I've decided to rank the songs of the 90's based on how long they charted here in Australia, this is to give an idea of which songs became a success despite being pulled from shelves and which ones persisted with no resistance from our music scene. I've also included a few new entries from post 1992 given how I covered the lower half of the charts from the pre-Oz music charts era already on this site and thus wanted to give these entries some representation on my site. I’ll also spare my return readers commentary for songs that appeared on my other Australian list for the 90’s on this site and only include commentary from entries that are either new to this list or marked their debut on my Oz music charts list or the 1980-1992 list.
Also to note, I’m using the chart run from the AMR charts for this list as I feel that’s a better representation of how long these songs stuck around for back in the day as opposed to the ARIA charts. As such, many songs that refused to die on the latter charts will be appearing much lower on this list due to them going away much quicker on the former charts (particularly from late 1997 and early 1998.) The exception of course being from 1999 as David Kent ceased publication the final week of 1998 and has only reproduced top twenty charts from that point on, meaning I had to use ARIA charts for songs that charted in 1999. That said, I’ll bring up how long a song from 1998 charted on the AMR charts before it ceased publication as a bit of a fun fact even though I’ll be using its ARIA run to determine its placement on this list.
69 weeks
#1 for 1998
(51 weeks on AMR)
57 weeks
#1 for 1999
51 weeks
#2 for 1999
49 weeks
#1 for 1992
#1 for 1993
46 weeks
#2 for 1998
44 weeks
#1 for 1991
#1 for 1990
43 weeks
#3 for 1998
(30 weeks on AMR)
42 weeks
#3 for 1999
#1 for 2000
#1 for 1997
#1 for 1996
#2 for 1997
41 weeks
#4 for 1998
(28 weeks on AMR)
40 weeks
#2 for 1990
There was once a time where Blink 182 wasn't able to find instant success, that eventually changed by the end of the decade with their album Enema of the state, however the lead single to the album prior was managed to stick around for quite some time to the point where it and said album both became massive sleeper hits for the trio.
39 weeks
#5 for 1998
(26 weeks on AMR)
#2 for 1996
#3 for 1997
#4 for 1999
#2 for 2000
#1 for 1995
38 weeks
#2 for 1993
#3 for 1993
#1 for 1994
#4 for 1997
37 weeks
#4 for 1993
#5 for 1997
#6 for 1998
#5 for 1999
#6 for 1999
#2 for 1992
#3 for 1990
36 weeks
#7 for 1998
(20 weeks on AMR)
#3 for 1996
#5 for 1993
#2 for 1994
#4 for 1996
#6 for 1997
#7 for 1999
#7 for 1997
#8 for 1998
#6 for 1993
#8 for 1999
This was a huge sleeper hit here in Australia back in the day, although like many RNB ballads, it had a bit of a delayed released here which is odd considering that's usually a sign of a song doing much better than in NZ as we've discovered throughout this site. This remains Blackstreet's only notable hit down under, although they were naturally more successful internationally throughout the 90's.
This is one of two entries from Korn to feature on my list, it was initially a flop for the band despite it being released around the time of their magnum opus Follow the leader here in Australia but rebounded on our charts when the second single from the album became a surprise hit for the band months later.
It's a bit surprising to see a British teen pop group score a sleeper hit here in Australia given how ubiquitous the 90's was when it came to this type of music, although it's worth noting that the genre didn't take off here until the success of the Spice girls which happened when this song was initially released. I guess had it come out just a few months later, it would've been as popular as a track from Steps here.
35 weeks
#9 for 1998
#9 for 1999
(19 weeks on AMR)
#7 for 1993
#8 for 1997
#10 for 1998
(17 weeks on AMR)
#8 for 1993
#11 for 1998
(21 weeks on AMR)
34 weeks
#10 for 1999
#4 for 2000
#9 for 1997
#12 for 1998
#10 for 1997
#13 for 1998
#2 for 1991
#2 for 1989
#4 for 1990
#11 for 1997
#14 for 1998
#5 for 1996
#3 for 1992
#9 for 1993
#6 for 1996
#6 for 2000
#11 for 1999
#7 for 1996
#8 for 1996
#7 for 2000
It looks like R Kelly had some success in the 90's here in Australia after all as his breakthrough single with Public Announcement managed to be a massive sleeper hit here upon its initial release despite it not being a huge success anywhere else in the world. It's a bit odd to hear the RNB legend (at least he's a legend as far as his music is concerned) on a new jack swing track given what he would be known for.
This is another track that lasted for quite some time in the lower half of our charts back in the day, I guess we Aussies couldn't decide whether we appreciated this throwback to the 70's or if we felt it was kitschy and lame upon its initial release. Either way, it's since become well liked on the internet which has since secured the German band's legacy.
33 weeks
#9 for 1996
#12 for 1997
#4 for 1992
#10 for 1993
#3 for 1994
#2 for 1995
#9 for 2000
#12 for 1999
#15 for 1998
#16 for 1998
(18 weeks on AMR)
#5 for 1990
#13 for 1997
#17 for 1998
(13 weeks on AMR)
#3 for 1995
#18 for 1998
(19 weeks on AMR)
#13 for 1999
I did mention on the NZ side of my site this was a sleeper hit here in Australia for After 7, well here it is on this list as proof of that statement as it did manage to crack our top twenty here albeit months after it was a huge hit with the kiwis just like the bulk of RNB hits throughout the 90's. I’m not sure why this song in particular crossed over here given the failure of their other songs with us Aussies.
#11 for 1993
We now have an entry from one of the members of Stars on 54 whose name isn't Amber as Ultra Nate managed to score a hit of her own the year prior with this EDM track here in Australia albeit as a sleeper hit despite me vaguely remembering this being flogged on the radio back in the day. As she was an American artist in the EDM genre, it only seems fitting she saw no success in her homeland and huge international success.
32 weeks
#14 for 1997
#19 for 1998
#4 for 1994
#4 for 1995
#20 for 1998
#21 for 1998
#14 for 1999
(4 weeks on AMR)
#15 for 1999
#15 for 1997
#16 for 1997
#22 for 1998
#12 for 2000
#12 for 1993
#13 for 1993
#14 for 1993
#5 for 1994
31 weeks
#23 for 1998
#17 for 1997
#15 for 1993
#5 for 1992
#16 for 1993
#10 for 1996
#24 for 1998
(17 weeks on AMR)
#11 for 1996
#18 for 1997
#3 for 1991
Yet another surprise I've made when going through the Australian charts of the 90's, I was five years old when this song came out and I can tell you this was overplayed to hell and back upon its release here. What's more curious is that the album it came from didn't even touch our charts until a year after its release, so you can't even say that this was the victim of strong album sales like most of the other entries on this list.
#25 for 1998
