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.
This was the only noticeable success that Dexy’s midnight runners had outside of their native UK (unfortunately “Geno” didn’t find success elsewhere despite it topping their charts) although I would’ve been dumbfounded if I found out this song failed back in the day due to how incessantly catchy it is as well as the Celtic instrumentation fitting in well with the surprising rise in popularity Celtic music was receiving at the time.
1982 22 weeks
While this was indeed an 80’s hit for the Buggles over in America, this was released just as the 70’s was winding down throughout the rest of the world making these two future members of Yes score their big breakthrough two years prior to when MTV launched by playing this music video as the first thing to appear on the channel when it launched.
1979 22 weeks
Well mashup singles were all the rage this decade, so why not have one of the final hit singles be a mashup from this British group? I guess the gimmick here was the band’s mascot which appears to be a (in my opinion) poorly drawn rabbit dancing around to this mashup in the video. Needless to say, this doesn’t rank among the more popular mashups of the day despite it easily being the biggest hit in this genre.
1989 22 weeks
This song and the album that it serves as the lead single to almost didn’t happen, mainly due to the girls needing to declare bankruptcy from their previous album despite how much of a success it was worldwide due to poor management of their earnings. Fortunately, the girls pulled through from that stumble and came back with what I and many others consider to be their best song.
1999 22 weeks
Well, I think we all need to spare a thought for Bob Marley with this entry, he only managed to achieve one hit single in Australia during his lifetime with “Is this love” and yet these kids from London England managed to score a hit here twice as popular as that classic with a similar subject matter to his usual topics of weed culture, sometimes life isn’t fair for certain people.
1982 22 weeks
The legends are true people, there was a remix of the Beverly Hills cop theme that was a massive hit during the midpoint of the 00’s from a CGI frog (although it looks more like an alien to me) complete with a video that even acknowledges how annoying this song is by having it be chased down by robots looking to destroy him. I guess if you’re into memes from early YouTube videos then this is the song and video for you.
2005 22 weeks
This cover of the Harry Chapin classic from eighteen years prior seems like a 180 for Ugly kid joe, mainly because their previous two singles “Everything about you” and especially “Neighbour” feel like they came from a band who seems to juvenile to pull of this track about the inner introspection a father goes through by watching his son grow up too quickly. That’s not to say the song is awful like many of the band’s detractors like to say, it’s just a weird move for them.
1993 22 weeks
This victory single came from by far the most controversial winner of Australian idol as Damien Leith wasn’t even an Australian citizen when he won the fourth season of the series, not helped is that his victory came at the expense of Jessica Mauboy who would’ve been the only aboriginal contestant to win the show.
2006 22 weeks
OK so this is a song that is problematic even at the time of its release, anyone who’s ever found themselves in the situation that goes on in the lyrics will tell you that it’s not a situation that should be glamourised the way it is on this track. Admittedly Mary quickly became aware of this as she has since distanced herself from this track even if it came at the expense of scoring another hit.
1977 22 weeks
This is a cover of one of the bigger hits from the 60’s by the Rooftop singers, I’m guessing these guys did this to further cement their change in music direction from the first half of the decade where they were a novelty act making joke songs written by Shel Silverstein. If they wanted to be taken seriously in the easy listening crowd, then they succeeded with flying colours as they achieved a ton of success with these ballads.
1977 22 weeks
This was the second single from Richard Marx’s sophomore album Repeat offender, an album which continued his popularity around the world despite many people nowadays dismissing him as the American equivalent of Bryan Adams. He would achieve further success in the 90’s when his Canadian counterpart returned to the spotlight, however his popularity would quickly dwindle as the decade went on.
1989 22 weeks
While I’m sure there were people at the time who considered this cover to be in poor taste given how Roxy music recorded and released this mere months after John Lennon’s assassination, they did make it clear that it was a tribute to the late Beatle and that they weren’t trying to cash in off his sudden death. This incidentally was the first hit the band had in Australia despite how big Bryan Ferry was in the 70’s.
