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.
#900
This was the signature track from Wendy Matthews given hot it easily remains her biggest hit in her career, admittedly it does showcase her vocal talents quite nicely even though I'm a much bigger fan of her more upbeat tracks such as "Let's kiss" and "Token angels." This song did lead her to having a widely successful album which goes to show how much love it had from Australian audiences.
#899
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#898
This was technically a hit twice in Australia, the first time was upon its initial release which was inevitable as this was during the height of Katy Perry's worldwide popularity. The second time was when the reality show MasterChef premiered early in 2009 which chose this as its theme song and thus kept it on the charts longer than it otherwise would've been.
#897
This was the debut album for one of the more prominent figures of sophistopop in the music industry Sade, a band led by their frontwoman Sade Adu who combined jazz with new wave for audiences of the day. This is another band I'm surprised didn't have a hit single in Australia considering how well loved their songs remain on oldies stations, although the albums were a success so maybe that's why their songs flopped here.
#896
Even though there were already two versions of this story made by the time Barbra Streisand took a crack at it, it is the first version to center around the Grammys which perhaps led to its box office success and how it swept the Golden globe awards despite a mixed critical reception towards the film. As the story is about an aging male rock star mentoring a younger female rock star, the soundtrack proved to be a huge success thanks to audiences connecting with the relationship.
#895
Following the success of the lead single from this album, it only makes sense that this sophomore album from the Scottish duo would be a huge success here in Australia. Curiously the album wasn't very successful in their native UK, I'm guessing because their fellow Brits found them to be too annoying in a way that we Aussies and kiwis found them to be endearing.
#894
While he wasn't among the most successful artists of the decade, his (then) most recent album Stranger in town was a huge sleeper hit for Bob Seger which likely explains the success of this greatest hits package from him here in Australia. What's interesting is that he would return to the mainstream eight years later with one of the tracks on this album.
#893
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#892
Although this wasn't Sherbet's most successful album in Australia (that honour goes to Slipstream from two years prior) this was the album which briefly made them international superstars due to the success of the title track throughout the world. Like many Australian artists who made it big internationally, this success did them no favours for their subsequent follow ups which each saw diminishing returns here in Australia.
#891
Even though he had yet to achieve much success with Genesis prior to releasing this album, it managed to become a huge success for Phil Collins largely due to the strength of its lead single which many believe to be him outing someone for failing to save a person from drowning. This album is a bit of a compromise for his older fans as it does contain several instrumental tracks in addition to the ballads he would become known for.
#890
You'd think that this being an unofficial theme to MasterChef Australia would've seen this be even more of a success on our digital charts down under, alas it was only equally as popular on that format as it was on our official charts.
#889
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#888
I'm willing to be that Chris De Burgh watched the Gene Wilder flick Woman in red and used that as a basis for writing this love ballad supposedly about his wife, it's as good an explanation as to how he managed to achieve so much success worldwide with a song that seems to be the complete opposite of his other hit from earlier in the decade "Don't pay the ferryman." His popularity would carry on in his native UK for the rest of the decade.
#887
This was a massive success for the Dutch group who began the decade with their hit single "Little green bag," I have to admit that I'm not too surprised that this hasn't stood the test of time like many of the other entries we'll come to say as this list goes on.
#886
It gives me great joy to know that one of the biggest hits of the decade in Australia was an honest to God pub rock anthem, true the Choirboys had been hustling in the industry for four years at this point, but their determination paid off with a track that's still fondly remembered by Australian audiences to this day. This even saw moderate crossover success in NZ, proving how much wide appeal these guys had.
#885
Get used to seeing a bunch of country ballads on this list as those were plentiful back in the day, here's the most successful of the bunch which comes from American singer Susan Raye likely due to it being named after the Californian airport as well as the success of the recent Airport film.
#884
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#883
One of the quirkier films from the 90's was the British flick Notting hill, a film which sees Hugh Grant who plays a bookstore owner fall in love with Julia Roberts who plays a fictional version of a Hollywood actress (that isn't herself.) The film was a critical and commercial success due to the British charm is showcases, and the soundtrack was also a huge success due to it matching the tone of the film.
