Vote: The Flamin’ 100 counts down the favourite Aussie songs of all time.

The Flamin’ 100 list is our experts’ favourite Aussie songs of all time. Which tracks should have been higher and have we missed your banger?

It’s the BBQ debate guaranteed to be as combustible as cabanas on beaches or whether tomato sauce belongs in the fridge – the playlist of the best Australian songs.

To add fuel to the fire, a panel of entertainment writers and reviewers from this masthead and news.com.au have cast their votes for the Flamin’ 100 to soundtrack Australia Day 2025.

They are passion picks as opposed to a critics list, the songs on high rotation in the lives of these music-loving voters across the decades from the 1960s to 2024.

It’s a celebration of Australian culture in an era when the latest crop of homegrown talent struggles to connect with a mainstream audience, shut out by streaming algorithms that favour international superstars trending on social media.

Topping the inaugural Flamin’ 100 is a song which thrust the sound and essence of Australia onto the world stage, Midnight Oil’s timeless anthem Beds are Burning.

The Oils’ classic Beds Are Burning topped the inaugural Flamin’ 100. Picture: Daniel Boud.

A few other songs from the Oils featured in the voting, including the much-loved Power and the Passion.

Beds are Burning was a hit around the world on its release in 1987, nominated for a 1989 Grammy and made the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s unranked list of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

“Embracing what drummer Rob Hirst referred to as ‘the rhythms of the desert’ and with an unforgettable, call-to-arms chorus delivered in front man Peter Garrett’s unmistakably urgent voice, Beds Are Burning sounds as vital and powerful today as it did nearly 40 years ago,” entertainment editor James Wigney said.

Other bands to split voters across multiple songs from their vast catalogues included Divinyls, INXS, AC/DC, Powderfinger, Paul Kelly, Icehouse, Kylie Minogue, Australian Crawl, Savage Garden, Hoodoo Gurus, Skyhooks and Crowded House.

Boys in Town, the debut single from Divinyls, released in 1981, was universally popular among the poll voters.

“The great Chrissy Amphlett was the most uncompromising and compelling star of her generation and imbued Australian rock with a searing sexuality that set Divinyls apart in the male-dominated era,” National Music Writer Kathy McCabe said.

The struggle to pick one favourite from INXS was real, with six songs nominated. It came down to a battle between Don’t Change and Need You Tonight.

Panellist Clareese Packer discovered the iconic Australian band via the 2014 ratings smash mini series INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, which introduced their music to a new generation of fans.

“Many would argue the best INXS song would be Never Tear Us Apart but Don’t Change shoots you back in time to a period of classic rock driven by a bunch of mates in Sydney who were still playing small Aussie pubs and venues, with no idea the mark they’d go on to make on the world,” Packer said.

“The iconic use of keys, mixed with a rumbling drum beat, steady bass and electrifying guitar riff accompanied by Michael Hutchence’s sensational vocals heralded the band’s potential to break worldwide.”

Finally a certain Kate Ceberano classic immortalising a quintessential Aussie expression gets the recognition it deserves in our 2025 playlist.

“The best song from the best album by one of the country’s most underrated singer-songwriters,” declared news.com.au entertainment editor Nick Bond.

“Sure, The Horses or You’re The Voice might win the popular vote, but for me this irresistible ode to the joys of a good pash is my true unofficial Australian anthem.

“The 60s-influenced bop was a surprise top 10 hit in 1998 and revitalised Ceberano’s pop career – altogether now: ‘Kiss me passionately, Pash me, pash me, pash meeee.’”

There were too many great INXS songs to choose from. Picture: Paul Natkin/WireImage.

No list of great Aussie songs would be complete without the bold epic Evie, the three-part rock opera by Australia’s first international pop star Stevie Wright as he launched his solo career after The Easybeats disbanded.

“Move over, Queen with your mere six-minute Bohemian Rhapsody. A year earlier in 1974, Australian singer Stevie Wright reunited with former Easybeats bandmates, writers/producers Harry Vanda and George Young, to create this 11-minute epic – believed to be the longest song to reach No. 1 anywhere in the world,” said Advertiser arts editor Patrick McDonald.

Panellist Anna Vlach plucked another unheralded Aussie classic which deserves its place on any Top 100 – One Perfect Day, the only hit from short-lived early 80s band Little Heroes.

“For many gen X Aussies, it simply expresses what was a common experience in the early 1980s … missing someone who had moved overseas, back when you couldn’t just send a text or FaceTime,” Vlach said.

Where did our unofficial national anthem You’re The Voice land in the Flamin’ 100? Scroll down to find out. Picture: Supplied.

The Flamin’ 100

1. Beds Are Burning, Midnight Oil

2. Boys in Town, Divinyls

3. Don’t Change, INXS

4. Treaty, Yothu Yindi

5. Somebody That I Used To Know, Gotye ft. Kimbra

6. Great Southern Land, Icehouse

7. You’re The Voice, John Farnham

8. Under The Milky Way, The Church

9. Thunderstruck, AC/DC

10. Friday On My Mind, The Easybeats

You might be surprised by the Kylie Minogue song which made the list. Picture: James Smith/Sam Snap/GC Images.

