2005 Modern Rock 500

WOXY

The most important songs in Modern Rock, as determined by WOXY staff in 2005.

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1 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
2 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
3 Smiths - How Soon is Now
4 Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
5 Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
6 Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven
7 Janes Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
8 U2 - New Years Day
9 REM - Radio Free Europe
10 Stone Roses - I Wanna be Adored
11 Clash - London Calling
12 Pearl Jam - Alive
13 Radiohead - Creep
14 Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
15 Nine Inch Nails - Head Like a Hole
16 New Order - Blue Monday
17 Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
18 Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
19 Police - Roxanne
20 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
21 Janes Addiction - Jane Says
22 Pearl Jam - Jeremy
23 Green Day - Longview
24 Beck - Loser
25 Faith No More - Epic
26 Nirvana - In Bloom
27 Blondie - Heart of Glass
28 B52s - Rock Lobster
29 Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right
30 Fugazi - Waiting Room
31 U2 - With or Without You
32 David Bowie - Space Oddity
33 Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
34 Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
35 Pixies - Where Is My Mind
36 Weezer - Undone the Sweater Song
37 Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
38 Smashing Pumpkins - Today
39 Bauhaus - Bela Lugosis Dead
40 Elvis Costello - Radio Radio
41 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give it Away
42 Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side
43 Hüsker Dü - Makes No Sense At All
44 Pixies - Here Comes Your Man
45 Radiohead - Paranoid Android
46 Television - Marquee Moon
47 Patti Smith Group - Dancing Barefoot
48 U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
49 My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow
50 Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
51 Talking Heads - Burning Down the House
52 Clash - Train in Vain
53 Replacements - Alex Chilton
54 Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog
55 Dead Milkmen - Bitchin Camaro
56 Elvis Costello - Whats So Funny Bout
57 Psychedelic Furs - Pretty in Pink
58 Nine Inch Nails - Hurt
59 REM - Its the End of the World
60 Beastie Boys - Sabotage
61 Pearl Jam - Even Flow
62 Public Enemy - Bring the Noise
63 Cure - Boys Dont Cry
64 Bob Marley - Get Up Stand Up
65 White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
66 XTC - Dear God
67 Devo - I Cant Get No Satisfaction
68 New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
69 Lo Fidelity Allstars - Battle Flag
70 David Bowie - Changes
71 Blondie - Rapture
72 U2 - Pride In the Name of Love
73 Gary Numan - Cars
74 Nirvana - Come As You Are
75 Pavement - Cut Your Hair
76 Modern English - I Melt With You
77 Blur - Song 2
78 Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
79 Oasis - Wonderwall
80 Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane
81 REM - Losing My Religion
82 Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way
83 Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling
84 Modest Mouse - Float On
85 Talking Heads - Take Me to the River
86 Cure - Just Like Heaven
87 Folk Implosion - Natural One
88 Nirvana - All Apologies
89 Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
90 Weezer - Say it Aint So
91 David Bowie - Suffragette City
92 Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
93 Nine Inch Nails - Closer
94 Beck - Where Its At
95 Cure - Love Song
96 Elvis Costello - Alison
97 Clash - Rock the Casbah
98 Primus - Tommy the Cat
99 Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
100 Boomtown Rats - I Dont Like Mondays
101 Green Day - Welcome to Paradise
102 Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm
103 Depeche Mode - People are People
104 Bob Marley - Jamming
105 Talking Heads - Life During Wartime
106 Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go
107 Velvet Underground - Rock and Roll
108 Weezer - Hash Pipe
109 Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box
110 Devo - Whip It
111 Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
112 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Cities in Dust
113 Elvis Costello - Pump It Up
114 U2 - One
115 Flaming Lips - Do You Realize
116 Breeders - Cannonball
117 Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
118 Beastie Boys - So Whatcha Want
119 Tori Amos - Silent All These Years
120 Jesus and Mary Chain - Head On
121 REM - One I Love
122 Postal Service - Such Great Heights
