Artist · chart history
Madder Rose
Band New York United States Active 1990–1999
Madder Rose formed in 1990 in New York, United States and was active until 1999. Madder Rose has 6 chart appearances on 3 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1993–1999. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Swim”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #2. The station that charted Madder Rose most often is John Peel (BBC Radio 1), with 5 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1993.
Madder Rose took their name from rose madder, the old plant-based paint, and made the kind of New York guitar pop that sounds like it was painted in watercolours: hazy, sweet and a little bruised. Mary Lorson fronted the band and split the songwriting with guitarist Billy Coté, with Johnny Kick, Rick Kubic and Matt Verta-Ray also in the lineup.
Bring It Down in 1993 carried "Swim", "Beautiful John" and "Lights Go Down", and Panic On followed in 1994 with its title track and "Car Song", both of which made John Peel's Festive Fifty and turned up in films and on television. Seed and Atlantic put the records out.
The band broke up in 1999, but Lorson and Coté never stopped working together. He played guitar on and produced her three albums as Saint Low, she sang on his Jazz Cannon album, they scored films including the HBO documentary What Remains: The Life and Work of Sally Mann, and in 2008 they formed the Piano Creeps with Kathy Ziegler. After two decades away, Madder Rose came back with a new album in September 2019.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Madder Rose on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swim | 1 | #2 | – | 1993 | |
| 2 | Car Song | 1 | #19 | – | 1994 | |
| 3 | Panic On | 2 | #35 | – | 1994 | |
| 4 | Beautiful John | 1 | #36 | – | 1993 | |
| 5 | Lights Go Down | 1 | #44 | – | 1993 |
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.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1997 | Panic On | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) |
| 1994 | 19 | Car Song | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1994 |
| 1994 | 35 | Panic On | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1994 |
| 1993 | 2 | Swim | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1993 |
| 1993 | 36 | Beautiful John | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1993 |
| 1993 | 44 | Lights Go Down | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1993 |
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