"Scooby Snacks" is a song by American band

Fun Lovin' Criminals Fun Lovin' Criminals are an American rap rock band from New York City. They are best known for their hit " Scooby Snacks", which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino, and the song "Love Unlimited", which recalls Barry White's backin ...

from their debut album, ''

Come Find Yourself ''Come Find Yourself'' is the debut studio album by the American band Fun Lovin' Criminals. It was released on February 20, 1996 by Chrysalis Records. Critical reception Track listing All tracks written by Fun Lovin' Criminals, except where n ...

'' (1996). The song was written by the band and contains several sampled quotes from

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensemb ...

films, so Tarantino is also credited as a writer. Most of the song is rapped, with the exception of the chorus, which is sung. The "Scooby Snacks" in the song is a reference to

diazepam Diazepam, first marketed as Valium, is a medicine of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. It is commonly used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, muscle spasms, insomnia, ...

, also known as Valium. "Scooby Snacks" is the band's biggest hit single to date, reaching the top 40 in Australia, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, the song originally peaked at number 22 in August 1996, but after being reissued with a cover of the

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group feat ...

song " I'm Not in Love", it reached a new peak of number 12 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in June 1997. In 1996, it was voted number 14 on the list of the Hottest 100 songs of that year by listeners of Australia's

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

radio station.

Background

Instrumentalist

Brian Leiser Brian Andrew Leiser (better known as Fast, born 29 March 1972), is a member of the New York band Fun Lovin' Criminals. He plays bass, keyboards, harmonica and the trumpet, and from 2021, took over duties as lead singer. Fun Lovin' Criminals have ...

would practice sounds and samples in his Brooklyn apartment with movies playing in the background. He sampled the tremolo guitar sound from the 1984 song "Movement of Fear" by

Tones on Tail Tones on Tail was a British post-punk band formed in 1982, originally as a musical side project of Daniel Ash of the gothic rock group Bauhaus. Their music was described by one critic as "doom-and-dance-pop." History While still a member of ...

, and was putting the song together while ''

Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rha ...

'' played on his TV, inspiring him to put its quotes in his song. Leiser was working at a club called

The Limelight The Limelight was the name of a chain of nightclubs owned and operated by Peter Gatien. It had locations in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, London and Hallandale. Context During the 1980s, club culture had died down because of the AIDS ep ...

, where he met bandmate

Huey Morgan Hugh Thomas Diaz Morgan (born 8 August 1968) is an American musician best known as the former frontman of rock/hip hop band Fun Lovin' Criminals. Morgan performs both vocals and guitar and combines rock, hip hop, jazz, reggae, and funk influ ...

. The owner of the Limelight had another club called The Tunnel, known for its brawls at Sunday night events. In an effort to calm down clubgoers, one of the security guards would hand them valium capsules as they entered, calling them "Scooby snacks". Leiser said, "That’s where I got the idea for the chorus from: what if this dude and some of his meathead friends were robbing banks, all high on these scooby snacks?"

Samples

The song contains samples from

's movies ''

'' and ''

Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward Bunke ...

''. Tarantino demanded 37% of the song's royalties and a co-writing credit, which he received.

Chart performance

"Scooby Snacks" reached the top 40 in Australia, Iceland, the Netherlands and on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. It reached the top 20 in New Zealand, peaking at number 18. The song initially peaked number 22 on the

but was re-released as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with their cover of

's " I'm Not in Love" on 23 June 1997, reaching a new peak of number 12 the following week. This version also reached number 27 in Ireland. In July 2022, the song was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

silver by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company wi ...

(BPI) for sales and streams exceeding 200,000 units.

Track listings

1996 release

UK CD1 # "Scooby Snacks" (album version) – 3:02 # "Smoke 'Em" (live) # "Come Find Yourself" (live) # "I Can't Get with That" (live) UK CD2 # "Scooby Snacks" (album version—clean version) – 3:02 # "Scooby Snacks" (Steve Lironi master mix) – 3:16 # "Scooby Snacks" (20 Mg version) – 3:46 # "Scooby Snacks" (Rockamental version) – 2:57 UK limited-edition 7-inch picture disc :A1. "Scooby Snacks" (album version—clean version) – 3:04 :B1. "Scooby Snacks" (Steve Lironi instrumental with movie samples) – 3:13 :B2. "I'll Be Seeing You" – 1:19 European CD single # "Scooby Snacks" (album version) – 3:02 # "Blues for Suckers" – 3:50 Australian CD single # "Scooby Snacks" (album version) # "Scooby Snacks" (Steve Lironi master mix) # "Scooby Snacks" (20 Mg version) # "Scooby Snacks" (Rockamental version) # "Scooby Snacks" (Steve Lironi instrumental) # "I'll Be Seeing You"

1997 release

UK CD1 # "Scooby Snacks" (album version) – 3:04 # "I'm Not in Love" – 4:36 # "Scooby Snacks" (live at the Forum) – 3:15 # "I Can't Get with That (live at the Forum) – 4:53 UK CD2 # "I'm Not in Love" – 4:36 # "Scooby Snacks (Schmoove version) – 3:25 # "Bombin' the L (Circa 1956 version) – 2:29 # "Coney Island Girl (Schmoove version) – 3:08 UK 7-inch single :A1. "I'm Not in Love" – 4:36 :A2. "Scooby Snacks" (album version) – 3:04 :B1. "Coney Island Girl" (Schmoove version) – 3:08

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the 1996 UK CD1 liner notes. Studios * Recorded at Steve Rosenthals Magic Shop (New York City) * Pre-produced at Drunk Munk Studios (New York City) * Mixed at Platinum Island (New York City) * Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City) Personnel * Fun Lovin' Criminals – writing, production, arrangement * Quentin Tarantino – writing * Tim Latham – recording, mixing * Juan Garcia – recording assistant * Ed Douglas – recording assistant * Steve "Puffy" Coffey – mixing assistant *

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

– mastering * Henry Marquez – art direction * Morph Iconography – artwork layout and design * Doctor Revolt – illustration

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scooby Snacks (Song) 1996 singles Chrysalis Records singles Cultural depictions of Quentin Tarantino EMI Records singles Fun Lovin' Criminals songs Songs about criminals Songs based on speech samples Songs written by Quentin Tarantino