Artist · chart history · #270 in alternative artist polls
The Presidents of the United States of America
Band Seattle United States Active 1993–2015
The Presidents of the United States of America formed in 1993 in Seattle, United States and was active until 2015. The Presidents of the United States of America has 155 chart appearances on 92 radio countdowns from 36 stations on RockLists, spanning 1995–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Lump”, which appears on 75 lists with a best position of #2. The station that charted The Presidents of the United States of America most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 43 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1995.
The Presidents of the United States of America formed in Seattle in 1993, a 3-piece with Chris Ballew singing and playing bass, Jason Finn on drums and Dave Dederer on guitar. They played it loose, loud and goofy: buzzing, stripped-down guitar pop with sing-along choruses and a grin on every song.
"Lump" and "Peaches" did the damage in the mid-'90s, and between them they pushed the self-titled debut to triple platinum. "Kitty" and "Stranger" came off the same record. II followed in 1996, with "Mach 5", "Supermodel" and "Volcano", and that year's Dune Buggy: Australian Tour EP had their take on "Video Killed the Radio Star".
Then Ballew wanted a solo career, and the band broke up for the first time late in 1997, with a farewell show early the next year. They got back together in 2002, released Love Everybody in 2004 with "Some Postman" and its title track, and Andrew McKeag eventually took over from Dederer. The band quietly called it a day in 2015 and let the world know the following year. On the countdowns, "Lump" is still the one that sticks.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Presidents of the United States of America on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lump | 75 | #2 | – | 1995 | |
| 2 | Peaches | 35 | #26 | – | 1996 | |
| 3 | Kitty | 27 | #4 | – | 1995 | |
| 4 | Some Postman | 5 | #7 | – | 2004 | |
| 5 | Mach 5 | 3 | #50 | – | 1996 | |
| 6 | Stranger | 1 | #419 | – | – | |
| 7 | Supermodel | 1 | #43 | – | 1996 | |
| 8 | Love Everybody | 1 | #34 | – | 2004 | |
| 9 | Mixed Up S.O.B. | 1 | #78 | – | 2008 | |
| 10 | Supersonics | 1 | #819 | – | – | |
| 11 | More Bad Times | 1 | #85 | – | 2008 | |
| 12 | Volcano | 1 | #1064 | – | – | |
| 13 | Video Killed The Radio Star | 2 | #850 | – | – |
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.
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