Flashback To The 1995 Triple J Hottest 100

Flashback To The 1995 Triple J Hottest 100

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noel gallagher, liam gallagher
Noal Gallagher & Liam Gallagher, 1995. Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images.

The annual Triple J Hottest 100 countdown kicks off this weekend on Saturday, (Jan 25th), making it the perfect time to cast our minds back to countdowns past! Taking us back to 1995, we look back at a year when alternative rock reigned supreme and many of the genre’s biggest names – who are considered icons today – were just getting started.

The most successful artists in Triple J’s 1995 Hottest 100 included Alanis Morissette, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, TISM, Live, You Am I, and Pearl Jam who all racked up three tracks on the list. But the year officially belonged to Oasis who took out the #1 spot with their Britpop anthem “Wonderwall” – a song that would surely rank almost as high among the biggest hits of the decade! 

Here is the full Hottest 100 countdown of 1995, as played on Triple J.

#1. “Wonderwall” – Oasis

The fourth single from (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? topped the charts in Australia and New Zealand. The song reached the top ten on another ten charts, including Canada and the United States at number 5 and 8 respectively. 

#2. “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” – The Smashing Pumpkins

The lead single from their 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, was the band's first top-forty US hit, peaking at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also earned them a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1997.

#3. “Gangsta’s Paradise (feat. L.V.)” – Coolio

#4. “Kitty” – The Presidents Of The United States Of America

#5. “It’s Oh So Quiet” – Björk

"It's Oh So Quiet" is a melting pot of appropriation! Originally composed in German, "Und jetzt ist es still" was first released in English in 1951 by American singer Betty Hutton. Bjork’s version was the third single from her 1995 album, Post and remains her biggest hits; fuelled by the Spike Jonze-directed music video, based on Jacques Demy's 1964 film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg.

#6. “Heroin Girl” – Everclear

#7. “Apartment” – Custard

#8. “Where The Wild Roses Grow (feat. Kylie Minogue)” – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

The lead single from 1996's Murder Ballads. Nick Cave, as quoted in ‘Molly Meldrum Presents 50 Years of Rock in Australia’ – "Where The Wild Roses Grow" was written very much with Kylie in mind. I'd wanted to write a song for Kylie for many years. I had a quiet obsession with her for about six years. I wrote several songs for her, none of which I felt was appropriate to give her. It was only when I wrote this song, which is a dialogue between a killer and his victim, that I thought finally I'd written the right song for Kylie to sing. I sent the song to her and she replied the next day.

#9. “(He’ll Never Be An) Ol’ Man River” – TISM

#10. “Greg! The Stop Sign!!” – TISM

#11. “Lump” – The Presidents Of The United States Of America

#12. “The Reefer Song” – Mindless Drug Hoover

#13. “Morning Glory” – Oasis

#14. “Last Goodbye” – Jeff Buckley

#15. “Vow” – Garbage

#16. “Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Where I Hide” – Dave Graney ‘N’ The Coral Snakes

#17. “Blubber Boy” – Regurgitator

From Regurgitator’s second EP, New (1995), “Blubber Boy” is a prime example of the band’s early talent!

#18. “I Kissed A Girl” – Jill Sobule

#19. “I Got A Girl” – Tripping Daisy

#20. “My Friends” – Red Hot Chili Peppers

The second single from One Hot Minute – the band’s only studio album to feature Jane’s Addiction guitarist, Dave Navarro. 

#21. “Queer” – Garbage

#22. “Lightning Crashes” – Live

#23. “Miss Sarajevo (feat. Luciano Pavarotti)” – Passengers

#24. “Purple Sneakers” – You Am I

#25. “Political Prisoners” – Insurge

#26. “Downtown” – Neil Young

The first single from Neil Young's twenty-third (!) studio album, Mirror Ball was recorded with members from Pearl Jam and nominated for Best Rock Song at the 1996 Grammy Awards.

#27. “Drugs” – Ammonia

#28. “Aeroplane” – Red Hot Chili Peppers

Another highlight from 1995’s One Hot Minute!

#29. “Evidence” – Faith No More

The third single from their fifth studio album, King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime progressed FNM’s heavy metal style by incorporating jazz and funk elements.

#30. “Carnival” – Natalie Merchant

The lead single from her debut solo album Tigerlily was alo Natalie Merchant's  most successful solo hit.

