2009 Modern Rock 500

WOXY

The most important songs in Modern Rock, as determined by WOXY staff in 2009.

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1 Pixies - Where Is My Mind
2 Smiths - How Soon is Now
3 Clash - London Calling
4 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
5 Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
6 Radiohead - Paranoid Android
7 Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
8 U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
9 REM - Radio Free Europe
10 Elvis Costello - Radio Radio
11 David Bowie - Space Oddity
12 Radiohead - Creep
13 Talking Heads - Burning Down the House
14 Fugazi - Waiting Room
15 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
16 Television - Marquee Moon
17 Replacements - Alex Chilton
18 Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
19 Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
20 Cure - Just Like Heaven
21 Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven
22 Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
23 My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow
24 New Order - Blue Monday
25 Clash - Rock the Casbah
26 Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
27 Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
28 Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
29 Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
30 Breeders - Cannonball
31 David Bowie - Changes
32 Beck - Loser
33 Janes Addiction - Jane Says
34 REM - Its the End of the World
35 Hüsker Dü - Makes No Sense At All
36 Cure - Boys Dont Cry
37 New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
38 Patti Smith - Gloria
39 Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go
40 Nirvana - Come As You Are
41 James - Laid
42 Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side
43 Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
44 Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
45 Radiohead - Karma Police
46 Echo and The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar
47 REM - Losing My Religion
48 Pixies - Gigantic
49 Pavement - Cut Your Hair
50 Beastie Boys - Sabotage
51 U2 - New Years Day
52 Violent Femmes - Kiss Off
53 Bjork - Human Behaviour
54 Janes Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
55 Elvis Costello - Whats So Funny Bout
56 Police - Roxanne
57 Bauhaus - Bela Lugosis Dead
58 Nirvana - All Apologies
59 Stone Roses - I Wanna be Adored
60 Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
61 Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes
62 Pixies - Here Comes Your Man
63 U2 - Pride In the Name of Love
64 White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
65 Replacements - Bastards of Young
66 Joy Division - Shes Lost Control
67 Cure - Love Song
68 Radiohead - Just
69 Beck - Where Its At
70 XTC - Dear God
71 Jam - Town Called Malice
72 Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog
73 Blur - Song 2
74 Police - Message in a Bottle
75 Pearl Jam - Jeremy
76 Modest Mouse - Float On
77 Postal Service - Such Great Heights
78 Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling
79 Clash - Train in Vain
80 B52s - Rock Lobster
81 Blondie - Rapture
82 Flaming Lips - Do You Realize
83 Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love
84 Replacements - Ledge
85 Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right
86 White Stripes - Fell in Love With a Girl
87 Pearl Jam - Alive
88 REM - Pretty Persuasion
89 Dead Milkmen - Bitchin Camaro
90 Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
91 Gang of Four - I Love a Man in a Uniform
92 Depeche Mode - People are People
93 Smiths - Panic
94 Shins - New Slang
95 Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
96 Elvis Costello - Pump It Up
97 Portishead - Sour Times
98 Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer
99 David Bowie - Suffragette City
100 Afghan Whigs - Rebirth of the Cool
101 Arcade Fire - Neighborhood 3 Power Out
102 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
103 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Cities in Dust
104 Patti Smith Group - Dancing Barefoot
105 Clash - Magnificent Seven
106 Church - Under the Milky Way
107 Modest Mouse - Polar Opposites
108 Weezer - Undone the Sweater Song
109 Nirvana - In Bloom
110 Interpol - PDA
111 Blondie - Heart of Glass
112 Pulp - Common People
113 U2 - I Will Follow
114 Devo - Whip It
115 Oasis - Wonderwall
116 Police - Every Breath You Take
117 Bob Marley - Get Up Stand Up
118 New Order - True Faith
119 Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
120 Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
121 Velvet Underground - Rock and Roll
122 Sonic Youth - Kool Thing
