INXS crowned with hottest Aussie song of all time in Triple J countdown

INXS’ Never Tear Us Apart has been voted the hottest Australian song ever by Triple J listeners, topping a special Hottest 100 that spanned five decades of homegrown hits - from Cold Chisel, The Veronicas and Kylie to Gang of Youths and Gotye.

Never Tear Us Apart by INXS has been voted the hottest Australian song ever by Triple J listeners, topping a special Hottest 100 that also includes songs from Cold Chisel, The Veronicas and Kylie.

INXS’ hit song Never Tear Us Apart has been voted as the hottest Australian song of all time by listeners of Triple J.

From The Screaming Jets 1991 banger Better at 100 through Gang Of Youths hit Magnolia at 42 and all the way to John Farnham at 15, it was a trip down a very parochial memory lane as hits from the last 54 years were counted down.

Following the time tested formula of the annual Triple J Hottest 100 countdown, the radio station celebrated its 50th birthday by finding the biggest song in Australia.

When huge hits like The Whitlams No Aphrodisiac and The Go-Betweens’ Streets Of Your Town were among the earliest songs played in the countdown it was clear it was going to be an interesting list.

As the day rolled on and the songs were typically older, it seemed the countdown was suffering from a recency bias, but with Ocean Alley’s Confidence (2018) came in at 65 and Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over (1986) came in at no.5 it was clear the countdown was pulling hits from across the ages.

And nearly every genre of music got a guernsey. Even massive pop songs, like Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head and The Veronica’s Untouched (which placed astonishingly well at third place) were recognised despite the genre not usually being particularly well-liked by Triple J listeners.

INXS. Picture: Ross Marino/Getty Images

Cold Chisel’s Ian Moss and Jimmy Barnes.

Vance Joy’s Riptide, which has been sitting around the top of the Australian charts for months thanks to its popularity on streaming platforms, might be perennially popular but it only managed a middling 48th position on the countdown.

Crowded House’s Neil Finn, Matt Sherrod, Mark Hart and Nick Seymour.

Sentimental favourites like Paul Kelly’s How To Make Gravy and Daryl Braithwaite’s Horses were acknowledged, while some of the country’s favourite bands like Silverchair, Gang of Youths, Powderfinger, The Church and Cold Chisel, who went back to back at no.7 and 8 with Flame Trees and Khe San respectively, made multiple entries.

Gotye and Kimbra the 55th Grammy Awards in Los Angelea in 2013. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

There were also corrections of Hottest 100s past. Temper Trap’s 2008 hit Sweet Disposition failed to make the Hottest 100 that year, but it placed a very respectable 11th place in the Hottest 100 Australian songs, and John Farnham made his first appearance with You’re The Voice.

Powderfinger’s These Days and My Happiness and Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know topped the Hottest 100 in the years they appeared but failed to hit the top spot in this countdown. That was despite My Happiness being a hot favourite to be named the hottest Australian song.

Originally published as INXS crowned with hottest Aussie song of all time in Triple J countdown