"Loco" is a song by American band

Fun Lovin' Criminals Fun Lovin' Criminals are an American rap rock band from New York City. They are best known for their hit "Scooby Snacks", which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino, and the song "Love Unlimited", which recalls Barry White's backing ...

, released as the first single from their third studio album of the same name (2001). It samples the song "Happy Anniversary" by Australian

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

group

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums rea ...

, so writing credits are given to band members David Briggs and

Beeb Birtles Beeb Birtles (born Gerard Bertelkamp, 28 November 1948) is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has been a member of various Australian groups including Zoot (1967–71), Mississippi (1972–74), Little River Band (1975 ...

. Fun Lovin' Criminals provided addition writing to the track and also produced it. A song with

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

influences, "Loco" was issued as a single on February 5, 2001. It became the group's highest-charting single in the United Kingdom due to its use in a television advertisement for

Miller beer The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the M ...

, peaking at number five on 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 ...

. It also garnered some success in Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Portugal.

Background

During an interview with Jon Kutner,

frontman

Huey Morgan Hugh Thomas Diaz Morgan (born 8 August 1968) is an American musician best known as the former frontman of rock/hip hop band Fun Lovin' Criminals. Morgan performs both vocals and guitar and combines rock, hip hop, jazz, reggae, and funk influence ...

said that he wanted to create a track that sounded like a song Mexican-American guitarist

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

would compose. He felt connected to him because of their

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

heritage, and he explained that he did not want to copy Santana's style exactly, but rather to put some of his "flavor" into the song. He listened to the 1970

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

album ''

Abraxas Abraxas ( grc-x-biblical, ἀβραξάς, abraxas, variant form romanized: ) is a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the "Great Archon" (), the princeps of the 365 spheres (). The word is found ...

'' for ideas, and he settled on sampling "Happy Anniversary" by Australian

group

for "Loco". Morgan achieved the guitar's sound by playing a 1959 Les Paul Junior with a

Tech 21 Tech 21 is a New York based manufacturer of guitar and bass effect pedals, amps, and DI boxes which allow the user to emulate the tone of many popular guitar amps and record those sounds directly into a mixer. Products Tech 21's core produc ...

device going through a

Fender Pro The Fender Pro was an instrument amplifier manufactured by Fender Electric Instruments from 1946 to 1965. It was characterized by its dual 6L6-family power tubes and single 15" speaker, with output power increasing from 18 watts up to 40 watts over ...

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost the v ...

Critical reception

Reviewing the parent album for web magazine CLUAS, Frank McNally called the song a "beautifully crafted tune" and compared it to British band

Freak Power Freak Power was a band founded by bassist Norman Cook (later known as Fatboy Slim), Ashley Slater (the trombonist with the anarchic British jazz big band Loose Tubes), and vocalist Jesse Graham, also known as "the Bass Cadet". Their music was ...

's hit single, " Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out" (1993). He went on to say that the song "reeks of good times and is filled with schmoozy summertime grooves..." Nathan Foster of Classic Rock History ranked the song as the band's fourth-best single.

Release and promotion

"Loco" was issued in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2001, as a CD and

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was first introduced in 1980. History The debu ...

. The song and band appeared in a television advertisement for

shortly before its release, and this exposure allowed the song to become Fun Lovin' Criminals' highest-charting single in the United Kingdom when it debuted and peaked at number five on the

on February 11. It spent six weeks within the UK top 100 and remains their last UK top-40 hit as of . Its UK success impacted 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 ...

on the issue of February 24, when it appeared at its peak of number 24. The song also found limited European success, reaching number 22 in Ireland, number 26 in Italy, and number 85 in the Netherlands. In Portugal, it became a top-ten hit when it peaked at number eight in March. Although it entered the top 50 in New Zealand, reaching number 49 in April 2001, it did not chart within the top 100 in Australia.

Track listings

UK and European CD1 # "Loco" (Latin Quarter version) # "Everything Under the Stars" # "Special Dedication" (from "Maui Homicide 2000") # "Loco" (enhanced CDRom video) UK and European CD2 # "Loco" (album version) # "Loco" (Latin Quarter instrumental) # "Kill the Bad Guy" (from "Maui Homicide 2000") UK and European maxi-cassette single # "Loco" (Latin Quarter version) # "Everything Under the Stars" # "Special Dedication" (from "Maui Homicide 2000")

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the UK and European CD1 liner notes. Studio * Recorded at the Magic Shop (New York City) * Mastered at

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

(New York City) Personnel * Fun Lovin' Criminals – vocals, writer, producer, arranger * Xiomara Laugart – background vocals *

Descemer Bueno Descemer Bueno (born July 5, 1971) is a Cuban singer, songwriter, and record producer. His first professional gigs were playing bass with Cuban troubadour Santiago Feliú. Early career Bueno studied music and became a music teacher before formi ...

– background vocals * Mackie – drums, percussion *

Tim Latham Tim Latham (born November 18, 1966) is a Grammy Award-winning American recording engineer working in the music industry. Latham attended Berklee College of Music in the 1980s. In 2008 Latham shared a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album ...

– recording, mixing * Juan Garcia – recording assistant *

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

– mastering * Lleana Padron – special thanks * Gerb – art dissection * Skills – video photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2001 singles 2001 songs Chrysalis Records singles EMI Records singles Fun Lovin' Criminals songs Songs written by David Briggs (Australian musician) Spanglish songs