RockLists.com

Song · XTC

“Mayor of Simpleton” by XTC

Released 1989

“Mayor of Simpleton” by XTC appears on 45 radio countdowns from 12 stations between 1989 and 2026. It was first released in 1989. Its best result is #3 on the Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1989. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #10 alternative song of 1989, #592 alternative song of all time and #76 of the '80s.

45countdowns
12stations
#3best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1989–2026years charted

Watch

Mayor Of Simpleton

Video from YouTube (XTC - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Mayor of Simpleton" was the first single from XTC's 1989 album Oranges & Lemons, and it's Andy Partridge at his most tuneful, a bright, bouncing pop song that wears its cleverness lightly. Partridge wrote it alone, and Paul Fox produced, with Ed Thacker engineering.

The sound is all sunshine: jangling guitars, a bass line that skips around the melody like it's trying to steal the spotlight, and a chorus that goes straight into the bloodstream. Every part is placed with a jeweler's care, yet none of it sounds fussy.

It turned out to be the band's biggest single in America, reaching number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 15 on the Mainstream Rock chart and number one on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart. Modern rock radio grabbed it and never quite let go.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 14 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1989 107
1989 13 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1989 90
1989 3 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1989 105

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 41 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989) 101
1989 458 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1990 176 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) 299
1991 286 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) 302
1991 470 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1991 727 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1992 348 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1992 103 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1994 362 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 379 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 373 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1996 446 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 357 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1998 493 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 963 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 419 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 757 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 158 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 808 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 160 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 810 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 183 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 810 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 923 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 242 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 810 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 421 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 810 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 232 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 810 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2006 295 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 1283 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1227 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1251 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1283 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1334 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1388 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1450 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2020 1196 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 503 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2024 655 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2026 1155 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Also listed as: Mayor Of Simpleton; The Mayor of Simpleton; The Mayor Of Simpleton.

Charting alongside it in 1989

Best songs of 1989 →
  1. 1Love SongThe Cure
  2. 2StandR.E.M.
  3. 3Here Comes Your ManThe Pixies
  4. 4She Drives Me CrazyFine Young Cannibals
  5. 5Love ShackThe B-52's
  6. 6Personal JesusDepeche Mode

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Mayor of Simpleton" by XTC.

Be kind and stay on topic. Guidelines

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.