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.
#5700
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5699
This was the title track to the Rolling Stone's first album of the 80's, so of course it was going to be a success regardless of the fact that the band was still trying to make disco hits despite the genre supposedly dying out this year. Yeah, I'm here to tell everyone that disco didn't die out when the 70's ended, sure it wasn't as popular in the 80's as it was in the 70's but there were plenty of disco hits still to come.
#5698
This is another song that was pulled from shelves due to Sony wanting to ensure that this year was all about Australian idol contestants, it was an EDM song from a British duo which had nothing to do with the program and yet they were fiddling with this song's success regardless. It was the duo's only noticeable hit here in Australia despite the pair being active for over a decade when they crossed over this year.
#5697
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5696
I feel that Beth Ditto was the Caucasian equivalent of Lizzo as she was an LGBT performer who was so comfortable with her appearance that it became an endearing factor of her image, and like Lizzo, she never felt the need to put anyone down in order to make herself feel good unlike some other performers throughout the 2010's. It's a shame her band only had one hit, although it was one more hit they had here than their native America.
#5695
This was the only hit that British RNB boy band MN8 were able to achieve in Australia, although they did have better luck in NZ and their native UK as they scored a second hit in both countries with "If you only let me in." I guess these guys tried to compete with the boy band wars of the decade by incorporating hip hop elements into their sound, a tactic many boy band used throughout the 90's.
#5694
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5693
This was the second single to be released from Don't ask following the success of the lead single "Chains," it was an immediate success for Tina proving that audiences wanted her more sedate material rather than her upbeat tracks from her first album from the start of the decade. Her next single would underperform, however the fourth single from the album was a success which we'll look at in a bit.
#5692
John Denver had been active in the music industry for the better part of a decade at this point, sure he had success in his native America, but it was when this lead single to his album Back home again became a surprise success in the UK that he finally saw massive international success. The song has become a bit of a meme over the years due to how overdramatic the ballad has remained since its initial release.
#5691
This was released around the premiere of the reality show the Osbourne's, a show that's basically the equivalent of Keeping up with the Kardashians but for the family of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne that came out five years prior to that other show ever seeing the light of day. Here daughter Kelly decides to cash in off her newfound fame by releasing her debut album which contained this cover of Madonna's 1986 classic.
#5690
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5689
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5688
It's a bit weird that this was the only successful album that Lisa Stansfield had anywhere in the world given how this managed to break her through into the American market, I guess everyone was intrigued enough with the lead single to check it out and was decently impressed but ultimately decided to have Lisa be a one album wonder given how her subsequent follow ups failed to become a success for her.
#5687
This was a bit of a comeback for Bob Dylan given how his time in the spotlight seemed to be up coming into the 80's, although he found way more success in NZ with this album and especially with his next album despite both of them being hated by his fanbase even to this day.
#5686
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5685
This was the only album from Barry Manilow's catalogue to be a huge success here in Australia, although his greatest hits album Manilow magic did confirm that he was more of a singles artist back in the day rather than having albums people could connect with in the mainstream. I guess it doesn't help that all but one of his hits have been covers despite him proudly proclaiming himself as a songwriter.
#5684
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5683
I think this was meant to be a new version of the Abba gold album from almost a decade prior that was released the previous year from the Swedish quartet, it proved to be a success this year likely due to Abba mania becoming more fondly remembered as the new millennium began to unfold.
#5682
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5681
This is the final successful album that Pearl jam had in their catalogue, again because rock music had little to no impact on the music scene throughout the 2010's despite them continuously putting out new music to diminishing returns with each release (this is why I'm not covering the 2010's albums.)
#5680
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5679
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5678
While their debut album was a modest success here in Australia the previous year, it was this second album which made 2 Unlimited a household name due to how irresistible the songs were that became hits from the album. While the Dutch duo would go on to have massive success throughout Europe as the decade went on, this was the last we Aussies heard from them as we moved on to other EDM acts.
#5677
Mark Vincent was the winner of this year's season of Australia's got talent, as such his debut album proved to be a massive success for the tenor opera singer which makes it yet another opera album to appear on this list alone.
