Every month at my 90's Dance Party in Houston, there are a couple songs that consistently get requested that one, I either ignore, or say I will play and then never do. This is one of them. But, I'm not really sure why I am so adverse to "Wannabe" because unlike the constant flow of Britney Spears requests that I get without fail, I actually like this song.
The video takes a while to get started, 15 years ago (?!?) when it came out, attention spans were longer, and a good video for a song that you liked became a mini event every time it came on. Plus, the minute before the song dropped was the perfect amount of time to call your friend (landline, of course) so you could share the experience together.
What makes this song & video amazing is it has that feeling of total spontaneity. Friends, crashing a party, with no rhyme or reason, just acting on what feels right and what feels fun. Even the decision to use a fish-eye lens gives it that "I'm-there (and slightly drunk)" feeling. Genius choice.
It's an interesting note that the song was in fact the product of a moment of spontaneity.
"Wannabe" was written in thirty minutes—mainly because the group had written parts of the song beforehand—in what Melanie Brown (Mel B AKA Scary Spice AKA Eddie Murphy's baby mama) describes as a "sudden creative frenzy".
Where the song succeeds most -and the entire Spice Girl model, really- is that there is a lot going on in the song without being too distracting. The beat and piano hook are simple, but the singing is constantly being juggled between the five girls, and that makes it feel like a party. Which, if you think about, was the deciding factor of commercially successful songs in the 90's -and arguably any decade. Party music is universal, and the best parties are unexpected ones.
Oh... and the video... all one take. Amazing.
The video takes a while to get started, 15 years ago (?!?) when it came out, attention spans were longer, and a good video for a song that you liked became a mini event every time it came on. Plus, the minute before the song dropped was the perfect amount of time to call your friend (landline, of course) so you could share the experience together.
What makes this song & video amazing is it has that feeling of total spontaneity. Friends, crashing a party, with no rhyme or reason, just acting on what feels right and what feels fun. Even the decision to use a fish-eye lens gives it that "I'm-there (and slightly drunk)" feeling. Genius choice.
It's an interesting note that the song was in fact the product of a moment of spontaneity.
"Wannabe" was written in thirty minutes—mainly because the group had written parts of the song beforehand—in what Melanie Brown (Mel B AKA Scary Spice AKA Eddie Murphy's baby mama) describes as a "sudden creative frenzy".
Where the song succeeds most -and the entire Spice Girl model, really- is that there is a lot going on in the song without being too distracting. The beat and piano hook are simple, but the singing is constantly being juggled between the five girls, and that makes it feel like a party. Which, if you think about, was the deciding factor of commercially successful songs in the 90's -and arguably any decade. Party music is universal, and the best parties are unexpected ones.
Oh... and the video... all one take. Amazing.
Look how white those teeth are!? It's like she rinses with clorox. And why is she so serious? The last ten seconds is like she's trying to bend a spoon with her mind. Come on Crystal, lighten it up a little? Great dimples though. Have you ever noticed how most pop stars don't have dimples. Mario Lopez might be the exception. Epic dimples.
You could drop quarters into those things.
This song is FAN-TASTIC. It embodies so much of what this website, and what great cheesy 90's music was all about: A catchy piano hooks, a soulful black woman singing the chorus, and hands down one of the best snare rolls ever recorded.
I've watched this video way more times than I'd like to admit, and I can tell you with 100% confidence that it sucks. After close examination of the narrative, or lack there of really, I've broken it down to three unique story lines that fail on every level.
1. Marky is getting ready for a fight. But he's not doing it in a gym, so I imagine it's some sort of underground boxing match, where even the training has to be done super DIY on the DL. It reminds me of a movie that came out around the same time called Gladiator (not the Russell Crowe one) about illegal boxing in the ghetto. I bet if Marky Mark had gotten his acting game together earlier he would have done well in the role.
Violence is a strange choice for a song about good vibes and partying drug free. I get that Marky had this tough street-kid-from-Bean-Town persona to keep intact. It's basically an excuse to show him shirtless for four and a half minutes. Granted, he looks awesome. No homo. Was Donnie that ripped? They're brothers, so I assume they would have the same build.