1981 22 weeks
It’s easy to forget that this wasn’t the originally by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and instead by a long-forgotten band by the name of Arrows, I bring this up because Joan and company had no trouble making it their own despite initially having issues with marketing the track due to this being a time where genres seemed to matter for some reason. They overcame this issue and got a huge worldwide hit out of it.
1982 22 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2009 22 weeks
Well, I did promise myself and my readers I’ll be nice to each and every entry I talk about on this site, so I will say that this did get a chuckle out of me when it first came out even if that was because I was twelve years old at the time. No doubt this was the reason why this lead single to Encore and the album itself was a success for Eminem as many people felt it was a giant drop off in quality back in the day.
2004 22 weeks
This was released back in the day where Maroon 5 was a well-respected pop rock band and not a highly contentious project for the lead singer Adam Levine like they’ve become throughout the 2010’s (yeah, I’m not a fan of their later work.) Here we have their third single from their debut album which became their biggest hit of the decade here in Australia likely due to it being a love ballad towards a girl with low self-esteem.
2004 22 weeks
This was the third single to come from Thriller, and perhaps the song on the album which officially broke down the barrier’s musicians of colour had in the mainstream up until this point as it features a killer guitar solo from Eddie Van Halen in order to bring in the rock crowd. The music video is another masterpiece as is the one from his earlier entry on this list, but that’s of course a given.
1983 22 weeks
This was the lead single to BEP’s (that’s Black Eyed Peas for short) second album with Fergie, and it seems that she had more creative control over this project as we have her providing a chorus to how each of the original members would treat her which is further emphasised with the music video of them being in a reality show where she was the prize the members was trying to win.
2005 22 weeks
This was the only notable hit from Scottish lounge band Fairground attraction and let me tell you I for the longest time thought this was a 90’s hit given how out of place if feels on this year which itself feels like an early prototype of what was to come throughout that decade. This song’s legacy has thrived due to it being used in many commercials to this day.
1988 22 weeks
Although she achieved sound success earlier in the decade in Australia with her albums, it wasn’t until this bonus track from her live album that she finally managed to score a hit single here or for that matter anywhere in the world outside her native America. It’s easy to see how this connected with audiences, she really throws herself onto the track about navigating a complex relationship.
1983 22 weeks
This was the magnum opus for Heart’s discography as far as their singles are concerned, admittedly it’s one that received controversy over the years due to the story having a few problematic elements to it. If you’re like me, it’s best if you avoid reading too much into the lyrics and instead enjoy the track for its catchy instrumentation and some of Heart’s best vocal performances.
1990 22 weeks
This was the breakout single for Lindsey Buckingham which I can’t help but notice was released mere months after his partner from Fleetwood mac Stevie Nicks released her own album, though she had the more successful album of the two, Lindsey at least scored the bigger hit in both of their solo careers. I always found him to be checked out on this track due to how airy he and the production feels.
1981 22 weeks
Although Celine Dion had moderate success earlier in the decade with her theme to Disney’s Beauty and the beast, it wasn’t until she released her rendition of the Jennifer Rush track from 1985 that she managed to have a huge hit outside of America and her native Canada. Jennifer’s version of this track is fine, however in my opinion, Celine blows her out of the water on this rendition.
1994 22 weeks
Although these guys had received plenty of buzz prior to this becoming a huge runaway hit for them, it was this track that helped them achieved their goal of scoring massive success in Australia to then take back home to their native NZ. This has been a surprisingly common phenomenon over the years with NZ artists temporarily migrating to Australia and returning home once they achieved their success.
1977 22 weeks
Well, this is certainly something different from Alecea Moore AKA P!nk, she would become known as a pop rock chick as early as her second album and yet here we are with her second single from an album which is more in the RNB genre. Although I and many others still have love for her early work, she’s since disowned her debut album as she admitted to being forced to make it by her management.
