Songfacts®:

• "Everybody Needs A 303" marked Fatboy Slim's debut single and served as his breakthrough track in the music industry. Released as part of his debut album, Better Living Through Chemistry, the song initially peaked at #191 on the UK chart. However, a samba-inflected remix titled "Everybody Loves a Carnival" achieved greater success, reaching #34.
• The song's title refers to the Roland TB-303 Bass Line, a bass synthesizer released by Roland in 1981. Despite its initial commercial failure and discontinuation in 1984, second-hand units became highly coveted by electronic musicians. Its distinctive "squelching" sound became a hallmark of genres like Chicago house, acid house, and techno.
  
  Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, expressed his affection for the instrument, telling PowerOn: The Roland Magazine in 2000: "It's my equivalent of the Telecaster. I think a lot of people in dance music feel the same. For me, it's the most expressive electronic instrument there is."
• "Everybody Needs a 303" is rich with samples, a signature of Fatboy Slim's style. The most notable sample is from "Everybody Needs Love" by Motown legend Edwin Starr. Other samples include drums from "The Fuz and Da Boog" by Fuzzy Haskins, a vocal snippet from "Love Rears Its Ugly Head" by Living Colour, crowd noise from "Roadhouse Blues" by The Doors, and additional drums from "Street Chase" by Night Trains.
  
  The remix, "Everybody Loves a Carnival," prominently features a sample from "Give It Up" by The Goodmen.
• The official music video for "Everybody Needs a 303" was directed by Ron Kurtz and features grainy black-and-white footage of a man viewed in profile. Toward the video's end, a hand writes "WHY MAKE VIDEOS" on the man's forehead with lipstick. This video had a budget of just £75.
  
  An alternative video, directed by David Slade, portrays a day in the life of a pig-shaped hooligan. Before becoming a renowned Hollywood director, Slade started his career making amateur music videos for local bands in southern England.
• "Everybody Needs a 303" was featured in the 1998 science fiction film Lost in Space, directed by Stephen Hopkins. The movie, starring William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, Gary Oldman and Heather Graham, was critically panned despite its star-studded cast.