The Sikamikanico Hottest 100 Australian Songs

Posted on 09 August 2025 by Nico Bell • 0 Comments
Now everyone is so sick of debating, discussing and denigrating the Triple J Hottest 100 Australian songs you'd rather be Trump's personal trainer for six months than contemplate any copycat song rankings in that period, I figured it was just the time to post my own personal top 100 Australian songs. 

So if you're taking a break from reading how the courts made Erin Patterson seem like she's only about mushrooms when her poisoning oeuvre was so much broader than that, or live coverage of the eighth straight week of Anthony Albanese deciding if he should go slightly less mild in his concerned mutterings about Gaza, thank you. 

Anyway, unranked, here is my personal top 100 Australian songs: 


SongArtistYear
Black the SunAlex Lloyd1999
You're Not the Only OneAmmonia1998
Big Jet PlaneAngus and Julia Stone2010
Come on SpringAntenna1998
Asleep in PerfectionAugie March1997
The Hole in Your RoofAugie March2000
There Is No Such PlaceAugie March2000
DownheartedAustralian Crawl1980
SaturatedBeasts of Bourbon1996
This FireBirds of Tokyo2013
Release the Bats1The Birthday Party1981
Hazy Shade of WinterBodyjar1998
Run to ParadiseThe Choirboys1987
Under the Milky WayThe Church1988
MetropolisThe Church1990
Ghosts of Love ReturnedThe Clouds1993
Forever NowCold Chisel1982
Chopsticks2Peter Combe1989
Memorial DriveCordrazine1997
CrazyCordrazine1998
Weather With YouCrowded House1992
Distant SunCrowded House1993
Music is Crap3Custard1997
Eagle RockDaddy Cool1971
I'm JealousThe Divnyls1994
RainDragon1983
I Give InEffigy1998
Walking on a DreamEmpire of the Sun2008
From the SeaEskimo Joe2004
Stop and Go ManEven1996
Don't WaitEven1996
This Heart AttackFaker2007
We Can Get TogetherThe Flowers1980
No TimeFrente1992
PulseFront End Loader1997
Bastard SonGeorge2002
Streets of Your TownThe Go-Betweens1998
HelloHappyland1998
Sound of WhiteMissy Higgins2004
Miss Freelove '69Hoodoo Gurus1991
1000 Miles AwayHoodoo Gurus1991
Holy GrailHunters & Collectors1992
We the PeopleHunters & Collectors1992
Great Southern LandIcehouse1982
Political PrisonersInsurge1995
Don't ChangeINXS1982
DisappearINXS1990
The One ThingINXS1982
Sweetness and LightItch-E & Scratch-E1994
Jerks of AttentionJebediah1996
ZebraJohn Butler Trio2003
What You WantJohn Butler Trio2004
PostcardKarma County1996
Crumbling CastleKing Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard2017
All These ThingsEd Kuepper1996
The Loved OneThe Loved Ones1966
Sad Dark EyesThe Loved Ones1967
Token AngelsWendy Matthews1990
CryThe Mavis's1998
Unsent LetterMGF2000
Sydney to NewcastleThe Middle East2011
Beds are BurningMidnight Oil1987
Blue Sky MineMidnight Oil1990
Redneck WonderlandMidnight Oil1998
Come Said the BoyMondo Rock1984
The Real ThingRussell Morris1969
The Mercy SeatNick Cave and the Bad Seeds1988
The Ship SongNick Cave and the Bad Seeds1990
Do You Love Me?Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds1994
Wild OneJohnny O'Keefe1958
Before Too LongPaul Kelly, the Messengers1986
ComaPendulum1997
D.A.F.Powderfinger1996
Living TypePowderfinger1996
The Day You ComePowderfinger1998
This Boy's In LoveThe Presets2008
That Ain't BadRatcat1991
The Way of All ThingsRebecca's Empire1996
! (The Song Formerly Known As)Regurgitator1997
Black BugsRegurgitator1997
Happiness (Rotting My Brain)4Regurgitator1998
I'm StrandedThe Saints1976
Friend of MineThe Screaming Jets1994
The Carnival Is OverThe Seekers1965
The Dead Eyes Opened5The Severed Heads1983
Last Ditch CabaretMark Seymour1997
AdoreAmy Shark2018
Breathe MeSia2004
Freak6Silverchair1997
Buy Me A PonySpiderbait1996
GlockenpopSpiderbait2000
Shut My EyesThe Superjesus1996
Wide Open RoadThe Triffids1986
Blow Up The PokiesThe Whitlams1999
TreatyYothu Yindi1991
Berlin ChairYou Am I1993
TuesdayYou Am I1996

