Artist · chart history

Ben Kweller

Solo artist San Francisco United States

Ben Kweller is an artist from San Francisco. Ben Kweller has 49 chart appearances on 37 radio countdowns from 18 stations on RockLists, spanning 2002–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Penny on the Train Track”, which appears on 10 lists with a best position of #31. The station that charted Ben Kweller most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 19 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2002.

49appearances

37countdowns

18songs charted

18stations

0#1 finishes

2002–2026years

Ben Kweller, born in 1981 and a former member of Radish, has built a solo career out of scrappy, big-hearted indie rock that never forgets to leave a hook lying around. Sha Sha (2002) introduced him with "Wasted and Ready", a scruffy rocker with a pop song hiding underneath, and On My Way (2004) followed with "The Rules".

His self-titled album of 2006, on ATO, brought "Penny on the Train Track", a bright, bouncing tune that sounds like it was written in one happy afternoon. The Sundress EP arrived the same year.

He has kept the output steady since, with Go Fly a Kite (2012) and "Mean To Me", Circuit Boredom (2020) and "American Cigarettes", and Cover The Mirrors (2025), carrying "Optimystic" and "Dollar Store", for 7 solo albums in all.

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

Songs by Ben Kweller on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	Penny on the Train Track	375	10	#31	–	2007
2	The Rules	354	9	#81	–	2004
3	Optimystic	155	3	#31	–	2025
4	Wasted and Ready	150	6	#57	–	2002
5	Sundress	122	3	#75	–	2006
6	Falling	98	1	#6	–	2002
7	American Cigarettes	96	3	#48	–	2022
8	Starz	88	1	#12	–	2020
9	Walk On Me	81	1	#44	–	2002
10	Comerce, Tx	81	1	#39	–	2003
11	Mean To Me	80	3	#32	–	2012
12	Sawdust Man	39	1	#55	–	2009
13	Heart Attack Kid	37	1	#127	–	2019
14	Dollar Store	34	1	#61	–	2025
15	Until I Die	29	1	#93	–	2007
16	Just for Kids	21	2	#86	–	2021
17	Jealous Girl	20	1	#106	–	2012
18	Run	14	1	#779	–	–

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.

02 03 04 06 07 09 12 19 20 21 22 25

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2026	478	Optimystic	KXT 917 Song Countdown
2026	500	American Cigarettes	KXT 917 Song Countdown
2025	31	Optimystic	WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2025
2025	55	Optimystic	KXT Top 91 Songs of 2025
2025	61	Dollar Store	KXT Top 91 Songs of 2025
2024	269	Sundress	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century
2022	48	American Cigarettes	WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2022
2022	91	American Cigarettes	KXT Top 91.7 Songs of 2022
2022	779	Run	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s
2021	86	Just for Kids	WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2021
2021	88	Just for Kids	WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2021
2020	12	Starz	WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2020
2019	127	Heart Attack Kid	Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2019
2018	705	Sundress	WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018
2014	1155	The Rules	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014	1561	Penny on the Train Track	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014	1914	Mean To Me	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2013	1107	The Rules	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013	1506	Penny on the Train Track	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013	1911	Mean To Me	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2012	32	Mean To Me	CD101 Top 102.5 Songs of 2012
2012	106 (tie)	Jealous Girl	WBER Listener Countdown 2012
2011	1134	The Rules	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011	1463	Penny on the Train Track	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010	1096	The Rules	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010	1401	Penny on the Train Track	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2009	55	Sawdust Man	88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2009
2009	1055	The Rules	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009	1370	Penny on the Train Track	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2008	1039	The Rules	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008	1376	Penny on the Train Track	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007	31	Penny on the Train Track	CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2007
2007	93	Until I Die	WBER Listener Countdown 2007
2007	68	Penny on the Train Track	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2007
2007	829	The Rules	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007	1177	Penny on the Train Track	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2006	35	Penny on the Train Track	Y100 Top 88.5 Songs of 2006
2006	75	Sundress	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2006
2004	81	The Rules	WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2004
2004	100	The Rules	CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2004
2003	39 (tie)	Comerce, Tx	WBER Listener Countdown 2003
2003	475	Wasted and Ready	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003)
2002	57	Wasted and Ready	91X Top 91 Songs of 2002
2002	58	Wasted and Ready	Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2002
2002	75	Wasted and Ready	The End Top 107 Songs of 2002
2002	77	Wasted and Ready	The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2002
2002	6	Falling	WBER Listener Countdown 2002
2002	44 (tie)	Walk On Me	WBER Listener Countdown 2002
2002	95	Wasted and Ready	Buzz 103.1 The 103 Most Played Buzz Cuts of 2002

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