BUSTED TEAM UP WITH HANSON FOR A NEW VERSION OF ‘MMMBOP’

Recent weeks have seen Busted team up with Simple Plan and Neck Deep for a series of 2.0 reworkings of their fan favorites ‘Loser Kid’ and ‘Meet You There’. Now the campaign continues with a fresh spin on the concept as Busted team up with HANSON for a brand new version of the American brothers’ 1997 #1 smash hit ‘MMMBop’. It emerges ahead of Busted’s upcoming Greatest Hits tour, which features HANSON as special guests at all shows from September 9th onwards.

A Busted and HANSON collab is such a no-brainer, it’s surprising that it hasn’t happened before. With HANSON joining the upcoming tour dates, the musical collaboration was essential. This new version of ‘MMMBop’ sees both bands bringing their best to the track, with Busted providing fresh lead vocals and a new burst of pop-punk punchiness, while HANSON provide uplifting vocal harmonies and arguably the most memorable hook of the entire ‘90s. Listen HERE.

Busted’s James Bourne says, “It’s been such an honour to sing this 90’s classic song with the band who made it 25 years on from original release! To have them as special guests on tour with us in september will be really special too, we’re huge fans of Hanson!”

HANSON’s Taylor Hanson adds, “It’s been a thrill to reimagine ‘MMMBop’ with Busted and to see how a song with such history comes to life in a new way. This is a true fusion of HANSON and Busted, we can’t wait to share it.”

And just maybe Busted and HANSON will reunite to perform ‘MMMBop’ on tour…

Tickets for Busted’s 20th anniversary and Greatest Hits tour have been in phenomenal public demand, leading to numerous shows being added to the extensive arena tour and with all dates now either sold-out or with very limited tickets remaining HERE. The line-up is completed by further special guests in the shape of New Hope Club and The Tyne. The dates are:

SEPTEMBER
2nd – Plymouth, Pavilions (SOLD OUT)
3rd – Cardiff, International Arena (SOLD OUT)
5th – Swansea, Arena (SOLD OUT)
6th – Bournemouth, BIC (SOLD OUT)
7th – Brighton, Centre (SOLD OUT)
9th – Birmingham, Utilita Arena (SOLD OUT)
10th – London, The O2 (SOLD OUT)
12th – Bridlington, Spa (SOLD OUT)
13th – Newcastle, Utilita Arena (SOLD OUT)
15th – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena (SOLD OUT)
16th – Newcastle, Utilita Arena
17th – Leeds, First Direct Arena
19th – Aberdeen, P&J Live
20th – Glasgow, OVO Hydro (SOLD OUT)
22nd – Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena (SOLD OUT)
23rd – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
24th – Manchester, AO Arena (SOLD OUT)
26th – Cardiff, International Arena
27th – London, The O2
29th – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
30th – Manchester, AO Arena

OCTOBER
1st-  Glasgow, OVO Hydro
4th – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
6th – Dublin, 3Arena
8th – Belfast, SSE Arena
10th – London, The O2

Far Out Magazine

Welcome back to The Week in Number Ones, where all the biggest chart movers from the US and UK charts get condensed into one article.

I don’t always like to call attention to myself when I’m right, but this week, I feel the need to pat myself on the back just a little bit. That’s because the Foo Fighters have a new drummer, Josh Freese. And you know who called it? This guy! The proof is right here, dated January of 2023 and unaltered in the time since. Who’s that at number one on this speculative list? Joshua Ryan Muthafuckin’ Freese, baby!

You’ve almost certainly heard Freese’s drumming somewhere before. He’s played on everything from Meredith Brooks’ ‘Bitch’ to Evanescence’s ‘Bring Me To Life’. He’s a permanent member of punk legends The Vandals and new wave heroes Devo. In fact, here’s a short list of Freese’s collaborators, heavily distilled for time and clarity: Bruce Springsteen, Avril Lavigne, Puddle of Mudd, Chris Cornell, Danny Elfman, Rob Zombie, 3 Doors Down, Ween, Good Charlotte, A Perfect Circle, Sting, Daughtry, Nine Inch Nails, Miley Cyrus, Guns ‘N Roses, Selena Gomez, Ricky Martin, 100 Gecs, and Queens of the Stone Age.

It was his connection with the latter band, plus Freese’s origins in the late 1980s punk scene, that probably endeared him to Grohl. The Foo Fighters didn’t just need a drummer: they needed someone who could play stadiums, understand the hardcore punk roots that all of the members bring to the table, and can crack a joke or participate in a skit when called upon. When it comes down to brass tax, there’s simply no man more qualified for the job than Freese.

The real question is whether Freese will stick around or not. He revealed during his inaugural live stream that Grohl had performed the drums on the Foo’s upcoming album, But Here We Are. Freese is the biggest hired gun drummer in the world, and it seems like too lucrative of a gig to pass up. But then again, so is joining the Foo Fighters. I wouldn’t be surprised if Freese is just sticking around for the band’s current touring commitments, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if Freese decides (or is allowed by Grohl) to stay in one place for the first time in his musical career.

