ONE HIT WONDERLAND: "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- (Go to curiositystream... for your special offer from CuriosityStream!) Lou Bega mamboed his way into our hearts and then quickly mamboed his way out! Why did the mambo revival never take hold?
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Todd: “I can’t believe anyone older than 10 would say is their favorite song.”
Stephen King, 2023: “Yeah, I played ‘Mambo No. 5’ so constantly that my wife threatened divorce!”
That does sound like something Stephen King would do.
Stephen King has to be a little off to write the type of books he does.
@@monopomanoh you have NO IDEA my man
@@monopoman for a solid portion of his life that man had more cocaine in his body than all of wall street in the 80s.
wait are you saying that Stephen King did the Code Bega bit from Chris Fleming's Gayle but irl and unironically
"I can't believeI haven't done this one yet."
**heavy breathing from the cage where 'the macarena' is kept**
That would be an interesting story, as (as I recall) it was like a remix of a remix of a remix that became the hit.
OH GOD NO
@@solhsa not to mention the lyrics are little more surprising than what you expect for a dance song
*"Muerte La Vida Loco"*
And Steal My Sunshine...
There is something hilarious about Lou saying “Pokeyman” in an official commercial for the actual network that airs the show that should have made him aware of the correct pronunciation.
There are genuinely ads from Nintendo themselves that say Pokemon wrong ("Pock-a-mon") from well into the 00s, so I'd give him a pass.
I just want to say that I love your Strong Bad profile picture
@@ruby.the.weirdo well thanks.
I like to imagine it was like that William Shatner "Sabotage/SAH-bow-TAJ" situation.
"No, you say 'Pokemon.' I say 'Pokeyman.'"
It probably wasn't, I just like to imagine it was. XD
Nah, the guys in charge of exporting that show literally didn't notice when someone added a break segment falsely calling seviper arbok's evolved form. This was definitely within their realm of don'tgiveacareism.
The fact that Bob The Builder has more hits than Lou Bega is something I have just realised and I can't stop thinking about it.
the uk is a different breed
Welp. That fact is in my head now.
Bob the Builder also knocked Eminem off of the number 1 spot in the UK, had the best selling single of 2000 in the UK (which really pissed off some Irish or Scottish boy band whose name I forget), and had his Mambo No. 5 cover pulled off the air due to 9/11. Bob's had quite the musical career is what I'm saying.
@@nopenope2550 Westlife?
@@sarabrown6022 After looking it up I can confirm it was indeed Westlife.
Just realized THIS was the vibe Blurred Lines was trying to hit.
This revelation blew my mind.
Cool. Does that make the song any better, though?
@@nicholastricarico2957 Not even slightly. In fact, I think it makes it worse, for how thoroughly it failed. May make it funnier though.
An interesting observation. Never considered that.
@@nicholastricarico2957 I think it adds more to why Blurred Lines doesn’t work, rather than adding something to make Mambo No 5 work better
Todd: "I can't imagine anyone saying Mambo No. 5 is their favorite song unless they're, like, ten."
Guilty as charged. I was 9 and loved it because my name was in it.
I guess we all now have a little bit of Erika in our lives
Erika Gang, unite!
What’s your opinion on the song “Erika” lmao
My name has Rita on it. Does it count?
My dumbass really just sat here trying to figure out whether you were named "Mambo" or "Five"
This song is such a one hit wonder I had a complete false memory of you already covering this.
same here
Also surprised that no one requested this
I saw this and went “didn’t he do this one already?”
Maybe this was in a larger list once or something?
Seriously I was ready to skip over this video thinking it was a reupload. How has he not covered it yet?
a few weeks ago i came to his channel to try to watch this because i *swore* hed already covered it. guess we could just see into the future
I can’t believe you didn’t mention that “I Got a Girl” LITERALLY STARTS WITH “Six, seven, eight nine ten”. Way to hammer it home Lou…
Instead of figuratively?
when you edit something like this, I'm sure there are a lot of little interesting facts that you think people will like, but sometimes you need to put out a video thats not too long for general viewers. I make the same mistake sometimes. I put too many easter eggs into my video, which means ive lost focus on what the video should be about.
"Isn't this...
...Where we came in?"
It's not a rehash, it's a continuation. It is Mambo Number 5 pt 2.
It honestly would’ve been a vibe if he kept that up forever. Next single would’ve started with “eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen”
However anyone feels about “Mambo No. 5,” Lou Bega really _sells_ it.
Jeff W That's probably why he's been able to keep his career going. I legitimately cannot think of anyone else being able to perform it the way he does.
@@daigneauray7087 If John Larkin lived long enough to go into the 2000s and past the 2010s, his reaction to Scatman and Hatman could have been something special given they both had upbeat one hits.
The "Fancy Like" of its time
no, you just bought it
@@Jackrabbit7 Oh come on, it's not THAT bad
“The genre is 'annoying'” “natural born hater” and “make this guy 20% cooler and he’s basically Pitbull” are my favorite lines in this
>20% cooler
todd what are you trying to say with this
@@familyguyfreemoviedownload8314 he’s ten years too late. That boat sailed years ago lol
@@madgang201 funnily enough i remember him saying he didn’t like mlp during the height of the brony boom (2012ish). i remember because at the time i was mad at him for not liking it lmoa
@@familyguyfreemoviedownload8314 We all K N O W what he was saying... just saying.
