The video for this song came up on one of the channels the other day. I found myself staring in diebelief that it was released as long ago as May 1993. I was so certain this was a 21st Century record...
Beck himself wasn't convinced of the merits of Loser, describing it as mediocre and it was only thanks to the persistence of Tom Rothrock, a music producer and owner of a small independent label in Los Angeles that it actually saw light of day. Even then, the biggest hopes and aspirations for all concerned was that it would become a cult hit, perhaps through college radio stations, and that it might lay foundations for Beck to make further recordings. That it led to him receiving a deluge of offers from major labels and a subseqent re-release in 1994 was the stuff dreams were made of.
The world over took to this song, reaching the Top 20 in Europe, America and Oceania. But it was the record buying public of Norway who really got behind the song taking all the way to the coveted #1 position in their singles charts where it sat for three weeks.
mp3 : Beck - Loser
By the end of 1994, Beck was regarded by many, particularly in the USA, as the future of music. It was never a position he sought and indeed one of the sad aspects of his rise to fame was that he soon had a parting the people he had worked with on the recording of Loser, the very people who, more than him, were convinced that he had written and recorded a genuine one-off classic that wouuld stand the test of time. Which it does.
Here's the tracks on the CD single released in the UK:-
mp3 : Beck - Totally Confused
mp3 : Beck - Corvette Bummer
mp3 : Beck - MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack
It reached #15 over here and led to a memorable appearance on Top Of The Pops:-
I don't think he was taking things all that seriously.
3 comments:
This was a local hit before it went big. I had just moved to LA from NY. Coming to live in LA from that direction, or really anyplace else, you're knocked out at how creative people are here and how many out-there creative ideas people have. Beck was just one of many young guys coming at popular music (which had recently been blown wide open by Nirvana's 'Nevermind') from a fun new angle. He used to play solo at local dive called the Alligator Lounge, break-dancing and making noise with a leaf blower. Years later I'm kind of glad his popularity isn't so enormous because now I can enjoy his music on the scale it was intended for, if that makes sense. Beck is kind of the LA Elvis Costello, except he hasn't started making crap records yet. Good debut from a man who went on to make loads of great music, and is still making it.
I'm envious of you Jonny...
Funnily enough, I was workin on a Top Ten Loser Songs just this week... no prizes for guessing where this will end up.
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