Biggest hits of the OZ music charts (1993-2006) XI

Have you ever wondered what the Australian charts would look like if you were to combine the AMR charts with the ARIA charts? Between 1993 to 2007, a group of music historians did just that on their website known as Oz net music charts which sadly went defunct in 2008 due to ARIA completely taking over the music charts (although this was nine years after David Kent stopped releasing his charts publicly.) You can access the site through here to see what our music landscape would look like had ARIA not parted ways with David Kent throughout most of the 90's and 00's.

In honour of this site's achievements, I've decided to rank the biggest hits of this time period according to their charts (although I won't include songs from 2006 and 2007 as they would dominate the upper regions of this list and have also seen representation on my digital lists for the 00's.) As usual, I won't be making any new commentary here as there's nothing more, I can add to each of these entries I didn't cover when looking at them previously on this site. Also, this will differ from the site's official recap as A: they didn't update it after mid-2002 and B: it only covered songs popularity while they were in the top ten. Also starting with this list, I'm including songs that almost qualified for my main lists but didn't because they were pushed aside for all those "fan singles" that clogged up our charts during this time, I feel it's only fair to finally give these sleeper hits the attention they deserve on this site.

A word of advice, don't look up the term Chocolate starfish online unless it's in reference to this Australian band or the Limp bizkit album as both take this term from something that's very NSFW (assuming you don't already know what it is.) This was the debut single for the band which is a cover of the Carly Simon classic made over twenty years after the original in order to celebrate its legacy.

Following the success of their debut single from earlier on this list, the Corrs released the title track to their album which also became a success for them in Australia and nowhere else in the world. The album did eventually see success internationally once their sophomore album took off, however we Aussies were the only ones initially that could appreciate the band's blending of adult contemporary and Celtic music.

Tina Cousins originally released her debut album to deafening silence in her native UK the previous year, however thanks to her involvement with the Abba tribute from earlier on this list, said album was given a second chance in Australia where it spawned two big hits for her beginning with this dance track about how she feels alone without the love of her life. The video highlights the feeling of emptiness in the lyrics by having he be stranded on an island that appears to be abandoned.

This was the final hit that Ronan Keating had in his career, mainly because it's a cover of the Bob Seger classic but using the Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton format as that version was more popular back in the day. Here he recruits 60's legend Lulu who finally escapes the one hit wonder bin after over thirty years given how she never had another hit on her own in Australia apart from "To sir with love" in 1967.

This was the final hit single that Celine Dion was able to score in her career in most parts of the world, mainly due to it being the perfect book end to a highly successful decade as this serves as the lead single to her pseudo greatest hits package All the way a decade of song that also has enough new tracks to qualify for a studio album. I guess she could've had more success if she didn't embarrass herself at Vegas in 2002.

I'm surprised this was one of the big hits off of Escapology here in Australia given how I don't remember hearing this song much on the radio at the time, I guess this song's success was due to it coming out around the time Robbie released his live album recorded at Knebworth.

You thought this thing was a one hit wonder back in the day, didn't you? It turns out there were several albums worth of remixes that he made back in the day including this remix of one of the bigger hits of the 70's from Hot butter that was also a huge success worldwide and even decently successful here in Australia.

It seems fitting that All 4 one would score their two big hits in Australia with covers of obscure country ballads, indeed this comes courtesy of John Michael Montgomery who didn't end up releasing his version as a single to allow this RNB cover to become a massive success for the boy band. This would be the last anyone would hear from these guys even though they never officially broke up.

This remains the final hit from Guns N Roses worldwide, mainly because their cover of the Rolling stones classic serves as the theme to the theatrical adaptation of Interview with the vampire which remains one of the most critically acclaimed gothic horror films of all time. The film depicts Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in what many have interpreted as a homosexual relationship, which of course makes it a classic among the LGBT community.

