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 lead single to the Rogue traders second and final album with Natalie Bassingthwaighte as their lead vocalist, as you can tell, it wasn’t as inescapable as the previous entries I’ve featured on this site so far which should tell you how it struggled to find an audience back in the day. Their next single was a much bigger hit for them the following year, proving their time in the spotlight wasn’t over just yet.
2007 21 weeks
You may recognise this woman as one of the members of Mis Teeq who had a massive hit six years prior with “Scandalous” here in Australia, here she is with a solo hit that became as such down under a full year after it was a hit in her native UK. If it wasn’t obvious from the lack of British entries on these lists, this should be the best proof I have that we Aussies weren’t that interested in the British music scene this decade.
2009 21 weeks
This was the lead single to Queen’s sequel album to A night at the opera, A day at the races. While it wasn’t as big a success as “Bohemian rhapsody” (which admittedly few songs have been over the years) it did retain their popularity during the album cycle and led to them having a huge hit with their earlier entry on this list. The albums themselves were also a huge success back in the day in case you were wondering.
1976 21 weeks
This was originally the debut single for the Backstreet boys released three years prior, due to the success of their second album, their first album was given a second chance this year where it became a modest success for the boys. All of this led to them winning the boy band wars by their third album the following year.
1998 21 weeks
Whereas this was released as the second single in NZ from Billy Idol’s solo debut, this was the first single here in Australia which meant that this was his first impression on us Aussies as opposed to “White wedding” with the kiwis. That said, the main reason why it didn’t appear on one of my lists on this side of my site was due to it peaking during our Christmas period of 1982 where it faced stiff competition.
1982 21 weeks
Well, this is a participation trophy in song form if I’ve ever heard one, although I absolutely understand why this has endured over the years given how Errol and company reassure their audience that it’s not about winning or losing but how much fun you have playing the game. It was an easy hit for the band, although it would be one of their last hits outside of their native UK.
1978 21 weeks
You’d think the big hit off of Sting’s solo debut album would be “If you love somebody set them free,” instead this was the big hit off of the album here in Australia. Although the album was already doing well here upon its initial release, this songs popularity allowed it to become one of the biggest hits of the decade down under and more so than the rest of his output both solo and with the Police.
1986 21 weeks
I’m a bit surprised this wasn’t a bigger hit here in Australia given how A: it was a massive worldwide success for Hot chocolate and B: their performance of the song on Countdown was widely praised by viewers upon its initial release. Then again, it did peak during the Christmas period of 1982, meaning that there were a ton of other songs it was up against which are all fondly remembered to this day.
1982 21 weeks
This was the final hit that Bon Jovi scored from their album Keep the faith, again it’s a more downbeat ballad from what they had released prior to this point which no doubt led to them going full sell-out material on their next album two years later. Although they saw massive success this decade, many regard them more as an 80’s band in retrospect due to how little material from the 90’s has stood the test of time.
1993 21 weeks
The hits kept on coming for RHCP during the 00’s, true they didn’t reach the dizzying heights of their hits from the 90’s, however considering their albums were still selling like hot cakes this decade (granted all two of them) it was impressive, nonetheless. Here they have their first hit of the decade in Australia with the title track to their first album of the decade which remains a staple on oldies stations to this day.
2002 21 weeks
This was the only hit that Bette Midler released this decade that wasn’t attached to a film, instead it was a cover from the Rolling stones from their 1978 album Some girls that Bette made her own without changing the style of the original. Bette would disappear from the music scene for most of the decade as she focused on her acting career, it paid off as she made six films in the second half of the decade which were all box office hits.
1984 21 weeks
It looks like these guys were able to score a hit here in Australia after all even if it was the penultimate single they released in their career, although considering this was released right when the decade was coming to an end, this feels more like a last hurrah for the band even if there were no signs of bad things to come going into the 80’s when this came out. Even with all of that, it was still a sleeper hit with us Aussies.
1979 21 weeks
You didn’t think the two girls who were responsible for “This is how we party” from earlier were a one hit wonder did you? Well history might have relegated them as such; however, they did in fact have a second hit in the southern hemisphere back in the day with this gem albeit a sleeper one here in Australia and as a fan single over in NZ.
