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.
#2700
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2699
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2698
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2697
This was the only hit that Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot had here in Australia, although I'm a bit surprised this was the case considering how well folk music did throughout the decade down under even after Countdown launched this year. This is a fine upbeat number which perhaps explains its success in a year that's filled with midtempo ballads with some bounce to their instrumentation.
#2696
By far their most successful song in their catalogue, this was the lead single for AC/DC who scored a massive comeback this year following the tragic death of their original front man Bon Scott earlier in the year. They replaced him with British singer Brian Johnston who was able to successfully match the energy that Bon brought to these tracks and also make the band an international household name.
#2695
This was the first big hit that Lil Wayne had here in Australia (I don't count his verse on "Soldier" as I never heard that on the radio back in the day) it was a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Kevin Rudolf which was such a success for them that it convinced him to become a rock star which even his diehard fans will tell you was a terrible idea. Kevin also had success here with the likes of Brian McFadden and Jay Sean.
#2694
Told you we'd be looking at another version of Lally Stott's one and only hit on this list, here we are with Middle of the road (what a strange name for a pop band) interpretation of the folk track which also serves as their debut single to boot. The best way to describe these guys is if they were the Scottish equivalent of the New seekers and thus weren't a spinoff of a much better Australian band from the 60's.
#2693
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2692
This was a surprise hit for Toto coelo in America, I bring this up because they were a British band who failed in their native UK and yet they saw moderate success in America by altering their name to Total Coelo (likely to avoid confusion with Toto.) This allowed the band to find success here with a song that is indeed about eating cannibals.
#2691
This was meant as a commentary of how older artists were able to find success many years after their initial popularity died out in the music industry, yes you can also interpret the lyrics to be literal which is about a person who is coasting off on their laurels from their past achievements. Yeah, there's no other way to interpret this track, John is clearly annoyed by how older artists were making it big over younger talent.
#2690
This was the theme song to the long-forgotten film Electric dreams, a film from what I can gather in the music video is about a geek falling in love with an attractive woman who works at an electric store. Honestly this feels like a Human League track that Phillip Oakey kept for himself as it's clear that the song has become more iconic over the years than the film that it's based on.
#2689
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2688
It turns out that her cameo in Coyote ugly was meant to signify Leann Rimes transitioning from country to pop as the songs on the soundtrack also appeared on her album that year which flopped due to the soundtrack being a massive success. Here she is with the lead single to her second pop album which was also a massive success here in Australia and NZ, although it was a massive flop in her native America.
#2687
Although this didn't produce any noteworthy hits for Steve Miller and company, it nonetheless remains their most successful album in their career likely due to how well they did on the radio back in the day. They would sit out the rest of the decade and return at the height of MTV with an album that certainly adapted with the times.
#2686
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2685
Sergio Mendes was one of the lucky few to have a successful album here in Australia throughout the 60's, so it makes sense that he would find success with this greatest hits album at the start of the 70's before he fell into obscurity. He would come back thirteen years later with a Billboard hit "Never gonna let you go."
#2684
While Bob Dylan did indeed have success during the first half of the decade here in Australia, I get the feeling that he was one of many artists to greatly benefit from the Countdown era despite (as far as I can tell at least) never appearing on the show to promote his music. Indeed, his next album would spawn his biggest hit here only a year after the shows launch.
#2683
Deep Purple is another band who saw inescapable success here in Australia during the first half of the decade, as such they would've dominated these lists had I decided to go back further in the decade with each of their releases, making those lists rather repetitive given how little variety there was with what was successful.
#2682
One of the most popular shows during the last stretch of the decade was Packed to the rafters, so much so that it managed to spawn a hit exclusively in the southern hemisphere from an American artist who never had any success in his homeland due to it appearing on the soundtrack.
#2681
This is the first album that Jethro Tull released that was a huge success here in Australia, or at least I think it is as they did have a couple of albums from the 60's that I'm not sure were a success or not due to the lack of data available for what was popular here in Australia back then.
