The Top 70 Modern Rock Tracks of 1995-96 (Part 1)

Let's celebrate the Class of 1996's 25-year reunion with a musical walk down memory lane.

I have a bunch of pet theories that make perfect sense to me, even if it isn’t necessarily the case. One of them is that people don’t necessarily associate songs that came out during high school/college with the calendar year but their year of school.

This premise floated back up to me when I saw The Hood Internet’s excellent “60 Songs From 1995 Remixed Into 3½ Minutes” video back in March. When listening, I felt equal parts “oh, that was junior year” and “oh, that was senior year.”

The same thing happened a week later when 1996 was released, equal parts senior year and freshman year of college.

It makes sense that, especially as one gets older, one might look back on songs that one listened to when they were younger and have specific memories associated with them.

This premise bubbled back up to me when I discovered a massive playlist on Spotify that assembled the songs of the Billboard Modern Rock Charts from 1988 (when it debuted) to 1999 (they quit when they hit “Smooth”). Clocking in at over 1700 songs, this list is an amazing bit of both nostalgia and discovery for me.

As I listened to 1995-96 on this list and the memories flooded back as the Class of 2021 gets ready to graduate, I had a notion of firing up the newsletter again and reviewing every song from that period in an article. Realizing that would be 150+ songs and a lot of repetition if I went chronologically, I then thought, “Well, why not just rank it? People like rankings!” So that’s what we’re doing here, even if it was much more challenging than I initially anticipated.

Core premises of the ranking:
1). Memory and sentiment win out. The rankings are subjective, but strong associations (generally positive) might boost an otherwise objectively middling song in the list. That said, I cannot ignore the impact of the last 25 years of my life on it.

2). The Billboard Modern Rock Chart only looked at airplay, generally from singles, so there might be a lot of great album tracks from this year that are skipped, both from albums that were still generating singles into late 1995 and albums that were released during summer 1996. This means a couple of bits of weirdness which I will acknowledge: That there are album tracks from artists that I love more than the singles, that there were songs still in the atmosphere during this time that had come out earlier, and the later songs lingering into the next year. But in order to execute the premise, I had to create artificial constraints. It was hard enough getting this down to 70 songs. Using any Billboard chart, but especially this chart is an exercise in imperfection. But it does give us a window into the moment, even if only translucently.

3). Building off point 1 and point 2, I have picked the Gin Blossoms’ “Til I Hear it From You” as the starting point of the last week of August 1995, which was the first week of my senior year of high school, and “E-Bow The Letter” by R.E.M. as the ending point, as it was released as a single the week that I moved into my dorm at Michigan in late August 1996. If you’d like to quibble with this, I get it, but I’m running with it.

4). My musical tastes of the era were largely forged by Detroit radio station The Planet 96.3, which became a full-on alternative station in May 1994. The Planet’s playlist did give a lot of love to local Detroit alternative bands at the time, which don’t show up on the Modern Rock Charts, but the match-up between the Planet’s core playlist and the chart is strong enough to make this a worthwhile premise.

Before we start, here’s the list of Billboard Modern Rock Chart toppers from September 1995 to August 1996:

Every song on the above list, except “Comedown” by Bush and “Tomorrow” by Silverchair, made the final cut, largely because of the artificial constraints of the exercise. Had I been willing to shell out for a full year of Billboard Pro, I probably could have made this more accurate, but we’ll just have to live with these issues.

So, we’re going to count down the 70 songs in reverse order. I’ll try and give you a little info about the song in the header along with a story. There will be an embedded Spotify Playlist at the end of all 70 if you’re one of those folks who likes to just skip the personal story and go straight to the recipe.

All of that preamble in the books, here we go:

70). “Can’t Wait One Minute More” by CIV (from Set Your Goals, released October 1995) (peaked at #21)
A quick punk track, checking in under three minutes, this track makes the cut largely for its exceptionally memorable drum part.

69). “Satellite” by Dave Matthews Band (from Under the Table and Dreaming, released September 1994) (peaked at #18)
I unironically enjoy Dave Matthews Band. Not as much as I did in high school and in college. Certainly not as much as the day when I was walking down a hallway in a different part of Bursley to help someone I had just met get their computer on to the ethernet and heard six different DMB songs coming out of various open doors to rooms as I walked by. The problem with our artificial constraint here is that “Satellite” was the fifth single from Under the Table and it’s only OK. “Ants Marching” was one of the big songs of summer 1995, “Typical Situation”, “Jimi Thing”, and “What Would You Say” were all much better singles, and by this point, I had tired of Under the Table a bit. So it lands here.

