FEATURE:
Too Good to Be Forgotten: Tracks That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure
IN THIS PHOTO: Smash Mouth (L - R) drummer Kevin Coleman, vocalist Steven Harwell, guitarist Greg Camp, and bassist Paul De Lisle shot in May 1999 in Los Angeles, California/PHOTO CREDIT: Bob Berg/Getty Images
Smash Mouth – All Star
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I will move this feature out of the 1990s…
IN THIS PHOTO: Smash Mouth in 1999/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
but I think there is an assumption, from some, that everything in the 1990s was classic. There were plenty of songs that might have been good then that seem a bit naff or dated now, or songs that were bad at the time and remain so! Now, as with every instalment of this feature I put out, I have to explain how I am not a big advocate of the term ‘guilty pleasure’ – I think it is quite insulting but, to be fair, I have heard many people call this song a guilty pleasure. Smash Mouth’s All Star is a song that divides people, because I think the band as a whole are one you either love or hate. They have not covered themselves in much glory the past few weeks. As this article from NME explains, the band have faced a backlash after performing a gig they performed earlier in the month:
“Smash Mouth have taken to social media to share some of the hate mail they’ve received following their controversial appearance at Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota earlier this month.
Thousands gathered at Smash Mouth’s concert on August 9 where they performed as part of the ten-day event. Despite ongoing the coronavirus pandemic, it was reported that social distance-procedures and mask-wearing were virtually ignored during the band’s set.
Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell told the crowd, “We’re all here together tonight! Fuck that COVID shit!” His remarks drew immediate criticism from commentators”.
They were pretty foolish for staging that gig, and I think the fact they did that is one reason why the band are not exactly loved by a lot of people – there is that image of them being a bit lowbrow and simple (and the repercussions of that gig have been felt). I am here to talk about the music and, whilst I do really love their single, Walkin’ on the Sun (from 1997’s Fush Yu Mang), All Star was the single that really broke them. Fush Yu Mang remains a fantastic debut album, in no small part due to the songwriting originality of their former guitarist, Greg Gamp. The Californian band have always split people in regards whether their music is cool and credible or if it is best enjoyed as this guilty pleasure. Also, to be fair to the band, their sophomore album, Astro Lounge, of 1999 got some really good reviews! I think the band were definitely tapping into something back in the ‘90s, and one cannot deny their energy and infectiousness. Whether it is the lyrical simplicity or the fact that their brand of music has not necessarily aged as well as others from that period, there are a lot of people who do not like All Star and sort of cringe when they hear Smash Mouth. Released as a single on 4th May, 1999, the fact that it went to the top of the U.S. chart and hit the top-forty in many nations meant that the song was being played everywhere!
Unlike some other songs I have included in this feature, maybe it is a case of the band being divisive rather than the track. Many people overtly like All Star, but there are many others that do not because of the association with Smash Mouth. Even if the band have been in the news for the wrong reasons lately, I do feel that their music should be reframed and appreciated. Albums such as Astro Lounge are brilliant, and there are more than a few gems to be found – including Then the Morning Comes, and Come On, Come On. All Star was a definite smash in 1999, but there has been a slight denting in its appeal and popularity since then. All Star was one of the last songs to be recorded for Astro Lounge, and Smash Mouth’s record label, Interscope, wanted more songs they could release as a single. Rising to the challenge, Greg Camp penned All Star. The song was written, according to Camp, for the outcast, and the radio-friendly nature of All Star meant that many new people were tuning themselves into Smash Mouth. All Star has been used in films and ranks highly in polls that nominate the best songs of the 1990s. All of that might suggest that All Star is free from criticism and should be heralded as a classic, but I have seen a lot of people take against the track; they feel it is quite jarring now or does not sound as fresh as it did in the 1990s.
Also, many have found it difficult to separate the band from the song, so they sort of avoid All Star for that reason. It might seem unfair I am taking shots against Smash Mouth, but I think All Star should be highlighted, and at this very hard and changeable time, there is an optimism to the music that resonates and lifts the mood. Greg Camp wanted to write an anthem for the outsiders. He was reading a lot of fan mail from those who considered themselves to be outsiders, so All Star was a response to that. The band have talked about the story behind All Star, and I want to bring in an in-depth article from last year that discusses the song’s continued popularity through memes, YouTube videos, and even an as-yet-unstaged Broadway musical. It was clear that Greg Camp was used to writing deeper songs that were not necessarily tooled for mainstream radio. It was a challenge responding to the label’s request for a big hit:
“But Camp was ready to try. Not usually one to listen to the radio, he picked up the latest issue of Billboard, bought some records, and noted tempos, keys, melodies, song structures. One track in particular stood out: Barenaked Ladies’ “One Week,” with its hyper-verbose verses and abrupt mood shifts, and the fact that the vocals kicked in before the music did. (The other group brazenly vocalizing right at top of songs that year was ’NSync. Smash Mouth would tour with them in 2002.)