It looked like Matchbox 20's third album would be a commercial disappointment for them worldwide given how its lead single "Disease" failed to become a hit anywhere in the world the previous year. Fortunately, this second single from the album proved to be a massive success here in Australia and the band's native America, likely due to the video which compliments the lyrics about Rob Thomas dealing with mental health issues.

This is to date the final hit that Blink 182 has been able to achieve in their career, it came from what was originally meant to be their final album as the band would temporarily breakup after the album cycle was completed in order to pursue other projects away from each other. They would eventually reform by the end of the decade where they've since resumed releasing new material together.

I don't think "He's a dream" gets enough love from the Flashdance soundtrack, American EDM duo Deep dish seemed to agree as they took the track from Shandi and remixed it where it became a massive hit in Australia and the UK over two decades after the film came out. I guess in order to honour its source material, the duo named the remix after the film rather than the original track.

Although he was quickly losing his popularity as the decade went on (as were most Australian artists admittedly) Diesel was nonetheless able to score a hit with this lead single to his second solo album due to it retaining his blues influence that he had on his previous effort both solo and with his band the Injectors. This would sadly be his final hit here due to Australian artists really struggling to compete with international acts from this point forward.

Now I know that any cover of the Beatles is going to have harsh criticisms to it, this also had the uphill battle of being a reggae cover of a Beatles track which further put it at a disadvantage. With that said, the Jamaican duo did a decent job with this cover as the song feels like a celebration much like the original which no doubt helped them escape the one hit wonder bin here as well as give them a third hit in the UK.

We looked at the song this track remixes on my 1985 list, so now let's look at my and many others introduction to that classic which became a hit in the late 90's from this British dance group Dario g. Here the group takes the chanting from the original track and pairs it with production that makes it feel like an exotic track from Africa rather than a sombre ballad from a new wave band.

You'd be forgiven into thinking this was a late 90's cover of the Carl Douglas classic from 1974, heck Carl himself is back to rerecord the chorus of that track for the British hip hop group Bus stop. Alas the chorus is just here to connect their verses which technically makes this an original track that simply relies of nostalgia baiting its audience to make it a success.

While this wasn't the first hit that Enrique Iglesias had in his career, it was the first one he had in the English-speaking market given how it was his first song he recorded in English. I guess the Latin craze wasn't as successful here in Australia given how he would only be a bestselling artist here with his next album, specifically when the lead single became the unofficial anthem for 9/11.

This is the only hit that Eagle eye cherry had in his career, I'm a bit surprised at this given how he's the half-brother of rapper Neneh Cherry who saw substantial success throughout the 90's worldwide. I'm even more surprised this was a sleeper hit here in Australia at the time given how it seemed to be inescapable on the radio when it was first released.

If you're wondering why Britney Spears decided to cover Joan Jett and the Blackhearts from her third album, there are two reasons for that as A: this was a tradition early on in her career she had of covering oldies for a (then) modern audience and B: it was used in a scene from Crossroads which hilariously highlighted her weakness as a vocalist as she was trying to raise money during a road trip and the plot needed her to struggle doing so.

This was originally a song for Alphaville from ten years prior, it was a massive flop in Australia making this dance cover from fellow German group Interactive the first version of this track to become a success here. The best-known version of this track came eleven years later when Youth group scored a huge success with their cover, although their take was more akin to a trip down memory lane.

Aah contractual obligations, they make you do things you would otherwise never dream of doing such as forcing you to reunite with a band that were best known for kiddie pop a decade prior to getting back together with them. This was the fate that New edition found themselves in this year as they were forced to finish their contract by releasing an album this year which spawned this big hit for them in Australia and NZ.

Although this was an E.P from Spiderbait, the success of its title track ensured that they were able to score a hit from their third album Ivy and the big apples this year. Like many of their songs, this is a rather short track which is perhaps why the band felt it necessary to bundle it in an E.P as they felt they needed to give audiences their money's worth when buying a single from them.

