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 third big hit in a row that P!nk was able to score here in Australia, this time it’s with a song that’s about how she’s out with her friends and is getting hit on by a guy that she’s clearly not interested in and how she handles the situation. If this sounds familiar to anyone, that’s because this very premise was used by Meghan Trainor a decade later with her hit single “No” and was widely ridiculed for how poorly she copied this track.
2006 45 weeks
Oh, you thought we were done with looking at comedy routines on this site, weren’t you? Well, here we are with another comedy routine this time courtesy of Billy Birmingham AKA the 12th man who scored a massive hit with this E.P where he does accurate impersonations of some of the more popular sporting commentators of the day.
1984 44 weeks
This was one of only three hits that Jordin Sparks had here in Australia, although here she required the assistance of Chris Brown of all people to have a huge hit despite her already being successful with her victory single from American idol here (which is still to come on this list.) She was one of the rare contestants on American idol to find international success among the likes of Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert.
2008 44 weeks
I guess this was meant to be Fergie’s attempt at creating a power fantasy for the working-class population for what it’s like to have the lifestyle of the rich and famous, it paid off given how this was a massive hit for her and would’ve been her biggest solo hit were it not for her earlier entry on this list stealing that title from this track. The song is perhaps best known for Fatman scoop’s infamous line “if you ain’t got no money take your broke ass home.”
2007 44 weeks
It seems strange that the first international hit that Fall out boy has would be a song about them being unhappy with being seen as an emo band, although many people (me included) dislike this song more for it being the type of emo rock that would appeal to the Emos of the day which makes this song all the more ironic given how that was likely the crowd that made this a massive success for the band.
2007 44 weeks
This is a song whose success came completely out of nowhere here in Australia, mainly because the last time anyone cared about the lead vocalist Mick Jones was during his time with the Clash before he was unceremoniously fired from the band almost a decade prior. He came back bigger than ever with this track which seemed to go off in different directions throughout its runtime, thus explaining its success.
1991 44 weeks
This was a fantastic year for Lily Allen here in Australia as she not only managed to score two big hits from her second album, but the album itself was a massive success proving how much we Aussies loved her coming out of the 00’s. Here she is with the third single from that album which is a song about how she feels her partner is being too mean to her which audiences related to worldwide.
2009 44 weeks
This was one of the rare RNB ballads that Chris Brown has in his catalogue, even back then, it feels like a black sheep compared to the rest of his catalogue which is more upbeat and showcases a tougher side of his image. This song’s released was heavily delayed here as was his earlier collaboration with Jordin Sparks due to how long it took for “Kiss kiss” to become a hit here (which is still to come on this list.)
2008 44 weeks
There haven’t been that many instrumentals to make it big in Australia over the years, have they? Here we have David A Stewart (one half of the Eurythmics) and Dutch saxophonist Candy Dulfer scoring a big hit with this track which I’m sure was the soundtrack to some steamy love scene that I wasn’t able to track down to verify for this post. Candy would go on to be an in-demand session musician following this collaboration.
1990 44 weeks
First entry in and we already have a new appearance on this list, this is the only hit that Joe Dolan managed to achieve here which only became as such due to its refusal to die on our charts which is a sign that fans of this type of crooner music from the first half of the decade weren’t ready to leave it behind upon its initial release.
1975 44 weeks
I’ve always felt that the name the Goo goo dolls was a comical one, after all that sounds like a name that should be affiliated with all of the teen pop that was becoming big this year. Alas this band was instead somewhere between grunge and post grunge and managed to score their one and only hit outside their native America with this theme to the Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan flick City of angels.
1998 43 weeks
I guess her previous album was a commercial disappointment for Avril Lavigne, so it makes sense that she would go in the complete opposite direction with her third album by appealing to a more mainstream audience like she does with this lead single. Naturally this was a success given that it was released during a time where high school drama was all the rage in the mainstream, and this would be the perfect soundtrack to those situations.
