What is the greatest Australian single of the last 25 years?

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Now THAT'S a tough one. I'll start:

The Angels - Take a Long Line

moley (moley), Monday, 1 August 2005 05:51 (twenty years ago)

ac/dc - "you shook me all night long"

j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 1 August 2005 05:56 (twenty years ago)

The Liars - Room on the Broom

Idont know if the Liars count

Voodoo Child, Monday, 1 August 2005 06:00 (twenty years ago)

no we don't claim them

shine headlights on me (electricsound), Monday, 1 August 2005 06:01 (twenty years ago)

The guy is from Australia, and he lives there too. so it should

Voodoo Child, Monday, 1 August 2005 06:03 (twenty years ago)

thug, "dad".

haitch (haitch), Monday, 1 August 2005 06:21 (twenty years ago)

it invented noise dudes!

haitch (haitch), Monday, 1 August 2005 06:21 (twenty years ago)

suck his undies

shine headlights on me (electricsound), Monday, 1 August 2005 07:07 (twenty years ago)

I Should Be So Lucky.

A Mouse Called Nonny, Monday, 1 August 2005 07:26 (twenty years ago)

so excellent - kylie mole?
can we claim ben folds five "brick" ?
seriously sherbet "howzat".

talcum kid, Monday, 1 August 2005 07:30 (twenty years ago)

"Howzat" was 1976 and therefore ineligible under the "last 25 years" proviso. Otherwise I would have gone for "Sun Arise" by Rolf Harris.

Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Monday, 1 August 2005 07:47 (twenty years ago)

that angels song has gotta be more than 25 yrs old - hasn't it?

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 1 August 2005 07:51 (twenty years ago)

Sadly the 25-year rule also rules out "Loving You Has Made Me Bananas" by Guy Marks.

Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Monday, 1 August 2005 07:51 (twenty years ago)

haha! i had no idea howzat existed outside australia but i shoulda known better - as a kid i used to think dreadlock holiday ws australian too, but theyre both obv products of the international federation of cricket loving nations (um aka the commonwealth)

jeremy jordan (cruisy), Monday, 1 August 2005 07:53 (twenty years ago)

see, we should do a what was...for morethan 25 yrs. the golden age.

my folks took a trek to engalnad for dad to work when i was in third form and i had to go to school (southbourne btw) and howzat was no.1 in england. i had to explain the meaning of the word "spunk" as i recall. to a guy named steve ridout. on a bus.

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 1 August 2005 07:55 (twenty years ago)

Actually Howzat only got to #4 in the UK. It was kept off the toppermost spottermost by Pussycat's "Mississippi."

Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Monday, 1 August 2005 07:58 (twenty years ago)

i must've been in aussie denial m!!! maybe it was second form actually. it was pre punk. i was the only boy in the whole school without platforms. there was one cooler than thou guy with an old army jacket and dyed hair who liked bowie. i wonder if it was marcello?

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 1 August 2005 07:58 (twenty years ago)

actually fuck maybe my pretensions are rewriting my memories - what year was it marcello?

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 1 August 2005 07:59 (twenty years ago)

ah 76. ok ok. good.

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 1 August 2005 08:02 (twenty years ago)

the answer is release the bats

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 1 August 2005 08:02 (twenty years ago)

If we're only talking the last 25 years, then my pick from each eligible decade would be Release The Bats, Confide In Me and Frontier Psychiatrist.

Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Monday, 1 August 2005 08:03 (twenty years ago)

or take away their blues by chads tree

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 1 August 2005 08:04 (twenty years ago)

I don't think we got that one. What was it like?

Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Monday, 1 August 2005 08:09 (twenty years ago)

ah its a sentimental thing. kind of triffids-y with a glockenspeil running through it. deep faux booming sensitive guy voice. not incendiary just nice

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 1 August 2005 08:21 (twenty years ago)

another nomination: say goodbye - hunnas!!!!

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 1 August 2005 08:25 (twenty years ago)

when were the great chisel singles? i'm lazily guessing more than 25 years.

