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.
#5300
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5299
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5298
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5297
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5296
This was Stacie Orrico's other big hit here in Australia and in most parts of the world outside her native America, here she's contemplating about her purpose in life and whether she's living it to her fullest potential which no doubt helped audiences appreciate their own place in this world back in the day. It was a very poignant track considering it was a teen pop number, although it would also be her final hit.
#5295
This was the second big hit to come from Fedde Le Grand this year, this time it's a remix of a track from Danish pop star Camille Jones from two years prior that became a massive hit not so much for the track itself but rather for its strange music video which showcases a bunch of secretaries being sexually provocative to an office worker throughout its runtime.
#5294
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5293
This was the biggest hit of Andy's career over in America, although in Australia that goes to his earlier hit "I just want to be your everything" given how that's catchier than this track. Even so it was an obvious hit for the younger brother of the Bee gees given how it was written by his older brothers with international success in mind, although his popularity would come to an end later this year.
#5292
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5291
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5290
This was bundled with Jewel's earlier entry on this list in America, presumably to allow these songs to break records on Billboard which seems to be the reason for why the Billboard charts panned out the way they did throughout the 90's. Here in Australia, this was given a separate release where it managed to become a hit in its own right proving that we Aussies would've made Jewel a household name if we knew about her two years prior.
#5289
It seems odd that this would be Living Colour's only hit single in Australia when they're better known for their 1989 hit "Cult of living personality" which was a massive success in NZ two years prior. Indeed, their second album Time's up managed to become a success this year down under purely thanks to how well this ballad did for them, not bad for a song about how love is such a tricky bastard.
#5288
This is Dannii Minogue's biggest hit in the UK, although in Australia that honour goes to "Love and kisses" from the start of the decade likely due to the goofy lyrics about eating at McDonalds on that track. If this sounds like a disco track, that's because it originally was as this is a cover of an obscure track from the 70's written by Van McCoy of "The hustle" fame, how Dannii discovered the original is a mystery.
#5287
While this wasn't his debut single, this was the song that put Elton John on the map given how it was a massive success in most parts of the world due to how sentimental it was compared to many of the other ballads on this list. He would continue to find success for the remainder of the twentieth century with his subsequent follow ups.
#5286
This was the final hit that Racey were able to score in their career, although they could've at least tried to score another hit by recording a second album, but they never did for some reason. They did appear on Countdown in the new year which likely boosted the sales of Smash and grab despite it spawning three massive hits for them.
#5285
Although their output this decade would be seen as a far cry from the quality of their 80's material, at least Metallica were able to ease their older fans into their new sound with the lead single of their black album which at least retains to complex musicianship of their older material. Lyrically it's about how James Hetfield suffers from nightmares and how he internalises getting through each night.
#5284
This was the only hit that Matchbox had throughout the world, although here in Australia they were known as Major Matchbox due to there being a local band with that name and us needing to tell these two bands apart. Naturally we have another rockabilly throwback to become a hit this year, it was a very good year for rockabilly throwback tracks as we've seen throughout this list.
#5283
We've looked at the Boy George cover from 1987 on the NZ side of my site, time now to look at the original non reggae version from Bread which was a hit here in Australia fifteen years prior to when George's version briefly scrapped our top ten before quickly leaving our charts (making it a fan single in my opinion.) This failed to crack our top ten but stuck around for quite some time regardless.
#5282
This was originally released as Yothu Yindi's debut single from the end of the 80's to deafening silence, likely because we Aussies weren't quite ready for aboriginal music to make it big in the music scene at the time. It was given a second chance when their debut album took off here where it became a huge success for them, although it came about a year after the lead single "Treaty" was a hit.
#5281
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5280
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5279
This was the only hit that Supertramp were able to score here in Australia, it makes sense because it's by far their catchiest song and it's about how the narrator is losing a friend and how it makes him feel like there's rainy weather to come from the fall out. This helped them survive into the MTV era longer than many of their contemporaries who struggled for success once the program launched in 1981.
