Reaction To Top 30 Australian Songs Ever 

It's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll

Let's be honest people......30 is not nearly enough for all the sensational music we have.....we could do a top 100 of stuff the rest of the world has never even heard

How Redgums “I was only 19” isn’t in the top 30 is crazy !! That encapsulates the Vietnam war better than Khe San does ! The one song that brings people to tears !

I feel the need to explain the joke made for number 15! The crowd interaction with The Angels 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again" is that after he sings that line in the chorus, the crowd shouts back "NO WAY, GET FUCKED, FUCK OFF!" (and you can see this phrase on the top he's wearing too). It's always a fun one when it comes on at a party or the pub because of this.

How on earth can we leave out Peter Allen's emotion stirring " I STILL CALL AUSTRALIA HOME"

Richard Clapton not being mentioned at all is depressing, Girls on the Avenue is a huge pub song.

Surprised not to see The Seekers in there, not even in the honorable mentions. Cold Chisel, for me at least, are the greatest band that came from the pub-rock scene so happy to see them at 1. Khe Sanh is one of their most famous songs, but certainly not their best though.

Three that should have been in Top 30: 1. The classic Aussie road trip song, 'Wide Open Road' by The Triffids, 2. The ultimate Vietnam Vet's song, 'I Was Only 19' by Red Gum and 3. The song that got indigenous music into mainstream, 'My Island Home' by Warumpi Band.

The Saints and the Go Betweens are two glaring omissions in my book both bands had international success in the late seventies and early eighties and produced some absolute classics

They missed a trick by not including Aus psychedelic rock with Russell Morris and the Real Thing. I see it was an honourable mention along with Eagle Rock. A bit too 2000s oriented for me. History.

As a Scot you have to do a reaction to ACDC's "There's A Long Way to the Top if you want to Rock 'n Roll" with it's iconic bagpipes while riding through the streets of Melbourne on a flat-bed truck.

Sounds of Then by Ganggajang is probably so good because it perfectly encapsulates the feeling of an electric summer night in Australia. The humidity (mentioned), the lightning in the distance (mentioned, plus cane-fields which used to be much more visible to us townies than these days), I dunno, it just has the true vibe of a summer night. If you want to know what a summer night is like in Australia, listen to that song.

I’m glad The Real Thing got an honourable mention. Deserved more as a massively brilliant producing effort from Molly Meldrum.

I love Great Southern Land by IceHouse but my Irish cousin Roisin said that their song " Hey little Girl' was a hit in Ireland. Have to say, I saw them last year in concert and they still sound awesome! So many hits in Australia!!

Probably the biggest name not mentioned in many list is the one & only "Slim Dusty" song "I love to have a beer with Duncan". The next biggest name not in many list is "Daddy Cool" song "Eagle Rock". I don't care what era you are from everyone sings along to these two. A couple of modern Indigenous artist are "King Stingray" & "Budjerah" both very bloody talented. I'm a audiophile & a music junkie. This old guy knew all of the songs on there & I have to say not a bad mix. However there is plenty he could have added Xavier Rudd, John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins, Delta Goodrem, Eskimo Joe, Jebediah, LRB (Little River Band), Jeff Lang, Keith Urban, Ash Grunwald, Troy Cassar Daley, & so on....

Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock" and Redgum's "I Was Only 19" were absolute mega hits for ALL Australians, and much more important in both our history and legacy than many of the Triple J (less than 10% of the population) songs that were mentioned on this guy's personal preference list. Those 2 alone should have easily (both) been in the top 10. Cheers.

Icehouse is my favourite Australian band and well worth checking out! My faves are “I don’t believe any more” “Miss Divine” And “Great Southern Land.”

I can't believe they left out the best Australian song of all time Evie Parts I, II & III, by Stevie Wright. 11:11 of perfect Aussie music.

Bayini (Live) Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu blind Aboriginal singer, so talented...dead now our loss This is such a beautiful haunting tribute to the love and belonging to the land that resonates through Aboriginal culture Please take the time to listen .. on RU-vid ....

I used to work with an Irishman who'd been in Australia for about 10 years & I asked him which Aussie band he'd never heard of when he got here that he thought deserved to have gone worldwide & he said Icehouse. So yeah have a listen to some of their tunes, they have a lot of them.