@@familyguyfreemoviedownload8314 What? He's just asking Lou Bega to make it cooler.
Just make the whole thing, you know... cooler.
Extremely torn between "One Hit Wonderland is my favorite Todd series" and "I absolutely do NOT want to get Mambo No. 5 stuck in my head today".
I love Mambo number 5.
Sometimes when I fart and everything’s all tight, it’ll make the same sound, same note as the very beginning of the song, and I’ll just start hearing it in my head.
i'm thankful for it, i've had meme songs stuck in my head for the past weeks
I wish I had considered that but now I will be dealing with this earworm for the rest of the day
Oh come on. It's already in your head! You're just living in denial at this point.
I’d love to see “annoying” listed as a genre on Spotify or UA-cam music
Especially with one of those UA-cam generated playlists with the custom thumbnails.
No, Mambo No. 5 does not deserve to share a playlist with goddammit Baby Shark.
@@ninjabluefyre3815.
Then let’s also add an “Extremely Annoying” playlist. Baby Shark and Dance Monkey can go in there.
Ahh yes the Cringe section
i have a spotify playlist of music i've been banned from playing at gatherings or in the car with other people
The best thing about the Bob the Builder version of this song is that it topped the charts in UK
It was Bob the Builder's second Number 1, after his own theme song, meaning Bob the Builder is not a One Hit Wonder
Bob the builder bigger than scatman confirmed
@@hamoreariel5941 Wow. I wasn't expecting to be made furious by such an innocuous fact. But I know the Scatman wouldn't want me to be angry on his behalf. Today I choose to live in Scatman's world.
It's so crazy the things that can make it to the top of UK chart
@@flux_casey this sounds like the sort of thing the Scatman would probably be perfectly fine with
@@flux_casey I know this is an old comment, but if it makes you feel better both Scatman and Scatman's World made it into the top 10 in the UK. Todd has a pretty loose definition of one hit wonder - Scatman only made it to 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 (Scatman's World didn't chart at all in the US).
The fact that we all just listened to that hook for 20 consecutive minutes without being like "this needs to stop" is a testament to the fact that this is probably the most innocuous earworm of all time.
He has such an impressive presence, both this sexual cassanova and someone unthreatening, like he'd put the moves on you but take no for an answer, which is something genuinely hard to portray in music. think of how many "love" songs have aged TERRIBLY and just gotten creepy. then this man with his song about the chicks he's banged, is just like an old friend. Love this man
He's confident in his skills of love, which means if you say no he'll oblige and move onto the next potential suitor.
@@Demiglitchand he won't be a dick about it which again is such a rare quality to portray
That is a perfect description of this song
well said
He even rejects the liquor, because he has to stay deep cus talk is cheap.
"Lou Bega is going to be a DLC in Cuphead, by the way."
Fun fact, Lou Bega was a possible player character in the original Tropico.
I was doing a short-stay exchange to Germany in 1999 and this song was HUGE and then I was just SHOCKED when it FOLLOWED ME HOME. Never expected this to hit in the US. (so many German hits stay firmly in Germany lol) Oh and Blue! That was everywhere in Germany and then showed up in the US years later (like 2-3 years later). It was also strange that lots of obscure American (and UK) artists/songs ended up chart toppers in Germany and I returned home (after my year long exchange in 2000-2001) only to find no one in the US knew! (example: I'm Outta Love by Anastacia). So there's this whole era of music from my teens that was huge to me but no American has ever heard of lol.
Kinda funny u mention Germany. I first heard this song through Max Raabe's cover.
I'm Outta Love isn't known in the US? Interesting, because the song was a hit here in Canada. We normally don't get hits if they aren't charting in the US, sadly. Nice to see there are exceptions though.
It was huge all over Europe. Mrhe definition of a summer one hit wonder.. I even had the album and I'm from Norway 😂
@@mish375 No one at my high school seemed to know it (or anyone in college). I think it may have gotten some club play but in Germany it was like... #1. I bought the maxi CD. Heavy rotation on MTV and Vevo. I think it did well in the UK too so Canada makes sense! How did All Saints Black Coffee/All Hooked Up do in Canada? Those were also songs I jammed hard to in Germany that didn't seem to have registered. Oh and things like Whole Again by Atomic Kitten and Overload by Sugababes--HUGE staples for me from 2001 that my American peers didn't know. (I mean Britpop that never made it to the US is a whole other topic ha)
There was even a pseudo parody song by the Eurodance Group E-Rotic called Mambo No. Sex
lou bega saying "including three new pokeyman" is etched into my brain forever
"How does a German Ugandan Sicilian wind up wanting to mambo for a living?" Perhaps one of the greatest questions of all time.
I mean hey... no one else was gonna do it!
I hadn't realized until now, but Lou Bega is just happy Ja Rule
😂😂😂😂😂
Except Lou Bega isn't even trying to be gangsta.
And not lied about his fiery performances.
I'd more call him 90s Pitbull
@@digamejh not a modern one at least
Around '96-97, I became a record sales stats geek. This guy's album went triple-platinum. 1999 was truly the last year in music when people would buy ANYTHING.
Actually didn't the 2000's sort of keep the album record sales going for many new acts? Ashlee Simpson's autobiography album went 3X Platinum for example
@@Thomasmemoryscentral Yeah it did carry over into the early Aughts a bit. But nobody like Lou Bega or the Baha Men were going triple platinum after '99. Ashlee Simpson makes sense -- she caught the last of the teen pop wave -- whether deservedly so or not...
