1997 Hanson: MMMbop

Originally recorded by the Hanson brothers in 1996 as a more balladic, fairly unremarkable soft rock strum form, it took another set of brothers - hip hop producers The Dust Brothers - to add the snap, crackle and pop of breakbeats and scratching that churned 'MMMbop's still waters into something more fizzy. Which isn't to say that it is or aspires to be anything approaching hip hop; at centre, 'MMMbop' has a thumping pop heart that pumps the Jackson 5's 'Rockin' Robin' through its veins and The Osmond's 'One Bad Apple' (check out Donny's "Oh, give it one more try before you give up on love" wail) through its arteries until they converge to give life to creation of 'MMMbop's fixed grin in your faceness.

Because it's hard not to grin at 'MMMbop' - just like Michael and Donny before them, the Hanson vocals makes no bones about being juvenile (the trio had an average age of 14) and they garble the lyric in an all at once squeak of excitement that renders it borderline unintelligible. Not that it matters a great deal - 'MMMBop's calling card is its once heard, never forgotten bubblegum chorus that pours readymix over anything the song might have to say anyway. Which is actually a lot more than the nonsense chorus implies.*

Ah yes, that chorus - as somebody 'who was there', I can say that the song's ubiquity was such that nobody ended 1997 wanting to hear 'MMMbop' "just one last time", and such familiarity generally breeds contempt regardless of the song or artist. Both then and now, 'MMMbop' was/is a song derided in many quarters, but not in mine. On the contrary, to these ears 'MMMbop' skirts as close to pop perfection as you're likely to get, with the fairy dust from The Brothers adding an icing of contemporary rush that has yet to date. That's my opinion, but rather than rehearse any issues of personal taste I'll just leave 'MMMbop' by pondering how many of the haters actually voted for it in the 'Song Of The Year' category at the 1999 Grammy's after TLC slowed it down, stripped out the chorus and called it 'Unpretty'? Just wonderin'........


* 'MMMbop's theme of "You have so many relationships in this life, only one or two will last. You go through all the pain and strife. Then you turn your back and they're gone so fast" could be taken as sage like wisdom from the wizened, but from a trio too young to shave, it's faintly ludicrous and borderline patronising - no father wants to be lectured by their kids. Harrumph.