SIDE NOTE:
At 2:45 it gets really weird. Having just ran through this chick, someone (could there have possibly been a director on this video...? must find out) thought it was a good idea that he turns to her, lick his lips LL Cool J style, and tells her "Yeah... Can you feel it baby? I can too." What the hell does that mean? It has nothing to do with what just happened. He's already banged her? What does she feel? The good vibes? I hate this video.
3. I lived in Massachusetts around the time this video was made, and I attended a lot of ditch parties, and this is one, but the real question here is why do they have to act so tough? No one hears this song and thinks, "wow, those guys must be hard. I don't want to mess with the funky bunch." It's so forced.
The overall theme of this song is this: over compensating machoness. Marky Mark made this great 90s dance song, which he should have been proud of -It's a great song.- But instead of embracing the cheesiness and lightheartedness of it, he had to gutter it up by showing how big his dick is/was. I imagine later in life he realized how this was a silly way to approach life (and creative projects) and took the roll of Dirk Diggler. I could almost forgive you, but then I think of you in a bandanna, and I hate you all over again. Shame on you for making this video.
I've watched this video way more times than I'd like to admit, and I can tell you with 100% confidence that it sucks. After close examination of the narrative, or lack there of really, I've broken it down to three unique story lines that fail on every level.
1. Marky is getting ready for a fight. But he's not doing it in a gym, so I imagine it's some sort of underground boxing match, where even the training has to be done super DIY on the DL. It reminds me of a movie that came out around the same time called Gladiator (not the Russell Crowe one) about illegal boxing in the ghetto. I bet if Marky Mark had gotten his acting game together earlier he would have done well in the role.
Did I really just google search "Donnie Wahlberg shirtless?"
2. The second story line is pretty simple. Marky's bangin' the hell out of some girl. They don't appear to know each other well, which makes it super awkward -- Look at how uncomfortable Marky looks. My best guess is she's a hooker, and he's getting one last good bang in before he goes into his big fight where he might die. I know, I'm taking liberties here, but don't you see it? Again, what the shit does any of this have to do with good vibes?SIDE NOTE:
At 2:45 it gets really weird. Having just ran through this chick, someone (could there have possibly been a director on this video...? must find out) thought it was a good idea that he turns to her, lick his lips LL Cool J style, and tells her "Yeah... Can you feel it baby? I can too." What the hell does that mean? It has nothing to do with what just happened. He's already banged her? What does she feel? The good vibes? I hate this video.
3. I lived in Massachusetts around the time this video was made, and I attended a lot of ditch parties, and this is one, but the real question here is why do they have to act so tough? No one hears this song and thinks, "wow, those guys must be hard. I don't want to mess with the funky bunch." It's so forced.
The overall theme of this song is this: over compensating machoness. Marky Mark made this great 90s dance song, which he should have been proud of -It's a great song.- But instead of embracing the cheesiness and lightheartedness of it, he had to gutter it up by showing how big his dick is/was. I imagine later in life he realized how this was a silly way to approach life (and creative projects) and took the roll of Dirk Diggler. I could almost forgive you, but then I think of you in a bandanna, and I hate you all over again. Shame on you for making this video.
Every time I watch the video for Technotronic's "Pump up the Jam" I can't help but think how unbelievably ahead of it's time it was. I don't actually remember it playing on MTV when it came out because I didn't have cable (and I was 8), but I know it was wildly popular. The song was a number one hit on the Billboard club charts, and probably played nonstop on MTV.
A few things you should know about "Pump up the Jam":
The girl in the video, a Congolese model by the name of Felly, was not the actual vocalist. Like many bands of the 90's, C + C Music Factory, Black Box, Milli Vanilli... they used a pretty face for their live shows, and someone else in the studio. Actually (as stated in an earlier post), all three bands I just mentioned used Martha Wash as the ghost singer. Poor Martha. I'm sure the ridiculous royalty checks she received (and still does) helped the blow to her ego.
