Artist · chart history
Guadalcanal Diary
Band Marietta United States Active 1982–1990
Guadalcanal Diary formed in 1982 in Marietta, United States and was active until 1990. Guadalcanal Diary has 35 chart appearances on 18 radio countdowns from 5 stations on RockLists, spanning 1989–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Litany (Life Goes On)”, which appears on 13 lists with a best position of #146. The station that charted Guadalcanal Diary most often is WOXY 97X (Cincinnati, OH), with 17 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1989.
Guadalcanal Diary came out of Marietta, Georgia, playing jangle pop with chiming guitars and a hint of mischief, a name that sounded like a war movie attached to a band that mostly wanted you to sing along. Murray Attaway, Jeff Walls, Rhett Crowe and John Poe made 4 albums for the majors, and "Watusi Rodeo", from the 1985 debut Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man, was their calling card.
Jamboree followed in 1986 with "Cattle Prod", and 2x4 in 1987 brought "Litany (Life Goes On)", the band at its most anthemic. Flip-Flop, in 1989, buffed up the hooks on "Always Saturday" and "Pretty Is As Pretty Does", and the band broke up not long after.
They didn't stay gone. Guadalcanal Diary regrouped in 1997 and put out a live album, though no new songs ever followed, went quiet again in 2000, and turned up once more in 2011 at Athfest to celebrate three decades since they started.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Guadalcanal Diary on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Litany (Life Goes On) | 13 | #146 | – | – | |
| 2 | Watusi Rodeo | 7 | #80 | – | – | |
| 3 | Always Saturday | 7 | #84 | – | 1989 | |
| 4 | Pretty Is As Pretty Does | 2 | #459 | – | – | |
| 5 | Cattle Prod | 4 | #258 | – | – | |
| 6 | Trail Of Tears | 1 | #321 | – | – | |
| 7 | Vista | 1 | #499 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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