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Cover of Rocket by Primitive Radio Gods
Cover: Rocket

Song · Primitive Radio Gods

“Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand” by Primitive Radio Gods

From the album Rocket (1996)

“Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand” by Primitive Radio Gods appears on 44 radio countdowns from 21 stations between 1996 and 2026. It was first released in 1996 on the album Rocket. Its best result is #8 on the WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #11 alternative song of 1996, #1,146 alternative song of all time and #173 of the '90s.

44countdowns
21stations
#8best position
0#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
1996–2026years charted

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Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand

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"Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand" was the first single from Primitive Radio Gods, released in 1996 off the soundtrack to the black comedy The Cable Guy and folded into their debut album Rocket. Its secret weapon is a borrowed one: the chorus is a sample of B.B. King's 1964 "How Blue Can You Get", a bluesman's wail floating over a hazy, loping groove that Chris O'Connor produced.

The words are cryptic, sketching two people stuck in a relationship where neither can reach the other, and the mood is pure late-night drift. It went all the way to number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and Triple A charts, crossed over to number 10 on Hot 100 Airplay and number two in Canada, and pushed Rocket past 500,000 copies. The band never charted again.

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#StationCountdownof
1996 23 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1996 107
1996 80 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1996 91
1996 13 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1996 25
1996 13 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996 101
1996 8 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996 99
1996 15 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1996 107
1996 27 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of 1996 104
1996 50 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 1996 100
1996 36 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1996 100
1996 10 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 96 Songs of 1996 96

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 256 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 227 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 241 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 557 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
2000 87 DC101 DC101 Top 101 Rock Songs of the 90s 101
2002 1309 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2004 463 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2005 580 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 398 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 465 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2007 223 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 684 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 473 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 625 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 602 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 622 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 641 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 669 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 700 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 398 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 419 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 469 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2020 459 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2020 288 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2021 69 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 309 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 151 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 314 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2023 194 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 310 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2023 364 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2023 484 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2023 711 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places 800
2026 1131 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Also listed as: Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand; Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth; Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand; Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hands; Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand; Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth....

Charting alongside it in 1996

Best songs of 1996 →
  1. 1Down311
  2. 2PepperButthole Surfers
  3. 3Where It's AtBeck
  4. 4SpiderwebsNo Doubt
  5. 5What I GotSublime
  6. 6MachineheadBush

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