1 And where exactly on this list is "Shivers", you may ask? Umm...to own my truth, I kind of prefer The Screaming Jets cover. Dave Gleeson's vocals add more to the song than Cave's deadpan delivery (might be the only time anyone ever called Nick Cave deadpan). But I can imagine the uproar (if anyone saw this list and thought it meant anything). Leaving the song out altogether is my one act of chickening out compiling it.

2 I said I wasn't shying away from the brave decisions. But have a listen, appreciate the song on its own merits.

3 This is not a musically brilliant song, but it's here ahead of songs that are. I like it. 

4 Perhaps that all my Regurgitator songs are from UNIT best illustrates the problems with my weird musical chronology. 

5 I can't believe that this song's that old either. Imagine that this was once a fresh new song when raves and eccies wouldn't even be a thing for another ten years. 

6 This one is shaky. I've never been a huge fan of Silverchair, possibly for unfair reasons. They're from my hometown, graduated from high school the same year I did, friends of mine had them as classmates, and look. If tall poppy syndrome is a blight on Australia generally, turn that up to about 367 for Newcastle and Silverchair. It was the done thing in the 1990s to hate them, along with queing up at Centrelink and getting into fights at King St Maccas. I wasn't trying to fit in; just assumed a band my age, from my town, who were getting lots of media attention whilst being referred to derivatively as Nirvana wannabes must be awful (and Kurt Cobain had only just died, so that one hurt). I've tried giving a fresh and unbiased listen in later years, but the warmest feelings I can summon are "this song's okay, I guess". So Silverchair get the lone entry in recognition of their musical legacy in spite of the fact that I'm not that fussed about their music, only for the hometown mea culpa bit. I selected "Freak" simply because it's the song of theirs' I like most.

My methodology was fairly simple. I limited myself to three songs per artist. In dilemmas over songs which I like but aren't necessarily examples of musical brilliance, and representing songs and artists who made great impact on music in Australia and worldwide, I went with vibes and feels; dilemmas were solved with rigorous process of "eh" and given a month to think this over, I might shuffle a few things, but for now, can you imagine if the jury voted to acquit then heard all the evidence about previous poisonings which was kept from them ahead of trial- sorry, subject at hand.

I don't have any shareable links for this playlist on the off chance someone would want such a thing. I was already iffy on streaming services before 2020 when I started spending time in the only place I regularly listen to music - the car. For my first couple of years of regular daily driving I was still on my P plates. In NSW, if you're on your Ps it's illegal to use your phone whilst driving for anything, streaming music included. So I could listen to music in the car, I rustled up my library of MP3s, collected over two decades of CD rips and downloads from sources legitimate and nefarious, loaded a couple thousand songs onto a USB stick, and was on my way, shouting along to Reptillia by the Strokes as I went. This is why I was iffy - spending many hours and handing over data if not regular payment to listen to the songs I already owned. 

I eventually got my full licence (and a perfect driving record since, thank you - I shout along to Reptillia whilst  assiduously adhering to the speed limit).But I've had no urge to get back to streaming. My music collection is mine, and costs nothing, and is always there even if there's no signal, my account is locked, I'm hacked, my card is locked, or any other reason why one could lose access to the music they'd paid thousands of dollars for the right to listen to on individual occassions but not the right to own.

It's not exactly something to be smug about or even to bring up, so I don't. But you really, really should ditch Spotify, per this First Dog on the Moon:



Anyhow, if you found this post despite being worn the fuck out by Hottest 100 takes before even you got here, and scrolled all the way to the end, and have an opinion on it you'd like to share, and are so motivated by said opinion you're willing to leave a comment on a website not even linked to your social media accounts, though this really isn't an actual independent website it's owned by Google, even though Google hasn't provided any meaningful support or updates to Blogger since the Obama administration...even I've forgotten where I was going with this, but if you want to share your views on this or any other countdown or just the ones in your line of sight right now, please do so in the comments and I'll leave a warm and comforting reply.

0 Comments on The Sikamikanico Hottest 100 Australian Songs

Post a Comment


Latest Posts