Artist · chart history
The Woodentops
Band London United Kingdom Formed 1983
The Woodentops formed in 1983 in London, United Kingdom. The Woodentops has 5 chart appearances on 4 radio countdowns from 3 stations on RockLists, spanning 1985–1989. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Stop This Car”, which appears on 2 lists with a best position of #15. The station that charted The Woodentops most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 2 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1988.
The Woodentops came together in South London in 1983: Rolo McGinty on vocals and guitar, fresh from stints with the Wild Swans and the Jazz Butcher, Simon Mawby on guitar, Alice Thompson on keyboards, Frank DeFreitas on bass, and Benny Staples, who stepped in for original drummer Paul Hookham. Their first single, "Plenty", came out on Food Records in 1984 and got a glowing review from Morrissey in Melody Maker, which in those days was quite a calling card.
Rough Trade snapped them up, and 1985 brought a run of singles, the year of "Move Me" and "Well Well Well", before the debut album Giant landed in 1986. It was an acoustic-guitar record at heart, dressed up with accordion, marimba, strings and trumpet, and it reached number 35 on the UK album chart, with "Good Thing" making the indie top ten.
Then they got wilder. On stage the band turned frantic and experimental, leaning on electronics, which the live album Live Hypno Beat, taped in Los Angeles in 1986 and released the next year, caught in full flight. Thompson left in 1987 and Anne Stephenson took over the keys, and 1988's Wooden Foot Cops on the Highway carried that restless, nervy drive into "Stop This Car" and "You Make Me Feel".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Woodentops on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stop This Car | 2 | #15 | – | 1988 | |
| 2 | Move Me | 1 | #19 | – | 1985 | |
| 3 | You Make Me Feel | 1 | #85 | – | 1988 | |
| 4 | Well Well Well | 1 | #48 | – | 1985 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 118 | Stop This Car | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) |
| 1988 | 15 | Stop This Car | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1988 |
| 1988 | 85 | You Make Me Feel | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1988 |
| 1985 | 19 | Move Me | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1985 |
| 1985 | 48 | Well Well Well | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1985 |
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