#882
There looked like there was no signs of Marcia's career slowing down as she released her sophomore album one year after her debut, the album was equally as successful as its predecessor thanks to Marcia's vocals standing out from her obvious influence Diana Ross who was still MIA on the charts in Australia. Her third album wasn't as successful overall, however it made up for that by spawning not one but two of her biggest hits.
#881
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#880
She entered the decade with a bestselling soundtrack, so what better way to leave the decade with another soundtrack to book end her achievements? Here we have the soundtrack to Beaches that also serves as a studio album for Bette Midler due to her character being a struggling singer in the film. Speaking of the film, this is a movie people will either love or hate, specifically due to the twist that never fails to induce crying from the audience.
#879
One of the more compelling films to come out this decade was Good morning, Vietnam, it tells the story of a radio DJ played by Robin Williams and how he copes with providing entertainment to not only the troops occupying the district but also the locals who quickly grow to hate these troops. The film is fantastic mainly for Robin's performance but also for the way it incorporates its soundtrack throughout its runtime.
#878
Well, here we are with one of the more contemptuous artists to make it big over the years, admittedly I feel that this guy has received too much hate over the years and his only real crime in the music industry is how many songs by musicians of colour he's covered to poor results. That would come later in his career as for now we have an album that finally made him a household name with his own music.
#877
This was originally just meant to be a greatest hits package for MJ; however, it was delayed by several months when he realised he wrote and entire albums worth of new songs which resulted in this being a hybrid of a studio album and a greatest hits album. I should also point out that it had an aggressive marketing campaign involving the erection of several statues that the cover art depicts.
#876
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#875
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#874
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#873
They were often described as the Abba of the 90's, although I can only see that connection superficially as last I checked, Abba never once resorted to incorporating reggae music into their sound which they easily could've done in their heyday. I feel this is how Ace of base were able to craft an identity of their own which led them to being even more successful in America than their predecessors ever were.
#872
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#871
This was the only hit to come from Gabriella Cilmi, I'm guessing for a number of reasons given how much of an overnight sensation the Australian teenage singer was with this song worldwide. The first reason was that this is a song that seemed destined to come from a one hit wonder even though her album was a huge hit for her, the second was her being drunk at the 2008 ARIA awards despite being underage.
#870
This served both as the lead single to Celine Dion's album Falling into you (well in America at least, it was the second single here in Australia after the title track) as well as the theme to the Michelle Pfeiffer flick Up close and personal. It also came with a B-side "The power of a dream" which Dion performed at the summer Olympics this year at Atlanta, which no doubt boosted the sales of this track.
#869
I'm not sure if this song would've been as big as it was were it not "presented" by Timbaland for OneRepublic, however it did become a massive worldwide hit for the band regardless as it was not only produced by him but was also included on his solo album for some reason. The band would have several spikes in popularity over the years given how slow their recording output has been.
#868
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#867
It's odd to see how successful Bryan Ferry was with his second and third album in Australia, mainly because his band Roxy music didn't have much success here until their final album Avalon in the early 80's. In any case we have his second album named after easily his biggest hit down under which managed to take the Australian charts by storm likely due to how inescapable said single was.
#866
From what I can gather, Chariots of fire is a film that's tailor made to be Oscar bait (despite it being a British film) as it tells the story of an athlete looking to make it big in a track and field race in a way that only those who are into the most sentimental of inspiration stories could appreciate. One thing that has held up about the film over the years is its soundtrack, specifically the score by Greek composer Vangelis.
#865
Although her comeback came with her previous 1987 self-titled album, it was this album which made Cher's music career relevant again if only briefly as it would see peaks and valleys throughout the 90's as she juggled it with her acting career. This has been described as Cher's peak in popularity thanks to her hopping on the hair metal trend and her voice working very well with heavier rock and roll.
#864
If you're looking for the campiest film ever to be made, then may I recommend this film made by the Village people which produced a highly successful soundtrack that arguably serves as their biggest album in their catalogue. It's got terrible performances from the band members, a laughably pretentious leading man played by Steve Guttenberg and a ton so cheesy and awful that you'll find yourself laughing your ass off at how bad it is.
#863
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#862
It's a shame that Gabriella Cilmi remains a one hit wonder worldwide with the lead single to her debut album given how the bulk of its success came from digital sales in addition to strong physical sales back in the day, I guess that controversy at the 2008 ARIA awards where she appeared to engage in underage drinking was a death note to an otherwise promises career.
