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.
#2100
Simply red had a very good run during the first ten years of their time in the spotlight, so naturally they released a greatest hits package that was a huge success for them and promised them at least another decade of worldwide success. Unfortunately, this was the last many would hear from the band despite them releasing new material well into the 21st century.
#2099
There were two versions of this E.P that were released in Australia, the first was from two years prior which contained a few tracks that the band couldn't fit onto their album Shabooh shoobah which resulted in it flopping. The second had the singles from the Swing remixed as dance tracks (hence the name of the E.P) which proved to be much more successful here likely due to us already being familiar with the original tracks.
#2098
Reality bites seems to be a film you either love or hate, although the consensus on both sides of the argument is unanimous as it's a film about how being from gen x is hard and it is exploring why people in this generation feels that way. While the film wasn't a box office success, the soundtrack was highly successful likely due to it launching the careers of several artists who appear on the track listing.
#2097
This lead single to the Veronicas second album proved to be more popular on our digital charts than it was on our main charts, this is what I meant when I said earlier I was surprised that "Untouched" wasn't an even bigger hit on that format than it was as the girls effortlessly appealed to the market that was fueling our digital charts back in the day.
#2096
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2095
Oh boy do I do not want to talk about this song, mainly for the artist who made it but also, I promised myself I wouldn't be mean to songs that were clearly meant for children. Thankfully this will be Rolf Harris's only entry on my site given how his only other hit was as such a decade prior.
#2094
This was originally released the previous year worldwide for Monifah; however, it appears we Aussies were interested in this sex jam from the RNB singer and thus allowed it to become a massive hit when it finally hit our shores this year. It was such as success down under that she even scored a minor hit with her next release which is a double A-side of "Bad girl" and "Suga suga" before she faded into obscurity.
#2093
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2092
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#2091
One of the less successful bands to make it big by appearing on Countdown was the Ferrets, mainly because despite them having a huge hit with this track that even sparked interest in them in the UK, they remain a one hit wonder due to their inability to capitalise off this song's success here. I guess they got lost in the shuffle from all the other emerging bands to appear on the show.
#2090
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2089
"Goodies" wasn't that big of a success here in Australia due to its obvious absence on my previous list, however that didn't mean that Ciara was a no show in our music scene as her second single managed to be a huge success for her here. Admittedly this might be due to the presence of Missy Elliott as the two would collaborate twice this year, the second time being on "Lose control" which is still to come on this list.
#2088
This was the lead single to Abba's third album, admittedly it's one of my least favourite songs from the group as I feel the energy drops whenever they sing the song's title in the chorus. It's still far ahead of the competition in my books, however I can see this being a lightning for their haters to justify their dislike for them.
#2087
Well, this was certainly a song that stirred up drama back in the day due to its title, true the word bitch has been stigmatised over the years as a derogatory term for a woman who's perceived to be a horrible person, however over the years women have claimed the word as their own in order to destigmatise it. That's clearly what Meredith is going for on this track whilst sounding like she's the mother of Alanis Morissette, that's me dunking on her age as she was pushing forty when this came out.
#2086
This wasn't Samantha Sang's first song to chart in Australia, she had attempted to have a pop career a decade prior under her real name Cheryl Gray to no avail likely due to her being a child singer during a time where we Aussies were into psychedelia and protest music. She was given a second chance at a career with this ballad written by the Brothers Gibb which took off for her not just locally but internationally as well.
#2085
It looked like Madonna's career was done for when she released her ill-fated concept album American life in 2003, however she was able to brush over that disaster with her next album which was a throwback album to the disco era starting with this lead single that samples "Gimme gimme gimme" by Abba. It was a massive hit everywhere in the world except her native America where it was only a modest success.
#2084
This is one of those songs that many people feel is one of the worst of the decade, I can't say I disagree mainly because I don't have a lot of patience for songs that are about forced positivity which this song exemplifies. Still, enough people back in the day were touched by Daniel's reassurance that things will get better that it was a massive worldwide hit for him, heck it even topped the Billboard charts the following year.
#2083
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2082
This was the second hit that Steps managed to achieve this year in Australia, given how inescapable their debut single was due to every primary school teacher enforcing the choreography of that video onto their pupils, the band had little issues with finding success with their album here. At least none of their other videos had bizarre choreography to shove down the kids throats during P.E.
