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.
#2000
You wouldn't have thought that Crystal Waters would have one of the biggest hits of the decade in Australia considering how we Aussies weren't that into RNB back in the day, yet here she is with a massive hit that became as such months before it caught on in her native America. Crystal was another American artist to see massive success internationally before she ever made an impact on the Billboard charts.
#1999
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1998
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#1997
Well, the original version of this track was the rare ballad from KC and the Sunshine Band, so it only makes sense that this British EDM group would transform it into a dance track and that it would see massive success in a decade that was filled with EDM tracks. This resulted in the band finding other older songs to remix into club tracks, none of which managed to become a hit for them anywhere in the world.
#1996
I never understood the backlash towards this cover, true it was made for charity and obviously Ali Campbell had no romantic relationship with Chrissie Hynde, however I feel you could've fooled me into thinking otherwise listening to this cover of the Sonny and Cher classic. I guess this track has only received backlash in more recent years due to UB40's general backlash due to their usage of cod reggae.
#1995
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1994
If you thought that actors trying for a singing career has only been a recent phenomenon, allow me to present to you David Soul who managed to score a massive hit worldwide with this track following the success he had with his TV series Starsky and Hutch. Even though this was his only hit in his native America, he would score two more hits throughout the rest of the world thanks to the show.
#1993
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1992
The last time we mentioned Maria McKee on this site was when she wrote Feargal Sharkey's biggest hit "A good heart" from five years prior, here she is now with a song of her own that she wrote for the Tom Cruise flick Days of thunder which sees the heartthrob play a race car driver hotshot. The film is noticeable for being the first of three he made with his future wife Nicole Kidman.
#1991
This was a song written exclusively for the film Pret a porter, a film that's about celebrity culture hence why there are several reverences to hotshot celebrities (without naming names of course) which likely was what made it such an international success for the reggae artist Ini Kamoze. This unfortunately didn't translate to any success with the rest of his catalogue.
#1990
This is a two-way entry for Boz Scaggs as "Lido shuffle" was always the lead single to his magnum opus Silk degrees, for reasons I can never understood, it only became a hit here in Australia when it was bundled with the second single from the album "What can I say" which allowed both songs to be a huge success together as well as the album itself finally getting off the ground here.
#1989
This was the first of two chart toppers that Tony Orlando had with his backing band Dawn, a duo that was in fact two women of colour who provided backup vocals for him who obviously elevated the material from typical easy listening ballads to more noteworthy pop ballads of the day. They have two more entries to come on this list, proving how successful this formula was for the trio.
#1988
From what I can gather, Jud Strunk was a comedian in a similar vein to that of Ray Stevens (if Ray wasn't a casual racist judging by his biggest hits in that genre.) As such we have a love ballad from an otherwise comedic performer which of course became his biggest hit during his lifetime, although he might've had a second hit had he not tragically passed away in 1981 due to a plane crash.
#1987
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1986
This cover of the Harry Chapin classic from eighteen years prior seems like a 180 for Ugly kid joe, mainly because their previous two singles "Everything about you" and especially "Neighbour" feel like they came from a band who seems to juvenile to pull of this track about the inner introspection a father goes through by watching his son grow up too quickly. That's not to say the song is awful like many of the band's detractors like to say, it's just a weird move for them.
#1985
I bet you're wondering why the heck Warren G decided to collaborate with Adina Howard (who my American readers know for her hit single "Freak like me" on Billboard) for this hip hop remix of Tina Turner's signature track. Well, it turns out this was commissioned for the Jackie Chan flick Supercop which was enough of a success worldwide for this to be a huge hit despite it flopping in America for some reason. This also served as the lead single to Warren's second album.
#1984
This was released back in the day where Maroon 5 was a well-respected pop rock band and not a highly contentious project for the lead singer Adam Levine like they've become throughout the 2010's (yeah, I'm not a fan of their later work.) Here we have their third single from their debut album which became their biggest hit of the decade here in Australia likely due to it being a love ballad towards a girl with low self-esteem.
