song where the boys wanted to get in on the rock crowd as this samples Joan Jett's "I love rock and roll" in order to help it compete with all the rock leaning teen pop that was getting big this year. Evidently this was the fourth single from the album internationally as we Aussies had to wait for the third single "Got the feeling" to be released the following year.
#4150
This often gets confused for a Hall and Oates track due to how similar Dan Hartman sounds to Daryl Hall on this song, indeed this theme to the long-forgotten film Streets of fire allowed him to escape the one hit wonder bin here that "Instant replay" threatened to trap him in back in 1979. There are two videos of this classic, the first is with a performance that a doo wop group from the film gives while the second has Hartman himself as a bar tender singing to his patrons.
#4149
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4148
This was the solo debut for Fergie, it's a song that's infamous due to how abrasive it is as well as the "oh shits" played throughout the track which of course was censored to "oh snap" for the radio. If you can believe this, it was her first Billboard chart topper as none of her songs with BEP made it to number one in her native America prior to this coming out, although at least she scored three chart toppers with them after this.
#4147
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4146
This feels like a sequel to Lobo's earlier entry on this list, naturally this made it the perfect follow up to "I'd love you to want me" which is perhaps why it did so well internationally for the American singer/songwriter. It would be his final hit worldwide likely due to cheesy ballads like this falling out of vogue as the decade moved along.
#4145
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4144
This was the only hit single that Wilson Phillips managed to achieve outside of their native America, although considering how big they were on Billboard during the first half of the decade, I doubt they minded that their success was largely contained to America and little place else. Lead singer Chynna Phillips would make a comeback here in Australia later in the decade with her solo material.
#4143
This was another successful song to come from the Bay city rollers this year, in fact it's worth noting that these guys managed to spawn a hit single from each of their albums during the midpoint of the decade to give you an idea of how inescapable they were here in Australia.
#4142
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4141
Well, this is one of those songs that's easy to hate, instead of me bashing it, I'll say the one positive I can about it. This song does have good intentions as it's clear that both Paul and Stevie want to achieve racial harmony between black and white people, they clearly have their hearts in the right place on this track.
#4140
I get the feeling that Madonna wanted to play Felicity Shagwell in the second Austin Powers flick, that would explain why she was chosen to make a theme song to the film as they likely went with this as compensation for her being denied the acting gig. It proved to be a fantastic theme for the film despite it only playing in one scene where Austin is trying to figure himself out now that he was back in the 60's.
#4139
This was the only hit that Spanish composer Waldo De Los Rios had throughout his career, it was a symphonic rearrangement of Mozart's "Symphony no 40" which proved to be a massive success thanks to the rise in popularity of classical music from around this time.
#4138
This was the first of two big hits that Livie managed to score from her film Xanadu, a film that's gone down in infamy as one of the worst to be ever made due to its bizarre plot and wooden acting from its star Michael Beck. This song plays in a scene where the two formerly meet for the first time, namely that Livie is skating around in an abandoned roller rink to the song itself.
#4137
Even though this wasn't the biggest hit that the brothers Gibb has here in Australia during the first half of the decade, this was the first Billboard chart topper the trio had suggesting that this was the song that finally made them a household name in America even though they had plenty of success over there with their earlier material from the 60's.
#4136
This was somewhat a return to form for Jimmy Barnes following the massive success of his first Soul deep project, although this wouldn't feel too out of line on that album so it's obvious he wasn't going to fully default back to his pub rock roots anytime soon. This would cost him another huge hit for him throughout the decade even though he continued to achieve moderate success with his singles.
#4135
This is the first of three Billboard chart toppers to compare sex to candy this decade, the other two being "Laffy taffy" from a group called D4L and "Lollipop" from Lil Wayne, neither of these other songs were hits in Australia which makes this the biggest hit down under with this premise by default. It's also the only one out of the three to get a female perspective as we have Olivia handling the chorus on this track.
#4134
While the second single from the Swing was a hit (we'll get to it in a bit) it wasn't a huge success for the band like the third single was, indeed, this is likely the reason why the band were able to appeal to an international audience as it has a really catchy instrumental which makes it different from most songs that become popular over the years. They had one more single from the album before they went to work on their next album.