#2081
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#2080
This was originally released as a Christmas track three years prior following the success of the duo's debut album in their native Sweden, there the song had a parenthesis that read "Christmas for the broken hearted" meaning that the song was originally meant for those who knew the horrors of being alone on Christmas day. As Pretty woman wasn't a Christmas flick, the song was slightly reworked into a typical breakup ballad that was played during the emotional low point of the film.
#2079
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#2078
For a little while, it seemed like there was a rush to find the new prince of RNB given how Chris Brown temporarily had that title revoked from him for reasons I won't get into on this list. An early contender for his replacement came from Jay Sean who achieved minor success in his native UK prior to this Billboard chart topper he had thanks to a guest verse from Lil Wayne of all people.
#2077
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#2076
Oh joy, we now have the youngest member of the Osmond family scoring a massive hit with his track at the tender age of ten years old. Even though this was widely rejected in his native America, it was a massive hit here in Australia which prompted it to be an even bigger hit in the UK where it actually went to number one.
#2075
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2074
You thought I forgot about this track, didn't you? It turns out we Aussies were slow in making this a success for DeAndre Way AKA Soulja boy likely due to it being arguably the song that started the trend of allowing a meme to become a massive worldwide hit on the music charts that wasn't made by a music exec (that is, a viral hit not from the likes of Crazy frog and its countless knockoffs) only to allow this phenomenon to happen this year on our charts.
#2073
I guess it was only a matter of time before we had a new version of the Fugees make it big in the music industry, enter City high who scored a massive worldwide hit with this track five years after the original trio made it big worldwide. As this was a hip hop track, it was delayed here in Australia by several months before finally being released, and like most songs on this list, it was more popular here than anywhere in the world.
#2072
If you can believe it, Carole King's version of this classic was never released as a single as it was only ever the B-side to her biggest hit "It's too late" from almost two decades prior to when Martika made it her own with this cover. I guess her fellow Americans didn't appreciate this cover from her as this flopped hard on Billboard despite her previous single being a chart topper on there.
#2071
It looked like there were no signs of Britney Spears's career slowing down as this second single from her debut album proved to be a huge hit for her, that is except for her native America as funnily enough, she didn't have a huge hit on Billboard again until "Gimme more" almost a decade later. At least the rest of the world was here for her every step of the way, through both the good times and the bad.
#2070
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#2069
This was one of two hit singles this year to be directly related to Australian sports, while this was the bigger of the two hits, it came at the expense of there being any other tracks released from these guys.
#2068
I think I've done fairly well in keeping my commentary neutral on this list so far, however it's difficult for me to remain as such with this entry due to how obviously high on drugs Melanie is on this track. This obviously wasn't a deterrent for audiences back in the day as it remains her biggest hit in her catalogue, which is further proof that the 60's bled well into this decade given how this feels right at home at Woodstock.
#2067
I guess the first Bad boys film spawned not one but two big hits that took the world by storm in 1995 (those being "Shy guy" and "I've got a little something for you") so it makes sense that the sequel would also have a massive hit with this posse cut from Nelly, his protegee Murphy Lee and P Diddy of all people. It was a massive hit worldwide despite criticisms involving the chanting on the track and the police siren in the production.
#2066
This was the debut single for one of the more prominent bands to emerge from Australia, I feel that people tend to forget that "Down under" was the second single from this band given how it's easily eclipsed everything else in their catalogue with how iconic it's become over the years. This managed to top the Billboard charts the following year despite it only getting to number two here.
#2065
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2064
Nelly Furtado is the latest entry into a Canadian artist who saw massive worldwide success without necessarily being the biggest artist in their homeland that I've featured on this site, oh sure she did fine with her debut album, however it didn't exactly promise the levels of success she would go on to achieve later in the decade. I'm guessing her fellow Canadians weren't as into her spiritual vibes as the rest of the world was.
#2063
This is one of those ironic songs where the melody is upbeat and happy, but the lyrics are actually about a relationship being on its last legs as Andre 3000 sings about the woes of his love life. It was the lead single to the duo's double album which actually comprises of two solo albums where the duo eased fans into the fact that they were thinking of splitting up which is what happened later in the decade.