1998 21 weeks
I told you Maroon 5’s ambitions of doing whatever it took to make it big in the mainstream began much sooner than people thought, here we have a song featuring Rihanna that didn’t have the famous pop star on the album that became a worldwide hit for the band. It’s a bit of a coincidence that this was released ten years prior to when they would repeat this feat with “Girls like you” only with Cardi B instead of Rihanna (and with a video appeasing the feminists.)
2008 21 weeks
Bet you didn’t know Billy Connolly had a singing career, did you? Well technically he doesn’t as this “cover” of the Tammy Wynette classic is really a joke song he does in his typical sense of humour that nonetheless amused audiences back in the day. He was far from the only comic to score a hit down under over the years, heck he wasn’t even the first as there were plenty of tracks like this prior to its success.
1976 21 weeks
This took a while to take off here in Australia, likely because this came out a year after the Use your illusion albums were released and thus had its success eaten up by strong album sales. We Aussies eventually made this a success largely due to its refusal to die on our charts much like the other singles that the band released from the album.
1992 21 weeks
Even though this was considered to be the first part of BEP’s previous entry on this list, it was released as the fifth single from their album the E.N.D likely because we Aussies didn’t particularly care for the storyline of their singles like their fellow Americans did. As a result, it was far less successful here than in their native America, although it could also be due to most of us finding the song irritating with its stuttering vocals.
2009 21 weeks
This was a bit of a surprise hit for Tom Jones, sure it wasn’t the biggest hit of the year but the fact this ballad reached the upper echelons of the charts long enough to qualify for this list should tell you how popular it was for the Welsh singer a decade after his relevancy came to an end. Even so, people feel his true comeback was with his cover of Prince’s “Kiss” from the late 80’s with Art of noise.
1977 21 weeks
This was first heard during the end credits of the first Tomb raider film, apparently this song was so well received from the film that it was eventually released as a single where it became a huge sleeper hit here in Australia likely due to Triple J catching wind of the track. It remains Basement Jaxx’s only hit worldwide, although I do remember hearing “Good luck” quite a bit on the radio two years later.
2001 21 weeks
This is the last hit that Fleetwood Mac was able to achieve in Australia, it may surprise you to learn it was only barely as such due to it being the third single of their album Tango in the night and the two lead singles “Big love” and “Seven wonders” flopping on our charts. At least the album was a massive success for the band, likely explaining why these songs weren’t as big as you’d otherwise expect.
1987 21 weeks
This was the last major hit that Status quo had here in Australia, although they would continue to have massive success in their native UK as recently as the early 90’s so perhaps their lack of success after this was due to them changing their sound from being a throwback band to a more contemporary one. This was a cover of a John Fogerty track from his first solo album from earlier in the decade that still receives airplay to this day.
1977 21 weeks
We Aussies didn’t seem to care that Ashlee Simpson had embarrassed herself on SNL like the rest of the world did, otherwise she wouldn’t have scored three more hits after the incident down under beginning with this third single from her debut album which I remember being inescapable back in the day despite it only ranking this high on this list. I guess this could’ve been bigger if more people were proud to admit they enjoyed it.
2005 21 weeks
Given the success of their earlier entry on this list worldwide, Hinder was finally able to find massive success with their album which included this second single from the band that was a hit only here in Australia and their native America. These were the only two hits that the band was able to achieve as their second album failed to become a success for them the following year when it was released.
2007 21 weeks
Well, this is certainly different for Smokie, after all, I don’t think anyone was expecting these guys to experiment with Latin pop given how much mileage they had with soft rock up until this point in their career. It would explain why it was only a sleeper hit for the band here despite this coming out immediately after the juggernaut that was “Oh carol” from earlier on this list.
1978 21 weeks
It’s easy to forget that “December 63” wasn’t Frankie Valli’s first foray into disco as that honour goes to this hidden gem which was only a sleeper hit for his band months prior to their magnum opus from earlier on this list. Indeed, this was a huge hit in their native America following the success of “My eyes adored you” which is funny given how that is a huge outlier on this list in his catalogue.
1975 21 weeks
Dr Hook were on a roll this year as they found a second hit here in Australia with another soft rock ballad, this confirmed that they had matured from the comedy rock from the first half of the decade and wanted to appeal to a more mainstream audience. I guess we Aussies were a little ahead of the curve in this regard as their popularity here dwindled just as it was beginning to explode internationally.
1976 21 weeks
This was the big breakthrough that Robert Palmer had here in Australia and in America of all places as this wasn’t a huge hit in his native UK for some reason, in fact he never saw much success over there despite him being one of the biggest artists of the 80’s worldwide. Here he scores a hit where he admits to falling in love with his doctor, a situation that I’m sure many found amusing upon its initial release.
