Matchbox Twenty Songs Stick Around

LOS ANGELES (AP) - You're not imagining things - Matchbox Twenty really is on the radio all the time.

The group's song "If You're Gone'' came out a year ago, and it's still popular. Last week, it was No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary chart.
Lead singer Rob Thomas said that's the case with a lot of their songs. "They never have a big, huge impact when they come out. It's always, like, this slow build and a year later I turn on the radio and I still hear it on the radio and I'm like, 'Aw, this is great,''' Thomas told AP Radio. "Then we get a call six months later saying that the song's starting to do really well and you're like, 'Oh, OK, right on.' So we've always been a slow builder of a band.''

Thomas said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks changed the way people listen to the radio. "They want to hear about songs that they relate to emotionally or they want to hear about songs that are just plain fun,'' he said. "They want to hear a Smash Mouth song just because they're tired now.''