[simonf]

I’ve been a big fan of the Australian charts since the mid 90s. Over the past few weeks, I have been compiling all the #1s since 1994 on my database (its taken me ages) and i went to myself, why not post this information? I know some might not be interested but i thought, u never know someone might be lol. All the #1s below include the number of weeks it spent at the top, the week ‘ending’ it spent at #1, its chart run, the total weeks in the chart, facts which include its position in the year end chart and its certification, its country of origin and chart commentary i wrote myself. Platinum in Australia is 70,000 units while gold is 35,000. An ‘+’ by the #1 means its still charting and likely has more facts/chart runs to its chart history in the coming weeks. I hope you enjoy reading it, as I have enjoyed writing it. I'll post one year per night as i'm still got to finish the commentary for the last few years.....

P.S. Feel free to comment in the thread, and although i've done my very best to research the #1s over the past month or so, if anyone has anyone corrections or missing information that they'd like to share then feel free if it makes my data base more accurate i'm all for it. Anyway here goes...

1994

Bryan Adams - Please Forgive Me
#1 for 7 weeks from 27 November 1993
Chart Run: No Chart Run for 1993! From 1994 only, 1-1-2-4-5-9-10-12-17-24-32-42-46
Total Weeks: 18 weeks
Facts: #10 selling single of 1993, #8 selling single of 1994 <P>2
Country Of Origin: Canada
Chart Commentary: Unfortunately due to my archives, the full chart run can’t be shown. Bryan Adams had huge success in a short space of time, this song had already been #1 through the summer of 1993, and its huge sales carried it through to 1994. This was his second #1 single, following the huge success from ‘Everything I Do…’ from mid 1991, which went double platinum, and was the years best seller, with it having been #1 for an impressive 11 weeks.

Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince –Boom! Shake The Room
#1 for 1 week from 15 January 1994
Chart Run: (No information for 1993) 2-1-2-4-7-8-13-20-29-34-43
Total Weeks: 21weeks
Facts: #18 selling single of 1993, #36 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: The actors/singers were made famous from the success of ‘the fresh prince of Bel Air’, this party rap song may have only spent 1 week at #1 but had already spent 5 weeks at #2 before reaching the top.

Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart & Sting – All 4 Love
#1 for 2 weeks from 22 January 1994
Chart Run: 5-3-1-1-2-3-4-4-8-9-14-21-30-41-46
Total Weeks: 15 weeks
Facts: #10 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: Canada/United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: His third #1 of the 1990s, and the second within 2 weeks, no act had archived this since Abba dethroning themselves off #1 in 1976. This ballad was a collaboration with these 3 men, and while Rod had previous #1 in the 1970s, this was Sting’s first chart topper (his previous best was with the Police in 1983 with Every Breath You Take reaching #2).

Cut ‘n’ Move – Give It Up
#1 for 4 weeks from 5 February 1994
Chart Run: (No information for 1993) 19-10-6-3-1-1-1-1-3-3-7-9-13-17-26-30-33
Total Weeks: 18 weeks
Facts: #13 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: Denmark
Chart Commentary: This song was a cover of the classic, KC & the Sunshine Band from the 1980s. It was the first time this song had reached the top, and was the only country this summer song reached the top. It was first released in Europe in 1993 but flopped in the UK. It was the first time an act from Denmark reached the top spot, only to be outdone by Aqua in late 1997.

East 17 – It’s Alright
#1 for 7 weeks from 5 March 1994
Chart Run: 25-7-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-3-6-10-13-18-27-34-41
Total Weeks: 17 weeks
Facts: #4 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: This boy band were one of the biggest in the mid 90s. This song was massive in Australia, spending over 7 weeks at the top, and making it the years longest runner. Strangely this song never reached the top in East 17’s homeland, though did reach the top in some European countries. This was by far their biggest hit, the Xmas hit ‘Stay Another Day’ reached a peak of #3 in early 1995.

Celine Dion – The Power Of Love
#1 for 1 week from 23 March 1994
Chart Run: 33-24-13-6-3-2-2-2-2-1-3-3-5-8-10-11-17-28-37-47
Total Weeks: 20 weeks
Facts: #6 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: Canada
Chart Commentary: Her first big hit in Australia, which despite its modest 1 week at the top, did end up to be one of the years biggest hits. The song was a cover of the 1985s version done by Jennifer Rush, which spend 2 weeks at the top in 1985. Celine’s success continued through most of the 1990s, leading her to have 5 #1 albums, and another big #2 hit with ‘Think Twice’ before reaching the top again in 1996.

Ace Of Base – The Sign
#1 for 4 weeks from 30 March 1994
Chart Run: 41-9-7-2-1-1-1-1-2-4-4-6-7-16-18-29-37-38-44
Total Weeks: 19 weeks
Facts: #5 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: Sweden
Chart Commentary: This act were absolutely huge in 1994. Their first hit ‘All That She Wants’ had a late release in Australia, reaching the top in November and became the 9th Best seller of 1993. It spent 27 weeks in the top 50 and ended up double platinum. ‘The Sign’ had one of the biggest jumps in history (41-9) and was the first time for a couple of years, that a group’s first 2 hits had both reached #1. This song also went to #1 in the states, and was the third Swedish act to reach the top, after Abba and Roxette.

Prince – The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
#1 for 2 weeks from 28 May 1994
Chart Run: 12-7-3-2-1-1-2-3-4-6-8-15-31-40-50
Total Weeks: 15 weeks
Facts: #23 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: The man that loved to change his name a lot, had his second #1 hit in Australia, after When Doves Cry in 1984. By this time, his name was officially the symbol and this love song, was his biggest hit.

Crash test Dummies – Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
#1 for 3 weeks from 11 June 1994
Chart Run: 38-24-10-7-3-1-1-1-2-2-2-5-7-8-11-22-20-30-32
Total Weeks: 19 weeks
Facts: #14 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: Canada
Chart Commentary: The song with the most symbols (if that’s how you put it), the first time the same letter in the 1 title had been used in a song title that reached the top.

Wet Wet Wet – Love Is All Around
#1 for 6 weeks from 2 July 1994
Chart Run: 23-7-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-2-2-3-5-4-7-10-11-13-19-27-39-40Total Weeks: 25 weeks
Facts: #1 selling single of 1994 <P>3
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: The year’s best seller, was the theme to British movie ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’. The song spend 6 weeks at #1 and 6 months within the top 50, making it one of the years longest runners. By the end of its chart run, it had sold in excess of 210,000 copies.

All4One – I Swear
#1 for 5 weeks from 13 August 1994
Chart Run: 28-7-3-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-5-4-5-8-11-14-16-17-17-22-27-35-38
Total Weeks: 24 weeks
Facts: #2 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: The big American #1 was their only top 10 in Australia. It ended up as the years second best seller.

