The Banned (EastEnders) to be a successful merchandising tool for the serial, as it spawned two hit singles in the "real world". Actor Nick Berry released a ballad entitled "Every Loser Wins" in October 1986, having previously sung the song in character on-screen (accompanied by a piano). The song was written and produced by Stewart and Bradley James, along with Simon May who famously composed the "EastEnders" theme tune. "Every Loser Wins" was a smash hit, reaching number 1 in the UK singles chart, where it stayed for three weeks, knocking Madonna's "True Blue" off the top spot. It was the second biggest-selling
Loser (Beck song) 90s". In 2007 Vh1 ranked the song 22 on their list of the "100 greatest songs of the 90's". In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the single CD a one-star honorable mention (), picked out two songs, "Fume" and "Alcohol", and stated that it's Beck's "greatest hit, an album demo, and two-for-three prime odds and ends". The experimental video for "Loser" was directed by Beck's friend Steve Hanft. Hanft had worked for a week on storyboards for the video, then called a meeting with Beck's label, Bong Load Records, and requested a $300 shooting budget so he could shoot