Triple J just announced the Hottest 100 Australian songs of all time, and it got me thinking what I would include in my list. There are so many factors that come in to play when thinking of an all time favourite list, obviously being a great song is at the top, but the point it arrived in your life, the lasting influence it had on you or the moment or memory it takes you back to can also play a huge part in elevating a song to greatness in your mind. Personally, I’ve been influenced by songs that I regularly play in DJ sets and know people really love, hearing about certain artists from all of you when I’m behind the counter and of course artists I’ve worked with over the years.
I’ve tried to break down my top ten but I was way over, so I decided to do my own 100. I’ve minimised artists I may be biased towards (if I’ve released them on of my labels or managed them), kept it at one song per artist and tried to span it across the many decades of Australian music, although that is a bit more difficult for stuff released in later years as the songs haven’t had the benefit of time. I've tried to include a range of gnres but it is obviously still biased to my personal taste.
I’m on the fence with something like Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn which is one of the great pop songs of the nineties but it’s a cover of an international track, so is it Australian? Same could be said for Daryl Braithwaite with Horses, luckily that one is nowhere near my top 100 Australian songs. The Divinyls I Touch Myself could be almost put into the same category but then there are probably other songs with ovrseas writers as well. I’ve done this quickly, so I have no doubt missed some and already thinking of songs I couldn't fit in from the likes of Ocean Party, The Meanies, Lo-Tel, Vanessa Amorosi and more.
I’ve broken down the tracks into a few sections, the lists in each section are alphabetical, not in preference order but I've generally included my favourite from the section as the video below it.
First up are the tunes that are incredibly well written, and have a very Australian feel, so they are essentially tracks that could only come from an Australian artist. Most of these picks themselves, artists such as The Go-Betweens, Midnight Oil and Paul Kelly had numerous songs that could have featured here. For Warumpi Band and The Middle East they both had two real strong contenders, although I got both Warumpi Band songs in thre in a roundabout way.
Archie Roach – Took The Children Away
Christin Anu – Island Home
Gangajang – Sounds Of Then
Goanna – Solid Rock
Go-Betweens – Cattle & Cane
Midnight Oil – Power & the Passion
Mondo Rock – Come Said The Boy
Paul Kelly – To Her Door
The Herd – 77%
The Middle East – Land Of The Bloody Unknown
The Triffids – Wide Open Road
Warumpi Band – Blackfella/Whitfella
Yothu Yindi – Treaty
Next are amazingly written, interesting or unique songs that would sit among the best of songs anywhere worldwide. There are artists like The Church, Died Pretty and Mental As Anything that had a few songs that could make this 100.
Architecture In Helsinki – Contact High
Boys Next Door – Shivers
Died Pretty – DC
Hunters & Collectors – Throw Your Arms Around Me
Machine Translations – Poor Circle
Mental As Anything – If You Leave Me
Models – Barbados
Not From There – Sich Offnen
Richard Clapton – Girls On The Avenue
Skyhooks – Horror Movie
Stella Donnelly – Boys Will Be Boys
Tame Impala – The Less I Know The Better
The Avalanches – Since I Left You
The Church – Unguarded Moment
The Loved Ones – The Loved One
The Stems – At First Sight
Incredible pop songs that are world class. Australia has long been a bit resistant to pop, some of these tracks sit on the edge of traditional pop and lean more to rock side of things, but I feel that all have pop qualities that would make them classic songs no matter where they came from.
Australian Crawl – Errol
Ben Lee – Catch My Disease
Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream
Eurogliders – Heaven
Faker – This Heart Attack
Flash & The Pan – Hy St. Peter
Flight Facilities – Crave You
Gabriella Cilmi – Sweet About Me
Icehouse – Electric Blue
INXS – Original Sin
Kylie Minogue – Confide In Me
Lash – Take Me Away
Max Sharam - Coma
Missy Higgins – Scar
Natalie Imbruglia – Torn
PNAU – Chameleon
Ratcat – That Ain’t Bad
Silverchair – Straight Lines
Temper Trap – Swet Disposition
The Divinyls – I Touch Myself
The Easybeats – Friday On My Mind
The Mavis’s – Cry
The Veronicas – 4Eva
The Vines – Get Free
On the international front Australia has been way more dominate in the rock genre over its history, even though that has changed somewhat recently. The below tracks are incredible songs that capture the raw energy of live Australian live music and in most cases their influence has been longstanding and widespread, not just in Australia.
AC/DC – Let There Be Rock
Ash – Midnight Witch
Asteroid B612 – September Crush
Cold Chisel – Flame Trees
Daddy Cool – Eagle Rock
Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Which Way To Go
God – My Pal
Hard Ons – Where Did She Come From?
Hoodoo Gurus – Bitter Sweet
Nitocris – Dark Side
Radio Birdman – New Race
The Atlantics - Bombora
The Black Diamonds – I Want, Need, Love You
The Drones – Sharkfin Blues
The Missing Links – Wild About You
The Saints – I’m Stranded
The Scientists - Swampland
The Sunnyboys – Alone With You
Violent Soho – Covered In Chrome
You Am I – Purple Sneakers
Some amazing tracks that are somewhat underrated. These are songs that I have gone back to a lot over the years. Most of them have had some success, especially here in Australia but I feel like they should be a lot more known than what they are.
Angie McMahon – Slow Mover
Antenna – Come On Spring
Big Heavy Stuff – Hibernate
Deadstar – Deeper Water
Falling Joys – Lock It
Frente – Ordinary Angels
Front End Loader – Pulse
Gerling – Dust Me Selecta
Leonardo’s Bride – Even When I’m Sleeping
Little Red – Rock It
Machin Gun Fellatio – Unsent Letter
New Buffalo – Recovery
Purplene – Swords Down
Skunkhour – Home
Sparkadia – Talking Like I’m Falling Down Stairs
The Clouds – Hieronymus
The Cops – Call Me Anytime
The Earthmen – Who’s Been Using This Bed
The Gin Club – Drug Flowers
The Hummingbirds – Blush
The Sleepy Jackson – Good Dancers
I’ve kept the artists I’ve worked with over the years to a minimum as a lot of times it is hard to be non-biased, and in a few cases I didn’t work on the original release anyway. The ones where I did work on the original release there were a few that are important songs, like Hockey Dad is a great song and was a moment for the local music scene, Shining Bird released such a unique and ahead of their time debut song and Bec Sandridge announced herself with a world class pop track.
Bad//Dreems – Sacred Ground
Bec Sandridge – In The Fog, In The Flame
Hockey Dad – Join The Club
Shining Bird – Distant Dreaming
The New Christs – Coming Apart
Tumbleweed – Daddy Longlegs
And here is the full list in on playlist!