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THE WORLD THINKS WE LIKE IT: Crazy Frog watch
The world will look at Britain just before seven tomorrow night, sigh, and remove all traces of Cool Britannia-era from its shelves and its hearts, as the Crazy Frog becomes number one; the first ever novelty single without a single ounce of novelty. At least with the Chicken Song there had been an attempt to create a parody of the Agadoo-style of hit; at least Agadoo existed, briefly, in a venue where it could make sense (for what else do you do in a theme-bar in Cleethorpes but flail about pushing imaginary pineapples while you wait for your better half, Dave, to finish his fight outside the lavs and get you a Tia Maria from the bar?). But the Crazy Frog? In light of Malcolm McClaren wading into the debate ("Listen to this song and you can hear the death knell of the traditional music industry"), MetaFilter debate if it's true. We're not sure the claim that this is the first ringtone/pop crossover to be a success - there was that Sugarbabes single that was little more than an excuse for the ringtone, but this is probably the first time when there's been little more than ringtone itself on offer. (Imagine - you can now have the sound of your telephone ringing even when NOBODY WANTS TO TALK TO YOU. Handy, of course, because if you've got the Crazy Frog ringtone it's almost certain you're the sort of person who has no friends anyway.)
Meanwhile, Jonny's site sees the victory of the Frog as a vindication of Slipknot:
Slipknot were right. People = shit
People also = fucking morons that should be burnt at the stake
Or, at the very least, train operators should herd people with Crazy Frog enabled phones into a special carriage. Possibly a wobbly one with very loose doors.
In interests of balance: Some people do actually seem to like it. Although they're not very eloquent about why.
Having said which, the anti-froggers aren't especially eloquent, either, but what they lack in eloquence they more than make up for in passion:
did i miss something. The british music buying public has lost all sense. some fucking idiot does an impersonation of his mates moped. and ends up with a no1 single. WHY??? I cannot stress just how much this pisses me off. but right now i'm just too incandescent with rage to write any more WITHOUT HAMMERING THE SHIT OUT OF MY DAMNED KEYBAORD.
Alex Thomson, meanwhile, appeals for calm on NYLPM:
At which point a Crazy Frog single (and there's another coming out in a couple of weeks I think, so this could go on all summer, but more likely will dry up overnight and we'll all be wondering what the fuss was about) will look like a quaint anachronism.
Really? I don't think so - we still shake under the weight of coverage of "whatever happened to the St Winnifred's School Choir" and jokes about Renee and Renato. However soon this storm passes, the Crazy Frog has battered himself into the fabric of British Pop History; his appearance on nostalgia shows and VH1 'bad song' weekends for all eternity is assured, I'm afraid. The account of itself given by the UK in 2005 is small, blue, and infantile.
1 comment:
Malcolm McLaren has, it should be noted, been going on for at least five years now about Chinese music taking over the world any day now, at least three about 'chipped music' (music made by reprogramming games machines - yeah, that'll catch on) would do likewise and around 1980 was telling all that his designs for Bow Wow Wow would destroy the way music was so much as taken in by the listener.
Someone on Stylus' singles review reckoned it sounded like Warp-esque IDM, but then those writers are always trying to hook stupid pop records onto genres of underground dance.
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