Artist · chart history

The Motels

Band Berkeley United States Formed 1975

The Motels formed in 1975 in Berkeley, United States. The Motels has 16 chart appearances on 11 radio countdowns from 5 stations on RockLists, spanning 1980–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Only the Lonely”, which appears on 8 lists with a best position of #184. The station that charted The Motels most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 7 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1980.

16appearances

11countdowns

5songs charted

5stations

0#1 finishes

1980–2026years

The Motels came out of Berkeley, California, with a moody, cinematic take on new wave, and at the center of it was Martha Davis, a singer and guitarist who could make heartbreak sound like a late-night neon sign flickering on and off. Around her the band built a cool, spacious sound: Marty Jourard on keyboards and saxophone, Michael Goodroe on bass, Brian Glascock on drums and percussion, with guitarists Guy Perry and Scott Thurston among the players over the years.

Careful, on Capitol in 1980, brought "Danger", and "Total Control" went top 10 in Australia that year. All Four One in 1982 was the big one, led by "Only the Lonely", a slow, smoky ballad, plus "Take the L" and "Mission of Mercy". Little Robbers followed in 1983 with "Suddenly Last Summer", a dreamy, melancholy slow-burner, and both of those singles made the American top 10.

Davis revived the band in 1998 as the Motels featuring Martha Davis, touring with changing lineups, and since 2013 they have been billed as Martha Davis and the Motels.

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

Songs by The Motels on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	Only the Lonely	382	8	#184	–	–
2	Suddenly Last Summer	144	3	#153	–	–
3	Danger	113	2	#40	–	1980
4	Take the L	69	1	#640	–	–
5	Mission of Mercy	59	2	#273	–	–

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2026	153	Suddenly Last Summer	WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s
2023	560	Only the Lonely	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2021	513	Only the Lonely	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s
2021	799	Suddenly Last Summer	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s
2003	184	Only the Lonely	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	640	Take the L	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	778	Suddenly Last Summer	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	1023	Danger	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003	1764	Mission of Mercy	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
1998	281	Only the Lonely	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998)
1996	191	Only the Lonely	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996)
1995	338	Only the Lonely	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995)
1994	394	Only the Lonely	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994)
1992	238	Only the Lonely	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992)
1988	273	Mission of Mercy	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)
1980	40	Danger	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1980

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