Artist · chart history

Buffalo Tom

Band Boston United States Formed 1986 US alternative rock band

Buffalo Tom formed in 1986 in Boston, United States. Buffalo Tom has 76 chart appearances on 45 radio countdowns from 14 stations on RockLists, spanning 1992–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Sodajerk”, which appears on 18 lists with a best position of #72. The station that charted Buffalo Tom most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 42 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1993.

76appearances

45countdowns

10songs charted

14stations

0#1 finishes

1992–2024years

Buffalo Tom came out of Boston in 1986 with a name built from Buffalo Springfield and their drummer's first name, and a sound that split the difference between big, bruised guitar rock and heart-on-sleeve songcraft. Bill Janovitz played guitar and sang most of the leads in a voice like gravel in honey, Chris Colbourn played bass and took his own turns at the mic, and Tom Maginnis kept it all moving on drums.

Let Me Come Over in 1992 gave them "Taillights Fade", a slow-burning, windswept ballad that has held its place on alternative countdowns ever since. Big Red Letter Day in 1993 was brighter and punchier, with "Sodajerk" and "I'm Allowed", and Sleepy Eyed in 1995 brought the scrappy, sun-bleached rush of "Summer".

Where plenty of their grunge-era neighbors went for sludge, Buffalo Tom went for melody and ache, and the songs have worn well. The band never really went away, either: Skins arrived in 2011, and "Guilty Girls" showed the old warmth was still there. One recent roundup of underrated '90s bands found room for them, and they deserve the rediscovery.

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

Songs by Buffalo Tom on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	Sodajerk	894	18	#72	–	1993
2	Taillights Fade	620	20	#34	–	1992
3	Summer	607	15	#50	–	1995
4	I'm Allowed	597	14	#1066	–	–
5	Rachael	116	4	#52	–	1998
6	The Only Living Boy In New York	32	1	#581	–	–
7	Going Underground	26	1	#627	–	–
8	Guilty Girls	18	1	#84	–	2011
9	All Be Gone	11	1	#75	–	2018
10	Slow Down	10	1	#80	–	2019

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.

92 93 95 98 99 11 18 19

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2024	581	The Only Living Boy In New York	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs
2024	627	Going Underground	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs
2023	541	Taillights Fade	The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2022	849	Taillights Fade	The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s
2019	80	Slow Down	WBER Listener Countdown 2019
2018	75	All Be Gone	WBER Listener Countdown 2018
2014	1079	Summer	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014	1294	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014	1394	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2013	1018	Summer	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013	1242	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013	1337	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2011	84	Guilty Girls	WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2011
2011	987	Summer	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011	1179	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011	1305	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010	956	Summer	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010	1142	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010	1252	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2009	927	Summer	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009	1103	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009	1223	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2008	910	Summer	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008	1080	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008	1203	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007	924	Summer	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007	1066	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007	1186	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2006	482	Taillights Fade	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006)
2005	452	Taillights Fade	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005)
2005	466	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005	1139	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005	1442	Summer	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2004	461	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2004	1139	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2004	1443	Summer	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2003	438	Taillights Fade	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003)
2003	461	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003	1139	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003	1443	Summer	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003	1017	Taillights Fade	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2002	418	Taillights Fade	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002)
2002	461	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002	1154	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002	1457	Summer	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002	1205	Taillights Fade	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1390	Sodajerk	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2001	303	Taillights Fade	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001)
2001	461	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001	1155	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001	1459	Summer	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2000	302	Taillights Fade	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000)
2000	460	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
2000	1153	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
2000	1454	Summer	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999	55	Rachael	WFNX Top 99 Songs of 1999
1999	930	Sodajerk	Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	34	Taillights Fade	WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999)
1999	433	Rachael	WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999)
1999	246	Taillights Fade	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999)
1999	459	Sodajerk	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	1151	I'm Allowed	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	1454	Summer	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	140	Taillights Fade	Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1999)
1998	52	Rachael	WFNX Top 101.7 Songs of 1998
1998	94	Rachael	The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 1998
1996	321	Taillights Fade	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)
1995	50	Summer	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1995
1995	72	Taillights Fade	Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1995)
1994	337	Taillights Fade	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)
1994	90	Taillights Fade	Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1994)
1993	76	Sodajerk	Live 105 Top 105 Songs of 1993
1993	72	Sodajerk	Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1993
1993	53	Taillights Fade	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993
1992	59	Taillights Fade	WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1992
1992	45	Taillights Fade	John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1992

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