Artist · chart history
The Wild Swans
Band Liverpool United Kingdom Formed 1980 post‐punk band from Liverpool, UK
The Wild Swans formed in 1980 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. The Wild Swans has 6 chart appearances on 4 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1982–1990. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Bitterness”, which appears on 2 lists with a best position of #27. The station that charted The Wild Swans most often is Live 105 (San Francisco, CA), with 5 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1982.
The Wild Swans took flight in Liverpool in 1980, not long after Paul Simpson walked out of the Teardrop Explodes, and he has been the one fixed point in the band ever since, singing over a lineup that never stops changing. The first version was gone by 1982, leaving behind a lone single, and "Revolutionary Spirit" from that year still stands as a clarion call: shimmering, stately post-punk with its eyes on the horizon.
The band came back to life for Bringing Home the Ashes in 1988, a record full of chiming guitars and romantic gloom, with "Bitterness", "Young Manhood", "Mythical Beast" and "Bible Dreams" all finding their way onto the countdowns. A second album followed before the whole thing came apart again in 1990. Jeremy Kelly, Ged Quinn and Alan Wills were all part of the story.
The Wild Swans' family tree reaches a long way: they spun off two charting groups, Care and the Lotus Eaters, and their alumni have turned up in Echo & the Bunnymen, the Icicle Works, the Woodentops, the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Lightning Seeds. Simpson put a new lineup on the road in 2009, and a fresh album followed in 2011.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Wild Swans on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bitterness | 2 | #27 | – | 1988 | |
| 2 | Revolutionary Spirit | 1 | #10 | – | 1982 | |
| 3 | Young Manhood | 1 | #144 | – | – | |
| 4 | Mythical Beast | 1 | #268 | – | – | |
| 5 | Bible Dreams | 1 | #275 | – | – |
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.
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