A Top 15 list has just come out, ranking the best singles by Aussie soap stars, according to The Guardian.
The list is fun and full of 90s nostalgia but honestly, this either should’ve been tightened up to a Top 10 list or extended out to a Top 20 because there’s some odd inclusions and glaring omissions.
The Guardian’s Top 15 is as follows:
1. Read My Lips by Melissa Tkautz
2.All Seats Taken by Bec Cartwright
3. In Your Room by Toni Pearen
4. Especially for You by Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan
5. Mistake by Stephanie McIntosh
6. Born to Try by Delta Goodrem
7. Voodoo Child by Rogue Traders
8. Kiss Kiss by Holly Valance
9. I Begin to Wonder by Dannii Minogue
10. Love at First Sight by Kylie Minogue
11. Can’t Get You Out of My Head by Kylie Minogue
12. Torn by Natalie Imbruglia
13. This Is It by Dannii Minogue
14. Lost Without You by Delta Goodrem
15. Better the Devil You Know by Kylie Minogue
Now, while I’m all for having lists that represent women and their achievements, this list is forgetting some absolute boy bangers.
Hey Mona by Craig McLachlan and Check 1-2
The former Henry Ramsay of Neighbours had a decent run in the charts in 1990 with this reworking of a Bo Diddley b-side, getting to #3 and becoming the highest selling single by an Australian artist that year.
Nothing Can Divide Us by Jason Donovan
Look, it was out of this one or Too Many Broken Hearts but I picked this as the chorus is actually a personal core memory and absolutely nothing to do with Donovan’s sleek mullet ponytail. The track is from his debut album Ten Good Reasons released in 1989.
Don’t It Make You Feel Good by Stefan Dennis
Clearly eyeballing the success of some of his Neighbours alum, Paul Robinson Stefan Dennis took his chances with this synth-pop number in 1989… he later returned to Neighbours.
But back to the ladies, we can’t think why these didn’t get some kind of honourable mention. And by ‘we’ I mean me.
Pointless Relationship by Tammin Sursok
Say what you want about this track but after it was released in 2004, it spent 15 weeks on the ARIA Singles Chart, peaking at a respectable No. 5… it also went platinum in Australia.
Home and Away‘s Tammin Sursok sings about a useless man in her life and hey, it’s a refreshing side-step from the lovey-dovey stuff that saturates this group.
While ‘Kiss Kiss’ was a floor-filler masterpiece, Holly Valance’s ‘Naughty Girl’ was the quieter, calmer come down.
It debuted at No. 3 on the Aussie Singles Chart in 2003 and spent 11 weeks in the Top 50.
Not gonna lie, this gets played in my car a bit too often than I’d like to admit.
And I know Shannon Noll is more ‘reality’ than soapie star, but as we established further up the list, Nat Bass is.
This cover of the Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush classic Don’t Give Up is honestly not terrible.
