The WEIRDEST HIT SONGS Ever

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This month, I tried:
XX Artisan Teal by John Varvatos-sbird.co/3I34dNX
Sage Supreme by Maison 21G-sbird.co/3bsVcBA
VERTICALOUD by Hermetica-sbird.co/3I4fZrl
Well Played by Confessions Of A Rebel-sbird.co/3Al9krf
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/ renshawhs
/ renshawhs
Hey everybody! Thanks for watching this video on, "The WEIRDEST HIT SONGS Ever". As the years go by and genres continue to blurry, memes are taking over, TikTok controls what's popular, indie artists are alongside legends on Spotify playlists, and so on and so on...anything goes when it comes to what can become a hit song. Here's a video looking back throughout the years and seeing what stuck out before weirdness became the norm. We've got Bohemian Rhapsody, Billie Eilish, Fireflies, and so on. Enjoy.
please don't take this too seriously / video essay / list / best / worst / review / reaction / black eyed peas / i gotta feeling / boom boom pow / gaga / fireflies / one hit wonder / lorde / bad guy

[@AlfoMedia]

Click here sbird.co/3QlEDYb and use my code ALFO to get 55% OFF your first month at Scentbird. What’s your favorite fragrance? Comment below!

[@devstuff2576]

Jewish people are awesome ....but then there's lil Dicky. What an asshole

[@the_internet2]

why would I care about fragrances?

[@sillyperson1610]

@@the_internet2it’s not only for you

[@kyledavid9415]

You NEED to stop accepting the absolute worst, most obvious scams in human history as sponsors, pretending to like them for WAY too long and putting them in the middle of the video NOW. I'm tired of disliking and reporting good videos

[@shadycatz85]

that black eyed peas era doesn't feel dystopian when you find out it's intentional. will-i-am talks about how when the 2008 financial crisis hit and most media became really depressing, doomer, and hopeless, he intentionally made music that was superficial, fun, and mindless, to give people just a few minutes' break from the world, where they had positive emotions, even if just over something like a shallow party song.

[@A_Ducky]

If that is so, they all have my thanks! It was truly a horrible time.

[@possum1093]

it sounded like music of the future thats now music of the past

[@luke_cohen1]

Will-I-Am was always way more thoughtful than people give him credit for. He started off as a protégé of Eazy E in 1991 and was known for his incredibly political songs (along with the other two Black Eyed Peas members). The dude has always known what’s going on around him and reacted accordingly which is why the Peas were less of a group and more of a collective that released a collaborative project every 4-5 years. It should also be noted that the defining vision of the Peas was to put people in a good mood and call out overly negative attitudes in the media. They were a reaction and counterweight to the overly dark and pessimistic genre of early 90’s Gangsta Rap a la NWA. This is the main reason why they always included a more political track with a positive message on every album. Note: I’m not saying that they’re the best group ever but that they should get more respect for their intentions.

[@13days13]

@@luke_cohen1 ​ oh 100% nobody gives credit to will-i-am like that. he does a LOT in the background. reminds me of pharrell. both visionaries in their own way, have made huge impacts in music yet nobody really gives them their credit for it.

[@thegunn7526]

A lot of songs around that time where like that teenage dream and stuff

[@bangbangrogers2750]

Mambo No. 5 by Bob the builder. What a sentence

[@supersonicsandshrew9742]

Fr

[@timgras4172]

I believe the reason why it stopped being at no. 1 of the charts was because it was too happy for 9/11

[@Nick_the_antzzzz]

In the UK, big fish little fish was also no.1. Bob builder is topping the charts!

[@marcstephen506]

I loved both things individually, but I never thought they could co-exist like this.

[@themadpyro8560]

@@Nick_the_antzzzz The music industry in Britain is a very strange thing. I've been to a nightclub (to be clear, not some alternative underground scene - the most mainstream club in my entire city) and heard 'Can We Fix It' by Bob The Builder played completely straight. The crowd went wild.

[@carlcarlington7317]

Realizing that poker face came out just a few months before fireflies is a perfect example of how insanely fast and yet absurdly slow time is.