#31. “Time Bomb” – Rancid

#32. “Apple Eyes” – Swoop

#33. “Everything Zen” – Bush

#34. “I Alone” – Live

#35. “I Got Id” – Pearl Jam

#36. “Black Steel” – Tricky

#37. “This Is A Call” – Foo Fighters

#38. “Common People” – Pulp

#39. “You Oughta Know” – Alanis Morissette

The third single from one of the biggest albums of the decade, Jagged Little Pill was recorded with RHCP’s Flea and Dave Navarro stepping in as studio musicians. In 1996, it earned Alanis two Grammy awards, for both Best Rock Song and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

#40. “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” – Primus

#41. “I Can Dream” – Skunk Anansie

The second single from their 1995 debut album Paranoid & Sunburnt.

#42. “The Diamond Sea” – Sonic Youth

#43. “Monty” – Spiderbait

#44. “Better Man” – Pearl Jam

#45. “Glory Box” – Portishead

#46. “Geek Stink Breath” – Green Day

The lead single from Green Day’s fourth studio album, Insomniac (1995) pays homage to the band's 1970s punk influences, like the Ramones and Sex Pistols.

#47. “My Island Home” – Christine Anu

Originally written by Neil Murray and the Warumpi Band, it was covered by Christine Anu in 1995 after her brief stint as a backing vocalist in Neil Murray’s follow up band, The Rainmakers.

#48. “I Wanna Be A Hippy (Flamman & Abraxas Mix)” – Technohead

#49. “More Human Than Human” – White Zombie

#50. “Summer” – Buffalo Tom

#51. “Psychoactive Summer” – Def FX

#52. “You Suck” – The Murmurs

#53. “Country House” – Blur

The lead single Blur’s fourth album, The Great Escape was released on the same day as the Oasis single "Roll with It" – in a chart war dubbed the "Battle of Britpop". 

#54. “Who Farted?” – The Vaughans

#55. “Up To Our Necks In It” – Skunkhour

#56. “Chuck” – Phunk Junkeez

#57. “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” – U2

#58. “Lemonsuck” – Pollyanna

#59. “Supermodel” – Jill Sobule

#60. “Sparky’s Dream” – Teenage Fanclub

The second single from Scottish rockers highly acclaimed 1995 album, Grand Prix.

#61. “Sad Song” – The Screaming Jets

#62. “Empty” – Rebecca’s Empire

#63. “Smash It Up” – The Offspring

#64. “Stayin’ Alive” – N-Trance

#65. “Boombastic” – Shaggy

#66. “Fire In The Head” – The Tea Party

#67. “Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing” – Chris Isaak

The first track from Isaak’s Forever Blue album featured in 1999 Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 mystery mind bender Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

#68. “Pale Grey Eyes” – Pollyanna

#69. “(Let’s Go) Smoke Some Pot” – Dash Rip Rock

#70. “I’ll Stick Around” – Foo Fighters

#71. “All Over You” – Live

#72. “Immune Deficiency” – Rail

#73. “Dredd Song” – The Cure

#74. “Sickfest” – Grinspoon

#75. “Warped” – Red Hot Chili Peppers

The third song from One Hot Minute to make the list!

#76. “21st Century (Digital Boy)” – Bad Religion

#77. “Heart Of The Party” – Severed Heads

#78. “Trick With A Knife” – Strawpeople

#79. “Alright” – Supergrass

From their debut album, I Should Coco, “Alright” also appeared on the Clueless in 1995, catapulting the young band into the mainstream. 

#80. “Brain Stew” – Green Day

Another golden moment from Insomniac! “Brain Stew” has been played at almost every single one of Green Day's concerts since its release.

#81. “Devil’s Diary” – The Caulfields

#82. “Sunday” – Mr Blonde

#83. “Army Of Me” – Björk

#84. “Cathy’s Clown” – You Am I

#85. “Hand In My Pocket” – Alanis Morissette

The third entry from Jagged Little Pill. Alanis Morissette was the first act to chart without any airplay from Triple J – and boy did she smash it!

#86. “Waterfalls” – TLC

#87. “Jailbreak” – Yothu Yindi

#88. “Grind” – Alice In Chains

#89. “Grace” – Jeff Buckley

#90. “All I Really Want” – Alanis Morissette

#91. “Digging The Grave” – Faith No More

The first single from King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime may have failed to chart in the US, but it clearly won the hearts of Aussie FNM fans. 

#92. “Sick Of Myself” – Matthew Sweet

#93. “All Homeboys Are Dickhead” – TISM

#94. “Jewels And Bullets” – You Am I

#95. “Protection” – Massive Attack

#96. “Hang Around” – Tumbleweed

#97. “Tingly (feat. Angie Hart)” – Pop!

#98. “By Myself” – Hecate

#99. “When I Come Around” – Green Day

The fourth single from 1995’s Dookie was Green Day's most popular radio single in their early career, right up until 2004's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

#100. “Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues” – Todd Snider

Keep the party going with our 90s Oz playlist on Spotify!

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