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Portishead
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Artist · chart history · #616 in indie & aaa artist polls

Portishead

Band Bristol United Kingdom Formed 1991

Portishead formed in 1991 in Bristol, United Kingdom. Portishead has 89 chart appearances on 67 radio countdowns from 26 stations on RockLists, spanning 1994–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Sour Times”, which appears on 49 lists with a best position of #8. The station that charted Portishead most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 21 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1995.

89appearances
67countdowns
10songs charted
26stations
0#1 finishes
1994–2026years

Portishead came together in Bristol in 1991, and their 1994 debut, Dummy, sounded like nothing else in the racks: hip-hop beats slowed to a crawl, a cinematic chill that could have been lifted from some lost spy thriller, and over the top Beth Gibbons, singing as if every word cost her something. Geoff Barrow built the tracks and played whatever needed playing, Adrian Utley brought the guitar, and engineer Dave McDonald, who helped produce the first 2 albums, is sometimes counted as a fourth member.

"Sour Times" and "Glory Box" were the songs that crept onto rock radio, smoky and forlorn, with "Wandering Star" and "Mysterons" deepening the gloom. Dummy won rave reviews, sold well and became a cornerstone of what the press was calling trip-hop, a label the band never cared for.

The self-titled second album, in 1997, was colder and more claustrophobic, with "All Mine" swinging like a torch song in a haunted ballroom, and the live Roseland NYC Live followed. Then they went quiet for a long time, returning in 2008 with Third, which was greeted with the same kind of acclaim.

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

Songs by Portishead on radio countdowns

#SongStrengthListsBest#1sPeak year
1 Sour Times
2,551		 49 #8 – 1995
2 Glorybox
1,187		 24 #15 – 1995
3 Wandering Star
129		 3 #338 – –
4 Machine Gun
92		 2 #23 – 2008
5 Mysterons
85		 1 #113 – –
6 Only You
78		 2 #36 – 1998
7 The Rip
76		 1 #250 – –
8 All Mine
73		 4 #76 – 1997
9 Cowboys
32		 1 #606 – –
10 Silence
24		 1 #564 – –

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.

94 95 97 98 08

Every countdown appearance

Year#SongCountdown
2026 388 Sour Times WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time
2026 509 Glorybox WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time
2025 15 Glorybox WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s
2025 190 Sour Times WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s
2024 225 Glorybox WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years
2024 250 The Rip The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century
2024 113 Mysterons The Best Opening Tracks of All Time
2024 564 Silence The Best Opening Tracks of All Time
2023 115 Glorybox 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time
2023 739 Sour Times 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time
2023 209 Glorybox The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2023 257 Sour Times The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2023 419 Wandering Star The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2023 606 Cowboys The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2022 353 Glorybox KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022)
2022 432 Sour Times KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022)
2022 749 Wandering Star The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time
2022 869 Glorybox The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time
2022 31 Glorybox The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s
2022 649 Sour Times The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s
2022 836 Machine Gun 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s
2021 50 Sour Times 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s
2021 169 Glorybox 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s
2020 1291 Sour Times WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time
2019 116 Glorybox KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time
2019 338 Wandering Star KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time
2019 383 Sour Times KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time
2018 592 Glorybox The Current's 893 Essential Songs
2014 836 Sour Times CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2013 812 Sour Times CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2011 788 Sour Times CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010 758 Sour Times CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2009 300 Sour Times Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009)
2009 744 Sour Times CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009 792 Only You WYEP 913 Essential Songs
2008 23 (tie) Machine Gun WBER Listener Countdown 2008
2008 763 Sour Times CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007 818 Sour Times CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007 262 Sour Times KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007)
2006 261 Sour Times Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006)
2006 195 Sour Times WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006)
2006 91 Sour Times The End Top 107 Songs of the '90s (December 2006)
2006 619 Artist ranking WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Artists (2006)
2005 278 Sour Times WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005)
2005 277 Sour Times CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005 1226 Glorybox CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005 723 Sour Times 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)
2004 214 Sour Times The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004)
2004 285 Sour Times CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2004 1227 Glorybox CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2003 298 Sour Times WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003)
2003 285 Sour Times CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003 1227 Glorybox CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2002 340 Sour Times WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002)
2002 285 Sour Times CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 1242 Glorybox CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 792 Sour Times Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002 1415 Glorybox Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2001 382 Sour Times WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001)
2001 285 Sour Times CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001 1243 Glorybox CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001 272 Glorybox Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2000 381 Sour Times WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000)
2000 322 Sour Times CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
2000 1253 Glorybox CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999 364 Sour Times Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 213 Sour Times WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999)
1999 516 Sour Times The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 1037 Glorybox The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 321 Sour Times CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 1253 Glorybox CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 787 Glorybox CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999)
1999 334 Sour Times WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999)
1998 36 Only You WBER Listener Countdown 1998
1998 75 Glorybox Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1998)
1997 90 All Mine Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1997
1997 97 All Mine The End Top 107 Songs of 1997
1997 76 All Mine WBER Listener Countdown 1997
1997 79 All Mine Triple J Hottest 100 of 1997
1995 46 Sour Times KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1995
1995 74 Sour Times Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1995
1995 76 Sour Times WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1995
1995 57 Sour Times WMRQ Top 104 Songs of 1995
1995 92 Sour Times The Buzz Top 103 Alternative Songs of '95
1995 45 Glorybox Triple J Hottest 100 of 1995
1995 72 Sour Times Radio & Records Top 95 Songs of 1995
1995 60 Sour Times WDRE Top 103.9 Songs of 1995
1994 61 Sour Times Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1994
1994 8 Sour Times John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1994

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