Artist · chart history · #99 in indie & aaa artist polls
Traffic
Band Birmingham United Kingdom Active 1967–1994 English rock band
Traffic formed in 1967 in Birmingham, United Kingdom and was active until 1994. Traffic has 154 chart appearances on 65 radio countdowns from 22 stations on RockLists, spanning 1991–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys”, which appears on 44 lists with a best position of #31. The station that charted Traffic most often is 100.7 WZLX (Boston, MA), with 45 appearances.
Traffic got together in Birmingham in April 1967, when Steve Winwood, the boy wonder of the Spencer Davis Group, joined Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason and the four of them set out to go wherever the music took them. They started out psychedelic, then kept widening the palette: Mellotron and harpsichord, sitar, a clutch of reed instruments, and a growing taste for jazz and long improvisation. The debut, Mr. Fantasy, gave rock radio "Dear Mr. Fantasy", a slow-burning, hypnotic jam, and British singles like "Paper Sun" and "Hole in My Shoe" were pure flower-power confection.
Their second album brought "Feelin' Alright?", a fan favorite that other artists have covered again and again. Mason left soon after, and before long the band folded when Winwood went off to the supergroup Blind Faith.
That didn't last, and by 1970 Winwood, Capaldi and Wood had revived Traffic as a trio. John Barleycorn Must Die, with the rolling "Glad", "Freedom Rider" and the brooding title track, became their biggest American hit to date, and The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, by which time the lineup had grown to include Ric Grech and Rebop Kwaku Baah, went platinum on the strength of FM radio and its hypnotic title track. They split in the '70s and reunited for one last album and tour in 1994. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted them in 2004.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Traffic on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys | 44 | #31 | – | – | |
| 2 | Dear Mr. Fantasy | 48 | #29 | – | – | |
| 3 | Feeling Alright | 12 | #64 | – | – | |
| 4 | Glad | 10 | #364 | – | – | |
| 5 | John Barleycorn | 10 | #163 | – | – | |
| 6 | Low Spark of High-heel | 3 | #318 | – | – | |
| 7 | Glad / Freedom Rider | 3 | #245 | – | – | |
| 8 | Empty Pages | 6 | #695 | – | – | |
| 9 | Low Spark | 2 | #259 | – | – | |
| 10 | Rock And Roll Stew | 4 | #684 | – | – | |
| 11 | Rainmaker | 1 | #393 | – | – | |
| 12 | Heaven Is In Your Mind | 1 | #621 | – | – | |
| 13 | Rock and Roll Stew(par | 3 | #792 | – | – | |
| 14 | Light Up Or Leave Me Alone | 2 | #824 | – | – | |
| 15 | Light Up or Leave Me A | 3 | #817 | – | – | |
| 16 | Freedom Rider | 1 | #1697 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about Traffic.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.