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“The Lovecats” by The Cure

Released 1983

“The Lovecats” by The Cure appears on 60 radio countdowns from 22 stations between 1983 and 2025. It was first released in 1983. Its best result is #2 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1983. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #1 alternative song of 1983, #155 alternative song of all time and #18 of the '80s.

60countdowns
22stations
#2best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1983–2025years charted

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The Cure - The Lovecats

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

"The Lovecats" padded out as a stand-alone Cure single in October 1983, with no album to call home until the Japanese Whispers compilation scooped it up that December. Robert Smith wrote it on his own, and it catches the Cure at their most frisky: a tipsy, jazz-tinged pop tune that tiptoes and pounces like something let out for the night.

Smith sings, plays guitar and keyboards and yowls like a tomcat on a garden fence. Phil Thornalley's bass slinks along, Andy Anderson's drums skitter and swing, and Lol Tolhurst, of all things, plinks away on vibraphone. Smith and Thornalley produced it with Chris Parry and Steve Nye, and the four of them make it sound like a smoky after-hours club where nobody is quite sober and nobody minds.

It gave the Cure their first top 10 hit in Britain, reaching number 7, and made number 6 in Australia early in 1984.

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
1983 38 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1983 107
1983 2 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1983 91
1983 15 John Peel (BBC Radio 1) John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1983 50
1984 31 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1984 91

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 38 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s 200
1988 32 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) 496
1988 77 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1988 71 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988) 200
1989 18 91X 91X Top 191 Songs of the 1980s (1989) 191
1989 19 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989) 101
1989 371 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1989 20 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1990 59 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) 299
1990 67 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1990) 100
1991 27 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) 302
1991 24 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1991 74 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1991) 100
1992 76 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1992 81 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1994 69 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 206 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 230 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1995 93 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1995 17 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995) 300
1996 35 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 88 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 205 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1998 118 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1998 66 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1998) 100
1999 225 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 198 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 439 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 685 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 215 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 51 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 134 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 51 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 50 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 248 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 500
2002 50 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 521 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 50 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 163 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 51 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 75 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 500
2005 52 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 304 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2005 174 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 500
2005 34 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 100 Brit Songs of All-Time (May 2005) 100
2006 336 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 161 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) 500
2008 248 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2018 829 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs 892
2019 459 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2020 1524 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 426 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 437 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2023 157 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 508 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2025 649 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800

Also listed as: The Love Cats; Love Cats; Lovecats.

Charting alongside it in 1983

Best songs of 1983 →
  1. 1New Year's DayU2
  2. 2Let's DanceDavid Bowie
  3. 4Every Breath You TakeThe Police
  4. 5Rebel YellBilly Idol
  5. 6In a Big CountryBig Country
  6. 7Never StopEcho and the Bunnymen

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