While it wasn't the lead single to her indie album Impossible princess (that would be "Some kind of bliss") this was the big hit from the album which no doubt led to it being a huge success here. Despite winning over the alternative scene with this album, Kylie felt like she needed to return to form which resulted in her doing just that with her next album Light years.

For those who didn't know, Tamara Jabber was the main vocalist for the Popstars group Scandal'us, meaning that this was the song she released following the group's demise from earlier in the decade. I guess she wanted to present herself as the more sexually charged version of Sophie Monk on this track, this did somewhat pay off as it was a bit hit for her but only for this one song.

This was Live's only hit in Australia, although many of their songs remain staples on the alternative and oldies stations to this day due to how inescapable their albums were this decade. This was the song that made their album Throwing copper a huge success as the album was released the previous year to minimal success, Triple J prevails once again in making a huge success for an alternative band.

Faithless were a British trio who scored a massive hit this year with a song that was originally released two years prior, heck it took a year for this EDM track to find success in their native UK as it was a hit the previous year for them in their homeland. While it's road to success was admittedly a circuitous one, it was inevitable considering that EDM was still very much the in genre of choice in Australia.

Billed as the world's first digital supergroup, we have this CGI nightmare scoring a massive worldwide hit thanks to the novelty of their existence as well as it being an update of the popular Greek track from the 60's which I'm sure many older audiences were having fond nostalgia for as the decade was coming to an end.

It looked like Mandy Moore would be one of the leading forces of the teen pop era going into the new millennium, unfortunately for her and many of her contemporaries, the sub-genre would quickly become uncool by the end of the following year which prevented her from having many other hits like the ones she has on this list. Still, I don't think she minds that didn't happen given how she's distanced herself from this music.

Well just look at that cover art, this was what was sold to us Aussies back in the day as the "censored" cover art was just the same girl in the same outfit but with her whole body on it and her face looking at the viewer. Thankfully the song isn't as egregious as it's a nu metal track about a girl the narrator has the hots for, I'm not even sure why the woman on the cover is dressed as a cop seeing as though she isn't literally one in the lyrics.

I did mention that this was a commercial disappointment earlier on this list, however that didn't mean this lead single to Meteora was a flop here in Australia given how it managed to rack up enough points to appear on this list of mine. Still, I don't remember hearing this much on the radio back in the day, certainly not compared to the other songs on the album especially their earlier entry.

Apparently, this song was meant to be an endorsement for the hotel chain, however they were so unimpressed with this endorsement that they insisted on Chingy altering the name of the track so as to not have a direct affiliation with their brand. Here he recruits Snoop Dogg and Ludacris who are two rappers who are quite known for taking on any project for the pay check which likely led to the hotel's lack of flattery.

This was the final hit that the Offspring were able to achieve in their career worldwide, I'm guessing it was due to the video which showcased lead singer Dexter Holland in what appears to be an homage to the CGI series Reboot which likely sparked nostalgia for audiences at the time given how their debut album came out the same time that show premiered. I guess there are worse ways one's popularity can die in the music scene.

I don't know what took this track so long to find success here in Australia, after all it was a massive success for House of pain the previous year in their native America and it's since become a sporting anthem as well as an unofficial anthem for Irish immigrants worldwide. Rapper Everlast would go on to have solo success later in the decade with his hit single "What it's like."

I guess we Aussies were eventually won over with their only being three members of Eternal as they were able to score a second hit here with this track, although it could be their contribution to Disney's Hunchback of Notre dame which won us over despite "Someday" being a massive flop here. In any case, they scored one more hit later in the decade with "I wanna be the only one" before calling it quits.

There was this weird trend in 2000 where a song would debut high and then retreat to the lower half of our charts soon after, this is one of those songs which is weird as it's the third single from Killing Heidi's debut album (technically fourth as "Leave me alone" was bundled with "Mascara.") Although this was the band's final hit here, they did achieve minor success with their next two albums.