#5676
I was a bit surprised to see Mick Jagger hold off for so long in making a solo album, after all this came out over twenty years after he first broke through with the Rolling stones and it was only this year he decided to release an album of his own. Admittedly he didn't find much success on his own save for this album, even then it feels like this was only as big as it was due to his bands good will.
#5675
This is an album comprising of many Cuban musicians assembled by Ry Cooder, Ry of course was the man who scored a massive hit twenty years prior with his cover of an Elvis Presley classic in the southern hemisphere, meaning this was the album that finally got him out of the one hit wonder bin here in Australia but not in NZ as this didn't even chart over there.
#5674
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5673
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5672
This was one of the last new age albums to make it big in the mainstream worldwide, I guess it's fitting that Enya would be the artist to close out this craze given how she was the one who popularised it over a decade prior with her second album.
#5671
This is where it all began for JJ Cale, it's odd that he would see massive success here in Australia with his debut album but not with Troubadour which contained his signature track "Cocaine" which was a massive worldwide success for him despite being a complete failure on our charts.
#5670
As if her involvement with Black box wasn't enough of a controversy, we have another group where Martha Walsh had provided vocals for and yet she was nowhere to be found on the promotion of the album and its singles. I'm not sure what everyone's fascination was for hiding her behind attractive models who lip synched to her music, however she grew tired of this and sued these bands for damages.
#5669
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5668
Given how vastly successful their album was on my previous list, it makes sense that there would be a live album to go with the world tour these four men embarked on in order to promote it. Naturally it was a big success here in Australia and likely led to Neil Young's solo success also from my previous list.
#5667
They may have only been active for an entire year, however this Canadian trio did manage to have a successful album to their name if only due to a wardrobe malfunction from the video of its lead single. I'm sure if MTV had existed back when these guys were big in Australia and NZ, they would've been equally as successful in their homeland and especially in America.
#5666
While it does seem odd that this album managed to be more successful than any of the members solo work combined, the fact remains that they scored one of the biggest hits of the decade with their debut single which no doubt led to much fanfare with said album which eventually dropped late the previous year for the supergroup. They wouldn't have much luck with their second album which caused them to break up.
#5665
This was the only album that 4 non blondes released in their career, though it was a success, it was torn apart by critics for how they felt it was an overbearing record from the four women. This led to them breaking up later in the decade and Linda Perry becoming a successful songwriter for some of the biggest names in music in the new millennium, so I guess things worked out for them (or her at least.)
#5664
There were quite a number of bands and artists from the 70's finding success with their greatest hits packages around this time, these guys were one of them as they closed out the decade with a huge chart topper worldwide which encouraged them to release this album to remind their fans of their biggest moments up until this point.
#5663
While this album wasn't as popular as their previous effort from earlier in the decade, it made up for its comparatively lacklustre sales here in Australia by spawning the Fray's biggest hit in the form of its lead single which no doubt boosted its sales following that song's success here. Like I said, rock music suddenly found itself unwelcome in our mainstream once the 2010's began which resulted in the band fading into obscurity after this.
#5662
Although these guys never achieved much success here in Australia, it appears that they were well known in the mainstream long enough to have this greatest hits package be a huge success for them back in the day.
#5661
Yanni is a well-known Greek musician who had a massive breakthrough this year when he released this live album from a performance he gave at the Acropolis in his homeland, it was such a success that he was able to join the ranks (however briefly) of his fellow classical musicians such as the Three tenors and Andrea Bocelli.
#5660
This was released along with the film as a compromise to fans who were hyped to see the This is it tour that had plenty of rehearsals for that never wound up coming to be, it became a massive hit worldwide due to the sudden death of the king of pop earlier in the year and ensured that his legacy would live on regardless of all the hearsay about who he was as a person during his lifetime.
#5659
I guess you can say these guys are the slightly older versions of Killing Heidi, they broke through before the latter band were "unearthed" by Triple J and were likely going to become one of the biggest Australian bands of the new millennium until Ella Hooper and company stole their thunder with their album. For what it's worth, Killing Heidi are also a one album wonder as their follow ups also flopped here.
#5658
This was another near miss for the main list that proved to be equally as successful as both a digital release and as a physical release here in Australia, again this is further proof that pop divas were equally as welcome with the cool kids as they were with the more mainstream audience throughout the decade.