1979 21 weeks
This is the final hit that Hilary Duff has had in her career as of this writing, it was the second single from her greatest hits package Most wanted which received heavy criticism at the time due to being a greatest hits package that was released two years after her first hit “Why not” from the Lizzie McGuire soundtrack.
2005 21 weeks
Well, this was a different side of Sheena Easton that he hadn’t seen prior, granted there was always a seductive side of her in her music, but this was the first time she had placed it front and centre in her image. It became a huge success for her here and in America, I’m guessing her fellow Brits weren’t interested in watching the woman who made it big with “Morning train” try to titillate them.
1985 21 weeks
This was the final hit that Hot chocolate had in Australia this decade, although they would return in the early 80’s with the likes of “Girl crazy” and their actual final hit “It started with a kiss” due to them performing those tracks on Countdown. In the meantime, we have this RNB ballad about Errol fixing a person he’s in a relationship with, it’s not exactly a fondly remembered track but it was a hit.
1979 21 weeks
While this was far from the first song that these guys released in their discography, it was the song that put them on the map as it became a modest success for them this year. This is more in line with their earlier sound as their later hits in the decade was more pop friendly, although they were also more successful which is perhaps why this wasn’t as big as the likes of “Barbados” or “Out of mind out of sight.”
1983 21 weeks
This was a Hispanic hip hop duo who scored their one and only hit in Australia this year with this bop of a track, although in NZ their big hit was “On a Sunday afternoon” which topped their charts two years prior. If the production on this track sounds familiar to you, that’s because Mariah Carey would sample it on her big hit “Honey” later in the decade. This wasn’t a hit in America so it’s anyone’s guess how she came across this track.
1994 21 weeks
Much like in NZ, this also managed to be a huge sleeper hit here in Australia which is how it managed to appear on this list of mine just like it did on my bonus list for the 80’s on that side of my site. Interestingly this came bundled with “Stop your fussing” in the southern hemisphere, meaning that song was technically a hit twice in both countries even though I haven’t included its stats with this entry.
1988 21 weeks
Apparently, this song was meant to be an endorsement for the hotel chain, however they were so unimpressed with this endorsement that they insisted on Chingy altering the name of the track so as to not have a direct affiliation with their brand. Here he recruits Snoop Dogg and Ludacris who are two rappers who are quite known for taking on any project for the pay check which likely led to the hotel’s lack of flattery.
2004 21 weeks
This was the debut single from Ricki Lee Coutler who achieved massive success throughout the decade both solo and as a member of Young divas despite being knocked out of the second season of Australian idol rather early in the competition (I’d say it was due to her being born in NZ except that wasn’t a hinderance for Stan Walker later in the decade.) It’s been mostly overshadowed by her other hits throughout the decade.
2005 21 weeks
This was one of two hits that British band the Quick were able to achieve here in Australia, this is curious considering they never had any success in their homeland and yet they scored two hits here during the early 80’s. I’m guessing the Brits didn’t care for their brand of new wave dance music, perhaps if they had a dance competition like we Aussies did throughout the 80’s they would’ve had more success.
1981 21 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2009 21 weeks
This was another E.P that Missy Higgins managed to score a hit with on the singles charts, although this formula didn’t work out as well for her as despite it debuting at number one on our charts, it was only half as successful as the other two E.P’s I’ve mentioned on this site from her. Still at least the album overall was a massive success.
2007 21 weeks
This was the final hit to come from Jennifer Love Hewitt here in Australia, it was as such thanks to this being an excellent time for female singer/songwriters even though both of her hits in the 00’s were written by Meredith Brooks as opposed to her contemporaries who wrote their own songs. I guess the songs written by the woman who wrote “Bitch” is why I have a soft spot for these tracks.
2003 21 weeks
This was the final hit single that Celine Dion was able to score in her career in most parts of the world, mainly due to it being the perfect book end to a highly successful decade as this serves as the lead single to her pseudo greatest hits package All the way a decade of song that also has enough new tracks to qualify for a studio album. I guess she could’ve had more success if she didn’t embarrass herself at Vegas in 2002.
1999 21 weeks
Although “Girl’s life” was a modest success here for Girlfriend, it was too modest to make an appearance on this site which is something that wasn’t the case for their third single which stuck around for quite some time despite it being a departure from their brand of new jack swing and teen pop. I guess this is proof that there’s always a market for slower ballads from teen idols no matter the time period.