Australia worked hard on the 70s and 80s to work out their identity and place in the world. This is reflected in the large number of songs from the 80s that are Australiana. In the last 20 years, Australians have focused more on getting wealthy rather than meaning or social cohesion

You asked if there was anyone else who should be on this list? Geoffrey Gurrumul is a full blooded First Nation man. You will hear his language in his music. He was famous world wide. I have two of his albums. Beautiful music. Beautiful man.

Icehouse is brilliant. The lead singer, Iva Davies, is classically trained. Their songs are amazing.

If you're interested in some more recent indigenous music, check out the hip hop artist Briggs. He had a big hit with a rugby league promo he did called "here". He was also part of a colab with paul Kelly on a brilliant update to the classic indigenous story song, "took the children away", by uncle archie roache, called "the children came back", which is beautiful. Edit- sorry, the second song wasn't with Paul Kelly. It was with another brilliant indigenous artist, professor Gurrummul, who has sadly passed, but should also be reacted to. He has one of the most beautifully haunting voices you will ever hear.

The Flowers released a single and album titled "Icehouse" and later renamed the band as Icehouse. I rate 'Icehouse' as one of their best songs.

Definately think "I was only 19" by Redgum deserves to be in the Top 10. Superbly written song. With so many songs that could be in the top 30, it shows how great our Aussie musicians are - not that I am biased 😂

Look there are tons of songs that could have been included but he did a reasonable job. My own personal list would have The Whitlams - No Aphrodisiac, Natalie Imbruglia - Torn, Brian Cadd - Ginger Man, Skyhooks - Living in the 70s, Moving Pictures - What about me?, Mental as anything - The Nips are getting bigger, Do-Re-Mi - Man Overboard, Baby Animals - One Word, The Go Betweens - Streets of your town, Hoodoo Gurus - What's my scene, Missy Higgins - Scar and of course Redgum - I was only 19. There's lots more but that will do.

About 10 of these songs have reached the status of anthems, as you say. They have helped soothe the souls of many a homesick Aussie over the years, even if the song itself isn’t that great. They are great because they take you back home for a few minutes.

Yes, Bon Scott played the bagpipes on Its A Long Way! John Farnham often performs it as an encore too! Would love to react to some Icehouse songs. It’s Davies from Icehouse is a polarising figure within Australian music but his song writing skills are unmatched. I’d suggest checking out the big singles Great Southern Land, Hey Little Girl, Crazy and Electric Blue, which he co-wrote with John Oates from Hall & Oates - Oates admitted that if Icehouse hadn’t released it, he would have released it as a Hall & Oates song. Before Icehouse, Davies performed as Flowers who also had some huge hits in Australia - We Can Get Together and Can’t Help Myself. It’s all fantastic synth driven pop rock, big choruses and great production.

Stoked Prisoner of Society (living end) that was our theme song during covid rings true! Nick Cave -Red Right Hand- just as good if not beta than into my arms, saw live Silverchair, met POWDERFINGER, met Michael Hutchance met Cold Chisel,saw the oils- US Forces.. AC-DC Men at Work, Little River Band, Richard Clapton, Aussie crawl, The Church, met Hunters, Ganga Gang ❤❤,saw live Yothu Yindi, saw John Butler Trio, Custard, The Whitlams,,Goanna , Icehouse formerly Flowers, met Christie just b4 she past out on stage with the Divynals,😂 I worked at the old Fisherman’s Wharf , we’ve had & still have some wicked underrated bands here, so many indie bands underground poetry at its finest just to many to name but cheers 4 sharing 😊🇦🇺

The biggest name in Aussie indigenous rock at the moment is a young band called King Stingray. They hail from Yolngu country in East Arnhem Land - the same country as Yothu Yindi who had a hit with ‘Treaty’ in the ‘80s. The Yolngu people have blessed us with some of the greatest Australian musicians, dancers, actors and educators of the last 50 years.

Australian music has a huge Scottish influence from the Young brothers, who were all born in Glasgow. Angus and Malcolm are on display for all to see in AC/DC but, arguably, George was the biggest in his writing partnership with Harry Vanda (born in the Netherlands). They were part of the Easybeats - you can see them in the background of the Friday on my mind clip.

