Song · U2
“The Electric Co.” by U2
From the album Boy (1980)
“The Electric Co.” by U2 appears on 7 radio countdowns from 1 station between 2007 and 2014. It was first released in 1980 on the album Boy. Its best result is #1630 on the CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,138 alternative song of all time.
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"The Electric Co." turns up tenth on Boy, U2's 1980 debut for Island, and it has teeth. The title is shorthand for electric convulsion therapy: the band wrote it as a protest on behalf of a friend who tried to take his own life and ended up in a psychiatric hospital that dealt out the shocks. Steve Lillywhite produced, with The Edge's electric guitar, Adam Clayton's bass and Larry Mullen, Jr.'s drums lined up behind Bono.
Onstage it grew. From an Edinburgh show in 1980 through the end of The Unforgettable Fire Tour, they fronted it with a short piece called "The Cry", whose riff resurfaced in "Is That All?" on October in 1981, and Bono would tack a snatch of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" onto the end. The studio cut on Boy leaves "The Cry" off.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 1661 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 1630 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 1653 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 1692 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 1760 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 1815 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 1883 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
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