1992 21 weeks
This was the second and final hit that BJ Thomas was able to achieve in Australia, third if you consider that John Farnham stole his second hit here with his rendition of “Raindrops keep falling on my head.” I guess Glen Campbell was the country star of choice here in Australia during the height of our fascination with the genre considering how much bigger he was compared to this guy down under.
1975 21 weeks
It’s funny how the Razzies would revive the worst original song category for this one year only for each of the nominees to wind up on this list, this theme song to Crossroads sadly taking home the prize over Britney’s other entry on this list (despite both of these songs coming from the soundtrack from the previous year) as well as Madonna’s Bond theme, goes to show how much the Razzie organisation dislikes both of these women.
2002 21 weeks
This was another American DJ to not find any success in his native America but have tons of success worldwide, indeed Armand Van Helden managed to go to number one on the UK charts with this track which no doubt helped him find an audience around the world including here in Australia where EDM was still at the height of its popularity.
1999 21 weeks
Those who felt betrayed by Angry Anderson selling out for a wedding theme for a soap opera were likely relieved when he returned to form in the new decade with this song, although I’m sure they would’ve preferred it if Rose tattoo had a hit to their name which wasn’t the case as they had broken up by this stage (even if they reformed later in the decade.) Indeed, this would be the last anyone would hear from the pub rocker.
1990 21 weeks
If this woman’s voice sounds familiar to you, that’s because she’s the vocalist from Arrested development’s debut album and a big component to that album’s success given how she quit the group during the production of their critically panned follow up. Here she it with her one and only solo hit which was guaranteed success in her native America and even did quite well here as a sleeper hit.
1995 21 weeks
“Black cat” might have been the song which encouraged us Aussies to give Rhythm nation 1814 a second chance, however it was this track that solidified the album as a classic as the album finally made it to number one here when this became a hit for Janet. I guess the ingredients that Janet needed were rock music and a love track as these were the two biggest hits from the album for her down under.
1990 21 weeks
Evidently a film called White nights has not one, but two Oscar nominated ballads on its soundtrack, although this one was far less successful outside of America given how “Say you say me” was the big hit off the film due to it winning the academy award. In fact, I’m willing to bet the only reason why this got any attention was due to it having Phil Collins name on it during the height of his popularity.
1985 21 weeks
It turns out this was also a sleeper hit for the Emotions here in Australia, I would say I’ve evened out their representation on both sides of this site except no amount of expanding this list will allow “Flowers” to appear on it due to it failing to chart here. It makes sense we Aussies knew of this songs existence back in the day given how heavily its played-on oldies stations to this day.
1977 21 weeks
This was a little late to the party here in Australia as were all the singles from TLC’s second album, although it did eventually become a sleeper hit for the girls likely due to how well it did throughout the rest of the world. For what it’s worth, there was a remix of this track from 1996 that did briefly chart here and nowhere else in the world, sort of to make up for our tardiness to making the girls a success here.
1995 21 weeks
I guess now I can comfortably say that all three of Paul Young’s big hits from his debut album have featured on both side of my site, although curiously, none of his hits from his second album have appeared on here including his Billboard chart topper “Every time you go away.” In any case, he had quite the run with his earlier work in the southern hemisphere that promised a long career for him.
1983 21 weeks
I guess Rick Astley wasn’t done with the music industry after the failure of his second album, so he cut ties with Stock Aiken and Waterman to release a third album which did slightly better this year likely due to him going in a more down to earth direction with his music. This change in direction only worked for this one song as it was more in line with the adult contemporary of this year than his earlier work.
1991 21 weeks
Well at least this song didn’t have to rebound on our charts in order for it to be a success here in Australia, sure it never quite saw the dizzying heights of success it had in NZ (let alone on Billboard) however it stuck around consistently for quite some time which suggests how much we Aussies at least viewed this as a guilty pleasure when it was first released.
2004 21 weeks
Evidently this was the theme to a TV show that was quite popular here in Australia, I’m not familiar with said TV show as from what I can research, Thom Pace was an American musician even though his one and only hit was only as such down under.
1979 21 weeks
This will be the only other new entry from Good charlotte on this list given how it was the lead single to their second international album, although it doesn’t escape my notice that both new entries from them on here are the lead singles to their respective albums even if this didn’t have as strong a message as their earlier entry did.
