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Cover of Starfish by The Church
Cover: Starfish

Song · The Church

“Reptile” by The Church

From the album Starfish (1988)

“Reptile” by The Church appears on 24 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1988 and 2023. It was first released in 1988 on the album Starfish. Its best result is #13 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1988. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #56 alternative song of 1988, #801 alternative song of all time and #239 of the '80s.

24countdowns
7stations
#13best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1988–2023years charted

Watch

The Church - Reptile (Official Video)

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

"Reptile" slithered out of the Church's 1988 album Starfish built around a big, prominent guitar riff, a coiled, shimmering figure that sounds like it's circling its prey. All four members, Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes, Richard Ploog and Marty Willson-Piper, share the writing credit, and Willson-Piper later called it a song where the parts came together like magic rather than one person's idea dressed up by the rest.

Kilbey wrote the words and sings them, and they come from a real night: he went home with a woman he'd met at Canter's Deli, went into her bathroom, heard something behind the shower curtain and found a reptile there. Greg Ladanyi and Waddy Wachtel produced it with the band. It was only a modest hit as a single, but it has become one of the Church's best-known songs.

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
1988 13 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1988 91
1988 54 WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1988 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 104 91X 91X Top 191 Songs of the 1980s (1989) 191
1989 107 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1990 92 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1990) 100
1991 124 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1999 372 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 710 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 711 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 712 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 712 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 346 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 712 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 280 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 712 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 712 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 1122 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1044 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1026 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1064 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1101 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1051 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1075 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2023 256 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850

Charting alongside it in 1988

Best songs of 1988 →
  1. 1SuedeheadMorrissey
  2. 2DesireU2
  3. 3Beds are BurningMidnight Oil
  4. 4Route 66Depeche Mode
  5. 5Peek-A-BooSiouxsie and the Banshees
  6. 6Chains of LoveErasure

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