"1999 was truly the last year in music when people would buy ANYTHING."
Just say you hate anything post-1999. smdh.
@@robroy6374 Ummm... I don't. I was just saying "Look at all the weird shyt that came out in that specific year that sold tons of records." That was really the last year that ever happened before the streaming/digital era.
@@robroy6374 Also, I don't see what that has to do with my opinion of post-1999 music, as I was specifically talking about 1999 music. But OK...
When I found out that he was German the thing I found most surprising was how good his American accent was while singing. A lot of foreign acts have obvious tells (listen to ABBA, A-Ha, or Falco--or even some Anglophone bands like Men at Work, the Bee Gees, or The Seekers--and you know they're not American after a couple songs). But I never once thought Lou Bega was from anywhere but Miami!
I looked up an interview with Lou Bega speaking, because I was curious, and he doesn't seem to have much of an accent. I don't think I would've even noticed. I don't know if he had some native English exposure when young or if he's just really good at language acquisition.
@@CylindricalWhistle He seems to have lived in Florida longer than any writers want to admit for unknown reasons. They all say he traveled there like it was a vacation. But he moved to Florida when he was 13 (1990) to be in a hip hop group. You don't move to the US to become a hip hop star unless your English is top-notch. Then he was there a minimum of 2 years before that group's 1st album came out. Then? A black hole of time until he moves back to Germany to create the Lou Bega persona, which comes out in 1999. Was that band still going all that time? Did he have more bands in FL he was a part of? Who knows. Nobody writes about it.
But back to Mr. Mambo - It's not like he was playing that role for years hustling in clubs without success - it was a crafted image that stuck, so he could have been in Miami for maybe 7 years. That's long enough to pick up a solid accent, especially in teen years and when you're trying to become a star in a foreign country. Throw in that English is (correction, thanks to @Azmodeus) often a core class in Europe. They probably speak it grammatically better than most Americans under 35 because they don't have the interference of some people around them who intentionally butcher grammar like we do in the US.
Other unrelated holes in the story. He took time off to spend it with his family after album #2 flopped.... at age 25, the implication is "family" would mean wife and kids. He didn't get married until 2014, so he took time off from his career to hang out with his parents as a grown man? Eh.... no, not buying that.
He is mentioned as living in Uganda for 6 months which qualifies him as a man of the world, and it's dropped in any story in a place where one would assume young adulthood. But... nobody is specific about when. Considering his dad is from Uganda, I believe it was as a child, and he was probably too young to know what was going on, or to be molded at all in 6 months. He grew up in Italy & Germany & somehow had an upbringing where he moved to the US to become a pop star.
His whole image is molded plastic. Which is fine - he's made it work, he keeps people entertained. Good for him. Maybe he's become the role he was chosen to play. It's just weird when you have a guy in the entertainment industry for over 20 years and so little is known.
@@mattl6425 Interesting. Spending time in America as a teen would definitely help explain it. I married a Swiss woman at 37, and my accent in both German and Swiss German is utterly atrocious!
German is pretty close to English, as far as languages go, and many Germans don’t have much of an accent when they speak it. I didn’t know Diane Kruger was German for while.
Arnold Schwarzenegger actually works with a dialect coach to *keep* his distinctive accent. He’s been in the US for so long he likely would have lost it long ago otherwise.
@@mattl6425 Just a small correction. Most people doesn't "take" English in school, int he sense that they choose it as a voluntary subject. It's part of most EU systems obligatory Core subjects, along with stuff like physics, math & whatever the native language is.
I want Todd to do 'There She Goes' by The La's just so I can hear him talk about The La's for 15 minutes.
bump this. best jangle pop one hit wonder
Has Todd covered a band who had their career killed by crippling perfectionism? If not, the La's are a great place to start for sure
Oh man that would be great
It's funny how I never noticed that there's no verses in that song until I heard that version.
I'm surprised he hasn't already; does it qualify? did The La's have another hit we forgot about?
I just love that song because it's the opening and closing track of the movie _So I Married An Axe Murderer_ both accompanying pretty shots of my beloved City and it just gets me every time.
I love Lou Bega. It's the elusive masc camp.
Would Jack Sparrow count too?
Señor Pink from One Piece
@@timothy4097 Spicy. If we count Johnny Depp, does Keith Richards count too?
what the heck does this mean
@@xX_MC_OvU_PvP_YT_Xx I like over the top machismo, bud.
Thanks to this song, I can't order the fifth item on a fast food restaurant's value menu without wanting to say "Combo number FIVE!" in a distinctly Bega-esque way.
I think Wendy’s legitimately did that.
100th like
I think there was a parody song called Combo number 5.
“He’s not from from the Caribbean...”
Me: “He’s another German, isn’t he”
“He’s from Germany”
It’s always Germany, isn’t it?
In der Tat
Or Sweden
@@rgs8970 Am German can confirm.
@@rgs8970 Two words: Frank. Farian.
But was he BIG IN JAPAN?
13:32 "Raunchiness isn't offensive anymore when it's retro. That's the rule."
Finally someone put that into words. I've been feeling that way with not only lots of music, but also the films of Tarantino and similar.
Todd: "Who wants to be the person that hates Mambo No. 5"
Anthony Fantano: *sweating profusely*
"Yeah, this new Todd in the Shadows video? It's not good. (explosion)"
I can be that person! I really hate Mambo No. 5!
