Modern Rock Tracks No. 1s - Ned's Atomic Dustbin and "Not Sleeping Around"

I could not believe a band called Ned's Atomic Dustbin topped the Modern Rock Tracks chart with a track called "Not Sleeping Around." I can not believe it took me this long to find these guys.

Matt Madurski

Sep 01, 2024

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin - “Not Sleeping Around”

Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: 1 week (January 16, 1993)

Previous Modern Rock Tracks chart #1 hit: Peter Gabriel - “Steam”

Next Modern Rock Tracks chart #1 hit: Jesus Jones - “The Devil You Know”

Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time:

Whitney Houston - “I Will Always Love You” (8 total weeks, beginning 11/28/92)

I have so many thoughts on Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and their lone Modern Rock Tracks #1 hit, “Not Sleeping Around.” So let’s get right into it, shall we?

First, if you’re like me, you’re probably thinking, “Who the hell is Ned’s Atomic Dustbin?” The band and its #1 hit were not household names for me growing up, and even after my Musical Awakening™️ in the mid-1990s, the song rarely, if ever, got airplay on the U.S.-based-act-dominated alternative rock radio stations I frequently listened to throughout the rest of the decade. Even on Spotify, “Not Sleeping Around” has only managed about 500,000 listens as of this writing, though their biggest hits off their 1991 album “God Fodder” (such a great name) have settled in the low millions. “Grey Cell Green,” their most listened-to track on Spotify, clocks in at around 3.5 million listens, which ain’t too shabby, but not enough to catch my attention.

Heck, I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve already written about this band and immediately dismissed their previous MRT hit, “Happy,” as nothing more than a mere footnote in the history of the chart. Here’s what I wrote when “Happy” peaked at #11 behind former MRT chart #1s artist Big Audio Dynamite II and their chart-topper “Rush”:

“Ned’s Atomic Dustbin is one of those early alt-rock bands that burned bright for a short time and fizzled, but they clearly had the talent to find a place among the pantheon of great alternative rock acts. Their first U.S. single, ‘Happy,’ managed to make it all the way to #11 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and it would only be the beginning for this group. We’ll see them in the spotlight of this column before too much longer.”

At that time, I knew that the band would eventually be the focus of this writeup, but I didn’t realize then, as I do now, that these guys are legitimately good, and they were right in front of me the whole time, just waiting to be discovered.

So now that I know Ned’s Atomic Dustbin exists, let’s talk about the connection to R.E.M.

You’re probably asking, “Chart Chat Matt, how are these bands connected in any possible way?” The answer, of course, is that I cannot find a single real-life connection between the two bands. They’re not on the same music labels, their albums were not produced by the same producers, they feature wildly different play styles, and as far as I can see, they’ve never been on tour together.

One link I was able to find was purely by accident: When “Not Sleeping Around” first entered the MRT charts at #29 more than three months prior to its ascendance to the #1 position, the song that topped the charts that week was “Drive” by R.E.M. “Not Sleeping Around” managed to climb all the way into the top 10 while “Drive” drove in the leader position, and both occupied the top 10 together for three weeks before the R.E.M. track headed down and out of the charts.

The other link? Well, it might just be me, but as I was listening to “Not Sleeping Around,” I couldn’t help but make a connection to a future R.E.M. song. Someone tell me I’m crazy if I’m way off base, but doesn’t “Not Sleeping Around” sound an awful lot like R.E.M.’s “Star 69”?

Now don’t get me wrong: This isn’t a case of plagiarism or anything like that. The songs are very different. But at the same time, I feel the same sonic vibe and energy in “Star 69” that I felt in “Not Sleeping Around.” While I almost hate to say it, given how much I adore R.E.M.’s “Monster” album, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin definitely matches up well with R.E.M. when it comes to projecting this particular style of rock sound, and seemingly did it better than my beloved Athens quartet. That amazing crossover amplification of pure guitar and bass-driven rock fused with sonic/electronic vibes and alterations just flows better somehow in “Not Sleeping Around,” and I can’t help but wonder if R.E.M. was inspired in any way by the work Ned’s Atomic Dustbin put into their “Are You Normal?” album when they sat down for the “Monster” sessions.

This is all to say that I was blown away by “Not Sleeping Around.” I’ve listened to it at least a couple dozen times this week, and I find myself hungry for more tracks from the band. It’s hard to make up for 30+ years of life without this music, but I’ve been doing my best, devouring every track from “God Fodder” and “Are You Normal?” to a point where I think my algorithms are going to be completely tipped in favor of the “grebo sound” this band helped popularize.

If you haven’t already listened to Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, I highly recommend some of their top tracks, including “Grey Cell Green” and the aforementioned “Happy,” as well as modest hits like “Suave and Suffocated” and “Kill Your Television.” I listen to these tracks and the DNA of what U.S.-based alternative music would become in the mid and late 1990s is clearly present throughout. If you put the voice of Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins on “Suave and Suffocated,” you could easily convince me it was a lost track off “Siamese Dream” or “Gish.”

