Adult Alternative Songs, also known as Triple A, is a record chart that ranks the most-played songs on American adult album alternative radio stations. Formulated based on each song's weekly total plays, the chart was introduced in the September 22, 1995, issue of Radio & Records magazine, while Billboards chart archives begin on January 20, 1996. Adult Alternative Songs, along with other Radio & Records airplay charts, was initially compiled using radio airplay data from Mediabase. In August 2006, Radio & Records was acquired by The Nielsen Company – then known as VNU Media – parent company of rival publication Billboard. Following the purchase, Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems replaced Mediabase in monitoring airplay for charts, beginning with the issue dated August 11, 2006. Billboard themselves introduced the chart in their July 5, 2008, issue, appropriating the same Nielsen data, and became its sole publisher after Radio & Records ceased publication in June 2009.
The Billboard website currently lists Adult Alternative Songs charts dating back to January 1996. The number ones listed in Radio & Records prior to that date are listed below. Billboard's charts are based on data from a Triple A chart that had previously been published in the Billboard-owned Airplay Monitor magazine from that date until the acquisition of Radio & Records, and which had used Nielsen data that was largely similar to the Mediabase data used in the Radio & Records chart.
Number-one singles Key – Radio & Records year-end number-one single ↑ – Return of a single to number one
Single Artist Reached number one Weeks atnumber one "Til I Hear It from You"Radio & Records: September 22, 1995. Radio & Records. Retrieved May 1, 2025.Gin BlossomsSeptember 22, 1995 3 "One of Us"Radio & Records: October 13, 1995. Radio & Records. Retrieved May 1, 2025.Joan OsborneOctober 13, 1995 3 "Good Intentions"Radio & Records: November 2, 1995. Radio & Records. Retrieved May 1, 2025.Radio & Records: December 1, 1995. Radio & Records. Retrieved May 1, 2025. Toad the Wet SprocketNovember 3, 1995 7 "Waiting for Tonight"Radio & Records: January 12, 1996. Radio & Records. Retrieved May 1, 2025.December 22, 1995 4 "The World I Know" Collective Soul 1 "Waiting for Tonight"↑ 1 "The World I Know" ↑ Collective Soul 3 "Follow You Down" Gin Blossoms 5 "Everything Falls Apart" Dog's Eye View 4 "Old Man & Me (When I Get to Heaven)" Hootie & the Blowfish 9 "Too Much" 1 "Who Will Save Your Soul" Jewel 1 "Change the World" 1 "Lack of Water" 1 "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand" Primitive Radio Gods 5 "Walls" 2 "Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)" 6 "If It Makes You Happy" 1 "Barely Breathing" 1 "Bittersweet Me" R.E.M. 4 "One Headlight" 8 "A Long December" Counting Crows 2 "One Headlight" ↑ 6 "Staring at the Sun" U2 7 "The Freshmen" 5 "Four Leaf Clover" 1 "A Change Would Do You Good" 6 "Building a Mystery" 10 "Most Precarious" Blues Traveler 6 "3 AM" Matchbox 20 13 "The Mummers' Dance" 1 "3 AM" ↑ Matchbox 20 1 "My Father's Eyes" 7 "Don't Drink the Water" 1 "One Belief Away" 1 "The Way" Fastball 3 "Kind & Generous" 7 "Stay (Wasting Time)" 7 "Save Tonight" 2 "Please" 2 "My Favorite Mistake" 4 "Lullaby" 3 "My Favorite Mistake" ↑ 1 "Daysleeper" R.E.M. 2 "Slide" Goo Goo Dolls 6 "You Get What You Give" New Radicals 6 "Slide" ↑ Goo Goo Dolls 1 "Every Morning" Sugar Ray 1 "Run" Collective Soul 3 "I'm Not Running Anymore" 1 "Run" ↑ Collective Soul 2 "Anything but Down" 5 "Room at the Top" 4 "Smooth" Santana feat. Rob Thomas 13 "Angels Would Fall" 3 "Hanginaround" Counting Crows 8 "The Great Beyond" R.E.M. 8
References
External links Adult Alternative Songs at Billboard