Artist · chart history
The Dears
Band Montréal Canada Formed 1995
The Dears formed in 1995 in Montréal, Canada. The Dears has 5 chart appearances on 5 radio countdowns from 4 stations on RockLists, spanning 2003–2011. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Lost in the Plot”, which appears on 2 lists with a best position of #61. The station that charted The Dears most often is Y100 (Philadelphia, PA), with 2 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2005.
The Dears set up shop in Montreal in 1995, and whatever the rest of the lineup was doing at any given moment (it changed plenty), the band has always revolved around Murray Lightburn, singing and playing guitar, and his wife, keyboardist Natalia Yanchak. Their debut, End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story, arrived in 2000 with the sound already in place: dark, orchestral pop played as high drama, with live shows to match. They got swept up in the Canadian indie boom that was just starting to swell, and a pair of EPs, Orchestral Pop Noir Romantique and Protest, plus the odds-and-sods set Nor the Dahlias, kept the fire lit.
No Cities Left, in 2003, is the one that made the world pay attention. "Lost in the Plot" swoons and broods like a torch song dragged through a thunderstorm, and a run of shows at SXSW in 2004 turned the band into an international concern: tours across North America, the UK, Europe, Japan and Australia, and opening slots for Sloan, the Tragically Hip, Keane, the Secret Machines and Morrissey.
Gang of Losers followed in 2006 to warm press, with "Ticket to Immortality" leading the charge, and Degeneration Street brought "Blood" in 2011.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Dears on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lost in the Plot | 2 | #61 | – | 2005 | |
| 2 | Blood | 2 | #88 | – | 2011 | |
| 3 | Ticket to Immortality | 1 | #76 | – | 2006 |
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.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 95 | Blood | WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2011 |
| 2011 | 88 | Blood | WBRU Top 95.5 Songs of 2011 |
| 2006 | 76 | Ticket to Immortality | Y100 Top 88.5 Songs of 2006 |
| 2005 | 61 | Lost in the Plot | Y100 Top 150 Songs of 2005 |
| 2003 | 91 | Lost in the Plot | CFNY Top 102 Songs of 2003 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about The Dears.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.