Kylie Minogue – Confide In Me
#1 for 4 weeks from 17 September 1994
Chart Run: 31-1-1-1-1-2-4-7-9-10-14-22-20-30-28-30-27-38-45
Total Weeks: 20 weeks
Facts: #22 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: Australia
Chart Commentary: This hype around this single was huge, it was widely expected to enter the charts at #1 and was expected to be one of the years biggest hits, so what happened? It debuted at #31, quite disappointing when it was expected to go gold in its first week, but when you realise that the debut at such a low number was only due to street date violations, it soon becomes clear how big the song was going to be. It was the biggest climb to #1 since Sinead O’Connor in 1990, where it rose 36 places. Confide in me climbed 30 places, and stayed there for 4 weeks. It was her first chart topper since 1988’s Got to be Certain, and her 4th #1 overall (after Locomotion and I Should Be So Lucky). By the end of 2003, she would have 9 #1s behind her, making her equal only to Madonna with the most #1s by a female artist. This was also the first Australian made song to reach the top since 1992, ending a 2-year drought to Australian #1s.

Boyz II Men – I’ll Make Love To You
#1 for 2 weeks from 15 October 1994
Chart Run: 7-6-2-1-1-3-3-4-6-7-6-6-11-11-12-16-19-28-32-37-44-45
Total Weeks: 23 weeks
Facts: #7 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: This was their second Australian #1, after End of the road in November 1992, which ended up being the 3rd best selling single of 1992. It was also their longest running #1 in the states, where it stayed at #1 for an impressive 14 weeks. This r’n’b ballad was one of the best sellers of the year.

Silverchair – Tomorrow
#1 for 6 weeks from 29 October 1994
Chart Run: 26-9-8-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-3-2-3-3-2-2-2-5-5-6-8-12-13-14-21-24-27-39-48
Total Weeks: 29 weeks
Facts: #9 selling single of 1994, #19 selling single of 1995 <P>2
Country Of Origin: Australia
Chart Commentary: Hailing from Newcastle in Australia, this rock group had one of the best sellers of the mid 90s, staying top 50 for 7 months. They broke the record for being the youngest group to have a #1, with all members being in there mid teens. It was the second time in less than 2 months that a #1 had originated from Australia, especially as there hadn’t been a chart topper from Oz since 1992.

Sheryl Crow – All I Wanna Do
#1 for 1 week from 10 December 1994
Chart Run: 16-11-5-4-3-3-1-3-4-4-3-3-5-9-12-18-23-28-42-35-43
Total Weeks: 21 weeks
Facts: #34 selling single of 1994 <P>
Country Of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: Surprisingly one of the few countries this reached the top, this was Sheryl’s first hit single, and ended up being her biggest to date. She followed this hit up with another top 5 smash ‘Strong Enough’ in early 1995, but has yet to achieve this type of success since. The huge success of this song led the accompanying album ‘TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB’ reaching the top in June 1995.

Cranberries – Zombie
#1 for 8 weeks from 17 December 1994
Chart Run: 45-30-15-10-5-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-4-3-5-5-13-19-39
Total Weeks: 22 weeks
Facts: #38 selling single of 1994, #7 selling single of 1995 <P>2
Country Of Origin: Ireland
Chart Commentary: Surprisingly this only got to #14 in the UK, but ended up being one of the best sellers in Australia in 1994/95. It was pleasantly surprising to see this rock track reach the top. It was also a massive #1 in Europe where it reached #1 in Belgium, Germany & France. It was one of the longest runners at the top at the time, and was #1 throughout the summer.

[BadRapture]

Hey simonf.

I find this stuff fascinating! I'm interested in the ARIA Chart as well but it looks like you have put a lot of effort into this DB....good stuff.

I remember these songs as beinmg huuuuge when I was growing up:

Zombie was v popular

Confide In Me everyone loved

Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah now....baby give it up - I'm surprised this was not a hit anywhere else!

Prince's song annoyed me.

Silverchair - I can't begin to explain how huge this song was. It just never stopped playing it and I was surprised such a pure rock track went #1.

[simonf]

Oh many thanks for the reply Badrapture, greatly appreciated. I've always loved the Australian chart and always thought that on many occasions, it was alot better than the UK's chart, certainly in terms of #1s in the late 1990s. It did take me ages lol, but its actually been very enjoyable to do. Your comments were a nice read, i've also wondered why give it up was such a flop in many countries. Yeah i thought Tomorrow must have been quite huge, because i once remember in an episode of Home and Away in the mid 90s they mentioned Silverchair lol, always thought they must have been a huge group. I know rock was a huge genre in the 90s in Australia, so many great songs which failed to do anything in the UK. Anyways, as you've put me in a very good mood, i thought i'd post the 1995 #1s (instead of tomorrow) before i go to bed.

Here goes:-

1995

(MC Sar &) The Real McCoy – Another Night
#1 for 6 weeks from 11 February 1995
Chart Run: 38-34-9-4-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-3-3-4-4-6-11-25-39
Total Weeks: 20 weeks
Facts: #5 selling single of 1995 <P>
Country Of Origin: Germany/USA
Chart Commentary: One of the years best sellers, this huge American #3 hit, also reached #2 in the UK, but Australia were one of the only countries that took this dance track to #1, and is now considered one of the best dance tracks of the mid 90s. The collaboration between MC Sar and the Real McCoy led to them having 2 more top 10s in 1995 and a further top 20 hit towards the end of the year.

Hocus Pocus – Here’s Johnny
#1 for 6 weeks from 25 March 1995
Chart Run: 40-37-31-16-11-6-2-2-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-5-8-14-21-28-36-45
Total Weeks: 22 weeks
Facts: #14 selling single of 1995 <P>
Country Of Origin: Netherlands
Chart Commentary: Few people have actually heard this song. The line from the shining ‘here’s johnny’ is repeatedly sung every 30 seconds behind a trance beat. The song is probably one of the most un-commercial chart toppers of recent times. The song had originally been a rave/dance favourite and quickly found its way to #1, despite it having no airplay. I read somewhere that the group were from the Netherlands although I can’t be sure if this is the case, if it is, it was only the first time an act from the Netherlands had reached #1, beating Pussycat which got to #2 in 1976.

Take That – Back For Good
#1 for 2 weeks from 6 May 1995
Chart Run: 22-7-3-1-1-2-2-2-4-5-8-7-8-10-16-14-29-29-32-34-41
Total Weeks: 21 weeks
Facts: #9 selling single of 1995 <P>
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: Their previous top 10 success was in 1994, with Pray, making a modest #10. Apart from that, the group only had minor success until this track in early 1995. Written by Gary Barlow, the track soon became a favourite with female fans and this love song ended up being one of the classic #1s of 1995. The song had already been #1 in UK, and would later become their only US top 10 hit. With the departure of Robbie in late 95, they disbanded in early 1996, never able to enjoy the same success as they did in the UK. The follow up Never Forget and How Deep Is Your Love both made a modest #12. Strangely, one of the more interesting battles was in August 96 where Robbie’s Freedom beat Gary Barlow’s hit Forever Love, both went top 10 in the same week (Robbie did better than Gary - #6 to #7 respectively). Robbie has enjoyed more success in Australia with top 10 hits Rock DJ and Better Man.

