Wrapping Up The Hottest 100 of Australian Songs
How bloody good!
The Hottest 100 of Australian was exactly how a celebration of Australian music should be – it was super fun, energised and exciting, with a little controversy and surprise sprinkled throughout (Shocker: it turns out Ben Lee was not only misguided and self-aggrandising, but completely wrong. Who woulda thunk it?)
Here are my key takeaways on how it all shook out:
Key takeaways
‘Never Tear Us Apart’ was a fair number 1 song. It’s not really my cup of tea, but this is an Aussie anthem that means so much to so many Australian music fans, by one of our greatest musical exports. Universal and intimate, epic and poignant. Deserving of the top spot.
Finally, some recognition for white men. The lack of diverse representation in this countdown was the biggest letdown, though not overly surprising. Just 19 songs featured a woman on vocals (A few bands, including Spiderbait, Ball Park Music, and Spacey Jane have female members), and on five of those songs, the woman was a “featured artist”, not the primary. There was no Tina Arena, no Sia, no Camp Cope or Kasey Chambers. Just one song each for Kylie, the Divinyls and Thelma Plum. And disgracefully, just two of the artists in the countdown were Indigenous - nothing for A.B. Original, Baker Boy, Christine Anu or Warumpi Band.
Eight artists made up a quarter of the list. With so much to choose from, I thought maybe AC/DC would score three tracks, and a bunch would score two. But in the end, we got three songs from Hilltop Hoods, Powderfinger, Crowded House, Silverchair, Jimmy Barnes, AC/DC, Midnight Oil and even Gang of Youths.
Former winning songs killed it. 17 Australian songs have topped annual countdowns in the past, and 16 were eligible (The Wiggles’ winner, ‘Elephant’, was a Like A Version) – 12 former winners made this countdown, with two in the top-10. The likes of Flume, Gotye, Powderfinger and Angus & Julia Stone were never missing out, but surprised to see that ‘Wish You Well’ by Bernard Fanning and ‘Talk Is Cheap’ by Chet Faker were still rattling around in people’s brains.
The Hottest 100 fell back to being an all-rock list – bummer. Over the past decade the Hottest 100 has become a brilliantly diverse mix of technicolour tunes. But on this list, rock accounted for about 57 songs, by my estimation. Genre is hardly an exact science, but I counted 16 folk, 12 pop songs, 11 electronic/dance, and just 4 hip hop.
Biggest snubs
Obviously, there were a million songs that could rightfully have made this countdown, and everyone will have favourites they will insist were robbed.
Here are my picks for the absolute locks that somehow missed out on the final list:
‘Chains’ by Tina Arena (1994): Tina Arena is a national treasure, and this is her biggest, boldest, sexiest and most beloved hit. A powerhouse vocal performance.
‘(I’m) Stranded’ by The Saints (1976): One of the most influential punk songs in history, The Saints were as important to the movement as The Ramones and The Clash. The Brisbane lads are among Australia’s most important bands.
‘Spinning Around’ by Kylie Minogue (2000): Australia’s most successful international act only charted in the countdown once. Astonishing.
‘Chandelier’ by Sia (2014): Another massive female pop presence that was left off the list entirely. ‘Breathe Me’ is my personal favourite of Sia’s, but ‘Chandelier’ took the world by storm.
Australian hip hop, in general: What happened? Only four hip hop songs, three of which were Hilltop Hoods. ‘Final Form’ by Sampa The Great. ‘January 26’ by A.B. Original. ‘Addicted’ by Bliss N Eso. The Hottest 100 is traditionally a rock-heavy list, but this was shocking.
Superlatives
Finally, a few awards for the best and worst of the countdown:
Best song – ‘Under The Milky Way’ by The Church. A perfect song.
Worst song – ‘Cigarettes Will Kill You’ by Ben Lee. Insufferable.
Biggest surprise artist: While titans of the 2010s like Flume, Tame Impala, Ocean Alley and Thelma Plum scored just one track each, Gang of Youths absolutely cleaned up, with three songs. I didn’t see it coming, but I loved it. Also, shout out to Cold Chisel, who amazingly managed back-to-back tracks in the top-10.
Biggest surprise – song (happy edition): So, so many great songs popped up in this countdown, and there were actually quite a few I didn’t really expect. But it was particularly awesome to hear ‘London Still’ by The Waifs, which I didn’t know was still so beloved. Absolutely gorgeous.
Biggest surprise – song (bummer edition): I was genuinely shocked to hear ‘Straight Lines’ by Silverchair, let alone as high as #28! Silverchair’s worst ever single.
Most confounding stretch: From #30 to #26. It contained ‘The Horses’ by Daryl Braithwaite, ‘Under The Milky Way’ by The Church, ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ by Kylie Minogue, and ‘Never Be Like You’ by Flume – all inexplicably low placings for songs I thought were virtual locks for the top-10. And then, bizarrely, they were broken up by the incredibly overrated ‘Straight Line’ by Silverchair.