Artist · chart history
The Waitresses
Band Akron United States Active 1978–1984
The Waitresses formed in 1978 in Akron, United States and was active until 1984. The Waitresses has 36 chart appearances on 34 radio countdowns from 10 stations on RockLists, spanning 1981–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “I Know What Boys Like”, which appears on 31 lists with a best position of #27. The station that charted The Waitresses most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 13 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1981.
The Waitresses came out of Akron with a sly grin and a sharp sense of humor, a new wave band led by guitarist and songwriter Chris Butler with Patty Donahue out front, delivering his words in a deadpan that could curdle milk. Billy Ficca and Mars Williams were in the lineup too, and the whole outfit played its jittery post-punk with the loose-limbed swing of a bar band that had read a few books.
"I Know What Boys Like" is the one that did the damage, a teasing, eye-rolling taunt of a single that turned up on their 1982 album Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? alongside "Quit". A year earlier the EP I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts had carried "Christmas Wrapping", their other lasting calling card. There was a second album, Bruiseology, too, but by 1984 the party was over.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Waitresses on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Know What Boys Like | 31 | #27 | – | 1981 | |
| 2 | Quit | 3 | #61 | – | 1982 | |
| 3 | I Know What The Boys Like | 1 | #599 | – | – | |
| 4 | Christmas Wrapping | 1 | #1814 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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