Merril Bainbridge – Mouth
#1 for 6 weeks from 20 May 1995
Chart Run:42-35-19-10-7-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-3-4-4-4-19-19-31-42
Total Weeks: 21 weeks
Facts: #4 selling single of 1995 <P>
Country Of Origin: Australia
Chart Commentary: The song had been released in late 1994 without any airplay or interest, and flopped as a result. Move on 6 months and the single was repackaged and reissued and with the help of airplay and more promo, the song enjoyed much more success. The song would later reach the top 10 in both the US and Canada. This song holds the record of being the longest running #1 by a Australian female in the 90s, the biggest debut hit for a female since Kylie, and was the only Australian to go to #1 in 1995, and the last act from Melbourne to reach #1 until 2000. It was also the last #1 by an Australian for already 2 years (until Savage Garden made the top in January 1997).

Bryan Adams – Have you ever really loved a Woman?
#1 for 1 week from 1 July 1995
Chart Run: 6-3-3-2-2-1-2-2-2-2-2-2-6-8-11-12-17-22-29-47
Total Weeks: 20 weeks
Facts: #6 selling single of 1995 <P>
Country Of Origin: Canada
Chart Commentary: His 4th #1 of the 90s made him the most successful male. No other had had more #1 during the decade although many acts had 2 number 1s. It was actually his last chart topper, although he has reached the top 10 since, with I finally found someone and when you’re gone with Melanie C. This song was from the movie ‘Don Juan de Marco’.

U2 – Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
#1 for 6 weeks from 8 July 1995 (Entry at #1)
Chart Run: 1-1-1-1-1-1-4-10-12-17-25-33-41
Total Weeks: 13 weeks
Facts: #29 selling single of 1995 <P>
Country Of Origin: Ireland
Chart Commentary: This was their longest chart topper, their 3rd #1 after Desire and The Fly and their second to debut at #1. In fact, this was the only song to do so in 1995 and the first to do so since Meat Loaf in 1993. The song was also on the soundtrack to Batman Forever, which also later had another chart topper with Seal in late August.

Jann Arden – Insensitive
#1 for 1 week from 19 August 1995
Chart Run: 42-28-20-9-5-3-3-1-3-3-4-3-5-6-10-14-22-33-48
Total Weeks: 19 weeks
Facts: #12 selling single of 1995 <P>
Country Of Origin: Canada
Chart Commentary: The second Canadian to reach the top in less than a year, this ballad only spent one week at the top but ended up being a big seller.

Seal – Kiss From A Rose
#1 for 6 weeks from 26 August 1995
Chart Run: 50-6-6-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-3-4-5-4-6-6-15-19-28-33-44-46
Total Weeks: 22 weeks
Facts: #3 selling single of 1995 <P>
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: This song was the second song from Batman Forever to reach #1 in as many months. The track was huge, it became his second top 10er after Crazy, and his only chart topper. It was actually a re-release, failing to chart a year previously, and was the second #1 of 1995 to reach the top after being re-released (Mouth being the first). The big success wasn’t made until it was included in the Batman film, and was also a #1 in the USA as a result. Interestingly, it holds one of the records from biggest climb into the top 10 (50-6), no other song before had climbed so fast, so quickly.

Mariah Carey – Fantasy
#1 for 1 week from 7 October 1995
Chart Run: 2-2-1-3-4-6-11-13-21-24-27-29-35-40-38-48
Total Weeks: 18 weeks
Facts: #17 selling single of 1995 <P>
Country Of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: Mariah Carey was one of the biggest females of the 1990s. Her previous album ‘Music Box’ had been a #1 in Oz, selling in excess of 1,000,000 copies alone, making it one of the biggest selling albums of all time. Strangely, this was her only #1 single in Australia, her previous best being her endless love duet with Luther Vandross which #2 in 1994 and the Christmas song ‘All I want for Christmas is you’ which peaked at #2 in December 1994. The accompanying album ‘Daydreamer’ entered the chart at #1, with Mariah having another #1 album 2 years later with ‘Butterfly’.

N Trance – Stayin’ Alive
#1 for 1 week from 14 October 1995
Chart Run: 9-3-2-1-2-2-2-2-2-3-4-5-8-7-7-7-8-12-22-24-30-37
Total Weeks: 22 weeks
Facts: #2 selling single of 1995 <P>
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: This was a cover of the Bee Gees classic, which itself was a #1 single in 1978. It marked one of the few times that a song had reached the top twice by 2 different artists. Its long been debated ‘would this song have reached #1 if it hadn’t had been for Coolio’s shipping problem?’, well in short, we will never know but this song despite only having 1 week at the top, soon became one of the best sellers of the year, selling near 150,000 copies by the end of its chart run.

Coolio featuring LV – Gangstas Paradise
#1 for 13 weeks from 21 October 1995
Chart Run : 5-16-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-6-7-8-20-29-49
Total Weeks : 21 weeks
Facts: #1 selling single of 1995 <P>3
Country Of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: This single was from the ‘Dangerous minds’ soundtrack. This song was #1 in most countries and had amazing success in oz during 1995. The song was originally released in early October and made an impressive debut at #5, however, the record company had accidentally damaged the master copy of the song, which meant no further singles could be pressed until a new master could be sent from the USA. This led for the song to dramatically fall outside the top 10 in its second week. It then rebounded from 16-1 the following week, making it one of the few songs to climb from outside the top 10 to reach the top. Only Madonna’s Vogue, Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing compares to you and Kylie’s confide In Me had larger climbs (19-1, 37-1 and 31-1 respectively). The song was the best seller of 1995, selling in excess of 200,000 and was the longest running chart topper of the 90s with 13 weeks to its name. It is only in 3rd place in total weeks at the top, with Abba’s Fernando and The Beatles’ Hey Jude both staying at #1 for 14 weeks. Its quick fall from #1 was only due to its deletion whilst at #1.

Later today i'll post the #1s from 1996. A few hints for the #1s include a 'girl power' anthem, a new dance craze which broke several records, the first act since 1992 to have 2 #1s in a year and 3 debuts at #1, the first time so many songs debuted at the top in a single year.

[BadRapture]

Trip down memory lane!

I've noticed while posting on this site that most people seem to never have heard "Here's Johnny" by Hocus Pocus - possibly the most unlikely and inaccessible #1 in Australian chart history. Bam Bam Bam!

Mouth, I was never a fan of th esong but Merril enjoyed phenomenal success with that song.

Coolio - that song was one of the biggest songs I remember. I don't know if any song could notch up as many weeks at #1 as this song in the future. I think the days of long running #1s have come to an end. Deletion of singles in Oz is quite a regular occurrence (Baha Men, Eamon, Usher......)

Good work once again mate

[jayspice]

[simonf]

Oh thank god i'm on, for some reason i couldn't get on the forums awhile ago (had been worried lol). I was actually going to ask you about Hocus Pocus BadRapture. Totally agree with you, i dont think its a bad 'trance' track, but i just don't understand how a country that had few dance tracks and one that is inaccessible as this was able to be #1 for so long. I'm presuming that it was just a massive track? Think its the only #1 in Australian history, i go 'how on earth did it reach the top lol'.

Yeah shame about long running chart toppers, though Eminem did come close in early 2003 (so in theory it could happen) but you are quite right, the deletions in the Australian chart this year or so have been terrible! Britney has even been deleted now and it was only released last week! The longest runner this year has only been there for 4 weeks so you maybe right. Though if you want the queen of all deletions, you wait until 1998 comes in a day or so *cough*celine*cough* lol.

