Artist · chart history
Bearsuit
Band Norfolk United Kingdom Formed 2001 UK art-rock / indie pop band
Bearsuit formed in 2001 in Norfolk, United Kingdom. Bearsuit has 4 chart appearances on 4 radio countdowns from 1 station on RockLists, spanning 2001–2004. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Chargr”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #2. The station that charted Bearsuit most often is John Peel (BBC Radio 1), with 4 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2004.
Bearsuit came out of Norwich in 2001 as a gleefully cluttered art-rock and indie pop gang, and John Peel was in their corner from the start. Their debut single, "Hey Charlie, Hey Chuck", came in at number four in his Festive Fifty for 2001, and they cut four Peel Sessions across 2001 and 2002. Lisa Horton sang and played keyboards and accordion, Iain Ross sang and played guitar and keyboards, and Jan Roberton covered guitar, keyboards, flute, percussion and backing vocals, which tells you plenty about how busy the records sound. "Drinkink" dates from that first year too.
Cat Spectacular, in 2004, brought "Itsuko Got Married", and Team Ping Pong followed in 2005, led by the gloriously scrambled "Chargr", which went to number two in the first Festive Fifty after Peel's death.
After a third album, oh:io, in 2007, the lineup changed and so did the sound: the violins, flutes and horns gave way to synths and guitars, producer Gareth Parton came aboard, and The Phantom Forest, a poppier record, arrived in 2011, trailed by "Please Don't Take Him Back" on Fortuna Pop!, which BBC 6 Music playlisted.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Bearsuit on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chargr | 1 | #2 | – | 2004 | |
| 2 | Hey Charlie, Hey Chuck | 1 | #4 | – | 2001 | |
| 3 | Itsuko Got Married | 1 | #5 | – | 2003 | |
| 4 | Drinkink | 1 | #30 | – | 2002 |
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.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2 | Chargr | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 2004 |
| 2003 | 5 | Itsuko Got Married | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 2003 |
| 2002 | 30 | Drinkink | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 2002 |
| 2001 | 4 | Hey Charlie, Hey Chuck | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 2001 |
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