Hey there, I thought I’d make a list ranking the longest charting singles from what I believe to be the most lucrative time in music history here in Australia. This list is fairly straight forward, each entry appears A: by how long they charted for and B: how well they did during their chart run. The only other thing is that the charts became somewhat redundant starting in 2007 where ARIA allowed for digital downloads which effectively removed the shelf life of each single. This means I’ve decided to include the chart runs of songs on the digital and single charts from this period to give an idea of how long a song would’ve lasted on the charts without this change whilst allowing songs that didn’t chart on the physical chart to appear on here as well.
I know these were two of the biggest names in music this decade, however I don’t think many people were expecting them to make a duet together and not only that, have it become a huge worldwide success like this wound up being for them. This somewhat killed Chris Norman’s career as Smokie never had another hit after this, Suzi fared a bit better as she did score one more hit with “Rock hard” in 1980.
1978 24 weeks
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.
1981 24 weeks
One of the most powerful scenes in cinematic history was when this song was playing over a massacre that took place throughout Vietnam, it took this completely innocent song about how beautiful the world was and flipped it to be the most cynical piece of irony you could imagine. The scene in question was what allowed this song to finally become a hit in Australia twenty years after its initial release.
1988 24 weeks
Last year there was Shaun Cassidy making it big in the mainstream, this year he seemed to be replaced with Leif Garrett in the realms of good-looking teenage boys looking to cash in on the female demographic of the day despite having vocals that aren’t on par with some of their less conventionally attractive counterparts. Here we have him covering a Beach boys track which was already mired in controversy for stealing its melody from a Chuck Berry track.
1977 24 weeks
From what I can gather, JoJo was the first artist born in the 90’s to have a hit single anywhere in the world, that’s impressive considering this is a song about a teenager essentially telling her partner to get out of her life for misleading her in the relationship in one of the cleverest ways possible. She does this by initially making this about how in love she is with them only to quickly turn it into her breaking up with them.
2004 24 weeks
Well, here’s a song that I’m sure would’ve been a huge chart topper on Billboard had MTV existed in the late 70’s, this is due to the video where female vocalist Leslie Maria wears an outfit that doesn’t exactly leave much to the imagination around her chest area. Fortunately, the song itself is a classic thanks to those dreamy keys used throughout its runtime as well as Leslie’s powerful vocals.
1979 24 weeks
It seems weird that this would be the bigger hit for 50 cent here in Australia than his second Billboard chart topper “21 questions” mainly because this was a song about how as he puts it is a motherf**king pimp which is why you shouldn’t mess with him. I guess we Aussies preferred him being confrontational rather than him being a romantic.
2003 24 weeks
Following the success he had with the Power station from the previous year, Robert Palmer released his album Riptide which was unfortunately all set to fail upon its initial release. He rescued the album from obscurity by filling the music video to this classic with what I can only describe as clones of Lilith Crane from Cheers as his backing band which in turn helped this song top the Billboard charts for him.
1986 24 weeks
Hey, remember when censorship was considered a bad thing in the Mainstream media? Here we have the Clash scoring their biggest hit with a song that was critical of censorship in the middle east, complete with a video that…. OK I guess they went a little too far with pushing the boundaries of good taste with that. In any case, this proved to be a huge success for the band including in America.
1982 24 weeks
“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.
2005 24 weeks
This was a bit of a sleeper hit in the band’s native UK, probably because the Brits already had too many teen pop groups and felt that Steps didn’t bring much new to the table. If you want to know how this became so huge in Australia, well we have the video to thank as the strange dance moves from the group inspired P.E teachers back in the day to include it in their dance routines which made this a surprise hit here.
1998 24 weeks
We looked at Kelly Rowland’s solo debut from earlier on this list, now let’s look at the song that introduced Beyonce as a solo artist which comes complete with a guest verse with her future husband Jay z who she’s obviously crazy in love with on this track. It feels weird that this wasn’t among the bigger hits of the year in Australia, mainly because I remember this being overplayed to hell and back.
2003 24 weeks
Boy howdy has this song being used in every ad you can think of over the years, it’s impossible to think that once upon a time it was a genuine hit single for this new wave band back in the day. I’m not sure why this was only a hit in Australia given how frequently I’ve seen it used in international media; I’m guessing audiences back then didn’t want to hear a song from a band who’s lead singer was also the drummer.
