I had a love and hate relationship with radio when I was younger. I loved that I found many bands thanks to it, I hated that sometimes the DJs would neglect to mention the name of the song or band who performed.

Case in point: Beck and Deadeye Dick.

I used to listen to radio late at night in ’94 and Deadeye Dick’s New Age Girlfriend would play constantly, thanks to its inclusion in the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack. Never heard the name of the song or the band, even waiting patiently with a notepad and pen. It wasn’t until I saw the film later in ’95 that I learned who it was.

In the case of Beck, Loser was doing the rounds on radio after Cobain died and although I liked the “thanatic” (or so I called them) lyrics, DJs never mentioned the name. Thankfully, the video was a big hit on MTV Latino and found it relatively hard. Bought the cassingle and thought little of the b-side, Alcoholic. For a while, I thought Beck was just another one hit wonder.

Then ’96 came and two turntables and a microphone ensued. Where it’s at? was a massive success and my first thought was “ah, the Loser dude!” Then Devil’s Haircut came out, with that fucking awesome video, shot as a paranoid thriller. The New Pollution felt like a fever dream, akin to a Mike Flowers Orchestra song gone wrong.

When A life less ordinary came out, I was in a relationship. It was my second one, but felt like the first one as it was a time of many firsts, including a first movie date. We weren’t impressed with the movie and honest to God, Danny Boyle is such a coin toss of a director.

But the music was great and Deadweight, a soundtrack exclusive, still is my fave Beck song. I’ve enjoyed his weird trajectory and today Josie Riesman has released The Last Temptation of Beck. You might remember her name from my review last year of Ringmaster, and this new Beck book is a promising look at his life.

-Sam J. Valdés López