68). “Glycerine” by Bush (from Sixteen Stone, released December 1994) (peaked at #1 -12/16/1995)
Similar to the previous entry, another song that gets knocked down a little bit for being the fourth single off Sixteen Stone and the change of pace track from the album. By this point, we had spun a lot of Bush and it would need to come up more situationally going forward. (Spoiler, it will.)

67). “Mighty K.C.” by For Squirrels (from Example, released October 1995) (peaked at #15 at some point, likely November 1995.)
One of the best parts about writing this piece was that it opened me up to digging around about some bands I had forgotten about. “Mighty K.C.” got a lot of attention at the time of its release, in part, because it was about the death of Kurt Cobain. What I had forgotten was that just prior to its release, two of the founding members of For Squirrels had been killed in a van accident. What is striking about this song is how much it feels like a blending of grunge influences and jangle-pop, which shouldn’t work, but somehow, does.

66). “King of New Orleans” by Better than Ezra (from Friction, Baby, released August 1996) (peaked at #6 on September 17, 1996)
One of the recurrent themes in the bottom of this list (and keeping in mind that the “bottom” here still represents the middle portion of the massive list of potential songs) is that because we’re dealing with singles and singles in the order in which they were released, the windows of my preferred songs from albums may not line up perfectly. To wit, “Desperately Wanting”, the album’s second single, is a much better song and one I absolutely relate with my freshman year of college. But “King of New Orleans” is a solid outing from BTE, nevertheless.

65). “Popular” by Nada Surf (from High/Low, released June 1996) (peaked at #11 on August 3, 1996)
Sometimes a song hits you at the exact wrong moment. “Popular” is one exception. It’s a fun and clever song, with the memorable spoken word advice taken from an actual 1964 teen advice book. But when this song came out, right after I graduated, well, I wasn’t really in the mood for it. (Nada Surf deserved way more attention for 2002’s “Inside of Love” and “Happy Kid”, but that’s another discussion.)

64). “Pepper” by Butthole Surfers (from Electriclarryland, released May 1996) (peaked at #1 on July 6, 1996)
Another recurrent theme of this list is the popularity of talk-singing or sarcastic monotones in songs from this year. Apparently written as a send-up of a Beck song (I can see it), the cool reverse effect on the bridge coupled with the wind howling in the background gives it a surreal, atmosopheric quality.

63). “Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham (from The Burdens of Being Upright, released March 1996) (peaked at #1 on June 8, 1996)
Four of the last five songs all feature massive shifts in tonality between the verse and chorus, which I might not have noticed if I had not ended up running them all together. “Mother Mother” is interesting because of the premise of essentially having the verses be the mundane details of every day life one might share on a phone call with one’s mother, while the chorus is the speaker’s true feelings and fears.

62). “Sister” by The Nixons (from Foma, released May 1995) (peaked at #11 on May 11, 1996)
I make no claims to understanding the ins and outs of record promotion, but I did find it fascinating how often a debut single would languish for weeks and months until it struck the right chord and started to move. There’s a very Candlebox quality to this track and I think the familiarity serves it well. It’s also worth noting that this song ended up doing better on the Mainstream Rock chart (peaked at #6).

61). “Ironic” by Alanis Morisette (from Jagged Little Pill, released June 1995) (peaked at #1 on March 16, 1996)
So the ironic thing about “Ironic” is how few of the examples of irony are actually ironic. Which, of course, makes the entire song ironic, oh my, was Alanis actually trolling us the whole time? Probably not, but maybe!

60). “The World I Know” by Collective Soul (from Collective Soul, released March 1995) (peaked at #6 on January 9, 1996)
It is worth mentioning that Collective Soul was hot enough in 1994 solely on the basis of “Shine” to be the final performer on the first night of Woodstock ‘94. That’s not necessarily an honor so much as it is a snapshot of the moment. So when the self-titled album came out in March 1995, it was very eagerly anticipated. That they chose “Gel” (well, that someone chose “Gel” as the lead single, maybe the Jerky Boys movie people? Anyway…) “The World I Know” is a nice little soaring, hopeful song and it works.

59). “Possum Kingdom” by Toadies (from Rubberneck, released August 1994) (peaked at #4 on November 25, 1995)
There’s lore! It’s named for a lake in Texas and the songwriter, Todd Lewis, intended it to be a continuation of a story from a previous song about a self-immolating cult. There are times that I really need to not research these things. In the end, it’s pretty solid, the guitar work is what draws me to it.

58). “My Friends” by Red Hot Chili Peppers (from One Hot Minute, released September 1995) (peaked at #1 on November 18, 1995)
There’s also a realization that some of the songs that made this list in the lower portion just simply got killed by radio overplay. A bunch of the #1s on here are #1s because they were radio airplay leaders, so it makes sense. This is a perfectly fine song, certainly not the strongest on the album, but it’s fine.

