"MMMBop" | ||||
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Single by Hanson | ||||
from the album Middle of Nowhere | ||||
B-side | "Where's the Love" | |||
Released | April 15, 1997 | |||
Recorded |
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Length |
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Label | Mercury | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Hanson singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"MMMBop" on YouTube |
"MMMBop" is a song written and performed by American pop rock band Hanson. It was released on April 15,1997 by Mercury Records,as the lead single from their first full-length studio album, Middle of Nowhere (1997). The song is the band's most successful single to date and was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. "MMMBop" was a major success worldwide, [1] reaching number one in at least 12 countries,including Australia,Canada,Germany,New Zealand,the United Kingdom and the United States. Its music video was directed by Tamra Davis.
The song was voted the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz &Jop critics poll,while also topping critics' polls from such media as Rolling Stone , Spin ,and VH1,and was ranked number 20 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s",as well as number 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years". In 2023,Hanson released a new version of "MMMBop",entitled "MMMBop 2.0" in collaboration with English pop punk band Busted.
The song originally appeared on the 1996 independent album MMMBop with a slower tempo,but was reworked as an upbeat pop track by producers the Dust Brothers. This became the hit version. In an August 2004 interview with Songfacts,Zac Hanson explained the song's origins:
That song started out really as the background part for another song. We were making our first independent album and we were trying to come up with a background part. We started singing a slightly different incarnation of what is now the chorus of "MMMbop". That sort of stuck in our heads and never really worked as a background part, and over a couple of years, that piece really has stuck in our heads and we really crafted the rest of the song – the verses and bridge and so on.
What that song talks about is, you've got to hold on to the things that really matter. "MMMbop" represents a frame of time or the futility of life. Things are going to be gone, whether it's your age and your youth, or maybe the money you have, or whatever it is, and all that's going to be left are the people you've nurtured and have really built to be your backbone and your support system.
They [the lyrics] weren't inspired by one artist in particular. The first music that we got into was '50s and '60s music. If anything, "MMMbop" was inspired by The Beach Boys and vocal groups of that era – using your voice as almost a doo-wop kind of thing. It was something we almost stumbled upon. [2]
Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "The rush of youth-driven acts on radio accelerates with the onset of this candy-coated pop confection. Try to imagine what the Jackson 5 might sound like with the accompaniment of a skittling funk beat and scratchy faux-grunge guitars, and you will have a clear picture of where Hanson is coming from. Initially it's a mildly jarring combination, but it's ultimately quite cool. Factor in an instantly catchy chorus, and you have the making of a runaway smash." [4] A reviewer from Scottish Daily Record noted, "They're about half the age of the Spice Girls, but Hanson can sing, play their own instruments and string a sentence together. It must be their American upbringing." [5] Sara Scribner from Los Angeles Times named it "a lighthearted dollop of nonsensical pop." [6] A reviewer from Music Week gave the song four out of five, stating that "media attention is sky high for these three Tulsa brothers, aged 11, 14 and 16. And this cutesy, catchy pop song is the ideal debut single to cash in on that interest." [7]
Chuck Eddy of Rolling Stone felt it "sticks in your brain like Trident in your shag carpet." He explained, "Built on a turntable-scratch update of the soul rhythms that served as turn-of-the-'70s bubblegum rock's secret weapon, the song is as unintelligible as it is indelible. Its hooks suburbanize the Jackson 5 as expertly as the Osmonds used to, but whether its quivering lyrics really deal with chewing (a favorite bubble entendre since the Ohio Express' "Chewy Chewy") is anybody's guess." [8] Ben Knowles from Smash Hits said "MMMBop" sounded like "a one-off, tasty, unbelievably ear-tingling, perfect pop treat." [9] Ian Hyland from Sunday Mirror gave the song eight out of ten, commenting, "Teenage brothers from America who sound a bit like Sheryl Crow on helium. You'll love this at first, but in a few weeks you'll be kicking the TV in whenever their smiley faces appear." [10] David Sinclair from The Times concluded, "No 1 in America and all over British radio like a rash, it sounds like a gilt-edged pop standard already." [11]
"MMMBop" was voted the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, while also topping critics' polls from such media as Rolling Stone , Spin , and VH1, and was ranked number 20 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s", [12] as well as number 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years". [13] In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it as the ninth-best boy band song of all time. [14]
On chart dated May 3, 1997, "MMMBop" debuted at No. 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100. [15] On chart dated May 10, 1997, the song rise to No. 6. [16] It continued to rise the next week, reaching No. 2 [17] On chart dated May 24, 1997, the song peaked at the summit of the Billboard Hot 100. [18] The song topped the Hot 100 for three weeks in a row before being dethroned by ”I'll Be Missing You" and stayed four weeks at No. 2. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]
A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by American film, television and music video director Tamra Davis. [25] It features the Hanson brothers singing and playing their instruments in a suburban living room. In between, there are clips of them entering a cave, ending up on a beach. Other scenes show them playing around in a city, dancing on the Moon, driving a car or appearing in old footage of Albert Einstein. [26]
All songs were written by Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson, and Zac Hanson. Additional songwriters are noted in parentheses.
