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.
#1700
This was one of the rare songs from 2009 that was more popular as a physical release than a digital release, likely because people have described it as a victory single that was donated to Miley Cyrus as the emotional climax of the Hannah Montana film that was playing in theatres at the time of its release.
#1699
I would say that people considered Kid Rock to be cool during the early years of the digital charts here in Australia, except I feel the success of this song on the digital charts was more due to the nostalgia baiting it relied on throughout the track. Besides, this guy has been widely mocked on the internet since his initial breakthrough in her native America in the late 90's.
#1698
This made history here in Australia by becoming the first song to make it to number one on ARIA purely through digital sales, as such, it's only fitting that it would retain a high placement on this list even if it saw equal amount of success with its physical sales back in the day here as well.
#1697
This was equally as popular on our digital charts as it was on our main charts, I get the feeling that Fall out boy would've dominated both of these formats with their earlier entry on this list had that been the lead single to their breakthrough album and not this track.
#1696
It's a bit of a coincidence that this song has equal amounts of success as the previous entry regardless of which format we're looking at, although the difference being there wasn't a huge demand for this song when it finally received a physical release, meaning its popularity gradually grew as time went on as opposed to being immediate once it was released physically.
#1695
I guess fans of Beyonce were more willing to buy physical copies of her music rather than download them given how each of her entries were more popular on our physical charts (barring one of course) than they were on our digital charts with this signature track from her being no exception.
#1694
While this may be Nelly Furtado's highest entry on this list, this is mainly because "Promiscuous" (which we'll revisit in a bit) had more than one version chart on the digital charts, meaning this second single from Loose was the biggest hit from the album through digital sales. Once again, this is a song that did far better through this method rather than physical sales on this list.
#1693
It was a new decade, meaning that Eric Burdon decided to change things up by abandoning his previous band the Animals and forming a new band known as War. He was off to a good start with his new band's debut single, likely due to being far funkier than anything his previous band released throughout the 60's. This proved to be his final hit as the rest of War's catalogue flopped as the decade went on.
#1692
This was the first song from the Rogue Traders to have Natalie Bassingthwaighte on lead vocals, Natalie of course being a former cast member of Neighbours making this another example of the show launching a pop star in Australia. Naturally this would eventually become a huge success in the UK for the band, although aside from NZ, the rest of the world wouldn't take to the band's music.
#1691
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1690
One of the sillier films to be released this decade is Con air, so much so that the Razzies hilariously gave it a special award for worst reckless disregard for human life and public property, to give you an idea of how insane the action and plot get in the film. Another aspect they didn't like was the theme song, even though it was also nominated for an academy award for Trisha Yearwood despite it originally being a song from Leann rimes.
#1689
I know that there's only so much of a career you can get out of making rebellious anthems for the youth of any given time period, however I doubt many people want to accept the truth that barring his comeback single from 1989 "Poison," this is the biggest hit of Alice Cooper's career in certain parts of the world. For the remainder of the decade, he would stick to the adult contemporary scene much to the disdain of many of his fans both before and after this period.
#1688
Well, this is a change of pace from Billy Idol, his earlier work was among the loudest songs to come out of the decade whereas this was more subdue as was the album it was pulled from Whiplash smile which traded in Billy's bombast for a sound more in line with the quieter bands of the decade. This change in direction paid off for him as both this song and the album were his most successful in his career respectively.
#1687
If you thought that artists fighting for aboriginal rights is a recent phenomenon, then allow me to introduce you to Goanna who were fighting the good fight four years prior to when Midnight oil gave the marginalised group their voice with Diesel and dust. Here they are with their one and only hit in Australia which admittedly led to them having a highly successful album before they sadly faded into obscurity.
#1686
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1685
This was the solo debut for Kate Ceberano, an Australian woman of colour who began her career as the lead vocalist for I'm talking which was a band comprising mostly of older men while she and a friend of hers provided vocals for their jazz rock instrumentation. Here she goes in a more pop direction with this song that showcases her powerful vocals bringing to life these cute lyrics about the relationship she's in.
#1684
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1683
This was a cover of a novelty song from the 60's from a duo by the name of Paul and Paula, I'm guessing this was done as a joke given how this cover is from TV host Ernie Sigley and comedian Denise "Ding dong" Drysdale only a decade after the original track. It proved to be an even bigger his than the original here in Australia likely due to the star power on display.
