Artist · chart history · #198 in alternative artist polls

Reel Big Fish

Band Huntington Beach United States Formed 1992 California ska punk band

Reel Big Fish formed in 1992 in Huntington Beach, United States. Reel Big Fish has 48 chart appearances on 42 radio countdowns from 20 stations on RockLists, spanning 1997–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Sell Out”, which appears on 32 lists with a best position of #4. The station that charted Reel Big Fish most often is WBER (Rochester, NY), with 7 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1997.

48appearances

42countdowns

10songs charted

20stations

0#1 finishes

1997–2024years

Reel Big Fish came barrelling out of Huntington Beach, down in California's Orange County, in the early '90s, and by the middle of the decade they had ridden ska's third wave into the mainstream, the stampede that turned alternative rock into one long skank pit. Their 1996 album Turn the Radio Off, on Mojo Records, went gold: upstroke guitars, punk tempos and a horn section that sounds like it's been at the bar since noon.

That horn section never sat still for long. Trumpeters, trombonists and sax players came and went, Tavis Werts blowing trumpet and flugelhorn from 1994 to 2001 and bassist Matt Wong holding down the bottom end until 2007, while singer Aaron Barrett has been the one fixture through every shake-up. "Sell Out", the bouncing, horn-stabbed sing-along at the heart of Turn the Radio Off, is the song rock radio still pulls out of the pile, and Why Do They Rock So Hard? followed in 1998.

When the mainstream moved on, the fans didn't. Reel Big Fish kept a devoted cult following and has carried on as an independent band since 2006, still skanking on its own terms.

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

Songs by Reel Big Fish on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	Sell Out	1,640	32	#4	–	1997
2	Where Have You Been	117	2	#2	–	2002
3	She Has a Girlfriend Now	108	3	#35	–	1997
4	Take on Me	98	2	#67	–	1997
5	Talkin' Bout A Revolution	71	1	#67	–	2005
6	We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful	67	1	#76	–	2005
7	Good Thing	64	1	#71	–	2003
8	The Set Up	61	2	#43	–	1998
9	You Can't Have All Of Me	31	1	#72	–	2018
10	Twist And Crawl	2	1	#833	–	–

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.

97 98 02 03 05 18

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2024	95	Sell Out	The End Sweet Summer Vibes Countdown (2024)
2024	304	Take on Me	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs
2024	833	Twist And Crawl	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs
2023	162	Sell Out	105.9 The X July 420 (2023)
2023	223	Sell Out	The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2022	181	Sell Out	105.9 The X July 420 (2022)
2022	365	Sell Out	X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time
2022	642	Sell Out	The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s
2021	179	Sell Out	105.9 The X July 420 (2021)
2021	577	Sell Out	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s
2020	163	Sell Out	105.9 The X July 420 (2020)
2018	72	You Can't Have All Of Me	WEQX Top 102.7 of 2018
2007	343	Sell Out	KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007)
2006	479	Sell Out	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006)
2006	475	Sell Out	Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006)
2005	67 (tie)	Talkin' Bout A Revolution	WBER Listener Countdown 2005
2005	76 (tie)	We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful	WBER Listener Countdown 2005
2005	54	Sell Out	KEDJ Top 103 on Independent Radio
2005	711	Sell Out	99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)
2004	201	Sell Out	Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004)
2004	257	Sell Out	The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004)
2003	71 (tie)	Good Thing	WBER Listener Countdown 2003
2002	2	Where Have You Been	WBER Listener Countdown 2002
2002	34	Where Have You Been	88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 40 Songs of 2002
1999	363	Sell Out	Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	774	Sell Out	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	194	Sell Out	KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999)
1999	290	Sell Out	WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999)
1999	64	Artist ranking	KROQ Top 106.7 Artists of All-Time (Memorial Day 1999)
1999	94	Artist ranking	KROQ Top 106.7 Artists of All-Time (Year End 1999)
1998	43	The Set Up	91X Top 91 Songs of 1998
1998	92	The Set Up	WBER Listener Countdown 1998
1997	12	Sell Out	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1997
1997	20	Sell Out	91X Top 91 Songs of 1997
1997	23	Sell Out	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1997
1997	50	Sell Out	Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1997
1997	20	Sell Out	WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1997
1997	67	Take on Me	WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1997
1997	66	Sell Out	The End Top 107 Songs of 1997
1997	4	Sell Out	X103.9 Top 103.9 Songs of 1997
1997	7	Sell Out	105.7 The Point Top 105.7 of 1997
1997	25	Sell Out	WBER Listener Countdown 1997
1997	26	Sell Out	WEQX Top 102.7 of 1997
1997	35	She Has a Girlfriend Now	X103.9 Top 103.9 Songs of 1997
1997	75	She Has a Girlfriend Now	105.7 The Point Top 105.7 of 1997
1997	76	Sell Out	KNRK Top 94 Songs of 1997
1997	91 (tie)	She Has a Girlfriend Now	WBER Listener Countdown 1997
1997	26	Sell Out	Radio & Records Top 97 Songs of 1997

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