2000 22 weeks
To think that this is the biggest hit that Crowded house achieved here in Australia, admittedly my shock towards this fact comes from this being one of my least favourite songs from the trio and believe me, I’m a massive fan of these guy’s other work. I guess their big hit worldwide is “Don’t dream it’s over” and that songs lack of success here was more due to it being the fourth single released from their debut.
1988 22 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 22 weeks
It looked like Paula Abdul wasn’t going to be able to find an audience in Australia given how “Straight up” was a huge flop here the previous year. Fortunately, this duet with the Wild pair was a success for her, presumably due to the duo being depicted in the video as a cartoon cat by the name of MC Skat Kat. This cat would go on to release a hip hop album the following year which many consider to be one of the worst of all time.
1990 22 weeks
This served as the world’s introduction to Brian McFadden and Delta Goodrem as a couple given how this duet appears on both of their albums from around this time, it was the first hit that the former had as a solo artist and would’ve been the latter’s seventh consecutive chart topper had it been released before “Mistaken identity” which finally broke her impressive record on the Australian charts.
2005 22 weeks
This was originally written for the film Mo money, hence why the two performers insist that the best things in life are free given that’s the theme the film is going for (from what I can gather that is.) This proved to be a huge success for both parties involved particularly here in Australia where neither of them was exactly among the most successful stars of the moment, of course that changed once Janet released her next album.
1992 22 weeks
This was incredibly hard to come up with commentary, mainly because it’s hard for me to talk about this family group without coming off as snarky and mean given how much I don’t like their music. I guess if I had to say something positive about them, it’s that their music is ultimately harmless as though their Celtic influences are egregious in their music, it’s not like it makes their songs unlistenable.
1998 22 weeks
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.
1979 22 weeks
This was the song where people began to question Sting’s capabilities as a songwriter, after all he references Nabokov and feels the need to mispronounce his name in order to fit the rhyme scheme he had. Fortunately, most people don’t pay much attention to the lyrics when listening to the trio’s music as the core appeal of the band is Sting’s vocals as well as the strong instrumentation from the other two.
1980 22 weeks
This was the introduction to (in my opinion) one of the best vocalists to emerge from the decade, that vocalist is Belinda Carlisle who achieved massive success in her native America with her band the Gogo’s before taking the world by storm with her solo career during the second half of the decade. Curiously this wasn’t among her biggest hits on Billboard despite this nearly topping the Australian charts.
1981 22 weeks
Well leave it to Joan Osborne to ask the heavy questions in life with her one and only hit worldwide, although by this stage the stigma for addressing one’s fate had long since been lifted given how the likes of Madonna and Sinead O’Connor normalised attacking religion throughout the decade. This did lead to her album being a moderate success even if it failed to give her a second hit.
1996 22 weeks
Colleen Hewett already achieved massive success nearly a decade prior to this ballad with her hit single “Day by day,” it may have taken her eight years, but she finally got herself out of the dreaded one hit wonder bin here with this country ballad even if its popularity seemed to come right out of nowhere for her.
1980 22 weeks
This was the title track from Skyhook’s second album, and one that reassured listeners that having an ego in of itself wasn’t the problem with toxic people but rather how these people carried themselves with said ego. It was a surprisingly poignant message that very few songs from this time had, hence why it connected with audiences.
1975 22 weeks
So, this is the song which introduced the world to Prince as an unpronounceable symbol, this was such a conundrum when it came to printing this songs placement on the charts worldwide that the UK charts hilariously referred to him as the Artist formerly known as Prince. The song itself is a step down from his earlier work, mainly because it’s your typical RNB ballad that would fit in with Boyz II men’s catalogue.
1994 22 weeks
It’s easy to forget that Y2K was a thing leading up to the new millennium, for the uninitiated, this was a fear that the world would end due to a potential glitch involving the dates changing from 1999 to 2000 where technology would go haywire. This glitch was solved before that had a chance to happen, making this lead single from Silverchair’s third album that much more hilariously dated.