[@kylem.9525]

I don't think you can talk about weird hit songs without mentioning The Beach Boys' Good Vibrations. It was a number one hit in the US, UK, and many other countries. Multiple different unique sounding sections, abrupt tape splices connecting them, constant shifting in dynamics, and eclectic instrumentation. It almost seems like people don't even realize just how weird the song actually is because it just works so incredibly well as a cohesive whole.

[@juliansanchez4460]

Is that MBV as your pfp?

[@manly_toilet]

I also find it weird that instead of putting in a clip from the GV music video he instead used a clip of Do It Again from Ed Sullivan when talking about songs that are "innovative and complex"

[@kylem.9525]

@@juliansanchez4460 yes indeed

[@angelaharris53]

I still love Good Vibrations to this day. It's funky but it works. Of course, I grew up listening to The Beach Boys from my dad, so there is nostalgia there, but still ... a good song is a good song.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

A vote for "Heroes and Villains" too!😅

[@elliottrusso7351]

I’ve always felt like Sicko Mode was an incredibly weird rap track to pick as the most popular song in the world

[@remyhavoc4463]

Kinda disagree cause it got Drake in it, used auto-tune correctly, is a trap track, has bitches, had a dark sound and video like most of the other music on that era had, and it's easy to sing along to. Plus, the title sicko mode sounds like something a kid would like to hear but at the same time, it was a good enough song to where adults can enjoy in unironically

[@psyche234]

@@remyhavoc4463 imagine listening to drake 🤡

[@Carl-J]

@@psyche234 so what bro? Let people listen to what they wanna listen to

[@04music98]

@@psyche234 bro stop gate keeping music

[@RK-ig8gc]

@@psyche234 the guy didn’t even say he liked drake, it’s just drake was on it and drake is popular lol

[@Sayajin3321]

The fact that Axel F became a hit twice, including a fictional frog covering it, is fucking hilarious.

[@cursedpyrogaming5176]

And it's even a parody of the beverly hill cops theme

[@jonleonard8883]

​@@cursedpyrogaming5176Axel F is the name of the Beverly hills cop theme

[@jakearmstrong_09]

Bohemian Rhapsody literally changed the way that people saw they could make music. Queen changed the game with their one song.

[@Libithina]

First song with a videoclip specifically made for that purpose. Top marketing trick that still pays off.

[@noncomplacent]

Butt holes are being blown out to that song right now

[@NJGuy1973]

Name one song recorded since 1976 that reminds you of Bohemian Rhapsody.

[@lordjustinian2913]

I would personally say prog rock being slightly popular during that period allowed Queen to see success with Bohemian Rhapsody as it does feel like a prog rock song.

[@OsirisGaming66]

I agree, my favorite album was heavily inspired by Bohemian Rhapsody (The Black Parade by MCR, 2006)

[@joyousboyous2722]

Babe wake up, new Alfo media vid

[@yspt]

im up

[@LordmonkeyTRM]

Babe? OMG she's cold and blue...I'll ring an ambulance after this..

[@Slimpicckens_Studios]

More like stay asleep

[@Mezelenja]

This is how I feel about dubstep. Such a weirdly experimental genre that shot up into the mainstream with no problem.

[@panozboi8133]

*a genre was inspired by Aphex fucking Twin*

[@thejman3489]

I have heard that dubstep was actually a rather chill genre. Some site the song "Mt. Eden - Sierra Leone" as an example. But when Skrillex rose to fame with a bunch of hyped up craziness, his music got branded as dubstep.

[@DiSCO_YT]

Royals doesn’t get enough credit for paving the way for musicians like Twenty One Pilots and Billie Eilish to succeed. Also Bob the Builder having more than one number one in the UK is an insane fact of life

[@patty1181]

Insane but deserved. Big fish little fish absolutely slaps

[@Watermelon74]

Bob the Builder has more #1s than Taylor Swift in the UK charts

[@dmoore4520]

Interesting take on Lorde paving the way for ToP. They had the core fan base with Vessel a year prior than Lorde's debut. Billie Eilish 100%.

[@AstroAri212]

@@dmoore4520 came here to say that!!

[@antoniomaldonado8876]

Lorde was like the Kurt Cobain of pop music. Before Royal, Billboard was all party music by Katy Perry, Flo Rida, etc. After Royal, you now have artists like Halsey and Billie Eilish making more stripped down, deep alternative music. Lorde deserves more recognition.

