Bran Van 3000 – Drinking in L.A.
1997 · Directed by Adam Courneya
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Best comments
1.“I am so glad I was a teen in the '90s. Best years, best music, best clothes...”
More comments
- 2.“For the life of me, I don't know why this track didn't get bigger.”
The story
James Di Salvio woke up face down on a lawn in West Hollywood after a heavy night, and instead of swearing off the booze he wrote a song about it. Drinking in L.A. was the last track his Montreal collective recorded for their debut album Glee, and Di Salvio said he knew it would be a hit. It took a while. The song came out in Canada in early 1997 and peaked at a modest 35 there, then climbed to number three in the UK in August 1999 after Rolling Rock put it in TV beer commercials. Beer ads selling a hangover song. Perfect.
Adam Courneya's video is a crowded, sloppy hang. It opens with a guy in glasses lying sideways and a radio DJ giving away concert tickets to whoever can name Todd's favorite cheese. From there it's a revolving cast – backup singers, a rapper, a guy on the drum machine, a woman in a Viking hat – drinking beer with Bran Van 3000 on the label, before it cuts to a live show where the band smashes synthesizers the way rock bands smash guitars. The Gazette called it a trip through nineties cool pop. It won a MuchMusic Video Award for Best Dance Video.
The big chorus belongs to Haitian-born singer Stéphane Moraille, who later said she was left out of the band's press and promo tour once the song took off. Glee won the Juno for Best Alternative Album, and Drinking in L.A. got a Single of the Year nomination. As for the band name, Di Salvio admitted they made up the words without knowing what they meant. Fitting, for a band that sounds like a party nobody planned.