Well, this was the song which made Powderfinger the household name they would become throughout the 00's, like I said on the NZ side of my site, this debuted really high on our charts only to retreat to the lower half of our charts shortly after its release likely in favour of strong album sales from Odyssey no 5. To this day, this remains a staple not just on the radio but in every commercial you can conceive down under.

Oh look, another song that debuted high on our charts but only became a success due to lingering on the lower half of our charts for quite some time. This time it's the first of two songs Kylie released from her greatest hits package from 2004 which remains the final project she's released to date to find any sort of success, although this does feel like a missing track from her (then) most recent album Body language.

So much for Metallica pissing off their fans for selling out, although I guess that's more an American issue as here in Australia they were as popular as ever given how their lead single to Reload was a hit for them.

I debated on whether this was a fan single given how quickly it fell off our charts upon its initial release, however I granted it mercy as it's the final taste of success that MJ had in his lifetime even if many like to pretend that his final hit was with "Blood on the dance floor" from four years prior.

Although it did come close to making this list, I consider "I begin to wonder" to be too much of a fan single for it to be worth featuring on this list. The same isn't the case for Dannii Minogue's final hit as it lasted for quite some time on our charts due to how much catchier it was then that other single.

Although it wasn’t an instant success here in Australia like it was over in NZ, we Aussies were intrigued enough with this lead single to the Spin doctor's debut album that we allowed it to chart for quite some time on our charts back in the day. Heck, it didn't even rebound when "Two princes" from earlier on this list was released and became an instant success for the band here.

Well, you know a song is bumping when it's able to crossover to Australia despite it being a hip hop track and having some casual misogyny in the third verse, although when it comes to sexism this is quite tame for Snoop Dogg considering how much worse his later material would be towards women. Indeed, we Aussies wouldn't give him another hit until "Beautiful" nine years later which is the antithesis of his 90's tracks.

This was another double feature that was available in the late 90's, this time we have two songs from Steos which were bundled together to boost the popularity of the band right as the decade was coming to an end. The first track was a song tailor made to get to number one in their native UK for the Christmas period (it worked of course) the second was their cover of the Bee gees classic from 1979.

During the midpoint of the decade, INXS decided to host a competition on who would be their lead vocalist given how Jon Stevens (who replaced Michael Hutchence after his tragic death in 1997) left the group to pursue other interests. They landed on Canadian singer JD Fortune who scored a hit with the band with this track likely due to them turning the competition into a reality series around this time.

This was the only hit that American singer Amerie was able to achieve not just in Australia but anywhere in the world, I guess she was unable to compete with the likes of Ashanti and Ciara in the realms of female RNB save for this one hit which showcases a provocative side of her that few could ignore. It's a pity that she wasn't bigger because I personally think she had the best voice of these three I mentioned.

This is one of those songs that definitely needed to rely on the nostalgia of an older track in order to be a success, in this case it's the 1984 horror classic "Somebody's watching me" which takes the chorus of that track and makes a dance remix out of it complete with new vocals from Emel Aykanat to replace the king of pop's vocals. All of this to say that the song was a huge success here and throughout Europe for DJ Bobo.

This was somewhat a return to form for Metallica, at least sound wise it was as this is their take on an old Bob Seger track long before the singer/songwriter became a household name with the likes of "Hollywood" or "We've got tonight." It was a sign of good things to come for the band, although aside from a live album with a symphonic orchestra, what came next is something their fanbase doesn't like to acknowledge.

This was the debut single for Vanessa Amorosi, it's a more conventional teen pop song about how she realises what a nasty person she was in a relationship only after her ex has moved onto someone else. She was only young at the time, so I feel that she gets a pass for having this as her debut when the rest of her early catalogue is far more mature.

To think this parody of the Angels classic from 1976 was as successful as the live recording of that song from 1988, then again, we Aussies in the mid 00's didn't seem particularly interested in finding the new timeless classic given how this doesn't feel too much out of the ordinary when going through the charts back then. In case you're wondering, Reg Reagan was the alter ego of a football star Matty Johns.

