Artist · chart history
M
Band London United Kingdom Active 1978–1984 Robin Scott, song “Pop Muzik”
M formed in 1978 in London, United Kingdom and was active until 1984. M has 15 chart appearances on 15 radio countdowns from 9 stations on RockLists, spanning 1988–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Pop Muzik”, which appears on 15 lists with a best position of #81. The station that charted M most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 5 appearances.
M was never really a band at all. It was Robin Scott's project, cooked up in London in 1978, and it hit the jackpot with the song it's still known for: "Pop Muzik", a jittery, hiccuping slab of synth-pop and new wave that climbed to number 2 in Britain in May 1979 and went all the way to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that November. It's a record that sounds like a radio dial being spun by a madman, and it was built to stick in your skull.
The album New York • London • Paris • Munich followed in November 1979, the only M album to chart. "Moonlight and Muzak", "That's the Way the Money Goes" and "Official Secrets" all made the lower reaches of the UK chart, and The Official Secrets Act (1980) and Famous Last Words (1982) came after, but lightning didn't strike twice until a "Pop Muzik" remix in 1989. The label credits run through Stiff and MCA.
The guest list was something else: Mark King and Phil Gould of Level 42, David Bowie, Thomas Dolby, Tony Levin, Wally Badarou, Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Yukihiro Takahashi of Yellow Magic Orchestra and Gary Barnacle all played their part at one time or another. Scott revived M in 2023, and a fourth album, The FAQs of Life, arrived in 2025.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by M on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pop Muzik | 15 | #81 | – | – |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about M.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.