[@brothernobody1775]

barbie girl has a deeper context considering the times it was released, there was a heavy "player" mentality during the 90s. the song, in a way, is satire of the hot girl concept, which was a response to the "player" throughout the club scene.

[@camiblack1]

I mean it was also a sort of tongue in cheek parody of other eurodance at the time, if you look at it a certain way.

[@alexkunce2002]

Aqua actually does a lot of good songs that seem like dance hits on the surface, but actually portray deeper themes. I have a lot of respect for them.

[@forthefrogs]

FIREFLIES BY OWL CITY IS SUCH A BANGER. like i genuinely can't stress how much i enjoy this song to this day.

[@HotStrange]

It’s so fucking good. When those drums first kick in?? 🤩🤩

[@thecinematicmind]

I have a massive softspot for it.

[@alexolds9840]

Meh, never liked it tbh. Basic electro pop track with over-sugary lyrics and average vocals. Plus, it adds nothing new to the pop scene.

[@countyfacts6920]

I agree. It's not weird tho.

[@forthefrogs]

@@alexolds9840 okay but like have u ever heard of having fun

[@spookypumkin6387]

Fireflies is actually about having insomnia, so it’s less of a song that’s the embodiment of small bean energy, and more of a song that’s the embodiment of autism creature energy before the autism creature was ever a thing.

[@colinfrags5691]

This is what Patrick Bateman would say to Paul Allen in 2022

[@josegurrola9021]

@@colinfrags5691 LMAO

[@colinaronson8144]

@@colinfrags5691 on point I can’t not read it in his demeanor now

[@taipeijoey101]

YIPPEE

[@propername4830]

Weird label to put on Owl City

[@ambergris5705]

There's a 2012 elephant in the room not addressed in this video 😂 Gangam Style not only was a hit, but was the biggest song that year, and managed to both usher the k-pop era while simultaneously being very distinctive and different from mainstream k-pop. It was trailblazing, and yet so unconventional by k-pop standards, so I think it actually deserves a mention in both categories you mentioned : the oddball, and the trailblazer. Plus, it's in Korean...

[@sallomon2357]

wasn't it intended as a parody of k-pop?

[@ambergris5705]

@@sallomon2357 it's a self parody, yes

[@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co]

@@sallomon2357 Given that the catchphrase "Oppa Gangnam style" can be credibly translated as "hey, girl; your next sugar daddy loves the high life", I’d think so!

[@dakotajohnson5009]

I'd say it's considered novelty song

[@camiblack1]

@@dakotajohnson5009 That's sorta the problem, the "novelty song" really cuts out a lot of these how did that get popular hits, when that should go towards like Weird Al's usual fare. I mean Barbie Girl isn't all that novelty when you listen to the songs it was around (Be My Lover, Another Night, hell just about any song that came out of that mid-90's eurodance boom), Fireflies doesn't really sound all that odd when you go back and look at the previous year when Onerepublic's Apologize and Coldplay's Viva la Vida was there (also in the top singles for 2009) and also had some groundwork laid out because it was still the era of CDs and not changing your MP3 player around all that much would still have stuff that also fits in it's little Indie Pop niche from a few years back. I think that's one of the few problems that always comes up in these discussions, what might be standard fare for a few years can come down as strange (or novelty) years down the road, espcially if you weren't cognizant for it.

[@PepsiMan-qw8eh]

Eyyy glad you mentioned Bob the Builder's Mambo No. 5, because while it did reach number 1 in the UK, it was also banned by BBC Radio 2. The reasoning was that after 9/11, with the executive music producer of BBC Radio 2 described the song "too frivolous in light of the news that was breaking", so they removed it from their playlist.

[@ewan7283]

😂😂😂

[@NeroMai]

Please tell me conspiracy theorists ate this up 😭

[@85walterrulez]

It could've functioned as another "always look on the bright side of life..." but I get it. Timing matters.

[@just_some_guy_innit]

LMAOOOOO 💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@paisleepunk]

bob the builder seriously got "what a wonderful world"ed (that song, by louis armstrong, was blacklisted on us radio for basically the same reason)

[@richloser7287]

milkshake is the weirdest huge song to me. it just sounds strange.