[simonf]

Here goes....

1996

George Michael –Jesus To A Child
#1 for 2 weeks from 20 Jan 1996 (Entry at #1)
Chart Run: 1-1-6-7-14-17-34-48
Total Weeks: 8 weeks
Facts: Did not appear in top 50-year end chart
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: George Michael hadn’t enjoyed a top 10 hit in 3 years in Australia, until this song entered at #1. Debuts at the top were very rare by this time and 1996 was the first year 3 songs debuted at the top (Metallica and Fugees being the other 2). The song, however, never had the mass appeal to be a big seller and quickly fell down the charts, spending only 8 weeks in the top 50, making it the shortest life span for a #1 of the 90s and wasn’t broken until the Baha Men had a 7 week stint in the next decade.

Shaggy – Boombastic
#1 for 1 week from 3 Feb, #1 for 3 weeks from 17 Feb 1996 (4 weeks total)
Chart Run: 37-11-1-2-1-1-1-2-3-6-8-11-11-21-27-42
Total Weeks: 16 weeks
Facts: #16 selling single of 1996 <P>
Country Of Origin: Jamaica
Chart Commentary: The second chart topper to climb from outside the top 10 in less than 4 months, the late release led to this fast becoming the anthem of early 1996. It was the first time a Jamaican had reached the top this decade and also the first time a song had re climbed to #1, last time being the Bangles in 1989.

Oasis – Wonderwall
#1 for 1 week from 10 Feb 1996
Chart Run: 50-43-28-26-10-7-4-3-1-2-2-2-3-5-9-13-16-21-24-28-39-49
Total Weeks: 24 weeks
Facts: #19 selling single of 1996 <P>
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: Strangely this was their only top 10 hit in Australia, and one of the only places this song reached the top (New Zealand being the other). Their album went on to sell over 4 times platinum and was in the top 5 of 1996. It was this song then led them to have such huge success in Australia.

Joan Osborne – One Of Us
#1 for 5 weeks from 9 March 1996
Chart Run: 48-34-23-10-5-1-1-1-1-1-3-4-8-11-15-26-38-45
Total Weeks: 18 weeks
Facts: #6 Selling single of 1996 <P>
Country Of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: What if god was one of us? This song was huge in early 1996, which had already reached the top 10 in America and the UK.

OMC – How Bizarre
#1 for 5 weeks from 13 April 1996
Chart Run: 24-17-13-7-4-3-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-5-8-12-16-22-24-35-46
Total Weeks: 21 weeks
Facts: #4 selling single of 1996 <P>2
Country Of Origin: New Zealand
Chart Commentary: Surprising, despite it being its neighbour, New Zealand has had few number 1 singles during its history, with the last chart topper from NZ having been in 1987. This track had already been #1 in NZ in January and had made its way to Australia thanks to heavy airplay, which helped propel the song to #1 and becoming a huge success for the group. It later reached top 10 in many European countries in late 1996. Sadly, this is still the last song from NZ to reach #1, the only act to come close was with Bic Runga’s Sway in 1998, where it made #10.

George Michael – Fastlove
#1 for 2 weeks from 18 May 1996, #1 for 2 weeks from 8 June 1996 (4 weeks total)
Chart Run: 2-2-1-1-2-1-1-5-8-9-10-12-13-13-27-27-35-38
Total Weeks: 18 weeks
Facts: #20 selling single of 1996 <P>
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: His second #1 of the year, the first time an act had achieved this since 1992 (by dance group Euthoria). The song was also the second time this year where a song had re-climbed to #1. This was his 5th chart topper following Careless whisper, I knew you were waiting, Faith and this years Jesus to a Child. George Michael has never been able to follow up with another chart topper, but did reach top 10 again with Freeek! in 2002 and Amazing in 2004.

Metallica – Until It Sleeps
#1 for 1 week from 1 June 1996 (Entry at #1)
Chart Run: 1-3-8-10-11-14-20-27-39-42-48
Total Weeks: 11 weeks
Facts: #44 selling single of 1996 <G>
Country Of Origin: USA/Denmark
Chart Commentary: The second debut #1 of the year, the metal groups only #1 helped propel their album to #1 as well. The song only made #1 for 1 week, rare for a song that debuted at #1 to only be there for a sole week (last being U2’s the Fly). It was also one of the few times a #1 spent as little as 4 weeks inside the top 10 and this record was only broken in 2002 by Kylie (with 2 weeks inside the top 10).

Fugees – Killing Me Softly
#1 for 7 weeks from 22 June 1996 (Entry at #1)
Chart Run: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-3-4-8-8-12-15-20-29-37
Total Weeks: 18 weeks
Facts: #2 selling single of 1996 <P>3
Country Of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: Lauryn, Pras and Wyclef were one of the success stories of the year. The rap track was a cover of Roberta Flack’s original, which had also reached the top in 1973. It became the 2nd best seller of 1996 and went triple platinum in the process. It was the third song to debut at #1 this year, the first time this amount of debuts at the top had occurred (although by 2004, it was common place). All group members went on to have solo success with Lauryn Hill reaching #9 with Doo Wop in 1999 and Pras Michel having the biggest success with the #2 success of Ghetto Supastar in August 1998. Strangely this song was never released as a single in their homeland.

Celine Dion – Because You Loved Me/Power Of The Dream
#1 for 3 weeks from 10 August 1996
Chart Run: 34-21-21-13-10-4-2-2-2-3-3-3-2-1-1-1-3-5-6-8-8-11-15-15-19-26-23-28-43
Total Weeks: 29 weeks
Facts: #3 selling single of 1996 <P>3
Country Of Origin: Canada
Chart Commentary: Celine’s second #1 was actually the theme to the movie ‘Up close and personal’. The song was the years longest running single at 29 weeks and went on to sell over 210,000 copies. The single was helped during its chart run with the repackaging of ‘Because you loved me’ with the Power of the dream song, which had been performed at the opening games of the Atlanta Olympics. It helped the song re-climb to 2 and the following week went to #1. The success of the single helped the accompanying album ‘Falling Into You’ reach #1 and becoming the years second best selling album.

Los Del Rio – Macarena
#1 for 9 weeks from 31 August 1996
Chart Run: 36-12-5-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-3-4-4-5-6-15-32
Total Weeks: 19 weeks
Facts: #1 selling single of 1996 <P>3
Country Of Origin: Spain
Chart Commentary: The dance craze that swept the nation, was Spain’s first time at #1. The single had already been #1 in the states and Europe and with the help of its easy dance steps and catchy lyrics helped propel the song to #1 within 4 weeks. The song ended up the best seller of 1996 and was the third song on in a row to sell in excess of 210,000 copies (triple platinum). What made this song so unique was the fact that the rival version by Los Del Mar actually went to also go platinum and in September, both songs were in the #1 and #2 positions, the first time in the 90s that it occurred and the first time since 1971 when Middle of the road were stuck at #2 behind rival version Lally Stott’s ‘Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep’ .