In fact Ya Kid K did the original vocals. Watching the video below, I don't understand why they didn't use her. She does comes across a bit too hip hop/afrocentric, which isn't the sexiest look, compared to Felly gyrating around, but she was pretty and she definitely has stage presence. But would she have worked in the music video? Probably not.
The reason why Felly works so well in the video is because she gives off that feeling of having no idea what's going on. Look at her expression. Those eyes. There's nothing going on there. Reminds me of a Russian I dated one summer. She knew very little English, and when we would go out dancing she would sing along to the songs (this was 2002), but it never really looked like she knew what she was saying. It was just her repeating familiar sounds with that same look in her eyes. Must be foreign thing.
Plus, Felly had probably never seen, let a lone heard of a blue screen. So there she is on set, some director telling her to dance and that there's going to be all these crazy shapes superimposed behind her when the video is done. All she can do is try her hardest to look sexy. You almost feel sorry for her.
I was a huge fan of the "Cosby Show" growing up. Lots of people were... And my love for the Huxstables was very similar to the feeling I have for the "House Party" movies. It's not hard to see the similarities. They both represent a very safe, very friendly view of black America in the 90's. And I don't think that was a misrepresentation by any means... certainly there were black communities that weren't plagued with drugs and violence in the 90's. Though the harsh realities is that the majority were. So it was nice for a movie like "House Party" to get thrown into the mix when most were depressing. IE "New Jack City," "Boys in the Hood," "Colors" etc. Because sometimes we forget that films are about a fantasy where everything is better: the parties, the dance moves, and the girls. Plus I like to imagine that this is where Theo sneaks out to in the middle of the night.
Interesting notes on House Party:
- House party was originally written for DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith. They turned it down.
- During the party at Play's house (see above) all the dance sequences were done with no music. The tow-touch and kicks were actually signature moves for Kid-N-Play. They had become very popular as back up dancers for Salt-n-Pepa (I see where they got the name now). The music was added after.
I have a special place in my heart for all things DIY: Punk, metal. But early undergournd house music really does it for me. It really encompasses that dirty, unpolished sound that has unfortunately disappeared. This track is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Granted, it is a crappy vinyl rip on youtube, but even hearing these tracks live, they never sound very "clean." Understandbly these guys didn't have big fancy studios at their disposal. They had a couple borrowed synths’ and an eight track recorder set up in their mom’s crappy basement in downtown Chicago somewhere.
But isn’t that where all the great music comes from? And even though synthesizers had been around since the mid 60's, it wasn't until the mid/late 80's that musical equipment for, say, a couple kids from the ghetto interested in four-four beats, became affordable. And even then they probably had to pool their money together and buy a used one.
(Adonis' actual 303 he made "No Way Back" on)
Which really puts having twenty different snares on Garage Band in perspective. Since those guys would have killed for that back then... and I can't even make one lousy tune. Interesting note, later Maurice would get hired by big names like CeCe Peniston, and even later Beyonce (and win a Grammy), for remixing rather clean sounding club hits. Good for him. And to be fair, these guys weren’t aiming for a DIY sound like some punk bands around the same time. If anything they were trying their damnedest to make it sound studio produced. So maybe it’s just that old school things sounded better back in the day even though they really didn’t. Nostalgia can be very distorting. But it would be nice if I could just get a little more of it. There has been a minor revival of 90’s house music of late with bands like Hercules and The Love Affair, (CHECK THIS OUT), or more recently B.C. (CHECK THIS OUT). But it still sounds (feels) a little too clean for me.
If David Lynch made videos for 90's euro dance music, this is exactly what it would look like. Can you imagine what the pitch must have sounded like? I picture a room full of some very coked up Germans smoking a million cigarettes all talking over eachtoher.
That being siad, I really do love this video. It's one of those so-bad-it's-amazing deals. I mean the shots of Jay Supreme dressed up like a member of the Black Panthers (those eyes!) and then cutting to a singing robotic puppet. Only a mind of pure genius could conceave such a thing.
My biggest question is why at the end is she taking the train to leave her boyfriend if she has a car (revealed in the very next shot)? And why does she make such a big scene about walking up the steps only to leave once she sees's him? Was that his gay lover he is playing pool with? Which would make sense, since at the end of the sex montage (nipples!) they are staring out of the window like he couldn't get it up. Is that what she means when she's sings "Get it out of my head..." like get the gay out of my head? It's like Mulholland Drive all over again.