It's a pretty good list of Aussie songs - some missed tracks from me would be "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun, "UFO" by Sneaky Sound System, "I Want You" by Savage Garden, "Cigarettes Will Kill you" by Ben Lee and "Down Again" by SuperJesus

Some of my favs are 'Real Life' - 'Send Me An Angel'...and...'The Living End' - 'Prisoner Of Society'...and...'Australian Crawl' - 'Reckless'

So glad Solid Rock is in there. Such a powerful message with a powerful beat. Lots of other things could have been included. Someone mentioned Redgum, yep that deserves to be in there. I see Evie by Steve Wright was in the honourable mentions, what a classic, all three parts tell a story that is in turn joyful, touching, and tragic.

The ice house song has a beautiful film clip of our country He missed i call Australia home But no 1 should've been seekers song I am you are we are Australian Personally believe it should be our national anthem It incorporates our full history condensed down into a song must listern

'Great Southern Land' by Icehouse is used to maximum effect in the Indy Smash Hit movie - 'Young Einstein' (a madcap comedy about a young Tasmanian genius, who splits the atom - contains some great music as well).

Something to note: the lead singer of the Easybeats was also a music producer. George Young was Angus young's brother, of AC/DC fame. He did the earlier music production for the band.

Gangajang's "This is Australia" is an awesome description of country life.

30 songs isn't enough to cover great Aussie artists/bands. You could do a top 30 for every decade or genre and still not get everyone's favorites. Lots of classics here and lots missed too. It's definitely worth checking out the suggestions in the comments below and not just their number ones, Radiators No Tragedy is rarely mentioned but it's still one of my faves.

Need to check out Kasey Chambers cover of Lose yourself from Civic theater 2022. She is a successful country singer but what she did is awesome, Eminem gave her the rights for the cover and it is remade.

I think one of the great things for Aussie music is the Pub Rock circuit. Even if a band falls down from the top of fame, they can still make the rounds of all the pubs, sports and RSL clubs, and hotel bars.

As a Kiwi, the Aussies can’t play rugby but they build the best V8’s (I brought one back to NZ) and amazing music to play in them. 🇦🇺🇳🇿

30 is not enough. Missing The Seekers (Georgie girl?) Peter Alan (I still call Australia Home).

Feel so lucky to have seen many of these bands/artists and songs live, along with countless others not even mentioned. So much great Aussie music talent out there.

Two songs for Icehouse you need to react to are the one on this, "Great Southern Land" you can see them perform or there is a version that showcases Australia's beauty. The second is "Man of Colours" live version with Michael Paynter (who joined Icehouse in later years)

For me, as born in 1955!, it's Masters Apprentices,and Daddy Cool (saw them live sitting cross-legged in the front row in the student lounge at Monash Uni) I've also grown to love John Farnham a lot. He was also pretty- as I remember as a 15 y/o plumber's apprentice who started his career with Sadie the Cleaning Lady - and maybe 'One' as well.

Thanks so much for this. It’s all awesome ❤

So... this isn't the last 5-10 years, but check out Djarimirri by Dr G Yunupingu some time. He co-wrote "Treaty", which is probably why he wasn't in the list as a solo artist. This is the highest charting song in an indigenous language.

I’d love to see you watch longer videos of individual songs and react. The lead singer of Crowded House is from New Zealand. Neil Finn. Originally in famous NZ band Split Enz with his brother Tim. I’m a Kiwi living in Australia and they like to claim some Kiwis as there own. Australia and New Zealand have produced so much great talent. Keep up great work!

I saw so many of those bands back in the 70’s & 80’s at the pub & clubs. How lucky were we to grow up in Australia in those times 💙

Powderfinger’s ‘These Days’ is one of the best aussie songs of all time - see the final concert performance - so touching!

I agree with the video-maker that any list where each artist only gets one slot should have two entries for Jimmy Barnes 😀 🥰

Definitely react to "Long Way to the Top"! It launched ACDC and you'll love the bagpipe/guitar duel.

All very subjective but a great list. :) Song that didnt make it, that I think you will really like. Augie March - One Crowded Hour.