Maybe because he was thinking in terms of fan service, Camp’s mind turned to Smash Mouth’s fan mail, which he and DeLisle tended to read in the back of the tour bus or at the laundromat. A lot of the band’s young fans were having a rough time of it, being picked on by their siblings, teachers, parents—sometimes for the way they dressed, sometimes for liking Smash Mouth. Camp set out to write a pep talk of a song, a “daily affirmation,” an “I Will Survive” for the not-so-cool kids. Finally, there was the memory of an ex-girlfriend, who used to make the “L for loser” hand gesture at him when he left to play with his cover band in the evenings. “She’d be like, ‘When are you going to grow up, dude?’” Camp told me, adding, “I don’t know if I would namecheck her. Because, you never know. She may come after me for royalties.”
There was concern from Camp that his bandmates would not like the song’s relentless positivity and poppiness, and I think this is why Smash Mouth get misrepresented. They have tackled big issues through their music and they often get pigeonholed as low-I.Q. or dumb. Maybe this is another reason why All Star gets a bad rap: it is insatiably catchy, but it not as challenging and provocative as some of the band’s other tracks. Camp’s original handwritten lyrics contained the line, “Say bye bye to your soul” (later changed to “All that glitters is gold”) - “This would be the first time that I had to do something that the record company told me to do,” Camp said. “And I was kind of like, ‘Well, you know, I guess here we are’”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Berg/Getty Images
“This song will do exactly what the record company wants it to do,” their producer, Eric Valentine, warned them. “But it is going to sail this band straight into the sun. Like, there’s no turning back. You cannot put that toothpaste back in the tube”
“Pretty much everyone was concerned,” said Camp. “We definitely had to take a vote and go, are we going to do this?” Not that there was that much debate. “Nobody said, ‘Let’s just be broke and make sure our friends think we’re cool’”
I think the catchiness and positivity of the song is exactly the reason why we should consider it to be a truly awesome song. Maybe Greg Camp has mixed feelings about All Star, but it has brought a lot of pleasure to people, and I think a lot of people who turn their noses up at Smash Mouth actually hold a soft spot for All Star! Greg Camp is no longer with Smash Mouth, but one cannot argue against his contribution and incredible songwriting ability. Even he admits that, maybe, being a Smash Mouth fan is not seen as ultra-cool:
“Well, I don’t think it’s like the coolest thing in the world to like Smash Mouth, or that song,” he says after a long pause. “You’re not going to be scoring any points by liking it. … It’s just like, hey, here’s something from our childhood. You know, it’s like if I were to like walk around and sing the theme to like The Partridge Family or The Smurfs or something like that. It’s not because I genuinely love that stuff. It’s just good, and it’s fun, and it’s something from my memories”.
IMAGE CREDIT: Ellen Surrey
What is it about All Star and Smash Mouth that creates this dichotomy of opinions and a real divide?! If, like me, you were a teen in 1999, you would have bonded with the song, as it sort of spoke to us and we could relate to what was being said. At a post-Britpop time, it was nice to hear songs that had a real optimism and positivity about them – the scene changed post-1997, and one did not hear quite as many big and positive Pop songs as they did between 1993-1997. I think a lot of people who were older than me in 1999 disliked All Star’s lack of real sophistication, or they felt that the song was too in-your-face. Other since have dismissed All Star as an overrated tune of the 1990s or a track that was meaningful then but not so much now. I want to bring in one last passage from the article I have been quoting from, as it is nice to hear different people explain the popularity and, also, divisiveness of All Star:
“Pete Gofton, a musician and music lecturer at Goldsmiths University in London, argues that “All Star” is just a handy “vessel of transmission”—making a statement on the song itself is not the point. “The most successful memes, shitposts, and Vines have little if anything to do with the actual content itself,” he said. Memes are their own art or language, “with their own internal logic and rules and references. The content they use is pushed beyond the point of being funny or making any kind of sense in and of itself.” There’s no deep meaning or even obvious comedy in, for example, a version of “All Star” in which the vocals are five beats-per-minute slower than the instruments. “But it functions within the parameters of communication of understanding what a meme should do.”
“We lash out, we mock Smash Mouth, we reassure ourselves that this is a terrible song,” Tim Richardson, one of the hosts of the podcast Why I Hate This Album, said in an email. “But secretly we know that none of that will ever get it out of our heads”.
I think that All Star is just a great Pop song, no matter what you feel about Smash Mouth. I don’t think it is a song that people should feel embarrassed about liking, and I know there are people out there who truly love All Star and are happy just to get down and get with it. Take a listen to the song, and it will put a smile on the face and give you energy. At the very least, All Star provides some nostalgia (for those who were around in 1999) and escape at a time when…
IN THIS PHOTO: Smash Mouth in 2019
WE could all do with it!