#5657
To think this almost didn't make this list of mine, this should tell you how niche Gwen's audience was when it came to the internet as while she was a massive deal in the real world, those online had a harder time accepting the direction she took her music in following the demise of her band No doubt.
#5656
This is one of the many moderate hits that the Partridge family had here in Australia between their two earlier entries on this list, I'm guessing this song's success was due to how well it went over with us Aussies when it was performed on the show.
#5655
This was the second hit that Yvonne Elliman was able to achieve worldwide following the success of her first single "Love me" from the previous year, although Kim Wilde would have a much bigger hit in Australia with her version fifteen years later. People like to rag on the lyrics of this track due to how depressing they are once you read them; however, I feel it matches the tone of the film very well.
#5654
This was the first duet from Grease to be played in the film, although technically it's more of an ensemble piece as both characters recall how they came across each other over the summer which would set up the basis for their relationship throughout the rest of the film. It's one of the less conventional songs to become a hit over the years, but it's catchy and well performed.
#5653
You're probably wondering who Todd Rundgren even is, let alone how he managed to score a massive hit with this ballad across the world given how there was no shortage of ballads like this that were flopping at the time. It turns out that he was the one who produced Meat Loaf's Bat out of hell album, meaning that this guy is responsible for one of the best albums of all time which more than justifies this songs success.
#5652
This was the final hit single to be release from True blue, an album that had five out of five chart toppers if you were to combine the Billboard and UK charts. Here we have a Latin flavoured track from the queen of pop which was very different to everything else coming out at the time, no doubt this and a later entry on this list led to the likes of the Gipsy kings finding success as the end of the decade.
#5651
Given this was on an album filled with sexually charged dance tracks meant to titillate her audience, it feels a little odd that Madonna would choose this rare ballad of hers as a single. It paid off as it became the big hit from the album in most parts of the world, proving that her audience ultimately wants to hear good music from her before being titillated by her antics.
#5650
This was another two for one deal to come out of this decade, in this case we have both "Mr. Wendal" and "Revolution" being a massive success as the third and fourth singles from Arrested development's debut album. The former is about the wisdom of the titular Mr. Wendal while the latter is about starting a revolution to demand American politicians make do on their (to this day) empty promises to the American black community.
#5649
This was the only hit that the Bureau managed to achieve during their short time together, although I get the feeling they called it quits due to them failing to score a hit in their native UK. I'm surprise this wasn't a hit over there considering how popular ska reggae was around this time, in fact I'm even more surprised this was a hit down under considering how Madness had yet to score a hit here.
#5648
I'm surprised this collaboration didn't happen much sooner in time considering how Aerosmith have been active almost as long as Santana has, I guess it was only once the latter found success by collaborating with some of the biggest names of the 90's and 00's that he finally decided to add a rock legend to his roster of collaborations with this track. Indeed, this sounds like something from the golden age of 70's rock and roll which is likely why it was a hit.
#5647
This was the second single from Elton John's album Don't shoot me I'm only the piano player, this is a more sombre ballad compared to "Crocodile rock" which I'm guessing was a reminder to his (then) older fans of his blues roots given how he had begun to dabble with glam rock around this time.
#5646
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5645
This was the debut single for one of the more popular Australian bands for the next ten years, although it was their only massive hit as their popularity came more from their albums as well as their overplay on the radio. I've never quite been clear about what this song is about, I know metaphorically it's about diving up society but I'm not sure what wall they're referring to as there were a lot of walls back in the day that did that.
#5644
This was the second hit that John Lennon had with the Plastic Ono band, the first being "Give peace a chance" from the end of the previous decade which helped put Yoko Ono and her band on the map due to its success. There's speculation that Yoko was responsible for breaking up the Beatles due to her music receiving backlash over the years, the real reason for their breakup was due to John mistreating everyone in his life at the time.
#5643
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5642
This was the solo debut single for Lisa Stansfield, although she was part of a band known as Bluezone who would technically go on to have a massive hit at the end of the decade with "Jackie" with Australian singer Joanne on lead vocals. Here she scores a massive hit worldwide with this song about what she did to lead to her boyfriend breaking up with her, it's silly but enjoyable to listen to.
