"MMMBop" is a song written and performed by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...

. It was released on April 15, 1997, as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from their debut full-length studio album, '' Middle of Nowhere'' (1997). The song was nominated for two

Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

at the

40th Annual Grammy Awards The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Rock icon Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and R. Kelly were the ...

and is the band's most successful single to date. "MMMBop" was a major success worldwide, reaching number one in at least 12 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The song was voted the best single of the year in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abs ...

critics poll, while also topping critics' polls from such media as ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', '' Spin'', and VH1, and was ranked number 20 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s", as well as number 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years".

Background and composition

The song originally appeared on the 1996 independent album '' MMMBop'' with a slower tempo, but was reworked as an upbeat pop track by hit producers

the Dust Brothers The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike ( Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work o ...

. This became the hit version. In an August 2004 interview with Songfacts, Zac Hanson explained the song's origins: "MMMBop" is written and composed in the key of A major.

Critical reception

Larry Flick from '' Billboard'' wrote, "The rush of youth-driven acts on radio accelerates with the onset of this candy-coated pop confection. Try to imagine what the

Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

might sound like with the accompaniment of a skittling funk beat and scratchy faux- grunge guitars, and you will have a clear picture of where Hanson is coming from. Initially it's a mildly jarring combination, but it's ultimately quite cool. Factor in an instantly catchy chorus, and you have the making of a runaway smash." A reviewer from Scottish newspaper '' Daily Record'' noted, "They're about half the age of the Spice Girls, but Hanson can sing, play their own instruments and string a sentence together. It must be their American upbringing." British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated the song four out of five, stating that "media attention is sky high for these three

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brothers, aged 11, 14 and 16. And this cutesy, catchy pop song is the ideal debut single to cash in on that interest." Ian Hyland from '' Sunday Mirror'' gave the song eight out of ten, commenting, "Teenage brothers from America who sound a bit like Sheryl Crow on

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

. You'll love this at first, but in a few weeks you'll be kicking the TV in whenever their smiley faces appear." David Sinclair from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' concluded, "No 1 in America and all over British radio like a rash, it sounds like a gilt-edged

pop standard Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

already." "MMMBop" was voted the best single of the year in ''

critics poll, while also topping critics' polls from such media as ''

'', '' Spin'', and VH1, and was ranked number 20 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s", as well as number 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years". In 2021, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it as the ninth-best boy band song of all time.

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was produced to promote the single, directed by American film, television and music video director

Tamra Davis Tamra Davis (born January 22, 1962) is an American film, television and music video director. Early life Davis was born the second out of four children in Studio City, California. She was exposed to the media industry at an early age by her gran ...

. It features the Hanson brothers singing and playing their instruments in a suburban living room. In between, there are clips of them entering a cave, ending up on a beach. Other scenes show them playing around in a city, dancing on the Moon, driving a car or appearing in old footage of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

Track listings

All songs were written by Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson, and Zac Hanson. Additional songwriters are noted in parentheses. * US and Australian CD and cassette single # "MMMBop" (radio version) – 3:50 # "MMMBop" (

Dust Brothers The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike ( Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work on ...

mix) – 4:29 * US 7-inch single :A. "MMMBop" – 4:27 :B. " Where's the Love" – 4:12 * US 12-inch single :A1. "MMMBop" ( Berman Brothers club mix) – 5:14 :A2. "MMMBop" (Berman Brothers club instrumental) – 5:14 :B1. "MMMBop" (soulful club mix) – 5:27 :B2. "MMMBop" (Berman Brothers radio mix) – 3:17 :B3. "MMMBop" – 4:27 * UK CD single # "MMMBop" (single version) – 3:50 # "MMMBop" (album version) – 4:27 # "MMMBop" (Dust Brothers mix) – 4:29 # "MMMBop" ( Hex mix) – 3:25 * UK cassette single and European CD single # "MMMBop" (single version) – 3:50 # "MMMBop" (album version) – 4:27 * Japanese CD single # "MMMBop" (single version) – 3:59 # "MMMBop" (album version) – 4:27 # "MMMBop" (Dust Brothers mix) – 4:29 # "MMMBop" (dub mix) – 4:20

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notable cover versions

Twenty years after the first recording of "MMMBop", approximately 93,000 cover versions of the song were counted by MTV reporter Patrick Hosken in March 2016, as represented on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. The Hansons told Rebecca Milzoff at ''Vulture'' that they had not heard any good cover versions, because "People can't sing the chorus right. Most of the time they syncopate it wrong," according to Isaac Hanson. Later that year, Postmodern Jukebox recorded a cover in the style of 1950s swinging doo-wop with four male singers; picking up 1.5 million views on YouTube in the first year. In July 2019, the official Hanson

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

feed shared a video by Scary Pockets, a band founded by keyboardist Jack Conte. The Scary Pockets version was fronted by

Lucy Schwartz Lucy Nicole Schwartz (born December 7, 1989) is an American singer and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She has become well known for writing and performing original songs for film and TV, including songs for '' The Twilight Saga: Break ...

on lead vocals, and Adam Neely covered the electric bass.

References