From our correspondent in the United States,
“Soooome-Body…” Sing those three syllables, and any American between the ages of 25 and 50 can sing along, instantly recognizing the hit. All-Staretched forever into pop-culture by the opening credits of Shrek over twenty years ago. While the singer of Smash Mouth, Steve Harwell, died of liver disease, the group’s agent announced on Monday, back to the story of a planetary cardboard.
In 1997, the group’s first album, Fush Yu Mangwas a great success and allowed Smash Mouth to find a place in the Californian rock scene, with a mix of ska and sunny punk flirting with a retro psychedelic sound, especially on the hit Walkin’ on the Sun, which peaked at number two on the US charts. As the group finished its second album two years later, the record label Interscope Records had a major criticism: it lacked a hit capable of hitting the radio. The band’s guitarist and main songwriter, Greg Camp, took up the challenge and returned with two demos, one of which he “kinda hates”, feeling like he was compromising his integrity, tells the specialized site The Ringerwhich in 2019 delivered an oral history of the phenomenon All-Star.
When singer Steve Harwell hears the demo of this four-chord song with simplistic lyrics, with its monosyllabic chorus about a loser who finally knows success and becomes an “all-star”, he is immediately convinced: this title is one of those that change a career forever. For better, but also for worse.
The “Shrek” megaphone
All-Star did quite well when it was released in 1999, climbing to 4th position on the charts, but not doing as well as Walkin’ on the Sun. A green ogre who farts, belches and washes himself in the mud, will change all that two years later.
When the creators of Shrek work on their animated film for Dreamworks, they use a temporary soundtrack – a universal practice in cinema – the time to make a final choice and let the musical supervisors negotiate the rights with the record companies and the artists.
all-star kicks off the introductory credits, when viewers meet Shrek in his stinking swamp. The directors then commission a young artist signed to the Dreamworks label, Matt Mahaffey, to create a light and fun song, similar to All-Starwhich has already been used in two recent films, notably the superhero parody Mystery Men, with Ben Stiller. After weeks of work, they are satisfied with the result. But after seeing a montage, Dreamworks boss Jeff Katzenberg asks a question: “Why don’t you just use All-Star ? »
Shrek, with its irreverent pee-poo humor, became a global hit, grossing nearly half a billion dollars at the global box office in 2001, beaten only by the first films of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and by Monsters Inc.. All-Star opens the film, and Smash Mouth performs a cover of I’m a believer especially for end credits Shrek. The soundtrack sells more than 2 million copies. All-Star loops on the radio. The song is in the catalog of video games rockband And Guitar Hero. It becomes an anthem in football stadiums. It’s come full circle for a group that takes its name from an American football term from the 1980s, which characterizes an attack of bullies who dismantle the jaws of the opposing team to protect the race from the “running back”.
A has-been group
The fear of the guitarist comes true. Smash Mouth becomes “the group of Shrek », and Steve Harwell, as a singer, his face. To be a fan of the group is to accept mockery and taunts from friends. Smash Mouth is anti-cool and anti-rock. Saturday Night Live drove the point home in 2010, with a sketch featuring a little girl who has Smash Mouth nightmares.
Just go to the group’s Spotify page to see the damage: All-Star counts nearly a billion streams, ahead of I’m a believer (226 million). Walkin’ in the sun is their only song unrelated to Shrek to exceed 100 million. All the other titles are under 20 million plays.
How much money All-Star did she relate to Smash Mouth? Officially, the band earned $500,000 with royalties from Shrek. But taking into account the 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify and concert revenue, the amount becomes astronomical and impossible to quantify.
For Steve Harwell, the end was not glorious. In full confinement, in 2020, Smash Mouth gives a concert in front of thousands of people, and the singer shouts “Fuck that Covid shit”. In the process, he insults his fans, visibly drunk on stage. The frontman, who struggled with his alcoholism for several decades, left the group at the end of 2021 to treat himself. “Steve lived a 100% full-throttle life. It lit up the universe before it died out, ”said group agent Robert Hayes on Monday. We hardly dare to write it: Steve Harwell has become a all star.