2007 43 weeks
This was the last hit single that Christina Aguilera achieved as a lead artist, even then it was a massive flop in the UK and her native America likely due to the Brits and her fellow Americans not taking to her third album as much as we Aussies and kiwis did back in the day. I guess this does achieve the goal of sounding like it was made for the troops coming home from WWII from the 40’s.
2007 43 weeks
This was originally a solo track from the Pussycat dolls on their album, I’m guessing because they felt this track was sexy enough on their own and felt they didn’t need a rapper of colour to validate their attractiveness. Their label obviously disagreed as they pulled in Snoop Dogg to put in a feature for them which is perhaps why this managed to be a slightly bigger hit than the second and third singles on the album.
2006 43 weeks
This was a hit twice here in Australia, the first time was on its initial release and the second was when the album became a success worldwide several months after its initial release. I get the feeling it was this track that finally allowed many of their contemporaries to find success such as Fall out boy and the Fray as there was a sudden rise in tracks like this finding success following its success.
2006 43 weeks
Even though she was based in America when she released this country ballad, Diana Trask was nonetheless able to find success back home with this ballad despite it bombing on the Billboard charts. It became a huge sleeper hit down under this year likely due to older audiences being still being in love with female country ballads buying this despite what the younger audiences wanted to hear.
1975 43 weeks
Although they had minor success prior to the lead single to State of the art, it was this track that finally allowed the Hilltop hoods to have a huge hit here in Australia after fifteen years of first forming back in the early 90’s. They would open the doors for Australian hip hop throughout the 2010’s other MC’s such as 360 and Illy would also have hits that decade.
2009 43 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2008 42 weeks
This was another song whose popularity was a bit late in Australia, mainly because by the time it was released as a single here, it was already one of the biggest hits of the decade over in NZ for the Dutch trio Pussycat. This resulted in them being one of the more popular acts over there whilst the remained a one hit wonder here.
1976 42 weeks
While this wasn’t the debut single from Vanessa Amorosi (that honour goes to “Have a look”) it was the song which made her a household name given how it was considered to be the unofficial anthem for the 2000 Sydney Olympics with how inescapable it was upon its initial release. This resulted in the song being a huge success over in NZ and even sparked interest for Vanessa throughout Europe.
1999 42 weeks
This was the last big hit that Miley Cyrus had during her Hannah Montana days, sure she tried to mature into her new sound the following year with her album Can’t be tamed, however no one was buying it given how Disney imposed restrictions on her with how risqué she could present herself on that album. I guess if you went from this to the title track of that album, “We can’t stop” isn’t that far of a leap in her evolution.
2009 42 weeks
It seems strange that this was the only genuine hit that MGMT managed to achieve here in Australia, mainly because I do remember hearing both “Time to pretend” and especially “Kids” a lot on the radio back in the day given how they were both used in commercials like this was. At least the album this came from was a massive success, and hey, they were well loved on Triple J as well.
2008 42 weeks
This took a while for it to find success here in Australia, again because RNB wasn’t that big here in Australia until the second half of the decade. This song was likely a success thanks to the angelic chorus from an RNB group known as Kut Klose, a group that I and many others feel deserves better than to play second fiddle to Keith Sweat given how much better their vocals are than his on here.
1996 42 weeks
Well, this certainly took its sweet time in becoming a success here in Australia, Deborah Cox is a Canadian RNB singer who got her start with this ballad about how she’s in disbelief that her partner could possibly love anyone but her. This proved to be a huge sleeper hit for her here months after it became one of the biggest hits of the year in NZ, likely due to how people could relate to the lyrics.
1996 42 weeks
Well, I guess you can say this being a success for the Foo fighters was a consolation for all of the near hits they had throughout their career prior to this point, after all, rock music was the biggest casualty of digital piracy throughout the decade which was no longer an issue this year. Still, you can consider this a stand in for the likes of “Best of you” and “The one” which naturally received much more airplay back in the day.