[@countyfacts6920]

There's a good example!! Alfo really missed the mark talking about Fireflies and Down Under. Milkshake is a true weird hit.

[@idna832]

"Can we fix it?" is a banger

[@just_some_guy_innit]

this but unironically

[@dopey473]

I think one of the weirdest hits is Windowlicker. It's creator, Aphex Twin, didn't even want it to be a hit and pulled the song from circulation. He isn't someone who wants popularity and therefore makes the weirdest shit you will hear and has the weirdest music videos you will see. I can't even describe it with words you have to see it for yourself.

[@andreborges2881]

“Vídeo Killed the Radio Star”, boy the Buggles. That’s all

[@chadofchads7222]

As Freddie would say, Bohemian Rhapsody isn't weird, it's exceptional hon

[@OH_MY_DOGGG]

Weird isn't necessarily derived from a negative connotation. Yea I am that guy.

[@guidingkeyblade7834]

Fireflies is actually a song about Adam Young's struggles with Insomnia.

[@sirpotatousheadislimberg6346]

really surprising that Talking Heads weren't mentioned in this video

[@charizardmaster13]

ngl fireflies makes perfect sense to be a hit to me. that synth riff is the definition of lighting in a bottle and is such a good ear worm

[@whatthehelliot]

more like a lightning bug in a bottle lol

[@caricaturesbydon]

Most of David Bowie's career stands as proof that you can do stuff no one else is doing, and that listeners weren't expecting, and still have a huge hit on your hands.

[@samjarvis9745]

Music nerd discovers “smelling good” tonight at ten

[@Bartholomule01]

One thing I really like about Queen us that they had a lot of hits but never started gearing their writing to focus on making obvious hits. They always kept more unorthodox stuff on their new albums, they never really seemed to be chasing hits which is an annoying thing lots of artists tend to do.

[@Blockoumi]

yeah, cause they're progressive. that goes for most prog rock.

[@kumagawamisogi1968]

Another thing to like about queen was their willingness to touch upon different genres (and/or sub-genres/styles) other than rock Like walts music for "The Millionaire Waltz" Rock-a-billy for "crazy little thing called love" Speed metal for "stone cold" R&B for "cool cat" Orchestra for "who wants to live forever" Pop for radio ga ga Baroque blues for "my melancholy blues" Christian rock for "jesus" Music hall for "lazing on a Sunday afternoon" Gospel for "somebody to love" Folk for "39' " New wave for "The invisible man" Synth pop for "I want to break free" Power pop for "killer queen" Symphonic rock for "The show must go on" Hard rock for "hammer to fall" Instrumental for "god save the queen" Punk rock for "sheer heart attack" Disco for "staying power" Ragtime for "Bring back that Leroy brown" And more

[@jagodabiaas4445]

yeah except hot space era

[@kriksi7775]

Fireflies became a hit because the song talked about imagination. Something we all need from time to time, not just kids. It has beautiful melody to it and it tells us to spot the little things within the big frame, to appreciate and be happy for the small stuff. Such as fireflies (or other bugs). To see the beauty of it. Owl City nailed it! Takes one to another realm, tbh. THAT'S why it was a hit.

[@TheOzelot11]

This is the type of music moments I hope we don't lose to streaming algorithms

[@dan182v]

I'd say it makes it more often

[@dirtysploof5890]

"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" by Napoleon XIV is a pretty strange and influential hit track from the 60s I swear that the 60s-70s had the best experimental music

[@galleryofrogues]

That’s a novelty track tho

[@galleryofrogues]

Also the B-side to that song was just the original version played backwards

[@FragglevisionReturns]

I nominate the Encanto songs. Surface Pressure is the least weird of the bunch to become a Billboard hit (being about the burdens placed on certain people) but the rest are VERY character specific.

[@pyrokatarina]

I agree, but I guess being from a Disney Soundtrack has always been hit and it was already common to people that they will become hits like Let it Go & How Far I'll Go. And it has always been like this, Since the 90s Renaissance era of Disney, Almost all of their movie soundtracks are major hits. Not to mention the popularity of Latin Music has been growing exponentially because of Despacito and has become mainstream since.