#2062
This was a bit of a surprise hit for NKTOB given how it wasn't much of a hit in their native America, I'm guessing it crossed over here due to how incessantly catchy the track is compared to the rest of the album which is mostly filled with ballads from the boys. This eventually led the song to be released in the UK where it was an even bigger hit for them.
#2061
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2060
This was the biggest hit for Ace of base over in America, it seems fitting seeing as this song wasn't on the original album Happy nation and that the American version was named after this track when it was shipped over there. For the rest of the world, their earlier entry on this list was their biggest hit, however this tale about self-empowerment was the big hit on Billboard and for good reason.
#2059
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#2058
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#2057
It's worth noting that Missy Higgins released most of her singles as E.P's even though songs were generally released with three or four other tracks as singles by this point in time, even so her first big hit was the lead single to her debut album which she called an E.P to no doubt drive up sales for it. This paid off for her, although I feel she didn't need to do this given how popular it's remained since its release.
#2056
While this wasn't the first hit single Bonnie Tyler had in her career (that honour goes to "Lost in France") this was the first hit song of hers to use her iconic raspy vocals as previously she had sounded more like your typical lovestruck pop diva that obviously didn't connect well with her audience. Here she makes such as splash on the international market that it even manages to crossover to Billboard for her.
#2055
This is the final entry from Helen Reddy to appear on this list, it's another pop country ballad that was a massive success for the pioneering feminist back in the day, proving that even back then, the music industry wasn't opposed to progressive ideas despite what online activists will otherwise tell you.
#2054
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2053
This is a rare case of a chart topper not being the lead single from an album, although I get the feeling this was only a huge success worldwide following the success of a country version from Lynn Anderson which compelled the duo to release it as a single a year after the album's release.
#2052
These guys had been active in the music industry for well over a decade before they finally got a massive hit in the form of this classic, there was no way this was going to fail anywhere in the world given how it tells an interesting story about how the narrator knew a girl before she became a glamour model, or a centrefold as he refers to her as.
#2051
This was another successful ballad to come out of Rod Stewart this decade, one that I'm pretty sure led to a rather nasty rumour about him concerning sailors that I won't bother repeating on this entry.
#2050
It looked like that Leo Sayer had become yesterday's news by the time the 70's became the 80's, however the English crooner had other ideas as he decided to record an old Buddy Holly track after seeing an advertisement for a greatest hits package of his and his band the Crickets. This resulted in this ballad being his biggest hit in most parts of the world and kept his career going for a little while longer.
#2049
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2048
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#2047
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#2046
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#2045
This is one of the last RNB songs to have its released delayed here in Australia compared to the rest of the world, although the wait for its release was certainly worth it as it became much bigger here than it did even in her native America. I'm guessing this was due to it being about her showing concern towards her partners feelings for their ex and detailing why their relationship with them bothers her.
#2044
Although these guys had massive success in their native America throughout the second half of the decade, it does pain me to report that this was their only success here in Australia as even the Brits and kiwis gave them more success with their other singles than we Aussies did. At least this disco classic was a huge success for them, and hey lead singer Nile Rodgers did become an in-demand producer after this.
#2043
This was the only hit that Lynn Anderson had here in Australia, mainly because it's named after a 1964 book that would become a box office flop later in the decade as a film adaptation. It could also be that it's yet another country ballad from a female artist which like I said earlier, permeated our music scene during the first half of the decade.
#2042
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2041
This is one of my favourite songs of the decade, to think that this was originally a song from Jackie Deshannon from several years earlier only for Kim Carnes to make it her own with her raspy vocals. This was such a success that the Hollywood legend wrote a letter of thanks to everyone involved in its creation for immortalising her as a pop culture legend (as if she wasn't already by this point.)
#2040
It looked like that Daryl's previous album's success was a fluke and that he would again fade into obscurity, however he then released this cover of the Ricki Lee Jones track (best known for its usage throughout Jerry Maguire later in the decade) which became a huge success for him likely due to backing vocals from Margaret Urlich who was fresh off the success of her solo album Safety in numbers.
#2039
This is one of those EDM tracks that managed to become a success thanks to its video blowing up on YouTube, this was a popular phenomenon during the website's early years as we've already seen many tracks on these lists to make it big this way that never would've touched the charts had they been released prior to its launch.