2004 21 weeks
This was the final hit that Jimmy Somerville was able to score in Australia in any capacity, although he would score a solo hit throughout the rest of the world in the 90’s with “To love someone” once the Communards called it quits at the end of the 80’s. This was a cover of Gloria Gaynor’s first hit single, which in turn was a cover of the Jackson 5 classic, making this a cover of a cover.
1987 21 weeks
This was the first of two hits that Italian band Alex Party managed to score in Australia, although it was their only hit in the UK as the Brits didn’t get on board with “Wrap me up” from the following year. This song has a straightforward message of not giving someone a second chance after they treated you bad in a relationship, it’s surprising how rare this type of song is given how most love songs are in the music scene.
1995 21 weeks
This was the final hit that the Eurogliders were able to achieve in their career, I’m guessing because they took too long in following up their album Absolutely with their fourth album this hit was named after and thus their fans had moved onto other forms of music by this stage. The band called it quits as the 80’s came to an end, however Grace Knight would find success as a solo artist in the 90’s.
1988 21 weeks
Much like her other Razzie nominated track on this list, this song is about how Britney feels that she needs the freedom to do what she wants in her life given how she was on the cusp of turning twenty when she released her third album which also serves as the soundtrack to her film Crossroads. Speaking of the film, it’s as bad as everyone says it is due to Britney not being a good actress as well as its cliched storyline.
2001 21 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2007 21 weeks
I did say when I featured this on the NZ side of my site that it was strange how this failed to feature on this side of my site, this is because of Bow wow’s earlier entry on this list which suggested that we Aussies were more receptive towards making him a household name as an adult than the kiwis were. Indeed, we were initially on board with this prospect but changed our minds the older he got.
2005 21 weeks
Well given how the Crazy frog was no longer able to score hits in the music scene, this allowed the German creation Gummibear to fill in for the amphibian which managed to score one hit this year thanks to its CGI video making the waves on YouTube. This won’t be making my weird videos list as it was obvious that the bizarre imagery on there was intentional much like it was on Crazy frog’s videos.
2007 21 weeks
This was the breakthrough for Miami sound machine, I’m guessing it was big here due to it being a surprise success for them in the UK despite this being a massive flop in their native America. The song nowadays is best known for a remix it received two decades later which allowed it to become a hit again in the mid 00’s.
1984 21 weeks
I don’t remember this track at all from back in the day, apparently this comes from a British artist who was active here in Australia which would explain why it was a modest success here and nowhere else in the world.
2007 21 weeks
This was originally an album track from Britney’s (then) most recent album Britney, it was given the remix treatment for the third Austin powers flick Goldmember when the song opened up the film with a Britney fembot performing the track before being exposed for what it was. Speaking of the film, it’s not very good as it moves the setting from the 60’s to the 70’s and is very heavy handed with its meta commentary.
2002 21 weeks
Well, this is a brutal entry, not for the song itself as it’s your typical glam rock track from an Australian artist of the moment, rather how it was clearly destined for great things upon its initial release only to be side-lined by Countdown due to the show wanting to shape up our music scene of the moment. Still at least Ray Burgess got somewhat of a look at his catalogue by the mainstream with this entry.
1975 21 weeks
This barely missed the cut on appearing on the NZ side of my site, although I get the feeling the only reason why this was a success at all was due to the novelty of the only two duets on Julio’s first English language album being released as singles back in the day. OK that and having Diana Ross duet with you also would’ve contributed to this song’s popularity upon its release.
1984 21 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2006 21 weeks
This likely would’ve been more of a success here in Australia had ARIA incorporated digital sales during the height of its popularity, as is, it did fairly well as the fourth single from the Rogue traders first album with Natalie on vocals given how it was already a massive success by the time it was released as a single.
2006 21 weeks
Given how much hype there was for George Michael’s third album this year, he decided to have the third single of Older serve as its own E.P which would prove to be a massive hit in its own right for the aging pop star. This comeback period would be short lived as aside from a surprise hit from his greatest hits album from two years later, this would be the last time he would trouble our charts.
1996 21 weeks
It looks like Sailor were able to score a second hit here in Australia with a song that I assure you has nothing to do with the Motley Crue track of the same name released a decade later, in fact this is something completely different from anything that got big on this list as this is a vaudeville track that somehow became popular during the height of disco and rock operas.
