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    Steve Harwell: How Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’ Got a Second Wind From Memes

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    The track, sung by Steve Harwell, took a winding path to evergreen status that illustrates how social media and fan-made content have transformed the music business.Long before it became a soundtrack nugget and an internet meme, it was just a rock band’s attempt to land a radio hit.But the long path to evergreen status for “All Star,” the 1999 track by the California alternative band Smash Mouth, whose founding lead singer, Steve Harwell, died on Monday at age 56, is an illustration of how social media and fan-made content have transformed the music industry.The song took shape while the group was working on its second album, “Astro Lounge,” after its first taste of success with the song “Walkin’ on the Sun” (1997). The group submitted a batch of songs to its record company and was told: “You’re not done. We don’t hear a single, so keep working,” Robert Hayes, the band’s manager, told Rolling Stone in 2019. Greg Camp, Smash Mouth’s guitarist and primary songwriter, said the song’s lovable-loser theme (“I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed”) emerged from fan mail. “About 85 to 90 percent of the mail was from these kids who were being bullied” for being Smash Mouth fans, he told the website Songfacts. “So we were like, ‘We should write a song for fans.’”“All Star” was quickly placed on film soundtracks, including “Inspector Gadget” and “Mystery Men,” in 1999. (The original music video had clips from “Mystery Men,” a superhero sendup starring Ben Stiller and Janeane Garofalo, among others.) But the song’s immortality began with its placement in “Shrek,” the 2001 animated favorite starring Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy, where the song plays in the opening credits. The film grossed a total of $484 million around the world, according to the site Box Office Mojo.A decade or so later, generational nostalgia kicked off another level of success for “All Star,” when the children who grew up on “Shrek” began meme-ing on it relentlessly. There was the version made up entirely of samples of Bill O’Reilly saying his name. And the one, from “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” with lyrics stitched together from “Star Wars” clips. There were the ones sung by Jon Sudano, a YouTuber, showing him melding the song — sometimes painfully — to hits like Adele’s “Hello” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” or with the vocal line maddeningly shifted one beat from the original. And don’t forget the guy who recreated Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” using samples of Harwell’s voice.Perhaps the most popular take was “Mario, You’re a Plumber,” a Mario Bros.-theme adaptation — with actual effort taken to write new lyrics — that has garnered 1.6 million views on YouTube.Those were all iterations of what has become a key avenue for artists to find wide success in a fragmented media environment, with user-generated content ricocheting through social media to propel a new song (see Lil Nas X, “Old Town Road”) or point younger listeners to an old one (Fleetwood Mac, “Dreams”).In the case of “All Star,” this process kept an old track alive for years and led to gigs like the band performing a snippet of the song on a Progressive insurance ad in 2020. All of that activity tends to drive listeners back to streaming services, and “All Star” has garnered just under a billion streams on Spotify alone.In an interview with the music site Stereogum in 2017, Harwell expressed the contrasting opinions artists sometimes have about such memes. On the one hand, it’s valuable exposure, and that can lead to money in their pocket. On the other … it’s not always fun to have one’s work flattened into a joke.“It’s entertaining, I get it,” Harwell said. “It doesn’t bother me, but at the same time, I don’t love it.” More

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      What’s on TV This Week: ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ and ‘Genius: Aretha’

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Grammy AwardsGrammys: What HappenedWinners ListBest and Worst MomentsBeyoncé Breaks RecordRed CarpetAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWhat’s on TV This Week: ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ and ‘Genius: Aretha’Revisit the 2011 adaptation of John le Carré’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” Or see Cynthia Erivo play Aretha Franklin in National Geographic’s “Genius: Aretha.”Gary Oldman in “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”Credit…Jack English/Focus FeaturesMarch 15, 2021, 1:00 a.m. ETBetween network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, March 15-21. Details and times are subject to change.MondayTINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY (2011) 8 p.m. on HBO2. John le Carré, who died in December at 89, made a name for himself writing espionage novels with spy characters that are flawed and fallible. If they order vodka martinis it’s probably to stave off loneliness, not to look suave. Such is the case with the MI6 officer George Smiley, a recurring character in le