Artist · chart history

Cruel Sea

Band Australia Formed 1988 Australian indie rock band

Cruel Sea formed in 1988 in Australia. Cruel Sea has 12 chart appearances on 9 radio countdowns from 3 stations on RockLists, spanning 1993–2018. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “The Honeymoon Is Over”, which appears on 6 lists with a best position of #9. The station that charted Cruel Sea most often is Triple J (Australia (national)), with 7 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1993.

12appearances

9countdowns

7songs charted

3stations

0#1 finishes

1993–2018years

The Cruel Sea came out of Sydney as an instrumental band and only really caught fire once Tex Perkins, already known for the Beasts of Bourbon, stepped up to the microphone. With 1993's The Honeymoon Is Over, its title track slinking along like a con man leaving town, they had a sound nobody else in Australian rock could quite copy: swampy, twangy and dry as a bone.

The lineup stayed remarkably steady: Jim Elliott on drums, Ken Gormly on bass, Dan Rumour on guitar and James Cruickshank on guitar and keyboards, with Perkins growling over the top. Between 1990 and 2001 they made six studio albums, and three of them, This Is Not the Way Home, The Honeymoon Is Over and Three Legged Dog, went platinum in Australia. The ARIA Music Awards gave them eight trophies, five of them in 1994 for work tied to the Honeymoon record.

Their music leaked into everyday life, too. "Better Get a Lawyer", the sly shuffle from Three Legged Dog, ended up soundtracking a road safety ad against drink driving, and "Reckless Eyeballin'", an instrumental off their debut Down Below, became the theme for the police drama Blue Heelers. Where There's Smoke, in 2001, brought "Cocaine" and "A Simple Goodbye".

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

Songs by Cruel Sea on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	The Honeymoon Is Over	162	6	#9	–	1993
2	Better Get A Lawyer	87	1	#14	–	1994
3	Blacle Stic	80	1	#21	–	1993
4	Cocaine	62	1	#39	–	2001
5	It Won't Last	49	1	#52	–	1999
6	A Simple Goodbye	23	1	#78	–	2001
7	Delivery Man	6	1	#95	–	1993

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Year-end chart timeline

Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.

93 94 99 01

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2018	96	The Honeymoon Is Over	Triple M Ozzest 100 (2018)
2002	1669	The Honeymoon Is Over	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2001	39	Cocaine	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2001
2001	78	A Simple Goodbye	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2001
2001	1677	The Honeymoon Is Over	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2000	1677	The Honeymoon Is Over	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999	52	It Won't Last	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1999
1999	1677	The Honeymoon Is Over	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1994	14	Better Get A Lawyer	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1994
1993	9	The Honeymoon Is Over	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993
1993	21	Blacle Stic	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993
1993	95	Delivery Man	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993

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