1976 21 weeks
This is an E.P from the Australian pop rock band the Sharp, I’m guessing these guys were destined for great things that didn’t come to fruition as this came out right when the music scene started to become hostile towards local music.
1992 21 weeks
This was also a huge sleeper hit for Scribe here in Australia back in the day, in fact this is what allowed his album to also be a sleeper hit here two years after its initial release in his homeland given how it initially struggled to find an audience with us Aussies when his earlier entry became a success.
2004 21 weeks
It looks like we Aussies were somewhat intrigued by this collaboration between Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger back in the day, not so much that we made it a genuine hit like the kiwis did, but enough so to make it a sleeper hit during the final stretch of the 70’s.
1978 21 weeks
It looks like Fragma weren’t one hit wonders after all as they managed to score a second hit with this track here in Australia, although it’s another entry I remember being far more popular back in the day than its placement on here would otherwise suggest. I guess this is due to it being a massive hit in the UK as were many of these news entries on this list.
2001 21 weeks
This is another entry from my Countdown list that qualifies for this list, mainly because Culture club were on a roll when they released this fourth single from Colour by numbers that its lack of success was more due to the album’s strong sales rather than us Aussies and kiwis thinking it was bad. Admittedly the bands detractors do site this as everything wrong with them, that being they’re repetitive and juvenile.
1984 21 weeks
We have the final hit single that Savage Garden had during their time together, granted it wasn’t the final single released from the album of the same name, however the album had become a best seller by the time those other singles saw the light of day. I remember not liking this as a kid due to every line beginning with “I believe,” however I’ve since come around on it for what it is.
2000 21 weeks
Given how Nelly was one of the biggest names of the 00’s and that Fergie was at the height of her solo popularity, it makes sense that the two would collaborate on this track even if the results was a bit of a commercial disappointment for the pair. Fergie would rebound from this when she re-joined BEP the year after its release, and this wouldn’t be the last we’d hear from Nelly either.
2008 21 weeks
This needed two attempts to become a success here in Australia as it was a massive flop for Take that upon its initial release from the previous year, admittedly I’m not too sure why we Aussies took to it this year as they didn’t seem to do anything to warrant our re-evaluation of this dance jam, however we gave it a second chance which resulted in its success a year after its initial release.
1994 21 weeks
I wasn’t expecting to have a second appearance of Harpo on this site; however, he managed to score a sleeper hit with this follow up to his earlier entry on this list likely due to how much we Aussies enjoyed his novelty tracks back in the day. Unlike his fellow Swedes Abba, there wasn’t any re-evaluation with his material once the hits dried up for him.
1976 21 weeks
File this in the increasing category of songs that I thought were way bigger than they actually were back in the day, this time it’s the one and only hit that British EDM group Moloko had even in their homeland. I think this is a victim of heavy airplay as I distinctly remember this more so than many of the entries that made it on my official lists, that or illegal downloading has been around longer than I thought.
1999 21 weeks
If the beat to this song sounds familiar to you, that’s because this samples “Dreadlock holiday” which no doubt led to the original being a nostalgia bomb when this first came out. As this is a hip hop track from a NZ group, this was naturally a massive hit over there and no doubt led to us Aussies checking out what all the fuss was about which resulted in its success over here.
1994 21 weeks
This was sandwiched between “Sorrento moon” and “Wasn’t it good” during the album cycle of Don’t ask, as such I have to wonder why we Aussies largely passed up on this track from Tina Arena but came around for the latter song given how all three of these songs plus the big hit off the album were ballads that would fit in nicely with the adult contemporary seen of the day.
1995 21 weeks
It turns out this lasted for quite some time on our charts despite it not being much of a hit for Chamillionaire (I can’t even with that name) so much so that it earns itself a spot on this list even though I doubt many Aussies remember this being a hit here back in the day. Naturally this was the best the rapper can do given how he’s a one hit wonder even in his own homeland.
2006 21 weeks
These guys had been active since the mid 50’s, which means they scored their final hit in Australia and most parts of the world two decades after their initial breakthrough. They had another hit earlier in the year with “Like sister and brother” meaning this RNB ballad didn’t come out of nowhere for the band down under, indeed they were fairly successful worldwide as both of these songs were huge in the UK.
1974 21 weeks
He may not have come in first place on the show, however that didn’t prevent Shannon Noll from finding massive success with his cover of the Moving pictures classic from 1982 which invertedly recontextualises the song to be about how he didn’t win the series which I’m guessing tugged at the heartstrings of audiences this year to make it a huge success.
