by Tanner Erdman
Smash Mouth is an American rock band, originally from San Jose, California, formed in 1994. Beyond Paul De Lisle on bass and lead vocals, none of the founding members are still around during the band’s current performances. Smash Mouth’s retro style of covering and performing popular music is appealing to fans of many ages and has earned their performances a spot on the soundtracks for many mainstream films. The band rose to popularity quickly, with hit singles like “Walkin’ on the Sun,” released in 1997, and “All Star,” released in 1999 and popularized alongside Smash Mouth’s cover of The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” as part of the soundtrack in Shrek.
The band began when Harwell and Kevin Coleman met in 1990, and formed when Harwell’s manager connected the pair with Greg Camp and De Lisle. Harwell, Camp, and De Lisle all had previous band experience, with Harwell being a part of rap group Freedom of Speech and De Lisle and Camp’s joint involvement in a local punk rock band. They began practicing together and ultimately formally became Smash Mouth, deciding on the name after adapting it from terminology used in football. They played primarily rock music during the beginning of their career and gradually moved towards an interesting mix of alternative pop, rock, and rap as their career progressed.
Smash Mouth’s recording debut came when a demo of one of their first songs was played on a popular San Jose radio station. Interscope Records heard the demo and signed the band to release their first album Fush Yu Mang in 1997, which featured another new member, Michael Klooster, on the keyboard. Upon signing with Interscope was when the band added the space in their name to become Smash Mouth. The first album went double platinum, largely because of Smash Mouth’s first major single “Walkin’ on the Sun.” With subsequent album releases, the band’s sound moved from ska influence to pop influence, gaining the band more popularity and a larger fan base, especially with the hit single “All Star.”
The band’s second album Astro Lounge went triple platinum, and their third self-titled album went gold, making it hugely commercially successful yet still the least so of any of their previous albums. Their fourth album Get the Picture? continued this commercial downturn and eventually led to the band being dropped by Interscope. The band was quickly picked up by Universal Records, however, and continued to release albums, most notably their greatest hits compilation. It was also around this time that the band not only worked with members of other similar bands, such as the Kinks and the Ramones, but also experienced intragroup fluctuations in regard to their members, with high turnover in the drummer role before Randy Cooke was secured as a permanent member. Camp also left the band several times before his permanent departure and replacement by Sean Hurwitz.
Around this time, Harwell began fielding and entertaining viral internet challenges aimed at offering him varying sums of money to perform ridiculous acts. One of the most notable of these instances was when he accepted a challenge to eat 24 raw eggs, on the condition that fans raise $10,000 in donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Within a week, the fundraising goal was reached, and Harwell requested that his friend and celebrity chef Guy Fieri prepare the eggs, which he then consumed in front of 150 audience members with the help of attendees as well as the San Jose Sharks mascot. Ultimately, the challenge raised a total of $15,000 for St. Jude’s. This side of Steve Harwell seemed to diminish gradually until his rocky departure in 2021. Harwell even went on a three-minute rant at a performance in 2015, threatening to beat up audience members who had thrown bread on stage. The “expletive-laden tirade” was accompanied by other members’ repeated performance of the opening few chords of “All Star.” The announcement of Harwell’s departure in 2021 came after his final performance, so the band continues to perform with a substitute singer with whom they had already been practicing, presumably while Harwell was dealing with these health issues.
Their visit to SUNY Geneseo was incredibly significant because during the 2000s they were extremely popular and they most likely brought lots of attention to SUNY Geneseo. When they visited SUNY Geneseo, they must have drawn a large crowd. Even if students weren’t intimately familiar with the band’s music, they would have been familiar with “All Star.” It was incredibly popular on Top 40 radio.