#5641
Well, this was the complete opposite of what "Friends forever" is, OK maybe not, as that would imply this sex jam has anything to do with graduation from high school and being friends forever with the people you met along the way. Evidently that song was pulled from shelves in order for this to thrive in Australia, it paid off as the song was a massive hit at the expense of the album which flopped.
#5640
This was the last solo hit that Neil Diamond had in Australia, although he continued to find massive success with his albums and even scored a hit with a duet with Barbra Streisand later in the decade. I guess Countdown prevented him from scoring any more hits here but allowed his popularity to flourish with his albums.
#5639
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5638
This was one of the better received songs in Britney's career as it was an autobiographical account of her rise to fame (well biographical as it wasn't written by her) it was a massive hit worldwide due to people connecting with the tale of how she got everything she wanted but it all made her feel hollow inside. In a way, this was "Everything I wanted" almost two decades before Billie Eilish wrote that track.
#5637
You may recognise this woman as one of the members of Mis Teeq who had a massive hit six years prior with "Scandalous" here in Australia, here she is with a solo hit that became as such down under a full year after it was a hit in her native UK. If it wasn't obvious from the lack of British entries on these lists, this should be the best proof I have that we Aussies weren't that interested in the British music scene this decade.
#5636
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5635
This is the last hit that Kylie Minogue has had to date in her career, although she has tried to recapture her past glory over the years which does lead her to still occasionally chart even to this day. I will say that she's doing a better job at being a legacy pop diva than Madonna as she's yet to release something with the intention of it becoming a meme such as what Madonna's latest singles from the 2010's.
#5634
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5633
I'm a bit surprised that Jon English didn't see more success with his music career back in the day in Australia, especially considering how he did have minor international success thanks to his role as Judas in the Australian production of Jesus Christ superstar this decade. I guess this became a hit for him following his role in the miniseries Against the wind which was a massive success for him.
#5632
This was an interesting year for Whigfield as she was able to score a second hit here in Australia and nowhere else in the world, I'm guessing because the rest of the world had moved on from her brand of dance pop whilst we Aussies had only just discovered her despite her massive success she had in Europe earlier in the decade.
#5631
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5630
It appears that Donna Summer hadn't completely transitioned into being a feminist with this track as while it's more in line with new wave than disco, it's still a sexually charged track largely thanks to her performance. Her feminist tracks would come later in the decade and would culminate with her next hit "She works hard for the money" which seems to be her finally disowning her previous album Bad girls.
#5629
These guys will unfortunately be forever remembered for their 1997 album which many regard as one of the worst albums ever made, eight years prior they scored a massive success with their debut album with its lead single due to it being a country ballad that connected with audiences as the 80's was coming to an end. They would fade into obscurity going into the 90's until their infamous comeback.
#5628
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5627
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5626
If you're wondering how Murray Head could score a hit single in the mid 80's when he was pushing forty, that might be due to there being enough fondness for his first big hit from fifteen years prior which he recorded for the Jesus Christ superstar soundtrack (despite this version not making it onto the album.) It was a massive success in the southern hemisphere and even a minor success on Billboard.
#5625
This was the only hit to come from Lisa Edwards, even then this was a cover of a Godley and Creme track that was made famous here with Dragon's rendition from the mid 80's. Lisa gives the best vocal performance of the three versions as she was a really good singer, however her popularity evaporated after this became a hit for her this year for reasons I can't seem to ascertain.
#5624
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5623
There were many early hits from the EDM scene that would explode throughout the 90's, I think one of the earliest comes from this band who scored their only hit with this acid house track before calling it quits. Don't ask me why they gave up after only one track, it was a common troupe for EDM artists throughout the 80's and 90's as we'll see going through these lists.
#5622
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5621
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5620
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5619
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5618
I hope you appreciate all of the Australian entries on this list because they're about to become scarcer as we move forward in the decade, Rick Price was another Australian artist pipped for good things this decade as this was the first of two hits he was able to score from his debut album this year. Sure, it's another rip-off of John Farnham, however John was well loved at the time and these songs do hold up to this day.