#1682
I'm a bit surprised that these guys weren't more successful back in the day, mainly because of how well remembered their catalogue is as well as them being persistent on oldies stations. This was their first major hit in Australia due to it being a throwback track to the glory days of surf rock, and indeed this led to them having huge success here throughout the second half of the decade.
#1681
Although "Stupid girls" was indeed a big hit from P!nk's fourth album I'm not dead (it's still to come on this list) it was this second single from the album that made her a household name here in Australia above anywhere else in the world due to it being a massive success here upon its initial release. This and "U + ur hand" (also still to come) only became a hit in her homeland the following year for some reason.
#1680
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1679
This wasn't a big hit in Amanda Perez's native America, it did OK, but it wasn't a giant hit like it was for her in the southern hemisphere on Billboard. I can understand how this was so big in NZ given how it's a contemporary Christian RNB number, however I can only assume this was a big hit here in Australia due to there being a sudden rise in popularity with songs about questioning one's faith in religion.
#1678
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1677
Given how the Partridge family was one of the biggest names both in music and on TV, it only makes sense that its key member David Cassidy would find massive success on his own with his solo debut single worldwide. There'll be a few more entries from the actor/musician on this list, proving that he was well liked by audiences back in the day and far more for his smouldering good looks to boot.
#1676
Following the massive success she had from the start of the decade with Italian DJ Spiller, Sophie Ellis Bextor released her debut album which was off to a slow start given how she chose her cover of Cher's "Take me home" as its lead single which unfortunately flopped for her everywhere except her native UK. This was the second single from the album which did much better due to its hilarious video to bring these lyrics to life.
#1675
This was the second single from Mariah Carey's album Daydream, and for the longest time it was the most successful song in America due to it lasting a record breaking sixteen weeks at number one on Billboard as well as it being a major seller over there as well. This is due to the winning formula it created of dedicating a ballad to the friends that have sadly no longer with us that many artists copied from here.
#1674
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1673
Well, I guess these guys were able to make it big with at least one of their ballads outside their native UK after all, although it still blows my mind how much bigger East 17 were here in Australia and how much bigger these guys were in their homeland. The success of this ballad led to them crossing over in America mere months prior to them going their separate ways to pursue solo ventures.
#1672
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1671
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1670
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1669
This is the biggest hit that Rod Stewart had over in America, although it's worth noting that regardless of what his biggest hit was in each country that he was one of the biggest names in music throughout the decade worldwide. To give you context, he released at least one mega hit every year for four consecutive years.
#1668
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1667
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1666
The kung fu craze of the 70's was inexplicably popular, as such we have this tribute from Carl Douglas which is surprisingly not racist in the slightest as this was back in the early days of political correctness preventing people from making caricatures of non-western culture such as the kung fu craze. The song has been covered and remixed several times of the years, which is why you still hear the original to this day.
#1665
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1664
This was the third hit single to come out of Abba's self-titled album, although technically this was the second song released from the album as "Mamma Mia" was released very early in Australia likely due to how much we Aussies loved that track. This likely resulted in the Swedish quartet's complete monopoly on our charts during the midpoint of the decade, although thankfully for their nonfans, this monopoly didn't last that long.
#1663
This is a song that had a bit of minor controversy upon its initial release as it sampled "Wanna be starting something" from MJ, the problem is that song originally sampled "Soul Makossa" meaning that Rihanna had no legal right to sample the Thriller track for this song even though MJ gave her his blessing to do so. I'm guessing it was due to this legal dispute that this song was a massive hit for her here in Australia and indeed throughout the rest of the world.
#1662
This was one of two songs written for the long-forgotten film Vision quest, a film where as far as I can tell is about a Caucasian man using the spiritual journey usually reserved for native Americans in order to help him win a boxing tournament. Madonna performs this track in the film, which I think is safe to say is the best part of it given how it was a box office flop despite this being a huge worldwide hit.
#1661
I don't think I can say anything positive about this lead single to the Pussycat dolls second and final album, I guess it was a massive hit for the girl group but one I'm sure many people regret due to its lyrics promoting unrealistic expectations for girls to achieve. At least the rest of their catalogue wasn't particularly harmful towards their target audience even if many people (me included) aren't a fan of it.
#1660
Sometimes I just don't get people, yes, this song is a bit overwritten in the verses, however it's obvious that Sheryl is telling this story to uplift people from their mundane lives so that they don't end up like the person in the story. Audiences appeared to appreciate this back in the day as this became a huge hit for her and finally got her album off the shelves after sitting on them ignored for about a year.