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Weekly charts | Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [88] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria) [89] | Gold | 25,000* |
Belgium (BEA) [90] | Platinum | 50,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [91] | Platinum | 500,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [92] | Platinum | 10,000* |
Sweden (GLF) [93] | Platinum | 30,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [94] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [95] | Platinum | 758,000 [96] |
United States (RIAA) [97] | Platinum | 1,500,000 [98] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref(s). |
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United States | March 24, 1997 | Top 40 radio | Mercury | [99] |
April 15, 1997 |
| [100] [101] | ||
United Kingdom | May 26, 1997 |
| [102] | |
Japan | June 4, 1997 | Mini-CD | [103] | |
June 20, 1997 | CD | [104] |
Twenty years after the first recording of "MMMBop", approximately 93,000 cover versions of the song were counted by MTV reporter Patrick Hosken in March 2016, as represented on YouTube. [105] The Hansons told Rebecca Milzoff at Vulture that they had not heard any good cover versions, because "People can't sing the chorus right. Most of the time they syncopate it wrong," according to Isaac Hanson. [106] Later that year, Postmodern Jukebox recorded a cover in the style of 1950s swinging doo-wop with four male singers; [106] picking up 1.5 million views on YouTube in the first year. [107] In July 2019, the official Hanson Twitter feed shared a video by Scary Pockets, a band founded by keyboardist Jack Conte. The Scary Pockets version was fronted by Lucy Schwartz on lead vocals, and Adam Neely covered the electric bass. [108]
In 2023, English band Busted released a cover version of the song, in collaboration with Hanson. The new version, "MMMBop 2.0", was released as a single worldwide on May 26, 2023. [109] [110] [111] It peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Sales Chart. [112]
Middle of Nowhere is the debut studio album by American pop rock group Hanson, and the first to be released on a major label, which was PolyGram Records and Mercury Records. Released in 1997, it features slicker studio production compared to their previous indie efforts Boomerang and MMMBop. The band members were between the ages of 11 and 16 when it was released. "Yearbook", one of the album's more dramatic songs, was not performed live until the recording of Middle of Nowhere Acoustic on May 5, 2007.
"One of Us" is a song by American singer Joan Osborne for her debut studio album, Relish (1995). Written by Eric Bazilian of the Hooters and produced by Rick Chertoff, the song was released on November 21, 1995 by Blue Gorilla and Mercury, as Osborne's debut single and lead single from Relish. It became a hit in November of that year, peaking at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and earning three Grammy nominations. "One of Us" was also a hit around the world, topping the charts of Australia, Canada, Flanders, and Sweden, reaching number six on the UK Singles Chart, and becoming a top-20 hit in at least 12 other countries. The song went on to serve as the opening theme for the American television series Joan of Arcadia. The music video for "One of Us" was directed by Mark Seliger and Fred Woodward, and filmed in Coney Island, New York City.
"You Get What You Give" is a song by American alternative rock band New Radicals. It was the first and most successful single from their only studio album, Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too (1998). Released on November 3, 1998, it reached number 36 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number eight on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Outside the US, it reached number five in the United Kingdom, number four in Ireland, and number one in Canada and New Zealand.
No Diggity is a song by American R&B group Blackstreet, serving as the first single from their second studio album, Another Level (1996). Featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen, the song was released on July 29, 1996, by Interscope. It reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in Iceland and New Zealand. The song ended "Macarena's" 14-week reign at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number nine. "No Diggity" was the final number-one single of Cash Box magazine. The track sold 1.6 million copies in 1996 and won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. It includes samples from Bill Withers's "Grandma's Hands". The music video for the song was directed by Hype Williams.
"Elegantly Wasted" is the title track and first single released from the album Elegantly Wasted by Australian band INXS. The single was released in Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Canada, and the United States.