Carré’s novels and the focus of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” which concerns an aging Smiley’s efforts to weed out a double-agent in the service’s ranks. Gary Oldman plays Smiley in this film version, which was directed by Tomas Alfredson and which, in her review for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis called a “superb” adaptation of le Carré’s novel. Oldman, she wrote, gives “a fascinatingly gripping performance that doesn’t so much command the screen, dominating it with shouts and displays of obvious technique, as take it over incrementally, an occupation that echoes Smiley’s steady incursion into the mole’s lair.”ROBIN AND MARIAN (1976) 6 p.m. on TCM. Five years after ostensibly hanging up his James Bond tux with “Diamonds Are Forever,” Sean Connery starred opposite Audrey Hepburn in this swashbuckling take on the Robin Hood legend. Connery plays an aging Robin Hood, who, after the death of Richard the Lionheart (Richard Harris), returns to Sherwood Forest to discover that Maid Marian, who has become the mother superior of a convent, has come under threat from Robin Hood’s nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw). The adventure is set to a score by John Barry, who also wrote the musical accompaniment for a slew of James Bond movies, including most of Connery’s.TuesdayMAYANS M.C. 10 p.m. on FX. This “Sons of Anarchy” spinoff has offered a distinctive blend of gasoline and adrenaline since its debut in 2018. The third season, which premieres on Tuesday night, continues the story of Ezekiel “E.Z.” Reyes (J.D. Pardo). It picks up after the events of the show’s intense Season 2 finale, which included a consequential murder.WednesdayThe singer Leon Bridges performing in 2016. Bridges is one of several artists slated to appear in the TV special “A Grammy Salute to the Sounds of Change.”Credit…Amy Harris/Invision, via Associated PressA GRAMMY SALUTE TO THE SOUNDS OF CHANGE 9 p.m. on CBS. The hip-hop artist Common will host this two-hour special, which will pay tribute to music’s ability to catalyze social change. Artists slated to appear include Yolanda Adams, Andra Day, Cynthia Erivo, John Fogerty, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Brad Paisley, Leon Bridges, Billy Porter and Gloria Estefan. The ongoing criticism of the Grammys’ lack of diversity, including its poor record of recognizing people of color, is bound to create some dissonance — but the power of the artists, including those involved here, was never in question.FINIAN’S RAINBOW (1968) 5:30 p.m. on TCM. Four years before “The Godfather,” Francis Ford Coppola helmed this film adaptation of the 1947 fantasy musical “Finian’s Rainbow.” The story follows an Irish father (Fred Astaire) and daughter (Petula Clark) who steal a leprechaun’s pot of gold, then flee to the United States. While the film has its fans — including the Coen Brothers, who have expressed a love for it — it was largely panned by critics, including Renata Adler, who in her review for The Times in 1968 referred to the film as a “cheesy, joyless thing.”ThursdaySHREK (2001) 6 p.m. on Freeform. This spring marks 20 years since Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz teamed up in the original, animated, tongue-in-cheek “Shrek” fairy tale. Its original audience might enjoy revisiting it for a dose of nostalgia — or perhaps to show it to their own children.FridayRenée Fleming and Robert Ainsley in “Great Performances at the Met.”Credit…Metropolitan OperaGREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). The New York performing arts venue the Shed announced last week that it will be reopening for indoor performances next month, with a lineup that includes a concert from the soprano Renée Fleming. But even most people who feel ready to return to indoor performances won’t get to go — the size of the virus-tested audience will be limited. Instead, they can get their Fleming fix remotely on Friday, when PBS airs this episode of “Great Performances at the Met.” The recorded program includes arias by Puccini and Massenet, plus works by Handel and Korngold. PBS is pairing it with “Live From Lincoln Center Presents: Stars In Concert” with Andrew Rannells, which airs at 10 p.m.SaturdayRELIC (2020) 8 p.m. on Showtime. Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote and Robyn Nevin play three generations of women haunted by one case of dementia — and perhaps more — in this horror debut from the director Natalie Erika James. The plot revolves around Edna (Nevin), an octogenarian who goes missing from her rural home. When Edna’s daughter (Mortimer) and granddaughter (Heathcote) go looking for her, they discover a sinister presence within the home’s dusty walls. In her review for The Times, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that the film creates a “surpassingly creepy atmosphere and a patiently ratcheting unease.” The story, she added, “deftly merges the familiar bumps and groans of the haunted-house movie with a potent allegory for the devastation of dementia.”SundayCynthia Erivo in “Genius: Aretha.”Credit…Richard DuCree/National GeographicGENIUS: ARETHA 9 p.m. on National Geographic. The first two seasons of this National Geographic anthology series focused on the lives of Pablo Picasso (Antonio Banderas) and Albert Einstein (Geoffrey Rush). The third season, debuting Sunday night, dramatizes the life of Aretha Franklin (Cynthia Erivo). It was originally slated to air in May of last year, but was pushed back after the pandemic caused production delays. The new timing offers an interesting opportunity for viewers — the playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, who was the showrunner for this season of “Genius,” also wrote the just-released historical drama “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Watch both back to back to see Parks revisit the lives of two giants in 21st century music.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Blues Brothers’ Join National Film Registry

