Here’s What Triple J’s Hottest 100 Would Look Like If No One Over 30 Voted

Over a month since triple j counted down their Hottest 100 Of Australian Songs, the station has revealed just how their biggest group of voters shaped the conversation.

It was back on July 26th that triple j announced the results of their inaugural all-Aussie poll, which celebrated 50 years of the station by repurposing their biggest and most beloved instituion with an entirely local focus.

While INXS topped the poll, the results inspired interesting conversation, with the station having revealed ahead of time that their biggest voting group was the key demographic of the 18-29 year-olds.

While they didn’t say just how big that group was, it resulted in fears from longtime veteran listeners that the poll may in fact be biased towards newer material.

However, the end result was a fascinating one, with listeners ultimately eschewing any potential recency bias, with only 2% of the countdown featuring songs from the ‘20s,and 23% being from the ‘10s. The biggest representation was the ‘00s, with a total of 26%.

This meant, however, that just under half of the countdown consisted of songs chosen from a period of time that verged on being outside of their biggest-responding groups age range. Given that acts such as Cold Chisel, Crowded House, INXS, and Paul Kelly made up 5% of the top ten, it showed that recency was far from the mind of the voters.

This week, however, triple j hosted its The Next 50 panel at BIGSOUND, offering attendees a chance to see how the station aims to foster new talent over the next five decades.

As part of the chat, triple j and Double J head Lachlan Macara launched by peeling back the curtain to share an insight into just what the end result of the recent Hottest 100 would have looked like if only its biggest voting group controlled the narrative.

Interestingly, the total batch of tracks were relatively in-line with its final showing, with only a handful of cuts moving around near the top. Most interestingly, 18-29-year-olds deemed The Veronicas’ Untouched as the winning song, with INXS’ winning song being relegated to the No. 2 position.

The biggest mover belonged to Spacey Jane’s Booster Seat – one of the two songs from the ‘10s – which jumped from the No. 34 spot all the way down to No. 13. Another interesting track was The Temper Trap’s Sweet Dispoition (which famously missed out on a placing in the original Hottest 100 of 2008) moving from the No. 11 spot to the top end of the top five.

So what does this mean exactly? Well, it indicates that the final results, which were largely well-received by the wider Australian music public and seemed to represent a broad range of Australian music history, are largely representative of the younger and biggest voting demographic’s view of Australian music.

So it may therefore mean – at least currently – that any fears of the younger generations of triple j listeners solely focusing on recent music and ignoring Australia’s rich musical history may be unfounded.

Of course, it would remain to be seen if such a representative view would remain if the poll were to run again in another 50 years, but only time will tell.

View the top 20 of songs as voted by 18-29-year-olds below, along with the original positions of the countdown.

triple j’s Hottest 100 of Australian Songs

Top 20 – As voted by 18-29-year-olds, with original countdown placing.

20. Men At Work – Down Under (1981) (#21)
19. Paul Kelly – How To Make Gravy (1996) (#9)
18. Jet – Are You Gonna Be My Girl? (2003) (#23)
17. Flume – Never Be Like You (feat. Kai) (2016) (#26)
16. Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream (2008) (#24)
15. RÜFÜS DU SOL – Innerbloom (2015) (#16)
14. AC/DC – Thunderstruck (1990) (#13)
13. Spacey Jane – Booster Seat (2020) (#34)
12. Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) (2011) (#10)
11. Angus & Julia Stone – Big Jet Plane (2010) (#20)

10. Cold Chisel – Khe Sanh (1978) (#8)
9. Tame Impala – The Less I Know The Better (2015) (#19)
8. Hilltop Hoods – The Nosebleed Section (2003) (#2)
7. Powderfinger – My Happiness (2000) (#6)
6. The Angels – Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again (1976) (#12)
5. The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition (2008) (#11)
4. Crowded House – Don't Dream It's Over (1986) (#5)
3. Missy Higgins – Scar (2004) (#4)
2. INXS – Never Tear Us Apart (1987) (#1)
1. The Veronicas – Untouched (2007) (#3)