Artist · chart history · #243 in alternative artist polls

General Public

Band United Kingdom

General Public formed in the United Kingdom. General Public has 89 chart appearances on 58 radio countdowns from 15 stations on RockLists, spanning 1984–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Tenderness”, which appears on 47 lists and was voted number one once. In total the artist has topped 1 countdown. The station that charted General Public most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 23 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1984.

89appearances

58countdowns

8songs charted

15stations

1#1 finishes

1984–2026years

General Public came together in Birmingham when Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, the 2 voices of the Beat, set up a new shop with former members of Dexys Midnight Runners, the Specials and the Clash. Horace Panter and John Bradbury were among the crew, and I.R.S. Records put out their debut, All the Rage, in 1984.

"Tenderness" is the song that stuck, and no wonder: a bouncing, sunny, soul-inflected pop song with Wakeling's plaintive voice riding a groove that's pure joy. The album also carried "Hot You're Cool", "Never You Done That" and the band's own theme tune, "General Public", all of them light on their feet and sharp around the edges.

Hand to Mouth followed in 1986 with "Faults and All", "Too Much or Nothing" and "In Conversation", and then things went quiet. But the band had one more hit in it: in 1994, the breezy, lilting "I'll Take You There" became the other song they're best remembered for.

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

Songs by General Public on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	Tenderness	2,600	47	#1	1	1984
2	I'll Take You There	613	14	#68	–	1994
3	Hot You're Cool	598	13	#51	–	1984
4	General Public	249	4	#37	–	1984
5	Never You Done That	240	7	#75	–	1985
6	Faults and All	86	1	#14	–	1986
7	Too Much or Nothing	50	1	#55	–	1986
8	In Conversation	18	1	#75	–	1986

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.

84 85 86 94

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2026	699	Tenderness	WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time
2025	105	Tenderness	The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs
2025	431	I'll Take You There	The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs
2024	930	Tenderness	WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years
2024	731	I'll Take You There	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs
2023	27	Tenderness	91X Top 91 Songs of The Last 40 Years
2023	401	Tenderness	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2022	817	I'll Take You There	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time
2022	513	I'll Take You There	The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s
2021	547	Tenderness	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s
2020	1727	Tenderness	WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time
2014	1064	I'll Take You There	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2013	1013	I'll Take You There	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2011	970	I'll Take You There	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010	937	I'll Take You There	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010	2007	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2009	907	I'll Take You There	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009	1951	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2008	410	Tenderness	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008)
2008	887	I'll Take You There	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008	1938	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007	894	I'll Take You There	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007	1959	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2005	1049	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2004	1049	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2003	1049	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003	15	Tenderness	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	247	General Public	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	305	Hot You're Cool	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	652	I'll Take You There	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2002	1064	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002	278	Tenderness	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	344	General Public	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	714	Hot You're Cool	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1580	I'll Take You There	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2001	1065	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2000	1063	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999	193	Tenderness	91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)
1999	223	Tenderness	Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	156	Tenderness	WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999)
1999	1062	Tenderness	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	175	Tenderness	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999)
1998	53	Tenderness	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998)
1998	412	Hot You're Cool	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998)
1997	76	Artist ranking	KROQ Top 106.7 Artists of All-Time (Memorial Day 1997)
1996	144	Tenderness	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996)
1996	372	Hot You're Cool	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996)
1996	243	Tenderness	Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996)
1996	356	Hot You're Cool	Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996)
1995	153	Tenderness	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995)
1995	480	Hot You're Cool	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995)
1995	221	Tenderness	Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995)
1994	68	I'll Take You There	Radio & Records Top 94 Songs of 1994
1994	184	Tenderness	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994)
1994	457	Hot You're Cool	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994)
1994	130	Tenderness	Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994)
1992	111	Tenderness	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992)
1992	368	Hot You're Cool	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992)
1992	200	Tenderness	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992)
1991	176	Tenderness	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991)
1991	133	Tenderness	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1991	161	Hot You're Cool	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1991	296	Never You Done That	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1990	34	Tenderness	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990)
1989	138	Tenderness	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)
1989	208	Hot You're Cool	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)
1989	261	Never You Done That	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)
1989	86	Tenderness	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989	144	Hot You're Cool	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989	279	Never You Done That	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989	28	Tenderness	91X Top 191 Songs of the 1980s (1989)
1988	73	Hot You're Cool	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)
1988	271	Tenderness	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)
1988	408	Never You Done That	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)
1988	155	Tenderness	Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)
1988	291	Never You Done That	Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)
1988	158	Tenderness	WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988)
1986	55	Too Much or Nothing	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986
1986	14	Faults and All	91X Top 91 Songs of 1986
1986	75	In Conversation	91X Top 91 Songs of 1986
1985	79	Never You Done That	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985
1985	50	Tenderness	91X Top 91 Songs of 1985
1985	75	Never You Done That	91X Top 91 Songs of 1985
1984	2	Tenderness	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984
1984	51	Hot You're Cool	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984
1984	88	General Public	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984
1984	1	Tenderness	91X Top 91 Songs of 1984
1984	37	General Public	91X Top 91 Songs of 1984
–	80	Tenderness	WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s

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