"Steal My Sunshine" is a song by Canadian

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercia ...

band Len from their third studio album, '' You Can't Stop the Bum Rush'' (1999). The song was initially released on the soundtrack to the 1999 crime comedy film '' Go'', which resulted in the song receiving heavy

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day ( spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in ...

. It was later released to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

as the lead single from ''You Can't Stop the Bum Rush'' on June 22, 1999, by

Work Group The Work Group (stylized as The WORK Group) was an American record label. History In July 1999, founders Jeff Ayeroff and Jordan Harris left the label. Catalog Artists * Tatyana Ali (MJJ Music/Work) *Fiona Apple (Clean Slate/Work) * ...

. Marc Costanzo and Gregg Diamond are credited as songwriters, while production was helmed by Costanzo under the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Mumble C. According to Costanzo, the song is about feelings of elation he experienced while attending an outdoor

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

festival. The song was recorded at Four Ways Studio B and mixed by John King of the

Dust Brothers The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike ( Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work ...

at One on One South. "Steal My Sunshine" was one of the first demos recorded for ''You Can't Stop the Bum Rush'', although the song almost remained unreleased due to it not making much of an impression on the band. An

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...

and

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

song, "Steal My Sunshine" features siblings Marc and Sharon Costanzo trading lead vocals. The song's instrumental backing track is a sample of Andrea True Connection's 1976 single "

More, More, More "More, More, More" is a song written by Gregg Diamond and recorded by American artist Andrea True (credited to her recording project Andrea True Connection). It was released in February 1976 as the first single from her debut album by same na ...

," earning a posthumous writing credit for Diamond, who died three months before the album's release. The song was written during a period in which Marc and Sharon Costanzo were not speaking to one another. "Steal My Sunshine" received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its sample usage and considered the song a quintessential summer hit. The song peaked at number nine on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, giving Len their first and only entry on the chart. As a result, Len is often deemed a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

. Internationally, "Steal My Sunshine" was a

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit in eight countries. The song remains Len's most successful single, being certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and ...

(RIAA), the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replaci ...

(ARIA), and the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company wit ...

(BPI).

Background

Marc Costanzo went to a

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mu ...

during a time when he and his sister Sharon had gone several months without speaking. While out, he was listening to old disco music with

Brendan Canning Brendan may refer to: People * Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) was an Irish monastic saint. * Saint Brendan of Birr (died 573), Abbot of Birr in Co. Offaly, contemporaneous with the above * Brendan (given name), a masculine given ...

, and heard the 1976 disco hit "

". Marc decided to loop part of the song's

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

and wrote and composed "Steal My Sunshine" over the instrumental. The song was recorded on a vintage early 1980s 8-track 1/2 inch recorder. Marc stated that "Steal My Sunshine" did not make much of an impression on him, so Len did not originally plan to release it. The

master recording Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via met ...

remained under his bed for months. When producing "Steal My Sunshine", Marc Costanzo wanted to make a song similar to

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dar ...

's 1981

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

single "

Don't You Want Me "Don't You Want Me" is a song by British synthpop group the Human League (credited on the cover as The Human League 100). It was released on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from their third studio album, '' Dare'' (1981). The band's best ...

". As a result, the song's structure is characterized by alternating between male and female vocals from Marc and Sharon. Costanzo has explained that the lyrics were about the aforementioned rave and the events that took place there.

Production

The recording sessions for "Steal My Sunshine" took place at Four Ways Studio B. Production on the song was helmed by Marc Costanzo under the stage name Mumble C, with Costanzo also acting as a

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

. Recorded in 1996 on an eight-track tape, the song was one of the first

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming ...

recorded for ''You Can't Stop the Bum Rush''. When speaking to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', Sharon Costanzo described the recording sessions as being relaxed. She commented: "Marc just dragged me out of bed and into the studio one morning and said, 'Do you want to sing on this?' ... And as soon as we recorded the song, it was done for me. We both liked it, but then I never thought about it again." John King of the

was responsible for the mixing of the track, which was done at One on One South.

