Song · Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
“Brand New Friend” by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
From the album Easy Pieces (1985)
“Brand New Friend” by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions appears on 6 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1985 and 2003. It was first released in 1985 on the album Easy Pieces. Its best result is #9 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1985. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #77 alternative song of 1985 and #3,388 alternative song of all time.
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"Brand New Friend" was the song Lloyd Cole and the Commotions sent out first from their second album, Easy Pieces, in 1985: a bright, uptempo pop single wrapped around a guy who can't quite admit he's miserable. Cole wrote it with bandmate Blair Cowan, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley produced it, and it climbed to 19 in Britain.
Cole explained the narrator as someone who knows he isn't as happy as he used to be, hasn't a clue what to do about it, and can see himself sliding into self-pity, which struck Cole as absurd enough to be funny. That's the Commotions' whole trick in miniature: a wry wink riding on top of the hurt, a joke and a quiet plea for help in the same breath.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 9 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1985 | 30 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 280 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) | 500 |
| 1991 | 280 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) | 500 |
| 1991 | 573 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 1999 | 906 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2003 | 1513 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
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