Artist · chart history
The Armoury Show
Band Edinburgh United Kingdom Active 1983–1988
The Armoury Show formed in 1983 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom and was active until 1988. The Armoury Show has 2 chart appearances on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1985. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Castles in Spain”, which appears on 2 lists with a best position of #51. The station that charted The Armoury Show most often is 91X (San Diego, CA / Tijuana), with 1 appearance. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1985.
The Armoury Show came together in Edinburgh in 1983 with a lineup that looked great on paper: Richard Jobson singing, John McGeoch on guitar, Russell Webb on bass and John Doyle on drums. They took their name from the Armory Show, the famous 1913 modern art exhibition in New York, which tells you they weren't short on ambition.
The sound was new wave with its collar turned up: McGeoch's guitar ringing and slashing in wide arcs, Jobson declaiming over the top like a man addressing a crowd from a balcony. Their one and only album, Waiting for the Floods, arrived in 1985 carrying "Castles in Spain", a big, romantic sweep of a song that sounds built for open skies.
They put out six singles in their short life, and by 1988 the Armoury Show was finished, leaving one record as proof of what they might have been.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Armoury Show on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Castles in Spain | 2 | #51 | – | 1985 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 64 | Castles in Spain | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985 |
| 1985 | 51 | Castles in Spain | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1985 |
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