Was Heartbreak High The Quintessential 90s Aussie Teenage Soundtrack?

If you were an Aussie 90s teenager (or UK for that matter), it was a rite of passage to catch up on the latest episode of Heartbreak High. What teenager (of either sex) didn't love bad boy Drazic or heartthrob Alex Dimitriades? Or idolise Ada Nicodemu as Katerina (SO much cooler than Home and Away's Leah). It taught us about sex, drugs and rock n roll and dramatised high school romance without trivialising it. It also showed a multicultural Australia, in a way that no other Aussie dramas were doing at the time. The series ran for seven series, first on Network Ten before shifting to the ABC. 

The internet lost its cool last year when Netflix announced the show would be rebooted.

We're excited to see the trailer use Sydney artists CLYPSO's track 'Defend Your Situation' and we're hoping it's a sign that producers are taking the same approach to using Aussie music to the original. The soundtrack to the original Heartbreak High became a music discovery engine all of its own, so we decided to take a trip down memory lane and revisit the songs on the iconic Heartbreak High soundtrack, released in 1994 at the height of the show's powers. 

TRACK ONE: Don't Be Shy - Kulcha

Any teenager in 1994 knew and loved Sydney boy band Kulcha and this soundtrack opener shows why. Yes it might be slightly dated. But if Kulcha were performing centre stage at Westfield, you could bet most of your year 9 class would be there. 

TRACK TWO: MOTIV8 - Rockin For Myself

One of the few tunes on the soundtrack to be sourced from overseas, if you're going to go abroad it might be for this 90s techno banger. In a dancefloor anthem that smashed out of the speakers at every Blue Light Disco, this is one of the defining pop tunes of 1994. 

TRACK THREE: Satisfy The Groove - Culture Shock

In 1994 Sydney's dance scene was spilling over into the mainstream and dance bands were all the rage across the globe. Australia's answer to 2-Unlimited, Twenty 4 Seven and Culture Beat, Paul Brandoli led this project which pumped out two "shoulda been bigger" top 40 hits. If this one tickles your fancy it's worth googling their second single "My Enemy" too. Brandoli reinvented the band a few years later as 'Eclipse' and had another hit with a cover of 'The Look Of Love'.

TRACK FOUR: Four Letter Word - Chocolate Starfish

Everyone pretends like teenagers loving songs from across genres is a new phenomenon. Well the Heartbreak High soundtrack suggests it's always been thus, with pub rock band Chocolate Starfish contributing this killer slice of Aussie rock. It just missed the top 40 but not going to lie.... a song called Four Letter Word was always going to go down well at high school. Even if it never drops one. 

TRACK FIVE: Alone Like Me - The Sharp

Making skivvies popular before The Wiggles, Melbourne three-piece The Sharp were heroes of the live scene in their hometown breaking out around the country with simple pop tunes like 'Scratch My Back' and 'Train Of Thought' (woo woo). Alone Like Me was the lead single from their second album Sonic Tripod. Banger. 

TRACK SIX: Greedy People - The Electric Hippies

After Noiseworks called it a day in 1991, members Steve Balbi and Justin Stanley went it alone forming The Electric Hippies. Their one hit, this is a pretty perfect slice of pop, peaking in the ARIA top 30. 

TRACK SEVEN: Steppin' On - Sexing The Cherry

Brisbane isn't long remembered for its contribution to the 90s dance scene, but Sexing The Cherry tried to turn that around with this dancefloor banger that peaked just outside the top 40. Bit of saxophone. Big soaring chorus. What wasn't to like? Check out the high note at 3:10.

TRACK EIGHT: Testify - Renegade Funktrain

Early oz hip hop pioneers Sound Unlimited Posse had a bunch of hits including 'Kickin To The Undersound' in the early 90s before undergoing a rebrand to emerge as Renegade Funktrain in 1994. What better place to get in front of a new audience than on the Heartbreak High soundtrack? A full album emerged in 1996 with two more minor hits 'I Wonder' and the eponymous 'Renegade Funktrain'. Possibly a little ahead of its time, the train never quite left the chart station, but are remembered as pioneers of the Australian hip hop sound. 