1980 24 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2008 24 weeks
This was a hit twice over the years throughout the world, of course we’ll be looking at the original success of this track which proved to be a massive comeback for the Four seasons following the surprise hit that Frankie Valli had the previous year with “My eyes adored you.” This was a hit likely due to it being close enough to disco for it to be played on the dance floors with other bangers from this year.
1976 24 weeks
This was one of several hits that Jam and Spoon were able to achieve here in Australia, although I should point out that their later material would have them change their name to Tokyo Ghetto Pussy likely to cash in on the anime craze that was beginning to become a thing this decade. Here they recruit American vocalist Plavka who gives a performance that’s very similar to that of what Madonna was doing at the time.
1994 24 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2008 24 weeks
It looked like that the Game would only produce one hit single for Queen, that changed when the band released this as the albums fourth single which thanks to its funky bassline, was able to become their second consecutive chart topper on Billboard as well as a massive hit throughout the rest of the world.
1980 24 weeks
Given how inescapable Jimmy Barnes was during the second half of the decade, it only makes sense that the other vocalist from Cold Chisel would follow in his footsteps and release his own album to prove that he was a worthy member of the pub rock band. Indeed, Ian Moss scored massive success with his first solo album largely thanks to its lead single which tells the story of a girl he’s in love with but also knows is bad for him.
1989 24 weeks
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.
2005 24 weeks
This was the final hit single that Taylor Dayne managed to achieve in her career, hey if you’re time was going to be up regardless of what you did, why not go out with a bang that is a cover of a Barry White track? This proved to be a huge success for her here in Australia, likely as penance for us ignoring the original back in the day but also likely due to us wanting to give her one final hit before she inevitably faded into obscurity.
1993 24 weeks
This was the biggest hit that Huey Lewis and the News had in most parts of the world, granted their theme from Back to the future was also huge but this ended up being a bigger hit for them likely due to the production as well as how lovestruck Huey seems to be on this track. This in turn led the album Fore to be a huge success for them outside of America.
1986 24 weeks
Kiss were on a roll when they released their second single from Dynasty, this is despite the backlash they received from their original fans claiming that they sold out for a more mainstream audience. True the lyrics and compositions aren’t as complex as their earlier material, however they still had plenty of energy to their tracks which is why they were able to find massive success with this material.
1979 24 weeks
This was the biggest hit that Snap was able to achieve in their career, although there’s a bit of minor controversy with this song as it contains the line “I’m serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer” which rubbed people the wrong way upon its initial release. That didn’t prevent the song from being a massive success for the German band, although it would prove to be their last hit in certain places.
1992 24 weeks
One of the few Australian disco artists to find success back in the day, we have British born Christie Allen scoring the first of two big hits from her debut album due to her unique vocals as well as how irresistibly catchy the disco beat was on her songs. This was a hit during the final months of the 70’s, proving that the disco backlash had little to no impact on the Australian music scene.
1979 24 weeks
The last time Kim Wilde had any impact on the Australian charts was with her cover of the Supremes “You keep me hanging on,” so to see her return to the mainstream with a cover of the Yvonne Elliman classic from the Saturday night fever soundtrack was a welcome surprise for her fans. This was released in conjunction with her greatest hits package which was also a decently huge success for her here.
1993 24 weeks
In most parts of the world, Robbie Nevil is a one hit wonder with “C’est la vie” likely due to audiences only connecting with the one song from him and none of his other tracks. In Australia, he scored a second hit with this track where he expresses a desire to be with someone he finds inspirational, this helping him escape the one hit wonder bin down under with a song twice as big as his previous entry to boot.
1991 24 weeks
This is a song whose popularity came right the heck out of nowhere, I’m guessing because it was the first time many people heard of a song from a female perspective sung by a man. The novelty of this allowed the song to be a massive worldwide success for White town, although it also sadly had novelty written all over it as they failed to find any success with their other singles and faded into obscurity.