This week, we look at some Eurovision winners and take a trip into Lil Durk’s singular take on modern rap. Then, we get ourselves mentally prepared to face our own mortality with… Hanson’s ‘MMMBop’? All that and more as we round up the best chart news of the modern-day and recent past.

This Week in Number Ones: ‘MMMBop’ – Hanson (#1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Week of May 24th, 1997)

On March 9th, 1997, hip-hop lost one of its most important figures. Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G., was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. It was the ultimate end of the bitter East Coast vs West Coast rivalry that had turned tragic six months earlier when Tupac Shakur had been murdered in Las Vegas. Wars of words became actual violence. The public at large would mourn by throwing Biggie’s ‘Hypnotize’ to number one in May, followed by Puff Daddy’s tribute ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ and Biggie’s ‘Mo Money Mo Problems’ at the end of the summer. In between, another song about the fragility of life and the unwavering imminence of death hit number one.

That would be Hanson’s ‘MMMBop’, one of the silliest and sunniest songs to ever top the Billboard Hot 100. And I’m not being sarcastic: ‘MMMBop’ really is a song about how time slips away, and death is always around the corner. Apologies if you didn’t catch that on the first hundred listens: Taylor Hanson’s vocals aren’t incredibly intelligible, and the music backing up those sad-sack lyrics is way too much fun to even seem like it’s talking about something serious. But make no mistake – ‘MMMBop’ is deep, man.

“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,” drummer Zac Hanson told Songfacts in 2018. “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.”

Here’s the first verse, in case you still don’t believe me. “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 / So hold on the ones who really care / In the end they’ll be the only ones there / And when you get old and start losing your hair / Can you tell me who will still care?” That’s not the carefree teen pop that Hanson was representing.

Weirdly enough, if you go back to the group’s first album, Middle of Nowhere, songs like ‘Weird’ and ‘Where’s the Love’ have pretty dark depictions of life, love, and just struggling to get through the day. That’s just one of so many things about Hanson that don’t make sense. Do you know what else is crazy? ‘MMMBop’ was produced by The Dust Brothers, the sample-happy duo who helped craft the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique and Beck’s Odelay. Just two years after ‘MMMBop’ topped the pop charts, The Dust Brothers were creating the unsettling mechanical loops that score for Fight Club.

It was the brothers Dust who transformed ‘MMMBop’ from a mournful dirge to a bright and shiny pop hit. They’re the ones who put DJ scratches, drum machines, and a light pop-rock sheen over the top. Also, in case you were wondering, an “MMMBop” is a made-up measurement of time. It’s basically the equivalent of a short moment or fleeting second: “In an MMMBop they’re gone”. For a couple of blonde long-haired teenagers, Hanson were getting pretty deep.

For millions of pop listeners (see: teenager and young girls), ‘MMMBop’ was the perfect antidote to the heaviness that was swirling around the pop charts at the time. If you couldn’t stomach the violent murders of hip-hop’s biggest names, then the breezy tones of ‘MMMBop’ was sure to be the perfect counter. Except that it wasn’t: ‘MMMBop’ arguably has more nuance and subtlety than ‘I’ll Be Missing You’. Death was simply inescapable on the pop charts in the early summer months of 1997, and the biggest harbinger of the underworld was three blonde muppets singing a song with a made-up word in its title.

Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten (Week of May 24th, 1997):

1. ‘MMMBop’ – Hanson
2. ‘Hypnotize’ – The Notorious B.I.G.
3. ‘Return of the Mack’ – Mark Morrison
4. ‘For You I Will’ – Monica
5. ‘Say You’ll Be There’ – Spice Girls
6. ‘Foolish Games’ / ‘You Were Meant For Me’ – Jewel
7. ‘I Want You’ – Savage Garden
8. ‘Where Have All The Cowboys Gone’ – Paula Cole
9. ‘I Belong To You (Every Time I See Your Face)’ – Rome
10. ‘Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down’ – Puff Daddy ft. Mase

iHeart Radio

It’s May 24th and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:

– In 1997, Hanson’s debut single “MMMbop” started a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Kids News

What do the songs Baby Shark*, MMMBop*, Party in the USA* and Barbie Girl* have in common? They all get stuck in our head and according to new research by the University of NSW’s Professor Emery Schubert, there is a scientific reason for this.

The phenomenon* of having a song stuck (or in this case wriggling around) in your head is known as an ‘earworm.”*

Mr Schubert says the experience is quite common with some research suggesting that 98 per cent of us have experienced an earworm – or involuntary musical imagery (INMI*), as it’s known in music terms.

Baby Shark is just one of those songs that gets stuck in your head. (Picture supplied)

And while past research into determining the cause has explored tempos, melodies and pitches of the music, Mr Schubert has put forward a different explanation as to why songs like Baby Shark get stuck in our heads.

“It appears there’s an essential characteristic* necessary for a song to roll out the earworms – the music itself must have some repetition* in it,” Mr Schubert says.