#5278
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5277
I may have to tread lightly with this entry as there's a bit of a dark reason why Houston is a one hit wonder with this posse cut with Chingy and Nate Dogg, that's because he had a medical episode while promoting the track which resulted in him needing to be hospitalised and subsequently dropped from his label. At least it was a massive worldwide success for the rapper that promised him a bright future.
#5276
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5275
This was originally a hit for Savage in his native NZ where it didn't have Akon providing a guest verse for him, that version wasn't released here in Australia as he was able to afford the international RNB singer by the time it was released down under almost a year after its initial release. He had a ton of other hits in his homeland; however, he remains a one hit wonder with this song (OK a two-hit wonder if you count the Joel Fletcher remix.)
#5274
This was the debut single for one of the most popular bands to come out of Ireland this decade, although my UK readers will likely be surprised to see this song on this list and not later in the decade as this only became a success there in 1999 following the success of their second album. We Aussies knew that these guys were on to something special when they initially broke through, hence why the song is on this list.
#5273
This was the final solo hit that Phil Collins managed to score here in Australia, it's a song that's seemingly about living in paradise but is actually from the point of view of a homeless person wanting to find paradise in their life of poverty. This tugged at the heartstrings of his audience for one last time as it became the final Billboard chart topper of the 80's, this earning him the nickname of Mr. 80's.
#5272
We have our final Oscar winning track on this list, I've saved the best for last as it's the title track from the Shaft series courtesy of Isaac Hayes who scored his only American hit with this jam. For the rest of the world, he scored another hit in the late 90's as his character in South Park Chef with "Chocolate salty balls" from the Chef aid soundtrack (it only barely failed to appear on this site.)
#5271
This will be the only appearance from Selwyn on this site, mainly because "Buggin me" was too much of a sleeper hit to reach the upper echelons of the charts to qualify for this list and "Way love's supposed to be" was only a minor hit at best despite it being the fan favourite from the Australian RNB singer. Here we have his cover of the Hall and Oates classic that was well received by us Aussies this year.
#5270
Pokémon was such an inescapable phenomenon that the 4kids dub of the first film became a huge box office success despite it being panned by critics for its poor dubbing which changes the storyline of the original film (as a member of team Digimon, this brings me great joy until I remember that Digimon the movie exists.) The soundtrack at least was well received due to the catchy teen pop that can be found on it.
#5269
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5268
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5267
This should've been much more of a success here in Australia, the reason why it wasn't was due to the album cycle being messed up as the lead single wasn't "West end girls" like it was everywhere else in the world, preventing that song from topping our charts and stalling the album's success. It's a shame because it was the introduction to one of the most influential EDM artists of all time.
#5266
It seems strange that these guys managed to score a successful album here in Australia but not the Wiggles (no their time as the Cockroaches doesn't count) I guess there was more of a market for these guys when it came to their music rather than their fellow children's band who began life as a rock band in the 80's before switching their target audience with their material.
#5265
This is a live album that Billy Joel released capturing his best moments during his Russian tour from around this time, it was a modest success here in Australia likely due to his artist momentum.
#5264
This was the only successful album that Van Morrison had here in Australia prior to the release of his 1990 greatest hits package, I bring this up because we Aussies really did seem to ignore the Irish singer/songwriter's catalogue back in the day which makes you wonder what compelled us to correct that mistake throughout the 90's.
#5263
He may be a one hit wonder with the lead single from this album, but at least Warren Zevon managed to score a massive hit with the album that spawned his radio classic back in the day. The song is a good representation of the album which is perhaps why the album was a success for him, normally a one hit wonder is as such due to their one hit being nothing like the rest of their catalogue.
#5262
Given how this was a moderate success in 1993 when it became available on CD for the first time, it only seems fitting that this would be a hit here in Australia for the Beatles upon its initial release twenty years prior. For what it's worth, its sister album was a massive dud here.
#5261
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5260
There was a popular grunge band from around this time that had a very similar band name to this Australian jazz rock band, although confusing these guys for those guys is a bad mistake considering their sound are nothing alike to each other. This was D.I.G's only notable success here as they were able to win over both the rock and EDM crowds here with this album of theirs and none of their other work.