123 Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia
124 Afghan Whigs - Rebirth of the Cool
125 Cake - Distance
126 Jam - Town Called Malice
127 Cure - In Between Days
128 Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
129 Radiohead - Karma Police
130 Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
131 Police - Message in a Bottle
132 Coldplay - Clocks
133 James - Laid
134 Squeeze - Tempted
135 Cracker - Low
136 Social Distortion - Ball and Chain
137 REM - Orange Crush
138 Jim Carroll Band - People Who Died
139 Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You
140 Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With
141 Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
142 Pulp - Common People
143 Public Image Limited - Rise
144 Screaming Trees - Nearly Lost You
145 Faith No More - We Care a Lot
146 Pixies - Gigantic
147 Oasis - Live Forever
148 Radiohead - Just
149 Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty
150 Killing Joke - Eighties
151 Charlatans UK - Only One I Know
152 New Order - True Faith
153 Echo and The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar
154 Violent Femmes - Kiss Off
155 Las - There She Goes
156 Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
157 Soundgarden - Spoonman
158 Nirvana - Lithium
159 Soul Coughing - Screenwriters Blues
160 Midnight Oil - Beds are Burning
161 Interpol - PDA
162 Replacements - Ledge
163 Ministry - Stigmata
164 White Stripes - Fell in Love With a Girl
165 Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings
166 Spoon - Everything Hits At Once
167 Gang of Four - I Love a Man in a Uniform
168 Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
169 Guided By Voices - Teenage FBI
170 Cracker - Teen Angst
171 Living Colour - Cult of Personality
172 Weezer - Buddy Holly
173 Joy Division - Shes Lost Control
174 Church - Under the Milky Way
175 Green Day - When I Come Around
176 Tears For Fears - Shout
177 Killers - Mr Brightside
178 Public Enemy - 911Is a Joke
179 Talking Heads - And She Was
180 Patti Smith - Gloria
181 XTC - Senses Working Overtime
182 David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
183 Happy Mondays - Step On
184 Police - Every Breath You Take
185 Muse - Time Is Running Out
186 Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio
187 Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
188 Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax
189 Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way
190 Smiths - Panic
191 Shins - New Slang
192 Godfathers - Birth School Work Death
193 Coldplay - Yellow
194 Sugarcubes - Birthday
195 Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up
196 Veruca Salt - Seether
197 Prodigy - Fire Starter
198 U2 - Bullet the Blue Sky
199 U2 - I Will Follow
200 REM - Pretty Persuasion
201 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Higher Ground
202 Jam - Going Underground
203 Afghan Whigs - Debonair
204 Vapors - Turning Japanese
205 Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes
206 Pixies - Debaser
207 Cake - Never There
208 Alarm - Strength
209 Primus - Jerry was a Race Car Driver
210 B52s - Private Idaho
211 Interpol - Obstacle 1
212 Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin Beats
213 Flaming Lips - She Dont Use Jelly
214 Ramones - Do You Remember Rock N Roll
215 Rancid - Ruby Soho
216 Bob Marley and The Wailers - I Shot the Sheriff
217 Blondie - One Way or Another
218 Roxy Music - Love is the Drug
219 Talking Heads - Crosseyed and Painless
220 Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence
221 Social Distortion - Bad Luck
222 English Beat - Save it for Later
223 Love and Rockets - So Alive
224 Urge Overkill - Sister Havana
225 Shins - So Says I
226 Primal Scream - Movin On Up
227 Outkast - Hey Ya!
228 Oingo Boingo - Dead Mans Party
229 Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes
230 Belly - Feed the Tree
231 INXS - One Thing
232 XTC - Mayor of Simpleton
233 Modest Mouse - Tiny Cities Made of Ashes
234 Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
235 Oasis - Supersonic
236 Tori Amos - God
237 Dinosaur Jr - Feel the Pain
238 Sonic Youth - Kool Thing
239 Nine Inch Nails - Down in It
240 Fatboy Slim - Rockafeller Skank
241 Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
242 Specials - A Message to You Rudy
243 Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone
244 Janes Addiction - No Ones Leaving
245 Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl
246 Disposable Heroes Hiphoprisy - Television Drug of a Nation
247 L7 - Pretend Were Dead
248 Bob Mould - Sunspots Wishing Well
249 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
250 Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love
