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Cover of Odelay by Beck
Cover: Odelay

Song · Beck

“The New Pollution” by Beck

From the album Odelay (1996)

“The New Pollution” by Beck appears on 63 radio countdowns from 29 stations between 1997 and 2026. It was first released in 1996 on the album Odelay. Its best result is #8 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1997. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #21 alternative song of 1997, #528 alternative song of all time and #131 of the '90s.

63countdowns
29stations
#8best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1997–2026years charted

Watch

Beck - The New Pollution (Official Music Video)

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

"The New Pollution" was the third single from Beck's Odelay, and it's the album's swankiest party trick: a vintage lounge-pop strut run through a blender of breakbeats and junk-shop sounds. Beck wrote it with John King and Mike Simpson, and produced and mixed it with the Dust Brothers for DGC. Underneath it all is a lift from "Venus" by Joe Thomas.

The credits have Beck playing nearly everything himself: acoustic, electric and slide guitars, bass, drums, clavinet, celesta, electric piano, organ, harmonica, keyboards and percussion. That makes it a one-man junkyard orchestra, and he sings over it with a deadpan cool that makes the whole cut-and-paste contraption sound effortless.

Beck directed the video himself. The single reached 9 on Billboard's alternative airplay chart, went top 10 in Iceland and became his highest-charting song in Britain.

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
1997 8 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1997 107
1997 25 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1997 91
1997 25 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1997 105
1997 27 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1997 101
1997 18 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1997 100
1997 16 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1997 107
1997 93 X103.9 Riverside-San Bernardino, CA X103.9 Top 103.9 Songs of 1997 104
1997 14 KNRK Portland, OR KNRK Top 94 Songs of 1997 94
1997 67 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 105.7 of 1997 106
1997 31 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 1997 103
1997 93 (tie) WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 1997 99
1997 31 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 97 Songs of 1997 97

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 165 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 154 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 96 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 343 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 218 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 278 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 164 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 1685 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 197 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 1685 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1685 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1677 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 83 The Buzz The Buzz Top Songs of All-Time (Labor Day 2002, partial) 144
2002 1754 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1487 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 400 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 1487 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1483 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 374 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 292 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 366 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 175 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 255 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 303 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 216 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 319 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 216 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 243 WYEP WYEP 913 Essential Songs 913
2010 233 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 230 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 225 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 219 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 466 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 494 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2016 735 WYEP WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 913
2019 921 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2019 921 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2020 299 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2020 245 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2021 307 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 245 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 227 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 388 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2022 622 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time 1055
2022 353 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2023 347 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 346 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2023 765 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2025 764 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800
2026 191 KXT KXT 917 Song Countdown 917
2026 414 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: New Pollution.

Charting alongside it in 1997

Best songs of 1997 →
  1. 1Song 2Blur
  2. 2Walkin' On The SunSmash Mouth
  3. 3TubthumpingChumbawamba
  4. 4FlySugar Ray
  5. 5The Impression That I GetThe Mighty Mighty Bosstones
  6. 6Semi-Charmed LifeThird Eye Blind

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