2007 42 weeks
There weren’t a lot of successful Australian shows geared towards children since the turn of the millennium, one of the lucky success stories was the Saddle club which ran from 2001-2009 which follows a group of country girls from down under and their adventures with their pet horses (look I didn’t watch this back in the day, so I’m totally assuming this was what the show was about.) This was the theme song to the series which was a surprise sleeper success here likely due to the show’s popularity.
2002 42 weeks
While this was a modest success for everyone involved upon its initial release here in Australia, it manages to stick around for quite some time on the lower half of our charts due to the success of Timbaland’s earlier entries on this keeping his name alive in our music scene.
2007 42 weeks
I’m not sure if this song would’ve been as big as it was were it not “presented” by Timbaland for OneRepublic, however it did become a massive worldwide hit for the band regardless as it was not only produced by him but was also included on his solo album for some reason. The band would have several spikes in popularity over the years given how slow their recording output has been.
2007 41 weeks
This remains the biggest hit in Robert Palmer’s career in Australia, mainly due to the video which depicts him in what appears to be a precursor to the set of a Deal or no deal show with a bunch of women who appear to be clones of Bebe Neuworth who’s best known for her performance as Lilith Crane on Cheers and later Frasier. All I can say is that Robert is clearly having the time of his life in the video.
1988 41 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2006 41 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 41 weeks
This is one of those songs whose sole purpose is to shock an offend audiences, personally I don’t find this song offensive as it’s little more than Katy admitting to experimenting with her sexuality (although I’ll admit that it’s one of the more annoying songs of the decade.) This became the first of many of her hits worldwide likely due to audiences being shocked and offended by this track.
2008 41 weeks
Right around the time Miley Cyrus was making it big in the music industry through her connections with Disney, her older brother Trace was the lead singer of this short-lived pop rock band who scored their one and only hit with this number. I’m guessing this was as big as it was due to the connection he had with Miley and their father and how this was considered edgy compared to the music his family was making.
2008 41 weeks
While most people will be familiar with Kelly Marie for her disco hit “Feels like I’m in love,” this was her biggest hit in Australia a year prior which I feel is a much better song as I feel she has better vocals on here. It appears the general public of Australia agreed as this was twice as successful as her big international hit here.
1978 41 weeks
You thought I forgot about this track, didn’t you? It turns out we Aussies were slow in making this a success for DeAndre Way AKA Soulja boy likely due to it being arguably the song that started the trend of allowing a meme to become a massive worldwide hit on the music charts that wasn’t made by a music exec (that is, a viral hit not from the likes of Crazy frog and its countless knockoffs) only to allow this phenomenon to happen this year on our charts.
2007 41 weeks
This was the debut single from Jason Derulo, a man who would go on to have massive success in Australia and throughout the rest of the world due to him breaking through when Chris Brown was temporarily blacklisted from the music industry. Here he (or rather JR Rottem) samples “Hide and seek” from Imogen Heep and recontextualises the song to be about Jason apologising to her for being unfaithful.
2009 41 weeks
This was the other big hit that Rihanna had from the deluxe edition of Good girl gone bad, it has a horror element to it likely to compliment the music video which seems to have been inspired by the industrial rock of the 90’s. This would be the last hit that she would have before she would have a major falling out with Chris Brown over something that I won’t get into on this list.
2008 41 weeks
Well, this was the first big hit that Milli Vanilli managed to score in Australia admittedly this was only a sleeper hit here due to our scepticism towards whether they were the real deal or a what they really were which was hired models to lip synch to music that otherwise would’ve gone unnoticed in the mainstream.
1989 41 weeks
It looks like Des’ree was able to escape the one hit wonder bin in most parts of the world with this track, although I get the feeling she wishes this wasn’t a hit for her given how it’s often considered to be one of the worst written songs of all time. I feel she gives a compelling enough performance to overlook these ridiculous lyrics, although I’ve never been one for judging a song based on its lyrical content.