#1983
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#1982
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#1981
This was the last hit that the Village people managed to achieve anywhere in the world, presumably due to it being the title track of their autobiographical film about how they came to be in the first place. OK so calling it a biography is a bit of a stretch as their actual story of how they came to be wasn't nearly as chaotic as what happens in the film but still.
#1980
Although Celine Dion had moderate success earlier in the decade with her theme to Disney's Beauty and the beast, it wasn't until she released her rendition of the Jennifer Rush track from 1985 that she managed to have a huge hit outside of America and her native Canada. Jennifer's version of this track is fine, however in my opinion, Celine blows her out of the water on this rendition.
#1979
This is a cover of one of the bigger hits from the 60's by the Rooftop singers, I'm guessing these guys did this to further cement their change in music direction from the first half of the decade where they were a novelty act making joke songs written by Shel Silverstein. If they wanted to be taken seriously in the easy listening crowd, then they succeeded with flying colours as they achieved a ton of success with these ballads.
#1978
This is one of those songs whose sole purpose is to shock an offend audiences, personally I don't find this song offensive as it's little more than Katy admitting to experimenting with her sexuality (although I'll admit that it's one of the more annoying songs of the decade.) This became the first of many of her hits worldwide likely due to audiences being shocked and offended by this track.
#1977
This was among the first songs whose music video was banned, although not by MTV as the video for this title track of Olivia's biggest album in her career was banned in her native UK due to its shameless depiction of body shaming. The song is a bop to this day; however, most people have described it as a body shaming anthem due to the (admittedly offensive) visuals in the video.
#1976
Like many people over the years, I always found Macy Grey to be a rather odd vocalist as her dry vocals never sat very well with me. Of course, that puts me and her critics in the minority as this debut single of hers managed to be a huge success worldwide because of these vocals connecting with her fanbase. This was her only hit here in Australia, although the album it came from was a huge success.
#1975
Well, this took its sweet time in finding success here in Australia, I'd like to tell you that it's because we Aussies knew better than to make Lionel Richie a household name back in the day but sadly the more likely reason is that we just weren't into RNB back in the day like the rest of the world was. Even so, this is a taste of what was to come from Lionel's solo career the following decade for better or worse.
#1974
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1973
A decade before Joan Jett scored a massive hit with "I love rock and roll," we had Suzi Quatro tearing up the international charts with her debut single which comes from the glam rock genre. I bring this up because for whatever reason, Suzi didn't have any success in her native America until much later in the decade where she sold out in favour of an adult contemporary artist.
#1972
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1971
Although he remains a one hit wonder here in Australia with this theme to a long forgotten animated film from his native NZ (and one that doesn't look good judging by the animation displayed in the music video) Dave was a huge superstar in his homeland by originally with his band D.D smash and for many years after his first solo hit with the reggae group Herbs. I defy anyone to get this song out of their heads after hearing it, it's virtually impossible to do so.
#1970
Although "I am woman" was the song that made Helen Reddy a star outside of Australia, it was this song that confirmed her to be the real deal when it came to women in the country scene in America as this was her second Billboard chart topper following her earlier entry. This was written by Tanya Tucker, a (then) teenage girl who seemed to be wise beyond her years given the subject matter of the songs she wrote.
#1969
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#1968
Lionel admitted himself back in the day that his first solo album was made to appease his fanbase from when he was a part of the Commodores, this was to ease them into the change in music direction that he wanted to make in his career which resulted in his magnum opus Can't slow down and this lead single of his. It's a party jam that's since become a staple of parties since its initial release.
#1967
Well, I think we all need to spare a thought for Bob Marley with this entry, he only managed to achieve one hit single in Australia during his lifetime with "Is this love" and yet these kids from London England managed to score a hit here twice as popular as that classic with a similar subject matter to his usual topics of weed culture, sometimes life isn't fair for certain people.
