Beck
Dole: “When I look back upon my life, I see less and less of myself, and more and more of the history of this civilization that we have made that is called America. And I am content and always will be content to see my own story subsumed in great events, the greatest of which is the simple onward procession of the American people.”
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
When in 1994 the Geffen hype machine caught hold of Beck’s “Loser,” a one-off single released independently the year before, and passed it on to the rock-listening public as an into-the-black Gen-X anthem, the young and deceptively slothful-looking wordsmith found himself drafted to head a ticket that he himself would never punch. Though he claimed he’d never intended to speak for anyone but himself, he became, in his own sarcastic term, the “uberslacker.” Like many a leader of men before him, he had been found in the right place at the right time, saying the right things.
To bean counters, Paul’s Boutique ranks as one of the worst sophomore stiffs in pop history, down there with Arrested Development’s Zingalamaduni. It also marked the Beasties’ passage from novelty act to serious artistic force. Beck’s novelty, more complex than that of the Beasties, faded before Mellow Gold could sell a million copies. Odelay is more complex than its predecessor, but without an apparent hit like “Loser.” It’s anyone’s guess whether Odelay will post respectable returns.
Both candidates–the one from Kansas and the one from Toto-I-don’t-think-we’re-in-Kansas–know how to flip-flop, but only one of them can do the splits. That’s Beck, who in acting the loser became a winner.
