Boulevard of Broken Songs

"Boulevard of Broken Songs" (also known as "Wonderwall of Broken Songs" or "Wonderwall of Broken Dreams") is a popular mash-up mixed by American DJ and producer Party Ben in late 2004. The mix consists of elements from American pop punk band Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", English Britpop band Oasis's "Wonderwall", Scottish soft rock band Travis's "Writing to Reach You", and American rapper Eminem's "Sing for the Moment", which itself samples American hard rock band Aerosmith's "Dream On". "Sing for the Moment" was used solely because Party Ben did not have "Dream On" on hand and was on deadline for his Sixx Mixx radio show. Later versions (see below) used Aerosmith's original.

"Boulevard of Broken Songs"
Song by Party Ben/Dean Gray
from the album American Edit
ReleasedLate 2004
GenreMashup, alternative rock, britpop, hard rock, rap rock
Length4:34
Songwriter(s)Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool, Noel Gallagher, Fran Healy, Eminem, Jeff Bass, Luis Resto, Steven Tyler
Producer(s)Party Ben

Appearances in other media

The mash-up first appeared as the finale of Party Ben's Sixx Mixx radio show on LIVE 105 on Friday, October 1, 2004. It was posted as a standalone mp3 on his website a few days later. The track began receiving radio airplay and was eventually aired on hundreds of radio stations worldwide,[1] despite having no official release. It eventually landed on many stations' lists of the most played tracks of 2004 and 2005.[2]

A new version of the mash-up was later created with "Dream On" instead of "Sing for the Moment" and was included on the compilation album The Best Mashups in the World Ever Are from San Francisco.[3] A third version that samples the Aerosmith song and vocals by American rapper Missy Elliott from a remix of American pop singer Madonna's "American Life" was included on American Edit, a full-length mash-up album of American Idiot, produced by Party Ben and Team9 under the name "Dean Gray".

Reception

Vice said that the song's "beauty (...) lies in its universality", and noted it as an early example of material becoming viral.[4]

Party Ben reported having reached an agreement with "record label executives" such that all radio plays of the mashup would count as plays of the original, and that this led to the original charting a second time.[4]

Personnel

References
  1. "Party Ben – Root for Stuff".
  2. One station's list of most played tracks Archived June 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Various – The Best Mashups In The World Ever Are From San Francisco". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  4. Before the Rise of Girl Talk, A Green Day Mashup Album Showed the Form's Mainstream Potential, by Max Mertens, at Vice; published November 28, 2016; retrieved May 29, 2020
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