1998 41 weeks
Well at least I’ve been able to feature one track from the Killers on this site, you better believe that these guys would’ve had at least one appearance from their debut album had digital sales existed when it dropped two years prior. Here we have the second single from their sophomore album which managed to benefit from the digital charts existing when it was released as a single.
2006 41 weeks
I told you these two songs were equally as big as each other, although admittedly this also rebounded on our charts when the duo won a bunch of ARIA awards from the album much like their earlier entry on this list.
2008 41 weeks
Not only were the Presets able to score a massive hit through digital sales from their debut album, but they were also able to score a total of three with the other hit hits from the album being equally as successful as each other.
2008 41 weeks
This is the best proof I have that Pete Murray was a victim of illegal downloads during the first half of the decade as this second single from his sophomore album managed to stick around the lower half of our charts for quite some time thanks to its refusal to leave our digital charts back in the day.
2006 41 weeks
This was all set to flop here in Australia upon its initial release given how we Aussies were a bit slow when it came to the hair metal craze of the late 80’s, naturally this rebounded once the album took off here thanks to the success of its second single which allowed it a very high placement on this list of mine due to how long it stuck around for.
1986 41 weeks
This was a moderate hit in Gary and Dave’s native Canada from the previous year, indeed it took quite a while for it to crossover here in Australia as it was released at the start of the year to deafening silence only for it to gain popularity towards the end of the year. As it turns out, the two men were also aviators which would explain why they didn’t have another hit in their career.
1974 41 weeks
We have the digital charts to thank for why this song stuck around forever in a day on our charts, then again Wolfmother saw most if not all their success on our digital charts back in the day, so I shouldn’t be surprised that we have that format to thank for why this made it on my list.
2006 41 weeks
This had an impeccable run on the Australian charts back in the day, an impressive fourteen weeks at number one which has only recently been topped by less fondly remembered songs. To think this was originally released as a bonus track from a greatest hits package during the height of the Swedish foursome’s popularity.
1976 40 weeks
This was the second single to be released on Abba’s self-titled album, a song that initially flopped internationally but was such a surprise success in Australia that it unofficially became their signature track here. The rest of the world followed suit eventually as the popular Broadway musical based around their catalogue was named after this track.
1975 40 weeks
It looked like Beyonce’s second solo album would be a huge flop for her worldwide given how the singles on the standard edition failed to become hits for her, she obviously had other plans as this bonus track from the deluxe edition managed to become a huge hit for her which restored the popularity of the album shortly after its release. The song is best known for the lines “to the left to the left” which she repeats throughout the track.
2006 40 weeks
For whatever reason, Alicia Key’s second album was a complete dud outside of her native America, I’m guessing this was due to the existence of the bootleg remix of “Karma” known as “Karmastition” which I vividly remember playing on the radio in lieu of anything from the album back in the day. Fortunately, her third album was able to spawn a massive hit with its lead single which restored her popularity worldwide.
2007 40 weeks
In case you were wondering, yes, this song is deliberately gay as it was made by an openly gay band meant to shock and titillate audiences who seemed to be put off by the queer community in general. Basically, if Culture club was easing people into accepting others for who they are, these guys were forcing it down everyone’s throat albeit with a highly catchy and provocative sex jam.
1984 40 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 40 weeks
This was the second hit from JT’s second solo album Futuresex/Lovesounds, an album that seemed to want to make JT into a sex symbol which it arguably succeeded in doing given how successful it and the singles were in addition to him being considered one of the sexiest men of the decade. This was also the song which made T.I a household name here in Australia due to his guest verse being memorable.
2006 40 weeks
This was originally released in Glenn’s native Hawaii following his victory in a singing competition which he won with this cover of a George Benson track from earlier in the decade. Somehow this managed to become a surprise hit over in the UK which allowed it to crossover to Australia, I’m guessing due to how romantic people felt he sounded throughout its runtime.
