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A recording artist and longtime Tulsan, he said he was excited for the opportunity after being asked by Mayor G.T. Bynum. [See video at the source]

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Hanson through the years — on the left in 1997 and on the right in 2017. Photos Courtesy: Paul Bergen/Redferns/Getty Images; Noam Galai/Getty Images

There’s something vaguely negative about calling a band a one-hit wonder. It’s often dismissive and a little mocking, like calling something a flash in the pan. There’s the suggestion built into the concept that the band tried to have more hits and failed. It’s my feeling that this is all a little wrongheaded though. I think we should focus on the word “wonder,” and why the hits that get described this way tend to feel so meaningful to us culturally.

Hanson’s “MMMBop” is one of the most classic examples of a one-hit wonder of all time. As a person who was a teenager when the song came out in 1997, I remember feeling sort of confused. These kids were my age, and they had created this shimmering piece of pop music. The song was so gorgeous and catchy that it almost felt embarrassing. My memory of it is that it was somehow uncool. I see now: I was deeply wrong.

Yes, 25 years is a long time, but it also feels like yesterday. I wanted to take the opportunity to look back on “MMMBop” and try to figure out why it was such a big deal at the time — and what it might have to say to us now.

“MMMBop” Wasn’t Just a Hit — It Was a Phenomenon

In 1997, when “MMMBop” was released, the Hanson brothers were kids. The oldest, Isaac, was 16, Taylor was 13, and Zac was 11. On the other hand, they had already been making music together for five years, which is longer than many bands manage to exist. Still, their youth was a major part of their appeal, and somehow they were able to put together a song that ended up going to number one on the charts in 12 different countries.

This was before boy bands like NSYNC had reached peak popularity, so the kind of fame Hanson experienced was surprising. A few years ago, talking about the song as part of an oral history in The Independent, Zac said, “Our life was like A Hard Day’s Night, and of course the reality of screaming girls and stampeding crowds is not silly, it’s kind of terrifying.” Teenager me might have rolled his eyes at that comment, but it’s definitely true that fame of this level, especially when you’re a kid, must be a little harrowing.

Anyway, “MMMBop” was number one in the U.S. for three full weeks, and finished the year at no. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, ahead of huge hits like Usher’s “You Make Me Wanna…” and Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch”. Clearly, the evidence is mounting that my sense, at the time, that “MMMBop” was uncool was way off. Hanson got to work with the Dust Brothers — who had recently worked with Beck on his ultra-cool album Odelay — on the production of the song. Somehow they also got Tamra Davis — who directed music videos for The Smiths, Faith No More, Sonic Youth, and Tone Lōc — to make the video.

“MMMBop” Is Actually Very Deep

Coolness aside, songs don’t usually last in the culture if they don’t have at least a little something to say. “MMMBop” is an incredibly silly title, but the phrase uses nonsense as a stand-in for really big ideas. These kids were singing about how fast time goes by — about how fleeting life can be.

In that same oral history from The Independent, quoted above, Zac goes on to say, “I’m surprised more people weren’t worried about us when you look at the things we were writing at that age. Obviously it was packaged in a very upbeat way with harmonies and catchy guitar lines, but ‘MMMBop’ is really about getting old, losing friends and the fact that most things won’t last.” Clearly, these kids had some depth to them.

The best pop songs — and “MMMBop,” amazingly, is no exception — have a kind of lyrical quality to them. They sneak their way into your heart with catchiness, and then they end up telling you what’s going on in your heart with depth and — dare I say — poetry. “And when you get old and start losing your hair,” Hanson tells us in the song, “Can you tell me who will still care?” As a kid, you find yourself singing along with this stuff, and maybe you miss the meaning, but eventually you see it, and it blows you away.

25 Years Later, “MMMBop” Endures

When VH1 did their Greatest Songs of the ‘90s special back in 2007, “MMMBop” came in at number 20. Glamour’s more recent 2020 list of the best songs of the ‘90s put it at 28. And sure, some lists leave it off entirely, but it’s clear on the whole that “MMMBop” is still in our collective consciousness.

This May, Hanson will release their latest album, Red Green Blue, so in spite of their one-hit wonder status, they keep making music for their following of devoted fans. No, they’re not topping the charts anymore. It’s unlikely that anything from this album will make its way into this year’s Billboard Hot 100.

But that doesn’t mean it’s all meaningless either. Music is a timeless phenomenon, and the audience for it shifts and changes constantly. That’s why I think being a one-hit wonder is really more like a badge of honor. It means that for one shining moment, you created a timeless artifact that made it through to people in a way that mattered.