#1659
To think that this E.P was the only notable success these guys had on the Australian charts, although seeing as though it contains live renditions of two of their more iconic songs "Whip it" and "Girl you want," I guess you can consider this entry to be for those two tracks even though this is why they were popular here.
#1658
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1657
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1656
Roxette are one of my favourite bands of all time, so to learn that they nearly never had a career outside of their native Sweden is a bit of a disappointment from me. Fortunately, with the help of a foreign exchange student, this third single from their sophomore album managed to find massive success in America which was then translated to the rest of the world for the duo.
#1655
This was the one and only hit that the Otara millionaire's club (OMC for short) managed to achieve outside their native NZ, although it's a bit of a shame as despite him not being the best rapper of his time, the production on here more than makes up for his weak rapping and the chorus is catchy as hell to boot. He did see slightly more success in his homeland, although nothing to really write home about.
#1654
Want to know something interesting about these guys? It turns out that they ruined the early crossover appeal that Roxette had with their album from around this time due to this being a huge success in the UK at their fellow Swede's expense. I guess it's easy to see how they did it given how this has become a sporting anthem over the years thanks to those iconic synths, and hey these guys did score a second hit on Billboard with "Carrie."
#1653
This was the first solo hit from Daryl Braithwaite in his career, suffice to say it's quite different from the more mature tracks that he would become known for during the late 80's and early 90's. What's interesting is that this was his first number one hit both solo and with Sherbet, meaning that he didn't have any chart toppers prior to Countdown promoting his music.
#1652
Shania had already created massive buzz in Australia from her previous album with the surprise success of "If you're not in it for love," so it makes sense that the lead single to her next album Come on over would spawn a massive hit for her in the form of this ballad which can best be describes as the solo version of Sonny and Cher's "I got you babe." It looked like this would be the only hit single from the album, but that changed towards the end of the year.
#1651
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1650
This remains the most successful song in John Lennon's catalogue outside of his work with the Beatles, although curiously this protest track didn't hit number one on Billboard despite it being a massive chart topper throughout the rest of the world. I guess American listeners didn't quite feel the positive message of world peace this song was going for, that or they felt this was communist propaganda from an out of touch millionaire.
#1649
Well, this is something else entirely, that famous quote from Stanley Kubrick's the Shining from 1980 received a dance remix from the duo who brought us a dance remix of the Charleston the previous year. This became one of the biggest hits not just of the year but of the entire decade in Australia, I guess we really had a lot of nostalgia for the Jack Nicholson flick.
#1648
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1647
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1646
Oh, you thought we were done with looking at comedy routines on this site, weren't you? Well, here we are with another comedy routine this time courtesy of Billy Birmingham AKA the 12th man who scored a massive hit with this E.P where he does accurate impersonations of some of the more popular sporting commentators of the day.
#1645
Before "Howzat," this was considered the signature track from Sherbet given that it was easily their biggest hit at this point in their career. I guess this is also a decent entry from the band for anyone outside their demographic as this does serve as a nice summer anthem compared to the rest of their discography which is mainly targeted towards the teenage demographic of the 70's.
#1644
This was the biggest of three hits that American folk singer Lobo had throughout his career worldwide, it's by far his biggest hit likely due to folk love ballads being all the rage when it was released as a single. As a final bit of trivia for this guy, his stage name is the Spanish word for a male wolf, which makes it a bit misleading for the type of music he makes.
#1643
Given how tragedy struck the band during the midpoint of the decade with the death of one of its members, there was a very real possibility that this signature track of theirs and the album it came from never would've come into fruition had the band decided to call it quits once they lost their key member. Fortunately, the band soldiered on which resulted in this party jam coming into fruition for them and becoming their big breakthrough in their homeland of America.
#1642
Even though they achieved massive success in the 60's here in Australia, from what I can gather, this live album is the first in their catalogue to be a huge success for them outside of their singles given how quickly their previous albums fell off our charts.
#1641
Well, this was an album that was released exclusively in Australia and NZ following the surprise success of Willie Nelson's album Stardust the previous year, I'm guessing to help us Aussies and kiwis discover the back catalogue of the country legend which we absolutely did because this was a huge hit in the southern hemisphere for him.
#1640
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1639
This was released a few months after the death of Roy Orbison, I'm guessing some of the tracks on here were meant for the second volume for the Traveling wilburys given how that was never released despite the success of the first volume. It proved to be a huge comeback for Roy who outside of his contributions to the supergroup, hadn't had any success since his hit single "Penny arcade" from 1969.