Whoever put the effort in to add the chapter marks in this video, I salute you!

There are a lot of great indigenous artists at the moment and in a wide variety of genres. Briggs, Baker Boy, King Stingray, Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan to name a few. I think there'll be some lasting classics from these guys.

"is that bagpipes?" fuck man,.... the back and forth duel between bon scott on the baggies and angus young on the axe,... thats peak acca dacca!

How can you fit them all in? Masters Apprentices, Tommy Emmanuel, Vance Joy, The Models, Black Sorrows (or Joe Joe Zepp & The Falcons), Richard Clapton, Little River Band, Dragon, Baby Animals, TISM, Screaming Jets, Johnny O'Keefe, Mi-Sex, Air Supply, The Saints, Regurgitator, The Bee Gees, Savage Garden, Sherbert, Hilltop Hoods, Killing Heidi, Boom Crash Opera, Sunnyboys, John Butler Trio, Skyhooks, Hoodoo Gurus, Mental As Anything, Spiderbait, Choirboys, Noiseworks and The Ted Mulray Gang but the biggest one missing has to be Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, "Most People I Know". There are so many to choose from and I've probably left plenty of big ones out.

Pleasantly surprised with this list. Well researched and covered lots of styles 👏

The Bourbon band in Kings Cross here in Sydney used to do a version of Khe Sahn that was 20 minutes or so long. Fantastic dance song, and a full dance floor at 4am would all be singing "Last plane out of Sydney's almost gone." Love that song.

INXS should have been in top 5.

My top 20 (only 1 song per artist) 20) Leaps And Bounds - Paul Kelly 19) Women In Uniform - Skyhooks 18) The Day You Come - Powderfinger 17) (I'm) Stranded - The Saints 16) Under The Milky Way - The Church 15) Confide In Me - Kylie Minogue 14) Age Of Reason - John Farnham 13) Berlin Chair - You Am I 12) Chandelier - Sia 11) Don't Change - INXS 10) It's A Long Way To The Top - AC/DC 9) When The War Is Over - Cold Chisel 8) Hearts A Mess - Gotye 7) Friday On My Mind - The Easybeats 6) Eagle Rock - Daddy Cool 5) Throw Your Arms Around Me - Hunters & Collectors 4) The Real Thing - Russell Morris 3) Overkill - Men At Work 2) Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House 1) Power And The Passion - Midnight Oil

Biggest problem with these "Top Songs" lists is everyone has a different list, it can vary because of age of the person, personal preference, music taste and so on. There are some great songs on this list but you can be sure nearly every Aussie would have a different list. One thing is for sure and that is the world missed out on hearing some awesome Aussie bands. It is great seeing reaction channels like yours bringing so many of them out and exposing them to the world, keep up the good work

AC/DC it's a long way to the top, if you want to rock & roll. Yes Bon Scott was & did play the bagpipes. A couple of the artists and songs from The 2000s this old Aussie has never heard of. I would have included Evie parts one, two, & three by Stevie Right.. Any songs & or Artists you thought of checking out, just DO IT, 😊

3. Yes, Bagpipes and Aussie Scots - "It's a long way to the Top", original! Yes, do "The Sounds of Then", (Ganga Jang) "Great Southern Land" (Icehouse) and Yes, do Working Class Man (Jimmy Barnes)! ⭐👍

Such beautiful things to say about Aussie music mate. Subscribed

I think Broderick Smith's "My Father's Hands" should be on the list. Love watching your channel!

So many classics also to throw in ... Choirboys - Run to Paradise, Moving Pictures - What about Me (or alternatively Angel and the Madman song), The Poor - More Wine waiter Please, Rose Tattoo (many) ... a good list though 👍

I’m sure they are some Australians who don’t sing along to Khe Sanh, but I’ve never met them. It’s a fair list, though I’d try to squeeze a Mental As Anything song in there. Maybe ‘If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?’, though they had so many great songs. I’m a massive Whitlams fan, but prefer their album tracks to their singles, so they’d probably not make a general list. Since I’m old, I’d find room for Helen Reddy’s ‘I Am Woman’, and something from The Bee Gees and The Seekers, both of whom had massive success worldwide.