1987 40 weeks
This was the only Billboard chart topper that Taylor Dayne managed to achieve in her career, and admittedly this was the song which saved her second album from tanking across the world given the crushing failure of its lead single “With every beat of my heart” outside of America. In Australia, the song which saved the album was the next single which was more upbeat than this ballad.
1990 40 weeks
This is a song that I’m going to have a hard time being nice to, mainly because there have been so many jokes about it over the years that I’ve found amusing that perfectly sum up my and other people’s problems with it (the only one I’ll repeat is “someone please tell this woman what her name is so that she’ll go away.”) It was a huge international success for the British duo likely through ironic enjoyment.
2008 40 weeks
I’m not that familiar with Meet the Robinsons, mainly because I was in my mid-teens when it came out and thus, into my anti Disney phase brought upon by being an edgy teenager of the 00’s (I’m anti Disney now for completely different reasons.) I’m not sure how good the film is; however, it appears its theme song was a modest sleeper hit for Rob Thomas here in Australia given how long it charted for.
2007 40 weeks
We’ll be looking at both songs from Muse’s magnum opus The resistance on this list, its lead single did fairly well here in Australia mainly due to it rebounding on our charts when its second single managed to become more of a mainstream hit for the British band.
2009 40 weeks
We have another new entry on this list this early on, this time it’s the one and only hit that the Hawking brothers were able to achieve with their rendition of a country staple from the decade. I featured a version of this song from Cristy Lane on the NZ side of my site to give context as to why that version flopped here.
1978 40 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 40 weeks
This is one of many songs throughout the 80’s that didn’t get much of a look in here in Australia but nonetheless had massive legs on our charts, this is a new wave track from the obscure Canadian band Rough Trade who charted for quite some time on the lower half of our charts likely due to it being a favourite on late night MTV.
1982 40 weeks
There was once a time where Blink 182 wasn’t able to find instant success, that eventually changed by the end of the decade with their album Enema of the state, however the lead single to the album prior was managed to stick around for quite some time to the point where it and said album both became massive sleeper hits for the trio.
1997 40 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2008 39 weeks
I feel that even though both of these tracks from Green day contributed to the band’s success with their album Nimrod, it was “Time of your life” that boosted the albums sales, specifically when it was used in the series finale of Seinfeld which only caused further upset with their fanbase who already felt it was a sell-out from the trio. In Australia, rather than simply rereleasing the (at this point) one year old track, it was bundled with “Redundant” as a two for one deal that proved to be a wise decision for the band.
1998 39 weeks
To think this was originally commissioned for the terrible (in my opinion at least) film adaptation of the Daredevil comics starring Ben Affleck, specifically for the scene where Elektra Natchios (played by Jennifer Garner) is training in her mansion with sandbags. At least the song was effective in the scene it was used in as it single handily launched Evanescence into the mainstream as their debut single.
2003 39 weeks
For the longest time, this was the best charting song in Australia given how it slowly but surely managed to win over every possible demographic in our music scene during its time in the spotlight. I guess it started off as a fan favourite from the alternative scene before getting massive appeal from the dance floors before finally finding its way into several commercials for more mainstream audiences.
1996 39 weeks
It had been two decades of silence from Santana when they released this lead single to their comeback album Supernatural this year, it’s hard to say if the album would’ve been a success without this track given that many people attribute this as a Rob Thomas solo project more than a Santana track with Rob’s vocals on it. What I do know is that it made both Santana and Matchbox 20 international superstars.
1999 39 weeks
This was originally released on Bob Seger’s 1978 album Stranger in town to deafening silence, probably because Bob was considered to be a bit ahead of his time as his popularity didn’t shine outside his native America until this was featured in the Tom Cruise flick Risky business (specifically that famous scene where he dances to it in his underwear.) For some reason, this finally became a hit four years after that film in Australia, presumably through the strength of his other big hit this year “Shakedown.”