#1638
If you couldn't tell from the name of the album, this is a greatest hits package which collects all of the best moments of Jethro Tull's albums without necessarily ruining the context of said albums which is impressive given how they're a prog band that makes Genesis look like Emerson Lake and Palmer.
#1637
I'm not sure why these guys only stuck together for two albums as both albums were among the most popular of the decade worldwide, perhaps there was behind the scenes drama involving Roland Gift and the other two members that we simply never found out about. In any case, we have their debut album which was a huge success largely due to their cover of an Elvis Presley track.
#1636
Bananarama were never known to be an album's band, this is why they haven't had any appearances with their albums until now as they're more of a singles artist than anything. This was all set to repeat the formula until it was revealed that Sioban Fahey left the group due to issues she was with the albums production, this in turn led the album to be a huge success here as we Aussies finally appreciated the effort that went into their work.
#1635
This was the final successful album from Yes frontman Rick Wakeman, I'm guessing this became a success due to the recently released Monty Python flick the Holy grail which was a satire of King Arthur stories as well as the Hollywood musical in general (basically it was a parody of Camelot starring Richard Harris.) Rick would continue to release concept albums in his career; however, none were as successful as the three he made around this time.
#1634
There was little doubt that U2 would find success with this album regardless of what direction they took their sound in, however the fact that they went with ironic rockstars certainly helped it find an audience who were likely becoming fed up with how sincere their 80's work had become as well as it spawning multiple hit singles which lasted over a year after its initial release.
#1633
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1632
One of the most infamous films to be made, Xanadu at least has the redeeming factor of having some of the best music to come from its star Olivia Newton John and ELO which allowed the soundtrack to be a huge success upon its initial release. A common misconception is that the film was a box office flop, while it underperformed, it was a huge success likely due to the music and its co star Gene Kelly.
#1631
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1630
Again, this song's appearance is more to fill up this list as every song that was likely a hit on the digital charts during the first stretch of 2006 likely came from 2005 which gives me the perfect opportunity to say something new about the 2009 stragglers that appeared on my 2010's list.
#1629
I would say that this was a success on our digital charts thanks to the success of Slumdog millionaire, except I feel the real reason this was a hit was due to the presence of the Pussycat dolls who indeed were on a roll on that format down under thanks to several of their entries that we'll revisit in a bit.
#1628
Just the fact that this began charting around the time it was supposed to receive a physical release should indicate how much more successful this ballad was on our digital charts compared to our physical charts, although it's worth noting that it did have a strong debut at number one due to how heavily delayed it was over here.
#1627
This was the last major hit that Smokie had in most parts of the world, likely due to Chris Norman branching out after this to pursue a solo career that only got as far as duetting with Suzi Quatro on "Stumbling in." It appears we Aussies in particular found that to be in poor taste as though that was a hit here, he and his band never had any success after the fact.
#1626
Although this wasn't the first solo single that Cher released (that honour goes to "Bang bang") this was the first solo hit of hers to be a massive worldwide success thanks to it being an autobiographical track about how she rose to fame with her (then) husband Sonny Bono. She still has one more entry to come on this list, however her fortunes changed for the worse as the decade went on due to her marriage with Sonny failing.)
#1625
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1624
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1623
Behold the one and only hit that Pink Floyd were able to achieve during their time together (OK so "Learning to fly" also charted in Australia but still) there was little doubt this was going to become a huge hit for the band given how instantly relatable the lyrics have been to every generation of children since its initial release. Even the video is amazing as it brings these lyrics to life through stylised animation that was later used in the album's theatrical adaptation.
#1622
Following his departure from Bronski beat, Jimmy Sommerville formed this duo and seemingly picked up where he left off two years prior with his first bands album Age of consent. Here he also recruits female vocalist Sarah Jane Morris in order to semi duet with him, presumably to give him an excuse to show off his falsetto throughout the track which in turn further strengthened his queer audience.
#1621
Well, we've certainly come a long way from when this type of RNB was shunned by the Australian public haven't we? Here we have the one and only hit that Mario had outside of his native America as we have this tender ballad he made to the love of his life which touched the hearts of many a listener upon its initial release. Unfortunately for him, none of his other Billboard hits managed to connect with an international audience.
#1620
This was the sequel to "My humps" that apparently everyone was asking for back in the day as it once again has Fergie brag about how hot she is and Will I am validating her ego with his own verse, I guess she at least has more of a presence on here which justifies this being a solo single from her.