Glad Todd covered this one, one of the many one hit wonder people my wishlist contains. Btw anyone gave thoughts on my current lineup of one hit Wonderland choices he could cover:
1. Here In Your Arms: Hellogoodbye
2. Blue Monday: Orgy
3. When I See You Smile: Bad English
4. The Middle: Jimmy Eat World
5. Steal My Sunshine: Len
6. I've Been Thinking About You: Londonbeat
7. Your Love: The Outfield
8. Shannon: Henry Gross
9. Nothing Compares To U: Sinead O'Conner
10. There's Always Something There To Remind Me: Naked Eyes
11. You're Beautiful: James Blunt
12. Putting On The Ritz: Taco
13. Stacy's Mom: Fountains Of Wayne
14. Sex And Candy: Marcy Playground
15. Missing You: John Waite
16. Just The Girl: The Click Five
17. Bad Day: Daniel Powter
18. Hit Em Up Style: Blu Cantrell
19. I Love The Nightlife: Alicia Bridges
20. Electric Avenue: Eddy Grant
21. Boys Of Summer: The Ataris
22. Crush David Archuleta
23. I Dont Want You Back: Eamon
24. Funkytown: Pseudo Echo
25. A Thousand Miles: Vanessa Carlton
@@Thomasmemoryscentral Mama Do by Pixie Lott. Seriously, Todd needs to cover that.
@@Thomasmemoryscentral Is James Blunt a one hit wonder in the US?? He had several popular songs in Europe
I'm glad he's still going strong. He clearly hasn't had his life ruined by drugs or alcohol. It's like his body is trapped in 1999 and he's perfectly okay with that! :)
A lot worse years to be trapped in than ´99 I say. I remeber being kid back then and being always jazzed when radio played this song. along with doctor bombay "Calcutta" and Anything of Scatman John.
@@LasOrveloz oh my god, this is the first time i read doctor Bombay outside of doctor Bombay videos! A tiger took my family was my favorite song for some time
In 2019(?) Lou Bega did a collaboration - posthumously - with Scatman John
and I just finished the video, learn from my mistakes people 🤦♂️
Todd?
As a kid, whenever I rolled a 5 on a dice-based board game, I would move my piece to the rhythm of “one. two. three-four-five”. That’s how ubiquitous and inescapable this song is.
My Dad bought a Lou Bega CD when this song was the IT song of the moment and I'll never forget the first time I heard it, driving down the road with my parents and my brother in the car, until abruptly mid-song my Mom ejected the CD from the player and yeeted it out the window. There was no more Lou Bega in our lives after that.
It's strange to think that someone once paid full price for a Lou Bega CD.
Ii love your Mom
So that's why I found a Lou Bega cd while walking on the side of the road.
@@chesspunk489 ...next to that one shoe
Nice! I can't imagine pulling that move. But I've only been with frugal people with similar music tastes. 😆
I do love that era of music because every genre was in the mainstream. It had everything from boy bands to hip hop to metal and everything in between. The experimentation between genres was also quite common.
The 60s too
@@jadedheartsz more like rock k1lled its self
The mid to late 90s was an absoloute fever dream of genre combinations and crossovers, and nothing seemed to be off the table.
@@wyndgrove9452 That's the most interesting thing about growing up during that era. Anything could be popular and one song could be completely different to the song that follows it on the radio.
“Raunchiness isn’t offensive anymore when it’s retro. That’s the rule.” 😂😂😂
I mean… he’s not wrong 😑
Underrated line that I very much appreciate: "Lou Bega is going to be a DLC in Cuphead by the way"
I will learn to code and I will mod that hack’s cartoon persona into that game. No one will download it. But I can’t be stopped.
A Little Bit of Mambo and Dark Side of the Moon were my two favourite albums as a 7 year old. Listened to them front to back, shuffled, mixed, all the time.
That's quite a mix.
Wow, nice combo
I can actually hear this.... "The great gig in the sky" begins.... enters the magnificent female vocals... "wooooooaaaa whooooohaaaa aaaaa AAaaaaaaaaaaa... little bit of monica by my side.."
The range
an absolute masterpiece of an album and also dark side of the moon
I unashamedly, unironically love Mambo No. 5, and this is a hill I will die on.
Same
An important fact to remember is that the Bob the Builder version was a NUMBER ONE HIT in the UK!
Banger
Look up the date it hit #1 on. Thanks to Diamond Axe Studios for that little piece of trivia.
@@judgesaturn507 I guess we COULDN'T fix it.
I'll see myself out.
It would be a crime not to immediately follow this up with "Zoot Suit Riot"
Ironically, the album it's on is a hits collection.
RIOT!
Is that the parody to "Grapefruit Diet"? ;)
I remember seeing the song ‘soot suit riot’ at the end of top of the pops 2 years back.
Tried finding it since and can’t. Who sung it?
@@RickyMacHatton Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Yes, that's the actual band name.
Lou Bega also did the theme-song for the Disney animated series, "Brandy and Mr. Whiskers"
Huh?
ooooooh, that's why it sounds so similar :O
Y--
H U H ? !
NO FUCKING WAY!
Woah what
"Hard to believe we once lived in a universe where Mambo No. 5 didn't exist." Never a truer statement has been said
Todd saying "20 percent cooler" felt like a gut punch
Yeah, what a roast, lol. Only way it could've been worse is if he substituted Flo Rida for Pitbull.
