Shoulda Been Higher: A Celebration of 30 Years of Triple J's Hottest 100

he Hottest 100 is a national institution. 

Every year since 1993, Australia’s national youth broadcaster triple j has held an annual countdown of listeners’ 100 favourite songs of the year, as voted by the public. It’s as iconic of modern Australiana as sausage sizzles and leadership spills. It has become so much more than music. It’s beaches, barbeques, and bonfires. It’s joy and despair, drama and debate, friendship and community. 

This book is a fun retrospective: an insightful, light-hearted and deeply respectful celebration of the colourful history of ‘the world’s greatest musical democracy’. Taking account of the thirty annual countdowns, the book traces the social, musical and cultural impacts of the Hottest 100 over the decades. Its jam packed with stats, stories, little-known facts, and the kinds of fiery debate-starting questions that make the Hottest 100 what it is. 

This is the definitive account of the Hottest 100, a chronicle and a love letter – it’s the complete picture from Augie March to Ziggy Alberts, ‘Amazing’ to ‘Zombie’.