#1966
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1965
This was a bit of a comeback for Guy Sebastian given how he hadn't bothered the charts in three years prior to scoring a massive number one hit with this track, indeed this was such a comeback that he would stick around for most of the following decade albeit only in Australia and NZ.
#1964
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1963
It's easy to forget that this was the second single from Men at work's debut album Business as usual given how it's overshadowed the actual lead single "Who can it be now" over the years, it's easy to see how it did so given that it's one of the first songs people think of when they think of an iconic Australian song. Another fun fact about this is that it helped the band become the first to top the Billboard and UK charts simultaneously with a song and album.
#1962
This was the world's introduction to Kesha, I bring this up because by the end of the year, Kesha reportedly begged her label to remove her credit on this track which tells you how embarrassed she was to be on here in the first place. I guess she didn't like how she helped Flo Rida interpolate the Dead or alive track from the 80's that this song is named after, although audiences this year certainly did.
#1961
I love "Islands in the streams," it's one of the rare country ballads I can listen to countless times without growing tired of. That should give you an idea of how much I dislike this track given how it blatantly samples the original in order give Pras Michel a solo hit following the demise of the Fugees. This was also the theme to the film Bulworth, hence why Warren Beatty appears on the cover with the three artists on this song.
#1960
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1959
It looked like the debut album from the Moving pictures had crashed and burned upon its initial release, however the success of this second single from their album Days of innocence ensured it would be a huge success for the band. Nowadays the song is known for two things, the first is the inferior (in my opinion) cover from Shannon Noll and the second is criticism that it glorifies suffering from first world problems (it doesn't.)
#1958
Here's a fun fact I came across while researching for new information on Billy Ocean, all of his Billboard chart toppers have exactly eight words in them which is a bit of a freaky coincidence the more you think about it. In any case this was the final hit single he had anywhere in the world, presumably due to RNB evolving away from the bombast that it was known for throughout this decade.
#1957
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#1956
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#1955
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#1954
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#1953
Well, this was the album that many fans believe (me included) disgraced Eminem's discography and undid all of the goodwill his previous two albums achieved to the point where people once again believed that he was little more than a sexist and homophobic shock rapper looking for attention. Even so, it appears to still have its fans to this day who likely believe it to be satire of the worst aspects of hip hop.
#1952
This greatest hits package was commissioned following the success of their album Slipstream, meaning that these guys didn't need the assistance of Countdown to become one of the biggest names in music this decade, although the show certainly didn't harm their prospects of being a huge band from Australia.
#1951
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#1950
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#1949
One of the best rom coms of the decade (in my opinion of course) is Bridget Jones diary, a British film based on a + sized woman (played by the usually underweight Renee Zellweger) keeps a journal about her year where she navigates her day-to-day life in order to find the love of her life. It was a massive critical and commercial success which spawned a highly successful soundtrack to boot.
#1948
This song was quite popular on YouTube back in the day, although once again, YouTube data wasn't a factor when it came to digital sales meaning that just as many people downloaded the song as they did buy a physical copy of it.
#1947
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1946
Mannequin is one of those films you either love or hate, it mostly comes down to its premise of a man falling in love with a store mannequin that randomly comes to life and whether or not you're on board with that premise. At least the theme song was well received even though it comes from Starship's sellout period, although those who despise "We built this city" don't often have many negative things to say about this.
#1945
This was originally released in 1969 to deafening silence for Roberta Flack, I guess because it was considered a bit ahead of its time given how it's more in line with the RNB the 70's is known for rather than the 60's which was less subtle by comparison. I'm not sure how this was rediscovered three years after its initial release, however it was which resulted in the first of three Billboard chart toppers for her.