Maybe it’s a little embarrassing, but so are most of the deepest, most heartfelt feelings we have when we’re forced to get public about them. Back in 1997, the kids of Hanson gave us a sweet, little song about the passage of time; 30 years later, I’m happy to tell you I’m still listening.

NME

The muscle-bound comedy clip sees Frankie Muniz throw down as ‘Action Frank’

Hanson have shared a brand new track called ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ featuring Zac[h] Myers of Shinedown.

The trio, who got their breakthrough back in 1997 with their hit song ‘MMMBop’, have dropped off the latest preview of their upcoming album ‘Red Green Blue’, which is due to arrive on May 20 via 3CG Records.

“‘Don’t Let Me Down’ is a song all about seizing your moment. It’s about living up to your potential,’ explained Zac Hanson. “We all need encouragement to overcome the barriers in our lives, but ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ is a personal message.”

He continued: “I wrote it to myself. As I was facing the challenge of writing a solo project for the first time, I needed to hear, ‘don’t let me down, your moment is now.’”

The song comes alongside a comical video starring Frankie Muniz. Set in a gym, Muniz (playing the role of Action Frank) upsets some local meatheads – one of which is Zac Hanson (Reggie Willie) – and a weight room duel quickly ensues, complete with Rocky-type montages.

Watch the Mac Hanson-directed clip below:

Hanson will be hitting the road this summer for a world tour which includes a host of UK dates including a show at London’s Roundhouse on June 30. Remaining tickets can be purchased here.

The European/UK leg of the tour will kick off on June 8 in Helsinki before wrapping up in Leeds on July 3. You can view the full list of dates below.

JUNE 2022
8 – Helsinki House of Culture
10 – Stockholm Berns
12 – Oslo Vulkan Arena
13 – Goteborg Pustervik
14 – Kolding Godset
16 – Hamburg Mojo
17 – Koln Gloria
18 – Munich Strom
20 – Milan Magazzini Generali
22 – Paris La Cigale
23 – Brussels AB
24 – Amsterdam Melkweg
26 – Nottingham Rock City
28 – Glasgow SWG3 Galvanisers
29 – Manchester O2 Ritz
30 – London UK Roundhouse

JULY 2022
2 – Bristol O2 Academy
3 – Leeds University Stylus

On July 12, the group will also hit the road for a huge tour of the US which will wrap up in Dallas on September 14. You can find full details of their US dates here.

Meanwhile, Zac Hanson recently apologised after his deleted Pinterest account, which was filled with controversial and offensive pro-gun memes, was leaked online.

One meme on the account suggested support for George Zimmerman over the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, while another compared the right to use an AR-15 rifle with Rosa Parks’ right to sit on a bus.

In an emailed statement to Vice about the Pinterest account, Zac wrote: “The leaked Pinterest page provided a distorted view of the issues surrounding race and social justice, which do not reflect my personal beliefs. I apologise for the hurt my actions caused.”