I was wondering if it was intentional! Frightening
i'm getting flashbacks
Well, I know what *I* connected that line to, but I'm not sure if you're referring to the same thing or something else entirely.
@@CylindricalWhistle it's connected to an ancient brony thing, which is cursed. It was probably just a coincidence though
When I heard his second single, I thought "this is basically same song as Mambo Number 5." I was NOT expecting the credits song for Stuart Little to be _literally_ the same song as Mambo Number 5. From that point, I honestly felt kind of impressed by the rest of his singles based purely on the fact that they _weren't_ "Mambo Number 5, but again," even though they... kinda were.
He gave you a hint when the song was "Number 5" Implying there was more
I actually kind of surprised you haven't done this one yet. This is the ultimate one hit wonder
Agreed
Yeah it is
I kinda remembered having watched it already, it got me confused when I saw the notification, up until seeing it was upped few mins aback.
Essentially the final boss of one-hit wonders
Macarena >>
"This is like the Despacito of the early 2000s."
- Guitar Hero legend Acai summing up how I feel about this song.
ah yes, I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up, the classic
Why does this song remind me of a showtune?
Nah. Despacito has been forgotten.
“Oh and now there’s **actual** Despacito”
That's a little insulting to Despacito
I'm just impressed at how good the American accent in his singing voice is
Because he did spend a year and a half in Miami, it's still undetermined whether that gave him the Mambo fever, or whether the producer guy did.
I was thinking the same thing!
"20% cooler"
Don't think you can just sneak that one past us, Todd.
I haven't watched the whole video yet but I hope Todd talks about three things:
The Disney version, the Bob the Builder version and the Kids WB Snow Jam with Lou Bega
You scored a turkey.
Hat trick
You just scored 3 home runs right there.
In one fell swoop!
Todd mentioned all three of those.
To quote Acai: "This is the Despacito of the early 2000s."
And there's the actual Despacito
Brown man hits notes with plastic guitar to fake despacito of the 90s
I legit thought this song was from waaay earlier than the 90s. It's just felt like it's always existed.
well part of it is
Why does this song remind me of a showtune?
Seriously? I thought it was newer. The production sounds way too modern
Whenever Todd announces that the video is sponsored it sounds like he's surprised that he's being sponsored.
The fact that he even brought up the Disney version of this song….it unlocked a memory that I didn’t think was still actively in my head.
I had a Radio Disney CD in 3rd grade that only had the Disney version, so for like 10 years I knew the words to that version better than the original.
Yeah and I thought it was pretty *beep*in' stupid.
"1999, the last good year" man I felt that in my jaded millennial heart
I thought he said, "the last new year."
What other new year tops 1999-2000?
I am Gen X. It really was the last good year. It's not just your childish nostalgia telling you that.
I would argue that 2000 was the last good year, because everything 90s still spilled over into 2000.
@@1rockcrawford Yep. But everything changed when the fire nation attacked. And by fire nation I mean fundamentalist Islam.
Aaaaand now I'm sad.
Didn't the age of spite actually start on 9/11/2001? Two years later.
I love how you can hear so much disdain in the way Todd says the words "Sonic Palette" when talking about the Peas
"It seemed to become extremely popular without anyone really enjoying it that much"
I remember my dad _legitimately_ loved this song when it came out. Like he actually went out and *bought* *the* *frickin'* *album* . Like, who actually _owns_ a Lou Bega album? I think the CD is still in some dusty pile in a box somewhere, and I could probably find it if I went digging for a while. I think that's the story with a lot of these annoying novelty one-hit-wonder songs. When it first comes out, because it's such an infectious irresistible earworm, a lot of people legitimately like it and buy the single or accompanying album (I mean the song wouldn't become a one HIT wonder if nobody actually bought it, because then it wouldn't actually be a HIT), but then after a week or two they start to realize how much of an annoying novelty the song actually is (or that the artist doesn't have anything else nearly as catchy in their catalogue). Then they get embarrassed once public opinion of the song inevitably turns sour and they quietly dispose of their copy of the song, act like they always thought the song was annoying as well, or claim that, at best, they only ever liked it ironically. But I know better Dad. _I_ _know_ _better_
make sure you send your dad this video, or even the old CD itself
I bet he'd appreciate that
I bought the album on CD recently, its all bangers honestly
Reminds me of tones and I and dance monkey
@@golem778 I agree. I still love this album.
I was 5 when the album came out and I apparently got it at some point shortly after, and I frickin LOVED that stupid cd lmaoo
Honestly the one hit wonders who love their one hit and are super happy and pleased to ride the wave are such nice episodes to watch!
I think people who get too jaded over "just" beeing a one hit wonder, forget how little artists actually manage to make any song popular....
cause it's like, hey i got cosmically lucky, might as well be happy with that
I would like to note: the Bob the Builder version of Mambo No. 5 hit the #1 spot in the U.K. charts on the week of Sept. 11th, 2001.
And is one of three Bob the Builder #1 U.K. hits.
Yup.
Edit: If you want to hear more about the batshit U.K. charts, check out Diamond Axe Studios for a pretty good summary here: ua-cam.com/video/Zp4CE__i3fQ/v-deo.html
Bob the Builder? THAT Bob the Builder?
This country's amazing, the weirdest shit used to reach the top 10
2 not 3.