Lyrically speaking, “Not Sleeping Around” is pretty straight forward, a song about a guy coming to terms with monogamy and the perils and pitfalls of being uncertain about who might, or might not, be sleeping around with other people. The mix of certainty and uncertainty about his relationship status plays with the singer’s mind.

I can't keep it from my head
That you're never around
You can't get yourself out of bed
So you never come 'round

It gets too hard for me to think
That becomes too much to drink
And now I'm scared that if i blink
you'll be on the brink
Of needing a free roam
But please don't let go

Musically speaking, the song rocks from start to finish. Maybe it’s the higher quality of the Qobuz version of the song, but I noticed subtle but important flourishes in this track that I might have missed before. The bass play of Matt Cheslin and Alex Griffin is superb, both in this song and in other tracks from the band (the dual-bass setup was part of the “grebo sound” package that Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and several other acts perfected in the early ‘90s). As an example of this, if you’re listening to the music video I posted above, right around the 1:44 mark of the song, the second bass line comes back into the mix and it helps the track build back up to the refrain and the no-holds-barred, lyric-free bridge. It’s a minor flourish, but it speaks to how complete the track is, and how much the band seemingly grew and improved in its relatively short time.

I’m gushing because it’s rare for me to be completely wowed by a band I’d never heard of before this writing, and now likely can’t live without. Indeed, I had the same reaction to XTC’s “Mayor Of Simpleton,” a song that I didn’t know I needed and truly couldn’t imagine living without. And I’m not quick to hand out perfect ratings for songs, but I don’t know how to avoid it when a band puts out such an amazing banger as “Not Sleeping Around.”

All that said, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin in its best iteration didn’t survive the 1990s; in fact, it didn’t survive much past its second album. One more single from “Are You Normal?” would hit the MRT charts, the #13 hit “Walking Through Syrup.” The band’s cover of Bay City Rollers’ “Saturday Night” managed to hit #26 on the MRT charts in support of the Mike Myers movie “So I Married An Axe Murderer,” but that was the end of the line for the band on the American charts.

The group released a third album, “Brainbloodvolume,” in 1995, but broke up thereafter. Ned’s Atomic Dustbin has played together off and on since the early 2000s in various iterations, and even released a couple of live albums and compilations, but they never matched the lightning-in-a-bottle success of their early ‘90s output.

Though this will be the last time I refer to the band in this space, they have nevertheless made a lasting impression on me, and likely on ‘90s alternative rock at the same time. “Not Sleeping Around” may not be the perfect song, but I think it’s pretty amazing, and in my estimation worthy of a top rating. And, at the risk of repeating my impression from the last time I wrote about them, I’ll say it again, this time with feeling: “Ned’s Atomic Dustbin is one of those early alt-rock bands that burned bright for a short time and fizzled, but they clearly had the talent to find a place among the pantheon of great alternative rock acts.”

Rating: 10/10

Chart Check

Other notable MRT chart songs from this time period

Nothing quite holds a candle to the greatness of “Not Sleeping Around” this week on the MRT charts. With the band holding the top spot for a single week, there are only a couple of songs that peaked during this time. In addition to Neneh Cherry’s only Modern Rock Tracks hit, we get a meh track from Daniel Ash and a future glimpse of Ned’s Atomic Dustbin as reviewed by Beavis and Butthead. Sort of.

“Ned's Atomic Dustbin - All I Ask of Myself is That I Hold It Together” as reviewed by “Beavis and Butthead”: It doesn’t appear that the MTV-watching duo ever did a video riff of Ned’s Atomic Dustbin prior the band’s final album, so I’ll have to throw in this track and the two-minute silliness of Beavis and Butthead talking about whatever the hell it is they talk about.

“Trout” by Neneh Cherry and featuring Michael Stipe (#2): Neneh Cherry, who’d notched two top-10 Billboard Hot 100 hits in the late ‘80s with “Kisses on the Wind” and the terrific “Buffalo Stance,” managed her first and only Modern Rock Tracks hit with “Trout,” which peaked at #2 behind Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. Not to take anything from Neneh Cherry, who is pretty great in her own right, but I have to think this track was boosted by the presence of R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, who sings this track as a duet of sorts with Cherry.

“Get Out Of Control” by Daniel Ash (#3): The former frontman of both Love & Rockets and Bauhaus managed to get back into the top 3 of the MRT charts with “Get Out Of Control.” I didn’t like it much, but could see the appeal for others. I was amused by the Calgary Herald’s review of Ash’s album “Foolish Thing Desire,” from whence this track came: “boring as hell.” I’m inclined to agree.