Artist · chart history
Thrashing Doves
Band United Kingdom Active 1986–1991
Thrashing Doves formed in 1986 in the United Kingdom and was active until 1991. Thrashing Doves has 4 chart appearances on 4 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1987–1988. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Jesus on the Payroll”, which appears on 2 lists with a best position of #20. The station that charted Thrashing Doves most often is WLIR / WDRE (Long Island, NY), with 2 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1987.
Thrashing Doves were the kind of English guitar band that seemed forever one lucky break away from the big time. Ken Foreman sang and played guitar, his brother Brian Foreman handled keyboards, Ian Button played guitar and Kevin Sargent drums, with a rotating cast on bass: Hari Sajjan first, then James Eller, Claire Kenny and Gail Ann Dorsey, who went on to play with David Bowie.
Bedrock Vice, their 1987 album for A&M, was sharp and moody, all jangle and nervous energy. Its "Jesus on the Payroll" took on a second life when Bruce Forest remixed it the same year with David Cole on piano; that "Street Mix" is the record Paul Oakenfold credits with kicking off the Balearic movement, and its piano lick was later sampled by Bocca Juniors.
Their luck was stranger elsewhere. Some believe the career never recovered after Margaret Thatcher said she was fond of the video for "Beautiful Imbalance" when she caught it on Saturday Superstore, an episode that came to be called the Curse of Thrashing Doves. They opened for Duran Duran on tour in 1988 and shortened their name to The Doves for a third album before winding down in 1991. The Foremans and Sargent went on to write and produce music for media, while Button joined Death in Vegas.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Thrashing Doves on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jesus on the Payroll | 2 | #20 | – | 1987 | |
| 2 | Beautiful Imbalance | 2 | #52 | – | 1987 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 437 | Beautiful Imbalance | Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) |
| 1988 | 69 | Jesus on the Payroll | WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988) |
| 1987 | 52 | Beautiful Imbalance | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1987 |
| 1987 | 20 | Jesus on the Payroll | WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1987 |
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