But that fact means that Neil Morrissey has more number one hits than Morrissey 😀
What... What were the other 2 songs?
(Also Bob’s previous hit - an extended version of the theme song - immediately succeeded Eminem’s “Stan” at the top spot)
Lou Bega pronounces Pokemon the way my mom does: "Pokie Man."
Holy shit the WB bump where he says "Pokeman" has been engrained in my brain for two decades now.
I am so sorry. I cringed so hard when he said that. This was my first time hearing it.
three new pokeymane
Right!
7:01 "He's basically that friend of yours who did a semester abroad and came back with an accent." Nice one!
1. Not being terribly familiar with Mambo, Lou Bega's energy always reminded me of Cab Calloway.
2. Now that you've mentioned the Swing revival, I'd love to see you do "Hell" by Squirrel Nut Zippers.
3. Thank you for introducing "Mambo Number HONK" into my life.
Perez Prado was basically the Cab Calloway of Mexico even his moves where kind of similar although he was much more chaotic(he was born Cuban, but became a Mexican Citizen)
The Swing Revival also gives us "Zoot Suit Riot" by Cherry Poppin Daddies, which I'm shocked that it hasn't been covered yet
^ would be a good episode. I legitimately love that song and "Brown Derby Jump" (also by CPD)
Squirrel Nut Zippers aren't a one hit wonder tho
I was born in 93 so I was pretty young when this came out and got constant airplay. I loved this song and as a kid I just thought the dude had a lot of female friends. I guess I wasn't technically *wrong*, but... :')
In the Toddiverse, Lou Bega is the Anti-Scatman: same type of story but drastically separate opinions from Todd.
Todd also thought that Captain Jack had a war with the Scatman in Scatland.
@@DennisTheZZZ oh god, scatland sounds like a scary place
@@Acidlib Scatland is great. The people there have never even heard of political corruption.
Lou Bega's voice slides more and more towards Jah Rule as time passes.
Always glad to see Todd, especially with such a classic. This guy has grown to become one of my favourite critics
Yes.
he’s pretty funny and i like the social commentary
Even though I very often disagree with him, because I tend to like most of the songs more than he does, I still watch all his videos. Have for over a decade now.
Needs to go back to the seventies more just like he did with the Carpenters Trainwreckords video. Maybe a look at the dystopian sci-fi song "In the Year 2525" for the Spooktacular Halloween episode. Absolute #1 hit in multiple countries and probably the only number one recorded in Odessa, Texas.
Worth noting that there was a perked interest in Cuban music in the 90s thanks to Buena Vista Social Club, which was a critically acclaimed effort to recreate the sounds of pre-Communist Cuba. When that album - one initially meant to be merely a cultural/historical curiosity - became a shock chart topper, producers were eager to explore Latin (and particularly Cuban-Latin) music
I remember Buena Vista Social Club being quite loved by people in Poland, especially in certain hipster circles. I couldn't believe my ears when Black Eyed Peas did a cover of their song (but that's not the 90's anymore).
I grew up on Buena Vista Social Club, and I love the story behind it because all those performers were 60 and older and they had seemingly only gotten better with age. Also, few if any of them had actually worked together before the album, but the nature of the nightclub and session musician era of music was that you develop a strong skill for integrating your play style with different performers, and also a great ability to improvise (and run along with other people's improvisations), which meant they had a leg up on making good group chemistry.
Just hearing the first chords of "Chan Chan" makes me nostalgic.
I used to hear the Buena Vista Social Club a lot in the UK in the mid-2000's
Mambo #5 is in the same bucket of music as the Scatman. Super catchy songs that have no business being as good as they are that I hate how catchy they are but love how much fun I have 😂
I can’t believe he did “Are You Jimmy Ray?” before this.
Crazy, huh
Who wants to know?
It makes sense for Todd. He avoids a lot of the obvious one just to get us all riled up! Lol.
"Make this guy like 20% Cooler"
*war flashbacks*
bruh same (also jack spicer is the homie)
The fact that's you're even having flashbacks, shows how powerful those days were for better or for worse lol
@@anthonydeadman Worst part is I'm still only half convinced Todd isn't well aware of the reference.
The days when I didn't feel like shit and had fun.
@@kaleeshsynth9994 lolsame
Mambo #8 a.K.a the Office Space theme song
Oh god, I didn't expect you to put in the WB promo. "With new shows all morning/Including 3 new pokey-man" sometimes swims out of the depths of my long-term memory.
If Mambo is so good, why isn't there a Mambo No. 2?
Lou Bega: hold my enormous pretzel
He's german! This is one of the few cases beer would make Too much sense andyou went with Pretzel!? I love it!
I read some interview in German and the things I found out about him were that his dad died two weeks before his career took off with Mambo No. 5, which is so heartbreaking, and later in life he had problems with his marital relationship but then he found Jesus.
Next I need Casacada “Everytime we touch” then I’m happy with one hit wonderland
Cascada had a second hit though - Evacuate the Dancefloor. Plus, they were huge in Germany and Europe.
@@JordanIsHereSometimes I’m a big fan of her so in my mind it’s hard to remember if she had more then one hit. Most bands on one hit wonderland are huge somewhere else besides America anyway.
@@JordanIsHereSometimes Still, I think it does fall under "mostly known for one song" which this covers, even with the top-10 hits on the Dance ratings.