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 1 August 2005 08:28 (twenty years ago)

god, "my pal"!!

haitch (haitch), Monday, 1 August 2005 09:33 (twenty years ago)

http://www.page.sannet.ne.jp/kimi_i/images/prtcmpny.gif

Alba (Alba), Monday, 1 August 2005 09:37 (twenty years ago)

Itch-e & Scratch-e "Sweetness & Light"
Antenna "Come on Spring"
The Go-Betweens "Spring Rain"
The Go-Betweens "Cattle and Cane"
Gerling "Enter Space Capsule (Remix)"

nicholas de jong (nicholas de jong), Monday, 1 August 2005 09:42 (twenty years ago)

You're not really nicholas de jong and I claim my £10.

Alba (Alba), Monday, 1 August 2005 09:43 (twenty years ago)

do re mi, "standing on wires". especially the bit where everything dissolves into the bell noises near the end.

haitch (haitch), Monday, 1 August 2005 09:43 (twenty years ago)

You Am I, "Purple Sneakers"

Deluxe (Damian), Monday, 1 August 2005 09:43 (twenty years ago)

hmmm, this is a tough one. new zealand would be easier. i mean, it would obviously be Monte Video's "Shoop-Shoop, Diddy-Wop, Cumma-Cumma, Wang-Dang", right? But Australia...."Say Goodbye" and "Cattle & Cane" are good choices, but I'll have to think it over."Just Like Fire Would" is another fave.

scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 1 August 2005 09:56 (twenty years ago)

Joe Dolce's 'Shaddup You Face'.

Unquestionably.

Michael Collie (Sans Sushi), Monday, 1 August 2005 10:56 (twenty years ago)

do re mi, "standing on wires". especially the bit where everything dissolves into the bell noises near the end.

omg i love this song

gem (trisk), Monday, 1 August 2005 11:17 (twenty years ago)

Again ridiculously difficult, but right now these sound good inside my head:

The Stems - "At First Sight"
God - "My Pal"
The Triffids - "Beautiful Waste"
Plus what Alba said.

Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Monday, 1 August 2005 11:46 (twenty years ago)

"Otherwise I would have gone for "Sun Arise" by Rolf Harris"

and rightly so!

Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Monday, 1 August 2005 12:06 (twenty years ago)

You're not really nicholas de jong and I claim my £10.
-- Alba

wtf, bro? course i am!

nicholas de jong (nicholas de jong), Monday, 1 August 2005 13:16 (twenty years ago)

Severed Heads - "Hot With Fleas" or "Big Car"

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 1 August 2005 13:17 (twenty years ago)

"Can't Get You Out Of my Head"

Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Monday, 1 August 2005 13:27 (twenty years ago)

ya fuckin rockist pigs

best single and best cover in wetsuits = Say Goodbye by Indecent Obsession

QUeen Gonne love you for the rest of my night, Monday, 1 August 2005 13:38 (twenty years ago)

scott, how the hell do you know that song? (the monte video one)

cb, Monday, 1 August 2005 15:16 (twenty years ago)

Kylie, "Love At First Sight"
INXS - "Original Sin"
Icehouse - "Electric Blue"

Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 1 August 2005 15:19 (twenty years ago)

which Space Capsule remix? the Josh & Lara one pwns the Avalanches or in-house jobbies.

I can see the bass player from Ch@d's Tree from my desk! if I stand up

kit brash (kit brash), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 02:50 (twenty years ago)

ya fuckin rockist pigs
best single and best cover in wetsuits = Say Goodbye by Indecent Obsession

-- QUeen Gonne love you for the rest of my night (da...), August 1st, 2005.
love this cd and the cover.were they sponsored by mambo for queensland tour ?

life puller, Tuesday, 2 August 2005 04:17 (twenty years ago)

indecent obsession - tell me something
roxus - stand back
no justice - lately
jo beth taylor - 99 reasons

loved melodian records.

life puller, Tuesday, 2 August 2005 04:20 (twenty years ago)

hi molly

shine headlights on me (electricsound), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 04:23 (twenty years ago)

I thought this one was going to be easier. But it's not.