#5259
These guys already had massive success at the start of the decade when their self-titled album became a huge crossover success for the NZ band, so the fact that they scored a massive hit with their final album was a bit of a surprise for a couple of reasons. The first was that they only released one album between these two albums and the second is that they gave up once this album became a massive success for them.
#5258
Given how Elvis Presley was still able to achieve success with his singles this far into his career, it only makes sense that he would find success around this time with a greatest hits package even if this is the sequel to a previous album which didn't see as much success here in Australia.
#5257
Although nostalgia was what gave these girls a massive hit with their debut single as a group (and indeed fuelled the success of their entire catalogue) that success was largely from audiences that weren't using the digital storefront given how much less successful this was as a digital track.
#5256
This was a hit twice here in Australia, the first time was on its initial release and the second was when the album became a success worldwide several months after its initial release. I get the feeling it was this track that finally allowed many of their contemporaries to find success such as Fall out boy and the Fray as there was a sudden rise in tracks like this finding success following its success.
#5255
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5254
This was the first big hit that Leo Sayer had in his career, naturally it was a decent success here in Australia even if this would've likely benefitted from Countdown's promotion given how big the rest of his catalogue was from the second half of the decade here. My American readers will likely be more familiar with the Three dog night version that became a hit on Billboard in lieu of this version.
#5253
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5252
Although this did take a while to become a hit here in Australia, at least it eventually became as such on its initial release unlike the rest of the world where the girls needed to find success with their next album Break out in order for this to be a success. This is one of the most upbeat songs in their catalogue as well as the most sexually suggestive which is likely why it won us Aussies over initially.
#5251
Of all the songs to become a hit for Barry White here in Australia, I was not expecting this to be one of them given how it was far from his biggest hit in his native America (that and I think of Rick Astley whenever I look at the song title.) Confusingly, this was his only hit down under, meaning that the likes of "Can't get enough of your love" and "You're the first the last my everything" bombed with us Aussies.
#5250
This was the second and final hit that Ian Moss managed to achieve in his career, although this did come out around the time his album was release meaning it helped him score massive success with the album. This doesn't have as complicated a narrative as his earlier entry on this list, I'm guessing that's the only reason why it wasn't as successful as the sound is the same on both tracks.
#5249
Normally when a NZ artist crossed over to Australian from their homeland, it's with one of their albums as we Aussies tend to favour their broader work over the hit single which made them big in their homeland. This wasn't the case for Bic Runga who scored her only hit over here with this breakthrough hit she had in her homeland which didn't translate to the album being a huge success here.
#5248
While this wasn't their debut single by any means, it was the song that made Sugar ray into a household name thanks to them ditching their nu metal sound in favour of a more pop friendly direction starting with this track. Lyrically it's about how Mark McGrath is finding out he's been cheated on with his girlfriend, although instead of confronting her about it he's going to get even with her by sleeping around himself.
#5247
This was the one and only hit for the Dutch band Golden earring, a song that was a massive success throughout Europe the previous year and only crossed over to Australia this year due to it being a surprise hit on Billboard. It remains a popular rock and roll track from the 70's to this day, so at least they have a strong legacy with this one hit of theirs.
#5246
This was the only hit that Yvonne Fair was able to achieve in her career, it's a passionate cry for her claiming that she should be the one who ends up with the man of her dreams on this track which has made it a staple for scenarios people find themselves in with this situation. This is also a rare Motown track to make it big in Australia, perhaps this was our way of atoning for ignoring all the labels classics in the 60's.
#5245
Petula was one of the biggest names in music throughout the 60's, so it's not that surprising that she would have one hit final during the first half of the decade even if that hit was only as such here in Australia. It's worth noting that this likely appealed to us Aussies because of nostalgia of her work from the forties as a child star.
#5244
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5243
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5242
This was the only hit for the New radicals, mainly because it was only a success worldwide due to it being big in the UK as this for some reason flopped in their native America. I'm guessing it flopped on Billboard due to the final verse where the band suddenly makes a bunch of shout outs to people they didn't like, none of these people were flattered by these shout outs for obvious reasons.