#861
I've always felt that the name the Goo goo dolls was a comical one, after all that sounds like a name that should be affiliated with all of the teen pop that was becoming big this year. Alas this band was instead somewhere between grunge and post grunge and managed to score their one and only hit outside their native America with this theme to the Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan flick City of angels.
#860
Now this is a sellout track I feel is an improvement over the previous catalogue from the band in question, then again, I'm a huge sucker for disco so perhaps there's a bit of bias with this assessment from me. Audiences from this year seemed to agree with me as it remains their biggest hit to date as well as it being one of the biggest hits of the decade for any artist.
#859
This was the only noticeable hit for the English duo Lighthouse family outside their homeland, likely due to it sounding like something Simply red would've released earlier in the decade and that band's popularity dwindling out by this point in time. Strangely this wasn't among the biggest hits of the year in their native UK despite it easily being one of the biggest hits of the year in Australia.
#858
Well, if you ever wanted to hear what the Macarena would sound like if it were written and performed by women, then you're in luck because that's the best way to describe this track from the Spanish trio Las Ketchup who scored a massive worldwide hit with this track that seems to be recorded in Spanish, English and Portuguese and even comes with some random words that aren't from any language.
#857
So, Sonia dada, a band from America most of my American readers will be unfamiliar with due to them failing to score any success on Billboard managed to score one of the biggest hits of the decade in Australia with this track. I guess this does fit into the theme that this year was going for, however it's little surprise that it doesn't have the same fanfare that many other entries do on this list.
#856
We already looked at the EDM version of this track in my 1995 list, so now let's look at the most popular version of this Alphaville track in the southern hemisphere from the Australian band Youth group which took the music scene by storm thanks largely due to its music video which pays homage to the home videos people used to make throughout the twentieth century.
#855
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#854
Personally, I've always preferred the Dolly Parton version of this ballad, however there's no denying that Whitney Houston made it her own when she starred in the poorly reviewed romantic thriller the Bodyguard opposite Kevin Costner and had this rendition of her track play over the emotional climax of the film.
#853
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#852
We'll be looking at quite a few instrumental tracks on this list given how they seemed to be plentiful during the first half of the decade, by far the biggest came from Hot butter who were an American instrumental band who took the world by storm with this gem. If the melody sounds familiar to you, that's because Crazy frog "covered" this track on its 2005 album and found massive success with it.
#851
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#850
I guess this was the Rolling stones looking to change with the times given how there's a noticeable disco influence throughout this album's runtime (it's not quite disco but it's easy to think it is.) This was able to spawn the band a hit single during the second half of the decade, although I don't think they were particularly interested in adding more hits to their name after all the success they had in the 60's.
#849
Well we did see the likes of Austen Tayshus and the 12th man on the singles chart, so it makes sense that this live comedy album from Rodney Rude would be a huge success on the album charts this year.
#848
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#847
Following the success of his second solo album, Bryan Ferry struck while the iron was hot and released his third solo album which proved to be slightly more successful in exchange for it lacking that inescapable hit that "Let's stick together" became prior to its release. This led to him releasing a third album not long after this which sadly for him crashed and burned and caused him to reform Roxy music.
#846
I guess this was Paul McCartney looking to change with the times given how this feels like it's the most dated album in his entire catalogue. Of course, the real sticking point for most audiences is that it features arguably his worst song in the form of its lead single, specifically how he and Stevie Wonder believe that they can solve racial discrimination just by making a song about it.
#845
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#844
This was the final hit that Shirley Bassey had anywhere in the world, although it's curious that it would be by far her biggest hit here in Australia given how her only other hit was with "Goldfinger" from the film of the same name from almost a decade prior. At least the Welsh woman of colour can take comfort in the fact that this ballad was more popular on our charts than many other well-known tracks worldwide.
#843
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#842
This was the last hit single that Christina Aguilera achieved as a lead artist, even then it was a massive flop in the UK and her native America likely due to the Brits and her fellow Americans not taking to her third album as much as we Aussies and kiwis did back in the day. I guess this does achieve the goal of sounding like it was made for the troops coming home from WWII from the 40's.