@@JerodLycett Nah, I think that Evacuate the Dancefloor and Everytime We Touch are about equal in the public conciseness. If anything, despite its lower peak, it seems like more people know Evacuate the Dancefloor because unless you were there in 2006, it's almost more of a meme song, like Caramelldansen.
Wasn't 'Bad Boy' kind of big? It's inextricably linked to MySpace amv's in my brain so maybe it wasn't as big as I remember.
The addition of the hat was a huge improvement to this episode. Great move Todd!
The shame about one hit wonders is when they just rewrite the hit song instead of make an attempt at a new song. Like Pop in an Oak
and amazingly, while Rednex did write one song, it wasn"t even the one that became their hit and kept getting butchered to become Pop in an Oak and Way I Mate, it was their other song and its variations.
Cotton Eyed Joe had been a folk song long before they covered it
Pop Wansel & Oak Felder
Well, HERE's someone I didn't expect to see commenting on a Todd video.
or do 50 billion remixes of the same song to pad out albums
"Obnoxiously happy energy" no my equally jaded friend, it just started feeling that way after we embarked on the darkest timeline.
I was just *waiting* for the Bob the Builder reference - as a British child of the early 00s (born in '97), it was _iconic_ to me
I'm glad I wasn't the only one. Saw the comments full of people who learned it as a trivia fact from some other youtube video instead of people who were there.
Mambo No. Honk reminds me of this time in high school where I was obsessed with cheesy midi versions of songs. Like I would find a midi page, and whether I actually liked a song or not, if I at least *knew* it I'd give the midi file a listen - Anyway, what it reminds me of specifically is a time I found a page where someone evidently intended to let you choose between three different midi interpretations of "Mambo No. 5", but had accidentally set them all to autoplay, so what you heard out of your speakers was a flurry of out of sync notes and beats that you could still kinda tell was supposed to be "Mambo No. 5".
He also did the theme to the Disney animated series "Brandy & Mr. Whiskers."
Edit: he didn't write it, he just sang it.
And I thought I was the only person who remembered that show.
No shit?
*_what?_*
Well, now i have something to tell my boss so he would lose his mind over this...
WAIT WHAT THAT WAS HIM?
I love learning dope shit. Thank you
The thing I liked most about 90’s music is how fresh everything felt. There was so much genre blending going on in the pop charts and it never felt stale listening to the Top 40 stations. It would go from Third Eye Blind to Aqua to Blues Traveler to Ace of Bass in the same hour. It was all over the goddamn place.
Then in the 00s everything on Top 40 started sounding so similar and it’s just gotten worse and worse. Now there are times when I don’t even realize the song has changed because the song before it sounded so similar and had the same beat and tempo. When Taylor Swift is the least monotonous pop artist, you’ve got problems. I feel like the day of listening to music as music for a lot of people is over and now people treat it as background music.
That’s why Olivia Whatsherface taking Twitter by storm was so mystifying to me. All these tweets about the album and I’m like, “Have you never listened to an album before?” It was like they treated music as disposable up until that moment. I’ve got a bookshelf full of CDs that I just listened to for hours because they were so good. Then I turned on the radio a month later and it made sense. Of course that album had an impact. Everything they were listening to was a disposable background soundtrack to the TV movie of their lives. I totally forgot what my original point was.
Yeah, the pitiful state of the Top 40s is proof (at least to me) that anyone who really wants to enjoy music will avoid that shit like the plague, turning to the internet and smaller acts/labels instead, with few exceptions.
I'd like to think that Top 40 is on its way out, but clearly some people will just take whatever they're given so idk.
A couple years ago I had a two year old in my class who’s favorite song was Mambo no. 5
Whenever I put it on he started horse trotting in a circle. It was honestly one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. But it could not be the Disney version it had to be the original. lol he would stop dancing and stare at me if it was the Disney version.
"The real genre [of the Black Eyed Peas] is 'annoying'." No lies detected.
I feel like anyone know knew the black eyed peas before the fame wouldn't say that. Especially when they made those awesome songs right after Fergie left.....but soon went back to the annoying music.
I mean real BEP fans know the annoying music is just a front so they can finance the real music which clearly doesn't sell as much.
I remember one time being stuck in an 8 hour car trip with a guy I didn't really like very much, he was driving and playing some Black Eyed Peas album on repeat, the whole time... got stuck listening to it 10+ times easily.
Oh my god did that suck.
@@jadedheartsz I kinda like some of their songs, but then they do weird things like voice modulation that makes otherwise perfectly fine songs annoying.
@@jadedheartsz say hi to Opie👍
He's done Scatman
He's done Cotton Eye'd Joe
He's Done Mombo No. 5
Now I'm just waiting for him to do The Hamsterdance.
Was it an actual hit?
He also needs to do Caramelldansen to add to the late 90s early 00s meme songs
I don’t think it did well in the states but it was huge in the uk and Australia
Waiting for Todd to cover "I'm a barbie girl"
@@digamejh Australia - Chart Peak 5th, Canada - Charted 1st, US Dance Singles - Peak 4th? so... no.