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Blues Brothers’ Join National Film RegistryThe movies, along with “A Clockwork Orange” and “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song,” are among 25 selected by the Library of Congress.John Belushi, left, Aretha Franklin and Dan Aykroyd from “The Blues Brothers,” a new addition to the  National Film Registry.Credit…NBC/UniversalDec. 14, 2020, 3:00 a.m. ETAs the oft-quoted line from “The Dark Knight” goes, “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Now a more respectable immortality awaits this 2008 Christopher Nolan superhero blockbuster, which earned Heath Ledger a posthumous Academy Award for his performance as the Joker: it is among the memorable motion pictures, along with “Shrek,” “A Clockwork Orange” and “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song,” that have been chosen for preservation this year on the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.On Monday, the library plans to make its annual announcement that it has selected a new roster of 25 films, from 1913 to 2010, that will be honored for their historical and cultural significance and added to this registry, helping to preserve them for future generations.Those selections include milestone films like “Lilies of the Field,” the 1963 drama for which Sidney Poitier became the first Black man to win best actor at the Oscars; and “The Hurt Locker,” Kathryn Bigelow’s 2008 war drama for which she became the first woman to win the best director Oscar.This year’s list also includes “Kid Auto Races at Venice,” the 1914 Keystone Studios comedy that was the first released film to feature Charlie Chaplin playing the character of the Little Tramp.Commercial hits like the animated “Shrek” (2001); the musical “Grease” (1978); and “The Blues Brothers” (1980), the comedy based on John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s recurring “Saturday Night Live” characters, have been chosen as well.The library noted that this year it had added nine films directed or co-directed by women. They include “Outrage” (1950), a drama from Ida Lupino and starring Mala Powers as a rape victim recovering from her trauma; “Suspense” (1913), a silent thriller written by, starring and co-directed by Lois Weber; and Kathleen Collins’s “Losing Ground” (1982), one of the few features of its time to be written and directed by a Black woman.All told, seven films from people of color were selected this year, the library said. They also include Melvin Van Peebles’s blaxploitation thriller “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (1971); and “Freedom Riders” (2010), Stanley Nelson’s documentary about 1960s civil-rights activism in segregated America.Additional films include Otto Preminger’s drug-addiction drama “The Man With the Golden Arm” (1955), which starred Frank Sinatra; “A Clockwork Orange” (1971), Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the dystopian Anthony Burgess novel; Wayne Wang’s “The Joy Luck Club” (1993), adapted from the Amy Tan novel; the concert film “Wattstax” (1973); and Wim Wenders’s musical documentary “Buena Vista Social Club” (1999).The Library of Congress said in a statement that these additions bring the total number of titles on its preservation registry to 800. Films must be at least 10 years old and “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” to be considered. Nominations can be made by the public at loc.gov/film and selections are made by Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress. A television special, featuring several of these films and discussions between Hayden and the film historian Jacqueline Stewart, will be shown Tuesday evening on TCM.Here is the complete list of the 25 movies chosen for the National Film Registry:1. “Suspense” (1913)2. “Kid Auto Races at Venice” (1914)3. “Bread” (1918)4. “The Battle of the Century” (1927)5. “With Car and Camera Around the World” (1929)6. “Cabin in the Sky” (1943)7. “Outrage” (1950)8. “The Man With the Golden Arm” (1955)9. “Lilies of the Field” (1963)10. “A Clockwork Orange” (1971)11. “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (1971)12. “Wattstax” (1973)13. “Grease” (1978)14. “The Blues Brothers” (1980)15. “Losing Ground” (1982)16. “Illusions” (1982)17. “The Joy Luck Club” (1993)18. “The Devil Never Sleeps” (1994)19. “Buena Vista Social Club” (1999)20. “The Ground” (1993-2001)21. “Shrek” (2001)22. “Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege” (2006)23. “The Hurt Locker” (2008)24. “The Dark Knight” (2008)25. “Freedom Riders” (2010)AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More