The Alternative Number Ones: Hoodoo Gurus’ “Come Anytime”

In The Alternative Number Ones, I'm reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988. This column is a companion piece to The Number Ones, and it's for subscribers only. Thank you to everyone who's helping to keep Stereogum afloat.

Look: I'm confused, too. If you're under 40 and you're from anywhere other than Australia, there's a very good chance that the headline above looks like it's written in a foreign language. That band name can't possibly be real, right? There can't be a popular band that chose, of its own free will, to call itself Hoodoo Gurus. But there was. There still is, in fact. Hoodoo Gurus continue to exist.

They're Australian. I knew that much, I think. Maybe I thought they were Irish? But no. Australian. From Sydney. Somewhere, in the deepest recesses of my mind, I recalled the existence of this band. I did not, however, know that they had a #1 hit on the Billboard Modern Rock chart, or that they were ever considered any kind of college-radio darling. I'm 44, and the only thing that the name "Hoodoo Gurus" gave me was a vague, distant ringing bell.