Spice Girls – Wannabe
#1 for 11 weeks from 2 November 1996
Chart Run: 45-41-36-31-24-10-5-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-3-9-11-18-22-15-19-20-25-35-42-47
Total weeks: 30 weeks
Facts: #5 selling single of 1996, #61 selling single of 1997 <P>2
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: The phenomenon that was the Spice Girls finally made their way to Australia in late 1996, having already been #1 in most of Europe. The song actually had quite a slow climb to #1, and only Coolio spent longer at the top in the 90s (probably helped by the fact it stayed on top during Christmas). The catchy track was the girl’s first big success, and the first girl group to reach #1 since Girlfriend in 1992. The track spent 7 months in the top 50, and sold over 200,000 copies. Surprisingly, their follow up failed to make the top 10 and no other song from the Spice Girls reached the top (Viva Forever and Holler came close peaking at #2). The accompanying album went 4 times platinum although neither their first nor their second album was ever able to reach the top.

I'll post 1997 tomorrow (though i have had some problems getting into this forum over the past day or so ) Anyways some hints include: the biggest climber to #1 ever, Australia's best seller ever (3 guesses what that is lol), the last ozzie chart topper of the decade, and the first act to debut at #1 with their first hit.

[CitruZ]

Great job! I'm looking forward to the next years

[jayspice]

[simonf]

[simonf]

1997

Savage Garden – To The Moon & Back
#1 for 1 week from 18 January 1997
Chart Run: 38-16-6-4-4-4-4-2-1-3-6-6-9-6-7-7-15-18-16-16-18-21-25-27-25-30-33-38-49-45-47
Total Weeks: 32 Weeks
Facts: #17 selling single of 1997 <P>
Country of Origin: Australia
Chart Commentary: In July 1996, ‘I Want You’ had been released, and later peaked at #4. That song actually ended up being the best selling Australian made song of 1996. Their follow up was this track, and despite only having 1 week at the top, it did go on to spend over 7 months in the top 50. The Brisbane group had an impressive year and ended up becoming the biggest selling act of the year. After their second album in 1999, they disbanded soon after, and ended up having 2 of the biggest selling albums of all time. This was one of the few acts to have 2 #1s from one album, and both being consecutive which was quite rare during the 90s.

Silverchair – Freak
#1 for 2 weeks from 25 January 1997 (Entry at #1)
Chart Run: 1-1-4-5-4-4-3-4-6-7-8-7-11-13-23-34-48-50
Total Weeks: 18 weeks
Facts: #20 selling single of 1997 <P>
Country of Origin: Australia
Chart Commentary: The rock groups 2nd #1 of the 90s followed ‘Tomorrow’ which had become one of the best sellers of the early 90s. ‘Freak’ was the first Australian made debut at #1 since Kylie’s ‘Got to be certain’ from mid 1988 and the third time ever (first being Midnight oil in 1985). Although the group never returned to the top, they continued to enjoy #1 albums and top 10 singles well into the next decade.

No Doubt – Don’t Speak
#1 for 8 weeks from 8 February 1997
Chart Run: 50-21-10-7-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-6-23-36 (Was deleted while at #1)
Total Weeks: 18 weeks
Facts: #8 selling single of 1997 <P>2
Country of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: The groups only #1 in Australia, had huge success in Oz during 1997. Their album ‘Tragic Kingdom’ reached #3 and went triple platinum. They actually had had success during 1996, with Just A Girl reaching #3 in August. Their signature song ‘Don’t speak’ ended up going double platinum and one of the year’s biggest hits. Sadly, the song was deleted while at #1 to encourage sales of their album meaning its chart life was cut short, spending only 4 weeks in the chart after its deletion.

Savage Garden – Truly Madly Deeply
#1 for 8 weeks from 5 April 1997
Chart Run: 13-7-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-3-3-4-6-6-14-17-19-23-27-26-30-35-32-35-42-35-43-47
Total Weeks: 32 weeks
Facts: #7 selling single of 1997 <P>2
Country of Origin: Australia
Chart Commentary: Scoring their second #1 in less than 3 months, the huge success of both their #1s led their debut album ‘Savage Garden’ debut at #1 and stayed on top for 19 weeks and became the top selling album of the year in Australia. Truly Madly Deeply was the years longest running #1 in the top 50, spending an impressive 8 months in the top 50 and 10 months within the top 100. It was also the longest running Australian made #1 in the 90s, although despite its 32 weeks on the chart, it only ended up being the 7th best seller of ’97. Their success in Oz led to this song reaching the top in America and top 10 in Europe. Strangely, despite the huge success of this single, it was the last Australian made number 1 this decade, with no other Australian reaching the top until January 2000.

Hanson – MMMBop
#1 for 9 weeks from 31 May 1997 (Entry at #1 – first time an acts first hit debuted at #1)
Chart Run: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-4-8-20-23-19-38-34-44-42
Total Weeks: 20 weeks
Facts: #5 selling single of 1997 <P>2
Country of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: It may have happened first in the UK with Whigfield in 1994, but no act in Australia had ever had their first hit debut at #1, well that’s until Hanson fever arrived. They broke several records by doing so, and also were the years longest running #1 with 9 weeks on top. Their huge success led their album climbing to #1 in Australia and made them have an impressive 3 songs in the top 15 of 1997 (Both Where is the Love & I Will Come to You reached #2)

Puff Daddy & Faith Evens – I’ll Be Missing You
#1 for 5 weeks from 2 August 1997
Chart Run: 44-19-5-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-2-3-4-10-15-23-33-42-48
Total Weeks: 20 weeks
Facts: #4 selling single of 1997 <P>2
Country of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: A tribute to the Notorious BIG who was tragically murdered early in 1997. His widow (Faith Evens) and his close friend (Puff Daddy) made a duet to remember him, with the proceeds going to help ‘Biggie’s children’ and some going to charity. The song was a world-wide #1, reaching the top spot in over 15 countries, and spent 11 weeks at #1 in the US. The song may have only spent 5 weeks at #1 in Australia, but it did go on to have an impressive chart run, helped by the fact of Diana’s death made more people relate to this track, and got increased airplay as a result. This track was one of only 2 big rap tracks this year.

Will Smith – Men In Black
#1 for 4 weeks from 6 September 1997
Chart Run: 7-5-4-3-1-1-1-1-2-2-3-4-5-14-21-23-27-34-39-49-48
Total Weeks: 21 weeks
Facts: #6 selling single of 1997 <P>2
Country of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: …..And this was the second, and for the first time, 2 rap tracks followed each other to #1. This was on the soundtrack to the movie of the same name, starring Will Smith himself. The clever video and lyrics helped propel this track to the top during September, but its chart run at the top was cut short due to the record breaking chart topper that followed. This was his only chart topper but he later had top 10 successes with Wild Wild West and Getting’ Jiggy With it.

