Artist · chart history

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions

Band Glasgow United Kingdom Formed 1982

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions formed in 1982 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. Lloyd Cole and the Commotions has 31 chart appearances on 14 radio countdowns from 10 stations on RockLists, spanning 1985–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Perfect Skin”, which appears on 11 lists with a best position of #88. The station that charted Lloyd Cole and the Commotions most often is Fred (XM 44) (XM Satellite Radio (national)), with 13 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1985.

31appearances

14countdowns

9songs charted

10stations

0#1 finishes

1985–2024years

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions formed in Glasgow in 1982, and by 1984 they had perfected a kind of pop that wore a secondhand overcoat and carried a paperback in the pocket: chiming guitars, a wry, deadpan croon from Cole and melodies that sounded offhand until you realised you couldn't shake them. Cole fronted a lineup of Neil Clark, Blair Cowan, Lawrence Donegan and Stephen Irvine, and Polydor put the records out.

Rattlesnakes, in 1984, is where it all clicks, with "Perfect Skin", "Forest Fire" and the title track shimmering and sulking in equal measure. Easy Pieces followed in 1985 with "Brand New Friend" and "Perfect Blue", a glossier, more confident record, and Mainstream came in 1987. From 1984 to 1989 they put four albums into the British Top 20 and five singles into the Top 40, and found audiences as far afield as Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand.

They split in 1989 and Cole went solo, though the Commotions got back together in 2004 for a short 20th anniversary tour of the UK and Ireland.

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

Songs by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	Perfect Skin	292	11	#88	–	1985
2	Rattlesnakes	246	5	#190	–	–
3	Brand New Friend	240	6	#9	–	1985
4	My Bag	90	2	#999	–	–
5	Perfect Blue	66	2	#1242	–	–
6	Forest Fire	57	2	#1405	–	–
7	Tell Your Sister	48	1	#1049	–	–
8	Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?	34	1	#563	–	–
9	Speedboat	12	1	#1809	–	–

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2024	904	Perfect Skin	WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years
2023	514	Perfect Skin	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2023	563	Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2022	350	Rattlesnakes	X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time
2003	658	Rattlesnakes	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	999	My Bag	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	1117	Perfect Skin	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	1242	Perfect Blue	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	1494	Forest Fire	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	1513	Brand New Friend	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	1809	Speedboat	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2002	190	Rattlesnakes	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	864	Perfect Skin	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1049	Tell Your Sister	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1226	My Bag	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1405	Forest Fire	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1471	Perfect Blue	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
1999	877	Perfect Skin	Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	320	Perfect Skin	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999)
1999	676	Rattlesnakes	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999)
1999	906	Brand New Friend	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999)
1991	280	Brand New Friend	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1991	446	Perfect Skin	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1991	573	Brand New Friend	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1991	759	Rattlesnakes	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1989	280	Brand New Friend	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989	438	Perfect Skin	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1988	467	Perfect Skin	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)
1988	475	Perfect Skin	Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)
1985	88	Perfect Skin	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985
1985	9	Brand New Friend	Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1985

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