But all four members of the Throwing Muses went to my high school in late 70′s. How cool is that?

also, i’m only one zipcode away from the street ‘the grotto’ was named after. so that counts for something, right? right?

@Audif Jackson Winters III: Never remind a Cure fan of that atrocity. I used to like 311 before they got soft with that terrible “Amber” song.

The wierdest #1 song of 1999 was probably Sugar Ray’s “Every Morning.” Even if it was the follow-up to “Fly”, I’m surprised modern rock stations embraced such a CHR/Hot AC friendly song.

It’s so empty and vacuous, I could have sworn it was The Music.

1. The B-52′s – “Love Shack” (1989)
2. Depeche Mode – “Enjoy The Silence” (1990)
3. Peter Gabriel – “Digging In The Dirt” (1992)
4. Third Eye Blind – “Semi-Charmed Life” (1997)
5. Tears For Fears – “Break It Down Again” (1993)
6. Soul Asylum – “Somebody To Shove” (1993)
7. Belly – “Feed The Tree” (1993)
8. R.E.M. – “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” (1994)
9. Green Day – “Basket Case” (1994)
10. Tori Amos – “God” (1994)
11. Nirvana – “Heart-Shaped Box” (1993)
12. Linkin Park – “Faint” (2003)
13. Jane’s Addiction – “Stop!” (1990)
14. Lostprophats – “Last Train Home” (2004)
15. XTC – “The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead” (1992)
16. Sum 41 – “Fat Lip” (2001)
17. Limp Bizkit – “Re-Arranged” (1999)
18. U2 – “Discotheque” (1997)
19. Toad The Wet Sprocket – “Fall Down” (1994)
20. Camper Van Beethoven – “Pictures Of Matchstick Men” (1989)

1990: David J – “I’ll Be Your Chauffeur”
Before embarking on this column, I had no idea that being a Bauhaus alum was apparently all it took to top this chart in its early days. Love And Rockets reached No. 1 in ’89, and the next year both Peter Murphy and David J reached the summit as solo artists.

If, hypothetically, you had done a version of this column in September 1991 and decided to commemorate the first three years of the Modern Rock chart, Peter Murphy’s “Cuts You Up” would probably rank as one of the biggest hits in the short-lived format to that date – i.e., before grunge changed everything. Probably that song, and the Cure’s “Fascination Street.”

(See, kids — back then, the guyliner-wearing Euroweenies totally dominated the grumbly-voiced Americans. Yeah, we had it pretty good for a while there.)

2000: Green Day – “Minority”
Reminding myself that Green Day had such a popular “political” song shortly before American Idiot makes me marvel at how well they succeeded at selling that album as both a comeback and a change of pace.

I still say Warning is their underrated gem–I played that album quite a bit back then. And I still love the best single from that record, “Waiting.”

I have seen a change from the mostly college rock bands (XTC, The Cure, The Replacements, Love and Rockets, PiL) that got #1s in the early days as opposed to today’s #1s (yes, you have Weezer and Foo Fighters, but 30 Seconds to Mars? 10 Years? Alot of this is just plain “rock” instead of “alternative” in my definition).

Even bands like The Cure can’t get Top 10 hits anymore on the chart. Their last Top 40 appearance was this year’s “The Only One” which hit a paltry #31. And before that, the fine “The End of the World” could only manage #19 in 2004.

Not all hope is lost, tho. I was happy to see two songs by Californian shoegaze act Silversun Pickups in the Top 10 last year.

@Al Shipley: semi-charmed life could have been the best one-hit wonder ever. then, sadly, they had SO MANY other songs…