#1944
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1943
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1942
This was the final solo hit to come from George Harrison, although the success of this cover of the obscure track from James Ray did lead to him forming the supergroup the Travelling wilburys a year after its initial release. Apparently, he cut out a verse from the original which led to two things about this track, the first is that it changes the context of the lyrics and the second is that it makes this version more repetitive than the original. No wonder many people don't like this track.
#1941
This was the debut single for one of the more prominent bands this decade, I would say bands that emerged this decade except this came out just as the 70's came to an end in their native UK. Nowadays this song is best known for its usage in TV commercials, specifically that for the breakfast cereal Special K due to how the word special is used throughout its runtime.
#1940
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1939
This was the biggest hit to come from Marcia Hines throughout the decade, although you may have noticed the absence of Diana Ross on these lists as many feel that the American born Australian singer stole the success the former Supremes vocalist would've had down under for herself. Indeed, once Diana started having hits again in the 80's, Marcia's time in the spotlight had fallen by the wayside.
#1938
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1937
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#1936
This is one of those songs I personally find to be irritating, namely because there's only so many times I can hear the phrase shut up before I personally go insane. With that said, this was a massive follow up to "Where is the love" worldwide for the Black-eyed peas as it depicts Fergie telling the other three members to shut up in the chorus as they spit bars about how they treat her and her not putting up with it.
#1935
From what I can gather, Aunty Jack was a character from a show centred around her that was a massive success on Australian TV despite being heavily controversial for its politically incorrect humour (proving that this type of humour has ALWAYS received backlash and not just in recent years.) The show was cancelled which resulted in this novelty track being recorded and finding massive success from upset fans.
#1934
If you can believe it, there was indeed a time where this song didn't contain the lyrics "who the f**k is Alice," that goes to show you that there was a time where this song was taken seriously by the masses. In Australia, this was the song that put them on the map as their earlier hits from their native UK failed to crossover here like this mammoth track did.
#1933
This was the first Billboard chart topper for Olivia Newton John, although she had massive success in Australia and her native UK throughout the first half of the decade as a country star when female country singers were dominating the mainstream. This was written by Peter Allen around the time he came out as gay, meaning it's possible this was about how he fell in love with a guy who was in a straight relationship that he gave to Livie to straightwash the scenario.
#1932
This is the only hit from pop crooner Wayne Newton here in Australia, it's easy to see how it connected with audiences given the subject matter of a son losing his father after said father's failing marriage to his mother. In most parts of the world, this was passed up in favour of a cover from Daniel Boone to the point where there's contention of which versions is considered to be the original (it's this version.)
#1931
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#1930
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#1929
Well on my last list I covered how few really cared that Samantha Fox wasn't much of a vocalist in the mainstream, now let's talk about a fellow member of the LGBT community who used his good looks and infectious songs to overlook his own vocal deficiencies in the form of Paul Lekakis. Admittedly he didn't receive much love outside of Australia, presumably due to this song being used in a competition organised by Countdown which resulted in its popularity here.
#1928
This was the only noticeable hit for Sixpence none the richer throughout their career, primarily due to it being used in Dawson's creek as well as She's all that which were two of the bigger pop culture artifacts to come from this year. The song was originally released the previous year to deafening silence, likely due to the band being strong Christian and audiences being done with contemporary Christian music by this point.
#1927
With a premise as arrogant as the one on display with this band's signature track, you'd think they'd be all bark and no bite much like most modern indie artists. Fortunately, not only is this track one of the more iconic hit singles to emerge from this year, but the rest of their catalogue follows suit with them not conforming to the trends of early MTV (for the most part that is.) That didn't stop these guys from calling it quits the following year so that Adam could pursue a solo career.
#1926
If there was one band who desperately didn't want to sell out to save their career, it would be Cheap trick as despite this being their biggest hit in most parts of the world, the band have come to despise it as they've described it as a contractual obligation their label made them do rather than it being a passion project. I guess if this is them not putting in the effort and it still turns out this good, then it goes to show you how great they are as a band.
