Song · John Hiatt
“Perfectly Good Guitar” by John Hiatt
From the album Perfectly Good Guitar (1993)
“Perfectly Good Guitar” by John Hiatt appears on 12 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1999 and 2026. It was first released in 1993 on the album Perfectly Good Guitar. Its best result is #240 on the WYEP 913 Essential Songs. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,724 alternative song of all time.
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"Perfectly Good Guitar", the title song of John Hiatt's eleventh album, went out as its first single, and the idea came straight off the TV: Nirvana on screen, Krist Novoselic hurling his bass skyward so it would smash to bits on the floor, and the thing coming down on his head instead. Hiatt wrote the song by himself, turning that bit of rock-star slapstick into a tune of his own.
Matt Wallace produced the album, which A&M released on September 7, 1993, after a two-week dash through Conway Studios and Ocean Way in Hollywood, and a quick turnaround suits a song this scrappy. It turned out to be his last studio record for A&M, even though none of his albums had charted higher in the US, and Hiatt spent 13 months on the road behind it.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 456 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 456 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 457 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 457 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 457 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 457 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 460 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2009 | 240 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2019 | 294 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2019 | 294 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2024 | 752 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
| 2026 | 1120 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
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