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Cover of Hot by Squirrel Nut Zippers
Cover: Hot

Song · Squirrel Nut Zippers

“Hell” by Squirrel Nut Zippers

From the album Hot (1996)

“Hell” by Squirrel Nut Zippers appears on 45 radio countdowns from 21 stations between 1997 and 2023. It was first released in 1996 on the album Hot. Its best result is #10 on the WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1997. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #17 alternative song of 1997, #781 alternative song of all time and #146 of the '90s.

45countdowns
21stations
#10best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1997–2023years charted

Watch

Squirrel Nut Zippers "Hell" - Music Video directed by Norwood Cheek and Grady Cooper

Video from YouTube (gradycooper). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Hell" is the song that carried the Squirrel Nut Zippers, a retro swing band with a weakness for big band sounds and tongue-in-cheek wisecracks, out onto alternative radio. Tom Maxwell wrote it, words and music, and Mike Napolitano and Brian Paulson recorded it for Hot, the band's second album, which arrived in June 1996 as the follow-up to their well-liked debut, The Inevitable.

Hot went down well with most critics, who enjoyed its humor and the way it reached across generations, and "Hell" was the single pulled from it. It climbed to No. 13 on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart, and although it never cracked the Pop Top 50, it still got played on 24 pop stations, a fair haul for a band so devoted to vintage swing.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1997 18 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1997 107
1997 17 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1997 91
1997 12 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1997 105
1997 64 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1997 101
1997 10 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1997 100
1997 59 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1997 107
1997 93 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 105.7 of 1997 106
1997 14 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 1997 99
1997 41 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 1997 103
1997 13 X103.9 Riverside-San Bernardino, CA X103.9 Top 103.9 Songs of 1997 104
1997 19 KNRK Portland, OR KNRK Top 94 Songs of 1997 94
1997 41 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 97 Songs of 1997 97

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 208 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 175 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 409 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 465 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 153 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 798 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 267 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 267 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 368 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 267 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 368 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 267 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 267 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2003 267 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 267 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 271 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 929 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2007 500 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 1218 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1241 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1259 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 245 WYEP WYEP 913 Essential Songs 913
2010 1296 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1346 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1401 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1464 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2016 37 WYEP WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 913
2019 499 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2019 499 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2022 745 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 359 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2023 385 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 404 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420

Charting alongside it in 1997

Best songs of 1997 →
  1. 1Song 2Blur
  2. 2Walkin' On The SunSmash Mouth
  3. 3TubthumpingChumbawamba
  4. 4FlySugar Ray
  5. 5The Impression That I GetThe Mighty Mighty Bosstones
  6. 6Semi-Charmed LifeThird Eye Blind

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