11. They Took The Children Away, Archie Roach

12. Eagle Rock, Daddy Cool

13. These Days, Powderfinger

14. Riptide, Vance Joy

15. Flame Trees, Cold Chisel

16. Don’t Dream It’s Over, Crowded House

17. Leaps and Bounds, Paul Kelly

18. Working Class Man, Jimmy Barnes

19. Spinning Around, Kylie Minogue

20. Down Under, Men at Work

The Veronicas produced one of the Aussie anthems of their generation. Picture: Supplied

21. I Was Only 19, Redgum

22. Are You Gonna Be My Girl, Jet

23. Physical, Olivia Newton-John

24. The Less I Know The Better, Tame Impala

25. I Am Woman, Helen Reddy

26. Chandelier, Sia

27. Stayin’ Alive, Bee Gees

28. My Island Home, Christine Anu/Warumpi Band

29. Untouched, The Veronicas

30. Alone With You, Sunnyboys

31. Solid Rock, Goanna

32. Evie, Stevie Wright

33. Reminiscing, Little River Band

34. Streets Of Your Town, The Go-Betweens

35. Straight Lines, Silverchair

36. The Boys Light Up, Australian Crawl

37. The Honeymoon Is Over, The Cruel Sea

38. Prisoner of Society, The Living End

39. Better in Blak, Thelma Plum

40. Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, The Angels

No Aussie playlist would be complete without a Nick Cave classic. Picture: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci.

41. Into My Arms, Nice Cave and the Bad Seeds

42. Live It Up, Mental as Anything

43. Sounds of Then (This Is Australia), GANGgajang

44. Bittersweet, Hoodoo Gurus

45. Man Overboard, Do Re Mi

46. Throw Your Arms Around Me, Hunters and Collectors

47. Living In The 70s, Skyhooks

48. Truly Madly Deeply, Savage Garden

49. Scar, Missy Higgins

50. The Nosebleed Section, Hilltop Hoods

51. Torn, Natalie Imbruglia

52. From Little Things, Big Things Grow, Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly

53. Love Is In The Air, John Paul Young

54. Summer Love, Sherbet

55. Heaven (Must Be There), Eurogliders

56. Chains, Tina Arena

57. Sweet Disposition, The Temper Trap

58. Walking On A Dream, Empire of the Sun

59. I’m Stranded, The Saints

Kate Ceberano finally gets the adoration she deserves for the Aussie banger Pash. Picture: Matt Williams.

60. The Carnival Is Over, The Seekers

61. Pash, Kate Ceberano

62. Heavy Heart, You Am I

63. Stay, The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber

64. Never Be Like You, Flume ft. Kai

65. You, Marcia Hines

66. Big Jet Plane, Angus and Julia Stone

67. The Real Thing, Russell Morris

68. Bury Me Deep In Love, The Triffids

69. The Horses, Daryl Braithwaite

70. Youngblood, 5 Seconds of Summer

71. Dance Monkey, Tones and I

72. All Out Of Love, Air Supply

73. April Sun In Cuba, Dragon

74. Most People I Know (Think I’m Crazy), Billy Thorpe

75. A Pub With No Beer, Slim Dusty

76. Since I Left You, The Avalanches

77. Rush, Troye Sivan

78. DC, Died Pretty

79. Avant Gardener, Courtney Barnett

Kasey Chambers is indeed pretty enough and one of our favourite Aussie songwriters. Picture: Nigel Hallett

80. Say I Love You, Renee Geyer

81. Come Said The Boy, Mondo Rock

82. Better Than, John Butler Trio

83. Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight, Models

84. Girls On The Avenue, Richard Clapton

85. One Perfect Day, Little Heroes

86. Not Pretty Enough, Kasey Chambers

87. No Aphrodisiac, The Whitlams

88. What About Me, Moving Pictures

89. Battle Scars, Guy Sebastian ft. Lupe Fiasco

90. Innerbloom, Rufus du Sol

91. Catch My Disease, Ben Lee

92. Absolutely Everybody, Vanessa Amorosi

93. Wiyathul, Gurrumul

94. Even When I’m Sleeping, Leonardo’s Bride

95. Smoko, The Chats

96. Jessie’s Girl, Rick Springfield

97. Hold Onto Me, Black Sorrows

98. Sweetness and Light, Itch-E and Scratch-E

99. Adore, Amy Shark

100. The Worst Person Alive, G Flip

The Flamin’ 100 voting panel

Nick Bond – Entertainment Editor, news.com.au

Georgia Clelland – Entertainment Reporter, Courier Mail

Jasmine Kazlauskas – Journalist, news.com.au

Kathy McCabe – National Music Writer

Patrick McDonald – Arts Editor, Adelaide Advertiser

Clareese Packer – Reporter, Newswire

Anna Vlach – Deputy Head of Arts and Entertainment, Adelaide Advertiser

James Wigney – National Entertainment Writer

Originally published as Vote: The Flamin’ 100 counts down the favourite Aussie songs of all time.