57). “Hook” by Blues Traveler (from four, released September 1994) (peaked at #13 on November 18, 1995)
So I like “Hook” more now in part because of an AV Club article in 2012 I read that basically says “Hook is a work of musical metafiction” and it has to do with music theory and Pachelbel’s Canon in D. The harmonica part is fun, and the speed run through the bridge’s lyrics are always a fun thing to try and sing along with.

56). “Hand in My Pocket” by Alanis Morissette (from Jagged Little Pill, released June 1995) (peaked at #1 on October 14, 1995)
The trash quiz bowl player in my cannot help but think of the is “For five points per correct answer and a bonus five for all correct, name the five things that Alanis’s other hand is doing in the chorus section of “Hand in My Pocket”.

55). “A Girl Like You” by Edwyn Collins (from Gorgeous George, released July 1994) (peaked at #7 on October 7, 1995)
You cannot talk about 1995-96 in music without recognizing one of the critical texts of the era: The soundtrack to Empire Records. The movie itself only made $300K in box office receipts (though it would become a basic cable staple during the last part of the 1990s), but its soundtrack has some tremendous hitters of songs, including the really excellent fuzzy guitars backing this one and Collins’ high drama vocal style. We’ll be coming back to it a couple of more times in this piece.

54). “Spiderwebs” by No Doubt (from Tragic Kingdom, released October 1995) (peaked at #5 on July 6, 1996)
On the Hood Internet’s 1995 track, one of my favorite moments was immediately recognizing the opening drum fill from “Spiderwebs” before the song kicks into the “Champagne Supernova” lyrics. I also like the retro feel of the idea of screening one’s phone calls in part because someone tried to woo you with terrible poetry.

53). “Machinehead” by Bush (from Sixteen Stone, released December 1994) (peaked #4 in May 1996)
There is one reason that this song ranks as high as it does. The first 21 seconds of the song got a LOT of use at Joe Louis Arena before faceoffs during the Red Wings playoff runs of the late 1990s. I cannot hear that guitar riff and not immediately think of a critical third-period face-off in the Red Wings zone as they held on to a one-goal lead late in a game at some point in May.

52). “So Much to Say” by Dave Matthews Band (from Crash, released April 1996) (peaked at #19 in August 1996)
I unabashedly love Crash, even if the Nibblonians do not. But, part of my enjoyment of DMB, much like many of my Gen X peers are for the album tracks and live performances of said album tracks. But “So Much to Say” gets some love here for the pretend profound line “I find, sometimes it’s easy to be myself. Some times, I find it’s better to be somebody else.” I mean, where’s the lie?

51). “Cumbersome” by Seven Mary Three (from American Standard, released September 1995) (peaked at #7 on January 6, 1996)
Another song that did better on the Mainstream Rock chart (it topped it) than the Modern Rock chart, I like the muted guitars that are just the opening riff over and over again. Also, the way the bass guitar carries the bridge is a pretty cool trick. In a peak “that’s how life was in the 1990s” this song helped American Standard go platinum.

50). “One of Us” by Joan Osborne (from Relish, released March 1995) (peaked at #7 on December 9, 1995)
This one did better on the Hot 100 (peaking at #4) which makes sense given the wide array of formats that could fit it into their format. Again, while the lyrics are clever and memorable, but the guitar work in this is supremely underrated, especially in the bridge.

49). “Who Will Save Your Soul” by Jewel (from Pieces of You, released February 1995) (peaked at #14 on July 6, 1996)
Jewel’s voice is always powerful on her best tracks, and you can see why this was chosen as the lead single. It is a perfect bit of AAA radio, the guitar line just sits down and the lyrics are contemplative. And now Jewel stars in Hallmark Mystery Movies.

48). “Ready to Go” by Republica (from Republica, released July 1996) (peaked at #7 on October 26, 1996)
Hey, pop-techno was a thing, especially if you could throw some guitars in. I feel like this song was designed in a lab somewhere to be played at sporting events. It has guitars, it has big drums, it has a slightly sneering British vocalist. This is made for time outs at an NBA game.

47). “Tonight, Tonight” by The Smashing Pumpkins (from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, released October 1995) (peaked at #5 on July 13, 1996)
”And the embers never fade, in the city by lake.” The strings are by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Tom Kenney’s in the Jules Verne-inspired video! And apparently, it was Billy Corrigan’s homage to…Cheap Trick? It’s all there and it works.