This was the debut single for Brandy, an RNB singer who would have more success internationally than she did here due to RNB not being among the most popular genres of the decade here. That said, her popularity was decently big down under and even carried over into the 00's likely due to her strong vocals which were impressive around this time considering she was only in her mid-teens.

This was the fourth single to come from Don't ask, and it became a bit of a surprise hit for Tina given how the third single "Heaven help my heart" underperformed here earlier in the year. I'm guessing this was the ballad which made the album an international success as said album peaked around the same time this was released as a single.

Well, it's about time I feature the Oscar winning ballad that Madonna sung in the theatrical adaptation of Evita on this site, indeed this was the lead single from the soundtrack given how the song was written specifically for the film in order to win that academy award for her and Andrew Lloyd Webber. It's largely been overshadowed these days due to the success of her rendition of "Don't cry for me Argentina."

*Also consider this a tie with "Don't cry for me Argentina" on my Madonna ranking as I'm not interested in updating that list for the sake of this song's inclusion.*

Well, it was only inevitable I would feature one of the songs from Hole's sellout album Celebrity skin on this list, although I'm more familiar with the title track even though that definitely had no chance of appearing on this list even with my rules relaxed for said list. I guess we Aussies were a bit conflicted on whether we approved of their pop direction with the album and its singles.

This feels like a passing the torch moment as it was not only the second big hit that Enrique Iglesias was able to achieve here in Australia, but also it was the final hit that Whitney Houston had in her lifetime as the 00's wouldn't be so kind to her given the personal drama in her life. It was a fitting end to her popularity given how much chemistry she has with the Latin crooner on this ballad.

This was the final hit to come from Jennifer Love Hewitt here in Australia, it was as such thanks to this being an excellent time for female singer/songwriters even though both of her hits in the 00's were written by Meredith Brooks as opposed to her contemporaries who wrote their own songs. I guess the songs written by the woman who wrote "Bitch" is why I have a soft spot for these tracks.

This was the only hit that the American trio Brownstone were able to achieve here in Australia, likely due to it being a huge success in the UK which admittedly seems to be how a lot of RNB jams managed to make it big throughout the 90's down under. I feel that these girls were the more successful versions of SWV here as that trio never managed to find much success even with their worldwide hit "Right here."

Well, this song's absence on this side of my site was certainly felt, wasn't it? Here we are with the second single from Jagged little pill which was somewhat sidelined here in Australia back in the day likely due to the album taking off when it reached the upper echelons of our charts. I guess it was also due to it being her big breakthrough in NZ given how it was her biggest hit over there.

Given how Limp Bizkit was beginning to take the world by storm this year with their brand of nu metal, it was inevitable that we Aussies would have our own equivalent of that band in the form of 28 days who scored their one and only hit with this track that I'm sure most of us confused for the likes of Fred Durst. They would get sidelined once their American counterparts released their album Chocolate starfish and the hot dog flavoured water.

This was the theme to the first Spider man film from the Sam Raimi trilogy back in the day (before the Marvel universe existed) it played during the end credits of the film as do most of these songs that seem out of place with the films they were commissioned for. Although people often attribute this as a Nickelback track, it's actually a Chad Kroeger track that features the lead singer from a band known as Saliva.

This was the song that broke Evermore through into the Australian market given how their fellow kiwis largely ignored them back in the day even though NZ idol wasn't anywhere near as intrusive with their mainstream as what Australian idol was for ours. Indeed, I feel this would've been as big as their two hits from their second album here were it not for the reality show clogging up our charts when it came out.

Well, this is definitely a song whose absence on this site has been felt up until now, it gives me great pleasure that I can finally feature the debut single from the Killers on this list given how I remember this being completely inescapable back in the day despite its failure to compete with the Australian idol phenomenon here in Australia. This also barely failed to appear on the NZ side of my site, proving it was in fact overlooked back in the day.

