All Star (song)

"All Star" is a song by the American rock band Smash Mouth. It was released on May 4, 1999, as the second single from their album Astro Lounge, and it is one of the group's most successful songs, peaking at No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 2 in Canada and No. 4 in Australia. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

"All Star"
Single by Smash Mouth
from the album Astro Lounge, Mystery Men: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, and Shrek: Music from the Original Motion Picture
B-side"Then the Morning Comes" (45, U.S.)[1]
ReleasedMay 4, 1999 (1999-05-04)
FormatCD single
Recorded1999 (1999)
Genre
Length3:21
LabelInterscope
Songwriter(s)Greg Camp
Producer(s)Eric Valentine
Smash Mouth singles chronology
"Can't Get Enough of You Baby"
(1998)		 "All Star"
(1999)		 "Then the Morning Comes"
(1999)
Music video
"All Star" on YouTube

Composition

"All Star" is set in the key of F♯ major with a tempo of 104 beats per minute.[4] According to an interview in 2017, songwriter Greg Camp was interested in exploring several layers of meaning with the stripped-down song: the social battle cry, the sports anthem, the fanbase affirmation, the poetic lyricism, the sweeping melody, the inclusion, the artistic music videos, and more.[5]

Commercial performance

The song reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart[6] and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.[7] In Canada, it peaked at No. 2 on the RPM Top Singles chart.[8] Outside North America, "All Star" reached No. 4 in Australia and became a top-twenty hit in Finland, Iceland, New Zealand and Scotland.[9][10][11]

Music video

Directed by McG, the music video features cameos by William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, Paul Reubens, Kel Mitchell, Janeane Garofalo, Doug Jones, and Dane Cook from the film Mystery Men (1999), which prominently featured the song. In June 2019 the video has been remastered in HD and received subtitles in commemoration of its 20th anniversary.[12] The video has garnered over 280 million views on Smash Mouth's YouTube channel as of April 2020.[13]

Usage in media

The song makes an appearance in the 1999 (the year it was released) Disney film Inspector Gadget.

In Mystery Men, "All Star" is played during a scene in which the titular superhero team holds auditions to recruit new members.[14][15] The final scene of Rat Race (2001) revolves around Smash Mouth performing the song at a charity concert.[16][17]

The song is heavily noted for its use in the opening scene of the 2001 DreamWorks Animation film Shrek during the introduction of the title character.[18][19][20] Devotion toward the song has been considered a factor in the emergence of the internet-based Shrek fandom in the 2000s.[20] In turn, "All Star" returned to prominence that decade as a popular internet meme; the meme primarily consists of comedic remixes and edits of the song and its music video.[21][22][19]

The upcoming musical All Star: The Best Broadway Musical will re-orchestrate and rearrange the song in a variety of music and dance styles such as the tango, patter song, and "nightmare ballet".[23][24][25]

"All Star" serves as the motif of internet personality Neil Cicierega's 2014 mashup album Mouth Sounds.[26]

The song was featured at the end of the US version of 2000 20th Century Fox/Fox Kids film Digimon: The Movie.

All Star was used in a flashback scene in the police comedy show Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

The song was used twice in an episode of American Housewife.

This song was used briefly in a Progressive Corporation commercial in a spin-off half time show.

"All Star" has retained notoriety on the internet through creation of memes centered around the song. These memes include images, audio tracks, and videos.[27] As of March 2020, videos such as "All Star But It's 24 Cartoon Impressions" and "Smash Mouth – All Star (Melon Cover)" had over 12 and 9 million views on Youtube, respectively.[28][29]

The band itself is receptive to the memes, saying that, "We like the attention, so even though it’s a bit of a goof, it usually centers around our song 'All Star' and it still sells weekly like mad. So we take the bad with the good and fully embrace the meme aspect."[30]

Track listings

CD1

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."All Star"Greg CampEric Valentine3:21
2."Walkin' On the Star" (Sun E Delight remix)   
3."The Fonz"CampValentine3:39

CD2

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."All Star"Greg CampEric Valentine3:21
2."Walkin' on the Sun"CampValentine3:25
3."Can't Get Enough of You Baby"
  • Sandy Linzer
  • Denny Randell
Valentine2:30
4."Walkin' on the Sun" (video)   

Personnel

Musicians

  • Steve Harwell – lead vocals
  • Greg Camp – guitars, additional keyboards, backing vocals
  • Paul De Lisle – bass, backing vocals
  • Michael Urbano – drums[31]

Production

  • Jacquire King – remixing, mixing, recording, Pro-Tools
  • Eric Valentine – producer, engineer, mixer
  • Bruce Dickinson – producer, engineer
  • Porter Seals – producer, engineer

