Artist · chart history
Rose Tattoo
Band Sydney Australia Formed 1976 Australian hard rock band
Rose Tattoo formed in 1976 in Sydney, Australia. Rose Tattoo has 3 chart appearances on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1990–2018. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Butcher and Fast Eddie”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #640. The station that charted Rose Tattoo most often is Z-Rock (United States (syndicated network)), with 2 appearances.
Rose Tattoo came out of Sydney in 1976 with Angry Anderson out front, and he stayed the one constant through every lineup until his death in 2026. The sound was hard rock soaked in the blues, played at street level and loud enough to rattle the fillings, with Peter Wells' slide guitar cutting through the din and Mick Cocks, Dallas Royall and Geordie Leach among those laying the concrete underneath.
Harry Vanda and George Young, the pair who also worked with AC/DC, produced their first four albums, starting with the self-titled 1978 debut and its "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw". "Bad Boy for Love" and "Nice Boys" kept the snarl up, and Scarred for Life, in 1982, brought its own title track and the fists-up anthem "We Can't Be Beaten".
They broke up in 1987, came back briefly in 1993 to open for Guns N' Roses on an Australian tour, and regrouped for good in 1998, adding two more studio albums since. On August 16, 2006, the Tatts went into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Rose Tattoo on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Butcher and Fast Eddie | 1 | #640 | – | – | |
| 2 | We Can't Be Beaten | 1 | #68 | – | – | |
| 3 | Rock n Roll Outlaw | 1 | #705 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 68 | We Can't Be Beaten | Triple M Ozzest 100 (2018) |
| 1990 | 640 | Butcher and Fast Eddie | Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) |
| 1990 | 705 | Rock n Roll Outlaw | Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) |
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