Artist · chart history
Wire Train
Band San Francisco United States Active 1983–1992
Wire Train formed in 1983 in San Francisco, United States and was active until 1992. Wire Train has 10 chart appearances on 10 radio countdowns from 4 stations on RockLists, spanning 1984–2003. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Chamber of Hellos”, which appears on 6 lists with a best position of #167. The station that charted Wire Train most often is KROQ (Los Angeles, CA), with 4 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1990.
Wire Train began as the Renegades in 1982, started by San Francisco State students Kevin Hunter and Kurt Herr, and became Wire Train in 1983 when they were forced to find a new name. Two more classmates settled into the rhythm section: Argentine drummer Federico Gil Solá and Swedish bassist Anders Rundblad, a veteran of the bands Motvind and Gary T'To Band. Hunter and Herr both sang and played guitar.
That June they signed to 415 Records, the local label that also housed Translator, Red Rockers and Romeo Void and had a distribution deal with Columbia behind it. In a Chamber, produced by David Kahne at The Automatt, came out late in 1983, and it's a moody, chiming debut: guitars ringing like a warning bell, vocals half-lost in the echo. "Chamber of Hellos" and "I'll Do You" are its calling cards. The record did well on the college charts in 1984, and the band went out opening for Big Country.
Brian MacLeod later took over the drums from Gil Solá. Ten Women followed in 1987 with "She Comes On", and a self-titled album in 1990 brought "Should She Cry" and "Spin" before the band wound up in 1992.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Wire Train on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chamber of Hellos | 6 | #167 | – | – | |
| 2 | Should She Cry | 1 | #34 | – | 1990 | |
| 3 | She Comes On | 1 | #43 | – | 1987 | |
| 4 | I'll Do You | 1 | #101 | – | 1984 | |
| 5 | Spin | 1 | #1983 | – | – |
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.
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