1999 22 weeks
Much like their debut single from earlier on this list, this was another female empowerment anthem from Madison Avenue as Cheryl sings about how she feels like she’s been mistreated by the person she’s singing to and how they won’t be treating her as such for much longer once she’s done with them. It was another instant hit for the duo and a song that promised them so much success moving forward in the decade.
2000 22 weeks
This was the big hit off of Billy Field’s debut album, although in NZ that honour goes to the title track from Bad habits likely due to the kiwis preferring the lounge ambience of that track over this breakup ballad from him. You’d think that with all of this success that Billy would go on to massive success this decade, you’d sadly be very wrong as his popularity died off with his next album.
1981 22 weeks
Well, I guess these guys were able to make it big with at least one of their ballads outside their native UK after all, although it still blows my mind how much bigger East 17 were here in Australia and how much bigger these guys were in their homeland. The success of this ballad led to them crossing over in America mere months prior to them going their separate ways to pursue solo ventures.
1995 22 weeks
It’s easy to forget that this wasn’t the lead single to MJ’s album of the same name, after all few people remember that “I just can’t stop loving you” was the lead single to that album likely due to it not being among his more popular songs over the years. This on the other hand was such an instant classic that Weird Al decided to parody it a year after its release as “Fat” which was also a huge success.
1987 22 weeks
Following his dismissal as the manager of the Spice girls, Simon Fueller formed a new group in the form of this teen pop band that came complete with a TV series to help them stand out from the increasing number of teen pop groups making it big around this time. I will say that this is incessantly catchy even if it’s clearly made for the youth of the day and nobody else (which I was admittedly a part of back then.)
1999 22 weeks
Here we have the title track from the bestselling album of all time in America, naturally MJ needed to do something to promote this song as the album had been out for a full year by the time it was chosen as a single. The solution was to give it a high budget music video that no doubt led to the first MTV awards later in the year, such was the case for such as high concept video.
1984 22 weeks
This proved to be a huge comeback success for Rick Springfield as it had been exactly ten years since he last troubled the charts anywhere in the world with his hit single “Speak to the sky,” although it’s worth noting that his newfound popularity was likely due to his role in General hospital which was taking the world by storm when this song became a hit for him. Many people feel this to be the unofficial prequel to the Cars hit single “Best friend’s girl.”
1981 22 weeks
This was always destined to be a huge hit for Kylie Minogue given how it was the second single from her album Light years which saw her return to bubble-gum pop that made her a household name in the 80’s, however it was also a success here due to it being performed at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympics which seemed appropriate given how it was a song about how special a night was for her.
2000 22 weeks
This was meant to be Christina Aguilera’s self-empowerment anthem; it was a massive hit for her due to it coming from an album where she strips herself of the pop machine that made her a household name during her time with Disney and thus makes it more genuine from her than if she had of released it earlier in her career. I get the feeling this also would’ve been even bigger here if digital downloads were legal at the time.
2003 22 weeks
This was the debut single for one Melissa Tkautz, a rising star in the acting scene in Australia who was looking to get into the music industry much like her fellow actors from Neighbours. I will say that it’s a bit uneasy listening to this track knowing that she was only sixteen when she recorded it, it would’ve been fine if she were older but hearing the lyrics “if you wanna wait till later, hands off my detonator” coming out of a minor is disturbing.
1991 22 weeks
This was the solo breakthrough for Gerry Rafferty who had minor success earlier in the decade as the lead singer of Stealer’s wheel (of “Stuck in the middle with you” fame.) Let’s face it, the main reason why this song is so popular to this day is for those sax solos that play at the end of every chorus, sure his vocals are nice too, but they would’ve have been enough to help this stand out from the crowd on their own.
