The Alternative Number Ones: Gin Blossoms’ “Found Out About You”

In The Alternative Number Ones, I'm reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988. This column is a companion piece to The Number Ones, and it's for members only. Thank you to everyone who's helping to keep Stereogum afloat.

At some point in the late '80s, Doug Hopkins was at an R.E.M. show, and his ex-girlfriend kicked him in the face. Or maybe she punched him in the eye. Accounts differ. At that point, Hopkins was the guitarist in the Gin Blossoms, a regional band from the college town of Tempe. The Gin Blossoms did pretty well in bars around the Southwest, but they weren't exactly a cultural sensation. Hopkins poured a his pent-up frustration about his ex into writing "Found Out About You," which sounds a lot like the song you might write after your ex-girlfriend kicked you in the face at an R.E.M. show.

Years later, "Found Out About You" was the #1 Modern Rock song in America. By the time that happened, Doug Hopkins was dead.