Mambo No. 5 has a Mungo Jerry's Summertime vibe to it to me, by which I mean this is a song whose beat is as primal as they come and I can reasonably think Ugg, Oog, Guh, and their band of rock-smackers and bone-flautists could come up with a reasonable facsimile of it with nothing more than what they could find in their prehistoric cave after bagging and prepping a mammoth. The fact you can get a Mambo No. Honk out of this and it doesn't sound like absolute hot purposeless garbage is why it's enjoyable, it's one of a few songs with an almost universal appeal in it somewhere and the relentless earworm is because somewhere in this song there's something you can like at a vague level. It's pure chaos in the best way. There's nothing much to discuss because, as you said, it is what it is, and one million years after we all die, the aliens visiting the planet will somehow come up with Mambo No. 5 the same way they'll come up with Summertime by Mungo Jerry just because it is just such a primal thing.
The fact Lou Bega just fucking ran with it just makes it that much more charming. He don't care he's a one hit wonder. He's just in his own little world of not-really-but sure-it-is-mambo having fun. Just like how Pitbull seemed to be in his own world most of the time and as much as I disliked his music, I just can't hate him with the same passion I can muster for the Black Eyed Peas, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, etc.
Nothing makes me more excited than when Todd drops a new episode of One Hit Wonderland or Train Wreckords and then I proceed to watch them 100 times over because they're way too good.
Yes very true yes lol, I do the same
I'm so glad you brought up the Disney version. That one was played in the car constantly growing up because it was one of our few family friendly CDs. I know that version just as well if not better.
I remember that that version was like one of the 5 songs Radio Disney had when it first started and they played it practically on loop
A lot of one hit wonders are songs that aren't very good but they just make you feel happy. That is what Mambo No. 5 feels like. It isn't really music that you really like but you can just feel the happiness it projects. The day just feels brighter after the song.
I am so glad that Todd mentioned the masterpiece that is Scatman & Hatman.
I very much unironically enjoy this song. It's tied to some pretty good memories, it's catchy, and it's upbeat. Didn't know it came out in 1999, I thought it was older. But now that I think about it, yea that tracks xD
I bought the album lol
I remember when this song came. I was 11 years old at the time. My friend had the CD single and was completely obsessed with it. He played it on repeat all summer. And so did many others. It was the most selling single in Norway for 8 weeks straight. People just didn't get enough of this song. It grabbed the high summer of 1999 by it's privates and seemingly refused to let go. Until the day everybody suddenly got sick and tired of it. When August came around Eiffel 65 came and knocked the Mambo off the throne.
Quintessential European experience
I'm so glad you brought up Mambo Number Honk, it's been a surefire way to bring a smile to my face in this hellscape of a time
I have two suggestions for the one hit wonderland series…
1. “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something
2. “Counting Blue Cars” by Dishwalla
He already covered Breakfast At Tiffany's in the old video Top Ten Songs about Mediocre Romance, which he gave as half of his excuse for not covering The Piña Colada Song, so my guess is that it won't get a OHW episode
'tell me all your thoughts on God' no please don't aaaagahghagh
I actually like this song, like I wouldn't put it in my Spotify lineup, but in a parade? That song suddenly becomes a banger. Like, you go to any Mardi Gras parade down here, any of them, I guarantee you hear it at least once. It is one of THE anthems. And I can't deny that I have fun every time lol
This and the Macarena are the quintessential late 90s OHWs.
You have to add to that Livin' Lavida Loca to that as well. That song got into EVERYTHING
@@RatelHBadger Ricky Martin also had "She Bangs" so it's not a one hit wonder
Macarena was more mid-90s
@@denisenova7494 It peaked 96/97.
@@RatelHBadger Ricky Martin wasn't a OHW. He had multiple hits at the time.
I never realized people saw Lou as a One Hit Wonder band before. My family always played his songs on car trips growing up, and "Icecream" often played non stop in certain parts of texas, haha
My dad once went on a foreign business trip to a film festival in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, and Lou Bega was their celebrity guest... He performed Mambo No. 5 three seperate times during the opening ceremony
Also, I'm from Belgium, and I remember that Cola song getting some radio play. It's the only other song I know from him!
todd, you should consider the single sax riff that is “Calabria 2007” for a one hit wonderland. Please include the unmitigated horniness spread throughout every single version of the song, it’s batshit crazy!
This is still one of my favorite of those “bad” songs that are popular purely for being catchy fun. I’d love for him to do it!
DESTINATION UNKNOWN
also i stg the female vocalist of calabria 2009(?) died in an accident or smth
@@iwakeupandboomimarat She did. Died in a car accident. I believe her family and estate are still making royalties off of her songs, though.
@@YourFavoriteUrsine The voice is Crystal Waters, right? Because if it is, she isn't dead
Have you considered doing "I Wish" by Skee-Lo? Everybody remembers that song. Skee-Lo has fallen off the popular radar so much that a while ago he was mistakenly believed to be dead. And most importantly, I checked and he only had the one hit. The only snag I can see is that there's not a lot that's incredibly interesting or scandalous surrounding his personal life, though he did remain active in the industry and released more music in the years that followed. But if anyone could make an entertaining video about someone like Skee-Lo, I figure it might be you!
in any case, I enjoy your channel a lot. One Hit Wonderland and Trainwreckords in particular are always must-sees for me. Keep up the great work!
Definitely a good shout
Wish granted!!!!
"And yet it seemed to become extremely popular without anyone really enjoying it that much." Nailed it.
Living LA Vida Loca is the PERFECT response to No Scrubs because the woman in that song was literally loca... Also Lou Vega feels like a proto Pitbull without the ability to speak Spanish.
EDIT: I made the Pitbull comment before finishing the video.... we on the same page Todd...