1978 22 weeks
Following the success he had the previous year with his Bob Dylan cover, Graham Bonnet returned to the mainstream again with the help of the Bee gees who allowed him to cover this song they originally had for an obscure band Rare earth that went nowhere for them. It’s another disco classic and one that fits into a sub-genre I’ve dubbed as the late-night rock; this is rock music I imagine hearing whenever I’m driving home late at night.
1978 22 weeks
This had a very rocky road to success in Australia as it tried to find an audience and failed before finally succeeding after its third attempt. I’m not even sure why this song had such a hard time crossing over here as it was an instant success over in NZ and the rockabilly update that Ram jam gives to the ragtime original from the 30’s was in line with what Ol’55 was serving up at the time.
1977 22 weeks
Well, the original version of this track was the rare ballad from KC and the Sunshine Band, so it only makes sense that this British EDM group would transform it into a dance track and that it would see massive success in a decade that was filled with EDM tracks. This resulted in the band finding other older songs to remix into club tracks, none of which managed to become a hit for them anywhere in the world.
1992 22 weeks
I know the 70’s were a bizarre time in pop culture, however I’m finding it very hard to believe that one of the biggest hits of the decade was this novelty track about a duck (presumably Donald Duck based on the impersonation) wants to go out to the disco to dance. I guess this was funny the first time I heard it, although for me at least this quickly wears off its charm after repeated listens.
1976 22 weeks
The decade had barely even begun and there was already a huge demand for 70’s nostalgia, enter Dee lite who obliged and gave us what’s known as a house track which is a type of EDM where there’s emphasis on the groove rather than the lyrics or vocals. This was a huge hit for the American trio internationally months before they finally found success at home, a trend that was all too common for American EDM artists.
1990 22 weeks
Both of these artists were on top of the world when they released this duet, so naturally it was going to be a huge success for them given how it appears on both of their most recent albums from when it came out. This would be Neil’s last hit single in Australia as his popularity dwindled going into the new decade, Barbra would hang around for a little while longer thanks to her feminist anthem with Donna Summer.
1978 22 weeks
It’s hard to say if this would’ve been as big a hit here in Australia had it been released well into the Countdown era as it seems to fit in nicely with all of the country ballads that permeated the first half of the 70’s. In any case, we have the one and only hit from Billy Swan who made a huge splash worldwide with this ballad, although I guess even in his native America, he remains a one hit wonder with this song.
1974 22 weeks
You wouldn’t have thought that Crystal Waters would have one of the biggest hits of the decade in Australia considering how we Aussies weren’t that into RNB back in the day, yet here she is with a massive hit that became as such months before it caught on in her native America. Crystal was another American artist to see massive success internationally before she ever made an impact on the Billboard charts.
1994 22 weeks
This was the second collaboration that MJ made with Paul McCartney, and one that’s been better received over the years as evidence by how much bigger the song was compared to their first collaboration from the previous year. This would be the last collaboration the two men would make as MJ would infamously buy up the back catalogue for Paul’s music which put an end to their friendship.
1983 22 weeks
This is often considered to be Leo’s signature tune given how it incorporates disco into his sound despite him not really being a disco artist throughout his career. His next single would be even bigger and a major draw into his fourth album after the mediocre reception of his last album, however this is the song that many will tell you is the highlight of his career.
1976 22 weeks
This was a mashup of “Numb” from Linkin Park and “Encore” from Jay Z that the two acts performed on MTV that was released as a single, it was a massive hit for both parties likely due to the popularity of the former who had already had a hit with their track the previous year as well as the latter’s popularity steadily growing thanks to his relationship with Beyonce.
2004 22 weeks
Well, this might be the gimmickiest song to come from 10cc as it not only has a cod reggae beat to it, but also tells a bizarre story about how the narrator was mugged while on holidays. This allowed the song to become a massive success for the British band and even had that success translate to their album Bloody tourist, however this was also the last hit they had before they faded into obscurity.