Composition

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

Alfred Publishing Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, the song is written in the key of

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent ...

and is set in the

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure ( bar), and which note val ...

of common time with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 95

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. Marc and Sharon Costanzo's vocal range spans one octave, from G₄ to G₅. Marc described the song as a "fun piece of pop with a bit of

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano ...

thrown in."

Release and reception

Release

"Steal My Sunshine" was included on the soundtrack to '' Go'', which was released on March 30, 1999, by

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainm ...

. It received heavy airplay as a result, causing Sony's subsidiary

The WORK Group The Work Group (stylized as The WORK Group) was an American record label. History In July 1999, founders Jeff Ayeroff and Jordan Harris left the label. Catalog Artists *Tatyana Ali (MJJ Music/Work) *Fiona Apple (Clean Slate/Work) * E ...

to push the album's release date from mid-June 1999 to May 25, 1999. The song became Len's most successful, reaching the top 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in September 1999. It reached the top 10 on the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data System ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

Top 40 Mainstream Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

, and Top 40 Tracks charts. _Charts_&_Awards_>_Billboard_Singles".html" ;"title=""LEN > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles"">"LEN > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles"

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. Retrieved October 2, 2008. At the 2000 Juno Awards, "Steal My Sunshine" was nominated for "Best Single" but lost to

the Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassi ...

's "

Bobcaygeon Bobcaygeon is a community on the Trent–Severn Waterway in the City of Kawartha Lakes, east-central Ontario, Canada. Bobcaygeon was incorporated as a village in 1876, and became known as the "Hub of the Kawarthas". Its recorded name ''bo ...

Reception

"Steal My Sunshine" received positive reviews from music critics.

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' wrote, "It's hard to imagine that no one has thought of using the instrumental hook of (...) "More, More, More" to beef up a new concoction. Here, however, the quintet Len does so to grand effect. Somewhere between pop and modern rock, this all-about-summer track-featuring a back-and-forth male-to-female vocal-is uplifting, clever, and instantly appealing. Its melody line, verse construction, and memorable hook make for what should be an absolute breakthrough for this hip, talented act." Rob Brunner of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...

'' rated it a B+, describing it as a 1990s "Don't You Want Me" with a "smiley groove and alternating male/ female vocals". For ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'', Richard Riegel described the song's beat as "

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Gr ...

playing the

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize ...

songbook, outlined in aural neon." In her review for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...

'', Karen Schoemer compared Sharon Costanzo's vocals to

Josie and the Pussycats Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) are a fictional girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense i ...

. The publication listed "Steal My Sunshine" tenth on its list of the best singles of 1999. The song was listed third on the 1999

Pazz and Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

list, a survey of several hundred music critics conducted by

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

. Retrospectively, the single garnered high praise from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...

: "Then, there's Len's 'Steal My Sunshine,' as perfect as songs get. This sun-kissed, sun-bleached blend of hip-hop, pop, disco, post-Beastie Boys cleverness and California culture is a priceless, timeless confection that instantly calls up sweltering, shimmering beaches the second the looped keyboard plays. It's a monumentally great single...put it this way, if 'Steal My Sunshine' was the last song I ever heard on this earth, I'd die happy — and it shows that mainstream pop can truly be transcendent."The Best of TRL Pop review

/ref>

Legacy

In 2007, ''Stylus'' Magazine ranked the song 13th on its list of the top 50

s, stating that it "perfectly captured that warm, lazy feeling you get when late summer still seems like it could last forever." In 2013, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine placed "Steal My Sunshine" at number 33 on their list of the "Best Summer Songs of All Time".

