"Flat Beat" is an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

by French musician

Mr. Oizo Quentin Dupieux (, born 14 April 1974), also known by his musical stage name Mr. Oizo (), is a French filmmaker, electronic musician, and DJ. Dupieux is credited with his legal name for his films, while the name "Mr. Oizo" is used for his musica ...

. It was released on 22 March 1999 through F Communications and was included as a bonus track on his debut studio album, ''

Analog Worms Attack ''Analog Worms Attack'' is the debut studio album by French musician Mr. Oizo, released on 11 October 1999 through F Communications. The album is mostly instrumental and minimal, taking cues from French house and early American Hip hop music, h ...

''. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was released on VHS. The music video features

Flat Eric Flat Eric is a puppet character, created by Quentin Dupieux (better known under his stage name Mr. Oizo), from Levi's commercials for Sta-Prest One Crease Denim Clothing, built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. His name comes from an idea for a ...

, a puppet, head banging to the track. Widely publicized by Flat Eric's appearance in many commercials for

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

and the popularity of the music video, the track became a surprise European hit. "Flat Beat" peaked at number five on the

French Singles Chart French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

and reached number one in Austria, Finland,

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In 2003, ''

Q Magazine ''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. '' ...

'' ranked "Flat Beat" at number 175 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".

Background

In an interview with ''XLR8R'' magazine,

Quentin Dupieux Quentin Dupieux (, born 14 April 1974), also known by his musical stage name Mr. Oizo (), is a French filmmaker, electronic musician, and DJ. Dupieux is credited with his legal name for his films, while the name "Mr. Oizo" is used for his musica ...

stated that it took him only two hours with a

Korg MS-20 The Korg MS-20 is a patchable semi-modular monophonic analog synthesizer which Korg released in 1978 and which was in production until 1983. It was part of Korg's MS series of instruments, which also included the single oscillator MS-10, the ke ...

to produce. The instrumental is mainly composed of a repeated bassline, and it samples "Put Your Love in My Tender Care" by the

Fatback Band The Fatback Band (later, simply Fatback) is an American funk and disco band that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The Fatback Band is most known for their R&B hits, "(Do the) Spanish Hustle", "I Like Girls", "Gotta Get My Hands on Some (Mone ...

Reception

Critical reception

Stevie Chick from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' wrote, "Leading sociologists are calling it the '

Phenomenon'. Red-top tabloids print instructions for the Flat Eric window moves and White Van Man is overjoyed. Yes, helped along by his friends at the

company, Mr Oizo could soon be celebrating the inevitable outcome of such a profitable partnership, a Number One record. And that would be a fine thing, not least because 'Flat Beat' is a sleek slice of supremely filtered, speaker-busting electro that would undoubtedly be a minor specialist hit in its own right if released without the might of this high-profile campaign, but also because Flat Eric, the ice-cool yellow muppet, is one of the most fascinating creatures to have entered the crazy world of rock'n'roll in recent memory."

Commercial reception

The song was a surprise international success in Europe, topping the charts in Austria, Finland,

, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, it was the seventh song featured in a Levi's advert to top the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and the 25th instrumental single to top the chart. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, "Flat Beat" peaked at number two and was Europe's 11th-most-successful hit of 1999. "Flat Beat" was not as successful in France, where it peaked at number five and did not receive airplay, selling only a quarter of the copies as it did in the UK. In September 2005, ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' included the track's bassline at number 13 in their list of the "Top 50 Basslines of All Time".

Music video

Prior to the "Flat Beat", Dupieux created

, a fictional puppet character, for

commercials for Sta-Prest One Crease Denim Clothing, built by

Jim Henson's Creature Shop Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based out of Burbank, California, United States. History Jim Henson's Creature Shop was originally ...

. The popularity of the commercials lead to a music video for the song being created, also featuring Flat Eric. The

for "Flat Beat" was directed by

and released alongside the single release. The video was released on VHS and later on digital download services and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

on the official F Communications channel. The video was listed in ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

''s list of ''Best Puppets in a Music Video''.

Track listings

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Flat Eric - French website
{{Authority control 1990s instrumentals 1999 singles 1999 songs Electro house songs French electronic songs Music videos featuring puppetry Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in Scotland Techno songs UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles