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Cover of Electriclarryland by Butthole Surfers
Cover: Electriclarryland

Song · Butthole Surfers

“Pepper” by Butthole Surfers

From the album Electriclarryland (1996)

“Pepper” by Butthole Surfers appears on 76 radio countdowns from 30 stations between 1996 and 2026. It was first released in 1996 on the album Electriclarryland. Its best result is #1 on The End Top 107 Songs of 1996. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #2 alternative song of 1996, #135 alternative song of all time and #73 of the '90s.

76countdowns
30stations
#1best position
1#1 finishes
7top 10 finishes
1996–2026years charted

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Butthole Surfers - Pepper

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

"Pepper" comes from Electriclarryland, the Butthole Surfers' seventh studio album, and it's the sound of the Butthole Surfers stumbling into a hit: a drowsy, loping groove with a woozy, half-spoken vocal that sounds less like a single than a daydream someone forgot to switch off. It came out on April 11, 1996.

Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary wrote it with Jeff Coffey, Steve Thompson produced it, Chris Shaw engineered and mixed it, and Mark Eddinger added keyboards.

It went all the way to number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and finished as that chart's top song of 1996, while reaching 26 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. It reached two on the Canadian RPM Alternative 30, 15 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart and 32 in New Zealand, and it placed four on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 1996.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1996 12 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1996 107
1996 11 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1996 91
1996 7 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1996 25
1996 7 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996 101
1996 4 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996 99
1996 1 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1996 107
1996 4 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of 1996 104
1996 17 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 1996 100
1996 4 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1996 100
1996 2 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 96 Songs of 1996 96
2005 54 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2005 101

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 123 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 286 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 379 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 189 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 201 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 235 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 238 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 203 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 97 The Buzz The Buzz Top 99 Songs of All-Time (1999) 99
2000 54 DC101 DC101 Top 101 Rock Songs of the 90s 101
2000 197 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 193 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 198 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 171 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 109 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 175 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 171 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 54 The Buzz The Buzz Top Songs of All-Time (Labor Day 2002, partial) 144
2002 288 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 220 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 171 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 83 Q101 Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 265 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 171 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 258 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2005 86 Live 105 Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of the '90s (August 2005) 106
2005 73 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the 90s 96
2005 379 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 151 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 88 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 53 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of the '90s (December 2006) 107
2006 88 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 209 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 379 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 150 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 63 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 262 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 57 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 79 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 57 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 55 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 53 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 57 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 55 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 90 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 82 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 90 X96 X96's Top 100 Songs of the 90's 100
2019 69 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2019 509 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2020 128 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2020 237 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2021 800 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 144 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 113 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 144 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2022 39 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2022 344 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2022 778 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time 1055
2023 355 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 145 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2023 83 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2023 830 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2025 357 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s 500
2025 278 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400
2026 39 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Charting alongside it in 1996

Best songs of 1996 →
  1. 1Down311
  2. 3Where It's AtBeck
  3. 4SpiderwebsNo Doubt
  4. 5What I GotSublime
  5. 6MachineheadBush
  6. 7Tonight, TonightThe Smashing Pumpkins

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