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Cover of American Hi‐Fi by American Hi-Fi — Cover: American Hi‐Fi

Song · American Hi-Fi

“Flavor of the Weak” by American Hi-Fi

From the album American Hi‐Fi (2001)

“Flavor of the Weak” by American Hi-Fi appears on 18 radio countdowns from 17 stations between 2001 and 2020. It was first released in 2001 on the album American Hi‐Fi. Its best result is #12 on the G106.3 Top 106 Songs of 2001. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #23 alternative song of 2001, #4,632 alternative song of all time and #272 of the '00s.

18countdowns

17stations

#12best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

2001–2020years charted

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American Hi-Fi - Flavor Of The Weak

Video from YouTube (AmericanHiFiVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Flavor of the Weak" was the first single from American Hi-Fi's self-titled 2001 debut on Island, and it's a sunny slab of pop-punk with a grudge. Stacy Jones, who had drummed for Letters to Cleo and Veruca Salt, put the band together in Boston in 2000 out of close friends, first just to play covers. When he was invited to Maui to work on Nina Gordon's solo album, he brought them along to rehearse, and Bob Rock, who was on that project, heard his demos and offered to help.

The title twists "flavor of the week", and Jones wrote it about a female friend whose boyfriend was treating her badly. He has said he wasn't angling to be her guy; he just thought the boyfriend was an idiot, and the song's sneer comes through loud and clear. It remains the band's highest-charting single, peaking at 41 on the Hot 100.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
2001	50	KROQ Los Angeles, CA	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2001	107
2001	67	Live 105 San Francisco, CA	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2001	106
2001	25	Q101 Chicago, IL	Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2001	101
2001	44	WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD	WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2001	100
2001	61	K-Rock New York, NY	K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2001	93
2001	21	WFNX Boston, MA	WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2001	100
2001	25	107.7 The End Seattle, WA	The End Top 107 Songs of 2001	107
2001	28	89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON	89X Top 89 Songs of 2001	89
2001	73	CD101 Columbus, OH	CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2001	101
2001	18	The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC	The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2001	99
2001	33	102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany)	WEQX Top 102.7 of 2001	103
2001	12	WHTG Monmouth-Ocean, NJ	G106.3 Top 106 Songs of 2001	106
2001	24	97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL	97X Top 97 Songs of 2001	97
2001	28	99X Atlanta, GA	99X Top 99 Songs of 2001	99
2001	19	WBCN Boston, MA	WBCN Top 41 Songs of 2001	40
2001	20	Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart)	Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2001	100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
2005	567	99X	99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)	1000
2020	348	DC101	The DC101 Top 500	500

Also listed as: Flavor of the Week; Flavor Of The Weak.

Charting alongside it in 2001

Best songs of 2001 →

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