1978 22 weeks
Although they had buzz earlier in the decade and even appeared on Countdown two years prior, this was the first hit single that UB40 had in Australia as the band do a reggae cover of an old Neil Diamond track that connected with audiences at the time. The real interesting story about this song is how it got big in America, namely that it took five years after it was a hit worldwide to finally top the Billboard charts.
1983 22 weeks
This was a two for one deal from Cosima, a fan favourite on the first season of Australian idol who had to drop out due to developing an illness during the show that affected her ability to sing. Here she scored her one and only hit with these two tracks, the first being a cover of a Cold chisel classic and the second being what I’m sure was meant to be her victory single had she won the season.
2004 22 weeks
This was the lead single to Donna Summer’s final disco album Bad boys, and one which ramped up the sexiness of her earlier material to eleven as she really does seem like she wants to have the night of her life throughout the track. This unfortunately led to some backlash where she was promoting the wrong message for women in the world, something she unfortunately agreed with as she stopped making music like this.
1979 22 weeks
This was the only noticeable hit single that Deni Hines managed to score in Australia without the assistance of the Rockmelons, it’s a bit of a shame she didn’t find more success on her own as this RNB jam it catchy as hell as well as how it displays her vocal range really well. There was international interest in her following the success of this track, however much like her mother, that interest didn’t translate to success for her.
1995 22 weeks
This was the third hit that Shakira had this year, and just like her first entry on this list, this is an English cover of one of her tracks she originally recorded in Spanish which means the lyrics aren’t as tightly written as her other entry on this list. Still, it was a massive hit for her and only wasn’t as big as her other entries due to the album being a massive hit by the time it was released as a single.
2002 22 weeks
I feel I have the same opinion of this song as what many people do, namely that while I love J-Lo’s performance on this track, it’s sadly cancelled out by that trumpet playing throughout the track which seems to be off key for some reason. It’s because of this clash in sounds that the song was a success but not as much as her previous efforts from earlier in the decade, although it’s still more coherent than the rest of the album.
2005 22 weeks
This was Styx’s only international hit; I’m guessing because international audiences couldn’t stomach the cheese that went into a lot of their songs like their fellow Americans did throughout the 70’s and 80’s. Indeed, this is one of their more normal songs as at least it isn’t as sentimental as “Lady” or a complete novelty like “Mr. Roboto,” and admittedly they did find plenty of success in their homeland.
1979 22 weeks
This was a triumphant return to the mainstream from the Brothers Gibb as it had been ten years since they last troubled the charts here with “You win again,” although it’s worth noting that they came back with the type of adult contemporary they were competing against in their prime two decades prior. This was their last hit single before the tragic death of Maurice in 2003.
1997 22 weeks
This was the debut single from Radiohead, although the band wishes they never recorded it as they feel it makes them a rip-off of Nirvana during the height of their popularity (no arguments here.) They would evolve their sound throughout the decade and even into the new millennium as they didn’t want to be pigeonholed into a specific genre.
1993 22 weeks
This was both the lead single to No Doubt’s breakthrough album Tragic kingdom as well as the theme song to the cult classic Clueless, this inevitably made the song into a huge success worldwide but didn’t translate into album sales for the album or soundtrack. A bit of a fun fact with this song, its success in the UK only came when “Don’t speak” became one of the biggest hits of the decade worldwide.
1996 22 weeks
Here’s the second single to come from Culture beat, and while it was neither as dramatic nor catchy as their first big hit, it did retain their popularity in most parts of the world which set them up to have a successful debut album. The album was indeed a success thanks to how catchy these songs were, however much like Corona and La bouche after them, they would be a one album wonder.
1993 22 weeks
Here’s the title track to Lionel’s third album, I feel this is a better title track to his album given how he was clearly trying to distance himself from all of the slow ballads he had become typecast as throughout the decade. Indeed, this was his party jam similar to that of “All night long” from three years prior, complete with a music video where yes, he does indeed dance on the ceiling.