#5617
Well, here we are with the only song that Donna Summer managed to score on her own with a female empowerment anthem, although admittedly I would've been dumbstruck if this had of failed here like it did in some countries considering how much sympathy she allows for the protagonist of this song. She wants to reassure listeners that women give their dues to society, and she does it in a very humanising way.
#5616
This was the second hit that Laura Branigan managed to achieve in Australia with a cover of an Umberto Tozzi track, although unlike "Gloria" this was only a hit here as the rest of the world had since moved on from her ballads. Indeed, this would be her final hit here as we too decided to was time to give success to other pop divas who had unique voices from this decade, it's a shame because she was talented.
#5615
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5614
Well, this is a song that's bound to get stuck in your head after repeated listens, Haysi fantayzee scored their one and only hit with this psychedelia throwback both in Australia and their native UK before calling it quits for some reason. They even performed this on Countdown mere months before they broke up, so I'm not sure why they gave up on their careers so quickly.
#5613
This is one of two hits that Badfinger managed to achieve here in Australia, we'll get to the other one in a bit but suffice to say, the Welsh band who gave us the original rendition of "Without you" was decently successful back in the day even if that success down under was pitiful compared to what they achieved throughout the rest of the world.
#5612
These guys were all set to give up when they released this song as a single, it's a shame they did give up soon after its release because it became a huge worldwide success for them likely due to how heartfelt the lyrics are and how catchy the melody is. Who knows what these guys would've released if they had of believed in themselves after this became a success.
#5611
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5610
The legends are true, Mel Brooks did in fact have a hip hop hit back in the day with a song about the joys of being Adolf Hitler. Obviously, this song is meant to be satire as if there's a bigger hater of the third Reich than Mel Brooks then I've yet to come across that person, however it's a bit shocking to see this man in his forties score a hip hop hit in Australia with this theme song to his remake of the film of the same name.
#5609
This had a bit of a delay to its release here in Australia, possibly because we didn't like the possibility of having a booty anthem being a huge success here without realising that "Baby got back" had opened the possibilities of booty anthems being acceptable in the mainstream. It was released here and sure enough, it became a massive hit partially due to it being a booty anthem but mostly due to its catchiness.
#5608
Although Billy Idol had success here in Australia prior to this lead single from his second album of the same name, a memorable performance of the track on Countdown ensured that it would be a huge hit for him here which likely made the album a bigger hit than his previous album. It's often considered to be the signature track from his catalogue despite his biggest hit being "To be a lover" from two years later.
#5607
So, there's this resort in South Africa known as Sun city which was once notorious for having relocated people of colour as hotel staff against their will, more notoriously is that they offered financial incentives to bands and artists to perform at the hotel despite there being an international band from westerners visiting the region. This was a protest song made in defiance of those who broke the law to perform as the venue.
#5606
This was the final hit that Wings were able to achieve before they called it quits heading into the 80's, I'm guessing they wanted to end things on a high note as this song came out around the time they released their final album London town which curiously didn't have this on the track listing.
#5605
This was a remix of New order's breakthrough single from five years prior, in fact it was no coincidence this came out when it did as it was released on the fifth anniversary of the original version of this track. Curiously, this version was more successful in Australia than the original, mainly because we knew who the band was by this stage.
#5604
This was the only hit that country star Eddie Rabbitt was able to achieve here in Australia, likely because this was a Billboard chart topper for him but also due to how incessantly catchy this is compared to the rest of his catalogue. This was a surprisingly good time for country music given how disco had begun to lose its popularity, although country would follow suit once MTV launched this year.
#5603
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5602
This was the third and final hit that Irene Cara was able to score anywhere in the world, and behind it's not attached to a film (that I'm aware of) meaning it was able to become a success in its own right here in Australia. She was attached to the Breakin soundtrack this year which was obviously meant to be the third film project her music was attached to, however her contributions to that soundtrack led her nowhere.
#5601
This is often considered to be one of the worst songs of the 70's, this is mainly due to it sounding like an innocent love song but is really in fact about rough sex which obviously alienates everyone who could potentially like it as those into soft rock will be turned off by the subject matter and those into the subject matter will find it to be cheesy and boring.