#2038
I haven't seen the film this duet is named after, although if its anything like this collaboration between Lionel Richie and Diana Ross then all I can say is that it certainly lives up to its reputation of being endless boredom. I'm sorry but I'm not a fan of this duet at all, sure the two artists have chemistry with each other and I'm sure it still has its fans to this day, but I don't get the hype behind this ballad.
#2037
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#2036
It looked like their album Blood sugar sex magik was all set to flop following the failure of its lead single "Give it away" worldwide, however the band released this as the albums second single which details Anthony Kiedis's complicated relationship with California which tugged at the heartstrings of many listeners back in the day. It remains their biggest hit to date thanks to how emotional he comes across on the track.
#2035
If you think that ironic tracks meant to criticise the pop music of any given period is a recent phenomenon, allow me to introduce you to this one and only hit from Robin Scott AKA M who managed to take the world by storm with his critiques of the state of pop music in the late 70's. It was a huge chart topper for him in Australia and Billboard of all places despite it not getting to number one in his native UK.
#2034
These guys were another example of each of their albums finding more success than the last here in Australia, we'll get to their breakthrough album in a bit but suffice to say, this was where they were confirmed to be the real deal along the likes of Deep purple in the prog scene.
#2033
Given how they had only broken up the year prior to releasing this greatest hits package, it only makes sense that we Aussies would make this a success for Cold chisel given how their lead singer Jimmy Barnes was taking over the mainstream with his album around this time. This wouldn't be the only greatest hits package they would release during their time apart as Chisel would also be a success in the early 90's.
#2032
This was the final album that Led zeppelin released in their career, OK so technically that honour goes to Coda in 1982, however that album was only released due to contractual obligations and by their label as the band had broken up by that stage. I'm not even sure why they called it quits the following year as there weren't any behind the scenes drama that I'm aware of, it could be to allow Robert Plant to have a successful solo career.
#2031
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2030
This is a live album that Jimmy Barnes released that was a huge success for two reasons, the first was that it has a cover of a Motown classic and the second was that Jimmy Barnes was known for his live shows back in the day. These two factors led to him thriving throughout the 90's as he continued to put on killer live shows as well as release an album where he did covers of Motown classics.
#2029
This is the final successful album that Celine Dion had in her career, mainly because it came out right before her infamous performance in Vegas with Anastacia where the two women butchered "You shook me all night long" by AC/DC which earned them both the rath of their rapid fanbase. That would explain why despite the album being a success, it failed to spawn her a hit single.
#2028
The duo may have called it quits following the mediocre reception of their album We too are one, however that didn't that fans were ready to say goodbye to them as this greatest hits package they released was a huge success for them. They would eventually reform by the end of the decade when their fans had long moved on from their music.
#2027
Even though these guys only ever had one successful album to their name in Australia, this greatest hits package released nine years after Eliminator was a huge success for ZZ top down under proving how much we Aussies realised we did them dirty during their initial popularity. It's likely because of this album we know their signature track "La grange."
#2026
As we saw throughout the 2010's, Chris Brown and all of his would-be successors to his role as the prince of RNB performed quite well on our digital charts, this breakthrough single from Jay Sean being no exception despite it coming our fairly late here in Australia compared to the rest of the world.
#2025
I'm a bit surprised this didn't do even better on our digital charts given how well the Fray did on that format earlier in the decade, I guess rock music had once again been considered the dominant genre in the mainstream by the end of the decade which makes its exile from the mainstream in 2010 all the more puzzling to me.
#2024
This is another song I don't particularly care for, mainly for the vocals as Ann Lee seems to be completely devoid of any joy or happiness on this track which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that this is meant to be a dance track presumably meant for the dance floors. Obviously, I'm in the minority here as this remains a classic to this day even if it's Ann's only hit single anywhere in the world.
#2023
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2022
Johny Logan set up a record with this ballad as it allowed him to become the first artist to win Eurovision more than once for a particular country, in this case it was for his native Ireland who likely were as surprised as everyone else when he took home to top prize for the second time this decade following his earlier victory "What's another year." It appears we Aussies finally understood what made him so special as this became a huge success for him down under.
#2021
This was the song that encouraged us Aussies to check out Black box's one and only album Dreamland this year, I'm guessing due to it being a cover of an Earth wind and fire track we unfairly ignored back in the day and Martha Walsh doing an admirable job in updating the 70's RNB jam on this track. This would be the last song the Italian group had a hit in Australia, although they would score two hits in America this year.