HANSON RELEASE THIRD SINGLE FROM NEW ALBUM

“DON’T LET ME DOWN” FEATURING ZACH MYERS FROM SHINEDOWN OUT NOW – LISTEN

HILARIOUS NEW VIDEO STARS MYERS AND FRANKIE MUNIZ – WATCH

ALBUM RELEASES MAY 20, AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW

RED GREEN BLUE WORLD TOUR BEGINS JUNE 8 IN HELSINKI, FINLAND
FOLLOWED BY NORTH AMERICA, LATIN AMERICA, AND MORE

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

RED GREEN BLUE was heralded earlier in the year with the album’s emotive and dynamic first single from Taylor, “Child at Heart,” available now at all DSPs and streaming services. An official music video is streaming now via YouTube. This was followed up by the release of Isaac‘s “Write You A Song.” The video for this song was premiered on CMT, and later added to EDGE rotation at CMT Music. WATCH “CHILD AT HEART” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO LISTEN TO “CHILD AT HEART” WATCH “WRITE YOU A SONG” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO LISTEN TO “WRITE YOU A SONG” The album, which is also, co-produced with Jim Scott and David Garza, amplifies the band’s unique trifecta of sound in a new way which is highlighted through the release of three singles, one featuring each brother. Starting with Taylor’s “Child At Heart” followed by Isaac’s “Write You A Song” and the rock-infused force of Zac’s “Don’t Let Me Down” (out today), each song is a clue to the unique musical influences which make up the project. “Going into our 30th year as a band we felt like it was imperative we continue to tell our story like only we can,” says Isaac Hanson, “and telling stories in ways that will continue to challenge us to grow and give people new reasons to listen. RED GREEN BLUE is about sharing what has made us a band that has been able to weather so many storms.” “Our love and respect for Jim Scott has only grown since we first met 20 years ago,” says Taylor Hanson. “He has been behind some of our favorite albums, so it’s an absolute joy to have finally made a project together.” “We have had a long friendship and deep connection with David Garza since our early days as a band,” says Zac Hanson. “We could not have had a better musical collaborator for this milestone project.” HANSON RED GREEN BLUE (3CG Records) Release Date: May 20, 2022 Tracklisting: RED 1 – Child At Heart 2 – Rambling Heart 3 – Truth 4 – We Belong Together 5 – Semi Hollow GREEN 1 – Greener Pastures 2 – Write You A Song 3 – No Matter The Reason 4 – The Gift of Tears 5 – Cold As Ice BLUE 1 – Bad 2 – World Goes Around 3 – Wake Up 4 – Don’t Let Me Down 5 – Where I Belong HANSON will celebrate the new album on their upcoming RED GREEN BLUE World Tour, set to get underway June 8 in Helsinki, Finland’s House of Culture; North American dates – produced by Live Nation – begin July 12 at Houston, TX’s House of Blues and continue mid-September. Latin American tour dates follow in September, with shows in Australia/New Zealand set for November. HANSON’s first full-scale world tour in more than three years, the RED GREEN BLUE World Tour will feature the live premiere of 15 songs from RED GREEN BLUE along with the first-ever live performances of songs from 2020’s Against The World and career-spanning setlists of fan favorites. For complete details and remaining ticket availability, please visit hanson.net/calendar. Officially founded in May 1992, HANSON will mark their momentous 30-year anniversary with HANSON Day 2022, an unforgettable weekend of exclusive streams and events set for May 12-14 in the band’s hometown of Tulsa, OK. Highlights will include a very special livestream concert event on May 13, direct from Tulsa’s famed Cain’s Ballroom; streaming tickets are available now exclusively via In.Live. For complete details and registration, please see hanson.net/hday2022. HANSON RED GREEN BLUE WORLD TOUR 2022 EUROPE JUNE 8 – Helsinki, FINLAND – House of Culture 10 – Stockholm, SWEDEN – Berns 12 – Oslo, NORWAY – Vulkan Arena 13 – Goteborg, SWEDEN – Pustervik 14 – Kolding, DENMARK – Godset 16 – Hamburg, GERMANY – Mojo 17 – Koln, GERMANY – Gloria 18 – Munich GERMANY – Strom 20 – Milan, ITALY – Magazzini Generali 21 – Rubigen, SWITZERLAND – Mühle Hunziken 22 – Paris, FRANCE – La Cigale 23 – Brussels, BELGIUM – Ancienne Belgique 24 – Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS – Melkweg 26 – Nottingham, UK – Rock City 28 – Glasgow, UK – SWG3 Galvanisers 29 – Manchester, UK – O2 Ritz 30 – London, UK – Roundhouse JULY 2 – Bristol, UK – O2 Academy 3 – Leeds, UK – Stylus @ Leeds University Union NORTH AMERICA JULY 12 – Houston, TX – House of Blues 14 – New Orleans, LA – The Joy Theater 15 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium 16 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern 17 – St Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live 19 – Birmingham, AL – Alabama Theater 20 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz 22 – Richmond, VA – The National 23 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring 24 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia 26 – Pittsburgh, PA – Palace Theatre 28 – Albany NY – Empire Live 29 – Boston, MA – House of Blues 30 – Hampton Beach, NH – Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom 31 – New York, NY – The Beacon Theatre AUGUST 2 – Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre 3 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall 5 – Elizabeth, IN – Caesar’s Event Center 6 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theatre 7 – Detroit, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre 9 – Grand Rapids, MI – 20 Monroe Live 10 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre 12 – St Louis, MO – The Pageant 13 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom 14 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee 16 – Springfield, MO – Gillioz Theatre 18 – Council Bluffs, IA – Stir Cove at Harrah’s 19 – Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore Minneapolis 20 – Fargo, ND – Fargo Brewing Company Outdoors (SOLD OUT) 21 – Winnipeg, MB – Park Theater 23 – Calgary, AB – The Palace Theatre 24 – Edmonton AB – Midway 26 – Vancouver, BC – The Vogue Theatre 27 – Seattle, WA – The Moore 28 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom 30 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore 31 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues SEPTEMBER 2 – Los Angeles, CA – Ace Theatre 3 – San Diego, CA – Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay 4 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren 6 – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl 7 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot 9 – Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre 10 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theatre 11 – Wichita, KS – Cotillion Ballroom 13 – Austin, TX – Emo’s 14 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues LATIN AMERICA SEPTEMBER 25 – Mexico City, MEXICO – BlackBerry 27 – Guadalajara, MEXICO – Teatro Diana 28 – Leon, MEXICO – Foro del Lago 29 – Queretaro, MEXICO – Teatro Metropolitan OCTOBER 1 – Monterrey, MEXICO – Pabellon M 4 – Santiago, CHILE – Teatro Coliseo 6 – Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA – Teatro Gran Rivadavia 8 – Montevideo, URUGUAY – La Trastienda 11 – Porto Alegre, BRAZIL – Teatro Bourbon Country 12 – Curitiba, BRAZIL – Live Curitiba 14 – Ribeirão Preto, BRAZIL – Arena Eurobike 15 – Sao Paulo, BRAZIL – Espaco Das Americas 16 – Uberlandia, BRAZIL – Arena Sabiazinho 19 – Brasilia, BRAZIL – Centro de Convencoes Ulyess Guimaraes 21 – Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL – Qualistage AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED For more info and tickets, please visit HANSON.net