Music video

The song's music video—which uses the shorter "album edit" of the song, as featured on the single—was jointly directed by Marc Costanzo and Bradley Walsh under the respective stage names "The Burger Pimp" and "B-Rad". When Len had signed to Work Records, one of its demands was to be able to direct its own videos. The group used a $100,000 budget to make the video. They flew to

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

with two dozen friends while the area was crowded with people on their spring vacations. They spent much of the budget on alcohol, buying so much that they broke their hotel's elevator trying to lift it. They shot the video in the afternoon so that they could recover from hangovers in the morning and drink in the evening. The scenes were shot without a script or storyboard. In the video, Len and friends are shown relaxing together and riding on scooters, go-karts, and jet skis. Motorrad, whose scooters were included in the music video, later held a promotion giving away scooters of the same model. At the 1999

MuchMusic Video Awards The iHeartRadio MMVAs were an annual awards show broadcast on Much to honour the year's best music videos that was last held in 2018. Originally debuting in 1990 as the Canadian Music Video Awards, the awards were renamed in 1995 to the MuchMu ...

, "Steal My Sunshine" won awards for Best Video, Best Pop Video, and Favourite Canadian Video. The music video for "Steal My Sunshine" that Walsh and Costanzo had jointly directed was also included as a bonus feature on the special edition DVD release of the film '' Go'', although no scenes from the movie are featured in the music video.

Track listings and formats

* UK CD1 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Album Edit) – 3:30 # "It's Down to This" – 4:04 # "Drunc'n Moves" – 2:55 * UK CD2 # "Steal My Sunshine" – 4:08 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Skyjump Club Edit) – 7:19 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Version Idjut) – 7:51 * UK 12-inch vinyl # "Steal My Sunshine" (Skyjump Club Edit) – 7:19 # "Steal My Sunshine" (More and More Instrumental) – 6:45 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Album Version) – 3:55 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Version Idjut) – 7:51 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Bougie Soliterre Remix) – 6:12 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Neon Phusion Remix) – 5:24 * UK cassette single and European CD single # "Steal My Sunshine" (Album Version) – 3:55 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Neon Phusion Remix) – 5:24 * US 12-inch vinyl # "Steal My Sunshine" (Steal My Club Mix) – 6:19 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Skyjump Club Edit) – 7:19 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Steal My Club Mix Instrumental) – 6:19 # "Steal My Sunshine" (More and More Instrumental) – 6:30 * European maxi # "Steal My Sunshine" (Album Edit) – 3:30 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Skyjump Club Edit) – 7:19 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Version Idjut) – 7:51 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Bougie Soliterre Remix) – 6:12 * Australian maxi # "Steal My Sunshine" (Album Version) – 4:01 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Skyjump Club Edit) – 7:19 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Bougie Soliterre Remix) – 6:12 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Neon Phusion Remix) – 5:24 * Remixes, Vol. 1 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Junior Sanchez NJ Deep Mix) – 6:00 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Alexander Technique Darksun Remix - Jnr Edit) – 5:21 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Gina Turner Remix) – 4:50 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Remastered Version) – 3:31 * Remastered Anniversary Edition # "Steal My Sunshine" (Remastered Anniversary Edition) – 3:21 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Remastered Anniversary Edition Instrumental) – 3:47 * California Realin' Remix # "Steal My Sunshine" (California Realin' Remix) – 3:48 # "Steal My Sunshine" (Instrumental) – 3:27

Personnel

Personnel adapted from the ''You Can't Stop the Bum Rush'' album liner notes. * Marc Costanzo – vocals * Sharon Costanzo – vocals * Matt Kelly – guitar, spoken interlude *

– spoken interlude Technical * Marc Costanzo – producer, engineer * John King – mixing * Chris Shaw – engineer * Tom Banghart – assistant engineer * David Mitson – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

Covers

In 2021, "Steal My Sunshine" was covered by American

band Portugal. The Man in collaboration with

Cherry Glazerr Cherry Glazerr is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 2013. The current lineup consists of guitarist and lead vocalist Clementine Creevy, bassist Sami Perez and drummer Tabor Allen. The band's sound has transitioned from lo-fi and ...

frontwoman Clementine Creevy.

References

{{Authority control 1999 singles 1999 songs Columbia Records singles Len (band) songs Male–female vocal duets Songs written by Gregg Diamond