#2680
While they were never among the likes of Pearl jam or Nirvana when it comes to grunge royalty, Stone temple pilots did achieve massive success this year with their second album due to the heavy endorsement they received on Triple J as well as the radio in general gravitating towards their sound. They would struggle for relevancy as the decade went on largely due to the antics of their lead singer Scott Weiland.
#2679
While he was struggling for mainstream relevancy with his albums by this point, at least the success of his greatest hits package was able to reassure him that his fans will always be there for him when it comes to his back catalogue. It had been twelve years since he broke away from Cold chisel, and he was in the process of reuniting with them following the success of a previously unreleased album two years prior.
#2678
Following the success of his album Mallee boy, John Williamson was able to revive his popularity which peaked again with his final album of the 80's as this became a massive success for him this year. Interestingly, this was much bigger on ARIA than it was on AMR, suggesting there was a bias against country music on the latter charts.
#2677
This was the first greatest hits package that John Farnham released around this period; it was meant to cover his comeback period whilst the second he released would look over his pre comeback period from a decade prior. Naturally this was the more successful of the two albums as it contained some of his most iconic work.
#2676
Although New Jersey wasn't nearly as successful an album as Slippery when wet, the album was nonetheless a success for Bon Jovi as it spawned a popular lead single that helped it fly off the shelves upon its initial release. This continued their glam rock trajectory which is perhaps why the album wasn't as big as people felt this was more of the same which their 90's output certainly wasn't.
#2675
While this wasn't the first big hit that Kenny Rogers had here in Australia, this was the song which seemed to convince us and most of Europe that he was the real deal in country music which is odd because this wasn't among his bigger hits in his native America. In any case, he was able to make a huge splash with this ballad that cause his career to explode going into the new decade.
#2674
This is the only notable hit that the Canadian band Five-man electrical band (seriously what is with these wack band names?) had throughout the world, this song being a protest track about the political climate of the early 70's given how it appeared that the world had abandoned the protests of the 60's by this point in time. Naturally it drew criticism at the time for failing to provide a solution to the issues they addressed.
#2673
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2672
This is another song I would describe as a nursery pop number, mainly because of how chipper both the melody and the Irish family group are during the song's runtime. This was all set to be a flop here in Australia despite how big the girls were in NZ and their native UK, however a memorable performance of this song on Countdown helped it become a surprise hit for them months after its initial release.
#2671
We have another country ballad from a female artist to make it on this list, this time it's the only hit that Sammi Smith scored here and in her native America as this was released during the height of this trend that died out by the midpoint of the decade.
#2670
This was the second of two hit singles that the Hooters were able to score in Australia (stay tuned for the first one later in the list) this was the bigger hit of the two due to how upbeat it was compared to their slower track from earlier in the year. This allowed their album to be a huge success here in Australia which sadly means that they were a one album wonder as their subsequent albums flopped here.
#2669
This was the second single to come from Mika's debut album, it was also a massive hit here in Australia even though it didn't have a particularly interesting subject matter like his earlier entry on this list. I should point out that he was a member of the LGBT community which is perhaps why his debut album appealed to the queer community when it first came out, although his popularity didn't extend to his second album.
#2668
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2667
This was the only other hit that Sean Paul had here in Australia, likely because it also managed to top the Billboard charts just like "Get busy" did three years prior. He interestingly did very well over in the UK considering that the Brits didn't seem to have much love for reggae until he came alone this decade.
#2666
We finally have every album from Black Sabbath on this site from the early 70's, this just goes to show how much we Aussies loved the heavy metal band as well as the theatrics of bands such as them and Alice Cooper given how they dominated our album charts in contrast to the country ballads on our singles charts.
#2665
The Eagles might have been no more going into the 80's, however their fans were clearly shocked at their sudden breakup enough to make this live album from their final tour at the time a success months after it came to an end.