Elton John – Candle In The Wind 1997/Something About The Way You Look Tonight
#1 for 6 weeks from 4 October 1997 (Biggest climb to no.1)
Chart Run: 50-32-41-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-3-3-5-5-5-6-6-11-14-18-18-18-18-21-29-31-34-31-27-27-26-23-27-41-48-38
Total Weeks: 36 weeks
Facts: #1 selling single of 1997 <P>14 (Is the only single in Australia to sell over a million copies)
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: The Traffic death of Princess Diana on 31st August led this song being sung by Sir Elton John at her funeral the following week. With the whole world watching and the song capturing the mood of the world at the time, Elton quickly recorded the track with his writing partner who had re-written the track with lyrics made especially for Diana. ‘Something About The Way You Look Tonight’ had been already released by the time the song was ready for release in its own right, so Candle In The Wind was repackaged with the SATWYLT, and in turn, dramatically rewrote chart history in Australia. Firstly it holds the record for the biggest climb to #1 (41-1) breaking the previous record set by Sinead O’Connor in 1990 (37-1). It also turned out to be the fastest seller ever in Australia, selling an impressive 300,000 copies in its first week and going on to sell over 1,050,000 copies in Australia alone, not only making it the best seller of 1997, but of all time! It was the first million selling single ever and by the end of its chart run, had hung around for 8 months with 1 in 18 people having a copy of the song. The song also ended up being the best seller in the world ever, selling an impressive 33 million by the end of 1997 alone.

Aqua – Barbie Girl
#1 for 3 weeks from 15 November 1997
Chart Run: 30-9-3-2-2-2-2-1-1-1-2-6-20 (Was deleted while at #1)
Total Weeks: 13 weeks
Facts: #2 selling single of 1997 <P>3
Country of Origin: Denmark
Chart Commentary: I’m a Barbie girl? The anthem of late 1997 was a surprise novelty hit from Denmark’s Aqua. The song had originally been released in Europe during the course of the year and was released in a spark of controversy in Australia. By the time the song had entered at #30 in Oz, it had already been deleted from the USA charts, with the makers of Barbie (Martel) threatening legal action against them. However that didn’t stop it being a HUGE hit. It took a matter of weeks for it to reach #2, stuck there for a month while Candle in the wind died down. While at #2, Barbie Girl was having huge sales, with some reports saying it was selling over 40,000 in some weeks, impressive when the #1 usually selling about 15,000-20,000 in a week and is the only song to go double platinum before reaching the top. The song was surprisingly only spent 3 weeks at the top, the shortest amount of time a single that sold so much had spent at the top. When it did reach the top, the song soon managed to sell over 200,000 copies but was withdrawn soon after (hence its huge fall) to make way for their album ‘Aquarium’ which later ended up going to #1 itself and sold an impressive 400,000 copies in Australia, not bad for a novelty group.

Chumbawamba – Tubthumping
#1 for 3 weeks from 6 December 1997
Chart Run: 3-3-2-2-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-3-4-4-9-9-16-17-23-28-30-32-35-33
Total Weeks: 24 weeks
Facts: #3 selling single of 1997, #46 selling single of 1998 <P>2
Country of Origin: The drinking anthem of the year was helped by the deletion of Barbie Girl and the huge sales of Christmas time, propelling it into the top 3 of the year. The song had already been #2 in the UK and was the only country (bar Italy) for this song to reach the top, selling over 180,000 copies in less than 2 months. It was the first English ‘group’ to reach the summit since N-Trance in 1995.

Aqua – Doctor Jones
#1 for 7 weeks from 27 December 1997
Chart Run: 7-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-4-6-8-10-37-47
Total Weeks: 15 weeks
Facts: #14 selling single of 1997 (Went platinum in just 3 weeks), #20 selling single of 1998 <P>3
Country of Origin: Denmark
Chart Commentary: After a gap of 3 weeks, and proving they weren’t one hit wonders, Aqua was back at the top with their second release. No act before had had so much success so quickly, nor had an acts first 2 singles sold in excess of 200,000 each. ‘Doctor Jones’ was a special number 1 in the sense that it was the first time there had been an ‘official’ Christmas chart. Before, ARIA had carried across the chart of the previous week for Christmas, as sales were never made for this week. From 1997, ARIA had made a new system where they could track songs over Christmas and as a result, the HUGE sales of this period would finally be counted. Doctor Jones was one of the fastest sellers of the year, in the week it was at #1, it sold over 40,000 units and went platinum within 3 weeks. Aqua also joined the short list of having their first 2 singles reach the top (last act to do that was Ace Of Base in 1994) and the few acts to have 2 consecutive chart toppers in a year (Savage Garden had achieved this in early 1997).

Hints for 1998 which i'll post tomorrow: A song to have the biggest fall from #1, the latino invasion begins, a rock ballad gets the years longest runner, sales records are broken at xmas thanks to a rock track and one of the UK's biggest pop groups gets their first #1 anywhere in the world. Line dance anyone?

[flatdeejay]

Great topic... but could you pls post chart runs for the full Top 100???

PS: I have the Top50's from Jan 1989...

[simonf]

[BadRapture]

Great interesting reading once again.

I'm guessing we are guna be seeing Aerosmith and Steps coming up soon?

[jayspice]

[nelson]

[nelson]

Australia million selling albums is a few, but I posted according to sales over 500,000, here's the list:

PLATINUM x 19 (1,330,000)
Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell

PLATINUM x 17 (1,190,000)
John Farnham, Whispering Jack

PLATINUM x 15 (1,050,000)
Shania Twain, Come On Over

PLATINUM x 14 (980,000)
Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill
Deltra Goodrem, Innocent Eyes
Dire Straits, Brothers In Arms

PLATINUM x 13 (910,000)
Queen, Greatest Hits Collection

PLATINUM x 12 (840,000)
Celine Dion, Falling Into You
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours
Michael Jackson, Thriller
Savage Garden, Savage Garden

PLATINUM x 11 (770,000)
ABBA, Gold
Mariah Carey, Music Box
Madonna, The Immaculate Collection
Pink Floyd, The Dark Side Of The Moon
Soundtrack, Saturday Night Fever
Soundtrack, Grease

PLATINUM x 10 (700,000)
Crowded Houst, Recurring Dream - The Very Best Of

PLATINUM x 9 (630,000)
Bruce Springsteen, Born In The USA
Cold Chisel, Chisel
Eagles, The Very Of The Eagles
Fleetwood Mac, Greatest Hits
Jimmy Barnes, Soul Deep
Matchbox 20, Yourself Or Someone Like You
Tina Arena, Don' Ask

PLATINUM x 8 (560,000)
Beatles, 1
Carole King, Tapestry
Celine Dion, The Colour Of My Love
Eagles, Hotel California
Eminem, The Eminem Show
John Farnham, Age Of Reason
Live, Throwing Copper
Michael Jackson, Dangerous
Norah Jones, Come Away With Me
Paul Simon, Graceland
Savage Garden, Affirmation
Soundtrack, Forrest Gump

PLATINUM x 7 (490,000)
Avril Lavigne, Let Go
Bryan Adams, So Far So Good
Corrs, Forgiven, Not Forgotten
Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Ultimate Collection
Eagles, Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975
Eric Clapton, Unplugged
Inxs, Kick
John Farnham, Chain Reaction
Jimmy Barnes, For The Working Class Man
Kasey Chambers, Barricades & Brickwalls
Kylie Minogue, Fever
Led Zeppelin, Symbols
Madonna, Like A Virgin
Michael Jackson, HIStory - Past, Present & Future - Book 1
Powderfinger, Odyssey Number Five
Soundtrack, War Of The Worlds
Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman
U2, Rattle And Hum

[simonf]

All i can say is owwww! lol. Firstly i wasn't actually sure of Celine but in an archive ive seen 1 site said it was certified 3 times platinum, the other said 2 times, so i went with the 3 times one! Could be wrong.

