Song · Better Than Ezra
“King of New Orleans” by Better Than Ezra
From the album Friction, Baby (1996)
“King of New Orleans” by Better Than Ezra appears on 13 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1996 and 2005. It was first released in 1996 on the album Friction, Baby. Its best result is #36 on the Radio & Records Top 96 Songs of 1996. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #106 alternative song of 1996 and #3,175 alternative song of all time.
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"King of New Orleans" led off Friction, Baby, Better Than Ezra's third album, and it went out to American alternative radio in July 1996 on Elektra. Kevin Griffin wrote it alone, and it's a rowdy, strutting rocker with a swampy swing and a chorus built to be yelled back from a crowded floor. Modern rock stations ate it up: it climbed into the top 10 on both the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts and hung around the former for 17 weeks.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 64 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996 | 99 |
| 1996 | 81 | 107.7 The End Seattle, WA | The End Top 107 Songs of 1996 | 107 |
| 1996 | 101 | WBCN Boston, MA | WBCN Top 104 Songs of 1996 | 104 |
| 1996 | 36 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 96 Songs of 1996 | 96 |
| 1997 | 46 | 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO | 105.7 The Point Top 105.7 of 1997 | 106 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1560 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 1560 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1560 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 1555 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2002 | 1203 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1559 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 1559 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1558 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
Also listed as: King Of New Orleans.
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