Flagpole Sitta

"Flagpole Sitta"
Single by Harvey Danger
from the album Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?
B-side
  • "The Ballad of the Tragic Hero (Pity and Fear)"
  • "Wrecking Ball"
ReleasedApril 27, 1998 (1998-04-27)
RecordedJune 1996
StudioJohn and Stu's Place (Seattle, Washington)
Genre
Length3:37
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Harvey Danger singles chronology
"Flagpole Sitta"
(1998) 		"Private Helicopter"
(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

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"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

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"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.[9]

"Flagpole Sitta" is regarded as a power pop single by MTV and a post-grunge anthem by author Ericka Chickowski.[10][11] PopMatters describes the single as "a hyper-literate alternative rock dissection of the stupidity of the modern age".[12] Music journalist Rob Sheffield also considers the song as "nineties pop-punk rage at its loudest".[13]

Track listings

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7-inch single[14][15]
No.TitleLength
1."Flagpole Sitta"3:37
2."The Ballad of the Tragic Hero (Pity and Fear)"4:30
European and Australasian CD single[16]
No.TitleLength
1."Flagpole Sitta"3:37
2."Wrecking Ball"4:39
3."The Ballad of the Tragic Hero (Pity and Fear)"4:30

Charts

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Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States April 27, 1998 (1998-04-27) Rock radio
[6]
June 9, 1998 (1998-06-09) Contemporary hit radio [7]
United Kingdom July 20, 1998 (1998-07-20)
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [29]

Legacy

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"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."[30] 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.[31][32]

The song was featured in "Weird Al" Yankovic's Polka Power, the polka medley from his 1999 album, Running with Scissors.

It was also included on the soundtrack to Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.[33]

References

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  1. ^ Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta (Official Music Video). March 25, 2011. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ "Recording info for WHATMG?". blarg.net. Archived from the original on May 8, 1999. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Zaleski, Annie (November 11, 2015). "Why Harvey Danger's '90's Alt-rock Hit "Flagpole Sitta" endures". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Weiss, Dan (July 28, 2017). ""Flagpole Sitta" At 20: A Conversation With Harvey Danger's Sean Nelson". Stereogum. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  5. ^ Reece, Doug (August 8, 1998). "Slash/London Group Harvey Danger Builds On Success of Single". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 32. p. 13.
  6. ^ a b "Harvey Danger: 'Flagpole Sitta'". Radio & Records. No. 1245. April 24, 1998. p. 4 (of PDF).
  7. ^ a b "New Releases". Radio & Records. No. 1251. June 5, 1998. p. 39.
  8. ^ "Harvey Danger Talks About Getting In on 'Disturbing Behavior'". MTV News. July 16, 1998. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Harvey Danger Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  10. ^ Devenish, Colin (May 12, 1998). "Harvey Danger's 'Flagpole Sitta' Sitting Pretty On Rock Radio". MTV News. Archived from the original on November 30, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  11. ^ Ericka Chickowski (July 3, 2012). Moon Washington. Avalon Travel Publishing. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-61238-261-6.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ Sawdey, Evan (June 5, 2013). "Harvey Danger's Unsung Masterpiece". PopMatters. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  13. ^ Sheffield, Rob (July 31, 2013). "Rob Sheffield's 10 Perfect Karaoke Jams". Time. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  14. ^ Flagpole Sitta (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). Harvey Danger. Slash Records, London Records. 1998. LASH 64, 570 264-7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ Flagpole Sitta (UK & European 7-inch single vinyl disc). Harvey Danger. Slash Records. 1998. LASH 64.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ Flagpole Sitta (European & Australasian CD single liner notes). Harvey Danger. Slash Records, London Records. 1998. LASCD 64, 570 261-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. ^ "Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  18. ^ "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 3620." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  19. ^ "Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta" (in French). Les classement single.
  20. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (1.10–8.10. 1998)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). October 2, 1998. p. 10. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  21. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  22. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  23. ^ "Harvey Danger Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  24. ^ "Harvey Danger Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  25. ^ "Harvey Danger Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  26. ^ "Harvey Danger Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  27. ^ "Most Played Adult Top 40 Songs of 1998". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 6, no. 52. December 25, 1998. p. 55.
  28. ^ "The Year in Music 1998: Hot Modern Rock Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 52. December 26, 1998. p. YE-84.
  29. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. July 18, 1998. p. 29.
  30. ^ "Harvey Danger interview". Globecat. June 21, 2008. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  31. ^ Sheffield, Rob (August 28, 2019). "The 50 Best Songs of the Nineties". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  32. ^ Sheffield, Rob (June 4, 2018). "Rob Sheffield on the 98 Best Songs of 1998: Pop's Weirdest Year". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  33. ^ "Various Artists – Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed: The Album". AllMusic. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
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