Song · Madness
“Wings of a Dove” by Madness
Released 1983
“Wings of a Dove” by Madness appears on 4 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1983 and 1999. It was first released in 1983. Its best result is #83 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1983. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #170 alternative song of 1983 and #3,943 alternative song of all time.
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Madness put out "Wings of a Dove" in 1983 as a single with no album to call home, and it only found one a year later, on the American edition of Keep Moving. Suggs and Chas Smash wrote it and trade the lead vocal between them, and they dressed their ska-pop in its Sunday best: steel drums from Creighton Steel Sounds and a full gospel choir, The Inspirational Choir of the Pentecostal First Born Church of the Living God, hoisting the whole thing toward the rafters.
It went to number 2 in Britain and all the way to the top in Ireland. In 1985 the band gave it to the charity compilation Greenpeace – The Album, and in 1999 it got a second wind when it turned up in the film 10 Things I Hate About You.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 83 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1983 | 91 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 464 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) | 496 |
| 1996 | 254 | Q101 | Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) | 500 |
| 1999 | 446 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
Also listed as: Wings of A Dove.
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