Few songs are as perfect as this one. It has that perfect mix of jazz and hip hop that was perfected in the 80's, but with an extra kick from what I imagine is better studio equiptment that the success of Paid In Full afforded them. But for all the amazingness of the song, the video falls pretty flat. I always find myself getting tense during this the video because the whole time I'm waiting for Rakim to smile. And Eric B looks really creepy with that mustache and pony tail, and there's all those awkward closeups for a guy who says nothing the whole time. It's funny how they try to bring attention to him. In the office shots he's reading some a book (you really expect me to believe he's reading that?), and then in another shot he spins a globe. Like someone who's never heard of these guys is going to see this video and put it together that he's the DJ because he's spinning a globe?! Oh the 90's. But don't you see what I'm saying about the seriousness? I mean it's 1992, these guys are already legends, they're at a video shoot with a bunch of really fine white woman in bikinis at a huge mansion --stacks of money everywhere-- and they can't even crack a smile? And oddly enough, I've heard Rakim is super friendly in person... and also a vegan.
This video came out about six months later. Doesn't this look like more fun? 2Pac's smiling the entire time -and rightfully so, soooo many girls. At times the video get's a little goofy with the speed ups that remind me of an early Will Smith video on Hennesy, and the song isn't nearly as good as "Don't Sweat the Technique," but I sure as hell don't feel tense when I watch it. I heard Digital Underground talk about the shoot for this video and they said that 2pac was laying pipe left and right. I can't remember the exact line, but it was something like 'We'd be about to shoot, and no one would know where Pac was, then two minutes later he'd appear form behind a bush or a bathroom with some honey limpin' behind him." Amazing.
SIDE NOTE. Is that Wyclef Jean on the stand up bass at the beginning of DSTT? If it is. Big ups WJ.
This video came out about six months later. Doesn't this look like more fun? 2Pac's smiling the entire time -and rightfully so, soooo many girls. At times the video get's a little goofy with the speed ups that remind me of an early Will Smith video on Hennesy, and the song isn't nearly as good as "Don't Sweat the Technique," but I sure as hell don't feel tense when I watch it. I heard Digital Underground talk about the shoot for this video and they said that 2pac was laying pipe left and right. I can't remember the exact line, but it was something like 'We'd be about to shoot, and no one would know where Pac was, then two minutes later he'd appear form behind a bush or a bathroom with some honey limpin' behind him." Amazing.
SIDE NOTE. Is that Wyclef Jean on the stand up bass at the beginning of DSTT? If it is. Big ups WJ.
(click to download)
The actual singer of the songs is the always great Martha Wash --famous for ghost singing on a million songs... namely all of Black Box's hits (Strike It Up, Everybody Everybody), the C + C Music Factory's monster track "Gonna Make You Sweat" and "It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls.
The production value in this video is amazing for 1994. Obviously everything is dated -- Crystal's sunglasses, the old school Apple computers (rollerball track pad!), and the dancers in baggy suits. But watching this video I can't help but wonder why more dance videos from this time lack this polished look? I guess the obvious answer is that '94 in general was a year of grunge music. No one was really paying much attention to main steam dance hits, which Crystal Waters absolutely was. So, while Nirvana and Pearl Jam were dominating charts and MTV, acts like Culture Beat were given little to no budget for their videos. And boy did it show. CHECK THIS OUT. It wasn't until Daft Punk in 1997 came out with Around the World that dance music videos started to catch up with production values with say Puff Daddy and the Bad Boy Crew. Those guys were basically making short feature length films with enormous budgets. CHECK THIS OUT. Okay that's it. Just thought I should mention it.
Oh the Grind. It simply represents everything that I love about the 90's. And to top it off like a glowing neon cherry, this one has a young Dave Chapelle making an idiot of himself. I guess early on that was his entire schtick, but then he got serious after quitting his show and walking away from 100 million. I'm not sure I'd have much to smile about either if I turned down that much cash.
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