Artist · chart history
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Band San Francisco United States Formed 1995
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes formed in 1995 in San Francisco, United States. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes has 31 chart appearances on 14 radio countdowns from 5 stations on RockLists, spanning 1999–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Wild World”, which appears on 4 lists with a best position of #33. The station that charted Me First and the Gimme Gimmes most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 24 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2001.
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are the best joke in punk rock, and like all the best jokes they're dead serious about the timing. Formed in San Francisco in 1995, they're a supergroup of punk lifers who play nothing but other people's songs, ripping through a wide range of other people's hits at double speed with tongue firmly in cheek and slipping classic punk riffs into the mix for anyone paying attention. Spike Slawson sings, and over the years the lineup has included Fat Mike, Joey Cape, Chris Shiflett and Dave Raun, with C.J. Ramone, Pinch and John Reis in the current band. They took their name from a children's book by Gerald G. Jampolsky and Diane V. Cirincione.
Have a Ball, on Fat Wreck Chords in 1997, set the template: "Uptown Girl", "I Am a Rock", "Sweet Caroline" and "Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard" all given the buzzsaw treatment, the melodies intact and the tempos gleefully wrecked. Blow in the Wind in 2001 did the same to "Wild World", and Take a Break in 2003 took on "I Believe I Can Fly", which is exactly as funny as it sounds. These days they go by Spike and the Gimme Gimmes.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wild World | 4 | #33 | – | 2001 | |
| 2 | Uptown Girl | 7 | #1513 | – | – | |
| 3 | I Believe I Can Fly | 3 | #56 | – | 2003 | |
| 4 | I Am A Rock | 7 | #1692 | – | – | |
| 5 | Sweet Caroline | 8 | #593 | – | – | |
| 6 | Leaving On A Jet Plane | 1 | #306 | – | – | |
| 7 | Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard | 1 | #1971 | – | – |
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.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.