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Cover of Mars Needs Guitars! by Hoodoo Gurus
Cover: Mars Needs Guitars!

Song · Hoodoo Gurus

“Bittersweet” by Hoodoo Gurus

From the album Mars Needs Guitars! (1985)

“Bittersweet” by Hoodoo Gurus appears on 16 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1985 and 2023. It was first released in 1985 on the album Mars Needs Guitars!. Its best result is #58 on the WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #157 alternative song of 1985 and #1,722 alternative song of all time.

16countdowns
7stations
#58best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1985–2023years charted

Watch

Hoodoo Gurus - Bittersweet

Video from YouTube (HoodooGurusVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Bittersweet" led the way for Mars Needs Guitars!, the second album from Australia's Hoodoo Gurus, when it came out as a single in June 1985, and it's the sound of a band famous for its jokes suddenly dropping the act. Dave Faulkner wrote it after promising himself fewer comic story songs and more of what he actually felt, and he sings it straight, with Clyde Bramley on bass and Mark Kingsmill on drums keeping it steady beneath the jangle. Charles Fisher produced.

Faulkner later admitted he was sure the band wouldn't want to play it and the fans wouldn't want to hear it, since it was nothing like the bright, cartoonish stuff they were known for. He was wrong on both counts: once they rehearsed it, it clicked, and it climbed to 16 in Australia.

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
1985 68 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1985 91

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 58 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989) 101
1989 350 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1991 371 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1999 1056 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1056 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1059 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 352 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2002 1058 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 884 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1043 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 67 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 1043 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1043 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2022 341 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time 1055
2023 592 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850

Charting alongside it in 1985

Best songs of 1985 →
  1. 1Alive and KickingSimple Minds
  2. 2The Perfect KissNew Order
  3. 3In Between DaysThe Cure
  4. 4Take On Mea-ha
  5. 5Road to NowhereTalking Heads
  6. 6Shake the DiseaseDepeche Mode

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