Mike Myers names the greatest debut single in the history of music: “It was just thrilling”
Whenever music and Mike Myers are mentioned in the same breath, everyone’s mind will inevitably wander to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, since the two have become so culturally intertwined.
Wayne’s World played a massive role in introducing Queen to a new generation through the film’s classic headbanging scene, and apart from maybe the introductory dance sequences in Austin Powers set to the strains of ‘Soul Bossa Nova’, it remains the defining musical moment of the actor and comedian’s career.
He’s also a huge fan of The Who, and he spent years trying to get a Keith Moon biopic off the ground in which he would have starred as the late drummer, but his passion project never came to fruition. Funnily enough, since he was born in the early 1960s, Myers’ preferences veer towards the biggest bands of his formative years.
Alongside Queen and The Who, he’s also mentioned Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, and Aerosmith as favourites, as because it’s obligatory for everyone of his generation, The Beatles. In fact, Myers was the recipient of the last letter that George Harrison ever wrote, which he received on the day of the legendary guitarist’s death.
However, none of those groups was responsible for the debut single he likened to creative perfection, using his own process as a means to elaborate. “My teacher was this guy named Del Close,” he informed The New York Times of his earliest performative memories. “Del Close was my hero.”
“Del Close says the essence of all creativity is transformation,” he continued. “It’s synthesis. It’s a kaleidoscope. A kaleidoscope is eight fixed shapes and eight mirrors. You spin the kaleidoscope to reshuffle the shapes, and it creates a new pattern. And that’s transformation.”
There’s no such thing as the definitive greatest debut single in music history, but there are plenty of worthwhile contenders: Sex Pistols’ ‘Anarchy in the UK’, Elvis Presley’s ‘That’s All Right’, Joy Division’s ‘Transmission’, Radiohead’s ‘Creep’, Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Hey Joe’, and Oasis’ ‘Supersonic’ all made a huge impact in one way or another.
As far as Myers was concerned, though, the most transformational first song from any band that he’d ever heard, one that captures all of the kaleidoscopic magic of creativity, reshuffled the shapes, and created the new pattern that he sought to replicate in his own work was ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’.
“When that first Arctic Monkeys song came out, it was just thrilling,” he reminisced. “Literally, I couldn’t stop playing it. That, to me, is always the essence of things. I get thrilled by things.” Is it the greatest debut single of all time? That’s entirely in the eye of the beholder, although it does get plenty of backing in certain corridors of power.
