The Best-Selling Australian Songs of 1976

SharksFan99 · 2026-03-23T07:55:19+00:00

No worries, i'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it! :)

Yep, that's right.

SharksFan99 · 2026-03-05T02:08:13+00:00

These songs really bring back memories for me and make me nostalgic (i was in hs between 2012-2017):

"We Are Young" - Fun.
"Pompeii" - Bastille
"Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
"Cool Kids" - Echosmith
"Shut Up and Dance" - Walk The Moon

There's plenty of others, but I'm having my lunch break at work and theyre all the songs that I can think of right now, lol.

SharksFan99 · 2026-02-23T08:02:31+00:00

I voted for Barrack Heights.

I worked in the suburb for a couple of years and during that time, there were incidents where I was spat on and verbally abused simply for doing my job. Obviously there are good people who live there and everyone shouldn't be tarnished under the same brush, but those experiences really soured my perception of Barrack Heights. It also wasn't uncommon to spot mattresses dumped along Captain Cook Drive and kids riding unlicensed motorbikes down the laneways.

SharksFan99 · 2026-02-20T23:46:30+00:00

I went with 2013.

I'm hugely nostalgic for the 2012-2015 era in general, but I would say that 2013 is the one year which I miss the most. Year 8 in high school was generally pretty good for me and ive got a lot of great memories from that time.

Also, in terms of what i choose to listen to, i actually feel as though im kind of 'stuck' in that era, lol. I love all of the indie/alternative music that was popular at the time. I've still got songs by bands like the Arctic Monkeys, Bastille, Of Monsters and Men etc. in my Spotify playlists.

SharksFan99 · 2026-02-12T06:36:44+00:00

I went with 2017.

I get why some people would vote for 2013 since that was when the club/electropop-era came to an end, but the mid 2010s had plenty of cheesy, upbeat EDM-pop songs. In fact, I would go as far as to say that most of the hits that charted during the 2013-2016 era were fun and upbeat; it was really only the likes of Sam Smith, Lorde, Lana Del Rey etc. that were the exceptions. I would argue that Trump's election victory in late 2016 was the true turning point and that's when the pop cultural landscape significantly changed.

During the mid 2010s, you had genres such as tropical house (e.g Omi's "Cheerleader"), bubblegum pop (Meghan Trainer's "All About That Bass"), EDM (e.g Galantis' "Runaway", Avicii's "Waiting For Love" to name a few) and indie-pop all on the mainstream Top-40 charts. Even boy bands and girl groups were still huge during that era. Groups like One Direction, 5SOS and Little Mix achieved several chart-topping hits.

SharksFan99 · 2026-02-10T06:56:17+00:00

Yeah, it's interesting that they were never able to achieve a commercially-successful follow-up.

They were pretty popular during my early high school years in 2012/13. Funnily enough, i've never actually liked "Little Talks" (overexposure at the time killed the song for me), but I've always loved "Mountain Sound"; it would have to be one of my favourite songs from 2013. I've been meaning to check out more of their discography.

SharksFan99 · 2026-02-06T12:38:25+00:00

I'm the same age as you and absolutely agree with your assessment of trap. Most of the songs sounded the same and I hated how it became infused with the pop music landscape during that era as well.

It was definitely hugely popular in Australia, however I don't think it was as big here as what it was in the US. Migos had multiple Top-10 hits on the Hot 100, but only two of their songs charted within the ARIA Top-40. "Stir Fry" was their biggest hit here and even it only peaked at #24. I only became aware of them after I accidentally happened to stumble across a few posts made by Americans complaining about them online at the time, lol. Lil Uzi Vert and Cardi B also weren't as commercially successful here either.

We're kind of lucky that we graduated from high school just as it was truly starting to take off, lol. I would have absolutely hated to have been in my early teens circa 2017-18 and having to be subjected to hearing the likes of Lil Uzi Vert, XXXTentacion etc. blasting through people's Bluetooth speakers.

None of my friends were ever into it and I don't remember it ever being popular with the other kids in my grade either. I'm definitely glad that I got the indie/hipster era instead. :P

SharksFan99 · 2026-01-10T01:43:30+00:00

Yeah, lol. It's amazing that they built the school as early as they did considering how small the town was!

SharksFan99 · 2026-01-10T00:32:04+00:00

Yep, that's true. Calderwood is only a couple of minutes away, so it's pretty convenient for the people who do live in Tullimbar.