This is the only other hit that Pete Murray managed to achieve in his career, although he was more of an album artist as his first three albums were all massive hits here which would explain the lack of success he had with his singles. Indeed, this was the lead single to his second album which did spawn the fan favourite "Opportunity" which became a huge hit on the radio the following year.

This was the debut single for the Counting crows, a band who would become more well known in the 00's for not one but two movie themes but originally began their career as an alternative rock band a decade prior to those hits. This was the first song to become popular in their native America despite not having a physical release over there, meaning that its popularity on Billboard can only be traced on their airplay charts.

It looks like the Divinyls were able to keep things together for one more album as this was the lead single for said album which came a good five years after their big international breakthrough form the start of the 90's, although it's worth noting this came out a full year prior to when the album was released which admittedly was fairly typical for the band throughout their career.

I wondered how this sex jam from Quad city DJs was able to become a hit here in Australia given how rarely this type of music crossed over here, then I remembered that these guys provided the theme to Space jam which likely encouraged us Aussies to get in with what was the fuss about this track. All I have to say about the lyrics is that they aren't referring to a choo choo train when talking about riding one.

We have another double entry on this list, this time it's from Tori Amos who managed to score a UK chart topper with both of these songs which allowed her to finally score a massive hit in Australia with both of these songs. Naturally both of these songs could've charted individually and likely would've still appeared on this list due to how popular they were for her.

There didn't seem to be any room for piano driven rock music in the late 90's, however Ben Folds Five proved otherwise as they managed to score a massive hit here in Australia with this track likely due to how well they were promoted on Triple J. This was their only hit here, although it remains one of the more popular tracks to come out of the second half of the decade from the rock scene.

Although it didn't spawn multiple hits like her second album did, Tina's third album did manage to spawn a huge single in the form of this gem which likely would've been even bigger here had it not been relegated to said album's third single over "If I didn't love you" which was a massive bomb for her here. It remains her final big hit here even though she's had varying degrees of success with her albums since.

Next were one of the more popular RNB groups of the 90's, even so I don't think they were expecting to score a hit in Australia with their Billboard chart topper due to how RNB had only recently become more popular here over the last few years. Indeed, the note for note cover that Blue made a few years later would be a bigger hit down under, although at least the original was a success this year.

Well, everybody's got to begin somewhere in the music industry, for Eminem it was this novelty track which serves as a literal introduction to his music given that the lyrics are about who he is as a person. This looked like it was going to trap him in the one hit wonder bin due to how much of a novelty it remains to this day, however his next album would become the first big seller hip hop album in the industry.

We have another contender for the boy band wars of the 90's, this time it's Taxiride who like Hanson and Ultra played their own instruments which helped them compete in the market for teenage girls who appreciated these types of musicians. This was their second single after the commercial disappointment of their first single "Get set," both of these songs being well remembered years after their relevancy died out.

Although this was released following the surprise success of "Fly away" from earlier on this list, this was in fact the second single from the Austin Powers Spy who shagged me soundtrack following "Beautiful stranger" which we also looked at earlier in this list. I guess we Aussies had bought both the soundtrack and Lenny's deluxe edition of 5 which both included this track to explain why it wasn't a bigger hit here.

This was the advanced single for Smash mouth's second album Astro lounge, although I feel this was more a success due to it being a cover of a Four seasons track which apparently was a popular thing to do around this time. This was the last song they released before they appeared on the Galaxy quest soundtrack with a song that has forever solidified them as a meme.

Named after the iconic female lead in the Terminator franchise, Sarah Connor (real name Sarah Lewe) managed to score a moderate success this year here in Australia with this female empowerment track about how she's fed up with the poor treatment she's received from her partner. It was only a modest success throughout Europe as well, making you wonder how we Aussies even came across this track.