1997 24 weeks
Given how inescapably popular Usher was quickly becoming throughout the world, it only makes sense there would be a British equivalent which came in the form of Craig David. This was his second single from his debut album and by far the biggest on said album here in Australia, mainly because it has a gimmick of detailing his sexual escapades on each day of the week hence the name of the song.
2000 24 weeks
Before Orange is the new black became the definitive program about a women’s prison, there was Prisoner which aired in Australia from 1979 to 1986 and was a huge critical and commercial success due to the themes explored in each episode (again similar to how they’re explored in the Netflix series.) As such the theme song became a huge success whenever the show premiered around the world, originally this year in Australia, in 1981 in NZ and 1989 in the UK.
1979 24 weeks
This was the first major hit that Blondie had anywhere in the world, although legend has it that “X offender” was meant to be the huge hit from their debut album in Australia only for it to be this ballad instead due to it being played instead of that track on Countdown. It became a hit regardless proving that we Aussies were willing to allow any song from the album to be a huge success here.
1977 24 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 24 weeks
This was another two for one deal from Nelly here in Australia (apologies for the lack of album art for “Flap your wings”) as this serves as the lead single to his two albums Suit and Sweat which showcase two sides of the rapper from around this time. I remember “My place” being the big hit from around this time, although “Flap your wings” also remains fondly remembered to this day by his fans.
2004 24 weeks
Even though their album Angel dust was already a huge success here in Australia, it was this cover of the Commodores classic that made Faith no more a household name for the second album in a row due to how well it did on our charts. In all honestly, I could never tell these two songs apart despite knowing that this has a more rock sound to it as opposed to the original which was more RNB leaning.
1993 24 weeks
I always felt that Eruption was just Boney M under a different name given how similar the British band sounded to their German counterparts, as it turns out both of their biggest hits were produced by Frank Farian, so my assumption wasn’t far off from the truth after all. This was the bigger hit that the group had thanks to vocalist Precious Wilson giving a well, precious performance of the Ann Peebles number.
1978 24 weeks
This was the second act that John Waite managed to find success with here in Australia, the other one being the Babys from back in the 70’s as well as him finding solo success during the mid 80’s. Even with his name being well familiar with the average Australian, it appears this song was a bit delayed with its release here as it came out months after it already topped the Billboard charts for the super group.
1989 24 weeks
As far as I can tell, this was a duo who scored a massive hit with this disco number before going their separate ways when they failed to score another hit, they weren’t even a couple so I can’t even say it was due to a rocky personal relationship which drove them apart. At least they managed to score a big hit before they both forever faded into obscurity.
1978 24 weeks
This was originally released in 1999 to deafening silence worldwide, I’m guessing because it has one of the most messed up videos of all time that was likely inspired by the cartoon series Angela Anaconda (anyone remember that show?) as well as it being little than Fatman Scoop shouting throughout the track. It was given a second chance towards the end of last year where it became a worldwide smash.
2003 24 weeks
This was the theme to the popular British animated film Watership down, a film that’s become infamous over the years for its depiction of gore in what’s otherwise meant to be a children’s film about rabbits escaping from captivity. The ballad touched the hearts of audiences worldwide, so much so that Art Garfunkel decided to include it on his album Fate for breakfast which proved to be a massive success for him.
1979 24 weeks
It seems odd that David Essex would score massive success with his pop ballads during the midpoint of the decade when his first hit “Rock on” is more in line with the art pop that would be a huge success for the likes of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush in their respective careers. This was his biggest hit down under likely due to how sickly sweet he comes off on this track, again a far cry from his debut single.
1975 24 weeks
You better believe this song managed to become a huge hit in Australia and NZ with this cover to promote the song, that should tell you how well loved this breakthrough single is for Canadian band Loverboy and how it’s endured over the years as an oldie classic. Their big breakthrough in America was their next big hit “Working for the weekend” which sadly didn’t do as well in the southern hemisphere.
1981 24 weeks
Following the success of their earlier entry on this list, we have this track which was originally released as a standalone single before being included on their live album a few years later due to how explosive of a performance they gave during live shows. This no doubt led to them having massive success in their native UK for the next fifteen years and even success here in Australia for the rest of the decade.
