Pharrell Williams ‘Happy’ was the biggest selling song of 2014 in Australia.
Here are the Top 10:
#1 – Happy by Pharrell Williams
The longest running No.1 single of the decade at twelve weeks, takes out the No.1 place on the ARIA End of Year charts for 2014, that being “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, which hit the top in the first week of January, and during three runs at the top finally departed in late-March.
The song debuted at No.10 in the third last week of 2013, and four weeks later it was at the top, where it initially had a five week run, then one week off, back for another six, one more week off and then a final twelfth week atop the ARIA Singles chart. Last year Pharrell appeared on the No.2 (“Blurred Lines”) and No.7 (Get Lucky) songs of the year as guest vocalist, this year though he only has the one hit, but it did achieve 9x▲Platinum and gave him his first No.1 album in Australia as “G I R L” spent a week at the top in mid-March.
#2 – All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor
Female doo-wop made a big return to the No.1 spot this year, as the then 21 year old Nantucket native took only three weeks to climb to the top, and she did it here first, along with New Zealand in the same week, as it would be another month before she topped the US charts. The song initially spent three weeks at No.1, and then in its ninth week on the charts and after three weeks at No.2, it climbed back to the top helped by a promo tour here of Australia. Her follow-up which is currently within the Top 10 is entitled “Lips are Movin’” and made it to No.64 for 2014.
#3 – Shake it Off by Taylor Swift
The three weeks that Meghan Trainor was waiting at No.2 to return to the top was because Taylor Swift had taken over the No.1 spot with her song “Shake it Off” which debuted at No.5 in the last week of August, and then the following week it leapt to No.1, becoming her second chart topping single here, and after three weeks at the top, it also (at the time) became her longest running No.1 in Australia, and now it has stayed within the Top 10 for all of its twenty weeks upon the charts, becoming her longest run inside the ten, and only the second song for the year to clock up 20 weeks in the Top 10, “Happy” for Pharrell was the other one. Her follow-up No.1 “Blank Space” (from 24-Nov) also spent three weeks at the top and is the 28th biggest song for 2014. And by placing at No.3 for 2014, “Shake it Off” equals the No.3 EOY position that her first No.1 “Love Story” achieved back in 2009.
#4 – Geronimo by Sheppard
The highest placed Australian artist of the year is Brisbane sibling act Sheppard with their second chart entry “Geronimo”, which like its namesake, leapt to the top of the ARIA Singles chart from outside of the Top 10, No.18 in fact, and spent three weeks at No.1 throughout April notching up just over three months within the Top 10, and it was the song that finally closed the door to the top for Pharrell’s “Happy”. They also released their debut album “Bombs Away” which debuted and stayed at No.2 for two weeks and is the 41st biggest album for the past year. The song has so far reached the Top 10 overseas in New Zealand (#8), Germany (#3), Belgium (#9), Austria (#2), The Netherlands (#4), Sweden (#8) and The Philippines (#7)
#5 – Que Sera by Justice Crew
2010 Australia’s Got Talent winners were the dance act Justice Crew, who initially found fame with a few Top 10 singles and a No.1 in “Boom Boom” (#7 song for 2012), but they returned this year with the massive “Que Sera” which was the second of three songs that debuted at No.1 last year, doing so in the second week of May, and becoming the second longest running No.1 of the year at nine consecutive weeks. The last time a song spent nine straight weeks at the top was back in 2011 when LMFAO did a ten week run with “Party Rock Anthem”. Justice Crew followed it up with the No.11 single “Rise & Fall”, both tracks taken from their debut album “Live by the Words” which came out in mid-December reaching No.7.
#6 – Chandelier by Sia
The third of four Australian acts within the Top 10 is the first non-No.1, as “Chandelier” by Sia managed three broken weeks at No.2, initially two straight weeks in its fifth and sixth week on the charts, and then when it was performed by a contestant on ‘The Voice’ it shot back to No.2 in its sixteenth week on the charts and it would eventually spend fifteen weeks within the Top 10. The song was a major hit in all overseas countries, including No.1 positions in France (three weeks), and cracking the Top 5 in Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Bulgaria, Norway, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Top 10 in the USA, Canada, Germany, Denmark, England, Singapore, Indonesia, plus her album “1000 Forms of Fear” debuted at No.1 in the USA and here in July and is the No.34 album of 2014. This is also the second EOY Top 10 for Sia, as she and Flo Rida made it to No.5 in 2011.
