The death of Casey Kasem on Sunday reminded different people of different things, from those long-distance dedications on “American Top 40” to his iconic voicing of Shaggy on “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” But for some of us, Kasem’s greatest achievement was his most unintentional: that in-studio meltdown sampled on Negativland’s notorious “U2” single.
Related: Negativland gives away ‘U2’ multi-track master, invites fans to remix infamous single
The experimental sound-collage outfit issued the single in the months leading up to the release of U2’s Achtung Baby, prompting Island Records to sue Negaitvland over the record’s cover — with a large “U2” emblazoned on the sleeve — and the song, which sampled “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
The track itself is built around a studio tape of Kasem struggling to get through one of his famous long-distance dedications, this one involving “a little dog named Snuggles.” The beloved DJ veers far from his wholesome pop-radio image, declaring, “This is bullshit! Nobody cares! These guys are from England and who gives a shit! Just a lot of wasted names that don’t mean diddly shit.”
Negativland withdrew the single, later chronicling the controversy in a magazine/CD called “The Letter U and the Numeral 2” and the book “Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2.” The single would be re-released in 2001 as “These Guys Are From England and Who Gives a Shit.”
The battle over Negativland’s single shed important attention on fair use, copyright and sampling, perhaps not something mentioned much in this week’s farewells to the legendary radio voice — but an important, if inadvertent and unwanted, legacy nonetheless.
Below, you can listen to the infamous, and infamously profane, track.
Audio: Negativland, “U2”
at 10:24 am
I remember passing up this single in the record store! I kicked myself for years afterwards. Thanks for posting the video!
at 10:50 am
Thanks!! This is ALWAYS the first thing I think of when I hear Casey Kasem mentioned. Immediately followed by “Run, Scoob!”
at 11:25 am
wow, I’ve never heard this before The samples of Kasem’s rants are brilliantly funny. The music is shite though but maybe that was the point?.
at 12:30 pm
Must work exclamation “Diddly Shit!” into conversation where and when ever possible for rest of my life now.
at 1:50 pm
RIP Mr. Kasem. Will be missed.
That man introduced me to music as a kid.
at 1:53 pm
This is the B-side of the single, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (Special Edit Radio Mix).” Here’s the A-side, the 1991 A Capella Mix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqse3vYcnaU
at 3:56 pm
Howard Stern has been playing that Snuggles clip for years. Casem’s daughter was on once to defend him.
The dude was having a bad day, and if you listen to the clip, he had a fuckin point.
Why bring this up now? He’s dead. Why try to paint a negative picture of him?
Not cool.
at 9:21 pm
Because this has always been a go-to pick-me-up, I naturally presumed everyone knew about it. (Indeed, it was even mentioned in some of the obits.) Thank you for posting this – and, no, I’m not tearing up, there’s just something in my eye.
at 3:58 pm
Where exactly on their website are we supposed to post our remixes? Here’s mine: https://soundcloud.com/robert-rabinowitz/u2-negative-land-rr-remix