The New York Post 

You probably didn’t expect to find the meaning of life in “MMMBop,” but Hanson’s No. 1 smash hit — which had everybody bopping 25 years ago — is deeper than you might think.

“The song [is] all about the passage of time and how very few things will last,” Zac Hanson told The Post. “‘In an mmmbop, they’re gone/In an mmmbop, they’re not there.’ And so it’s really saying, ‘Life comes and goes … so you better be conscious, you better dive into what you really want from it, because it’s just gonna be gone.’”

But a quarter-century after the signature single from this band of brothers was released on April 15, 1997, Hanson and “MMMBop” are still jangling along, continuing their steady output of music with a new album, “Red Green Blue,” out May 20. And drummer Zac, keyboardist Taylor and guitarist Isaac Hanson — who were only 11, 14 and 16, respectively, when the bouncy ditty catapulted them to pop stardom — are still bonded together by, as the song goes, the “secret no one knows.”

“It’s wild to see ‘MMMBop’ have that much longevity,” said Zac, who is now 36. “To sit here and have people still care about that song, it’s kind of this crazy inward spiral of the song’s meaning.”

“At the very beginning of our career, we had such a sense of wanting to … be an artist that could have that history,” added Taylor, now 39. “It feels good to just have reached some milestone and still at least be kicking and making some noise.”

Growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the classically trained Hanson brothers began making music together around their family home when other boys were going to soccer practice. “We began transitioning into being a real garage band — or a living-room band, actually,” said Taylor.

Indeed, the singing siblings had racked up professional experience before “MMMBop” even dropped, having made their debut as a band in May 1992. Written by the threesome, the tune — inspired by old-school groups such as the Beach Boys and the Jackson 5 — came together in their living room as a kind of “campfire” song. It originally appeared on Hanson’s 1996 independent album “MMMBop,” but then the producer-duo Dust Brothers punched it up for the fair-haired trio’s major-label debut LP, 1997’s “Middle of Nowhere.”

“The big difference really is the tempo,” said Zac. “‘MMMBop’ originally started off slow.”

“MMMBop” shot to the top of the charts in 1997 while also winning critical acclaim: The song was voted best single of the year by the Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop critics poll while further earning Hanson three Grammy nominations, including for Record of the Year. But the brothers were laying the foundation for a career that could be about more than just one song.

“We were lucky that for all of the challenges, I think the most kind of redeeming quality for us was we were experienced-enough writers, we were able to write a lot of the songs that were on that [‘Middle of Nowhere’] record. We were able to write all of them,” said Isaac, 41. “We had a lot of confidence in the fact that it was our voice and that we knew who we were.”

Not that it’s always been easy navigating their musical aspirations as both bandmates and brothers — especially after finding success so early in their lives. “I think what we found was that we could, in a way, write our way through the difficulties,” said Zac. “You begin to write … about what you’re going through, and that becomes a form of therapy, and you have to share it with each other.”

Now, they’ve also had plenty of experience sharing fatherhood together, raising 15 kids between them — Isaac has three children, Taylor has seven and Zac has five — while each has been married for at least 16 years (Isaac and Zac got hitched in 2006, four years after Taylor).

So can we expect Hanson: The Next Generation? “I would be really surprised if one of them didn’t do something in this sort of a creative space,” said Zac.

“But we’ll discourage them at every turn,” added Isaac with a laugh.