GoBs, 'Cattle and Cane'
Do-Re-Mi, 'Man Overboard'
Craven Fops, 'Mustard / When A Whiskey Buys a Whiskey'
Severed Heads, 'Goodbye Tonsils'
Australian Crawl, 'Reckless'
Tactics, 'Coat-tails'
The Church, 'Almost With You'
Thug, 'Dad'
Paul Kelly, 'Sweet Guy'

But, actually, the real answer is 'Samurai Stomp' by Samurai Trash.

scriblerus (mike lynch), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 04:50 (twenty years ago)

i would like to see an anthology of tex perkins' musical works. "dad" sandwiched in between cruel sea and bush oysters next to his latterday crooner outings...

shine headlights on me (electricsound), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 04:56 (twenty years ago)

down under

michael burble, Tuesday, 2 August 2005 05:21 (twenty years ago)

With the voting pool bulging to several million people these days the likes of The Saints were probably always be going to be defeated by, like, Savage Garden and Daryl Braithwaite. Older music that sold by the truckload. (And a smidge more recently.)

I haven't checked that Ozzest 100 list MMM did when Triple J vacated Australia Day, but I wonder if we got something closer to that than something conspicuously Triple-J-inflected.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Sunday, 27 July 2025 09:49 (six days ago)

Yeah, a lot of overlap. :)

https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/songs-made-triple-ms-ozzest-100/

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Sunday, 27 July 2025 09:50 (six days ago)

Wait, was Friday On My Mind really not on this list

imago, Sunday, 27 July 2025 09:56 (six days ago)

Delete Australia

imago, Sunday, 27 July 2025 09:56 (six days ago)

white Australia rarely been good at culture.

bert newtown, Sunday, 27 July 2025 09:57 (six days ago)

Honestly the Triple M list is better!

Cognosc in Tyrol (emsworth), Sunday, 27 July 2025 10:03 (six days ago)

Go-Betweens at exactly #100 conveying delicious "grudging acknowledgment" vibes.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Sunday, 27 July 2025 10:26 (six days ago)

No Tina Arena, no credibility

kinder, Sunday, 27 July 2025 16:46 (six days ago)

Tina Arena is a French musician.

Nancy Makes Posts (sic), Sunday, 27 July 2025 17:09 (six days ago)

:)

Nancy Makes Posts (sic), Sunday, 27 July 2025 17:09 (six days ago)

I'm talking about the Australian one!

kinder, Sunday, 27 July 2025 18:23 (six days ago)

Same Tina Arena. I think sic is having a dig at me having a dig at the Crowdies.

assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 27 July 2025 22:32 (six days ago)

interesting list, i knew a lot more of these than i thought i would, was admittedly surprised that Troye wasn't on the list particularly given his recent rise, and also surprised that Australia seemed to care about Silverchair long after everyone with sense had forgotten they existed.

czech hunter biden's laptop (the table is the table), Monday, 28 July 2025 00:13 (five days ago)

It's the middlebrow dadcore/mumcore Harvey Norman demographic doing most of the voting. Nobody with adventurous taste listens to JJJ.

assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 28 July 2025 01:13 (five days ago)

the few actual pop songs (kylie, veronicas) on the list got there because they were truly gigantic hits, sivan doesn't have anything that compares to those and is super recent

ufo, Monday, 28 July 2025 01:28 (five days ago)

yeah, makes sense

czech hunter biden's laptop (the table is the table), Monday, 28 July 2025 01:32 (five days ago)

Double J is counting down 200-101 in tiny instalments all the week.

The likes of "Don't Change", "Cattle & Cane" and "Blackfella/Whitefella" ended up in the #190-200 bracket. Oof.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Monday, 28 July 2025 01:38 (five days ago)

Never knew what Triple J was, other than some live versions of songs I like from 'Triple J Sessions.' Streaming it now for the first time!

the way out of (Eazy), Monday, 28 July 2025 03:47 (five days ago)

This is apparently where they'll incrementally reveal the rest of the #101-200, should you wish prolong the misery lol. (Should be 10 more after 4pm AEST.)

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/doublej/music-reads/features/hottest-100-australian-songs-200-101/104701408

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Monday, 28 July 2025 05:45 (five days ago)

Same Tina Arena. I think sic is having a dig at me having a dig at the Crowdies.

― assert (matttkkkk)

I was just goofing on my own defense of the Crowdies


also surprised that Australia seemed to care about Silverchair long after everyone with sense had forgotten they existed.

