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Cover of Telephone Free Landslide Victory by Camper Van Beethoven
Cover: Telephone Free Landslide Victory

Song · Camper Van Beethoven

“Take The Skinheads Bowling” by Camper Van Beethoven

From the album Telephone Free Landslide Victory (1985)

“Take The Skinheads Bowling” by Camper Van Beethoven appears on 45 radio countdowns from 15 stations between 1986 and 2026. It was first released in 1985 on the album Telephone Free Landslide Victory. Its best result is #21 on the WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #196 alternative song of 1986 and #368 alternative song of all time.

45countdowns
15stations
#21best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1986–2026years charted

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Take the Skinheads Bowling

Video from YouTube (Camper Van Beethoven - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Take the Skinheads Bowling" comes off Camper Van Beethoven's 1985 album Telephone Free Landslide Victory, and it's a David Lowery song through and through: the band's frontman wrote both the words and the music. The title alone is a deadpan dare, the kind of phrase that leaves you wondering whether you're in on the joke or the butt of it.

The music plays it with a straight face, a bright, jangly strum that sits closer to jangle pop than to anything the title might lead you to expect, with Lowery's unbothered delivery riding on top. That gap between the sweet little tune and the head-scratcher of a title is the whole charm, and rock countdowns kept finding room for it for more than three decades.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1986 47 John Peel (BBC Radio 1) John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1986 50

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 21 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1991 126 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1991 676 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1994 93 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1996 85 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1999 430 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 640 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 35 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 1294 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 675 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 28 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 1272 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 29 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 1241 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 1577 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2002 37 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 1240 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 357 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 64 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 1225 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 267 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 239 Q101 Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 1225 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 83 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 1217 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 770 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2005 75 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the 70s & 80s 96
2006 70 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 688 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 631 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 614 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 633 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 653 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 648 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 672 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2019 401 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2021 651 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 1014 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time 1055
2023 680 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 893 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2024 854 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2025 722 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800
2026 158 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 714 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound 1055

Also listed as: Take the Skinheads Bowling.

Charting alongside it in 1986

Best songs of 1986 →
  1. 1PanicThe Smiths
  2. 2AskThe Smiths
  3. 3Bigmouth Strikes AgainThe Smiths
  4. 4SledgehammerPeter Gabriel
  5. 5Wild Wild LifeTalking Heads
  6. 6Don't Get Me WrongThe Pretenders

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