Shannon NollWith the calendar recently shifting over to 2026, we're now in the latter half of the '20s and closer to 2050 than we are to 2000. A sobering thought, it's provided music lovers with plenty of time to cast their minds back to yesteryear to reflect on the songs that soundtracked their lives many years ago.
This year, countless tracks find themselves turning 20, with 2006 being the year of their original release, or when they were thrust into national prominence.
Though only 20 years ago, 2006 at times feels like it's a distant memory in the minds of many, especially when we peruse the charts.
Sandi Thom dominated the airwaves with I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair), which spent ten weeks in the top spot, and Shakira's Hips Don't Lie was an undeniable anthem.
Justin Timberlake's SexyBack, Scissor Sisters' I Don't Feel Like Dancin', and Pink's Who Knew were all resonant anthems, and Clare Bowditch and Bernard Fanning took out Best Female and Best Male Artist at the 2006 ARIA Awards, respectively.
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With these musical highlights in mind, let's cast our minds back to 2006 and look at a batch of the popular Aussie cuts from this time period which find themselves turning 20 in 2026.
TV Rock – Flaunt It
20 years after their domination of the Aussie charts, TV Rock have become something of a forgotten aspect of local music, but back in 2006, it was hard to escape the duo – that is, Grant Smillie and Ivan Gough.
Released in February as their debut single, the Seany B-featuring track wasted no time in climbing to the top, debuting the top 30, and hitting No. 1 two weeks later. Ultimately, it stayed at the peak for five weeks, and went on to win both Best Dance Release and Highest Selling Single at the 2006 ARIA Awards.
TV Rock released their Sunshine City album in 2006, and while they scored another minor hit with the Dukes Of Windsor collab The Others and topped the Aussie Club Charts on numerous occasions, the mainstream success never quite repeated.
Augie March – One Crowded Hour
By 2006, Augie March had established themselves as a favourite on the likes of triple j, but they'd largely escaped mainstream attention. By 2006, third album Moo, You Bloody Choir changed that, with lead single One Crowded Hour becoming an unexpected favourite.
Immersive, unconventional, and verbose, it didn't have the makings of a traditional chart hit, and while the album reached No. 10 on the charts, and the single reached No. 29, it certainly made waves elsewhere.
One Crowded Hour went on to top triple j's Hottest 100, it was voted Song Of The Year at the APRA Awards, and even scored a nomination for Single Of The Year at the ARIAs – one of six nominations the group received that year.
Eskimo Joe – Black Fingernails Red Wine
When Augie March topped the Hottest 100 in 2006, one song had to come second, and that honour belonged to none other than Eskimo Joe. Arguably their commercial breakthrough, the WA outfit had been on an upward trend in recent years, but when third album Black Fingernails, Red Wine was issued, it topped the charts and its single became their best-performing song to date.
Its impact was swift and notable. The indie trio had shifted over onto mainstream radio, becoming household names in the process and proving that Aussie music was still as strong as ever.
An undeniable classic of the era, the tune took out Single Of The Year at the ARIAs, and was viewed as a clear favourite to top the Hottest 100 that year. Some have suggested that an alphabetical voting list saw Eskimo Joe robbed from the top spot in favour of Augie March, but history shows that 2006 was a strong year for local acts at every turn.
Hilltop Hoods – The Hard Road
Adelaide hip hop veterans the Hilltop Hoods weren't originators of the local sound, but they were certainly the ones who brought the genre to the mainstream. Having broken through with 2003's The Calling, fourth album The Hard Road arrived in 2006 and was a revolution.
Becoming the first Aussie hip hop album to top the charts (and launching a trend of number ones they're yet to relent from), its title track was a standout moment in local music. Showcasing the group's dexterity in terms of sampling and production, and pairing it with their hard-hitting, genuine lyricism and dazzling rhyme schemes, it was a worthy hit on the airwaves.
While the record nabbed them their first ARIA Awards, the album's chart success belonged to first single, Clown Prince. However, when was the last time someone asked you to pop that on the playlist instead of the enduring anthem that is The Hard Road?
