Sell Out (song)
Encyclopedia
"Sell Out" is a song by California
ska punk
band Reel Big Fish
, released as the first track on their 1996 album Turn The Radio Off
. The song has proven to be one of Reel Big Fish's more popular releases. It has been interpreted as chronicling the payola scandals
of early FM radio. However, it can also be seen as a satire of the way the pop music industry works in general. In the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the song was used in-between plays of beach volleyball.
. The band has since largely used it to close their live shows, referring to it as "[their] big hit from the 90s"; Aaron Barrett
can be heard on Our Live Album Is Better than Your Live Album
yelling at the crowd that they cannot play the song until the end because of its status. It also appeared on the soundtrack to the video games FIFA 2000, Aggressive Inline, and Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure
. The song also appeared on the season three finale of My Name Is Earl
.
as the mascot in a giant French Fries outfit. They are recruited by a man played by their agent into the world of music at Mojo Records
. They compete against several other types of bands, such as 'Rap', 'Rock' and 'Metal' for the rights to a contract (the band themselves wear jackets emblazoned with the words 'Ska Band'), but Matt must be pulled out of his costume. In the end, the people trying to extract him resort to dynamite, which he tosses away and runs for his life. The building explodes, and the last scene shows Matt back at the fast food outlet.
The film clip references the popular Star Wars
movies (in that their agent's car makes a TIE fighter noise as it drives). Also, Goldfinger
, a band known to tour with Reel Big Fish, appear briefly in the clip throwing them menacing looks.
Matt has stated that, upon first seeing the music video on MTV
, he had not expected it and the sandwich he was eating fell out of his mouth in astonishment; he was then unable to talk to anyone about his response as the other band members were all at work.
, there is a song entitled "One Hit Wonderful", in which the band complains that their fans ignore all their other songs in favor of one of their classics. Though the song in question is not named, "Sell Out" is heard playing at the start and end of the song. In 2000, FIFA put their song on their video game. Though coming close to having the main song, but losing it to "It's Only Us" by Robbie Williams.
This song has become a sort of running joke amongst the band members and fan base. In 2006, the best-of album Greatest Hit...and More was released by former label Jive
and titled to refer to the fact that "Sell Out" was, at least on the charts, their only hit. The band, in particular frontman Aaron Barrett
, have experienced frustration trying to one-up the song. In an interview, Barrett was asked if he felt that "Sell Out" was the band's biggest accomplishment and everything else was downhill. He responded that "Sometimes you feel like that, like your band is around for a long time and you wonder if you're going to get bigger. You wonder if radio will ever play you again, or if you're ever going to have a hit bigger than the novelty song you had in the 90s. You're thirty, make a living playing music, and can't do anything else. There is a lot to worry about."
The band notes, however, that although the song remains its greatest hit, that it is not the song that has kept its popularity alive since they began playing. Barrett instead credits that to another song originally from Everything Sucks
and re-recorded for Turn the Radio Off
, "Beer", a song which, the band asserts, did not receive the same amount of media attention as "Sell Out" because of its suggestiveness.
The song is also referenced in The Aquabats
' cover of Operation Ivy
's "Knowledge", in which The MC Bat Commander leads a chorus of children in the song. At the beginning of the song, when the Commander tells the kids, "it's time to sing that song we learned today", the children all shout in unison, "Sell Out!" To which the Commander replies, "No, not that song, the other one!" The song appeared on Take Warning, Operation Ivy tribute album which also included a cover of "Unity" by Reel Big Fish.
This song also plays during Philadelphia Flyers
home games at the Wachovia Center
while Public Address Announcer Lou Nolan, announces the attendance, except for the rare occasions where the attendance is not a sellout.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
ska punk
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
band Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out". The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold certified album Turn the Radio Off. Soon after, the band...
, released as the first track on their 1996 album Turn The Radio Off
Turn the Radio Off
Turn the Radio Off is the second full-length album by ska punk band Reel Big Fish. It was released in the U.S. in 1996 on Mojo Records.The single "Sell Out" received radio airplay and was a minor success during that year. "Sell Out" also appeared on the soundtrack to the video games FIFA 2000,...
. The song has proven to be one of Reel Big Fish's more popular releases. It has been interpreted as chronicling the payola scandals
Payola
Payola, in the American music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under U.S...
of early FM radio. However, it can also be seen as a satire of the way the pop music industry works in general. In the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the song was used in-between plays of beach volleyball.
Reception
Sell Out was released in 1996 and gained the band a distinct amount of attention, becoming a minor hit in that year. It received regular radio airplay in America and competed favourably on the charts in the UK, consequently, the video (see below) soon gained regular rotation on MTV, much to the surprise of Reel Big Fish bassist, Matt WongMatt Wong
Matthew Wong, is a bassist and one of the founding members of the California-based ska punk band, Reel Big Fish...
. The band has since largely used it to close their live shows, referring to it as "[their] big hit from the 90s"; Aaron Barrett
Aaron Barrett
Aaron Asher Barrett is the lead singer, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter for the band Reel Big Fish. Prior to forming with Reel Big Fish, Barrett played trombone in another ska-punk act, The Scholars, along with future Reel Big Fish bandmates Scott Klopfenstein and Grant Barry...
can be heard on Our Live Album Is Better than Your Live Album
Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album
Our Live Album Is Better than Your Live Album is a 2-disc live album by ska-punk band Reel Big Fish composed of both an extended length Reel Big Fish live set list, and a DVD of a March 2006 live show that also includes documentary footage on the band. The DVD portion was directed by Jonathan...
yelling at the crowd that they cannot play the song until the end because of its status. It also appeared on the soundtrack to the video games FIFA 2000, Aggressive Inline, and Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure
Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure
Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure is a sports video game released by Toys For Bob. It utilizes the same game engine as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 by Neversoft and features characters from Toy Story, The Lion King and Tarzan.-Gameplay:...
