Untold stories behind Australia's biggest rock anthems revealed in new book

It's got to be way more than something that's topped the charts for a few weeks. It's got to be a song that makes us rise to our feet at the pub and start singing with our arm draped over the shoulder of the mate standing next to us.

It's also got to have proved its worth for at least a few decades, music writer Glen Humphries says.

For his 14th book, he's delving into the biggest Aussie rock anthems - anyone remember Barnsey in his alcohol-fueled prime, or Daryl Braithwaite when he released that song about those horses? This is your book.

Aussie Rock Anthems - Top 40 is a photo-packed celebration of Australian rock and the untold stories behind each song.

You'd be wrong to think Humphries had just grabbed 40 No.1 hits and plonked them in the book; he's included quite a few songs that didn't make it to the top of the charts.

For example Don't Dream it's Over by Crowded House only reached number eight, AC/DC's It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) number nine, and it Cold Chisel 30 years after the release of Khe Sanh for it to finally make it into the top 40 ARIA singles chart.

INXS' single Don't Change peaked at number 18 although, as you'll discover in this book, the band famously played it at every single gig, except one.

Don't fear though, there's plenty of chart-toppers featured, with Men at Work's Down Under, John Farnham's You're the Voice and Missy Higgins' song from 2004, Scar, among them.

Before you jump up and down and say there's a lack of women! Where's the diversity? Aussie music was a bit different back then, Humphries explains.

"If you were fronting a band as a woman, it was generally thought to be, you're almost like a hood ornament. You're not really a musician," he said.

"Whereas the distinction would be Chrissy Amphlett from the Divinyls, she was part of the band, she wasn't a showpiece to have up the front."

With so many behind-the-scenes stories about the bands and how their anthems came to be, Humphries is expecting a fair bit of reminiscing, he's also expecting a bit of debate about who should or shouldn't have been in the list.

"I'm sure there's Olivia Newton-John fans who will be quite peeved that she's not in there," he said.

Like all lists though they're subjective, and Humphries is the first person to admit this.

If another version of this book was written in 20 years, Humphries said it'd look very different.

"I'd be mortified if it didn't have more First Nations people and more women in it," he said.

"They're not in there now because an anthem, it does have to stand the test of time to work out that it's an anthem."