#1619
It seems weird that this would be the bigger hit for 50 cent here in Australia than his second Billboard chart topper "21 questions" mainly because this was a song about how as he puts it is a motherf**king pimp which is why you shouldn't mess with him. I guess we Aussies preferred him being confrontational rather than him being a romantic.
#1618
Following the success she had with "Breathe again" from two years prior, Toni Braxton no longer had any issues with scoring a hit in Australia with her subsequent releases which means she was able to find massive success with this sex jam that continues to titillate audiences to this day. This feels like a bit of an outlier in her discography as she's mostly known for her power ballads rather than her sexual nature.
#1617
This was the lead single to what is often considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time Bat out of hell (no arguments here) so it may surprise you to learn that it was a massive flop in Meat Loaf's native America and only became a success here in Australia due to it being promoted by Countdown. The album did eventually take off on Billboard when the third single became a hit for him there.
#1616
This remains the biggest hit in Cliff Richard's career in Australia, although I guess if we were going with sales then technically his remake of his debut single from later in the decade would claim that prize. In any case we have the crooner score a massive hit with this upbeat track right around the time MTV first launched proving he was still hip with the kids when the music scene drastically changed.
#1615
This is a sample of the score that came from the film the Sting, it's another instrumental track that found success during the first half of the decade worldwide due to it doing an amazing job at recreating the feel of a 30's neo noir setting that audiences appreciated at the time. It was Marvin Hamlisch's only hit, although film composers scoring hits were becoming rarer by this point in time.
#1614
Well, if you wanted to hear what Disney's Snow white would sound like if she were played by an Australian woman who was popular in the 70's, then you've come to the right place as lead singer Noosha Fox channelled the Disney princess in her performance for her biggest hit in Australia and her band's native UK and even managed to achieve moderate success throughout Europe with this formula.
#1613
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1612
Ever felt that the Carpenters were too wholesome for you? If so, may I present you the Captain and Tennille who do away with the wholesomeness from the brother and sister duo in favour of this husband-and-wife duo who seem to be aiming for a more middle of the road crowd with their breakthrough single. I always found Toni Tennille to be the equivalent of Karen Carpenter if Karen let herself loose in the studio.
#1611
Well, this was a surprise hit for Paul Simon, mainly because the last time he had any success throughout the world was ten years prior when "50 ways to leave your lover" was a Billboard chart topper for him. I guess the premise of him allowing people to call him Al was endearing enough for this to become a massive hit throughout Europe and Australia, but not in his native America for some reason.
#1610
I'm guessing this was meant to be the Oscar winning ballad from the Hannah Montana film, it was a massive hit for Miley Cyrus after all and was used in the film as her way of stepping away from the Hannah Montana persona and being herself. Unfortunately, the film was very poorly received for its cliched story line and worse than usual acting from its cast, particularly Cyrus who clearly didn't want to be in it.
#1609
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1608
This is the ballad that serves as the emotional core of the film Beaches, were it not a cover of an obscure track from Roger Whitaker (of "The last farewell" fame) I'm sure it easily would've won an academy award for best original song for Bette Midler. This has sadly come under fire over the years due to the admittedly cheesy lyrics which divorced from the context of the film, are admittedly a lot to stomach.
#1607
It's strange to think that Barbra Streisand's biggest hit in her career is neither a duet nor from one of her films, that's basically describes the rest of her catalogue, most of it being a combination of these two factors. That said I guess you can make the argument this is a collaboration with the Bee gees given how the Brothers Gibb do provide backup vocals on this track and the album it came from.
#1606
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1605
This is the best proof I have that psychedelia lasted into the 70's way longer than you would otherwise think given how it was one of the biggest hits of 1972 here in Australia from the psychedelia band Blackfeather. This wasn't even their first hit here as we'll be looking at their debut single much later on this list, proving that we Aussies still had plenty of summer love this far into the decade.
#1604
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1603
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1602
This was a fantastic year for the sister duo Mel and Kim, although it would be a bittersweet year for them as Mel would tragically be diagnosed with cancer which would them claim her life in 1990. It was because of this diagnosis that the girls didn't record much material after their debut album, although I'm sure if they did release new music, it would've been as fun as their biggest hit and also dripping with as much personality.
#1601
OK so this is a song that is problematic even at the time of its release, anyone who's ever found themselves in the situation that goes on in the lyrics will tell you that it's not a situation that should be glamourised the way it is on this track. Admittedly Mary quickly became aware of this as she has since distanced herself from this track even if it came at the expense of scoring another hit.
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