Artist · chart history

Fastball

Band Austin United States Formed 1996 American rock band from Austin, Texas

Fastball formed in 1996 in Austin, United States. Fastball has 62 chart appearances on 47 radio countdowns from 23 stations on RockLists, spanning 1998–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “The Way”, which appears on 45 lists with a best position of #6. The station that charted Fastball most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 21 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1998.

62appearances

47countdowns

4songs charted

23stations

0#1 finishes

1998–2025years

Fastball came out of Austin, Texas, a rock band that started life as Magneto U.S.A. and swapped names once a record deal came through. Tony Scalzo and Miles Zuniga led the charge, with Joey Shuffield on drums.

Their moment was 1998 and All the Pain Money Can Buy, a record stuffed with sticky melodies and the kind of chorus you find yourself humming at the gas pump. "The Way" was the one that did it, a wistful, faintly eerie singalong that topped the Adult Alternative chart and landed the band 2 Grammy nominations, one for the song and one for its video. "Out of My Head", a lovely, lilting lament, followed it up the same chart, and "Fire Escape" kept the hooks coming. The album went platinum within six months and hung around the Billboard 200 for a full year, and back home the Austin Chronicle piled awards on them, Album of the Year and Band of the Year among them.

Fastball never scored that big again, but they never really stopped, either. By late 2021 they had turned to Patreon to fund new music and to share their demos and the stories behind the songs.

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

Songs by Fastball on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	The Way	2,664	45	#6	–	1998
2	Out of My Head	446	8	#52	–	1999
3	Fire Escape	227	8	#54	–	1998
4	Little White Lies	5	1	#103	–	2009

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

1998All the Pain Money Can Buy2 charting songs

Year-end chart timeline

Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.

98 99 09

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2025	320	The Way	WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s
2024	792	The Way	WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years
2023	131	The Way	105.9 The X July 420 (2023)
2023	759	The Way	WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023
2023	199	The Way	The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2022	125	The Way	105.9 The X July 420 (2022)
2022	490	The Way	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time
2022	161	The Way	The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s
2021	114	The Way	105.9 The X July 420 (2021)
2021	195	The Way	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s
2020	108	The Way	105.9 The X July 420 (2020)
2015	481	The Way	WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015)
2014	972	Out of My Head	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014	1461	The Way	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014	459	The Way	WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014)
2013	925	Out of My Head	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013	1399	The Way	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2011	876	Out of My Head	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011	1343	The Way	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010	847	Out of My Head	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010	1292	The Way	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010	131	The Way	WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010)
2009	103	Little White Lies	WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2009
2009	824	Out of My Head	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009	1256	The Way	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2008	803	Out of My Head	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008	1238	The Way	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007	744	Out of My Head	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007	1174	The Way	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2005	489	The Way	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005	970	The Way	99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)
2004	487	The Way	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2003	487	The Way	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2002	487	The Way	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2001	487	The Way	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001	306	The Way	WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001)
2000	480	The Way	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999	52	Out of My Head	91X Top 91 Songs of 1999
1999	294	The Way	91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)
1999	504	The Way	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	478	The Way	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	224	The Way	KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999)
1999	456	The Way	WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999)
1998	16	The Way	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1998
1998	102	Fire Escape	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1998
1998	30	The Way	91X Top 91 Songs of 1998
1998	12	The Way	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1998
1998	69	Fire Escape	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1998
1998	10	The Way	Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1998
1998	91	Fire Escape	Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1998
1998	24	The Way	WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1998
1998	98	Fire Escape	WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1998
1998	21	The Way	WFNX Top 101.7 Songs of 1998
1998	19	The Way	The End Top 107 Songs of 1998
1998	77	Fire Escape	The End Top 107 Songs of 1998
1998	14	The Way	The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 1998
1998	6	The Way	WEQX Top 102.7 of 1998
1998	13	The Way	DC101 Top 101 Songs of 1998
1998	54	Fire Escape	DC101 Top 101 Songs of 1998
1998	55	Fire Escape	WEQX Top 102.7 of 1998
1998	6	The Way	Radio & Records Top 103 Songs of 1998
1998	55	Fire Escape	Radio & Records Top 103 Songs of 1998

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