1987 39 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 39 weeks
This was the second single from Good charlotte’s third album Good morning revival, it also remains as their biggest hit in Australia likely due to it being released at the height of emo rock as well as benefitting from strong digital sales which is something that could’ve boosted the success of their material from earlier in the decade. The band would release one more album in 2010 before going on hiatus while Joel Madden became a judge on the Voice Australia.
2007 39 weeks
This was the song which made Celine Dion into a household name worldwide, oh sure her previous hit “Power of love” was a huge success for her, but people dismissed it as an updated rendition of the Jennifer Rush track from the mid 80’s and nothing more. This ballad on the other hand became a huge surprise hit in the UK which encouraged her to go on a world tour which was highly successful.
1994 39 weeks
This is a song I want to like but don’t because of Akon’s chanting throughout the track, I’m obviously in the minority here as this remains Gwen’s biggest solo hit and arguably her biggest hit overall given that its popularity rivals that of “Don’t speak” from a decade prior down under. She would have one more hit after this before fading into obscurity as a solo artist, although she did reform No doubt in 2012.
2007 39 weeks
Well, I guess this wasn’t a huge departure from her earlier work as the production does make it fit with the likes of “I’m like a bird” even if the subject matter is about her moving on from a toxic relationship rather than finding her spirituality. Depending on where in the world you’re from, this was either the third single from her album or the fourth and final single as the album cycle was different in each country.
2006 39 weeks
It’s easy to think that the duo’s earlier entry on this list was the lead single to their second album, it turns out this title track was as well as it being their highest charting single as it debuted at number one here which is something none of their other tracks were able to do throughout the 00’s. This was passed up as the lead single internationally as “Untouched” was their lead single overseas instead.
2007 39 weeks
File this in an ever-growing list of songs that became a success for the band in question right before they decided to call it quits, these guys were an American group who scored their one and only hit months prior to throwing in the towel after thirteen years of failure making this a bittersweet success for the band in question. I know in Australia this became a success due to its presence in ads and movie trailers.
2008 39 weeks
Following the success she had with the Young divas from the previous year, Ricki Lee decided to give her solo career another shot which went over much better as this became a huge success for her. The supergroup also kept going this year by replacing her with Jessica Mauboy, she would follow suit the following year and have a much more prominent career as well.
2007 39 weeks
This is the last hit that Linkin Park has had in their career, mainly because their output in the 2010’s has taken many bizarre turns that the mainstream hasn’t been able to keep up with (and the less said about their 2017 effort the better.) I guess it’s fitting that this theme to the second Transformers film would be the last many would hear from them given how their previous hit in Australia was the theme to the first film.
2009 39 weeks
This was the only other hit that Sean Paul had here in Australia, likely because it also managed to top the Billboard charts just like “Get busy” did three years prior. He interestingly did very well over in the UK considering that the Brits didn’t seem to have much love for reggae until he came alone this decade.
2006 39 weeks
This was the only hit to come from Puddle of Mudd here in Australia, although their big hit internationally was “Blurry” from the previous year which flopped here for some reason. The song is infamous for being written from the perspective of a teenage boy who got dumped for the first time, at least that’s what people who despise this song have claimed given how it’s been widely mocked since its initial release.
2002 39 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 38 weeks
I don’t think I can say anything positive about this lead single to the Pussycat dolls second and final album, I guess it was a massive hit for the girl group but one I’m sure many people regret due to its lyrics promoting unrealistic expectations for girls to achieve. At least the rest of their catalogue wasn’t particularly harmful towards their target audience even if many people (me included) aren’t a fan of it.
2008 38 weeks
Following the tragic death of his infant son, Eric Clapton agreed to appear on MTV unplugged where he performed an acoustic version of “Layla” on the twentieth anniversary of that track being released. The performance was so raw and emotional that it was issued as a single which allowed the song to finally be a success in Australia where it wasn’t all those years ago.
1992 38 weeks
This is a song that I don’t have much to say about, or at least I don’t have much to say that wouldn’t be offensive to my readers as I’m pretty sure this was only a hit through name recognition as well as how it addresses her recent controversies in the media.