2004 20 weeks
Another comeback to come in Cher’s very rocky career, this time it comes with the introduction of autotune in the music industry as this becomes the first hit single anywhere in the world to incorporate the vocal effect which helped it stand out from its contemporaries back in the day. Nowadays this is known as the Cher effect, primarily by her haters who believe that she was never a good singer.
1998 20 weeks
MJ might have been reduced to a media frenzy by the 21st century (unfairly in my opinion) however that didn’t mean that there wasn’t any love left for his back catalogue as Alien ant farm managed to score their one and only hit in most parts of the world with their rendition of this track from his album Bad. If you can believe it, they scored a second hit in NZ later in the decade with “Glow.”
2001 20 weeks
(This is from the physical charts)
2009 20 weeks
This E.P created history when it was released on the singles charts, it became the first entry to debut at number one on the Australian charts even though by all accounts this should have been charting on our album charts due to it being an E.P without a standout track to promote it.
1985 20 weeks
This was the first song that Akon had a hit with outside of his native America, I’m guessing due to the countless jokes that have been made that involve him duetting with Alvin and the Chipmunks as that’s what it sounds like to most people whenever they listen to this ballad. The chorus is a sped-up version of “Mr. lonely” from Bobby Vinton released forty years prior to when this became a huge international chart topper.
2005 20 weeks
It’s strange to think how inescapable these guys were in Australia and yet the true winner of the first round of the boy band wars of this decade Take that only managed to break through this year barely with a song that had to be rereleased in order to find any success here. I’m guessing we Aussies preferred these guys overall due to them easily fitting in with the EDM crowd over their main rivals.
1994 20 weeks
I never understood the backlash towards this cover, true it was made for charity and obviously Ali Campbell had no romantic relationship with Chrissie Hynde, however I feel you could’ve fooled me into thinking otherwise listening to this cover of the Sonny and Cher classic. I guess this track has only received backlash in more recent years due to UB40’s general backlash due to their usage of cod reggae.
1985 20 weeks
This was originally released in 1976 to deafening silence, presumably because by that stage few wanted to hear a ballad about how a twenty something year old was having an existential crisis about having everything she wanted except for the things that mattered. I’m guessing the world changed its mind six years later as this became a huge hit for her worldwide for reasons I can’t seem to ascertain.
1982 20 weeks
This is one of my favourite songs of the decade, to think that this was originally a song from Jackie Deshannon from several years earlier only for Kim Carnes to make it her own with her raspy vocals. This was such a success that the Hollywood legend wrote a letter of thanks to everyone involved in its creation for immortalising her as a pop culture legend (as if she wasn’t already by this point.)
1981 20 weeks
This was the last hit that the Village people managed to achieve anywhere in the world, presumably due to it being the title track of their autobiographical film about how they came to be in the first place. OK so calling it a biography is a bit of a stretch as their actual story of how they came to be wasn’t nearly as chaotic as what happens in the film but still.
1980 20 weeks
This is the biggest hit in Jimmy Barnes career both solo and with his band Cold chisel, I’m guessing because it was the lead single to his album where he wanted to appeal to an international audience and as such saw success both from his fanbase and the more contemporary listeners of the day. He would abandon his ambitions at appealing to an international market following the failure of his album Freight train hearts outside the southern hemisphere.
1987 20 weeks
This was the lead single to John Farnham’s album of the same name and given how his previous album was the most successful of the decade in Australia, it makes sense that he would continue to appeal to the adult contemporary crowd with this number which resulted in it being a huge success for him just like before.
1988 20 weeks
Well, this is certainly a surprise entry from Spiderbait for a number of reasons, first off, we have their take on a track made popular in the 70’s by the one hit wonder band Ram Jam which goes to show that 70’s nostalgia was still very much a thing in Australia this far into the new millennium. The other big surprise was that it features vocals from the drummer Kram (Mark spelt backwards) as opposed to Janet English.
2004 20 weeks
Following the failure of his previous project Milli vanilli, Frank Farian created a new group in the form of this Hispanic trio from the American east coast who thankfully did sing every note on their music which means there wasn’t any backlash towards the group that I’m aware of. This was among the earlier hits to emerge from the Latin craze that took the world by storm during the last stretch of the decade.
1996 20 weeks