#5241
Given how this was coming from not one but two of the biggest albums of the decade, you'd think that this collaboration would've been more inescapable back in the day given how it was a song about protecting the children of the world from two former teen idols. I can't even say if this song's success came from Kylie's fans or Robbie's as neither fanbase seems to be that fond of the collaboration.
#5240
Well at least these girls were back on track with this second single from their sophomore (and to date final) album, I guess this was meant to be the opposite of "Stickwitu" as this was a breakup ballad as opposed to that being about how in love with their partner they were. I would say that this was also referring to them hating the part they were irrelevant except they had two more hits the following year before that happened.
#5239
This is my favourite song to ever become a hit in Australia, sure there's songs that made it big that are technically better, but the way Marie tries to reassure her audience that everyone deserves a second chance in a relationship (and by extension in life) just resonates with me that few other songs can do. A lot of people agreed that this was a great song as it became their second Billboard chart topper even though "Dressed for success" flopped in America.
#5238
Well at least there's one version of this track from the Beastie boys that made it big in Australia, unfortunately it comes to us from a German group who seemed to have missed the point of the original. Then again, a lot of people didn't realise that the original was being ironic towards frat culture as you often find it in soundtracks to frat movies, and the American trio have long since distanced themselves from it.
#5237
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5236
This was the third and final single to be released from Spandau Ballet's third album True, although one would think that the title track would be the big hit from the album when in fact it was this song at least in Australia (stay tuned for the title track in a bit.) I'm guessing we Aussies were more interested in this upbeat track about comparing the love Tony Hadley has to his partner with that of literal gold.
#5235
Given how the third single from Shannon Noll's second album was a bit of a commercial disappointment here in Australia (it won't be appearing on this list) this fourth single becoming a big hit was a bit of a surprise given how its placement on here was due to how well it did with its physical sales (as are all entries on this list.) I guess this goes to show that "Now I run" was more of a weak choice for a single than anything else.
#5234
Considering the original version of this track wasn't among the biggest hits of the 70's anywhere in the world, it seems odd that it would be the song that British DJ Meck would decide to use it as the song to reintroduce the world to Leo Sayer decades after he last had a hit anywhere in the world. It proved to be equally as successful here in Australia as the original was likely for the video which pays homage to Xanadu of all things.
#5233
I guess this second single from ELO's biggest album A new world record confirmed them to be the hottest new band from the prog rock category, it's not one of my favourite tracks from the album (I would've released "Do ya" or "So fine") but it was a huge success for them regardless. There's still one more entry to come from the album which was their biggest hit over in America.
#5232
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5231
This was the first big hit that Billy Idol had in Australia, although he did see minor success with his solo debut "Hot in the city" coming into the year which likely boosted the success of this classic of his. Apparently, this is meant to be a criticism of a traditional white wedding, likely due to this being released just after Princess Diana's wedding to Prince Charles which was described as a fairytale wedding.
#5230
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5229
This guy had been in the industry for over two decades before he finally scored his one and only hit outside of his native America with this ballad about his own heartbreak. I guess this being a hit makes sense as soft rock was one of the biggest trends of the decade when it wasn't centred around the dance floor or rock operas.
#5228
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5227
Even though Madonna is often credited as the first artist to question the concept of religion in her album Like a prayer, these guys had beaten her to the punch by two years as they list a bunch of things that's considered a sin in religion to showcase just how restrictive one's life has to be in order to retain their faith. This naturally connected with audiences back in the day and was another easy hit for the British duo.
#5226
This was the big breakthrough hit that Bread had in their career, it's easy to see this as their debut single but it wasn't as they had a few failed releases in their native America in the 60's before making it big with this ballad. It was a huge chart topper for them on Billboard, which ensured its success throughout the rest of the world.
#5225
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5224
This was the only hit from Canadian singer Patsy Gallant, although considering she's the only Canadian artist to have a disco hit outside her homeland, I feel that this having any international success should speak volumes to how well loved it was back in the day. It starts of as a typical love ballad before transitioning into a more upbeat track, a common troupe that many of her contemporaries failed to capitalise on.