#841
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#840
I feel that even though both of these tracks from Green day contributed to the band's success with their album Nimrod, it was "Time of your life" that boosted the albums sales, specifically when it was used in the series finale of Seinfeld which only caused further upset with their fanbase who already felt it was a sellout from the trio. In Australia, rather than simply rereleasing the (at this point) one year old track, it was bundled with "Redundant" as a two for one deal that proved to be a wise decision for the band.
#839
This is a song that works fine upon its initial release, but I feel becomes tiresome after repeated listens, I think it's because the yelping at the end of the second chorus feels unnecessary although that could just be a me problem. This was one of the biggest hits of the decade in Australia despite Bryan's band Roxy music failing to find any major success with one of their singles prior to him temporarily disbanding them to pursue his solo career.
#838
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#837
Although she had already seen massive success with her song "I found someone," this was the comeback that Cher needed to reinvigorate her career following a long absence in the music industry. Admittedly this absence was due to her involvement in Hollywood where she starred in a string of some of the more memorable flicks of the decade such as Silkwood, Mask and the Witches of Eastwick.
#836
This was originally a hit for the Mindbenders back in the mid 60's, however it was covered by Wet wet wet for the Hugh Grant flick Four weddings and a funeral where it became a massive success for the Scottish band largely due to how successful the film was worldwide.
#835
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#834
You'd think that this album from one of the most popular artists of the decade would've been even bigger here in Australia, granted this did spawn three of the biggest hits of the decade here but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been a huge juggernaut like other pop albums of its time. In any case, this was the album which made the duo a household name over in America due to how catchy the songs are on here.
#833
Following the staggering success of their debut album, Crowded house went back to the studio to capitalise off their newfound international success which resulted in this album that while a success in Australia and NZ, didn't find much of an audience internationally. They did find more luck with their next album Woodface as that managed to become a huge success in the UK in addition to the southern hemisphere.
#832
This is the only studio album from the Carpenters to feature on this list, this is curious because it doesn’t contain either of their chart toppers that they had here in Australia, although the second single remains one of their most popular in their catalogue due to its success in the UK.
#831
Well, you don't release an album as successful as Rod's previous entry and immediately fade into obscurity with its follow up, so here we are with that follow up which didn't have that inescapable hit (at least here in Australia) but was nonetheless a huge success for the crooner.
#830
This is the only posthumous album to appear on this list, namely because it was heavily delayed following the tragic demise of Janis Joplin the year prior to its release likely out of fear that her label was merely cashing in on said death despite it being completed.
#829
This was the first solo hit to come from MJ, suffice to say that this is very different from his later material given how he was still a child when he recorded this track for the film of the same name. Incidentally, this is a horror film which just so happens to have the occasional sentimental scene, making this ballad highly inappropriate to be its theme song regardless of the context of the lyrics.
#828
To think this was originally commissioned for the terrible (in my opinion at least) film adaptation of the Daredevil comics starring Ben Affleck, specifically for the scene where Elektra Natchios (played by Jennifer Garner) is training in her mansion with sandbags. At least the song was effective in the scene it was used in as it single handedly launched Evanescence into the mainstream as their debut single.
#827
I know Britney isn't exactly what you would call a seasoned performer, however I can't help but admit this was a fantastic debut single for her thanks to how amazing it sounds even to this day. Her career has seen many ups and downs over the years, however it's clear that she still commands a loyal fanbase even to this day.
#826
This was the second single to be released on Abba's self-titled album, a song that initially flopped internationally but was such a surprise success in Australia that it unofficially became their signature track here. The rest of the world followed suit eventually as the popular Broadway musical based around their catalogue was named after this track.
#825
I'm a bit surprised that Stealers wheel didn't see much success back in the day considering how often you hear "Stuck in the middle with you" on the radio, I guess this solo album from Gerry Rafferty becoming a huge success was meant to be a consolation prize the world gave him for sleeping on his band earlier in the decade. Admittedly it's hard to imagine a world where the lead single would fail given how iconic that sax solo has become.
#824
Following the success of his (then) latest album Sleeping with the past, Elton John decided to do a recap of his career just like he did a decade prior. By that I mean the exact same way as this album shares its title with his previous greatest hits package, although thankfully both albums have very different artwork to ensure that casual fans looking to get into his music won't confuse the two with each other.
