Artist · chart history · #272 in alternative artist polls

Blancmange

Band London United Kingdom Formed 1979

Blancmange formed in 1979 in London, United Kingdom. Blancmange has 36 chart appearances on 21 radio countdowns from 8 stations on RockLists, spanning 1982–2023. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Don't Tell Me”, which appears on 13 lists with a best position of #38. The station that charted Blancmange most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 17 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1984.

36appearances

21countdowns

7songs charted

8stations

0#1 finishes

1982–2023years

Blancmange began in Harrow, London, in 1979, and for most of their life they were two men and a lot of machines: Neil Arthur on vocals and Stephen Luscombe on keyboards. Synth-pop was crowded in the early '80s, but these two had a stranger, wittier streak than most, and Happy Families, in 1982, proved it with "Living on the Ceiling", a jittery, claustrophobic dance number, and "Feel Me".

Mange Tout followed in 1984 on London Records, and it was a treasure chest: "Blind Vision" and "Don't Tell Me" both went top 20 in Britain, joining "Living on the Ceiling" and "Waves" in the duo's run of four hits, while "That's Love That It Is" and "Game Above My Head" showed Arthur at his most brooding. Believe You Me arrived in 1985.

They split amicably in 1986, came back at the end of the 2000s and released Blanc Burn in 2011. Ill health took Luscombe out of the band after that, and he died in 2025, but Arthur has carried the name on alone ever since, turning out more than a dozen albums and even re-recording the debut as Happy Families Too... in 2013.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

Songs by Blancmange on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	Don't Tell Me	531	13	#38	–	1984
2	Blind Vision	344	6	#93	–	–
3	Living on the Ceiling	272	10	#32	–	1983
4	That's Love That it Is	102	2	#90	–	1984
5	Believe	87	1	#131	–	–
6	Game Above My Head	55	2	#82	–	1984
7	Feel Me	32	1	#35	–	1982

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.

82 83 84

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2023	310	Don't Tell Me	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2003	140	Don't Tell Me	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	531	Blind Vision	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2002	536	Don't Tell Me	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	929	Blind Vision	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
1999	464	Don't Tell Me	91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)
1999	735	Don't Tell Me	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999)
1998	451	Don't Tell Me	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998)
1998	475	Living on the Ceiling	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998)
1996	436	Don't Tell Me	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996)
1996	410	Living on the Ceiling	Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996)
1995	484	Living on the Ceiling	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995)
1994	465	Living on the Ceiling	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994)
1992	266	Don't Tell Me	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992)
1992	411	Living on the Ceiling	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992)
1992	275	Blind Vision	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992)
1991	125	Blind Vision	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1991	131	Believe	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1991	138	That's Love That it Is	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1991	686	Game Above My Head	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1991	769	Don't Tell Me	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1989	284	Don't Tell Me	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)
1989	310	Blind Vision	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)
1989	457	Living on the Ceiling	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)
1989	86	Artist ranking	Live 105 Top 105 Artists of All-Time (1989)
1988	93	Blind Vision	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)
1988	167	Living on the Ceiling	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)
1988	312	Don't Tell Me	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)
1988	306	Living on the Ceiling	Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)
1984	38	Don't Tell Me	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984
1984	82	Game Above My Head	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984
1984	90	That's Love That it Is	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984
1984	67	Don't Tell Me	91X Top 91 Songs of 1984
1983	32	Living on the Ceiling	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1983
1982	34	Living on the Ceiling	John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1982
1982	35	Feel Me	John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1982

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