#7 – Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran
Two things occurred here in 2014 for Ed Sheeran, and they were his first two No.1 single in Australia, with his first single from his second album “x” (#1 album for 2014) “Sing” becoming the first song last year to debut at No.1 in the first week of May, and it is the No.33 single for last year, whilst the follow-up “Don’t” (HP-4) is No.42 for 2014. The second thing he achieved was a second No.1 single, and this one climbed to the top in its fifth week on the charts in mid-October spending five consecutive weeks at the top, and helping to bring it’s parent album back to the top also. Ed’s previous EOY best effort was with “Lego House” which was No.14 for 2012, and he also has a fourth song within the Top 100 for 2014, his ‘Hobbit’ theme song “I See Fire” which is No.78 for last year.
#8 – Stay with Me by Sam Smith
In 2013, Sam Smith appeared as guest vocalist on the Naughty Boy track “La La La” (HP-5, #40 for 2013), and then in 2014 he scored his second Top 10 hit, first as a solo act when his ballad “Stay With Me” took two weeks to land within the Top 10, spending eleven weeks within and peaking at No.5, making this the second non-No.1 within the EOY ten. The song recently flew back up into the Top 20 as one of the most downloaded tracks of 2014, and his follow-up the No.11 single “I’m Not the Only One” is the No.56 for last year, whilst his debut album “In the Lonely Hour” is still Top 5 and is the No.6 album for 2014.
#9 – Freaks by Timmy Trumpet and Savage
The fourth and final Australian act within the Top 10 is local DJ Timmy Trumpet who took his instrumental dance track “Freaks” and added vocals from New Zealand rapper Savage, with the song recently spending five weeks at the top of the N.Z. charts and the song is currently Top 15 in France. The song has spent fourteen weeks within the Top 10, peaking at No.3 for a week in late September, and just last week it went back into the ten at No.9. Savage also has another teaming within the EOY hundred; the No.2 single “Swing” with another local DJ Joel Fletcher is the No.23 single for 2014.
#10 – Ugly Heart by G.R.L.
The first time we heard the girl troupe G.R.L. was as guest vocalist on the Pitbull track “Wild Wild Love” (#85 for 2014) which went to No.10 in late March for a single week. Then in mid-July they debuted at No.41 with their lead single “Ugly Heart”, which took only two weeks to climb to No.4, spending three broken weeks at No.2 and eleven weeks within the Top 10.
Local acts making good this year include Iggy Azalea at No.12 with “Fancy”, again on the Ariana Grande track “Problem” (#18) and then again with “Black Widow” featuring Rita Ora (#70), and another act who made big chart inroads overseas were 5 Seconds of Summer who score the No.20 song for 2014 with their No.1 single “She Looks So Perfect” and then again with their third Top 10 single “Amnesia” at No.51. The Brisbane duo The Veronicas made a major comeback by landing their second No.1 single with “You Ruin Me” which went on to spend three weeks at No.1 and was the third and final debut at the top of the ARIA Singles chart for 2014, the song comes in at No.22, whilst the next local act to appear in the EOY chart are Peking Duk with “High”, which they won an ARIA Award for, and it also became their first Top 10 single peaking at No.5 in late April for two weeks, whilst their follow-up “Take Me Over” (HP-6) is No.91 for last year.
Further Aussie acts to make the end of year charts for 2014 include The Hilltop Hoods with “Cosby Sweater” (#47), the No.12 single for 2013 was “Riptide” for Vance Joy, which sold enough again in 2014 to be the No.55 single last year. Local rapper Vassy appeared on the David Guetta track “Bad” which is No.59 for 2014, followed by Nathaniel with “Live Louder” (#66), Illy with “Tightrope” (#69), X-Factor winner Marlisa with her debut single “Stand by You” (#71), Jessica Mauboy and “Never Be the Same” (#75), the last local act is the above mentioned Peking Duk with “Take Me Over” (#91).
No.1 singles that I haven’t already mentioned and that missed out on the EOY Top 10 include “All of Me” by John Legend (#49 for 2013) at No.11, “Say Something” by A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera (#13), “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” for Paloma Faith (#17), “We Are Done” for The Madden Brothers (#24), the last No.1 for 2014 “Uptown Funk” for Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars (#29), and the last No.1 for 2013, “Trumpets” for Jason DeRulo (#37), plus the highest placed song that failed to make the Top 10, but did chart for the entire year, and is from the No.3 album for 2014 “Frozen”, I am talking about Idina Menzel with “Let it Go” (HP-16, mid May) which is the No.25 single for last year.
Written, Compiled and Researched by Gavin Ryan.
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