1975 24 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2008 24 weeks
This was a happy ending for Jenny Morris’s career given how she had struggled to score a hit throughout the 80’s and finally achieved massive success just as the decade was coming to an end here and in her native NZ. Here she sings about how this woman (presumably herself in the third person) needs to be treated with love and respect from however she’s singing to, and it happened to be well appreciated by audiences of the time.
1989 24 weeks
Well, if fulfilling their record label’s wishes involved making this note for note cover of the Elvis Presley track, then I can understand why these guys weren’t too thrilled with selling out this year as this is certainly a far cry from their earlier material from the start of the decade. That said, it appears there were plenty of us Aussies who appreciated this update to the Elvis classic as it became a huge hit for them.
1988 24 weeks
One of the most popular TV shows of the decade was Friends (stylised as F.R.I.E.N.D.S) a show about a group of twenty something year olds navigating their day-to-day life in New York while dealing with a variety of interesting storylines in their respective lives (so basically a 90’s version of How I met your mother.) This show was well received back in the day and even spawned a hugely popular theme song that became a massive hit.
1996 24 weeks
This was originally an album track on N sync’s third and final album Celebrity, as such there wasn’t chance of the original becoming a hit for the boy band which wasn’t good because the album had failed to produce a hit for them due to it being the end of the boy band wars in America. They decided to get Nelly to contribute a guest verse for the remix which allowed it to become a massive hit for them.
2002 24 weeks
This was the one and only hit for the protegee of Pras Michel, this was a surprisingly good year for artists discovered by former members of the Fugees between this guy and City High from earlier on this list. Pras himself provides a guest verse on this RNB track which apparently wasn’t meant to be the case originally as this was meant to be a standalone singer for the rising RNB singer.
2001 24 weeks
There were three different occasions when John Waite saw massive success in Australia, this band was by far the most successful of these occasions as it not only gave him his biggest hit in the form of this classic but also allowed him to score a second hit the following year. Like many successful British bands who made it big in America, these guys weren’t so lucky in their homeland.
1978 24 weeks
Oh, wow you couldn’t release this song nowadays, heck I think even back then this was a controversial song as it implies that Joe Tex has had such bad luck with heavier women on the dance floor that this feels more like a protest anthem against him dancing with them than anything else. I don’t think he cares about what people think of this track considering he’s been dead since the early 80’s.
1977 24 weeks
This was the second and final hit that this Australian sister duo had in their career, I think it was a hit as well as their final hit due to the chorus reminding people of “Little red corvette” back in the day and them being divided on whether that’s a good thing or not (it certainly reminds me of the track which is an excellent thing in my book.) They would eventually be replaced with the Veronicas in the music industry.
2000 24 weeks
This was the other big hit that Diana King managed to achieve in her career that was tied to a Hollywood film, this time we have the theme to My best friend’s wedding which is a film about how Julia Roberts has to fight over Cameron Diaz over a guy she’s known since childhood and was hoping to be the man of her dreams (it’s much better than I’m making it sound.) Of course, this was going to be a hit regardless due to it being a cover of a Dionne Warwick staple.
1997 24 weeks
This was the first solo hit from Daryl Braithwaite in his career, suffice to say it’s quite different from the more mature tracks that he would become known for during the late 80’s and early 90’s. What’s interesting is that this was his first number one hit both solo and with Sherbet, meaning that he didn’t have any chart toppers prior to Countdown promoting his music.
1974 24 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2006 24 weeks
This was one of only two hits that Ne-Yo had in Australia throughout the 00’s, the other was “Closer” from two years later which was more upbeat than this track which is a slow RNB ballad about his complicated feelings he has in a relationship he’s in. He was much more popular in NZ and especially his native America where he scored multiple other hits in both countries in addition to these two.
2006 24 weeks
Given how she finally managed to score some much-needed success from her debut album with her earlier entry on this list, it appears that Sheryl Crow no longer had any issues with finding success with said album as this second single managed to be a huge hit for her here in Australia. This has a feel of a Fleetwood Mac track which is perhaps why she managed to connect with audiences here.
1995 24 weeks
Aerosmith are known for their sentimental side in their music; however, it seems surprising that their only two big hits here were with ballads considering how well remembered they remain to this day down under. Here we have the first of their two chart toppers which tells the story about the titular Janie and how she went insane after a rocky relationship with her partner and how she shot him.
