Editor's Note: First, let me lay down some ground rules. When I say "best," I don't mean these are my favorite songs or even that they're of the highest quality (though at times both of those things may be true, the opposite is probably true). Rather, these songs represent the "one-hit wonder" concept better than any other released that year. In other words, these songs came out of nowhere, became massive hits and the artists faded into obscurity. In most cases, these songs are still with us, having taken on a life of their own, with the artist in some cases entirely forgotten. We will discuss the song, the song's legacy and where the band is now. Also included at the bottom are links to some of the "runner up" one-hit wonders.
Baha Men - Who Let the Dogs Out? (Edel Records, recorded 1998, released as a US single in 2000)
The Baha Men formed in Nassau, Bahamas in 1977 as a group called High Voltage that played traditional Caribbeean junkanoo music. Somewhere in the mid-to-late '90s the group made a decision to begin playing more mainstream fare, which is when "Who Let the Dogs Out?" came into the picture. Originally conceived as a song for Trinidad and Tobogo's Carnival season in 1998, the Baha Men recorded their cover of the track for the soundtrack to The Rugrats Movie.
The song gained popularity mainly through its ubiquitous presence at sporting events during the late '90s and into 2000. The first use of the Baha Men's version being played at a sporting event was at a Seattle Mariner's game. Originally played as a joke (and how could it not be?) for catcher Joe Oliver, shortstop Alex Rodriguez (maybe you've heard of him) took to the song immediately and requested it as his at-bat music.
For some reason, the New York Mets dispute this version of events and claim that they were the first team to use the song, even going so far as to request that the Baha Men record a version of the song with the word "dogs" traded for "Mets" and changing the lyrics to reflect the 2000 Mets lineup. "Who Let the Mets Out?" was played during the Mets' postseason run and the Baha Men performed the tune live at Shea Stadium during Game 4 of the 2000 World Series against the Yankees. The same year, the tune was used by the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl against the New York Giants.
Charts: In an instance where radio and sales apparently had little or no impact on the popularity of the song, the song only reached #40 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then again, why request a song or buy the CD when you can hear it at nearly every single sporting event you attend?
Legacy: "Who Let the Dogs Out?" won a plethora of awards: including Grammys for Best Dance Recording and the much coveted Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award for Favorite Song and, naturally, Favorite Band (Hmm...I wonder how the kids who voted in 2000 feel about this choice now? Leave your answer in the comments!). The song was so widespread that it wasn't long before a backlash began, and by the time the ball dropped on January 1, 2001, the song had become almost universally reviled, with Rolling Stone magazine ranking it #3 (behind "My Humps" and "Macarena") on their list of "10 Most Annoying Songs." Besides still periodically being played at sporting events, the song is most well-known these days as a punchline, as indicated by 2009's massive hit comedy The Hangover with Zach Galifianakis' creepy (albeit hilarious) nerd character posing the question, "Are you guys ready to let the dogs out?" Also, if you're ever lucky enough to catch Snow Dogs or any other kids movie that at any time in the film or marketing features a dog wearing sunglasses, you'll most likely get that chorus of barks stuck in your head again like its 2000!
At press time there was still no answer to the song's titular question.
Where Are They Now? After 2002's Move It Like This, the band's took two years to release a follow up album. 2004's Holla!, was an unexpected success among the Pitchfork indie rock crowd, with the Baha Men taking their talents to the next level by recording an intricately constructed song-cycle about an impoverished child rising through the ranks of the Caribbean drug trade. The band worked with producer Nigel Godrich and guests included Beck, Frederick "Toots" Hibbert, Lauryn Hill, and members of the Wu-Tang Clan.
OKAY, so none of that actually happened, but it sounds a lot more interesting than the reality of Holla!, which was basically just more of the same from the Baha Men, with the title track being written specifically for the abysmal Garfield movie (and includes references to indicate such). The lyrical content didn't improve much over "Dogs," with lines that urged the audience to shout, free of charge, "Come on everybody holla/You don't have to bring a dollar." Reportedly the band is releasing their next album in 2010.
Here's a fantastic video for "Holla!" set to clips of the 11,000th iteration of Power Rangers, Power Rangers: SPD:
Baha Men - Who Let the Dogs Out? (Edel Records, recorded 1998, released as a US single in 2000)The song gained popularity mainly through its ubiquitous presence at sporting events during the late '90s and into 2000. The first use of the Baha Men's version being played at a sporting event was at a Seattle Mariner's game. Originally played as a joke (and how could it not be?) for catcher Joe Oliver, shortstop Alex Rodriguez (maybe you've heard of him) took to the song immediately and requested it as his at-bat music.
For some reason, the New York Mets dispute this version of events and claim that they were the first team to use the song, even going so far as to request that the Baha Men record a version of the song with the word "dogs" traded for "Mets" and changing the lyrics to reflect the 2000 Mets lineup. "Who Let the Mets Out?" was played during the Mets' postseason run and the Baha Men performed the tune live at Shea Stadium during Game 4 of the 2000 World Series against the Yankees. The same year, the tune was used by the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl against the New York Giants.
Charts: In an instance where radio and sales apparently had little or no impact on the popularity of the song, the song only reached #40 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then again, why request a song or buy the CD when you can hear it at nearly every single sporting event you attend?
Legacy: "Who Let the Dogs Out?" won a plethora of awards: including Grammys for Best Dance Recording and the much coveted Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award for Favorite Song and, naturally, Favorite Band (Hmm...I wonder how the kids who voted in 2000 feel about this choice now? Leave your answer in the comments!). The song was so widespread that it wasn't long before a backlash began, and by the time the ball dropped on January 1, 2001, the song had become almost universally reviled, with Rolling Stone magazine ranking it #3 (behind "My Humps" and "Macarena") on their list of "10 Most Annoying Songs." Besides still periodically being played at sporting events, the song is most well-known these days as a punchline, as indicated by 2009's massive hit comedy The Hangover with Zach Galifianakis' creepy (albeit hilarious) nerd character posing the question, "Are you guys ready to let the dogs out?" Also, if you're ever lucky enough to catch Snow Dogs or any other kids movie that at any time in the film or marketing features a dog wearing sunglasses, you'll most likely get that chorus of barks stuck in your head again like its 2000!
At press time there was still no answer to the song's titular question.
Where Are They Now? After 2002's Move It Like This, the band's took two years to release a follow up album. 2004's Holla!, was an unexpected success among the Pitchfork indie rock crowd, with the Baha Men taking their talents to the next level by recording an intricately constructed song-cycle about an impoverished child rising through the ranks of the Caribbean drug trade. The band worked with producer Nigel Godrich and guests included Beck, Frederick "Toots" Hibbert, Lauryn Hill, and members of the Wu-Tang Clan.
OKAY, so none of that actually happened, but it sounds a lot more interesting than the reality of Holla!, which was basically just more of the same from the Baha Men, with the title track being written specifically for the abysmal Garfield movie (and includes references to indicate such). The lyrical content didn't improve much over "Dogs," with lines that urged the audience to shout, free of charge, "Come on everybody holla/You don't have to bring a dollar." Reportedly the band is releasing their next album in 2010.
Here's a fantastic video for "Holla!" set to clips of the 11,000th iteration of Power Rangers, Power Rangers: SPD:
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2 comments:
This is perfect because I grew up listening this music, this is terrific because O always can get different sensations and also memories I have in my heart.
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