123 Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia
124 David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
125 Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
126 Jesus and Mary Chain - Head On
127 Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence
128 XTC - Making Plans for Nigel
129 Squeeze - Tempted
130 Shins - Caring Is Creepy
131 Cracker - Low
132 Pavement - Stereo
133 Clash - This is Radio Clash
134 Boomtown Rats - I Dont Like Mondays
135 Smiths - There Is a Light That Never
136 DJ Shadow - Midnight in a Perfect World
137 Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You
138 Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way
139 Cure - Close to Me
140 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
141 U2 - With or Without You
142 Elvis Costello - Alison
143 Roxy Music - Love is the Drug
144 PJ Harvey - Down By the Water
145 Flaming Lips - She Dont Use Jelly
146 Smashing Pumpkins - Today
147 Nine Inch Nails - Head Like a Hole
148 Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl
149 Ramones - Do You Remember Rock N Roll
150 Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
151 Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
152 Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
153 Massive Attack - Safe from Harm
154 Replacements - I Will Dare
155 Devo - Girl U Want
156 Talking Heads - Take Me to the River
157 English Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom
158 Stone Roses - Fools Goldedit
159 Gary Numan - Cars
160 Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box
161 XTC - Senses Working Overtime
162 Public Image Limited - Rise
163 Afghan Whigs - Debonair
164 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Peek a Boo
165 Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
166 Cure - Pictures of You
167 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give it Away
168 Interpol - Obstacle 1
169 Sugarcubes - Birthday
170 Talk Talk - Its My Life
171 Las - There She Goes
172 Pixies - Debaser
173 Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone
174 Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
175 Shins - So Says I
176 Elliott Smith - Miss Misery
177 Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up
178 REM - Orange Crush
179 Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives
180 Talking Heads - Life During Wartime
181 Sonic Youth - 100
182 Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker
183 Oasis - Live Forever
184 White Stripes - Hardest Button to Button
185 Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good
186 Radiohead - Optimistic
187 Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes
188 Love and Rockets - So Alive
189 Cracker - Teen Angst
190 Spoon - Everything Hits At Once
191 Built to Spill - Big Dipper
192 Jeff Buckley - So Real
193 Folk Implosion - Natural One
194 Dinosaur Jr - Feel the Pain
195 Social Distortion - Ball and Chain
196 English Beat - Save it for Later
197 Daft Punk - Da Funklongedit
198 Guided By Voices - I Am a Scientistsinglemix
199 Liz Phair - Supernova
200 Jam - Going Underground
201 Dramarama - Anything Anything
202 Blur - Girlsand Boys
203 Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
204 Belle and Sebastian - Your Covers Blown
205 Smiths - Girlfriend in a Coma
206 Wilco - Monday
207 Living Colour - Cult of Personality
208 Beastie Boys - So Whatcha Want
209 Bob Marley - Jamming
210 Psychedelic Furs - Pretty in Pink
211 Nirvana - About a Girl
212 Replacements - Ill Be You
213 Mission of Burma - Thats When I Reach For My Revolver
214 Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio
215 Blondie - One Way or Another
216 Oasis - Supersonic
217 Modest Mouse - Tiny Cities Made of Ashes
218 Public Enemy - Fight the Power
219 Faith No More - Epic
220 Guided By Voices - Teenage FBI
221 Smiths - Stop Me If You Think Youve
222 Veruca Salt - Seether
223 Romeo Void - Never Say Never
224 Strokes - Last Nite
225 Bob Mould - Sunspots Wishing Well
226 Clash - Lost in the Supermarket
227 Jam - In the City
228 Talking Heads - Crosseyed and Painless
229 Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
230 Modern English - I Melt With You
231 Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
232 Silversun Pickups - Kissing Families
233 Screaming Trees - Nearly Lost You
234 Arcade Fire - Wake Up
235 Yo La Tengo - Autumn Sweater
236 Happy Mondays - Step On
237 Pretenders - My City Was Gone
238 Beastie Boys - Intergalactic
239 Concrete Blonde - God is a Bullet
240 Frank Black - Headache
241 Police - Cant Stand Losing You
242 Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
243 Depeche Mode - Policy of Truth
244 Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin Beats
245 Devo - I Cant Get No Satisfaction