1989 24 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2006 24 weeks
Even though they were among the most popular bands going into the 80’s, Dr Hook’s popularity in Australia was quickly diminishing save for this upbeat ballad which managed to become a hit for them around the time they released their greatest hits package. They did score a second hit later in the year (which we’ll get to) proving that their time in the spotlight wasn’t quite over yet here.
1981 24 weeks
Well, here’s a song that requires a certain level of arrogance from the performer in question, I guess this follows in the footsteps of Adam and the Ants as they too entered a new decade with a song about how awesome their music was. Hilariously this was Guru Josh’s only hit single throughout the world, although this did receive a popular remix in 2008 which technically helped him escape the one hit wonder bin.
1990 24 weeks
This was a rare hit from a Canadian band to be a hit in their homeland, I’m guessing this was due to the presence of Bryan Adams who provides backing vocals to this track. This was able to crossover to America and eventually Australia due to it sounding like something from Reckless, although this was the only notable success that Glass tiger managed to achieve outside of their homeland.
1986 24 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2008 24 weeks
It seemed like Suzi Quatro would be here to stay in the Australian music scene given how her second single from her sophomore album became a huge success for her, alas it wasn’t meant to be as her third album was a huge flop later in the year and she would only occasionally see success throughout the rest of the decade with her songs. I’m not sure why the Australian public turned on her the way we did.
1974 24 weeks
If you think that Australians being in Eurovision is a recent phenomenon, then think again as Gina G was based in Australia before she was approached by the UK comity of Eurovision to have her represent them this year with this EDM track of hers. While this didn’t win the competition (it only came in eighth) it was by far the biggest hit from the show and even allowed her to crossover to America.
1996 24 weeks
Although their other big hit from this time left these guys as an international one hit wonder, they were able to score a second hit with this song due to the video being filmed while they were on their Australian tour. This no doubt led the song to be even bigger here than their earlier hit, although it did their albums no favours as it unfortunately crashed and burned here like it did everywhere else.
1985 24 weeks
This is the second and final hit to come from Geri Halliwell, it serves as the lead single to both her second album and the Bridget Jones’ diary soundtrack given how it’s a cover of the Weather girls classic that recaptures the camp nature of the original. This was the last hit to come from any member of the Spice girls as none of their other material would touch the charts once this fell off.
2001 24 weeks
While this wasn’t the song to come from the Eurogliders, it was their first hit due to them asking the question of whether or not heaven actually exists. This isn’t like Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a place on earth” where it’s a metaphorical heaven, but rather if heaven is real which makes this a song about questioning one’s faith in religion. That combined with how catchy this is helped make this song a hit for the band.
1984 24 weeks
One of the more promising Australian acts of the decade was Bachelor girl, a duo who scored their first hit with a song about how falling in love with a boy was the same thing as being brutally murdered in different ways. OK so it’s dead simple to make fun of this song, however few have (to my knowledge at least) due to how heartfelt the vocals are as well as this being a staple of the 90’s sound.
1998 24 weeks
It appears that these guys had redeemed themselves for their “joke” song about the Doctor Who fandom from the late 80’s, now they’re one of the most well respected EDM groups who scored a massive worldwide hit with this live rendition of one of their earlier tracks that flopped due to them being seen as a novelty act. This led to them having a highly successful album that spawned multiple hits for them.
1991 24 weeks
This was the only hit single that Melissa Manchester was able to achieve in Australia, although at least it’s a bouncy love ballad about how she’s letting the narrator know that there’s a woman who’s clearly into them. I’m not sure how this managed to crossover for her considering the other hits she’s had in her native America; however, I’m not exactly complaining about its success here.
1982 24 weeks
This was the biggest hit that Barry Manilow managed to score in Australia, although it’s worth noting that aside from “Copacabana” (which we’ll get to on this list) none of his biggest hits were original compositions form him despite him being a renowned songwriter. I guess he still had plenty of success during a decade that was known to be kind to music that has been categorised as for soccer mums.
1978 24 weeks
This was the second single from Avril Lavigne’s third album, it’s a ballad that wouldn’t sound out of place on her first two albums which suggests she released it to reassure her older fans that not everything on the album would be like her earlier entry on this list. It was a massive hit for her here in Australia and in certain parts of the world, although other parts wanted her to stick to her new direction.