Also the same with the other information too. Mariah seems more right to me, i'm very glad you posted that list, i saw that list about 6 months ago and kicked myself for not saving it! So cheers for that. I can make adjustments to my database. Though maybe i should adjust it to being 1,000,000 albums in total? Im sure all her albums put together have sold in excess to 1 million?

Your right about the spice girls Jayspice, i read that it sold around 200,000 and was very close to 3 times platinum, unfortuately ive never been able to confirm that information. Your right about certifications, thats the one thing that annoys me, its a real shame its on shipments and not sales!

I'd just like to say a big thank you for all this extra information that people have posted, if it makes the information i have more accurate the better! so cheers Thanks for everyone posting their comments/thanks too, much appreciated

[Kiekeboe]

[flatdeejay]

[simonf]

[simonf]

1998

Celine Dion – My Heart Will Go On
#1 for 4 weeks from 14 February 1998
Chart Run: 45-23-17-12-7-4-3-2-1-1-1-1-24 (13 weeks), -x-x- 35-10-3-3-3-4-3-7-8-14-21-29-45 (13 weeks)
Total Weeks: 26 weeks
Facts: #14 selling single of 1998 <P>2
Country of Origin: Canada
Chart Commentary: ‘My Heart Will Go On’ was the theme to the mega movie ‘Titanic’. While at #1, the record company for Celine decided to delete the song from production, and as a result, the single made the biggest fall in Australian history 1-24! This was to help sales for the Titanic soundtrack and Celine’s #1 album ‘Let’s Talk About Love’. The song then fell from 24 to 64 and then climbed back to 59 the following week with the help of import sales of the single. However, by this time, the record company had a change of heart and reissued the song with popular dance mixes giving it one of the most unusual chart runs in history and was the first song to reach the top 10 twice with a gap outside the top 50 during its run. Celine became one of the most successful females of the 90s in Oz, having 2 of the biggest albums of the decade and one of the fastest sellers ‘Let’s talk about love’, which went platinum in 2 weeks. Celine is the one of the most successful female in terms of #1 hits, with 3 to her name at this point in the 90s. Only Bryan Adams had more #1 in the 90s.

Run DMC vs Jason Nevins – It’s Like That
#1 for 1 week from 14 March 1998
Chart Run: 49-32-32-31-24-26-21-20-15-15-13-11-8-8-4-4-2-1-2-2-2-2-2-5-6-7-12-11-11-16-17-21-27-32-33-40-45
Total Weeks: 37 weeks
Facts: #2 selling single of 1998 <P>2
Country of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: It took 18 weeks for this track to reach #1, the longest climb to the top since Ratcat took their Tingles EP to #1 in 1991, which still holds the record for the longest climb to the top (20 weeks). This rap track, had been a remix to the original Its Like that from 1983. The remix was by Jason Nevins, a popular remixer who surprisingly, never made any money from this record. The track greatly benefited from the demise of Celine Dion, although was only able to spent a week at the top. It was also the longest running single of the year, spend 37 weeks inside the top 50, which helped it notch up sales of double platinum and being the 2nd best seller of the year as a result.

All Saints – Never Ever
#1 for 7 Weeks from 21 November 1998
Chart Run: 30-20-6-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-5-5-6-8-17-26-27-37-47
Total Weeks: 22 weeks
Facts: #5 selling single of 1998 <P>2
Country of Origin: United Kingdom/Canada
Chart Commentary: This sassy group had one of the years longest runners at the top, and was their debut hit in Australia. This song had already been #1 in the UK and NZ by the time it was released in Australia. The ballad would be their only #1 hit, and was followed by big hits including I Know where its at #12, Under the Bridge #5 and Pure Shores in 2000 #4. The accompanying album reached #3 and ended being in the top 20 of the year. Unfortunately they later disbanded in early 2001, due to ‘mis-understandings’ within the group.

Shania Twain – You’re Still The One
#1 for 4 weeks from 9 May 1998
Chart Run: 36-15-13-8-4-5-2-2-1-1-1-1-3-3-5-9-9-10-16-16-15-19-24-27-26-34
Total Weeks: 26 weeks
Facts: #9 selling single of 1998 <P>
Country of Origin: Canada
Chart Commentary: This was her only #1 in Australia, and the first country song to reach the top in many a year. Her first hit ‘I’m Outta Here’ had reached #5 in early 97, and this was her second single release. Its long chart run was helped by huge airplay and was the start of her huge 2-year period in her career. The follow up songs ‘From This Moment On’ and ‘That don’t impress me much’ both reached the top 2, and both went on to outsell her #1 going double platinum. Her album ‘Come On Over’ later reached #1 in early 1999 and stayed there for an impressive 20 weeks and went on to sell near a million copies in Australia. It also ended up being the best seller of 1999. Despite her follow up album ‘Up’ reaching the top in late 2002, she has never achieved the phenomenal success that she had in the late 90s

Steps – 5,6,7,8
#1 for 1 week from 6 June 1998
Chart Run: 43-26-28-19-13-12-11-4-3-4-2-3-1-2-3-4-10-17-31
Total Weeks: 19 weeks
Facts: #15 selling single of 1998 <P>
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: This was their first #1 in any country. It has the honour of being the best seller non-top 10er of the 90s in the UK, selling over 300,000 copies and peaking at #14 in the UK. Faye, H, Lee, Claire & Lisa had recorded the track in late 1997, under the guidance of Pete Waterman. The track had been released in March 1998, but had failed to reach the top 50, and once promo began (mainly by a promo stint and heavy video play), the novelty track soon became popular. It was the first line dancing #1 since Archy Breaky Heart in 1992, although it only managed to stay at the top for only 1 week. What made this song’s success so surprising was the fact that it received no airplay, and the week previously, everyone in the industry expected it to dive after it fell 2-3 with K-Ci & Jojo already #1 in rival chart ‘Australian Music Report’ (this was a rival chart compiler to ARIA at the time but finished operations in late 1999). The states were split with this track, as half the country had All My Life at the top. This was one of two top 10 hits, Last thing on my mind later peaked at #5 in September.

K-ci & Jojo – All My Life
#1 for 1 week from 13 June 1998
Chart Run: 49-37-14-6-5-3-2-2-1-2-3-4-5-5-7-8-10-11-30-46
Total Weeks: 20 weeks
Facts: #12 selling single of 1998 <P>
Country of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: This R ‘N’ B track had already been #1 in the USA and NZ. The track was from Kci and Jojo, who once had been a member of Jodeci. The track spent 4 weeks at the top of the Australian Music Report chart, despite the fact it could only stay at #1 for one week in the ARIA compiled chart.