246 Blur - Theres No Other Way
247 Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers
248 Tricky - Black Steel
249 Tori Amos - Silent All These Years
250 U2 - One
251 REM - Stand
252 Built to Spill - Goin Against Your Mind
253 Guided By Voices - Glad Girls
254 Suede - Metal Mickey
255 Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax
256 Pogues - Fairytale of New York
257 David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
258 Pavement - Shady Lane
259 Urge Overkill - Sister Havana
260 Walkmen - Rat
261 Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With
262 My Morning Jacket - Off the Record
263 Charlatans UK - Only One I Know
264 Elastica - Connection
265 Sebadoh - Skull
266 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Higher Ground
267 Pearl Jam - Even Flow
268 Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm
269 Radiohead - Street Spirit Fade Out
270 Catherine Wheel - Black Metallic
271 Robyn Hitchcock - My Wife and My Dead Wife
272 Big Star - When My Babys Beside Me
273 Wilco - Im the Man Who Loves You
274 Soul Coughing - Screenwriters Blues
275 Beck - New Pollution
276 B52s - Private Idaho
277 Depeche Mode - Route 66 Beatmastersmix
278 Hot Chip - Over and Over
279 TV On The Radio - Staring At the Sun
280 REM - Driver 8
281 Blur - Coffeeand TV
282 Decemberists - Bachelor and the Bride
283 U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
284 Doves - Catch the Sun
285 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Talk About the Blues
286 Bjork - Big Time Sensuality
287 Nine Inch Nails - Closer
288 MC900FT Jesus - City Sleeps
289 Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds
290 Tones on Tail - Go Club Mix
291 Grandmaster Flash - Message
292 LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing
293 Jam - Thats Entertainment
294 Interpol - Slow Hands
295 Elliott Smith - Waltz 2
296 Velvet Underground - What Goes On in the Heart
297 Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
298 Mclusky - To Hell With Good Intentions
299 National - Secret Meeting
300 Grandaddy - Crystal Lake
301 Superdrag - Sucked Out
302 Juliana Hatfield - My Sister
303 New Pornographers - Laws Have Changed
304 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Skin of My Yellow Country
305 Hum - Stars
306 Nirvana - Lithium
307 Simple Minds - Dont You Forget About Me
308 Tegan and Sara - Walking With a Ghost
309 Midnight Oil - Beds are Burning
310 Jam - Start
311 Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be
312 Ministry - Stigmata
313 Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized
314 Supergrass - Caught By the Fuzz
315 Weezer - Buddy Holly
316 New Order - Regret
317 They Might Be Giants - Dont Lets Start
318 Vampire Weekend - A Punk
319 Eels - Mr Es Beautiful Blues
320 Black Keys - 10AM Automatic
321 Undertones - Teenage Kicks
322 Muse - Time Is Running Out
323 Morphine - Cure for Pain
324 Sundays - Heres Where the Story Ends
325 Massive Attack - Protection
326 Bright Eyes - Lover I Dont Have to Love
327 Pavement - Rattled By the Rush
328 Ryan Adams - To Be Young Is to Be Sad
329 Dandy Warhols - Not If You Were the Last
330 Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again
331 Specials - A Message to You Rudy
332 REM - Whats the Frequency Kenneth
333 Breeders - Divine Hammer
334 Pixies - Velouria
335 Killing Joke - Eighties
336 Front 242 - Welcome to Paradise
337 Peter Gabriel - Shock the Monkey
338 Cardigans - My Favourite Game
339 Dinosaur Jr - Start Choppin
340 PJ Harvey - Good Fortune
341 They Might Be Giants - Istanbul Not Constantinople
342 Royal Crescent Mob - Get on the Bus
343 Public Enemy - Bring the Noise
344 Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
345 Ministry - Everyday is Halloween
346 Stone Roses - Waterfall
347 Air - Sexy Boy
348 XTC - Mayor of Simpleton
349 Waterboys - Whole of the Moon
350 Doves - There Goes the Fear
351 Lemonheads - Into Your Arms
352 Social Distortion - Ring of Fire
353 Nine Inch Nails - Down in It
354 !!! - Me and Giuliani Down By The
355 Yaz - Situation
356 MIA - Paper Planes
357 Pulp - Disco 2000
358 Oingo Boingo - Dead Mans Party
359 Wire - Strange
360 Squeeze - Pulling Mussels from the Shell
361 Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty
362 Belle and Sebastian - Boy With the Arab Strap
363 Pretenders - Middle of the Road
364 Belly - Feed the Tree
365 Weezer - Say it Aint So
366 Cure - Fascination Street
367 Art of Noise - Close to the Edit
368 Massive Attack - Angel
369 Postal Service - District Sleeps Alone Toni
370 Broken Social Scene - 74 Shoreline
371 Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink
372 Band of Horses - Funeral
373 Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This