2008 38 weeks
This was the only notable success that Phil Seymour had in his career, admittedly this sounds completely different from everything else that got popular this year as this would’ve felt more at home several years prior. Australia was the only country in the world to make it a hit for what it’s worth.
1981 38 weeks
Given that I’m well familiar with Night at the Roxbury (more than I care to admit) it took me by surprise that this song wasn’t originally written for the film and was instead a huge hit earlier in the decade for this singer of colour. It turns out he had a bunch of other hits throughout Europe that also fitted in the EDM trends, meaning he was one of the few dance artists to be underrepresented in Australia.
1993 38 weeks
Dr Hook were previously known for their comedy tracks from the first half of the decade, so to see them come back with a ballad about being in love with a minor only for the twist to be that the narrator was also a minor during this relationship is a bit jarring to say the least. I’m guessing they played this song straight to avoid being accused of being paedophiles as there is a lot of comedic potential in the lyrics.
1976 38 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2006 38 weeks
I’m guessing this was meant to be a runaway success for Tony Christie given how long it stuck around for on our charts, however it only ended up being a sleeper hit for him likely due to this being pushed away from the mainstream in favour of what Countdown wanted to promote instead.
1975 38 weeks
This was the only hit that Mary J Blige had here in Australia, although had the digital charts been incorporated into the main charts sooner than they were, she would’ve also had a hit later in the decade with her cover of “One” with U2. I’m not sure why it took her nine years to find success here in Australia as it’s not like her brand of RNB was that different from the tracks that made it big here in the 90’s.
2001 38 weeks
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.
1996 38 weeks
This was the first pop hit that David Essex was able to score in his career, I bring this up because he scored massive success earlier in the decade with “Rock on,” which is more in line with glam rock than any of his other hits. This is also his cheesiest song as he claims that associating with him will make the person in question a star.
1975 38 weeks
This was a modest sleeper hit for Akon here in Australia, although I am surprised it wasn’t more of a mainstream success given how it was just that over in NZ as well as his native America back in the day.
2008 38 weeks
I did mention on the NZ side of this site that this was a sleeper hit here in Australia, that was certainly the case as despite it barely cracking our top twenty back in the day, it managed to become one of the bigger hits at the turn of the millennium largely due to the surprise success this achieved in Lonestar’s native America.
2000 38 weeks
It felt weird to me that this song wasn’t a huge instant success and instead a sleeper hit here in Australia back in the day given how much airplay it continues to receive on oldies stations to this day, alas it appears we largely passed up this single in favour of its album and the second single for said album given how “Waiting for a girl like you” proved to be the song which broke these guys into our mainstream.
1981 38 weeks
Following the success of their earlier entry on this list, MGMT decided to release this track from their debut E.P from earlier in the decade as a single which helped it become a sleeper hit for them here in Australia. This was sadly the full extent of their success worldwide as their second album from 2010 bombed.
2008 38 weeks
Unlike her earlier entry on this list which was only a single due to its connections to Neighbours, this was always meant to be a single for Kate Miller even if it was temporarily pulled from shelves in order for her label to capitalise off her earlier entry only to then be put back on the shelves for its own success.
2009 38 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2008 37 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2006 37 weeks
Now this is a sell-out track I feel is an improvement over the previous catalogue from the band in question, then again, I’m a huge sucker for disco so perhaps there’s a bit of bias with this assessment from me. Audiences from this year seemed to agree with me as it remains their biggest hit to date as well as it being one of the biggest hits of the decade for any artist.
1979 37 weeks
Well, this is a song that has novelty written all over it, admittedly the reggae craze of this year was a bit of a silly one that was meant to be uplifting to the increasingly troubled times the world was facing this decade, however I don’t think many people have ever been able to take this track seriously due to its silly lyrics and campy tone. If you can believe it, these guys were among the most successful artists of the decade in NZ.
1993 37 weeks