Charts and certifications

References
  1. "Smash Mouth - All Star" – via www.45cat.com.
  2. Michaels, Sean (April 8, 2016). "Two songs you need to hear: Sean Michaels's playlist of the week". The Globe and Mail.
  3. Mortimer, Frank (May 16, 2013). "Making of Lip Dub: FHS 2013". Foxboro Reporter. Archived from the original on February 1, 2015.
  4. "Smash Mouth "All Star" Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com.
  5. "Songfacts Interview: Smash Mouth Songwriter Greg Camp".
  6. "Smash Mouth Chart History (Alternative Songs)". Billboard.
  7. "Smash Mouth Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  8. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 8383." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  9. "Australian-charts.com – Smash Mouth – All Star". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  10. "Íslenski Listinn (17.6–24.6. 1999)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). June 18, 1999. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  11. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  12. @smashmouth (June 24, 2019). "Our ALL STAR video is now remastered in HD! #AllStar20 @UMG @soundmanagement @Interscope" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. "Smash Mouth - All Star". YouTube. Interscope Records. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  14. Blevins, Joe. "Smash Mouth meets The Larry Sanders Show in a Brilliant Minimalist Mashup". A.V. News. Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  15. Preira, Matt. "A People's History of the Internet Campaign to Get Smash Mouth to Eat 24 Eggs". Miami New Times. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  16. Schonfeld, Zach. "We Interviewed the Shit out of the Dude from Smash Mouth". Noisey. VICE Media. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  17. Semley, John. "Smash Mouth, Guy Fieri, and Sammy Hagar Team Up for Awful Cookbook". A.V. News. Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  18. Harrison, Mark. "The Pop Culture Phenomenon of Smash Mouth's All Star". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  19. "The Internet's Endless Obsession With Smash Mouth's "All Star"". GQ. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  20. Sims, David (May 19, 2014). "Why Is the Internet So Obsessed With Shrek?". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  21. "What Smash Mouth really thinks of all your 'All Star' memes". Daily Dot. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  22. "Smash Mouth: We 'fully embrace the meme'". The Verge and the Inverse Team. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  23. Adlakha, Siddhant (October 12, 2018). "There's a Smash Mouth musical, and the only song in it is 'All Star'". Polygon. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  24. King, Darryn (May 3, 2019). "The Never-ending Life of Smash Mouth's "All Star"". The Ringer. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  25. "The Smash Mouth musical exists, and it's all "All Star," all the time". News. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  26. Solomon, Dan (July 28, 2014). "The Mind-Melting "Mouth Silence" Mashup That's Delighting and Upsetting the Internet". Fast Company. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  27. Plaugic, Lizzie (January 5, 2017). "Smash Mouth: We 'fully embrace the meme'". The Verge. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  28. Baker, Brock [Brock Baker]. (June 18, 2017). All Star But It's 24 Cartoon Impressions [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGgOzxg2lRI
  29. [Pupsi]. (June 28, 2017). Smash Mouth – All Star (Melon Cover) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Y6Q47qjlw
  30. "Smash Mouth Runs Its Own Twitter Account and Loves Millennials". Inverse. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  31. Eric Valentine (May 14, 2019), Making Records with Eric Valentine "All Star", retrieved May 15, 2019
  32. "Ultratop.be – Smash Mouth – All Star" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  33. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 8469." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  34. "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 8376." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  35. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 16 no. 32. August 7, 1999. p. 6. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  36. "Smash Mouth: All Star" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  37. "Offiziellecharts.de – Smash Mouth – All Star". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  38. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 31, 1999" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  39. "Dutchcharts.nl – Smash Mouth – All Star" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  40. "Charts.nz – Smash Mouth – All Star". Top 40 Singles.
  41. "Swedishcharts.com – Smash Mouth – All Star". Singles Top 100.
  42. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  43. "Smash Mouth Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard.
  44. "Smash Mouth Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  45. "Smash Mouth Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  46. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  47. "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 1999". ARIA. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  48. "RPM 1999 Top 100 Hit Tracks". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  49. "RPM 1999 Top 100 Adult Contemporary". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  50. "RPM 1999 Top 50 Rock Tracks". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  51. "Billboard Top 100 – 1999". Archived from the original on July 9, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  52. "1999 – The Year in Music" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 111 no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. 148. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  53. "1999 – The Year in Music" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 111 no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. 138. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  54. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  55. "Italian single certifications – Smash Mouth – All Star" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "All Star" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli online" under "Sezione".
  56. "British single certifications – Smash Mouth – All Star". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type All Star in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.

Further reading
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