#1925
Following the mediocre success of her self-titled album outside of Australia (it was a huge hit down under due to heavy promotion on Countdown) Madonna decided to go bit with her second album by working with Nile Rogers of Chic fame on this track he originally wrote from the perspective of a guy. Needless to say, she made it her own and it became one of her several signature songs over the years.
#1924
You'd think that a man who was married to Liza Minelli (only to divorce her when he found out he was gay of course) would've had more success as a lead artist in the music scene, alas all of Peter Allen's accomplishments came as a songwriter save for this chart topper he had at home in Australia. I guess the fact that he had such a huge hit with a lounge track like this was impressive given when it came out.
#1923
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#1922
Well, this is a queer anthem if I've ever heard one, heck I feel this was more obvious at the time considering how many queer folks found themselves needing to us a YMCA for one reason or another. Here the Village people promote the homeless shelter chain which resulted in it becoming their signature track in a discography filled with tracks to resonate with the LGBT community.
#1921
While this was indeed an 80's hit for the Buggles over in America, this was released just as the 70's was winding down throughout the rest of the world making these two future members of Yes score their big breakthrough two years prior to when MTV launched by playing this music video as the first thing to appear on the channel when it launched.
#1920
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#1919
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#1918
One of the more sombre tracks in Prince's catalogue was the original version of this track, even so it's certainly more upbeat than Sinead O'Connor's rendition who injected raw emotions she was going through at the time which tugged at the heartstrings of the general public of this year. This was her only major success worldwide given how she ruined her career in 1992 with her infamous SNL performance.
#1917
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#1916
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#1915
To think that Pat Benatar's biggest album worldwide was this live album, I'm guessing because it contained a bonus track which would become the biggest hit of her career. Even though this was the peak of her success, her albums did do consistently well due to her tough as nails attitude.
#1914
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#1913
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#1912
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#1911
Given how this song only took off in Australia due to its affiliation with the Devil wears Prada, it only makes sense that the bulk of its success came from streaming which is why this managed to have a much higher placement on this list than on my hypothetical physical charts list.
#1910
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1909
We have another Australian supergroup here, or rather they're a supergroup in retrospect given how much success each of the members would go on to have with their separate projects. By far the most famous member is Rick Springfield, however Beeb Birtles is also well known for his involvement with the Little river band. This was their only hit which was only the case due to being a Beatles cover.
#1908
This was the only hit single that the NZ trio the Swingers were able to achieve in Australia, although they did achieve a second hit in their homeland with "It ain't what you dance, it's the way you dance it" so it's not like this is their only legacy over there. This is another novelty track whose popularity came from how incessantly catchy the song is, seriously try getting this out of your head if you can.
#1907
Given that Janet Jackson was now a household name in Australia following her duet with Luther Vandross from the previous year, it makes sense that this lead single from her biggest album Janet would have no issue in finding an audience here like it did internationally. A bit of a fun fact is that the video features the first on screen appearance of Jennifer Lopez in pop culture.
#1906
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#1905
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#1904
This was originally released as a single on its own for Bobby Mcferrin, however it achieved massive success thanks to it being included in the Tom Cruise flick Cocktail which many consider to be one of the worst films of the decade. It also has the distinction of to this day being the most successful track to be performed entirely a Capella.
#1903
This had a bit of a slow rise to success here in Australia as it was originally released in the previous year to deafening silence for Merril Bainbridge, presumably due to no one wanting to hear a sex jam sex to a beat boxing err.... beat. They eventually changed their minds this year which led to it becoming a huge success for her, this in turn sparked international interest in her debut album which resulted in this song becoming a huge success over in America the following year.
#1902
It's strange to think that the original version of this RNB track from Earth wind and fire wasn't a huge success in Australia back in the day, in fact even if you were around during the early 80's and the mid 90's, this is likely your introduction to this classic which I guess is better than nothing as the Australian quartet do a decent job updating the track for a (then) modern audience.
#1901
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
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