374 Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule The
375 Radiohead - High and Dry
376 Bettie Serveert - Tom Boy
377 Jesus and Mary Chain - Sometimes Always
378 Bloc Party - Banquet
379 Sleater Kinney - Youre No Rock N Roll Fun
380 Shriekback - Nemesis
381 Charlatans UK - Weirdo
382 TV On The Radio - Wolf Like Me
383 Liz Phair - Stratford On Guy
384 Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand
385 Stereo MCs - Connected
386 B52s - Love Shack
387 Sinead OConnor - Emperors New Clothes
388 Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers
389 REM - Finest Worksong
390 Arcade Fire - Rebellion Lies
391 Eels - Novocaine For the Soul
392 Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
393 Rilo Kiley - Portions For Foxes
394 Bob Marley - Redemption Song
395 My Morning Jacket - Im Amazed
396 Ted Leo Pharmacists - Where Have Rude Boys Gone
397 Forget Cassettes - Instruments of Action
398 National - Mistaken For Strangers
399 Spoon - I Turn My Camera On
400 MGMT - Time to Pretend
401 The - This is the Day
402 LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
403 Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
404 Decemberists - 16 Military Wives
405 Bears - Fear is Never Boring
406 Tori Amos - God
407 Guided By Voices - My Valuable Hunting Knife
408 Sleater Kinney - Entertain
409 L7 - Pretend Were Dead
410 Black Flag - TV Party
411 TV On The Radio - Golden Age
412 Dada - Dizz Knee Land
413 X - 4th of July
414 Iggy Pop - Passenger
415 Talking Heads - Stay Up Late
416 Junior Boys - In the Morning
417 Primal Scream - Movin On Up
418 Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science
419 Split Enz - I Got You
420 Doves - Black and White Town
421 Radiohead - There There
422 Stereolab - Miss Modular
423 Brian Eno - Babys On Fire
424 Neds Atomic Dustbin - Grey Cell Green
425 Jim Carroll Band - People Who Died
426 White Stripes - My Doorbell
427 Beck - Devils Haircut
428 Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood
429 Firehose - Flyin the Flannel
430 Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
431 Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth
432 Bjork - Joga
433 Soul Coughing - Super Bon Bon
434 Fatboy Slim - Rockafeller Skank
435 Suzanne Vega - Toms Diner DNA mix
436 Bloc Party - Helicopter
437 Papas Fritas - Way You Walk
438 Meat Puppets - Backwater
439 Vapors - Turning Japanese
440 Lou Reed - Dirty Blvd
441 Wrens - Hopeless
442 Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened
443 Echo and The Bunnymen - Bring on the Dancing Horses
444 Roxy Music - More Than This
445 Modest Mouse - Dashboard
446 Sugarcubes - Hit
447 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
448 XRay Spex - Oh Bondage! Up Yours
449 Placebo - Pure Morning
450 Elbow - Forget Myself
451 Cake - Distance
452 Afrika Bambaataa - Dont StopPlanet Rock
453 Santogold - LES Artistes
454 Ted Leo Pharmacists - Me and Mia
455 Social Distortion - Bad Luck
456 Nails - 88 Lines About 44 Women
457 Jonathan Richman Modern Lovers - Dodge Veg O Matic
458 Elvis Costello - Less Than Zero
459 Verve - Lucky Man
460 Ride - Vapour Trail
461 Arcade Fire - No Cars Go
462 INXS - Dont Change
463 Portishead - All Mine
464 XTC - Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
465 Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To
466 Morrissey - Suedehead
467 Coldplay - Yellow
468 Suzanne Vega - Luka
469 Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
470 Ra Ra Riot - Dying Is Fine
471 Bob Marley - Could You Be Loved
472 Cat Power - Cross Bones Style
473 Pinback - Fortress
474 Smoking Popes - Need You Around
475 Rogue Wave - Endless Shovel
476 Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
477 Sonic Youth - Incinerate
478 New York Dolls - Personality Crisis
479 Paul Westerberg - Dyslexic Heart
480 Joe Jackson - Im the Man
481 Feist - My Moon My Man
482 Specials - Ghost Town
483 Death Cab For Cutie - New Year
484 World Party - Ship of Fools
485 Muse - New Born
486 Buffalo Tom - Taillights Fade
487 Cure - Lovecats
488 Garbage - Only Happy When it Rains
489 Lo Fidelity Allstars - Battle Flag
490 Luna - IHOP
491 Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Dig! Lazarus! Dig!!!
492 Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way
493 Twilight Singers - Teenage Wristband
494 Big Country - In a Big Country
495 Tears For Fears - Mad World
496 Spiritualized - Come Together
497 Cloud Room - Hey Now Now
498 They Might Be Giants - Ana Ng
499 Fishbone - Party at Ground Zero
500 Cut Copy - Hearts On Fire
Other Modern Rock 500 countdowns by year
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009

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).

1989-2009 Combined Modern Rock 500