Song · Smash Mouth
“All-Star” by Smash Mouth
From the album Astro Lounge (1999)
“All-Star” by Smash Mouth appears on 23 radio countdowns from 18 stations between 1999 and 2023. It was first released in 1999 on the album Astro Lounge. Its best result is #9 on The End Top 107 Songs of 1999. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #15 alternative song of 1999, #3,181 alternative song of all time and #118 of the '90s.
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"All-Star" exists because Smash Mouth's label asked for it: Interscope wanted more singles for Astro Lounge, the band's second album, so guitarist Greg Camp went off and came back with one of the last songs written for the record, which then went out as its first single in 1999. Camp had Sugar Ray and Third Eye Blind in his ears and an anthem for the outcasts in mind, and producer Eric Valentine buffed it into pure radio candy, a long way from the ska-punk scramble of Fush Yu Mang.
Steve Harwell sings it with a grin you can hear, over Paul De Lisle's bass, Kevin Coleman's drums and Michael Klooster's keyboards. It picked up a Grammy nomination and rode along with Mystery Men in its video, and then Shrek in 2001 made it the song nobody could escape, a second life that later turned it into an internet meme.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 14 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1999 | 107 |
| 1999 | 28 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1999 | 91 |
| 1999 | 47 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1999 | 106 |
| 1999 | 18 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1999 | 101 |
| 1999 | 20 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1999 | 100 |
| 1999 | 75 | K-Rock New York, NY | K-Rock Top 92 Songs of 1999 | 92 |
| 1999 | 12 | WFNX Boston, MA | WFNX Top 99 Songs of 1999 | 99 |
| 1999 | 9 | 107.7 The End Seattle, WA | The End Top 107 Songs of 1999 | 107 |
| 1999 | 15 | 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON | 89X Top 89 Songs of 1999 | 89 |
| 1999 | 28 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 1999 | 103 |
| 1999 | 24 | 93XRT Chicago, IL | WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 1999 | 25 |
| 1999 | 10 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 104 Songs of 1999 | 104 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 127 | KROQ | KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) | 300 |
| 1999 | 247 | WHFS | WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) | 500 |
| 1999 | 459 | 91X | 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) | 500 |
| 1999 | 650 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 1999 | 187 | WLIR / WDRE | WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 300 |
| 1999 | 384 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 1999 | 986 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2000 | 55 | Y100 | Y100 Top 300 Songs of the '90s (September 2000) | 100 |
| 2001 | 274 | WBRU | WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) | 500 |
| 2022 | 897 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2023 | 666 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
Also listed as: All Star.
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