Ricky Martin – Maria/The Cup Of Life
#1 for 6 weeks from 20 June 1998
Chart Run: 50-35-24-18-18-15-14-15-12-12-11-16-16-11-7-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-3-5-10-33-49
Total Weeks: 27 weeks
Facts: #1 selling single of 1998 <P>2
Country of Origin: Puerto Rico
Chart Commentary: The first act from Puerto Rico to reach #1, the song had already been charting since March, in its original format, with Maria as the A side. In June, The Cup Of Life was featured on the World Cup opening ceremony, in France. The record company decided to repackage Maria with TCOF, and with the help of his promo stint in Australia, propelled the double A side single (the first for 2 years) to #1. Maria went <P> & The Cup Of Life also went <P>, both of the songs sales were added together due to the fact that the double a side was repackaged during the original run by Maria. It was this that was the reason why the single ended up being the best seller of 1998. Ricky Martin continued his success in Australia the following year with a #4 with Livin’ La Vida Loca and his #1 album ‘Ricky Martin’

Goo Goo Dolls – Iris
#1 for 5 weeks from 1 August 1998
Chart Run: 48-23-10-8-2-2-2-2-1-1-1-1-1-3-3-6-6-9-7-8-11-13-13-17-25-26-32-32-38-39-39-44-41
Total Weeks: 33 weeks
Facts: #3 selling single of 1998 <P>2
Country of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: This ballad was on the soundtrack to ‘City of angels’ which also reached the top on the album charts. The song had massive airplay, and despite being #1 on the airplay chart for 18 weeks in the US, only reached #9 over there. The song was stuck behind Ricky for 4 weeks before reaching the top, and ended up spending over 8 months on the chart. This was their only top 10 hit, although they did follow it up with top 40 hit ‘Slide’.

Lighthouse Family – High
#1 for 1 week from 5 September 1998
Chart Run: 25-23-15-12-10-8-6-6-5-5-4-4-2-3-1-2-3-4-7-5-6-18-25-32
Total Weeks: 24 weeks
Facts: #11 selling single of 1998 <P>
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Chart Commentary: This fact this song got to #1 just goes to show how important promo is in Australia. The song had already been climbing with its huge airplay, having already been top 10 in Europe. It looked to have peaked at #2 until the Lighthouse Family did a tour of Australia, in doing so, the song re-climbed to the top, and spent a further 3 months inside the top 50. This was the only country where this song reached the top, and their only top 10 hit. Their other chart entry was ‘Raincloud’ where it peaked at #28, 3 months after this. Sadly this was the last British chart topper in Oz until Bob The Builder in 2001 (unless you count Sophie Ellis Bextor on Groovejet).

Aerosmith – I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
#1 for 9 weeks from 12 September 1998
Chart Run: 28-12-9-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-4-8-8-10-10-12-13-19-17-22-24-37-38-40-40-45-47
Total Weeks: 30 weeks
Facts: #4 selling single of 1998 <P>2
Country of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: The main song from Armageddon was the years longest running #1 with 9 weeks. This was actually their second Australian #1 single, after ‘Janie’s got a gun’ spent one week at the top, in February 1990. The rock ballad was a massive world-wide #1, with it reaching the top in Ireland, USA, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Norway. It spent an impressive 30 weeks on the chart, and sold nearly 200,000 copies in Australia alone.

B*Witched – Rollercoaster
#1 for 2 weeks from 14 November 1998
Chart Run: 25-12-9-6-3-1-1-2-4-5-7-5-7-12-13-29
Total Weeks: 16 weeks
Facts: #21 selling single of 1998 <P>
Country of Origin: Ireland
Chart Commentary: It just goes to show that theories are made to be broken. In Australia, an acts first hit was usually their biggest, few acts second or third single ever did better than the first (although this rule has now changed since the 90s). Of course it isn’t always the case, but Australia was well known for only liking an artist for their first few songs. So it was surprising that the law of diminishing returns was wrong in B*Witched’s case. C’est La Vie had reached #6 in August, while this track ended up climbing to #1 in 6 weeks, and was a huge success for the girls. This was the first time in 3 years that an Irish act had reached #1 (last being U2 in 1995) and would be the last Irish chart topper of the decade. It would also turn out to be their last top 10 hit. Although, they did enjoy top 10 success in the album chart and further success in the UK. Interestingly, this was the third girl group to reach the top within 2 years (After Spice Girls & All Saints) and within another 2 years, 3 other girl groups would have got to #1 (TLC, Bardot & Destiny’s Child).

Jennifer Paige – Crush
#1 for 2 weeks from 28 November 1998
Chart Run: 17-18-12-7-3-4-4-2-2-1-1-2-2-3-5-5-5-9-14-19-20-29-34-42-x-x-50
Total Weeks: 25 weeks
Facts: #7 selling single of 1998 <P>2
Country of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: Hailing from Texas, USA, this single enjoyed big success in late 1998, The song had already reached #4 in the UK and #3 in the USA by this point and took a steady climb to the top. By the time it fell out of the charts, total sales exceeded 140,000 and ended up one of the years best sellers.

Offspring – Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)
#1 for 6 weeks from 12 December 1998
Chart Run: 26-15-9-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-2-4-8-11-12-13-28-42-45
Total Weeks: 22 weeks
Facts: #16 selling single of 1998, #5 selling single of 1999 <P>4
Country of Origin: USA
Chart Commentary: This record breaking #1 may have only spent 6 weeks at #1, but ended up being the first single to ship over 4 times platinum to stores since Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You in 1993, selling nearly 300,000 copies inside 6 months, making it one of the top 10 selling singles of the 1990s. The track surprising only reached #52 in USA, but this track did reach the top in many countries around the world (including the UK). This was their biggest hit to date, beating self-esteem, which reached #6 in mid 1995. Their accompanying album ‘Americanica’ went on to be one of the years best sellers, having also been #1 at the same time as this single, very rare in Australia. ‘Why don’t you get a job’ also had big success, peaking at #2 and going on to sell 140,000 copies and ended being the 9th best seller of 1999, with 2 songs inside top 10 of the year, it equalled previous years record set by Shania Twain in having 2 songs in the top 10 of the year, bettered by Offspring’s #5, #9 to Shania’s #9 & #10. The record wouldn’t be beaten until Shaggy in 2001.

Hints for tomorrow (1999): The year with the least amount of #1s ever, includes the oldest woman to reach the top, 2 'rock' ballads reach the top, the latino craze continues and a new dance craze gets the years best seller.

[BadRapture]

Great stuff again. I'm only going on my poor memory here but didn't the remix of My Heart WIll Go On climb back up to #2 after the original went #1 already. I'm no chart buff - I'll leave it to you....

1999 - oldest woman huh? I "believe" I may know who it is.

Don't wanna runi too much but I like guessing! 2 rock ballads - I know Pearl Jam had a biggie

[Edu]

Hi Nelson

i read that interesting list of multi-platinum albums in Australia. Is that list everything you have about certifications in Australia? I think there are some big albums missing there, like "The Bodyguard" soundtrack. Or that data you have is relative to the certifications from the last 8,9 or 10 years?

Hey! I just took a look to the top 50 albums in Australia and guess who's there? "Bat Out Of Hell" is back on the chart again (!) with a certification of 22xPlatinum in Australia, what means 1.54 million sold down under! Fantastic!
Worldwide its sales are between 35 and 37 million.

[king_oxymoron]

5,6,7,8 went No.1 in Oz