[@reinhardtwilhelm5415]

Surface Pressure might be one of my favourite hit songs of the year. The vocals are a little awkward, but *man*, does it just layer hook upon hook upon hook, and the lyrics are nothing to sniff at either.

[@ovenishot7173]

insane that you didn't mention old town road

[@pyrokatarina]

idk i dont really consider it that weird, it was just basically a country song + a trap song with rap combined into a single track. Which was already dominant during 2019. Plus it is a meme song, so maybe on the next list that he will make, it might be on there

[@hongkongbeat2164]

The other odd fact about the Thomas Dolby hit ‘she blinded me with science’ was the identity of the spoken interjections like ‘science’ and ‘good heavens miss nakamoto, you’re beautiful’. The speaker was an eccentric British scientist and popular TV presenter of the time, Magnus Pyke, who presented a show about science in his whacky offbeat way. It would be like having Bill Nye or Neil deGrasse Tyson rapping on Oingo Boingo’s ‘Weird Science’.

[@merlesstorys]

I honestly love that Falco went No 1 in the US, I think to this day he’s the only Austrian that made it so far. (Also he’s a pretty big legend in most European and especially German speaking countries.)

[@patty1181]

Glad to see fellow Falco fans. He isn't often mentioned on music channels like this despite his popularity

[@hakansoderholm6514]

@@ikaro555 Damn... I was thinking 99 balons in german was up there to🙂

[@kaiserfranzjoseph9311]

As a musician yes, he is definitly the only one that made it that far. But more generally we also have legends like Arnie and a certian painter turned politician

[@bastianalsoknownasagoddamn3647]

FALCO IS THE FUCKING GOAT

[@papaversomniferum8508]

also, he was actually the first white rapper lol

[@brandongarner643]

Royals by Lorde was so refreshing and different at the time, especially the first time hearing it.

[@jestingworm697ofvalhalla3]

Sail by AWOLNATION… a one word chorus with screaming and an electro rock background. From a band with no previous hits either. Just out of place.

[@gaelisaias]

Also! That one was such a sleeper hit throughout 2013 and 2014. I used to check the Billboard Hot 100 chart weekly when I was a teen, and I was shocked because Sail was there through a whole year while hits from bigger artists fizzled out quicker. Maybe it wasn't a top 10 hit, but it had the longevity a lot of tracks would wish for

[@slick3996]

memes carried it

[@galleryofrogues]

That guy’s old band Under the Influence of Giants was pretty well known so he wasn’t a complete unknown

[@gammagerm3008]

I am Austrian and i am very happy that you included Falco.

[@trenik03]

Falco ist definitiv eine der vielen GOAT's wenn es um Thema Musik geht. Unglaublich was er alles erreicht hat

[@gammagerm3008]

@@trenik03 ich stimme dir vollkommen zu. Besonders, dass er für eine gewisse Zeit Nr.1 in den Amerikanischen Charts war ist ziemlich bewundernswert.

[@86cjack58]

didn’t even mention old town road

[@manofnomuscles5496]

Down under is very interesting to me as an Australian as it is essentially making fun of how Australians have accepted stereotypes that America has put on the country which basically killed the Australian identity but was then turned into a drinking song about celebrating the same stereotypes that killed our identity.

[@monsterwith21faces92]

My pick would be dance monkey According to me it's the worst as well as the weirdest smash hit ever Just up there with the #selfie song

[@guidoguido2245]

Falco was mentioned. I am happy.

[@beantinproductions]

My favorite explosion of weird music when a bunch of tally hall songs got really popular and one of them was ruler of everything which is not only a confusing fever dream but also awesome

[@gabrieldavid3308]

“Band on the Run” is a pretty weird hit song, in a similar vein to Bohemian Rhapsody - less so for sure, but still a long multi-part song where the whole thing got played on the radio. Especially weird because it spends its first two whole minutes in slow-/mid-tempo territory

[@Welcome2Slaggers]

‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’ was a #1 Paul McCartney hit and that goes even harder on the multi-parts

[@talbino7821]

I believe Queen was inspired by McCartney's noodlings as well as what prog rock bands were doing at the time.

