Artist · chart history · #151 in alternative artist polls

Mission U.K.

Band Leeds United Kingdom Formed 1985 gothic rock band

Mission U.K. formed in 1985 in Leeds, United Kingdom. Mission U.K. has 26 chart appearances on 20 radio countdowns from 7 stations on RockLists, spanning 1988–2003. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Tower of Strength”, which appears on 6 lists with a best position of #32. The station that charted Mission U.K. most often is Live 105 (San Francisco, CA), with 10 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1988.

26appearances

20countdowns

7songs charted

7stations

0#1 finishes

1988–2003years

The Mission, billed as Mission U.K. in America, grew out of the Sisters of Mercy: frontman Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams both came from that band, started out as the Sisterhood, and soon added drummer Mick Brown from Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and guitarist Simon Hinkler from Artery and Pulp. What they made was gothic rock at its most romantic and most swaggering, with Hussey's velvet croon swooning over great ringing, chiming guitars.

God's Own Medicine in 1986 set the template, with "Wasteland" and "Stay With Me" dripping in candle wax and drama. Children followed in 1988 and brought "Tower of Strength", a towering, hypnotic epic that stretches out as if it has all night. Carved in Sand in 1990 was sleeker and more melodic, home to "Deliverance" and "Butterfly on a Wheel", and Masque came in 1992.

Hussey is the one constant; the lineup around him has changed many times, and the band has gone on hiatus twice. Still the records kept coming, 10 studio albums in all, from Neverland and Blue in the '90s to Another Fall from Grace in 2016.

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

Songs by Mission U.K. on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	Tower of Strength	349	6	#32	–	1988
2	Deliverance	142	3	#64	–	1990
3	Butterfly on a Wheel	111	4	#74	–	1990
4	Hands Across The Ocean	94	6	#66	–	1991
5	Stay With Me	80	2	#949	–	–
6	Wasteland	74	2	#211	–	–
7	Never Again	12	1	#94	–	1992

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.

88 90 91 92

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2003	655	Deliverance	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	1243	Hands Across The Ocean	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	1490	Stay With Me	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2002	949	Stay With Me	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1129	Deliverance	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1693	Hands Across The Ocean	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2001	2002	Hands Across The Ocean	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2000	1989	Hands Across The Ocean	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999	1986	Hands Across The Ocean	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1992	94	Never Again	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1992
1992	61	Tower of Strength	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992)
1991	66	Hands Across The Ocean	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1991
1991	211	Wasteland	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991)
1991	294	Tower of Strength	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991)
1991	170	Tower of Strength	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1991	31	Artist ranking	Live 105 Top 105 Artists of All-Time (1991)
1990	77	Butterfly on a Wheel	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1990
1990	80	Butterfly on a Wheel	91X Top 91 Songs of 1990
1990	74	Butterfly on a Wheel	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1990
1990	64	Deliverance	CFNY Top 90 Songs of 1990
1990	186	Butterfly on a Wheel	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990)
1989	137	Tower of Strength	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989	282	Wasteland	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989	79	Artist ranking	Live 105 Top 105 Artists of All-Time (1989)
1988	41	Tower of Strength	91X Top 91 Songs of 1988
1988	32	Tower of Strength	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1988

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