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Cover of It’s Hard by The Who
Cover: It’s Hard

Song · The Who

“Eminence Front” by The Who

From the album It’s Hard (1982)

“Eminence Front” by The Who appears on 70 radio countdowns from 28 stations between 1996 and 2026. It was first released in 1982 on the album It’s Hard. Its best result is #71 on the WMGK Philly 500 (2026). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,227 indie & aaa song of all time and #442 of the '80s.

70countdowns
28stations
#71best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1996–2026years charted

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Eminence Front

Video from YouTube (The Who - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Eminence Front" sits on It's Hard, the Who's tenth studio album, from 1982, and Pete Townshend wrote it and sings it himself, with Roger Daltrey on guitar and backing vocals. Townshend built it on a chord progression he found on his Yamaha E70 organ, and it rides a cool, coiled keyboard groove, with Tim Gorman on electric piano, John Entwistle on bass and horns and Kenney Jones keeping a steady, unhurried beat. Glyn Johns produced and engineered.

The subject is the high life gone hollow: a party full of rich hedonists hiding from their troubles behind a front, with drugs doing the talking. Townshend later admitted he couldn't say whether he was aiming at himself or at the dealers of Miami Beach. It reached 68 on the Hot 100, while a planned UK single on Polydor never came out.

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

RockLists rankings

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1996 423 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) 500
1997 831 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
1997 414 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
1997 349 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (1997) 499
1999 760 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2001 531 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2002 507 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) 923
2002 897 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2004 502 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2009 840 WXPN WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) 885
2010 360 97.9 The Loop The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) 500
2010 503 WXPN WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) 885
2011 357 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 358 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2012 453 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2012 511 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) 885
2013 150 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) 500
2013 260 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) 500
2013 259 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2013 414 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2014 747 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 475 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) 885
2014 317 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 180 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2015 86 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2015 385 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2015 259 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 437 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2015) 500
2016 255 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2016 171 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2016 425 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2016 231 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2017 72 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2017 381 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2017) 500
2017 411 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2018 268 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2018 407 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2019 917 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 368 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2020 968 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2020 291 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 212 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2021 592 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2021 455 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 286 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2021 413 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2021) 499
2022 492 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) 500
2022 177 97.1 The River River 500 (2022) 500
2022 463 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 481 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 199 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2022 241 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 327 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2022) 500
2023 376 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 105 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2023 260 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 721 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2023 481 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2023 496 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2024 80 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2024) 500
2024 221 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 95 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2024) 498
2024 772 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2024 476 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2025 393 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 288 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2025 266 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2025 335 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2026 479 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500
2026 71 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2026) 500

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