According to Mr Shubert, while it is the chorus that has been the most reported part of a song to become an earworm (because they are inherently the section of a song that is repeated the most), they may not be the only element of a track that we can blame.

“Earworms might not have anything to do with the musical features* at all … It largely doesn’t matter what the music is, as long as repetition is part of the music structure,” he says.

The other parts of this earworm equation are the conditions in which we listen to the song, including recency* and familiarity* with the music.

But the key to getting that earworm really stuck in our heads is what Mr Schubert calls a low-attentional state*: otherwise known as daydreaming.

The earworm loves it when we daydream. That’s when it really takes hold. Picture: iStock

“It’s sometimes referred to as mind wandering*, which is a state of relaxation. In other words, if you’re deeply engaged with the environment you are in, really concentrating on a task, then you won’t get an earworm,” Mr Schubert says.

“Inside your relaxed mind, you don’t have to follow the exact structure of the music. Your mind is free to wander wherever it likes, and the easiest place to go is the repeated fragment* and to simply repeat it.”

You may not know this band, but chances are you know this song. With its repetitive lyrics MMMBop was a huge hit for Hanson in 1997 and still gets plenty of radio airplay today. Image: Supplied

Other than being annoying, are there any cons to having an earworm? Mr Schubert doesn’t think so.

“It’s a bit of a misconception* that they’re a problem,” he says. “We’re starting to see more research suggesting many find getting an earworm to be quite pleasant and it is not an issue that needs solving.”

However, when the song stuck in your head is not one you like, this can of course present an issue.

“The earworm doesn’t care about enjoyment; it cares about how familiar the music is, how recently something similar was heard, and whether the music contains repetition,” Mr Schubert says.

Research has shown that chewing gum may help to distract the ‘earworm’. Picture: istock

The good news is, there are some ways you can combat it.

“You may be able to wrap up an earworm by either finishing off the music, consciously* thinking of another piece of music, or by removing yourself from the triggers*, such as words or memories that relate to the music or lyrics,” Mr Schubert says.

He also says there has been some research that suggests chewing gum can help because it activates the same parts of the vocal mechanism* used for singing, which distracts* the earworm.

Retro Pop

Ahead of their upcoming arena tour together, Busted have joined forces with Hanson on an all-star version of the US trio’s nineties hit, MMMBop. 

The Year 3000 group are celebrating their 20th anniversary with a new greatest hits album of re-recorded classics featuring an extended line-up of guests.

Having released new ‘2.0’ versions of their own tracks Loser Kid (feat Simple Plan) and Meet You There (feat Neck Deep), the boys have teamed up with the sibling trio on a re recorded version of their breakthrough track.

Busted will release their first-ever greatest hits LP later this year, featuring re-worked classics from their career and guest stars including All Time Low and McFly.

Speaking exclusively in RETROPOP’s May 2023 cover feature, Charlie teases: “There’s a couple of songs we’ve completely reworked. Meet You There is now a full band song and it sounds really great.”

Marking their latest milestone, the band will also embark on a huge arena tour, kicking off in September and playing across the UK and Ireland through October – with Matt promising it will be their “best ever”.

“We have so many ideas,” he says. “We’re in the stage where we’re throwing everything at people and they’re saying, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.’ Then they come back and say, ‘No, no, no, no, no – that’s gonna cost you all of your money. You can’t do that!’

“But at the moment, we’re just coming up with the coolest shit we can think of and if 30 per cent of what we’ve come up with happens, it will be the best show ever.”

10 Philadelphia

The free concerts coming to Camden County this summer sure are sure to “MMMBop.”

That’s because Hanson will be playing their hit song as part of the 2023 Camden County Summer Parks Concert Series. The brothers will take the stage at Cooper River Park on Thursday, June 29, as part of the Twilight Concert Series, Camden County announced Thursday.

Other notable acts set to take one of three stages this summer include Arrested Development (of “Tennessee” fame) on Monday, June 12; Sheila E. on Monday, July 10; Aimee Mann on Wednesday, Aug. 2; and “American Idol’s” Ruben Studdard (singing Luther Vandross) on Thursday, July 20.

The headline event is on July 4th when reggae stars UB40 headline the July 4th Freedom Festival at Wigging Park ahead of fireworks over the Delaware River

The free — yes free — concerts will take place at three different locations with the Ferko String Band kicking things off on Thursday, June 1, and Gabe Dixon wrapping it up on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

“This lineup of free concerts was carefully crafted with our residents and families in mind,” Commissioner Deputy Director Ed McDonnell, liaison to the Department of Events and Community Outreach, said. “The next three months here in Camden County will be full of music and performances that everyone can enjoy.”

The Monday Sunset Jazz Series concerts take place at 8 p.m. at Wiggins Waterfront Park in Camden. The Wednesday Sundown Music Series concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. at the McLaughlin-Norcross Memorial Dell Concert Venue in Haddon Heights at Haddon Lake Park. The Thursday Twilight Concert Series at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken Township.