#2664
While the band had moderate success with their debut album the previous year, this was the album which made them a household name as it convinced us Aussies they were among the likes of the Eagles and Doobie brothers in the realms of soft rock. Their popularity would continue to grow with their next album which would lead to them taking the world by storm by the end of the decade.
#2663
These guys were on a roll this decade as they released this album two years after the success of their previous album Automatic for the people, it's worth noting that at this point they had become more popular worldwide than in their native America which is why they didn't see much success on Billboard as the decade went on. Unfortunately, this was their last major album as their popularity would decline after this.
#2662
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2661
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2660
This was the first album to be released in Australia to see major success for Aerosmith, I'm guessing because they revealed themselves to have a sensitive side with the second single which they were reluctant to show on their earlier material. I'm not sure why their earlier work failed to find an audience here as it does regularly appear on oldies stations, I guess they were too ahead of their time.
#2659
Well, this is a surprise, I didn't think that audiences were ready for new material from Neil Diamond this decade, however this album proved me wrong as it was indeed a huge success for the 70's crooner. I guess the 90's brought back another trend from the 70's, aging pop stars from two decades prior having a second wind two decades after their breakthrough.
#2658
This is an album that really took its sweet time finding an audience here in Australia, not even the success it had in America the previous year was incentive enough for this to crossover it seems. I don't even know what eventually won us over with this album, it was originally released two years prior to deafening silence despite being the type of hair metal that Bon Jovi was thriving on that year.
#2657
There have been many compelling performances on MTV Unplugged over the years, perhaps the first one of these performances came from Mariah Carey who wanted to prove to her audience that she wasn't lip synching her material and only hesitated to go on tour due to her stage freight that she had at the time. Indeed, she sounds extremely nervous throughout this E.P, however she did successfully prove that she was the real deal as she had little issues in hitting those high notes.
#2656
It's a bit bizarre that this would be slightly less popular on our digital charts than it was on our physical charts given how well Pitbull would perform throughout the 2010's here in Australia, I guess those who consumed music through digital downloads were a bit more sceptical of him initially and grew to love him as the club boom raged on.
#2655
Britney's popularity on our digital charts was about the same as it was on our main charts (barring her earlier entry on this list of course) which means that regardless of what format we're looking at, she was further proof that pop divas were still very much welcome in the mainstream during the final stretch of the decade.
#2654
Although it was rather late in crossing over here in Australia, at least this one and only hit from Colbie Caillat managed to be more of a success on our digital charts than as a physical single, likely because it was a song whose popularity initially stemmed from Myspace like so many other entries on this list.
#2653
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2652
One of the more popular Australian bands to make it in the UK were these guys, specifically during the 80's where they managed to score a couple of hits over there despite their popularity dwindling out this decade. This was one of two big hits they had here, and indeed it was a hit that helped them gain international interest given how infectiously catchy it is and how it would fit into the UK music scene.
#2651
You'd think that this would be one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia, admittedly it was huge and the reason why it wasn't bigger was due to it being the second single to come out of Slippery when wet after "You give love a bad name" which somehow flopped here. This song's success was more likely due to it being a huge hit in the UK where it was the lead single from the album rather than their other track.
#2650
This might seem odd to my UK readers as the big hit from the Swedish rapper was "It's my life" from two years prior, indeed I'm not sure how this managed to become a hit for Dr Alban down under two years later but it did. I guess this was a massive success throughout Europe the previous year and that we Aussies had only just realised how incessantly catchy the song was.
#2649
There won't be a lot of British artists moving forward on this site (at least on the Australian side of this site) so I guess it's a bit of a surprise to me that this British girl group managed to score such a massive hit here despite it flopping in their native UK. It's another song where the girls are reassuring their partners that they're going to get over the breakup, another theme that was common throughout the decade.
