The Triple J Hottest 100 countdown has become a ubiquitous part of the Australian musical and cultural landscape.
It’s Australia Day, the barbecue is fired up, someone burns the sausages, stubbies are warmed by the late January heat, the wading pool gets seedier from drunk sweat and feet, and people across the country linger in anticipation to hear the artists unveiled in the countdown.
The party for the launch of the latest Hottest 100 CD (Volume 22) was held in the foyer of the ABC building in Sydney last Friday (27 February). It was a nod to the kind of landscape that surrounds the Hottest 100 countdown, with a hills hoist festooned with fairy lights hanging Triple J shirts, Triple J eskies, a barbecue and garden gnome watching the proceedings.
Photo © Claire MaddocksIt was the launch of a free exhibition showcasing the history and culture of Triple J, featuring artwork, photos, audio, video, and memorabilia reflecting the evolution of the station and the Hottest 100 over the last four decades. KLP from Triple J’s House Party set the scene playing upbeat Aussie tracks and songs from the 2014 countdown.
Triple J presenters thanked all the artists and listeners of the countdown over the years, and for all the work that went into compiling the archives. The Hottest 100 poll has been going since 1989, the first year Triple J went national. The first Australian act to reach number one was Spiderbait in the 1996 poll. By 1999 Australian artists were taking the majority of places in the poll and since then, Aussie acts have made up the majority of each year's countdown, with the 2014 Hottest 100 featuring 59 percent of its tracks by Australian artists.
Image © Claire MaddocksThe party was a testament to the way Triple J has carved itself into Australian cultural landscape through its support for emerging artists and alternative genres. After four decades, the Hottest 100 is hailed as “still the world's biggest musical democracy”.
Here’s to the next forty years.