#4133
An interesting fact about Nelly Furtado's third album Loose was that the album cycle was different depending on where in the world you're from, as such this was the lead single to her album in the UK as opposed to her earlier entry which was the lead single in most other parts of the world including here in Australia and NZ. I'm guessing the Brits wanted to hear a female perspective of the Hall and Oates track of the same name.
#4132
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4131
OK look, I appreciate a guy with a huge dick as much as the next person, however I don't think that body shaming a guy with a tiny dong is the type of message that anyone should be sending out at any point in time. I get that this is meant to be a joke, however I don't blame anyone who finds this Gillette woman to be beyond irritating on this track as she not only doesn't give a good performance but also has a very toxic attitude about her.
#4130
You know that a trend is omnipresent in pop culture when there's more than one song promoting it becoming a massive success, such was the case for this Canadian group Los Del Mar who rode on the success of the Macarena and made their own song which became a success here in Australia.
#4129
I hope you're used to seeing RNB ballads become a success much later in Australia than the rest of the world because that was a trend here this decade. One of the earlier examples was this ballad from Toni Braxton where despite it being a huge success in NZ and her native America, didn't crossover here until it became a huge hit for her in the UK. I'm not sure why she needed this circuitous route to find success here, but she did.
#4128
It took me a while to get to these guys, but I finally get to feature the spiritual successor of the Seekers on this list of mine starting with their debut single. I guess the rest of the world was a bit sceptical of this new direction that the brand name was going in given how it was only a hit in the southern hemisphere, although that would quickly change with their subsequent releases.
#4127
This was the theme to Prince's second film Under the cherry moon, a film that received the opposite reception of his first film Purple rain as it was heavily panned by critics and was a box office flop for the rock star. At least the soundtrack was still well received, showing a far more sexually provocative side of Prince which he was already known for being sexually charged in his music by this point.
#4126
I think this was the first sign of JT maturing into the sex symbol he would become on his second album Futuresex/Lovesounds the following year, although here he's playing second fiddle to Snoop Dogg who would score one of his last hits as a lead artist with this track even though he remained quite popular as a featured artist for many years after this came out.
#4125
This was Jay-Z's first big hit here in Australia, even as a featured artist, he didn't have any success prior to this collaboration with his future wife Beyonce about how they were the (then) modern equivalent of Bonnie and Clyde. This song samples "Me and my girlfriend" by 2pac when he was known as Makaveli, I thought I'd bring that up given how this east coast rapper sampled a west coast rapper.
#4124
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4123
Even though he had released a solo album the year prior to this ballad, this was the first solo hit that Paul McCartney had anywhere in the world due to not releasing a single from that album at the start of the decade. This went straight to number one on our charts despite it not being among the bigger hits of the decade down under.
#4122
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4121
One of the biggest bands of the 70's was the Captain and Tennille, and considering this was released just as it was coming to an end, it makes sense that this would be their final hit in their career as it became a success for them during the first year of the 80's. It's one of the few hit singles to have a pan flute as one of its instruments, I'm guessing the pair were going for a throwback to the first half of the century.
#4120
It's easy to forget that Y2K was a thing leading up to the new millennium, for the uninitiated, this was a fear that the world would end due to a potential glitch involving the dates changing from 1999 to 2000 where technology would go haywire. This glitch was solved before that had a chance to happen, making this lead single from Silverchair's third album that much more hilariously dated.
#4119
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4118
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#4117
This was the only hit that country star James Blundell managed to achieve in his career, even then this was largely due to the involvement of James Reyne who was still one of the hottest Australian singers around this time. Admittedly this allowed Blundell's third album to be a huge success following the success of this cover of the Dingoes track, however neither of them found any success after this.
#4116
Thanks to the success of their live album Under a blood red sky, U2 no longer had any issues with finding success with their singles which allowed this lead single to their album Unforgettable fire to become a massive worldwide success for them. It's easily one of their most recognisable hits thanks to the passionate performance that Bono gives on the track, saying that one's pride is something no one can take from them.
