Onesies, profanity and innuendo: Who were Bloodhound Gang?
Before a world of edgy streamers and hidden-camera pranksters, there was a band that went viral for their crude jokes, catchy hooks and nothing but pure disregard for class or dignity.
In this article, Music News Blitz’s Charlie Gardner discusses the infamy of Bloodhound Gang, answering questions of what made them so iconic and how their success defined an era.
Who were they?
Bloodhound Gang were an American rock-rap group from the late-90s/early-2000s that thrived on and reached notoriety for their outrageously immature sense of humour and controversial antics.
Originally formed in high school, the band’s style and sense of humour remained that of an adolescent boy from the start. Continuing into University, the band only became more vulgar and ‘politically incorrect’ with age.
The group had iconic members, most notably including the crude lyricist/front man Jimmy Pop and imposing bassist ‘Evil’ Jared Hasselhoff, amongst others.
The group would often be seen parodying famous boy bands such as NSYNC in their live performances.
Other live performance antics included a range of political controversy, drinking, vomiting and far too much urination.
The band were controversial and disgusting, but by the time they were drawing big enough crowds, everyone in attendance knew that they were going to see the edgiest band in the world.
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Popular works and their biggest hit
So how did a band that was so forcefully crude succeed?
In 1996, the band released their second album, One Fierce Beer Coaster. The album was filled with the band’s typical provocative content, but it was the lead single, “Fire Water Burn,” that led the band into the mainstream.
After the song was noticed by many alternative rock stations, the band became more and more popular as listeners phoned in to ask more about what they’d heard.
It was with their next album, Hooray For Boobies, that the Gang were catapulted into stardom through the release of the single “The Bad Touch”.
The song itself had everything it took to be a hit: a catchy chorus and bassline, with lyrics full of innuendo and some of Jimmy Pop’s best rapping.
The music video helped enhance its fame, too, featuring the group dressed in monkey onesies while causing chaos throughout Paris.
This video went viral, but has retrospectively been criticised for its representation of the gay community, resulting in scenes being cut from the video.
Other songs from their next album, Hefty Fine, included “Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo”, a song that is entirely innuendo, as well as the song “Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss,” a song made as a parody of European dance music.
The latter song went viral in Austria and Germany.
Why did people like them?
It’s fair to say the band’s content has not aged well. By modern standards, Bloodhound Gang would never be approved of nor well received, but that’s fine; such is the nature of changing times.
The period between the late-90s to 2000s was one where music was naturally edgy and boundary-pushing.
Thanks to their extravagant performances and entertaining music videos, the band regularly found themselves featured on the platform MTV.
MTV was where bands would be discovered at the time, with many popular artists occasionally being subject to complaints towards the station.
This was just the culture at the time. You only have to look as far as bands like Blink-182, Green Day or even the grunge era (80s-90s) to see similar trends.
Even Eminem referenced Bloodhound Gang’s “The Bad Touch” in the lyrics to his song “The Real Slim Shady,” a song that even refers to the countless MTV controversies the artist faced himself.
It wasn’t just music, either, the early 2000s mainstream was full of edgy ironic films, ranging from Jackass to South Park and American Pie.
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Closing remarks
Bloodhound Gang have since moved on as the times have changed around them.
An album release in 2015 was met with little reception, and since then, the group has not announced a breakup but has not done much since.
The era the band lived in has long gone, but songs like “The Bad Touch” live on and keep the era alive in the memories of countless fans worldwide, defining an era, but also with a burnout that went with the times.
The legacy of such times and that of the band live on through fond memories of irritating the FCC, shocking audiences and, of course, wreaking havoc in Paris.