2007 24 weeks
Well, I suppose that this song’s popularity wasn’t that surprising considering how Good Charlotte were able to make it big with their brand of emo earlier in the decade, although I never minded those guys unlike Simple plan who I’ve never liked even back in the day. In any case, we have this song from their first album which took a while to take off here but was a massive success once it did.
2004 24 weeks
There’s been much confusion as to what this song is actually about, it’s not an endorsement of being an American but rather a laundry list of all the atrocities the American government has done to both its citizens and the people of the world. It remains one of the most politically charged songs to ever become a hit throughout the world, although I doubt many of the people who love it even realise its message.
1985 24 weeks
This was a song whose success was very late in Australia, namely because it was already a huge chart topper in NZ six months prior to when this finally caught on here for the Dutch group Time bandits. Although we were late to catch onto their music, we made up for that by giving them a second hit with “Endless road” which became as such due to the band filming the video here while they were on tour.
1984 24 weeks
I read an old news column once that stated that the three nephews of MJ would embark on a music career once the first generation of the Jackson music dynasty aged out of the music scene. Obviously, this column was joking, however it appears that Tito was serious about pushing his sons into the music scene as they managed to score quite a number of hits in the UK of all places with their RNB ballads.
1996 24 weeks
Well, this is one of those story ballads that leaves you feeling hollow inside, we have the tale of a wife of a missionary who one day finds her husband has left for a mission only for him to never return home despite reassurances from the air force that he would be back one day. The way Kim delivers the story leaves me in tears every time, almost as if she was speaking on behalf of someone she knew who was going through this dilemma.
1981 24 weeks
Man staying positive on this site has been a challenge for me, I guess one thing I can say in this songs favour is that Collette does seem like a better fit for the lyrics over Anita Ward, although that’s about it. This was her one and only hit in Australia and her native NZ, meaning that this is an example of a one hit wonder covering a one hit wonder as opposed to Pseudo echo who were massive here.
1989 24 weeks
It had been almost a full decade since Manfred Mann saw any success on the charts, so here he is with his second band, Manfred Mann’s earth band (wow, creative name) scoring massive success worldwide with this staple on oldies stations. This was able to give him a comeback as it helped the album it came from become a moderate success as well as this topping the Billboard charts.
1976 24 weeks
This was originally written for a much younger performer to sing these lyrics, that makes sense as the lyrics are written in a way that suggests that the narrator is more than a little naïve to the concept of sex. Confident though she may be on this track, Anita Ward was nonetheless able to take the world by storm with her one and only hit likely because of how titillating she comes off on the track which I’m sure turned audiences on.
1979 24 weeks
This was the second single from Bomfunk MC to make it big worldwide, it’s more or less like their earlier entry on this list only without the bizarre music video or the shout out to Smokie that the radio somehow missed had an f-bomb in. There’s not much I can say about this song, it was a hit for the band that didn’t lead them to have any further success.
2000 24 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2006 24 weeks
These guys will unfortunately be forever remembered for their 1997 album which many regard as one of the worst albums ever made, eight years prior they scored a massive success with their debut album with its lead single due to it being a country ballad that connected with audiences as the 80’s was coming to an end. They would fade into obscurity going into the 90’s until their infamous comeback.
1989 24 weeks
OK I’m giving you a three for one deal with this entry, mainly because all of these songs charted separately in the UK despite them being bundled as one entry here in Australia. I’m guessing this was done to allow these guys to have at least one hit single here, although “Cherish” was the song that was marketed as the lead single despite it being one of their cheesiest songs in their entire discography.
1985 24 weeks
This was the final hit that TLC were able to achieve in most parts of the world, and if their earlier entry was this albums equivalent of “Creep” from their previous album, then this was the albums equivalent of “Waterfalls” as this was a self-empowerment anthem meant to uplift the spirits of those who were feeling down when listening to it. Sadly, this would be it for the girls as Left eye Lopez would die in a car accident in 2002.
