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“Tattooed Love Boys” by The Pretenders

From the album Pretenders (1980)

“Tattooed Love Boys” by The Pretenders appears on 20 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1980 and 2021. It was first released in 1980 on the album Pretenders. Its best result is #35 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1980. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #35 alternative song of 1980 and #1,483 alternative song of all time.

20countdowns

7stations

#35best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1980–2021years charted

Watch

Pretenders - Tattooed Love Boys (Official Music Video)

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

"Tattooed Love Boys" tears through the Pretenders' 1980 album Pretenders like it's late for a fight, and it's Chrissie Hynde's baby from top to bottom: she wrote the music and the words, and she snarls the whole thing with the cool of someone who has seen every kind of trouble and walked away bored.

Chris Thomas produced it, Bill Price engineered and mixed, and Steve Nye chipped in additional recording. They kept it lean and jumpy, all sudden lurches and bristling guitars, a rocker that refuses to settle into anything as polite as a groove.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1980	35	KROQ Los Angeles, CA	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1980	106

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	154	91X	91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)	500
1999	863	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	914	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	918	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2001	1217	WFPK	WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time	2000
2002	918	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	907	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2003	1477	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)	2044
2004	907	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	907	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	1602	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	1530	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	1544	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	1575	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	1641	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2012	407	WXPN	WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012)	885
2013	1566	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1608	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2021	849	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s	909

Also listed as: Tatooed Love Boys.

Charting alongside it in 1980

Best songs of 1980 →

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