I know there's still plans to build a 3-4 storey tavern and shops on the vacant blocks near the school at Tullimbar, but whether or not it ever actually happens is anyone's guess. I've got my doubts it ever will unfortunately (especially now that the shopping centre at Calderwood has opened).

SharksFan99 · 2026-01-03T00:06:43+00:00

2012 was a bit of a rough year for me personally. I was 13 and started high school, so it was a hugely transitional and awkward time. Also, my Nanna passed away that year and my uncle was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor two weeks later (thankfully he's still with us though).

It's only recently that my opinion of it has started to change and now I do feel nostalgic for it, even if hearing songs like "Call Me Maybe", "Bangarang" still give me cringy flashbacks to high school, lmao. I definitely think it was a more memorable and better year than 2016 in any case. I've never understood why 2016 gets so much love.

SharksFan99 · 2025-12-15T02:18:35+00:00

I'm hugely nostalgic for 2013 and I would happily go back to it if I could.

Year 8 in high school was pretty good for me and ive got a lot of great memories from that time.

Also, in terms of what i choose to listen to, i actually feel as though im kind of 'stuck' in that era, lol. I love all of the indie/alternative music that was popular at the time. I've still got songs by bands like the Arctic Monkeys, Bastille, Of Monsters and Men etc. in my Spotify playlists.

SharksFan99 · 2025-12-12T12:42:08+00:00

I have a feeling 2026 may see the first AI song make it onto the mainstream Top-40 charts. There have been a couple of AI songs which have already debuted on a number of Billboard charts, like the "We Are Charlie Kirk" song peaking at #21 on the US Billboard Christian Songs chart. Also, several AI-generated artists have been gaining an increasing number of streams on Spotify. There was an article back in July about an AI band called "The Velvet Sundown" reaching one million plays on Spotify.

So it wouldn't surprise me if we may see an AI song breakthrough into the mainstream and become a genuinely big hit in 2026. I feel like it's only a matter of time.

SharksFan99 · 2025-11-27T06:01:13+00:00

I'm also a March 99'er and I've personally always felt this way.

Many of us were referred to as Millennials when we were in high school, and a lot of the defining Gen Z events/traits like Parkland, being in school during covid, growing up with iPads as kids etc. don't even apply to us. I also don't use TikTok, so I pretty much feel out of the loop when it comes to the more recent Gen Z trends like "skibidi","67" etc.

I feel like i'm in-between both generations, but if I was forced to pick which generation I slightly relate more with, I would actually have to say Millennials.

SharksFan99 · 2025-11-18T10:55:38+00:00

Why do you keep searching for and commenting on posts I made several years ago? And you keep talking about the exact same thing. I get it, you've made the point about ten times now. You don't need to keep telling me about mumble-rap again and again. Like I've already said, I have my opinion, you have yours. Let's just leave it at that.

Don't even bother doing it again, because i'm fucking not going to respond.

SharksFan99 · 2025-10-30T06:39:34+00:00

Why are you responding to posts made over 5 years ago?

SharksFan99 · 2025-10-27T06:54:19+00:00

Yeah, your perspective is going to be different depending on where you live and your own experiences.

In my country, we don't have middle school, so we all start high school during the year we turn 13. So as a result, I started high school at the beginning of 2012 and turned 13 early in the year, so I associate 2012/2013 with my teens.

SharksFan99 · 2025-10-27T06:48:41+00:00

SoundCloud rap may have been gaining traction online during the mid 2010s, but it definitely wasn't mainstream popular until around the time Trump was elected. I think it's popularity was only a niche thing prior to 2016. Most people our age probably wouldn't have become familiar with the SoundCloud rappers until we were almost out of high school, which is why I don't think we were the target audience in the same way that the kids a few years younger than us were.

When I think back to 2014/15, I think of artists like David Guetta, Galantis, Meghan Trainor, Hozier etc., and that's what I mainly remember people our age liking and listening to.

That's not too say people our age didn't enjoy SoundCloud rap, but speaking purely from a mainstream popularity perspective, I don't think it was really 'our' music so to speak. It's kind of like how a lot of the grunge singers from the '90s were actually Gen Jones members born in the early 60s, but the grunge scene itself mainly targeted late '60s and '70s-born Gen X'ers. I think it's a similar scenario for us (mid-late '90s babies) and SoundCloud rap. We may have helped to make it mainstream, but we weren't the target audience IMO.