Hi, such a privilege living in Aus (as a Kiwi) so good matching the Aussie culture in song 😍 At great risk of gate crashing, thought you might like some great songs by Kiwi’s, it’s a quick list I’ve done and by no means a top 20, just a few oldies but goody’s. Hayley Westenra - ‘Now is the Hour’ (lyrics in Maori by Maewa Kaihau 1927, English translation added to the original then followed) Pixi Williams - ‘Blue Smoke’ Daphne Walker - ‘Pania of the Reef’ Dinah Lee - ‘do de blue beat’, ‘don’t you know yockamo’ Howard Morrison Quartet - ‘Maori Battalion’, ‘Battle of Waikato’, My Old Man’s an All Black’ Split Enz (Tim and Neil Finn) - ‘I got you’ the band preceded regrouping to form the band Crowded House. Dragon - ‘Are you old enough’, ‘April sun in Cuba’ Hogsnort Rupert - ‘Aunty Alice’, ‘Pretty Girl’ John Clark (aka Fred Dag) - ‘Gumboots’, ‘We don’t know how lucky we are’ Hello Sailor - ‘ Blue Lady’ Graham Brazier - ‘Billy Bold’ Blerta - ‘Dance all around the world’ Sharon O’Neil - ‘Words’ DD Smash (Dave Dobyn) - ‘Welcome Home’, Slice of Heaven’, ‘Whaling’ Coup d’ Etat - ‘Doctor I like your medicine’ Topp Twins - ‘NZ Icon’, ‘Songs of Home: Land of the Long White Cloud’ Shona Laing - ‘Glad I’m not a Kennedy’ Patea Maori Club - ‘Poi E’ Herbs - ‘Long Ago’ OMC - ‘How Bizzare’ Netherworld Dancing Toys - ‘For Today’ Bic Runga - ‘Sway’

Love that as soon as "To Her Door" dropped, your head started bopping. Fun fact... the Angels song was a part of a concert... where the next performer on the stage was Jimmy Barnes. Also... thank god he didn't include Air Supply... but he did miss LRB.

This is a very solid list. It would be worth seeing whether of not it would pass the pub test, as all truly great Australian things must. The honourable mentions show that a great deal of thought went into collating it. I would consider adding Man Overboard by Do Re Mi - Out Of Mind Out Of Sight by The Models - What About Me by Moving Pictures, Eagle Rock by Daddy Cool, Most Peiple I Know Think That I'm Crazy by Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, My People by The Presets or Duncan by Slim Dusty to any list of great Australian songs. For indigenous music performed in an indigenous language, check out Mitch Tambo. Also, Budjerah and Briggs.

Hmmmm a lot of songs/bands missed out on there. The one you should hunt down and react to is Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs playing live on GTK (a TV show on the ABC-think BBC) called Mama. Thorpe was hard blues rock. How hard? Diamond hard...harder than AC/DC.

I can't believe that The Seekers are omitted - . is popular with pub folk and Gen Xs but doesn't really warrant the lead spot, especially when Jimmy Barnes already had a mention. Peter Allen's, ... Renee Geyer should also have featured in any top 30.

As a young girl in the 80s, my favourite was Love in Motion by Icehouse and Science Fiction by Divinyls.

So glad to see the Easybeats up there. Will Russell Morris and the Real Thing make it?

Another group worth mentioning is Dragon and their hit - April Sun in Cuba. And how could anyone forget Rogue Traders with Voodoo Child (featured on English classic Dr. Who)?

Thanks mate, brought back some emotional memories listening to the 80s stuff.

We have an amazing country and not enough people appreciate how lucky we are.. Iva Davies definitely catches the truth & magnificence of our land in this song and it’s awesome to hear someone from another country, appreciate our beauty and our musicians… ice house is an iconic band with a true love for our country and it shows in all the music they made. ❤❤

12:16 One of my favourites of recent memory are King Stingray - a surf/indie-rock band from the Northern Territory - they blend English lyrics and Yolŋu Matha, and have some great tracks. They formed in 2020 and released their debut album last year - to get a taste, some of my favourites are Milkumana, Camp Dog, Raypirri, Get Me Out, and Lets Go. Another that springs to mind is Baker Boy - he's more on the rap/hip-hop side of things. Happy listening!