― czech hunter biden's laptop (the table is the table)

oh boy just wait until you hear about how America hangs onto caring about American bands that nobody else heard to begin with!

Nancy Makes Posts (sic), Monday, 28 July 2025 08:07 (five days ago)

186. Helen Reddy — 'I Am Woman'

OMG. This didn't even cross my mind. Respeck!

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Monday, 28 July 2025 09:42 (five days ago)

The top 1000 aussie songs of all time!

bert newtown, Monday, 28 July 2025 09:45 (five days ago)

Fuck I can’t believe that Triple M doesn’t have ‘Rain’ by Dragon, what is WRONG with this country (yes, quite a few things, I know)

Cognosc in Tyrol (emsworth), Monday, 28 July 2025 12:49 (five days ago)

*Triple M list

Cognosc in Tyrol (emsworth), Monday, 28 July 2025 12:49 (five days ago)

Dragon may fall on the wrong side of the, um, Split Enz/Crowded House divide. ie. Australian residents for significant spans of time, but formed in NZ, and key members tended to be NZers right through.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Monday, 28 July 2025 13:52 (five days ago)

Because I seemingly can't go 5 posts without a Go-Betweens reference in thread, the above reminds me that Robert Forster found Dragon (Marc Hunter specifically) illustrative of one his amusing "rules of Rock'n'Roll".


I turn a corner and face a street with the slight curl of a horseshoe to its shape, lined with an impressive run of terrace houses. As I proceed, I see at the far end of the street, 80 or 90 metres away, a tall, thin man approaching. We are like two gunfighters in a Western, advancing from either end of town. The drama of this little scene reinforced by the fact that no one else is around. We keep on walking and when he is about 20 metres away, I realise that the person in view, sharing this early morning street with me, is Marc Hunter, the lead singer of Dragon. He is an inch taller than my six foot three, his black hair is short with a red streak, his high-cheek-boned, feline face is handsome and relaxed, and he is wearing a black velvet jacket, open shirt and tight jeans. He is ramrod straight and his chin is high. He looks fucking incredible. I have just had time to clock all this when he is upon me, giving a nod and a smile as he passes. I know that he doesn’t know who I am. Another realisation comes seconds later, a mental zap that he has sent from his mind to mine. I get it. Being a rock star is a 24-hour-a-day job.

He didn’t have to look so good so early – he just can’t help it. There could have been a stage and 10,000 people positioned at the end of the street, and he wouldn’t have had to break stride – a check of the hair, perhaps – to strut to the microphone and perform a full show with his band. He was prepared and it wasn’t just the clothing – it was something more important than that, easy to miss when blinded by the bling and clichés of rock stardom, the limousines, entourage, groupies, the tattoos and luxury hotels – it’s to do with attitude. A haughtiness, a regal grab at life, a mood, that doesn’t just come on at six o’clock in the evening when showtime is close. Rock stars are ready at breakfast. He was probably only going to the shop to get milk and the paper, and yet there could have been a gaggle of teenage fans waiting at the corner – the ego allows for that situation – or a passing stranger like me, and he wasn’t going to let us down; we’d get the full show too – even at 7 am. That’s the lesson he flashed in passing, and if I hadn’t have been there, he would have been looking as good, still happy to groove on his own aura.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 01:12 (four days ago)

I love that bit - is that the same article where he talks about how to have good hair?

Somehow never knew that Dragon were NZ! Thank you for educating me

Cognosc in Tyrol (emsworth), Tuesday, 29 July 2025 01:55 (four days ago)

some stats on votes

bert newtown, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 02:54 (four days ago)

164. Tina Arena — 'Chains' !!!

Curious whether Danii Minogue and Jamie Redfern et al got any votes now.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 07:10 (four days ago)

oh my god, I just checked and there are songs by Jet and Wolfmother in the 100. Wolfmother. And Jet.

assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 29 July 2025 10:43 (four days ago)

Chains is an incredible song sorry

boxedjoy, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 11:04 (four days ago)

OTM

kinder, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 11:56 (four days ago)

Just quietly, I like to see Italian sisters doing well on principle lol. But really didn't anticipate her being *that* close to contention in a list dominated by tepid 21st century Triple-J-core and boomers wielding electric guitars.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 12:26 (four days ago)

Not super-enormously displaced from the 100, it turns out:

159. Troye Sivan — 'Rush'

But neither was:

147. Nikki Webster — 'Strawberry Kisses'

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 08:18 (three days ago)

TIL the Bee Gees are not actually Australian

✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 30 July 2025 12:53 (three days ago)

The triple J list is kinda bad.