[@remyhavoc4463]

Should make a part 2 including Redbone. Idk how the hell you didn't mention it. Like, how tf do you get a song that sounds like that trending while all the other songs are so different. It sounds like a song that would be randomly reccomended to you after so many years and the comments are like "I wAs BoRn iN tHe WrOnG gEnErAtIoN" but instead, it was made in today's era

[@HotStrange]

I mean it’s basically Id Rather Be With You by Bootsy Collins and funk was definitely “in” during that time. After Uptown Funk, Bruno’s 24k Magic album, Vulfpeck, etc.

[@ALIEN-DUDE]

I like that song

[@colin6603]

@@HotStrange thank you man. It’s a great song but a compete rip of Bootsy Collins. It’s not that weird.

[@Brianna-eo8nu]

I got that same feeling when I found out that Somebody I Used To Know by Gotye came out in 2012! When I first heard it on the radio as a tween, I thought it was a song from the 80s making a comeback.

[@NeroMai]

All the memes of characters singing it sure helped

[@slystone4892]

When Doves Cry is another one unconventional hit with no bass and weird screams and weird lyrics.

[@ALIEN-DUDE]

I like that one.

[@slystone4892]

@@ALIEN-DUDE it’s great

[@smithsunleashed]

It's a great song thou

[@slystone4892]

@@smithsunleashed Of course his greatest song

[@TheComedyGeek]

80's dude here (born 1973). The weird songs of the 80's had one main source : New Wave. The musical movement known as New Wave prized weirdness for its own sake, as a source of intellectual stimulation by something new and unique. This threw the doors open for all kinds of innovation in all kinds of directions. Even after New Wave became entirely subsumed in the new pop music inspired by it. the creative explosion it set off remained.

[@NJGuy1973]

You should get the Living In Oblivion CD set. It's got all the weird new wave hits. Fun Boy Three, Icicle Works, Haircut One Hundred, Blow Monkeys, etc.

[@nastya1297]

Rude is super fun. It's light, catchy and easy to sing along to.

[@severussnap4373]

i friggin love fireflies from the first moment i heard it , it brings tears to my eyes honestly and im an old man. she blinded me with science was one of my ABSOLUTELY favorite songs when i was a little boy . im starting to see why i cant dance for shit .

[@TheComedyGeek]

Thank you SO MUCH for including Hocus Pocus by Focus. It's like a thrill ride through manic psychosis. :P And I mean that in the best possible way; Just the sheer energy of it and how it cycles through being magnificent and then absurd and then BOTH is worth the price of admission. Every time I listen to it, I end up feeling like I just went on Space Mountain as designed by the residents of a lunatic asylum. I love it. :)

[@l.salisbury1253]

Whadda 'bout "turning Japanese" by THE VAPORS (UK 1980)? One of the very few British punk/Mod-revival singles to score American airplay US audiences didn't know the term "turning Japanese" was late 70s British slang for sex!

[@reinhardtwilhelm5415]

That’s a very vivid and slightly racist euphemism, wow. Thanks, British people.

[@l.salisbury1253]

@@reinhardtwilhelm5415 I remember a radio ad for the Vapors' debut "New Clear Day" in late '80: An American announcer talking about the LP slowly developed a Japanese accent. (Needless-to-say there is no way in HELL that would fly today!!)

[@reinhardtwilhelm5415]

@@l.salisbury1253 It's honestly funny to look back on.

[@kaiserfranzjoseph9311]

Falco was a legend, he managed to make us big in the US for way longer than I would have ever thought to be possible

[@djtripp7077]

Making a playlist with all these songs

[@bexiemounne7781]

Alfo: Whip It has a legacy yet to match Roy Orbinson: Remember me?

[@owenfitzgerald5928]

Rudes lyrics make perfect sense and the UK ones are collective public jokes

[@glyle2504]

As somebody who’s a full quarter Jamaican and grew up listening to Dancehall-I *LOVED* Rude. I put that song in my Reggae playlist and I still play it at family functions.

[@JustforNow-ty5zt]

There’s also Tubthumping.

[@thelotharingian7500]

I'm surprised by every hit song because every song on the radio bores me to tears and I instantly say blekh and change the channel and flip around until the least bad song appears. And then I land back at the start several times. Don't get a radio

[@playboiconorr]

as an australian down under isnt wierd its reality down here god i love australia

[@BS-uj3ny]

Louis Armstrong hit number one with a song from Broadway called “Hello Dolly” in 1964. This was well after his peak in popularity and right in the middle of the British Invasion.