This is the final hit that Hilary Duff has had in her career as of this writing, it was the second single from her greatest hits package Most wanted which received heavy criticism at the time due to being a greatest hits package that was released two years after her first hit "Why not" from the Lizzie McGuire soundtrack.

This took a while to take off here in Australia, likely because this came out a year after the Use your illusion albums were released and thus had its success eaten up by strong album sales. We Aussies eventually made this a success largely due to its refusal to die on our charts much like the other singles that the band released from the album.

This was the only hit that Tasmin Archer had in her career (fun fact, that's her real birth name and not a stage name she chose for herself.) Despite it being a huge chart topper in her native UK, it took a while for this to take off here in Australia, hence why the RNB ballad failed to rack up the points to appear on one of my lists but was regardless a genuine hit with us Aussies back in the day.

Well, this might be one of the most controversial songs of the decade, mainly because of the line "e's are good" in the chorus which is basically an endorsement for ecstasy. This was a huge UK chart topper, and it was blatantly promoting drug use, although considering it was part of the rave culture which is known for its violent participants, I think it's safe to say that the fact this song was a success at all was impressive.

(part of this song's success predates the OZ music charts, as such, I had to improvise with its placement on this list)

This was the third Billboard chart topper in a row for Mariah Carey, proving once again just how inescapable she was in America throughout the decade. Here it was a modest success for her as it's a cute enough ballad about how she's in love with the man of her dreams on this track, it could've been bigger here if the album wasn't already such a huge success, and our charts weren't solely based on capitalism.

Although this didn't last very long in our top twenty like their earlier entry did, this was the big hit that Shakaya had during their brief time together likely due to it being one of many songs to subvert the Cinderella cliche of waiting around for something positive to happen in your life (something that hasn't happened in ANY version of the fairytale, but I digress.) It also showcases the girls at their best both as singers and rappers.

I think this was meant to be the "Lose yourself" of 50 cent's autobiographical film Get rich or die trying, it was a hit worldwide likely due to the film being a box office success (even though it was panned by critics for being a rip-off of his mentor's film) but it didn't receive any accolades to my knowledge nor did it reach the dizzying heights of Eminem's Oscar winning ballad from earlier in the decade.

Although it failed to appear on this list, "Lifestyles of the rich and famous" was a big sleeper hit here in Australia that found most of its success in the lower half of the charts from the previous year. Their second single from their sophomore album proved to be more of an immediate hit here which also helped the album become a commercial success and put the band on the map of the emo rock scene.

This was the final hit that U2 had here in Australia, at least one I wouldn't consider a "fan hit" as "The saints are coming" with Green day quickly dropped off our charts here that I consider that to be as such. In any case, this was the lead single to their grammy winning album How to dismantle an atomic bomb which proved how well loved they were both critically and commercially in the mid 00's.

Ever wanted to hear a dance cover of one of Roxette's most personal ballads? Well, you're in luck as Belgian duo DHT did just that when they released their cover of the 80's classic which became a massive sleeper hit here in Australia upon its initial release. Apparently, there was a stripped back cover of the song as well, that would explain why it rebounded on our charts shortly after its release.

I guess ATB was able to score a second hit in his career with this follow up to his earlier entry on this list, although I say that knowing full well that many struggle to differentiate this with "9PM" given how similar the two songs are to each other. I guess that explains why this was more of a sleeper hit here in Australia rather than a genuine mainstream success like that song was.

This was another song that was a bit late to the party here in Australia given how it was an RNB jam, although it was a hit here even if it wasn't as big as it was in NZ and Kandi's native America. This is a cheating anthem that she justifies by having her cheat due to her partner cheating on her, it tends to divide people on whether it's an empowerment anthem or something akin to Rupert Holme's "Escape."

Although this will be his only appearance on this site, it's worth noting that "Gotta get thru this" was a modest success here in Australia the previous year for Daniel Bedingfield even if it wasn't as big as it was in his native UK or even in America. This was more of a sleeper hit for him here hence its low placement on this list, however it was a success due to it being a ballad about how he's confused about someone's rejection of him.

