Song · Phantom Planet
“California” by Phantom Planet
From the album The Guest (2002)
“California” by Phantom Planet appears on 13 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 2002 and 2024. It was first released in 2002 on the album The Guest. Its best result is #29 (tie) on the WBER Listener Countdown 2002. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #142 alternative song of 2002 and #5,501 alternative song of all time.
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"California" came off The Guest, Phantom Planet's second album, in 2002, a sun-bleached road song about barreling up U.S. Route 101 to catch a show. Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake produced it, with Blake also recording and mixing, and the piano that bookends the track tips its hat to an old standard: it sits close enough to Al Jolson's "California, Here I Come" that the estates of Jolson and his songwriters share the credit with Alex Greenwald and Jason Schwartzman.
Then television got hold of it. As the theme to Fox's The O.C., it put the band in front of a far bigger audience and went top 10 in the UK, Ireland, Austria and Italy. The band later cut a much gentler take, "California 2005".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 69 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2002 | 101 |
| 2002 | 72 | Y100 Philadelphia, PA | Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2002 | 100 |
| 2002 | 93 | The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC | The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2002 | 99 |
| 2002 | 29 (tie) | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 2002 | 224 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 1964 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2005 | 665 | 99X | 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) | 1000 |
| 2007 | 1940 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 1940 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 1966 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 534 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2022 | 366 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2023 | 104 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
| 2024 | 1024 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
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