In an “MMMbop,” Tulsa band Hanson became a household name.
Five years after the trio of brothers played their first concert at Tulsa’s Mayfest, donning leather jackets and playing old rock ’n’ roll covers, they would release their major-label debut album, “Middle of Nowhere.” It would sell millions of copies and earn the band of teenagers three Grammy nominations.
And this year, “Middle of Nowhere” turns 20. That’s about four years older than Isaac Hanson, the oldest member and brother of Taylor and Zac Hanson, was when the album was released.
The album included the song “MMMbop,” a song about life’s fleeting relationships wrapped in earworm upbeat tunes, and dominated culture in the 1990s. It stayed at No. 1 for three weeks in the United States, topped 1997 critic polls and in a flash turned the band members into international superstars.
It was the band’s most successful album, which gave them a platform from which they continue to proudly sing for their legions of fans around the world, fans who now include beer-drinkers and festival-lovers.
With their new music, their brewery operations, their studio in Tulsa, their annual Hop Jam Beer and Music Festival, Hanson Day events each year and global tours, Hanson has made the most of that bright flash of the spotlight 20 years ago. But their core as three brothers from Tulsa who just love music, that’s intact.