Original video located here. Accessed 30th July 2025
Song title: Highway to Hell
Artist: AC/DC
Year: 1979
Why I like this song:
Well the latest Triple J Hottest 100 has come and gone. And of all the Australian songs that came out over the past fifty years, Never Tear Us Apart grabbed the top honours.
Some thoughts on the countdown:
- It was quite a good one with a lot of songs appearing that I knew. It was also surprising to hear some songs I didn't think would get in and/or be familiar with the Australian 16-28 demographic.
- I voted for ten songs. Five of them got in. The other five did not.
- I once declared that the Hoodoo Gurus were the greatest Australian band ever and were better than INXS and AC/DC. Well, the egg's on my face: The Gurus didn't get in, but the other two did.
- The presence of Daryl Braithwaite, Savage Garden, the Veronicas, John Farnham and Natalie Imbruglia brings a collective that one wouldn't think would be present on a radio station that was turned into alternative music. I could say this is the best representation of the pop genre
colonisingbullying their way intobeing integrated into the Triple J playlist and changes of listener demographic. - Speaking of Daryl Braithwaite, his cover got in so again, there's egg on my face. And that's a lotta effort made to make me look small.
- Perhaps the biggest takeaway I got from this is that the Veronicas' Untouched was a bigger deal than I ever relaised
- Of course, there has since been a lot of complaining on the internet (shock horror) about the countdown with the most frequented one being: "How come (this act) didn't get in?". I guess that's expected but it does smack of realising that one backed the wrong horse....
- In case I haven't made it clear by now, In a Hottest 100 like this, there are winners but at the same time, there are losers. For each success, there are many who have been left out and forgotten. I won't deny that memes are an effective way to drum up support but I have to ask a question. A question that I have asked myself many times: Who gets to decide who are the winners and who are the losers?
- So do I think I can do better? Absolutely. I have my own memories attached to certain songs - as this blog proves - and I may come up with a Hottest 100 of Australian tunes in the near future. Watch this space.....