251 Billy Idol - White Wedding
252 Replacements - I Will Dare
253 Pavement - Shady Lane
254 English Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom
255 Stone Roses - Fools Goldedit
256 Sunny Day Real Estate - Pillars
257 Massive Attack - Safe from Harm
258 Elliott Smith - Miss Misery
259 Simple Minds - Dont You Forget About Me
260 Ministry - Everyday is Halloween
261 Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized
262 Queens of The Stone Age - No One Knows
263 Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker
264 Romeo Void - Never Say Never
265 Police - Cant Stand Losing You
266 Sinead OConnor - Mandinka
267 Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science
268 REM - Stand
269 Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives
270 Suede - Metal Mickey
271 Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy
272 Peter Gabriel - Shock the Monkey
273 Smiths - Girlfriend in a Coma
274 Jam - In the City
275 They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
276 Killers - Somebody Told Me
277 Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
278 Portishead - Sour Times
279 U2 - Bad Live
280 Meat Puppets - Backwater
281 Mission of Burma - Thats When I Reach For My Revolver
282 Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
283 Cure - Pictures of You
284 Cake - Rock N Roll Lifestyle
285 Bjork - Joga
286 Tricky - Black Steel
287 Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer
288 REM - So Central Rain
289 Dramarama - Anything Anything
290 Smithereens - Blood and Roses
291 Replacements - Bastards of Young
292 Pretenders - My City Was Gone
293 Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
294 Sonic Youth - 100
295 Modest Mouse - Polar Opposites
296 The - Uncertain Smile
297 Tones on Tail - Go Club Mix
298 Juliana Hatfield - My Sister
299 Waterboys - Whole of the Moon
300 Paul Westerberg - Dyslexic Heart
301 Iggy Pop - Real Wild Child Wild One
302 Dada - Dizz Knee Land
303 Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
304 White Stripes - Hardest Button to Button
305 Moby - Southside
306 U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
307 Smiths - There Is a Light That Never
308 Urban Dance Squad - Deeper Shade of Soul
309 Belle and Sebastian - Your Covers Blown
310 G Love and Special Sauce - Rodeo Clowns
311 Soul Coughing - Super Bon Bon
312 U2 - Two Hearts Beat As One
313 Bob Marley - Could You Be Loved
314 Soundgarden - Fell On Black Days
315 Radiohead - Optimistic
316 Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat
317 Blur - Girlsand Boys
318 Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
319 Cure - Close to Me
320 Royal Crescent Mob - Get on the Bus
321 Hives - Hate to Say I Told You So
322 XTC - Making Plans for Nigel
323 Garbage - I Think Im Paranoid
324 Nirvana - About a Girl
325 Elastica - Connection
326 Pavement - Stereo
327 Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight Tonight
328 Strokes - Last Nite
329 Soul Asylum - Somebody to Shove
330 Concrete Blonde - God is a Bullet
331 PJ Harvey - Down By the Water
332 Social Distortion - Ring of Fire
333 Pixies - Bone Machine
334 Smithereens - A Girl Like You
335 Lush - Ladykillers
336 Shriekback - Nemesis
337 Walkmen - Rat
338 Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
339 Beastie Boys - Sure Shot
340 New Order - Love Vigilantes
341 Fishbone - Party at Ground Zero
342 Clash - Lost in the Supermarket
343 Dinosaur Jr - Start Choppin
344 Beastie Boys - Intergalactic
345 Eels - Mr Es Beautiful Blues
346 Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
347 Sundays - Heres Where the Story Ends
348 New York Dolls - Personality Crisis
349 Postal Service - District Sleeps Alone Toni
350 Stone Roses - Waterfall
351 Grandmaster Flash - Message
352 Guided By Voices - Glad Girls
353 Liz Phair - Never Said
354 Call - Walls Came Down
355 Gomez - Get Myself Arrested
356 Arcade Fire - Neighborhood 3 Power Out
357 Jam - Start
358 Suzanne Vega - Toms Diner DNA mix
359 Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
360 Enigma - Sadeness
361 Nails - 88 Lines About 44 Women
362 Bob Marley - Redemption Song
363 Velvet Underground - What Goes On in the Heart
364 Dandy Warhols - Not If You Were the Last
365 Soundgarden - My Wave
366 Pretenders - Middle of the Road
367 Air - Sexy Boy
368 Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule The
369 The - Infected
370 Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane
371 Jonathan Richman Modern Lovers - Dodge Veg O Matic
372 Ben Harper - Burn to Shine
373 Porno For Pyros - Pets
374 Joe Jackson - Sunday Papers
375 Clash - This is Radio Clash
376 Presidents of the United States of America - Lump
377 Public Image Limited - Public Image