#823
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#822
Well things did seem to be very good for Bryan Adams this far into his career, admittedly they could've been better given how even in his native Canada he had some ups and downs in terms of his mainstream success, but it's still an awesome title for a greatest hits package that no doubt contributed to its overwhelming success.
#821
Before he took the world by storm with Star Wars, George Lucas had a massive hit with this teen drama about high schoolers from the early 60's. It's sort of like a more serious version of Grease if you haven't seen it, although it wasn't a musical despite the soundtrack including several well-known songs from the 50's and early 60's which resulted in its success.
#820
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#819
Ben Lee was always on the verge of breaking through into the mainstream given how his 1998 effort barely managed to make an appearance on this site, his time to shine came with his fifth album due to the lead single finding massive success on the radio as well as being heavily promoted on Triple J this year. It led to him being a one album wonder as his follow-up failed to bring in the numbers this did.
#818
This was the penultimate album that Blondie released in their original run together, even by this stage there was rumours that the band would be breaking up which they denied by simply saying that Deborah Harry would be recording a solo album shortly after its release. This album was a massive success whereas that one would be a huge flop for her, proving that audiences preferred her with the band than on her own.
#817
Even though she saw massive success with her singles throughout the second half of the 80's, Belinda Carlisle didn't see much success with her albums in Australia until her third album became a surprise hit for her this year. I'm guessing this was due to the third single being a hit exclusively down under as the songs on here bombed in her native America, this led to her next album never being released over there.
#816
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#815
People feel the album's title to be an attack on Britney's haters, after all, it does feel like a snarky quip towards everyone who felt she bought her way into the music industry through her connections with Disney. It certainly didn't deter her fans from making it a success given how it and the singles managed to be equally as successful as her debut from the previous year thanks to how well they connected with it.
#814
Tool are one of the most critically acclaimed bands to emerge from this decade, so to see their second album achieve this much success worldwide must have been a welcome surprise for the band and their fanbase given what they were competing with in the mainstream. Their popularity would continue well into the new millennium, although they never again reached the dizzying heights of this album.
#813
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#812
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#811
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#810
Spiderbait were rising stars in the Australian alternative scene when they released their third album, said album was what brought them into the big leagues thanks to their more pop friendly sound as well as heavy endorsement from Triple J upon its initial release. It was the success of "Calypso" which helped keep this album around, well more specifically, the music video which features some truly outdated CGI even for the time.
#809
This is a song from Miley Cyrus that proved to be equally as popular on our digital charts as it was on our physical charts, as such it managed to retain a high position on this list as it did on my hypothetical list ranking these songs based on their physical sales.
#808
Many fans consider this to be the true debut album from Shannon Noll given how it had no affiliation with Australian idol like his actual debut did, it was a massive success for him, proving he didn't need the affiliation with the reality series to make it big like the winner Guy Sebastian did (at least initially.) Sadly, his third album would be a massive dud for him later in the decade.
#807
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#806
This was initially a flop for Boyz II men here in Australia, likely due to us Aussies not being that interested in RNB and New jack swing like the kiwis and their fellow Americans were. It was given a second chance when their theme to Eddie Murphy's Boomerang became one of the biggest hits of the decade and thus allowed us to appreciate this album and lessen our stigma against music of colour.
#805
It looked like this album was going to flop in Australia just like her debut album, however it received a massive push in popularity thanks to the third single from the album being a huge success for her and helping people realise what an amazing vocalist she is on her songs. Taylor's popularity would stretch out to her third album later in the decade where she almost topped our charts with a Barry White cover.
#804
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#803
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#802
This was the most successful album to come from Billy Idol in Australia, I'm guessing due to it being more in line with sophistopop compared to his earlier work despite it not quite being sophistopop. It's definitely more subdue compared to his earlier work which is perhaps why it found more success here than his earlier work. He would have further success throughout the rest of the decade and even into the 90's.
#801
Andrea Bocelli was a blind opera singer who was quite popular throughout Europe during the 90's prior to him releasing this greatest hits package in order to appeal to an English-speaking market, indeed it took a while for this album to make it big worldwide given how it was released in 1997 but only picked up speed a year after its initial release. When it did become a hit, he had no issues with his subsequent follow-ups.
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