It was bagpipes indeed. The original singer of AC/DC was Bon Scott, Scottish born as was half the rest of the band lol. He was born in Forfar and lived in Kirriemuir until the age of 6 when he mined to Australia with his family .

The Scottish input into Australian music is quite amazing. 🇦🇺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍🏽

30-20 left me a bit cold but then it certainly picked up. I expect that's an age thing. I'd possibly shuffle them around a bit and have Friday On My Mind higher up but I am pretty happy with this. Maybe we are all too embarrassed to have "I Am Australian" by The Seekers but a lot of Australians want that as our national anthem. :D

It's a bit hard to put them in the top 30 , many more great Aussie artists , and songs , it depends how far you want to go back, there was Skyhooks , Hush, lobby Loyd and the coloured balls, Axium, LRB, Daddy Cool, Air supply, Sherbet, Zoot , John Paul Young, The Ted Mulry gang 😂😂😂 Although Kiwi's, Aussies also claimed Max Merritt and the meteors, and Dragon, they had huge hits here and did the pub gigs The list goes on

Here's a few more Mental as anything ,Skyhooks ,Sherbet ,Hoodoo Gurus,,Little River Band,Daddy Cool,Choir Boys,Radiators,The Seekers,Air Supply.

I had forgotten the sheer amount of Bands that have come out of Australia. Like, there's actually just SO many.

What is amazing about Australian music is the diversity, no one of any note ever bothered to copy, each band had their unique sound. Listen to some music from the Australian pub bands of the seventies.🇦🇺❤️👍😎

Black Magic by Baker Boy & Dallas Woods is a more modern indigenous track really important to a lot of us. I cant necessarily disagree with the video, even as a youngin at 25 a lot of these still hold strong even in youth culture here Wait icehouse isnt well known in the UK!?!? You guysd love em Edit: bloody hell i really hoped it was gonna be who can it be now instead of down under 😂

A personal, subjective take on the songs and their order on the list ... but a great list nonetheless. You should play and purposefully listen to the lyrics of Great Southern Land by Icehouse and Sounds of Then (This Is Australia) by Gangajang. They embody the essence of "our place" ... and the melodies are ethereal.

All of the older songs on this list just remind me of listening to the radio at night, during our hot summers, family on the bbq cooking up sausages. That was how the late 90's felt for me. Also belting out horses because horse girl kid.

AC⚡️DC + INXS two of my favourite groups of all time ❤

Ironic that several of those great indigenous or indigenous related songs are in the top 10 and the country voted NO on the weekend 😢

Nah the 60s and 70s were the best time in Aussie music

I really like you! I only just now came across your channel, with this video! I love that you're open minded to listening to more Indigenous Australian artists. As an Indigenous woman myself, I'm more than happy to recommend some Indigenous Artists and their music, if you would like 😊

60 yo Aussie here. Great video. Grew up with all these. Being ex-military I do agree I Was Only 19 should be in there.

This is what happens when some millennial (if he's even that old) thinks they know all about Australian music history. He's probably never heard of The Seekers (4 number one hits in the UK in the 60's) or LRB who were described by the Eagles as the best singing band in the world in the 70's. Still, I guess it's fairly typical of that generation.

Definitely do listen to Icehouse 'great southern land' the one you thought looked interesting, the official version is visually stunning. There's also another recent version that has an aboriginal man singing in his native language and a female who sings in English it's by Mitch Tambo. There are so many songs I feel were better than some this person picked but hey, each to their own.

I’m an Australian, and this guy’s top 30 Aussie songs of all time is almost identical to mine 😊 You were talking about modern Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bands. My favourite would have to be King Stingray 💕 Very, very talented young men. Some other songs I thought we could add to the list would be: - Stranded By: The Saints - In The Summertime By: Thirsty Merc - Hot Potato By: The Wiggles 😊 - Am I Not Pretty Enough? By: Kasey Chambers

Aussie hip hop.... Best to start with Hilltop Hoods, then Bliss n Eso......, and keep going. And better yet, indigineous hip hop band - the Last Kinection, very under rated, must check out their song 'I can"!!