In celebration of their 30th anniversary as a band, Hanson is busy gearing up for the release of “Red Green Blue” and a tour that’s scheduled to hit the Upper West Side’s Beacon Theatre on July 31. The LP — featuring each brother taking the lead for one-third of the tracks — gets its title from the colors their mother would dress them in as the three oldest siblings out of seven children.

“If you’re part of a big family, you’re constantly trying to identify your stuff versus other people’s stuff,” said Zac. “From an early age, I was blue, Isaac was green, Taylor was red … It was sort of fortuitous that they picked the right colors, but it does kind of fit with our style.”

Independent

Twenty-five years ago this week, a band of blond brothers from Oklahoma released a single that took the planet by storm. They tell Kevin E G Perry about scary fans, collaborating with punk rockers, and how the iconic ‘MMMBop’ is actually a ‘really depressing’ song

When “MMMBop” first bounded onto the airwaves a quarter of a century ago, it sounded like nothing else around. Released on 15 April 1997, it arrived at the tail-end of grunge and with Britpop in full swing, a blast of irresistibly catchy pop rock influenced by classic R&B and soul and sung by a band of brothers too young to have a drink to toast their success. The song soared to the top of the charts in a dozen countries, including Britain and the US, making the long-haired Hanson siblings international sensations overnight.

The trio had formed five years earlier in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after the family arrived back in the States after a stint in South America, where the boys’ accountant father was auditing operations in the oil and gas industry. As they travelled they listened religiously to a compilation of hits from the late Fifties, featuring golden oldies “Good Golly, Miss Molly” by Little Richard, “Splish Splash” by Bobby Darin and “Rockin’ Robin” by Bobby Day.

“It was rock’n’roll in its absolute essence,” remembers lyricist and middle brother Taylor Hanson. “That music became really ingrained in our psyche as our connection to America.”

The power of that influence would become clear when the young brothers went ahead and crafted a perfect pop hit of their very own.

The story of “MMMBop” begins in the Hanson family garage in 1994, when guitarist Isaac was 14, keyboardist Taylor was 11 and drummer Zac was nine.

The foundations of ‘MMMBop’ were formed while the brothers were brushing their teeth, and almost by accident. The trio then expanded it, albeit with lyrics they only later realised were slightly bleak…

Taylor Hanson: We were working on a song we made called “Boomerang”, which is incredibly hooky in itself. We were looking for a counterpoint background part and started singing: “Mmmbop, ba duba dop”. You have to remember we’d learnt to sing listening to doo-wop and early rock’n’roll, so we were thinking about songs like [sings Barry Mann’s 1961 hit “Who Put the Bomp”:] “Who put the bomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp?”. We started singing and that little pattern formed, but it was too hooky to be a counterpoint so it went on the shelf.

Isaac Hanson: In the early Nineties you had the grunge and rock stuff coming out of Seattle, and you also had more straight-down-the-middle guitar pop like Gin Blossoms and Hootie & the Blowfish. We were trying to figure out where we fit in.

Taylor: I distinctly remember a regular morning, just brushing our teeth and getting ready for school, singing: “Mmmbop, ba duba dop” and Isaac harmonising with me. That idea was in our brains and in our household. It was around then that the verses began to be born. It’s a campfire song, a reflective, earnest, heartfelt little story. “MMMBop” is kind of “C’est la vie”.

Zac Hanson: I’m surprised more people weren’t worried about us when you look at the things we were writing at that age. Obviously it was packaged in a very upbeat way with harmonies and catchy guitar lines, but “MMMBop” is really about getting old, losing friends and the fact that most things won’t last.

Isaac: If we hadn’t already had that chorus, “MMMBop” would be a really depressing song.

Taylor: We recorded it locally, and “MMMBop” became the thing that we shopped to labels. Before that, they couldn’t really make any sense of these guys singing Motown and soul but looking like a 12-year-old Nirvana cover band.

Isaac: Except our hair was cleaner.

Taylor: The record got turned down by almost everyone in the business until we found the right label and it got us signed. We did not think of “MMMBop” as the ticket. It was an expression of who we were, but we didn’t think the day it was written that it would light the world on fire.

After moving to Los Angeles and getting signed, the brothers collided with professional – and adult – musicians, and sought out indie rock experts to hone their craft and their visual aesthetic.

Isaac: We drove out to LA before we were technically signed. We signed the contract with Mercury Records in the parking lot of the Beverly Garland Hotel in Studio City, California.

Taylor: They teased me about this, but I was genuinely frustrated that I was 13 when we got signed and Michael Jackson was only about eight when The Jackson 5 got signed.