#5223
This was the second cover that Whitney Houston recorded for her feature film debut; this time she's covering Chaka Khan for reasons I can't seem to fathom as I don't remember this cover being in the film itself. It's a noteworthy cover as it managed to be a bigger hit for her than for Chaka back in the late 70's, no doubt helping people rediscover the RNB singer around the time this became a hit for her.
#5222
I did mention that Regurgitator's second album was rereleased as a DVD, here's the DVD in question as it became a huge success for them this year due to the novelty of the technology taking over the world. It's hard to say how many other albums benefitted from this gimmick as ARIA inconveniently bundled these with the main albums as opposed to AMR which counted them separately from each other.
#5221
It may have been a while since Tracy Chapman had troubled the charts anywhere in the world, however it appears that audiences had fond memories of her work as this greatest hits album managed to become a huge success for her worldwide despite only two (maybe three depending on where you're from) of her albums having any impact on the mainstream back in her day.
#5220
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5219
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5218
#5217
This is the second project where Dave Grohl teams up with Josh Homme from the Queens of the stone age (Homme's band of course being the first) so naturally it was bound to be a success for them here in Australia just as the decade was coming to an end. They've yet to collaborate after this due to a multitude of scandals that have followed Josh over the years that caught up with him in the #metoo movement.
#5216
It took me a while to find out information about these guys, however it turns out this was a side project for several of the members of the 60's band the Rascals following that band's demise shortly before they released this album. It somehow caught on here in Australia despite its failure in their native America.
#5215
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5214
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5213
It had been a while since the Who had troubled the charts; however, this was the year where there was a theatrical adaptation of one of their albums so perhaps it makes sense that this solo album from Roger Daltrey managed to be a success back in the day. He wouldn't trouble the charts again until he rejoined the band later in the decade.
#5212
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5211
This was one of only two albums that Do re mi released in Australia, the other was such a flop later in the decade that it caused them to go their separate ways upon its release. Here they scored success with an album so unconventional you'd swear it was promoted by some underground station (it likely was) although one thing that can be appealing to mainstream audiences are the vocals of Deborah Conway.
#5210
Del Amitri were a pop rock band from Scotland who managed to score a massive breakthrough with this album in Australia this year, I'm not sure how as it didn't spawn any hits here or anywhere in the world, but it was a success regardless. They would be a one album wonder despite releasing new music throughout the decade, perhaps this was a band that was promoted by Triple J before they had mainstream success.
#5209
This was a highly successful decade for 10cc as they managed to score three successful albums that spawned three of their biggest hits each, here they have the first of the three albums which was a success thanks to how different the lead single was from everything else coming out at the time.
#5208
This is another track to have Kanye West on it, meaning it being more popular on our digital charts than it was on our main charts was to be expected. This is especially the case considering that Rihanna is also on here who was another artist that had more appeal on our digital storefront than she did with those who still bought physical copies of their music.
#5207
Although they had minor success prior to the lead single to State of the art, it was this track that finally allowed the Hilltop hoods to have a huge hit here in Australia after fifteen years of first forming back in the early 90's. They would open the doors for Australian hip hop throughout the 2010's other MC's such as 360 and Illy would also have hits that decade.
#5206
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5205
You'd think that a song about complimenting a woman's dancing would be set to a catchy disco beat, instead we have a soft rock track from American band Wha Koo (what is with these band names?) which became a hit here in Australia any nowhere else in the world. The lack of success these guys had led to them breaking up the following year, so much for having success down under meaning anything.
#5204
This was back when Kanye West and Jay-Z were friends (boy how times have changed) as such we have them working off each other on this track while Rihanna provides them a chorus to connect their verses with each other. Jay-Z never had a hit on his own here in Australia as he always needed the assistance of someone else (usually these two or his future wife Beyonce) to make it big down under.
#5203
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5202
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#5201
Considering James Brown lived for another fifteen years when this song was recorded, I'm guessing what the Dutch group meant by him being dead was his legacy which even back then couldn't have been further from the truth due to how much nostalgia people had for soul. I guess we Aussies found this concept to be hilarious which is perhaps why it became one of the bigger hits of the year.