1999 24 weeks
Even though he saw sleeper success earlier in the decade with Piano man and its title track, this was the first hit single that Billy Joel was able to achieve in Australia and in most parts of the world due to him reassuring audiences that they were perfect the way they were and that they didn’t need to change for anyone. I feel like if this were released in modern times it would be one of the biggest hits of all time.
1978 24 weeks
This was the big hit off of Chris Isaak’s biggest album in Australia, as you can tell it’s very different from the songs he’s generally known for as he’s ditched his Roy Orbison impersonation in favour of something more tender for the 90’s folk scene. The second single from the album was “Baby did a bad bad thing,” a song that would become a hit much later in the decade due to its inclusion in Eyes wide shut.
1995 24 weeks
There weren’t a lot of successful British artists throughout the decade here in Australia, however Ronan Keating was a rare exception likely due to the good will he had during his time with Boyzone throughout the 90’s. Here he scored a massive hit with the second single from his solo debut (“When you say nothing at all” was technically the lead single) which was a huge hit for the Irish performer down under.
2000 24 weeks
This is the last song from Lady Gaga which didn’t have an over-the-top music video, sure you can make the argument that all of her videos are somewhat over the top, however at least her first four videos only had erratic choreography at worst and took place in relevantly normal situations. It’s a bit of a missed opportunity that this didn’t have her trademark imagery given the subject matter of the song.
2009 24 weeks
There were many early hits from the EDM scene that would explode throughout the 90’s, I think one of the earliest comes from this band who scored their only hit with this acid house track before calling it quits. Don’t ask me why they gave up after only one track, it was a common troupe for EDM artists throughout the 80’s and 90’s as we’ll see going through these lists.
1987 24 weeks
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.
1992 24 weeks
To think that this was Tiffany’s biggest hit here in Australia, or it would’ve been had her debut single (which is still to come) not being a huge sleeper hit this year due to the success of this second single. Apparently, this was the first song that Tiffany recorded in her career, and by that, I mean it should be obvious as compared to the rest of her album, she sounds completely terrified on this ballad.
1988 24 weeks
While the title for the most sexually explicit song from Enrique Iglesias will always go to “Tonight I’m loving you,” for a while there was a strong contender for this title track from Escape to take that prize as the lyrics have been criticised over the years for being very forward about Enrique’s intentions towards the person he’s singing to. It turns out this was the song that won over his long-time partner (who he’s never married) Anna Kournikova.
2002 24 weeks
This was the love theme for the third iteration of the A star is born franchise, a theme that was so popular that it won the Oscar for best original song at the academy awards despite the film being a critical disaster upon its initial release. I’m guessing it was this Oscar that made it a success worldwide as Barbra hadn’t had a hit since her previous Oscar win with “The way we were” from earlier in the decade.
1977 24 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 24 weeks
This was the only notable success for Berri, a British singer who initially flopped with this cover of an Elkie Brooks track in her native UK before finding success with a remix from the EDM group New Atlantic’s. This allowed the track to become a huge success here in Australia given how much we loved EDM this decade, although it flopped across Europe despite it being a huge hit in her homeland.
1995 24 weeks
This sounds like it came from 2 Unlimited which would make sense considering how successful the Dutch duo was this year, however it was actually a song from AB Logic who scored a hit with this here in Australia again likely due to us Aussies confusing this for a 2 unlimited track released under a pseudonym. Apparently, this did chart on Billboard the previous year, although it flopped due to being an EDM track.
1993 24 weeks
This was the second of two hits that this British disco group managed to achieve worldwide, although I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that this was Boney M considering how similar this is to the German bands catalogue. This is a cover of a Neil Sedaka track form the late 50’s, which would explain how simplistic the lyrics are even compared to some of the other disco tracks on this list.
1979 24 weeks
Given how MTV had taken over the mainstream, it only makes sense that this art rock track from Johnny Warman would be a huge success when it was. With that said, it’s little wonder that it hasn’t endured the test of time given how it seemed to be tailor made for the launch of the program and little else.
1981 24 weeks
I’ve heard people describe P!nk as little more as little more than an industry plant for the pop rock sphere to seem as real as possible despite being completely fake, to those people, I point them to this fourth and final single from her sophomore album which is about her coping with the divorce of her parents which greatly connected with people back in the day to allow it to be a huge hit for her.
2002 24 weeks