1986 22 weeks
I always felt these guys were German for some reason, I’m guessing it’s due to how aggressive their vocals are which are typical for German tracks from around this time. It turns out they are from the UK and that this became a hit here despite it flopping throughout Europe, I’m guessing because it fitted in with the disco trends that were making it big down under.
1977 22 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2006 22 weeks
It seems weird that BEP wouldn’t have any success with their first two albums without Fergie considering that everything they released while she was part of the group was a massive success, this is the latest example which was the fourth and final single from Monkey business which was likely a hit due to the sample of that scene from Pulp fiction (later parodied in Space jam) they used to open the track.
2006 22 weeks
You’d think that this lead single from Tears for fear’s second album Songs from the big chair would be a number one hit in their native UK, it wasn’t due to it being released during the height of by far the busiest Christmas season Britain has ever seen in the music industry. Fortunately, this had little issues with topping the charts throughout the rest of the world thanks to the instrumentation and Roland Orizabal’s passionate vocals.
1985 22 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 22 weeks
These guys were all about giving us history lessons set to catchy music, weren’t they? Here we have their history lesson on Ma Barker, one of the most notorious women in the American crime syndicate during the first half of the century (they misspelt her name for some reason.) This became an instant success for them throughout the world and no doubt led to their even better track about Rasputin.
1977 22 weeks
Although they would go on to have massive success with their second album later in the decade, it was the lead single to Screaming jets debut album that made them a household name due to how angry they came off on this track similar to how Nirvana launched their career with their seminal classic “Smells like teen spirit.” In a way, these guys were able to help the trio find success here due to their similarities.
1991 22 weeks
There didn’t seem to be any signs of the Brothers Gibb slowing down in the mainstream as this lead single from their album Spirits having flown proved to be a huge success for them mere months after the album cycle for Saturday night fever came to an end. They would have another hit from the album (which we’ll get to in a bit) although this would sadly be the last we would hear from them as lead vocalists for a while.
1978 22 weeks
It appears that Cliff Richard was here for the long haul as this ballad managed to become a hit for him worldwide including in America where this got him out of the one hit wonder bin over there that “Devil woman” threatened to trap him in. Indeed, he would go on to have massive success throughout the 80’s proving he was far from yesterday’s news.
1979 22 weeks
So, this was the biggest hit that Gloria Estefan achieved in her career, scratch that it’s just about the only hit she managed to achieve here as she didn’t even find much success during her time with the Miami sound machine let alone her solo career. I think this was a hit due to it being the theme to the Sylvester Stallone flick the Specialist, even though it was originally a song by Vicki Sue Robinson of “To sir with love” fame.
1994 22 weeks
This was originally released as “European queen” throughout Europe, although it appears nobody wanted to hear about such a queen as it promptly flopped for Billy Ocean. Feeling that the song had a chance to be a success albeit with different marketing, he changed the name to what it is now and simply replaced the world European with Caribbean on the track. This proved to be a winning formula as the song became a massive worldwide success.
1984 22 weeks
This was the second of two hit singles that the Hooters were able to score in Australia (stay tuned for the first one later in the list) this was the bigger hit of the two due to how upbeat it was compared to their slower track from earlier in the year. This allowed their album to be a huge success here in Australia which sadly means that they were a one album wonder as their subsequent albums flopped here.
1985 22 weeks
This was the first big hit that ELO had here in Australia, although they did score a hit in NZ and America with “Evil woman” the previous year which makes me wonder why that didn’t also crossover here. This was the lead single from their magnum opus A new world record, so of course this was going to be huge given how it’s the type of lush and opulent rock opera music that audiences gravitated towards this year.
1976 22 weeks
The last time Gloria Gaynor had any success anywhere in the world was with her cover of a Jackson 5 track from the midpoint of the decade, so it must have been surprising for audiences to see her back in the spotlight with the second big disco hit from her during the height of Donna Summer’s popularity. Most people will likely be more familiar with the remix of this track from the 90’s as the original version isn’t as bombastic as that version.
