Flagpole Sitta Explained

Flagpole Sitta
Cover:Flagpole Sitta.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Harvey Danger
Album:Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?
B-Side:
  • "The Ballad of the Tragic Hero (Pity and Fear)"
  • "Wrecking Ball"
Recorded:June 1996
Studio:John and Stu's Place (Seattle, Washington)
Genre:
Length:3:37
Label:
Producer:
Next Title:Private Helicopter
Next Year:1998

"Flagpole Sitta" is a song by American rock band Harvey Danger from their 1997 debut album, Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? It was released as the band's debut single in April 1998 and was met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, number three on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, and number nine on the Canadian RPM Alternative 30. A music video was produced to promote the single.[1]

Composition

"Flagpole Sitta" was recorded in June 1996 at John and Stu's Place in Seattle, Washington, during the Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? recording sessions.[2] According to drummer Evan Sult, the song was written as a response to the Seattle music scene of the 1990s and its effect on mainstream culture.[3]

The title of the song was inspired by the 1930 Marx Brothers film Animal Crackers, which features a line of dialogue about the pole sitting fad of the 1920s.[4] The band was inspired to spell "sitter" as "sitta" by the Pavement song "Fame Throwa" and the N.W.A album Straight Outta Compton.[4]

Release and reception

"Flagpole Sitta" gained popularity after Seattle radio station KNDD put the song into rotation. Afterwards, London Records sent a copy of Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? to KROQ-FM in Los Angeles, who began to air "Flagpole Sitta" and received a positive response from listeners.[5] On April 27, 1998, the song was officially serviced to US rock radio, and a release to contemporary hit radio followed on June 9 of the same year.[6] [7] The song gained further exposure when it was used as the music in theatrical trailers and TV spots for the 1998 film Disturbing Behavior.[8] The track subsequently charted at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart.

"Flagpole Sitta" is regarded as a power pop single by MTV and a post-grunge anthem by author Ericka Chickowski.[9] [10] PopMatters describes the single as "a hyper-literate Alternative rock dissection of the stupidity of the modern age".[11] Music journalist Rob Sheffield also considers the song as "nineties pop-punk rage at its loudest".[12]

Charts

Year-end chart

Chart (1998)Position
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[14] 88
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[15] 7

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)
United StatesRock radio
Contemporary hit radio
United Kingdom[16]

Legacy

"Flagpole Sitta" was used as the theme song for the British sitcom Peep Show for the second series through the ninth. In 2008, Harvey Danger singer Sean Nelson stated that Peep Show is "...the only pop culture item the song has been associated with that feels like a kindred spirit to the original attitude of the lyric."[17] In 2016, he said: "It's a joy to be affiliated with something that's so smart and so funny and so kind of rude and weird."[3]

Rolling Stone ranked the track as the 25th-best song of the 1990s and the best song of 1998.[18] [19]

The song was included on the soundtrack to .[20]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta (Official Music Video). YouTube. March 25, 2011. live. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/ZVOD5D4IArw. December 19, 2021.
  2. Web site: Recording info for WHATMG?. blarg.net. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/19990508225859/http://www.blarg.net/~hdanger/whatmg.html. May 8, 1999. January 30, 2023.
  3. Web site: Zaleski . Annie . November 11, 2015 . Why Harvey Danger's '90's Alt-rock Hit "Flagpole Sitta" endures . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20230126132824/https://www.avclub.com/why-harvey-danger-s-90s-alt-rock-hit-flagpole-sitta-1798286632 . 26 January 2023 . November 11, 2015 . The A.V. Club.
  4. Web site: Weiss . Dan . July 28, 2017 . "Flagpole Sitta" At 20: A Conversation With Harvey Danger's Sean Nelson . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240813020208/https://www.stereogum.com/1954631/flagpole-sitta-at-20-a-conversation-with-harvey-dangers-sean-nelson/interviews/tracking-down/ . 13 August 2024 . July 31, 2017 . Stereogum.
  5. Slash/London Group Harvey Danger Builds On Success of Single. Reece. Doug. Billboard. 110. 32. 13. August 8, 1998.
  6. Harvey Danger: 'Flagpole Sitta'. Radio & Records. 1245. 4 (of PDF). April 24, 1998.
  7. New Releases. Radio & Records. 1251. 39. June 5, 1998.
  8. Web site: Harvey Danger Talks About Getting In on 'Disturbing Behavior'. https://web.archive.org/web/20220505062159/https://www.mtv.com/news/1429980/harvey-danger-talks-about-getting-in-on-disturbing-behavior/. dead. May 5, 2022. MTV News. July 16, 1998. May 5, 2022.
  9. Web site: Harvey Danger's 'Flagpole Sitta' Sitting Pretty On Rock Radio. https://web.archive.org/web/20151130083912/http://www.mtv.com/news/200072/harvey-dangers-flagpole-sitta-sitting-pretty-on-rock-radio/. dead. November 30, 2015. Devenish. Colin. May 12, 1998. MTV News. September 12, 2015.
  10. Book: Ericka Chickowski. Moon Washington. July 3, 2012. Avalon Travel Publishing. 978-1-61238-261-6. 147.
  11. Web site: Harvey Danger's Unsung Masterpiece. Sawdey. Evan. June 5, 2013. PopMatters. September 12, 2015.
  12. Sheffield . Rob . July 31, 2013 . Rob Sheffield's 10 Perfect Karaoke Jams . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240813020942/https://entertainment.time.com/2013/07/31/rob-sheffields-10-perfect-karaoke-jams/ . 13 August 2024 . September 12, 2015 . Time.
  13. News: Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (1.10–8.10. 1998). Dagblaðið Vísir. is. 10. October 2, 1998. October 4, 2019.
  14. Most Played Adult Top 40 Songs of 1998. Airplay Monitor. 6. 52. 55. December 25, 1998.
  15. The Year in Music 1998: Hot Modern Rock Tracks. Billboard. 110. 52. YE-84. December 26, 1998.
  16. New Releases: Singles. Music Week. 29. July 18, 1998.
  17. Web site: June 21, 2008 . Harvey Danger interview . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240813015511/https://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/interview-harvey-danger.html . 13 August 2024 . January 8, 2009 . Globecat.
  18. Sheffield . Rob . August 28, 2019 . The 50 Best Songs of the Nineties . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240329160437/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-best-songs-of-the-nineties-252530/ . 29 March 2024 . March 12, 2017 . Rolling Stone.
  19. Rob Sheffield on the 98 Best Songs of 1998: Pop's Weirdest Year. Sheffield. Rob. Rolling Stone. June 4, 2018. April 5, 2023.
  20. Web site: Various Artists – Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed: The Album. AllMusic. September 2, 2021.

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