RockLists.com
Cover of Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? by The Waitresses
Cover: Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?

Song · The Waitresses

“I Know What Boys Like” by The Waitresses

From the album Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? (1982)

“I Know What Boys Like” by The Waitresses appears on 31 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1981 and 2024. It was first released in 1982 on the album Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?. Its best result is #27 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #27 alternative song of 1981 and #969 alternative song of all time.

31countdowns
8stations
#27best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1981–2024years charted

Watch

I Know What Boys Like

Video from YouTube (The Waitresses - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"I Know What Boys Like" was around long before the Waitresses were: guitarist Chris Butler wrote it in 1978, while he was still playing in Tin Huey. He recorded it himself and put it out as a single in 1980, and it caught on in the clubs without ever troubling the charts. Then Butler put the Waitresses together with Patty Donahue singing lead, and the song got a second life on their 1982 debut, Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?, on Polydor.

It's new wave with a smirk, a skinny, nagging groove with Donahue's deadpan, teasing delivery doing most of the work. Butler and Kurt Munkacsi produced.

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
1981 27 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981 106

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1988 128 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1989 404 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1992 245 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1992 280 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1994 127 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 463 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1995 122 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 292 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 388 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1998 402 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 418 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 1082 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1084 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1085 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1084 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 1276 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1069 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 155 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 1069 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1070 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2006 496 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2007 1787 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1755 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1782 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1826 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1904 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1973 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2021 650 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2023 731 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2024 311 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049

Also listed as: I Know What Boys Like (tie).

Charting alongside it in 1981

Best songs of 1981 →
  1. 1Start Me UpThe Rolling Stones
  2. 2Tom SawyerRush
  3. 3I Love Rock-N-RollJoan Jett
  4. 4Every Little Thing She Does Is MagicThe Police
  5. 5Jukebox HeroForeigner
  6. 6For Those About to RockAC/DC

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "I Know What Boys Like" by The Waitresses.

Be kind and stay on topic. Guidelines

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.