[@malcolmhodnett8874]

I appreciate you helping me think about music

[@poihpioakarp8845]

Any European/Middle Eastern of a certain age will never forget that one weird-ass month where We No Speak Americano was inexplicably shoved in our faces

[@ruikamo]

Bohemian Rapsody is so cool! Every single time I was at a Party and the song was played the whole mood changed and everyone just began singing

[@bon12121]

8:00 As an Australian I can confirm that self deprecating humour is a staple. KZbin Americans vs Aussies: RAP BATTLE. 3M views. Complete depreciation. And we LOVE it.

[@cheerio4000]

that goes for the US too lol

[@leonardogoes2031]

I mean, even Skrillex and dubstep had their time dominating the 10's

[@sgtlaughter]

Mambo Number 5 is not a novelty song. It holds up.

[@phoebexxlouise]

Good music is surprising. It has surprises in it. That's how it stays fresh.

[@TheRareVideosXL]

Great content as always.

[@SUNSHINE-t-m]

failed to consider rude being reggae lmao

[@jgray2718]

Bohemian Rhapsody is wild. I've never understood why it was a hit, all while enjoying it. I think the lesson in these songs is that if something is fun to listen to it can be a hit, but audiences are more open to new and weird stuff than studios think. The Safety Dance, Rock Me Amadeus, Whip It, and plenty of others are great, weird songs that a listener doesn't need to understand to enjoy. The flute on Down Under, Hey There Delilah, the whole Owl City...vibe, I guess? and more are easy to enjoy. Listeners might not come back for a ton more of the same, but it's all a good diversion from the whole studio-heavy pop-rock thing while still being fun in their own way.

[@SageSpider2024]

Rude I think was a great fusion of Reggae and pop. The appeal behind Rude is that it was a great song to sing along to, with a catchy hook, and good instrumentals while sounding different than anything that was put out there at the time. The song also knows how to switch up the melody enough without it being annoyingly repetitive. I would say it had a lot going for it.

[@A_Ducky]

"Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" is a banger that deserves #1. Good on UK for that!

[@colin6603]

Haven’t seen the video but I hope Pepper by the Butthole Surfers is in it. Literally the weirdest band ever and somehow scored a hit in the 90s.

[@gabrieldavid3308]

Great pick! Wonderful and weird song. My mom likes it, which may be saying something about how it broke out

[@yourcommentisntfunnyv2709]

Surprised Dracula from Houston also didn’t become that big a hit, however I still love everything the surfers made

[@teemusid]

I'm disappointed that "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown wasn't mentioned. #2 in the US, and #1 in Canada and UK. The song starts with Arthur screaming "I am the God of hellfire."

[@steezgawdextraswa6906]

rude used to be my fav song when i was a kiddo

[@papaversomniferum8508]

9:24 finally someone mentions my boy falco in a video about weird music. funfact, people in austria still adore him for his music even 20 years after he died. he‘s like a national hero lol

[@connorpowers11]

i wish i had your voice dawg it’s so cool 😭

[@ianco2437]

Words cannot explain how much I love the silly and lighthearted nature of Down Under.

[@magpie1353]

sometimes i only realize how strange a song is when i go to put it in a playlist

[@DaKaiserr]

Nah bro, you cant call Falco '' just an Austrian Dude''... He is the most famous Austrian musician ever. The first Austrian made /German speaking song EVER ON THE #1 IN THE US CHARTS. He was just great. RIP

[@Spitfirethedragon]

Yeah, plus he had 5 top 40 hits on the mainstream radio airplay charts as well.

[@NateS917]

he's too gassed up

[@zzzjamie-dimaulozzz]

Mic the snare was not happy when he saw crazy frog there

[@QNPMEDIA]

I think time will remember "Bad and Boujee" by Migos as being the song that did for trap music what "It takes 2" by Rob Base and EZ Rock did for rap music. It introduced white audiences to a scene without diluting it or adding a white feature.

