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Cover of What a Life! by The Divinyls
Cover: What a Life!

Song · The Divinyls

“Pleasure And Pain” by The Divinyls

From the album What a Life! (1985)

“Pleasure And Pain” by The Divinyls appears on 22 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1985 and 2018. It was first released in 1985 on the album What a Life!. Its best result is #43 on the Triple M Ozzest 100 (2018). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #147 alternative song of 1985 and #1,183 alternative song of all time.

22countdowns
7stations
#43best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1985–2018years charted

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Pleasure And Pain

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"Pleasure and Pain" came off the Divinyls' second album, What a Life!, in 1985, and the band didn't write it: Mike Chapman and Holly Knight did, and Chapman produced it. You'd never know. Chrissy Amphlett grabs the tune by the collar and sings it like a dare, all ache and bruise, while the band drives the chorus into a hard, glossy strut. The title lays out the terms, and she makes both halves sound like something worth having.

It became one of the band's biggest songs, a top-10 hit in New Zealand, and it has held on at home: in 2018 Triple M's Ozzest 100, a rundown of the most Australian songs ever, put it at number 43.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1985 62 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1985 91
1986 76 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986 107

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1988 153 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1989 302 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1999 414 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 806 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 857 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 859 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 859 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 1983 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 857 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 1338 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 857 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 858 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 1417 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1381 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1402 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1433 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1496 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1559 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1617 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2018 43 Triple M Triple M Ozzest 100 (2018) 100

Also listed as: Pleasure and Pain; Pleasure & Pain.

Charting alongside it in 1985

Best songs of 1985 →
  1. 1Alive and KickingSimple Minds
  2. 2The Perfect KissNew Order
  3. 3In Between DaysThe Cure
  4. 4Take On Mea-ha
  5. 5Road to NowhereTalking Heads
  6. 6Shake the DiseaseDepeche Mode

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