378 Talk Talk - Its My Life
379 Butthole Surfers - Pepper
380 Fatboy Slim - Praise You
381 Jesus Jones - Right Here Right Now
382 Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong
383 Lou Reed - Dirty Blvd
384 INXS - Dont Change
385 Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink
386 Suzanne Vega - Luka
387 Superdrag - Sucked Out
388 REM - Whats the Frequency Kenneth
389 Catherine Wheel - Black Metallic
390 Arrested Development - Tennessee
391 They Might Be Giants - Dont Lets Start
392 Yaz - Situation
393 World Party - Ship of Fools
394 Split Enz - I Got You
395 Front 242 - Welcome to Paradise
396 Black Flag - TV Party
397 Material Issue - Valerie Loves Me
398 Pixies - Alec Eiffel
399 Interpol - Slow Hands
400 Undertones - Teenage Kicks
401 Blur - Theres No Other Way
402 Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy
403 Scissor Sisters - Take Your Mama Out
404 Sugar - Helpless
405 Housemartins - Happy Hour
406 Roots - Seed 20
407 Shins - Caring Is Creepy
408 Robyn Hitchcock - My Wife and My Dead Wife
409 Papas Fritas - Way You Walk
410 Mclusky - To Hell With Good Intentions
411 Squeeze - Pulling Mussels from the Shell
412 Stereo MCs - Connected
413 Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumours
414 White Stripes - Dead Leaves and the Dirty
415 Afrika Bambaataa - Dont StopPlanet Rock
416 PJ Harvey - Good Fortune
417 Cornershop - Brimful of Asha
418 B52s - Love Shack
419 Big Country - In a Big Country
420 Dexys Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
421 Pixies - Velouria
422 REM - Driver 8
423 Verve - Lucky Man
424 Matthew Sweet - Sick of Myself
425 Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers
426 Stone Roses - Elephant Stone
427 Sinead OConnor - I Want Your Hands on Me
428 Snow Patrol - Run
429 Echo and The Bunnymen - Bedbugs and Ballyhoo
430 And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Relative Ways
431 Doves - Catch the Sun
432 Garbage - Only Happy When it Rains
433 GoGos - Our Lips are Sealed
434 Jam - Thats Entertainment
435 Massive Attack - Angel
436 Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
437 Streets - Lets Push Things Forward
438 Ultravox - Vienna
439 Toots and The Maytals - Pressure Drop
440 Pogues - Fairytale of New York
441 Cake - Sheep Go to Heaven
442 Firehose - Flyin the Flannel
443 Sugarcubes - Hit
444 TV On The Radio - Staring At the Sun
445 Bjork - Human Behaviour
446 Wire - Strange
447 Ride - Vapour Trail
448 Belle and Sebastian - Boy With the Arab Strap
449 Joe Jackson - Im the Man
450 Bob Mould - See a Little Light
451 Berlin - Sex Im a
452 Buffalo Tom - Taillights Fade
453 Arcade Fire - Wake Up
454 Concrete Blonde - Joey
455 The - This is the Day
456 Special AKA - Free Nelson Mandela
457 LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing
458 Talking Heads - Stay Up Late
459 Sleater Kinney - Youre No Rock N Roll Fun
460 They Might Be Giants - Ana Ng
461 Hoodoo Gurus - I Want You Back
462 Secret Machines - Nowhere Again
463 Blur - Coffeeand TV
464 A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran
465 Pulp - Disco 2000
466 Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
467 U2 - Mysterious Ways
468 Ted Leo Pharmacists - Where Have Rude Boys Gone
469 Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere
470 Love and Rockets - No New Tale to Tell
471 Bloc Party - Banquet
472 Smiths - William It Was Really Nothing
473 Stone Roses - She Bangs the Drums
474 Grandaddy - Crystal Lake
475 Twilight Singers - Teenage Wristband
476 Doves - There Goes the Fear
477 Garbage - Stupid Girl
478 Clash - I Fought the Law
479 Velvet Underground - Heroin
480 Spiritualized - Come Together
481 Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper - Elvis is Everywhere
482 X - 4th of July
483 Eels - Novocaine For the Soul
484 Hot Hot Heat - Bandages
485 Guided By Voices - My Valuable Hunting Knife
486 Art of Noise - Close to the Edit
487 Placebo - Pure Morning
488 REM - Superman
489 XTC - Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
490 Von Bondies - Cmon Cmon
491 Adam Ant - Goody Two Shoes
492 Pixies - Bam Thwok
493 XRay Spex - Oh Bondage! Up Yours
494 Meryn Cadell - Sweater
495 B52s - Planet Claire
496 Fountains of Wayne - Radiation Vibe
497 Echo and The Bunnymen - Bring on the Dancing Horses
498 Mercury Rev - Goddess on a Hiway
499 Blur - Beetlebum
500 Delays - Long Time Coming
Other Modern Rock 500 countdowns by year

Note the station did not broadcast a Modern Rock 500 in 2004.

Credit to WOXY listener Craig Froehle for providing the underlying source materials for these yearly lists.

Combinations

Here is one massive combined countdown with all songs from every year of the countdown, ranked by average position (1394 songs in all).