#2648
Now if you felt that the previous entries comprising of Australian artists stealing the success of an international song with their inferior covers was infuriating, allow me to present to you a band whose entire gimmick revolved around this practice known as Jigsaw. This was their biggest hit as the band took the Mouth and McNeal track and made it their own in lieu of that track becoming a success.
#2647
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2646
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2645
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2644
This was the first big hit that Pitbull had in his career, he had previously attempted to make it big with the Crunk scene earlier in the decade to little avail, so he decided to reinvent himself as a club artist where he had much more longevity in the mainstream. This is another artist that I'm not particularly a fan of, mainly for the reasons most people aren't as he never struck me as an interesting rapper.
#2643
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2642
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2641
Well, this is a song that's easy to make fun of, although I'll refrain from making the obvious joke that the trio's haters used to make back in the day as it's a pretty mean one all things considered. Of course, the joke was on those who doubted them as this did indeed become a massive hit for Bros as well as their album which spawned a bunch of other hits for them across the world, even though they would be one album wonders.
#2640
Well, this might be the gimmickiest song to come from 10cc as it not only has a cod reggae beat to it, but also tells a bizarre story about how the narrator was mugged while on holidays. This allowed the song to become a massive success for the British band and even had that success translate to their album Bloody tourist, however this was also the last hit they had before they faded into obscurity.
#2639
"Let's get married" was originally released the previous year to deafening silence here in Australia, however it was a moderate success in Jagged Edge's native America due to it being an RNB ballad in the vein of a Boyz II men track from the 90's. It was remixed and rereleased with "Promise" this year where it became an even bigger hit down under than it was in their homeland.
#2638
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2637
Although this would eventually be a bigger hit for the English duo the communards a full decade after its initial release, this was originally a hit for Thelma Houston (no relation to Whitney) who scored a massive hit with this disco classic before forever fading into obscurity. I'm guessing the rest of her catalogue wasn't nearly as much fun as this track, or at the very least wasn't as catchy.
#2636
This was the last hit that Beyonce had from her I am Sasha fierce album, it's also one of the last songs she had a hit with that is a love song as she had become a full feminist by this point in her career to appeal to the rising fourth wave of the moment. Even though it was a massive hit internationally, it wasn't as big in her native America likely due to it feeling out of place with her new brand.
#2635
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2634
Given how inescapably popular Usher was quickly becoming throughout the world, it only makes sense there would be a British equivalent which came in the form of Craig David. This was his second single from his debut album and by far the biggest on said album here in Australia, mainly because it has a gimmick of detailing his sexual escapades on each day of the week hence the name of the song.
#2633
This was both the lead single to No Doubt's breakthrough album Tragic kingdom as well as the theme song to the cult classic Clueless, this inevitably made the song into a huge success worldwide but didn't translate into album sales for the album or soundtrack. A bit of a fun fact with this song, its success in the UK only came when "Don't speak" became one of the biggest hits of the decade worldwide.
#2632
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2631
This took its sweet time in becoming a success here in Australia, this is mainly because "Every little step" became a surprise hit here during the final stretch of the 80's which enabled us Aussies to check out what all the fuss was about from Bobby Brown despite the big hit from the album flopping here when it became a Billboard chart topper for him.
#2630
Martika was off to a good start when she entered the 90's as this album from 1988 became a massive success here due to how big the second single was. Evidently, she always wanted to be a pop star at a young age, which makes her retirement from music after the failure of her second album in her native America that much more tragic considering it was a moderate success throughout the rest of the world.
#2629
This was released the previous year to deafening silence for Kate Miller, likely because it was deemed too quirky for the mainstream and also wasn't promoted on Triple J due to her being on a major label. It was given a second chance when one of the singles was chosen as the bumper theme to this year's season of Neighbours which in turn helped audiences check out what all the fuss was about on this album.
#2628
This was the only notable success from Nicollette Larsson, a woman who's best known for her relationship with Neil Young from around this time as she appeared on his album Comes a time which is perhaps how she managed to find success with this album. I'm guessing she had a falling out with Neil as her popularity vanished once this album left the charts.