46). “Salvation” by the cranberries (from To the Faithful Departed, released October 1995) (peaked at #1 on May 11, 1996)
The #1 song on the Modern Rock Chart the day I graduated high school, three things stand out to me:
1). Dolores O'Riordan is one of my favorite “Hey, the accent comes through in the singing” singers.
2). When I was at Orientation at Michigan in June 1996, someone had made a project on an iMac that used the last 20 seconds of the song, including the distinctive drum hits, which was looping on a computer in the East Quad library every four minutes, much to the chagrin of the presenters, who sent someone to go find a mute button. This is my core memory of this song.
3). It’s remarkable who little staying power any of the songs from To the Faithful Departed have had relative to the bedrock staying power of “Dreams” and “Linger”

45). “Free to Decide” by the cranberries (from To the Faithful Departed, released October 1995) (peaked at #8 on August 3, 1996)
If you would like proof that I really ranked these songs and didn’t just try to make a good playlist, consider that I would never have put two songs by the same artist back to back if I was just making a playlist. A song in reaction to the inevitable backlash that comes in the press when you reach a high point “Because harassment's not my forte/But you do it very well” is a very cutting line that I still really love.

44). “Peaches” by The Presidents of the United States of America (from their self-titled album, released March 1995) (peaked at #8 on February 27, 1996)
”Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of peaches, peaches for free.”
Apparently, this was the call and response test to see if you were a geriatric millennial, but I mean…OK, yeah. Gen X gets ignored again. Also, I learned that my wife, despite also being a fellow 96er, has no memory of this song, but this is mostly because she was a Top 40 listener and I fired up “This Is How We Do It” and she knew all the words, so yeah, same age, different worlds.

43). “Friends of P.” by The Rentals (from Return of The Rentals, released October 1995) (peaked at #7 on November 18, 1995)
"Wow, this sounds way more like a Cars song than I remember."

"The "P" in the track "Friends of P." has had multiple theories presented as to its meaning. The actual "P" in the song refers to Paulina Porizkova, the wife of The Cars guitarist Ric Ocasek, who produced the first Weezer album, known as The Blue Album. Porizkova made a claim that no one had ever written a song about her, and so [then Weezer bassist and Rentals frontman Matt] Sharp took on the task."

“OK, that makes sense.”

42). “Just Like Anyone” by Soul Asylum (from Let Your Dim Light Shine, released June 1995) (peaked at #19 on October 7, 1995)
Yes, “Misery” is a much better song off the album (and was a great song of Summer 1995.) And yes, I do really enjoy Soul Asylum. But really, this song got bumped up several spots due to the starring role of Claire Danes in the video. No regrets.

41). “Crush with Eyeliner” by R.E.M. (from Monster, released September 1994) (peaked at #20 on August 26, 1995)
Monster is a core part of my junior year experience. R.E.M. going back to basics with rock and roll after two super jangly, introspective albums. “Crush” is a fine song, but it’s in the middle of the pack of my Monster favorites. But, the guitar effect is really cool and its appearance on the Captain Marvel soundtrack gets it a slot in the middle of the pack here.

40). “Only Happy When It Rains” by Garbage (from their self-titled album, released August 1995) (peaked at #16 on March 16, 1996)
Speaking of Captain Marvel…Shirley Manson’s distinctive vocals, the clear homages to power pop, and the clever lyrics that are in direct contrast to the sound and feel of the music. A great track.

39). “1979” by The Smashing Pumpkins (from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, released October 1995) (peaked at #1 on March 2, 1996)
Would I like this song better if it were 1978? Probably. Still a very strong track.

38). “E-Bow the Letter” by R.E.M. (from New Adventures in Hi-Fi, released September 9, 1996) (peaked at #2 on September 4, 1996)
Man, it was exciting that we were getting a new R.E.M. album right as I started college. My favorite band putting out a new album, following up Monster? And then this is the first single. I fully admit that I did not appreciate “E-Bow”, including its inclusion of Patti Smith on guest vocals, the return of Stipe singing words that sounded good together even if they didn’t make sense, that it’s a lament to the loss of River Phoenix, or the whole of New Adventures until much later. It was not until 2020, for instance, that I learned that a number of people consider New Adventures to be their favorite R.E.M. album! It compelled me to go back and relisten. That’s when I discovered that “Undertow” should absolutely have been a single, but I don’t get to make these choices.

37). “Everything Falls Apart” by Dog’s Eye View (from Happy Nowhere, released October 1995) (peaked at #11 on November 11, 1995)
36). “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something (from Home, released May 1995) (peaked at #30 on November 4, 1995)
These songs are inexorably linked in my head, in part because they’re three-word titles from roughly the same part of the year from bands with three word names that start with D. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “Everything Falls Apart” both did much better on the Hot 100 than they did on the Modern Rock Charts, and yeah, they don’t sound alike, but they are stuck together in my head to the point where I subconsciously ranked them next to each other on this list.

Since I am running up against the size limit for an email, I’ll push this half out now and the second half out soon. 35-1, now live!