[@rowdyjman94]

Actually me & my friends knew about "bad & boujee" before it hit #1 because it was released around Halloween weekend during the fall semester while I was in college and everybody played it at their house parties

[@pyrokatarina]

That was a bit strange to me too because i wasn't expecting everyone to suddenly rap along such a song, well because they were mumbling, but also, at the time, songs were very upbeat and would make you dance to them. But I guess several months before it became a hit, Panda was already mainstream, so it wasn't as surprising as I was discovering Panda

[@QNPMEDIA]

@@pyrokatarina It ain't mumbling lol. That's just how folks on ATL talk. People like TI and Luda we're changing how they talk for y'all.

[@pyrokatarina]

@@QNPMEDIA i was talking about the genre of rap that they did, they were mumble rapping in the track considering that Quavo and Lil Uzi are known for mumble rapping

[@boimesa8190]

That Uh Oh Song too... So off key 🤣

[@vampire_juicebox]

I was not expecting this video to be SO nostalgic

[@bigtoot7144]

Would have definitely put safety dance by men without hats on here

[@countyfacts6920]

Safety Dance is 100x weirder than Down Under--I can say that much.

[@thelegoboy-sq7jj]

it sounds exactly like the 80s to me

[@countyfacts6920]

@@thelegoboy-sq7jj Did you listen to the full version? And also, the point we're making is that Down Under is 0% weird.

[@panozboi8133]

Kraftwerk had a number one hit in the uk but not only one song but two the weird mesh of Das Model and Computerworld being number one is fucking weird and just as surreal as Oingo Boingo make a huge hit called ‘Weird Science’ Ween was huge in Australia with Push The Little Daisies due to fucking Beavis and Butthead reviewing and critiquing the song. Loaded by Primal Scream, Setting Sun and Let Forever Be by The Chemical Brothers, Windowlicker by Aphex Twin and Karma Police, No Surprises and Paranoid Android are literally hits over here in the UK, it’s a fever dream to remember that they were hits, even Alt-J has Breezeblocks and Tesselate charted on the UK singles,

[@safetymatches8873]

Barbie girl isn't a novelty song. Its pretty much completely in line with other eurodance that was huge at the time.

[@Ruinwyn]

Barbie girl isn't a novelty song. It's a commentary on superficial plastic society.

[@realmackle]

She blinded me with science has always been one of my favorite songs. It just has so much goofy energy, I love it

[@AnUncreativePerson]

I like how Fireflies went number one. It shows if you be yourself life will work out.

[@THEMOCU]

yo fireflies is a BANGER YO!!!

[@liltree8382]

No it’s not

[@Sebboebbo]

Da king is back baby he neva miss

[@docrussojr]

The Weeknd - The Hills Eminem - My Name is Eminem - Stan

[@w5527]

I remember my dad putting Hocus Pocus on and I immediately loved the yodeling, the amazing guitar work, and then the other random “vocals” like the super high whistling.

[@bfffth]

As soon as I read the title, the first song that came to mind was "Here's Johnny" by Hocus Pocus. I'm from Australia and over here in 1995 it was a #1 hit for weeks, and was also the first dance song to top the charts with no radio support.

[@doomdais]

the fact that I loved all the "ground breaking artists" you mentioned is weird. something about fireflies, somebody that I used to know, royals, pompeii, and bad guy popping up out of nowhere made me sometimes want to listen to the radio. but songs like bang bang and shake it off made me hate popular music at the same time. (this is just my opinion, no hate to anyone music taste.)

[@doomdais]

now we have things like bastille's bad blood, imagine dragons, top, Lorde, alt j, Phoebe Bridgers, Florence and the machine, aurora, clairo, mitski, and even Jack stauber getting some recognition and becoming more prevalent through the internet and apps like tiktok and twitter.

[@wichpa]

Yessir injury reserve in an alfo vid (even if it was just a frame)

[@astallas6098]

Rock me Amadeus is a MASTERPIECE and I will hear nothing more about it. Falco is an Icon

[@Kinsey6King]

The shrooms I ate earlier are hitting and Hocus Pocus is being thoroughly enjoyed by my ear holes. Thank you.

[@FabioGnecco]

Awww Shock G at the intro ;; RIP him and Biz

[@narrow3601]

Okay with that said, would love to hear your real opinion on what you think about fireflies.