Artist · chart history
Hefner
Band London United Kingdom Active 1997–2002 UK indie rock/urban folk band
Hefner formed in 1997 in London, United Kingdom and was active until 2002. Hefner has 11 chart appearances on 4 radio countdowns from 1 station on RockLists, spanning 1998–2001. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Hymn For The Cigarettes”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #2. The station that charted Hefner most often is John Peel (BBC Radio 1), with 11 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1999.
Hefner were Darren Hayman's band, a scruffy London indie group whose songs about love, drink and politics sounded like confessions scribbled on the back of a beer mat. They ran until 2002, released their records on Too Pure, and had a loyal champion in John Peel, whose support got them tagged "The Peel House Band". "Britain's Largest Small Band" was the other nickname that stuck, and it fit.
The Fidelity Wars in 1999 sounds like the heartbroken one, with "I Stole a Bride" and "I Took Her Love for Granted" wobbling between self-pity and wit. We Love the City in 2000 turned outward and got bolder, with "The Greedy Ugly People", "Good Fruit" and the gleefully unsubtle "The Day That Thatcher Dies". Dead Media in 2001 gave us "Alan Bean". The "Hymn" singles, for the cigarettes and for the alcohol, were odes to small vices set to shambling tunes, sung in a voice that cracked exactly where it should.
Jack Hayter, Antony Harding and John Morrison filled out the band, with Amelia Fletcher adding backing vocals. Since the split they have played together only once, and fittingly it was to honor Peel.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Hefner on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hymn For The Cigarettes | 1 | #2 | – | 1999 | |
| 2 | Hymn For The Alcohol | 1 | #3 | – | 1999 | |
| 3 | The Greedy Ugly People | 1 | #7 | – | 2000 | |
| 4 | The Day That Thatcher Dies | 1 | #12 | – | 2000 | |
| 5 | Good Fruit | 1 | #15 | – | 2000 | |
| 6 | I Stole A Bride | 1 | #22 | – | 1999 | |
| 7 | Alan Bean | 1 | #31 | – | 2001 | |
| 8 | I Took Her Love For Granted | 1 | #32 | – | 1999 | |
| 9 | Pull Yourself Together" (7 | 1 | #43 | – | 1998 | |
| 10 | Painting & Kissing | 1 | #44 | – | 2000 | |
| 11 | Hymn For The Things We Didn't Do | 1 | #49 | – | 1999 |
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.
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