As for my favorite Australian single of the past 25 years I’ll pick

Jack J - Thirstin

✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 30 July 2025 12:54 (three days ago)

Or “something (on my mind)”

✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 30 July 2025 13:02 (three days ago)

I fell for their scam and tuned to Double J for one bracket. 140-131 might be the blandest stretch yet. Haha, wait, actually "Smoko" is #131, finally saving me from coma, at least.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 31 July 2025 01:55 (two days ago)

lol BlueJuice

the "long Howard Era" of Australian music has a lot to answer for

Cognosc in Tyrol (emsworth), Thursday, 31 July 2025 02:12 (two days ago)

Literal LOL

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 31 July 2025 02:57 (two days ago)

Interesting to only now see these Lime Cordiale chaps show up. I'm mainly conscious of seeing them pop up a *lot* in the annual Hottest 100's, but they don't seem to have much of profile outside the JJJ ecosystem. (Or do they?) Perhaps not all that much durability within that context either? (Unless perhaps they reign over the mysterious #101-130 zone here lol.)

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 31 July 2025 03:01 (two days ago)

Google has noticed me paying way too much attention to this nonsense and pointed me to this thing on brand relationships that helped some tracks. I feel a little unclean now.
https://themusicnetwork.com/creative-placements-impacted-the-hottest-100-of-australian-songs/

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 31 July 2025 03:31 (two days ago)

124. The Saints — '(I'm) Stranded'

122. Archie Roach — 'Took The Children Away'


In a list created by committee (even a Triple M committee) these surely tick some boxes (first generation punk and indigenous anthems) and make your list look a bit less weird, at least. Nice that the masses placed them fairly proximate to the 100 here.

I'd like to think that Shannon Noll, like Nikki Webster, resulted from some sort of coordinated troll campaign lol.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 31 July 2025 07:52 (two days ago)

So Sia and a (second) Kylie Minogue track are what *just* missed the 100. And apparently Skyhooks, the first band ever played on JJ(J), just missed the 200, at #201.

Mildly infuriating to finally confirm that nothing from my ballot appeared in the 100-200 range and in the process be reminded of the existence of that cloying-as-an-insurance-jingle Birds of Tokyo thing (#108) lol.

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Friday, 1 August 2025 07:14 (yesterday)

wow i mean i guess this exercise has been pretty informative to me inasmuch as i had no idea people were so enduringly fond of dire corporate landfill indie tunes in this country, but i guess people can be nostalgic for anything (says the guy who owns an uncomfortable number of Mondo Rock cassettes)

Cognosc in Tyrol (emsworth), Friday, 1 August 2025 09:12 (yesterday)

there's nothing triple j loves more than the direst landfill indie, sadly

ufo, Friday, 1 August 2025 10:42 (yesterday)

My most unfortunate nostalgia is possibly for the period in childhood when they went national and seemed, for a time, like a decent adjunct to 3RRR/3PBS locally, which *still* inexplicably makes me *want* to give Triple-J the benefit of the doubt somewhat, but ... yeah. *shudder*

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Friday, 1 August 2025 11:55 (yesterday)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukNOaKeUEQY

this is still the most loathsome song triple j has ever exposed me to

ufo, Friday, 1 August 2025 12:01 (yesterday)

Okay yeah, I probably like some of the gawky antecedents of this sort of silliness admittedly but it doesn't add up to much and it's hard to imagine it rewards repeat exposure lol. Commenter seems OTM: "not gonna lie, if someone sent me messages of just 'do do do do do'- I’d block them."

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Friday, 1 August 2025 13:00 (yesterday)

These results were completely baffling. I keep thinking i'll see some stat : inxs wins with 0.93 of the vote, closely followed by someone else on .0926 of the vote.

bert newtown, Friday, 1 August 2025 13:08 (yesterday)


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