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Song · Echo and the Bunnymen

“Bring on the Dancing Horses” by Echo and the Bunnymen

Released 1985

“Bring on the Dancing Horses” by Echo and the Bunnymen appears on 43 radio countdowns from 15 stations between 1985 and 2023. It was first released in 1985. Its best result is #21 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1985. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #19 alternative song of 1985, #381 alternative song of all time and #116 of the '80s.

43countdowns
15stations
#21best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1985–2023years charted

Watch

Echo & The Bunnymen - Bring on The Dancing Horses (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Echo & the Bunnymen). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Bring On the Dancing Horses" came out in 1985 as the only single from Songs to Learn & Sing, Echo & the Bunnymen's compilation of that year, and it was recorded for Pretty in Pink, the John Hughes teen romance that reached cinemas in 1986. A fresh recording tucked onto a look back, it sounds like a band gazing at its own reflection: cool, shimmering and faintly haunted, with a melody that drifts rather than marches.

Pete de Freitas, Ian McCulloch, Les Pattinson and Will Sergeant share the writing credit, and it went out on Korova, following "Seven Seas" and coming before "The Game". It reached No. 21 on the UK singles chart and No. 15 in Ireland.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1985 34 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985 107
1985 21 John Peel (BBC Radio 1) John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1985 50
1985 23 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1985 30
1986 47 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986 90

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 111 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s 200
1988 251 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) 496
1988 434 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1988 188 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988) 200
1989 75 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989) 101
1989 478 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1991 153 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) 302
1991 38 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1991 313 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1992 209 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1994 271 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 108 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1996 99 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1999 449 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 283 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 101 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 461 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 298 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 462 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 472 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 472 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 352 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 472 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 28 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 472 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 497 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 474 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 85 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the 70s & 80s 96
2006 462 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 579 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 558 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 565 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 581 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 605 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 628 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 635 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2021 475 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2023 383 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 543 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909

Also listed as: Bring On The Dancing Horses; Bring On the Dancing Horses.

Charting alongside it in 1985

Best songs of 1985 →
  1. 1Alive and KickingSimple Minds
  2. 2The Perfect KissNew Order
  3. 3In Between DaysThe Cure
  4. 4Take On Mea-ha
  5. 5Road to NowhereTalking Heads
  6. 6Shake the DiseaseDepeche Mode

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