It's a bit understandable that this wasn't as big a hit here in Australia for Evanescence as their earlier entry on this list, after all their album was a massive success already and this wasn't as much of an earworm as their other big hit nor was it radically different like the third single from the album "My immortal" which was also a monstrous hit the following year here and throughout the world.

This was released as the first single from Celine's album of the same name here in Australia as opposed to her top entry on this list which was the lead single over in America this year, I'm guessing we Aussies weren't as excited for the album at first given how this was only a modest success for her and that she needed her appearance from the summer Olympics for her top entry to be a success down under.

This was the last hit that Living end scored in Australia for quite some time, I get the feeling they were the victims of digital piracy throughout the 00's as their next hit wouldn't come until "White noise" almost a decade later when digital downloads were well and truly legal in Australia. This was the third single from their debut album, which is why it managed to become a hit this year.

It's hard to think that this was the first hit that Nelly had here in Australia, admittedly his earlier entry on this list was released as the second single from his album after its title track, however it only became a hit due to its inclusion in the second Scary movie film. This on the other hand was a success upon its immediate release down under, meaning this was the song that won us over to Nelly's music.

Well, I didn't think I'd be including this divisive song on this list given how it struggled to crack the top twenty on ARIA upon its initial release, such is the advantage of the Oz music charts as they combined took into account how this nearly cracked the AMR top ten which allowed it a placement on this list of mine. The only other thing I have to say about this debut single from Jet is that contrary to popular belief, it wasn't created specifically to sell iPods as it existed a year prior to when Apple used this as its theme song.

Pauline Henry was the lead singer of the short-lived Scottish band the Chimes from the start of the decade, they were decently successful worldwide but went their separate ways due to it not being among the biggest albums of its time. Here she branches out on her own with a cover of a Bad company track that proved to be a hit here in Australia despite the original flopping nearly two decades prior.

It appears there were two different versions of the Jennifer Rush track to become a hit this year in Australia, although this version from Italian singer Beverly Skeete was an EDM rendition as opposed to Celine Dion's take from earlier on this list so it's not like there was any mistaking the two versions of the track.

Well, this was a surprise hit here in Australia, mainly because nowhere else in the world was this British/American band able to score a hit other than with "I've been thinking about you" from the start of the decade. There wouldn't be any more surprise hits from these guys despite them never breaking up.

Max Sharam was a promising indie singer that Triple J heavily promoted on their station, although this was her only hit likely due to it placing very high on their second annual list in an attempt to bring her music to a wider audience. Her popularity was limited to her one and only album which wasn't a big success for her, although I'm not sure why she never recorded another album in her career.

Although Pocahontas nowadays has a bad reputation due to its historical inaccuracy when it comes to depicting the settlement of America, back then it was a critical and commercial success due to the admittedly gorgeous visuals as well as the soundtrack being well crafted including this theme song performed by both the titular character and Vanessa Williams which won it an academy award.

It may surprise you to learn that this was slightly more popular here in Australia than the lead single from a band who has the acronym of POT USA (well get to it in a minute.) I guess we were more amused by this track which appears to be about nonsense given that the video seems more like something you'd expect from SNL rather than from an alternative band during the height of 90's rock.

While this didn't have any chance in topping our charts like it did on Billboard and nearly did in NZ, this was regardless a huge success for Boyz II men here in Australia likely due to how influential they had become by the time it was released here. In a way, it's bizarre that this wasn't as big here as some of the other songs that were influences by the quartet that have already appeared on this list.

This was the breakthrough single for the Bloodhound gang, one of those comedy bands whose sense of humour is what I can charitably describe as an acquired taste. If your sense of humour lines up with theirs, then you'll likely have a ton of fun with their music and if it doesn't, it'll probably annoy you to no end. Unfortunately, my sense of humour doesn't line up with theirs, so you can guess how I feel about them.