"That Don't Impress Me Much" is a song co-written and recorded by Canadian singer Shania Twain. It was released in December 1998 as the sixth country single, and seventh single overall, from her third studio album, Come On Over (1997). It was third to pop and fourth to international markets. The song was written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Twain, and was originally released to North American country radio stations in late 1998. It became her third biggest single on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains one of Twain's biggest hits worldwide.
"You Win My Love" is a song recorded by Canadian country music singer Shania Twain. It was released on January 27, 1996, as the fifth single from her second studio album The Woman in Me. The song was written solely by then-husband and producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, making it one of Twain's only songs she did not write. Lyrically, the song uses car metaphors to describe a fruitful relationship.
"The Way" is a song by American alternative rock band Fastball. It was released on January 7, 1998, as the lead single from their second studio album, All the Pain Money Can Buy (1998). The song was written by the band's lead vocalist, Tony Scalzo, and was produced by the band and Julian Raymond. Scalzo was inspired to write the song after reading about the disappearance of an elderly couple who were found dead in their car many miles away from their intended destination.
"Unskinny Bop" is a song by American glam metal band Poison, released as the first single from their third studio album, Flesh & Blood (1990), on June 18, 1990. The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, number five on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, and number one on Canada's The Record chart. It also entered the top 20 in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
"This Kiss" is a song by American country music singer Faith Hill from her third studio album Faith. It was written by Beth Nielsen Chapman, Robin Lerner and Annie Roboff, and produced by Hill and Byron Gallimore. It was released on February 23, 1998, as the album's first single.
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"Where's the Love" is a song by American pop rock band Hanson. It was released on September 1, 1997, as the second single from the band's debut album, Middle of Nowhere (1997). Internationally, it was a successful follow-up to "MMMBop", reaching the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Finland, Hungary, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, "Where's the Love" did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 due to rules regarding commercial releases, but it peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart and number six on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40.
"I Will Come to You" is a song by American pop rock band Hanson. It was released on November 10, 1997, as the third single from the band's debut album, Middle of Nowhere (1997). "I Will Come to You" reached number five on the UK Singles Chart and number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was more successful in Australia, reaching number two and receiving a platinum certification, and in Sweden, where it topped the chart for four weeks and was also certified platinum.
"Weird" is a song written and performed by American pop rock band Hanson. The rock ballad was the fourth single released from the band's major label debut album, Middle of Nowhere (1997), and became a moderate hit worldwide, charting within the top 20 in Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
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"Thinking of You" is a song written and performed by American pop rock band Hanson. It was released as the fifth and final single from the band's debut album, Middle of Nowhere (1997), on May 4, 1998. The single was a success in Australia and Finland, reaching number six in both countries, and in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, where it peaked within the top 30. "Thinking of You" was not released in the United States, but in Canada, it peaked at number 10 on the Canadian Singles Chart.
"I'll Be" is a song recorded by American rapper Foxy Brown for her debut studio album, Ill Na Na (1996), featuring Brooklyn-based rapper Jay-Z. It was released as the second single from the album on March 4, 1997, by Violator and Def Jam Recordings. The song was written by Shawn Carter, Jean-Claude Olivier, Samuel Barnes, Angela Winbush, René Moore, Bobby Watson and Bruce Swedien with production by Trackmasters, and samples René & Angela's 1985 song "I'll Be Good". It was recorded at Chung King Studios in New York City, while the mixing of the track was finished at The Hit Factory. "I'll Be" is a hip hop and R&B song with explicit lyrics that revolve around sex and money.
"Halo" is a song by Scottish alternative rock band Texas, released on 7 April 1997 as the second single from their fourth studio album, White on Blonde (1997). The song was written by Texas frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri and guitarist Johnny McElhone and was produced by Texas and Mike Hedges. "Halo" debuted and peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Charts. The music video, filmed in Hong Kong, features Spiteri and a Chinese woman acting as her "halo".
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"Rumble in the Jungle" is a song recorded for the 1996 documentary film When We Were Kings, which depicts the 1974 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman that the song is named after: The Rumble in the Jungle. The song was written and performed by American hip hop group Fugees along with fellow hip hop artists A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, and John Forté. Additional writers credited on the song are Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson, and Chip Taylor since "Rumble in the Jungle" samples recordings written by them. The lyrics of the song focus mostly on Ali and his life, as well as the boxing match itself.
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(help)...'MMMBop,' which officially went to top 40 radio with a different mix March 24.
['MMMBop'] hits retail Tuesday (15).