Song · The Tubes
“Talk To Ya Later” by The Tubes
From the album The Completion Backward Principle (1981)
“Talk To Ya Later” by The Tubes appears on 14 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1982 and 2024. It was first released in 1981 on the album The Completion Backward Principle. Its best result is #423 on the KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,285 alternative song of all time.
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"Talk to Ya Later" was the last song cut for The Tubes' 1981 album The Completion Backward Principle and its second single, and most of the band had little hand in writing it, though they all played on it. Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, sitting in as a guest, came up with the main riff, and Fee Waybill supplied the title and chorus. The title itself was engineer Humberto Gatica's stock brush-off whenever the band pestered him about the work.
Starting from the title and building backward fit the album's whole concept, borrowed from a motivational speaker's trick of picturing the finished product first. David Foster produced it, Gatica recorded and mixed, and the result is sleek, punchy radio rock. Its chart showing was modest, but it has stayed one of the band's most popular songs.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Classic Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 478 | 95.5 KLOS | KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) | 499 |
| 1994 | 885 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) | 1000 |
| 1995 | 844 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) | 1000 |
| 1996 | 736 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) | 1000 |
| 1998 | 786 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) | 1000 |
| 1999 | 745 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) | 998 |
| 2002 | 797 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1426 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2013 | 964 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) | 1000 |
| 2014 | 935 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2015 | 973 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) | 1007 |
| 2016 | 881 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 | 1007 |
| 2023 | 423 | KSHE 95 | KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) | 500 |
| 2024 | 458 | KSHE 95 | KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) | 500 |
Also listed as: Talk to Ya Later; Talk to Y a Later.
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