Artist · chart history
Aswad
Band London United Kingdom Formed 1975 British reggae group
Aswad formed in 1975 in London, United Kingdom. Aswad has 4 chart appearances on 4 radio countdowns from 3 stations on RockLists, spanning 1988–1989. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Don't Turn Around”, which appears on 4 lists with a best position of #68. The station that charted Aswad most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 2 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1988.
Aswad have been working out of London since 1975, a reggae band that never saw the point of walling the music off from R&B and soul. The name is Arabic for "black", and the sound is warm and rolling, a heavy bottom end with sweet soul melody floating over the top. The lineup has been built around Brinsley Forde, Angus Gaye and Tony Gad, and the band records for Island Records.
Distant Thunder, in 1988, is where it all came together for them commercially. "Don't Turn Around" went all the way to number one in Britain, a smooth, sunlit groove with a soul singer's ache in the vocal.
They weren't a one-shot act. "Shine" gave them another UK hit in 1994, the albums have piled up to 21, and along the way the band has collected 3 Grammy nominations.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Aswad on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don't Turn Around | 4 | #68 | – | 1988 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 316 | Don't Turn Around | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) |
| 1988 | 94 | Don't Turn Around | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1988 |
| 1988 | 68 | Don't Turn Around | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1988 |
| 1988 | 94 | Don't Turn Around | WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1988 |
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