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“When Love Comes To Town” by U2 with B.B. King

Released 1988 With B.B. King

“When Love Comes To Town” by U2 with B.B. King appears on 29 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 1988 and 2022. It was first released in 1988. Its best result is #73 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1988. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #234 alternative song of 1988 and #1,235 alternative song of all time.

29countdowns
9stations
#73best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1988–2022years charted

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When Love Comes To Town

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"When Love Comes to Town" is U2 going down to the crossroads with B.B. King riding shotgun, cut at Sun Studio in Memphis for 1988's Rattle and Hum and put out as the album's third single in 1989. Bono wrote the words, the band built the music, and King lends both his guitar and that big, weathered voice, trading lines with Bono like a preacher sizing up a nervous young deacon.

It's blues rock with the sleeves rolled up: the Edge chopping away on guitar, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. thumping out a revival-tent groove, and Helen Duncan, Phyllis Duncan and Rebecca Evans Russell lifting the choruses into gospel territory. Jimmy Iovine produced. It went to number one in Ireland and number six in the UK, and on the Lovetown Tour it became an encore showcase for King and his band, a slot it held in his own concerts long after U2 let it go.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1988 73 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1988 91

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1997 460 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
1999 1268 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1268 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1272 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1271 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 807 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2003 1256 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 319 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 1256 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1256 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 815 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 771 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 453 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 794 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 812 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 839 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2011 644 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 659 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2013 879 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 489 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) 500
2013 513 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 925 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 552 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 514 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 497 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2016 734 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2021 686 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 429 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500

Also listed as: When Love Comes to Town; When Love Comes to Tow.

Charting alongside it in 1988

Best songs of 1988 →
  1. 1SuedeheadMorrissey
  2. 2DesireU2
  3. 3Beds are BurningMidnight Oil
  4. 4Route 66Depeche Mode
  5. 5Peek-A-BooSiouxsie and the Banshees
  6. 6Chains of LoveErasure

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