Artist · chart history
Spiderbait
Band Australia Formed 1990
Spiderbait formed in 1990 in Australia. Spiderbait has 16 chart appearances on 11 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1995–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Black Betty”, which appears on 3 lists with a best position of #5. In total the artist has topped 1 countdown. The station that charted Spiderbait most often is Triple J (Australia (national)), with 15 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2004.
Spiderbait came out of Finley, New South Wales, with Janet English on bass and vocals, Kram pounding the drums and singing too, and Whitt (Damian Whitty) on guitar. Au Go Go Records is among the labels that have put out their music, and the trio made a glorious racket: hardcore-punk speed and noise one minute, sugar-coated alt-rock melody the next, all of it served with a wicked sense of humor.
The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake, in 1995, gave them "Monty", and Ivy and the Big Apples, in 1996, went off like a firecracker with the full-tilt hardcore blast of "Buy Me a Pony" and the dreamy "Calypso". That album won the ARIA Award for Best Alternative Release in 1997, and in 2000 their single "Glockenpop" won another ARIA for its cover art. Grand Slam in 1999 brought "Shazam!", "Stevie" and "Plastic", and The Flight of Wally Funk in 2001 delivered "Outta My Head" and the cheeky "Arse Huggin' Pants".
Then, in 2004, they tore through the 1939 Lead Belly song "Black Betty" on Tonight Alright, and their version went to number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. In all they have five top 20 albums and seven albums, every one of them gold or better, and they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2026.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Spiderbait on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Betty | 3 | #5 | – | 2004 | |
| 2 | Buy Me A Pony | 3 | #1 | 1 | 1996 | |
| 3 | Calypso | 2 | #23 | – | 1997 | |
| 4 | F***kin Awesome | 1 | #20 | – | 2004 | |
| 5 | Shazam! | 1 | #40 | – | 1999 | |
| 6 | Monty | 1 | #43 | – | 1995 | |
| 7 | Outta My Head | 1 | #71 | – | 2001 | |
| 8 | Stevie | 1 | #84 | – | 1999 | |
| 9 | Four on the Floor | 1 | #88 | – | 2001 | |
| 10 | Arse Huggin' Pants | 1 | #94 | – | 2002 | |
| 11 | Plastic | 1 | #96 | – | 1999 |
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.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 90 | Black Betty | Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs (2025) |
| 2025 | 95 | Calypso | Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs (2025) |
| 2013 | 62 | Buy Me A Pony | Triple J Hottest 100 of the Past 20 Years (2013) |
| 2004 | 43 | Black Betty | WCCC Top 106 Songs of 2004 |
| 2004 | 5 | Black Betty | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2004 |
| 2004 | 20 | F***kin Awesome | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2004 |
| 2002 | 94 | Arse Huggin' Pants | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2002 |
| 2001 | 71 | Outta My Head | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2001 |
| 2001 | 88 | Four on the Floor | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2001 |
| 1999 | 40 | Shazam! | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1999 |
| 1999 | 84 | Stevie | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1999 |
| 1999 | 96 | Plastic | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1999 |
| 1998 | 86 | Buy Me A Pony | Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1998) |
| 1997 | 23 | Calypso | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1997 |
| 1996 | 1 | Buy Me A Pony | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1996 |
| 1995 | 43 | Monty | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1995 |
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