#2020
It had been five years since Bon Jovi last troubled the charts with their material, although given how this was a return to form for the band, it may as well have been eight years as they hadn't released anything this hard hitting since "Keep the faith" from 1992. It was a welcomed comeback from the band who went on to have sound success throughout the 00's before becoming a nostalgia band by the end of the decade.
#2019
One of the most popular bands of the decade has to be the Bay city rollers, although admittedly their popularity here in Australia was even briefer than that of Abba and Sherbet who at least stuck around for most of the decade. Here we have the first big hit from the Scottish band which remains popular to this day due to the lyrics being a good way of ending a bad relationship with someone.
#2018
My international readers will know this as the theme song to Crocodile Dundee, however the year prior to that film's release this was the second single from Mental as anything's biggest album Fundamental as anything where it became a huge hit for them in Australia and NZ. I'm guessing it was due to a combination of how happy Greedy Smith sounds on this track and the video which shows him having the time of his life.
#2017
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#2016
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#2015
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#2014
This was a massive hit for Elvis Presley at the start of the decade worldwide, it makes sense given how he began the decade with his earlier entry on this list which also remains one of his more iconic tracks in his catalogue. This not so much due to his 70's output being widely ignored by most modern fans of the king of rock and roll.
#2013
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2012
So, we've all seen Star Wars, right? Apparently Meco had seen it over forty times back in the day and loved it so much that he decided to make a disco rendition of the opening title sequence. Here he didn't just remix the original track, instead he got an orchestra to rearrange the melody to fit in with the disco trends that were emerging this decade which resulted in it being a huge success for him.
#2011
This was only a modest success for the duo in their native America, likely due to how sincere the pair come off on this track which admittedly makes it a really cheesy number to listen to. The Brits certainly appreciated this cheesiness as this became a huge success over in the UK which allowed it to crossover internationally for the duo. They found further success with the rest of their album in NZ of all places.
#2010
Following the success of their Billboard chart topper "TSOP" with MFSB, this RNB girl group managed to score a massive hit worldwide with this ballad which seemed to confirm them as the hottest new act of the moment. Heck this was a huge hit when Countdown launched, so it's obvious even we Aussies were interested in what these girls had to offer for a while. Alas their popularity died out even in their native America after this.
#2009
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#2008
This was the first of three highly successful tracks to come from Wa Wa Nee (man what a stupid band name they gave themselves) it's also one that sparked international interest in them given how huge it was this year for them. Even though they scored all of this success with their singles, it didn't translate to their albums which caused them to break up when their second album failed to spawn a hit for them.
#2007
It does strike me as bizarre that rock music died out in the 2010's here in Australia considering how prevalent the genre was even as the 00's was coming to an end, here we have the final big hit that the Fray achieved throughout the world which proved to be more popular here than it was even in their native America. Heck this got to number one here, proving that we Aussies certainly loved what they had to offer.
#2006
While the Spice girls were still a unit by this point in time, it seems like the girls wanted to be done with it as Sporty Spice released her solo album much like Scary and Ginger did before they released their third and final album later in the year. Given how the was the most vocally gifted of the girls, her solo debut proved to be the biggest his out of all of their solo material, although it could also be due to the presence of Left eye Lopez.
#2005
For one album, these guys had conquered the Australian charts as the album their biggest hit is named after was a huge success for a band whose lead singer began the decade with "Modern girl" being a moderate success. This of course sparked international interest in the band and even eventually got them to chart on Billboard albeit on the lower half of their charts, I guess these guys were no INXS according to Americans.
#2004
I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I used to like this song from Limp Bizkit, admittedly I wasn't aware of the original version from the Who until much later in life which should be a testament to how well written the song is when even Fred Durst manages to find some meaning in it thirty years after the original was released. I'm guessing that's how this managed to be such a huge hit for the band back in the day.
#2003
If you've somehow never heard of this song, then I suggest you rectify that because it's one of the most quintessential songs not just of the decade but of all time due to how timeless that synth riff has remained since its release. Apparently, this was originally released a year prior albeit as a slightly different song, in that I mean the instrumentation has a more oriental feel that they then changed probably to avoid accusations of cultural appropriation.
#2002
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#2001
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