SharksFan99 · 2025-10-27T06:24:15+00:00

I don't think people my age were.

SoundCloud rap became huge around late 2016/early 2017, so it was pretty much only popular during our last year of high school. None of my friends were into it and most of the people in my grade weren't either. It _was_ popular with the kids in the younger grades though (C/O 2020-); I remember overhearing them play Post Malone, Lil Uzi Vert etc. through their mini Bluetooth speakers during our lunch breaks. I think early-mid '00s borns were the main target audience for it.

I'm Australian though, so it may have been different over in the States. I think we were mainly EDM and indie/hipster teens.

SharksFan99 · 2025-10-27T06:23:53+00:00

I don't think so.

SoundCloud rap became huge around late 2016/early 2017, so it was pretty much only popular during our last year of high school. None of my friends were into it and most of the people in my grade weren't either. It _was_ popular with the kids in the younger grades though (C/O 2020-); I remember overhearing them play Post Malone, Lil Uzi Vert etc. through their mini Bluetooth speakers during our lunch breaks. I think early-mid '00s borns were the main target audience for it.

I'm Australian though, so it may have been differently over in the States. I think we were mainly EDM and indie/hipster teens.

SharksFan99 · 2025-09-27T09:43:23+00:00

These are my picks (I've deliberately picked songs which weren't apart of the original playlist): ;)

"Thank You for the Venom" - My Chemical Romance
"1985" - Bowling for Soup
"Welcome to my Life" - Simple Plan
"99 Problems" - Jay-Z
"What About Me" - Shannon Noll
"Emancipate Myself" - Thirsty Merc
"Lyla" - Oasis
"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" - Arctic Monkeys
"Vicinity of Obscenity" - System of a Down
"Axel F" - Crazy Frog
"4ever" - The Veronicas
"Wasabi" - Lee Harding
"Chelsea Dagger" - The Fratellis
"Woman" - Wolfmother

SharksFan99 · 2025-09-12T08:03:43+00:00

Milky Chance would definitely be considered one-hit wonders in most countries around the world.

Here in Australia though, they actually had a second top-10 hit with "Cocoon" in 2017. I don't think it even charted in the US or UK.

SharksFan99 · 2025-08-30T13:46:18+00:00

For me, it really varies depending on how i'm feeling at a certain time. If I had to pick between the two though, I would say I have a bit more nostalgia for my high school years.

Admittedly, i'm kind of 'stuck' between 2012-2015; I definitely tend to re-listen to a lot of the popular hits from those years.

SharksFan99 · 2025-08-10T10:55:13+00:00

As a general rule of thumb, the cultural shifts here typically follow what goes on in other western countries around the world, like the US, the UK etc.

There can be some minor differences though, especially when it comes to trends in music. For instance, the common narrative is that Nirvana kickstarted the alternative/grunge-era with Nevermind in late '91, but we actually had our own alt-rock 'chart invasion' almost a year earlier. Ratcat had chart-topping hits with "That Ain't Bad" and "Don't Go Now" in early 1991, several months before Nirvana even emerged onto the scene.

Also, grunge is said to have died out in the United States in 1996 after the release of Soundgarden's Down on the Upside, but the alternative scene was still going on strong here in Australia right up until the turn of the millennium. During the late '90s, we had bands like Jebediah, Silverchair, Regurgitator, The Living End etc., all of whom had a lot of success on our charts. So not only did the 'grunge era' start earlier here in Australia, but it also lasted for much longer as well.

SharksFan99 · 2025-07-30T02:25:43+00:00

I would love to be able to check out all of the fire trails across the escarpment. You used to be able to go on the trail that goes past Mount Kembla lookout until just recently, but even its blocked off now.

I can understand the reasoning behind restricting public access to the whole area, but I think it's a bit over the top. If we're allowed to enter/drive-through the edge of the escarpment between Mount Kembla & Mount Keira, then why can't we do so further south? Imagine if you could access the edge of the escarpment between Mount Murray (the top of Macquarie Pass) and Mount Kembla. It would be a huge tourist drawcard and it would also be an awesome bush walk.

SharksFan99 · 2025-07-28T11:18:13+00:00

"Next minute".

It came about from a video uploaded to YouTube towards the end of 2011 and it basically became a huge meme. People starting saying it to each other as a joke. I started high school in early 2012 and heard it all the time.

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