1979 22 weeks
This is my personal favourite track from the Spice girls, mainly because of how happy they are on here as well as them promoting a positive message about not getting too worked up over stuff that ultimately doesn’t matter in the long run. Despite this being a huge success for them, tensions from the girls grew to the point where Ginger Spice could no longer handle the pressure and as such called it quits from the group.
1998 22 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 22 weeks
The last time Murray Head troubled the charts anywhere in the world was with his rendition of “Superstar” from the Jesus Christ superstar soundtrack back in the early 70’s. Here he is fifteen years later with the lead single to the Abba written musical Chess which like Evita before it, was originally a concept album written by Benny and Bjorn of the Swedish group before it was turned into a musical.
1985 22 weeks
This was the first big hit that Huey Lewis and the News managed to achieve outside of their native America, sure they had buzz with their previous album Sports as that was a modest success here, but it somehow failed to produce a hit single for them down under. Of course, the real success of this track was due to it being the theme for the first Back to the future film, a film that remains a classic to this day.
1985 22 weeks
The original version of this track flopped upon its initial release in 1983, I guess MJ felt that this was something that needed to be rectified as he heavily marketed this remix which featured additional vocals from Akon as the lead single to his 25th anniversary reissue of his Thriller album which allowed for it to become a massive success for both men. It would unfortunately be the last hit he had before his untimely death the following year.
2008 22 weeks
I guess the decade was known for its cheesy ballads, and hey the fact that there was a noticeable increase in artists whose first language wasn’t English was admirable considering how most artists who were popular prior to the 70’s were either American or British worldwide. With that out of the way, I’ve exhausted any positive comments I have for this ballad from the Brazilian crooner Morris Albert.
1975 22 weeks
This was the first top ten hit that David Bowie had here in Australia since “Sorrow” from 1974, that’s a six-year gap from when he managed to have a huge hit down under which should tell you how done dirty he was back in the day. He returns with one of his stranger songs which remains a fan favourite in his catalogue, likely due to it being a love letter to the Tinman from the Wizard of Oz.
1980 22 weeks
This was the second hit that JX managed to achieve in Australia, although just like his first hit “Son of a gun,” this was a huge flop in his native UK which gives you an idea of how well loved EDM was down under this decade. His third hit “There’s nothing I won’t do” finally broke him through in his homeland, and hilariously it wasn’t a huge hit here like his other two entries were.
1995 22 weeks
Well, this is a song where the boys wanted to get in on the rock crowd as this samples Joan Jett’s “I love rock and roll” in order to help it compete with all the rock leaning teen pop that was getting big this year. Evidently this was the fourth single from the album internationally as we Aussies had to wait for the third single “Got the feeling” to be released the following year.
1999 22 weeks
This was the double A-side that cemented Queen as one of the most endearing bands to ever make it big in the mainstream, after all you begin with the stomping beat of “We will rock you” before immediately preceding to the soaring victory lap of “We are the champions” which helped this become a massive hit worldwide for them. They would have a bit of a quiet period for the remainder of the decade before they scored a massive hit with “Crazy little thing called love.”
1977 22 weeks
The Wrights were a supergroup consisting of members of bands and artists that were some of the biggest names in Australian music during the 00’s, here they cover the Stevie Wright classic for its thirtieth anniversary (they were a little late when they released it as a single) which was promoted for charity and thus became a success as a result.
2005 22 weeks
There was a bit of a stumble for David Bowie during the album cycle for Let’s dance, that being “China girl” underperforming on our charts and thus being unable to appear on this list. Fortunately, he recovered with the third single (fourth if you count “Cat people” from the previous year) which helped him retain his popularity thanks to how catchy it is and how charismatic his performance is.
1983 22 weeks