. The song also appeared on the season three finale of My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
.
Video
A video clip was released some time later, featuring the members of the band working at a roadside fast food outlet (conforming to the lyrics), complete with Matt WongMatt Wong
Matthew Wong, is a bassist and one of the founding members of the California-based ska punk band, Reel Big Fish...
as the mascot in a giant French Fries outfit. They are recruited by a man played by their agent into the world of music at Mojo Records
Mojo Records
Mojo Records was a California-based record label founded in 1995 by producer Jay Rifkin. It became a joint venture with Universal Music Group in 1996 and then sold to the Zomba Group in 2001, who placed it under their subsidiary Jive Records...
. They compete against several other types of bands, such as 'Rap', 'Rock' and 'Metal' for the rights to a contract (the band themselves wear jackets emblazoned with the words 'Ska Band'), but Matt must be pulled out of his costume. In the end, the people trying to extract him resort to dynamite, which he tosses away and runs for his life. The building explodes, and the last scene shows Matt back at the fast food outlet.
The film clip references the popular Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
movies (in that their agent's car makes a TIE fighter noise as it drives). Also, Goldfinger
Goldfinger (band)
Goldfinger is a Los Angeles pop punk/ska punk band that formed in 1994. Currently, the band is composed of vocalist/guitarist John Feldmann, guitarist Charlie Paulson, bassist Kelly LeMieux, and drummer Darrin Pfeiffer...
, a band known to tour with Reel Big Fish, appear briefly in the clip throwing them menacing looks.
Matt has stated that, upon first seeing the music video on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, he had not expected it and the sandwich he was eating fell out of his mouth in astonishment; he was then unable to talk to anyone about his response as the other band members were all at work.
Popularity
The song itself has grown to be very popular, to the extent that, on Reel Big Fish's album We're Not Happy 'til You're Not HappyWe're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy
We're Not Happy 'til You're Not Happy is the fifth LP by Orange County ska punk band, Reel Big Fish.The follow-up to the band's moderately successful Cheer Up!, We're Not Happy 'til You're Not Happy was released on April 5, 2005 on Mojo Records...
, there is a song entitled "One Hit Wonderful", in which the band complains that their fans ignore all their other songs in favor of one of their classics. Though the song in question is not named, "Sell Out" is heard playing at the start and end of the song. In 2000, FIFA put their song on their video game. Though coming close to having the main song, but losing it to "It's Only Us" by Robbie Williams.
This song has become a sort of running joke amongst the band members and fan base. In 2006, the best-of album Greatest Hit...and More was released by former label Jive
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
and titled to refer to the fact that "Sell Out" was, at least on the charts, their only hit. The band, in particular frontman Aaron Barrett
Aaron Barrett
Aaron Asher Barrett is the lead singer, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter for the band Reel Big Fish. Prior to forming with Reel Big Fish, Barrett played trombone in another ska-punk act, The Scholars, along with future Reel Big Fish bandmates Scott Klopfenstein and Grant Barry...
, have experienced frustration trying to one-up the song. In an interview, Barrett was asked if he felt that "Sell Out" was the band's biggest accomplishment and everything else was downhill. He responded that "Sometimes you feel like that, like your band is around for a long time and you wonder if you're going to get bigger. You wonder if radio will ever play you again, or if you're ever going to have a hit bigger than the novelty song you had in the 90s. You're thirty, make a living playing music, and can't do anything else. There is a lot to worry about."
The band notes, however, that although the song remains its greatest hit, that it is not the song that has kept its popularity alive since they began playing. Barrett instead credits that to another song originally from Everything Sucks
Everything Sucks (Reel Big Fish album)
Everything Sucks was Reel Big Fish's first full-length album. It was recorded at Sound Art Studios in 1994 and 1995, and released in 1995 on Reel Big Fish's independent label Piss Off Records. The album was engineered by John Gregorius....
and re-recorded for Turn the Radio Off
Turn the Radio Off
Turn the Radio Off is the second full-length album by ska punk band Reel Big Fish. It was released in the U.S. in 1996 on Mojo Records.The single "Sell Out" received radio airplay and was a minor success during that year. "Sell Out" also appeared on the soundtrack to the video games FIFA 2000,...
, "Beer", a song which, the band asserts, did not receive the same amount of media attention as "Sell Out" because of its suggestiveness.
The song is also referenced in The Aquabats
The Aquabats
The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in 1994 in Orange County, California. They have released five full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. They are best known for their mythology, in which they claim to be superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music...
' cover of Operation Ivy
Operation Ivy (band)
Operation Ivy was an American ska punk band that formed in Berkeley, California, and was often credited with spurring the 1990s punk revival in California. It is well-known as one of the first bands to "mix" hardcore punk with elements of ska, known as ska-core...
's "Knowledge", in which The MC Bat Commander leads a chorus of children in the song. At the beginning of the song, when the Commander tells the kids, "it's time to sing that song we learned today", the children all shout in unison, "Sell Out!" To which the Commander replies, "No, not that song, the other one!" The song appeared on Take Warning, Operation Ivy tribute album which also included a cover of "Unity" by Reel Big Fish.
This song also plays during Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
home games at the Wachovia Center
Wachovia Center
The Wells Fargo Center is an indoor arena located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
while Public Address Announcer Lou Nolan, announces the attendance, except for the rare occasions where the attendance is not a sellout.
Charts
Single - Billboard| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Alternative Songs | 10 |
| 1997 | Hot 100 Airplay | 69 |