#4115
It appears that these guys had redeemed themselves for their "joke" song about the Doctor Who fandom from the late 80's, now they're one of the most well respected EDM groups who scored a massive worldwide hit with this live rendition of one of their earlier tracks that flopped due to them being seen as a novelty act. This led to them having a highly successful album that spawned multiple hits for them.
#4114
Named after the film it was written for, we have the first Billboard chart topper from Phil Collins likely because of the film's critical and commercial success due to it being a neo noir film made at a time where that was a rarity in Hollywood. It was likely due to this ballad that Phil filled his next album with ballads given how even outside of America, this was one of his biggest hits in his catalogue.
#4113
I don't think anyone was expecting to see Bobby Brown achieve such a massive hit with the lead single of his second album outside of America given how he didn't find that much success internationally with his debut album. I'm guessing New jack swing had become less stigmatised by international audiences by this point, either that or they really wanted to hear a song about his sexual escapades with his new wife Whitney Houston.
#4112
It's interesting that this almost made it to number one on our charts given how it wasn't a big hit in Glen's native America, then again, Glen Campbell in general seemed to have more success down under than he did on the Billboard charts until he sold out with "Rhinestone cowboy" in 1975 where his fortunes were reversed in both countries.
#4111
Here's that Christmas track I mentioned from earlier on this list, indeed this was written to be a Christmas chart topper in Jona's native UK despite it failing to become as such over there. I think this wound up being a bigger hit here due to us Aussies connecting with the lyrics better, that or it being a perfect candidate for what I've dubbed nursey pop due to the simplistic melody.
#4110
This was a bit of a surprise hit for A flock of seagulls, mainly because it wasn't that big in their native UK and only became a hit in America after it crossed over to Australia. I'm guessing we Aussies latched onto this track because of the video which even by the standards of new wave videos, is strange and bizarre to watch. It cemented the band as a one hit wonder despite them scoring a hit in the UK with "Wishing I had a photograph of you."
#4109
This was the biggest seasonal compilation for this year; it covered the big hits in Australia from our summer of 1996/1997 due to it having a strong selection of songs to choose from that period.
#4108
This was another successful entry from the 100% series, this time it overlooked the biggest hits of spring of 1992 which allowed it to be a huge hit for 1992 and 1993 due to how long it lasted on our charts.
#4107
I feel if this wasn't attached to one of the most successful films of the 80's, this would've been a flop for Prince as he wasn't doing very well in Australia following the critical disaster of his second film Under the cherry moon. Indeed, I'm not sure how many people particularly care for the lead single which is more a collage of scenes from the film with him occasionally singing throughout its runtime.
#4106
I'm guessing this was a hit for Barry Manilow due to the success of his cover of a Four seasons classic this year, although it doesn't come with the album so perhaps it was more due to how inescapable it was in the UK during the early stretch of the decade. This would be the last anyone would hear from the crooner, unless of course you're a fan of 90's Don Blueth in which case he wrote songs for Thumbelina and the Pebble and the penguin.
#4105
This was proving to be a highly successful year for metal given how Disturbed were able to make an appearance on this list despite having three albums throughout the decade that found very minimal success worldwide for them. It would be their penultimate album during their first run together as their final album was only a modest success in 2010, however they reformed five years later where they found massive success again.
#4104
While they were the victims of overexposure this decade much like other popular bands of the 70's, Abba was still able to find massive success during the second half of the decade thanks to how catchy and memorable their songs were to audiences. Like I said, it was more due to overexposure than people genuinely finding their music to be terrible that these albums weren't bigger than they were.
#4103
With word that these two would reunite for a one-off concert in New York's Central Park, there was naturally a rush to check out their back catalogue which resulted in the success of this greatest hits package for the duo months prior to when they gave the show of a lifetime.
#4102
It appears that Eminem wanted to call it quits from the music industry, as such he released this greatest hits package to remind fans of the good times they had from his catalogue which included some new tracks that had a mixed reception upon their initial releases. His retirement would come to an end by the end of the decade where he released Relapse which many feel was worse than Encore (me included.)
#4101
The autumn of 1984 was a hectic time in Australia if this album is anything to go by, we had a bunch of classic songs become hits during this period which is why this album was able to be such a huge success.
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