Artist · chart history
999
Band London United Kingdom Formed 1976 English punk rock band
999 formed in 1976 in London, United Kingdom. 999 has 11 chart appearances on 8 radio countdowns from 3 stations on RockLists, spanning 1988–2003. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Homicide”, which appears on 8 lists with a best position of #76. The station that charted 999 most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 5 appearances.
999 were one of the sharper blades of London's first punk wave: Nick Cash on vocals and guitar, Guy Days on lead guitar, Jon Watson on bass and Pablo LaBritain on drums. Signed to United Artists, they played punk with a pop sense of structure, all clipped riffs, barked hooks and a rhythm section that knew how to swing a little.
The self-titled debut, with "Emergency", arrived in 1978, and "Homicide" became their Top 40 hit in Britain, with five more singles creeping into the UK Top 75 over the next few years. The Biggest Prize in Sport, with "Hollywood", took them to America, where heavy touring earned it and its follow-up Concrete places on the Billboard 200. When LaBritain was hurt in a car accident in 1980, Paul Edwards, known as Ed Case, sat in until he recovered.
What sets them apart is staying power. Watson eventually left, Danny Palmer took over the bass, and Arturo Bassick followed in 1991, but those were the only permanent changes, and the band kept recording and playing live, piling up a dozen studio albums and earning a name as one of the longest-running outfits of the punk years.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by 999 on radio countdowns
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 630 | Hollywood | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) |
| 2003 | 1255 | Emergency | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) |
| 2003 | 1918 | Homicide | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) |
| 2002 | 777 | Homicide | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) |
| 2002 | 1052 | Emergency | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) |
| 1998 | 278 | Homicide | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) |
| 1995 | 430 | Homicide | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) |
| 1994 | 360 | Homicide | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) |
| 1992 | 197 | Homicide | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) |
| 1991 | 473 | Homicide | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) |
| 1988 | 76 | Homicide | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) |
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