#2627
This was a moderate success for Billy Joel given how it was sandwiched between two of his biggest albums in his career, indeed it didn't have that Billboard chart topper that Glass house or An innocent man had but that didn't mean audience didn't gravitate towards it back in the day as they clearly did.
#2626
This was seen as a bit of a return to form for Bob Dylan following the disastrous reception of his earlier entry on this list, although he wouldn't attain his critical acclaim from the 560's again until the midpoint of the decade.
#2625
Here we have another greatest hits package to become a success this decade, this time it comes courtesy of Simple minds who were looking back over eleven years of uninterrupted success in their career (in their native UK it was uninterrupted.) It's one of many greatest hits packages to become a success that reassured the artist in question that their legacy was secured regardless of what happened to them next.
#2624
This was the final album that Supertramp were able to score success here in Australia, hey at least they were able to survive the initial hurdle of the MTV era given how this managed to spawn them their one and only hit here which is something that didn't happen throughout the 70's. They would try to soldier on as MTV grew in popularity, however they couldn't find any success which led to them breaking up.
#2623
This was released shortly after Paul's departure from the fab four, as such, its success was inevitable even if said success seems pitiful compared to all of the entries, we've looked at from him so far on this list.
#2622
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2621
There's little surprise this was more popular as a digital track than it was as a physical single given how it seemed like the perfect anthem for the club boom coming from a rock band, two elements that seemed to go against the popular trend of songs that were bigger on our physical charts.
#2620
Well, this was certainly an improvement on this ranking, especially considering how Ricki Lee began her career on Australian Idol which makes this the second highest entry from a former Australian idol contestant behind Guy Sebastian's earlier entry on this list.
#2619
It feels a little weird that this was so much less successful on the digital charts than it was as a physical release, although this wouldn't feel too out of place as a single from Nelly's debut album which suggests that she wouldn't have had much success on that format had it existed earlier in the decade here in Australia.
#2618
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2617
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2616
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2615
While this wasn't the lead single for Diesel and dust, this was the song which was released once the album dropped which proved to be a massive hit worldwide as audiences became invested in the plight for aboriginal rights (and are still fighting for them to this day.) This led to the album being a massive success for the band and it being declared one of the best albums from an Australian act of all time.
#2614
In a bizarre turn of events, this was released as a single here in Australia rather than the international chart topper "Ain't no mountain high enough" which was the B-side to this release albeit the version that has Diana Ross as part of the Supremes and is a duet with the Temptations. I guess you can consider this a spot Diana's solo rendition as I feel its success is about the same as that would've received here.
#2613
For some reason, the lead single to Bananarama's fourth album Wow flopped here in Australia, or more accurately it was a minor sleeper hit as it failed to reach the upper echelons of the charts. Fortunately, this second single (which incidentally was the album's lead single in their native UK) was a massive hit here likely due to how much cheesy fun it is, although it also stands as the final song they released before Sioban Fahey left the group.
#2612
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2611
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2610
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2609
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2608
This was the second single from Avril Lavigne's third album, it's a ballad that wouldn't sound out of place on her first two albums which suggests she released it to reassure her older fans that not everything on the album would be like her earlier entry on this list. It was a massive hit for her here in Australia and in certain parts of the world, although other parts wanted her to stick to her new direction.
#2607
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2606
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2605
As far as I can tell, this was a duo who scored a massive hit with this disco number before going their separate ways when they failed to score another hit, they weren't even a couple so I can't even say it was due to a rocky personal relationship which drove them apart. At least they managed to score a big hit before they both forever faded into obscurity.
#2604
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2603
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2602
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2601
This was incredibly hard to come up with commentary, mainly because it's hard for me to talk about this family group without coming off as snarky and mean given how much I don't like their music. I guess if I had to say something positive about them, it's that their music is ultimately harmless as though their Celtic influences are egregious in their music, it's not like it makes their songs unlistenable.
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