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Cover of Midnite Vultures by Beck
Cover: Midnite Vultures

Song · Beck

“Sexx Laws” by Beck

From the album Midnite Vultures (1999)

“Sexx Laws” by Beck appears on 28 radio countdowns from 17 stations between 1999 and 2024. It was first released in 1999 on the album Midnite Vultures. Its best result is #9 on the WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 1999. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #38 alternative song of 1999, #2,456 alternative song of all time and #310 of the '90s.

28countdowns
17stations
#9best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1999–2024years charted

Watch

Beck - Sexx Laws (Version 2) (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (BeckVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Sexx Laws" led the way for Beck's Midnite Vultures in October 1999, a funk rock strut dressed in brass and polyester. Beck said the lyric pokes fun at stubborn ideas of what men and women are supposed to do, playing soul music's tough-guy swagger against its naked vulnerability. He wanted the horns to do the heavy lifting that guitars do on most records, so Jon Birdsong's trumpet, David Arthur Brown's tenor sax and David Ralicke's trombone blast away up front.

The rest of the cast piles on: Smokey Hormel on guitar, Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass, Roger Joseph Manning Jr. on piano and synths, even Jay Dee Maness on pedal steel and Herb Pedersen on banjo, with Arnold McCuller and Valerie Pinkston singing backup. Beck produced it with Mickey Petralia. In 2014 NME named it the 260th greatest song of all time.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 74 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1999 107
1999 36 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1999 91
1999 103 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1999 106
1999 93 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1999 101
1999 39 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1999 100
1999 31 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 99 Songs of 1999 99
1999 26 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1999 107
1999 59 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 1999 89
1999 20 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 1999 103
1999 9 93XRT Chicago, IL WXRT Listener Poll: Top 25 Songs of 1999 25
1999 42 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 1999 101
1999 53 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1999 100
2000 57 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2000 91
2000 60 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2000 100
2000 76 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2000 102

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 800 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
2005 97 WFPK WFPK Top 100 Party Songs 100
2007 1037 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1113 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1112 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1151 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1148 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1158 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1152 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2019 451 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2019 451 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2021 194 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2024 259 KEXP The Best Opening Tracks of All Time 738

Also listed as: Sexxlaws.

Charting alongside it in 1999

Best songs of 1999 →
  1. 1What's My Age Again?blink-182
  2. 2Scar TissueRed Hot Chili Peppers
  3. 3NookieLimp Bizkit
  4. 4Freak on a LeashKorn
  5. 5Praise YouFatboy Slim
  6. 6My Own Worst EnemyLit

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