TRACK NINE: Easy - Hunters and Collectors

Back to the pub for a bit of Hunners! This lead single from their Demon Flower album came off the back of their previous record which was their most commercially successful. The new record never hit the same heights with this track only just popping into the top 40 and becoming the last charting single for the band. 

TRACK TEN: Outside These Walls - Abi Tucker 

So this one is from actor Abi Tucker who played Jodie Cooper in the series. This track was incorporated into the show itself with Jodie releasing the song. It worked for Neighbours but didn't quite work for Heartbreak High. Let's face it, the song is pretty average which contributed to its failure to launch. 

TRACK ELEVEN: More Wine Waiter Please - The Poor

We said teenagers in the 90s liked their music diverse and here's a bit of hard rock for you. The Poor were (and still are actually) mainstays of the pub scene. The band formed as The Poor Boys in Darwin before relocating to Sydney. They came to prominence supporting The Angels and might have been slightly too late to ride the pub rock wave of the late 80s, but this song was a top ten hit for them regardless. 

TRACK TWELVE: Helping Hand - The Screaming Jets

Pretty sure The Jets and The Poor would have toured with each other at some point, sharing a pretty similar audience, but this big hit for the Screaming Jets saw them dialing down the anger and creaing a pretty great song, complete with muted trumpet. From the band's Tear of Thought album, the record broadened the Jets out to a much wider audience that is probably the reason they are successfully filling venues to this day. 

TRACK THIRTEEN: Don't Tell Me What To Do - Baby Animals

From their 'difficult' second album Shaved and Dangerous, Baby Animals were back with this pretty great rock song. And what teenager doesn't love a song called 'Don't Tell Me What To Do'. 

TRACK FOURTEEN: Forever and Ever - Connie Mitchell

No video existing for this one! Connie Mitchell was embarking on a solo career, but presumably based on the poor performance of this single, the career was shelved and instead she went on to form the industrial dance/rock band Primary who have some killer singles including 'This Is The Sound' and "Vicious Precious'. They never hit the heights they deserved to either, but then in the early 2000s she joined with Angus McDonald to form Sneaky Sound System and finally hit the heights she deserved with hits like 'I Like It', 'UFO' and 'Pictures'. You didn't know it all started with Heartbreak High, did you?

TRACK FIFTEEN: In The Neighbourhood - Sisters Underground

It wasn't all Aussies.... Sisters Underground were a kiwi hip hop act who blew up on Triple J and performed at the 1995 Big Day Out. This was a top ten hit in their home country but didn't crack the top 50 here. 

TRACK SIXTEEN: Hip Hop Holiday - Three The Hard Way

Grouping the Kiwis together on the soundtrack, we move on to Three The Hard Way. Maybe you recognise it from 10CC's Dreadlock Holiday and 'I don't like cricket'. Either way, it's a bit of a banger and was a huge #1 smash in their home country. It was a top 40 hit here in Australia as well but seems to have been largely forgotten on this side of the Tasman. Thanks for the reminder Heartbreak High. 

TRACK SEVENTEEN: Lonely - Frente

Post 'Accidentally Kelly Street', Melbourne's Frente continued producing killer quirky pop and Lonely was one of their best. Overshadowed somewhat by the other track on the double A side, their cover of 'Bizarre Love Triangle' this one is a really great tune that sounds possibly even better today than it did in 1994. 

TRACK EIGHTEEN: Breathe In - Abi Tucker

Another track from the show as "Jodie" embarked on her musical career. This one doesn't exist on YouTube. Having heard the 'single' though, it might be merciful. 

TRACK NINETEEN: Less Than A Feeling - Hoodoo Gurus

Ending with a bang (er), the Gurus deliver with this single from their 'Crank' album. Rounding out a diverse and amazing slice of what was going on in Australian music in 1994, the Heartbreak High soundtrack was truly a slice of Australian teenage suburbia, showing what was going on in a culture that had an incredibly strong Australian music culture co-existing with the American and UK bangers of the time. 

Let's hope Netflix carries on the tradition and uses an equally diverse and exciting mix of Aussie artists to both reflect and build on the potential of Australian music in youth culture. But regardless, let's close our eyes and pretend we're back in 1994.