Artist · chart history
Cranes
Band Portsmouth United Kingdom Formed 1986 British dream pop band
Cranes formed in 1986 in Portsmouth, United Kingdom. Cranes has 3 chart appearances on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1993–2002. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Jewel”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #1153. The station that charted Cranes most often is Fred (XM 44) (XM Satellite Radio (national)), with 2 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1993.
Cranes took their name from the dockside cranes looming over their hometown of Portsmouth, and the band was a family affair: Alison Shaw and her brother Jim started it, Alison singing in the small, childlike voice that became their signature and Jim on drums and guitar.
They moved slowly at first. The mini-album Fuse came out in 1986 on the local Bite Back! label, paid for out of their own pockets and issued only on cassette, and it was 1989 before a second mini-album, the 12-inch Self-Non-Self, followed. A session for John Peel's Radio 1 show changed everything: Dedicated Records, a new BMG offshoot, made them one of its first signings in 1990, and with guitarists Mark Francombe and Matt Cope added they landed on the cover of Melody Maker and put out a run of singles and EPs the critics adored. Wings of Joy, their first full album, reached #52 in the UK.
A world tour with the Cure in 1992 widened the audience, and Forever, in 1993, is where the ghostly and the gorgeous meet: "Everywhere" and "Jewel" drift like fog off the harbor, guitars shimmering behind Alison's fragile, faraway voice. Loved followed in 1994 with "Beautiful Friend", as delicate and dark as anything they'd done.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Cranes on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jewel | 1 | #1153 | – | – | |
| 2 | Beautiful Friend | 1 | #1820 | – | – | |
| 3 | Everywhere | 1 | #99 | – | 1993 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1153 | Jewel | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) |
| 2002 | 1820 | Beautiful Friend | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) |
| 1993 | 99 | Everywhere | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1993 |
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