Young Divas – This Time I Know It's For Real
When the Young Divas first came together, the plan was reportedly not for a record to follow. Comprising former Australian Idol contestants Ricki-Lee Coulter, Paulini, Emily Williams, and Kate DeAraugo, the quartet came together for a national tour with all the singers as solo acts.
However, after covering Donna Summer's This Time I Know It's For Real, their efforts went to No. 2 on the charts and it was clear they were here to stay for a while. A self-titled album followed, which also hit the higher reaches of the charts, and in 2007, Coulter was out with Jessica Mauboy taking her place.
Their New Attitude album arrived in late 2007, but neither it nor the singles hit the same heights as its predecessors, with the Young Divas officially splitting the following year.
Gotye – Hearts A Mess
One of 2006's biggest success stories was arguably Gotye, the musical moniker of Belgian-born Wally De Backer, though to many listeners of community and independent radio, his name was already a familiar one. In May of that year, he unleashed his second album, Like Drawing Blood, with the kaleidoscopic, patchwork nature of the record undeniably setting him apart from his contemporaries of the time.
While the album scored nominations at the ARIA Awards and the Australian Music Prize, and even impacted the local charts, a lot of the attention was focused on the stunning Hearts A Mess. Brooding, mysterious, and occasionally eerie, the impassioned song saw Gotye wearing his titular heart on his sleeve as he crafted a song which more than put his name on the map.
To many, this song was his breakthrough, and to date, it's often listed as one of the greatest local songs of all time. Of course, one can only wonder where this song would sit both at home and abroad if Gotye hadn't scored international household name status with Somebody That I Used To Know just five years later.
Angus & Julia Stone – Paper Aeroplane
Siblings Angus and Julia Stone were barely into their 20s when they first made their impact on the Aussie music scene. Hailing from Sydney's Northern Beaches, and with years spent playing music both solo and together, the pair's combined talents came together as an eponymous duo in 2006, with their debut EP – Chocolate And Cigarettes – following just months later.
While cuts like Private Lawns and Mango Tree resonate with fans to this day, the standout moment was Paper Aeroplane, an off-kilter indie folk cut that pairs both simple beats and muted guitar lines with the familial pair's breezy approach to music making.
An auspicious start to the burgeoning duo, the track ended up hitting triple j's Hottest 100 (with the Stones topping the poll just a few years later), and launched a career that has since spawned numerous ARIA Awards and chart-topping albums. But 20 years ago, it all kicked off with Paper Aeroplane.
The John Butler Trio – Funky Tonight
20 years hence, it's a little hard to state how groundbreaking the John Butler Trio were at the time. While Butler himself had launched things as a Butler in Fremantle, 2004 saw their second album – Sunrise Over Sea – become the first fully independent album to top the charts.
Understandably, there was a lot of anticipation for the third album, and in late 2006, the Trio delivered, sharing Funky Tonight as what would be the first taster of their second of three consecutive chart-toppers, Grand National.
Fronted by an enticingly funky rhythm, a killer chorus, and a music video that was inescapable at the time, the track even nabbed a Single Of The Year nomination at the ARIA Awards. That same ceremony saw Butler team up with Keith Urban for a live rendition of the track. That rendition became their highest-charting single in Australia, with its No. 11 position being four spots higher than where the original peaked.
Wolfmother – Joker & The Thief
We'll admit that we're pushing the boundaries a little bit for these last few entries, but given that music doesn't always catch on right away, that's just how the business goes. However, in late 2005, Wolfmother were undoubtedly becoming the talk of the town thanks to their self-titled debut album.
Peaking at No. 3 on the local charts and helping the band win Best Rock Album, Breakthrough Artist – Album, and Best Group at the 2006 ARIA Awards, it's hard to overstate just how big Wolfmother were. The record's sixth and final single, however, was Joker & The Thief – released almost a year to the day after the album dropped, in late October 2006.
It went on to become their biggest hit, cracking the local top ten, and gaining placement on plenty of international TV series and films in the ensuing years. For an extra dose of '00s-era nostalgia, check out the music video, which boasts the cast of Jackass Number Two.
