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Artist · chart history

The Bears

Band United States Formed 1985 American power pop band

The Bears formed in 1985 in the United States. The Bears has 23 chart appearances on 17 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1989–2006. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Fear Is Never Boring”, which appears on 16 lists with a best position of #92. The station that charted The Bears most often is WOXY 97X (Cincinnati, OH), with 12 appearances.

23appearances
17countdowns
4songs charted
2stations
0#1 finishes
1989–2006years

The Bears are what happens when an avant-garde guitar player decides he'd like to be in a pop band for a while. Formed in Cincinnati in 1985, the group put Adrian Belew, whose guitar playing ignores every rule in the book, alongside three bandmates who knew their way around a hook: Rob Fetters on guitar and vocals, Chris Arduser on drums and vocals, and Bob Nyswonger on bass. Belew, who sings and plays guitar too, also produced.

Their self-titled debut in 1987 was power pop with the edges bent: bright chords and chirpy harmonies, then a sudden squall of Belew noise to keep you guessing. "Fear Is Never Boring" was the calling card, a title that doubles as a band philosophy, and "Trust" and "Figure it Out" came from the same record. Rise and Shine followed in 1988, with "Aches and Pains" among its highlights.

The Bears never became household names, but that was never quite the point, and they have kept the name alive ever since.

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

Songs by The Bears on radio countdowns

#SongStrengthListsBest#1sPeak year
1 Fear Is Never Boring
632		 16 #92 – –
2 Aches and Pains
86		 2 #261 – –
3 Trust
37		 4 #1803 – –
4 Figure it Out
18		 1 #409 – –

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Every countdown appearance

Year#SongCountdown
2006 259 Fear Is Never Boring WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006)
2005 1063 Fear Is Never Boring CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2004 1064 Fear Is Never Boring CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2003 256 Fear Is Never Boring WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003)
2003 1064 Fear Is Never Boring CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2002 254 Fear Is Never Boring WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002)
2002 1079 Fear Is Never Boring CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 1815 Trust CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2001 466 Fear Is Never Boring WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001)
2001 1080 Fear Is Never Boring CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001 1828 Trust CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2000 467 Fear Is Never Boring WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000)
2000 1078 Fear Is Never Boring CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
2000 1824 Trust CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999 398 Fear Is Never Boring WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999)
1999 1076 Fear Is Never Boring CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 1803 Trust CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1996 378 Fear Is Never Boring WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)
1994 406 Fear Is Never Boring WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)
1991 312 Aches and Pains WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1989 92 Fear Is Never Boring WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989 261 Aches and Pains WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989 409 Figure it Out WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)

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