The Veronicas – When It All Falls Apart
When Jess and Lisa Origliasso burst onto the scene as The Veronicas in 2005, it was clear that big things were on the way. Debut single 4ever sent them to the silver position in the Aussie charts, and saw the pair impact the rest of the world as well. The resulting record, The Secret Life Of..., would arrive in October of that year, spawning a total of five singles.
The third of these singles, When It All Falls Apart, arrived in early March of 2006 and further cemented The Veronicas as one of the country's finest purveyors of pop rock out there. The track echoed the success of its predecessor, Everything I'm Not, when it also hit No. 7 in Australia, with the full record taking out Best Pop Release at the ARIA Awards that year.
Though When It All Falls Apart might have been overshadowed by the likes of Australia's unofficial national anthem, Untouched, arriving the following year, it's hard not to bump the track without feeling as though you're 16 years old once more.
Lee Harding – Wasabi
When Lee Harding was thrust into the spotlight with Australian Idol's third season, he was just 22 years old, and with a notable punk look, he was quick to draw the spotlight.
Despite plenty of stellar performances (including one of Good Charlotte's The Anthem which still stands up), he was eliminated from the show and ended up in the third position. Not content with letting his dream die, Harding signed with Sony BMG and released his debut album, What's Wrong With This Picture? in 2006. The lead single, Wasabi (backed with a cover of Eye Of The Tiger), arrived in December 2005 and swiftly hit No. 1 on the charts.
Critical response was mixed, though it remains a fun product of its era. Depending on your point of view, it's either a classic piece of local pop punk, a forgettable footnote in Aussie music, or one of the worst songs of all time. Still, hitting No. 1 is no mean feat, though follow-up singles failed to match this peak.
Youth Group – Forever Young
Having kicked things off in the mid '90s, Sydney's Youth Group were a well kept secret for some time, though managed to elude commercial success until 2006. Having teamed up with US punk label Epitaph Records, and crossing paths with Death Cab For Cutie, they caught the attention of the producers of The O.C., who requested a song for the show.
That song was a cover of Alphaville's nostalgic Forever Young, and it well and truly put the band on the map after its late 2005 release. They hit No. 1 in Australia, impacted charts around the world, and became the soundtrack to countless teenage breakups.
Even the song's music video – which featured footage from Australia's first skateboarding competition, held in Sydney in 1975 – played into the mournful lamentation of lost youth. To further underline the passage of time, if the song was released today, they'd be using footage from 1995 – just one year prior to Youth Group forming.
Shannon Noll – Lift
Fresh off the back of a banner year in 2004 thanks to his runner-up role in the debut season of Australian Idol, Shannon Noll was feeling pretty good as 2005 came around. So good, in fact, that he closed out the year with the release of his second album, Lift.
His second consecutive chart-topper, the record's success saw Noll grab the first ARIA nomination for any Australian Idol contestant when it got placed in the running for Best Pop Release.
Promoted by lead single Shine, its title track was the follow-up, and hit the charts as the 2005 calendar year came to a close, sitting just outside of the top ten as the Christmas period came upon us. Backed with a video showcasing Noll as a boxer, it was a motivational piece of music that kicked off 2006 with the sort of energy and tenacity that Noll was known for.
Stephanie McIntosh – Mistake
Having been acting since she was 13, Stephanie McIntosh felt destined for success when she joined the Neighbours cast in 2003. After all, with former series mainstay (and fellow musician) Jason Donovan as her half brother, a musical career seemed all but a certainty.
Indeed, in 2004 she launched a foray into music, but it wasn't until 2006 came around that we received her debut single, Mistake. A punchy piece of pop rock, Mistake felt a little bit paint-by-numbers at times, though it featured a little more attitude than previous Neighbours star-turned-musical superstar, Delta Goodrem.
The single went to No. 3 on the charts, and even hit the UK top 50. McIntosh's Tightrope album followed soon after, and while its title track and So Do I Say Sorry First? both charted respectably, her fourth single failed to make an impact, and we've not seen a follow-up record since.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
