Whoomp! (There It Is)

"Whoomp!"
Song

"Whoomp! (There It Is)" is a number-one hit single by the Atlanta bass group Tag Team.

The song sampled a beginning synthesizer line from the 1980 Italo-disco hit "I'm Ready" by Kano. The chorus is almost the same as the song "Whoot! There It Is" released by 95 South a month earlier, however the verse lyrics are much different. Both songs charted on the Billboard chart at the same time, but "Whoomp! (There it is)" reached a higher spot.

The hit song spent one week at #1 on the US R&B chart in 1993. It spent seven weeks at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, but was kept out of the top slot by UB40's "Can't Help Falling in Love" and Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover". The single is certified 4× Platinum in the US for sales of over 4,000,000 copies and, despite never reaching number one on the pop chart, was the second top song of 1993, behind Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You"

"Whoomp! (There It Is)" was commonly used at sporting events, particularly basketball. It was the theme song for the 1993 Philadelphia Phillies baseball team and was featured prominently during the 1993 World Series. Between innings at one game, Tag Team performed the song on the field, with special lyrics related to the Phillies. A young Rob Capellupo appears in the video with black teeth. When Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings goal beat the St. Louis Blues in the 1996 Western Conference Semifinals, the song was played with fans yelling out the "WHOOMP!" part. The song would later be included on 1995's Jock Jams, Volume 1.

"Whoomp! (There It Is)" was rated #97 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders.

The song listed at #58 on "Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time".[1]

In 2010, the song became the subject on Internet speculation when Gawker posted an item asking whether President Barack Obama appears as an extra in the song's video. A similarity was noted between Obama, who would have been 31 at the time the video was shot, and a person who appears at the 1:01 of the clip.

Alternate, cover and remix versions

• Within a year of the release of Whoomp! (There It Is), Tag Team re-mixed the backing music with a version of the theme song from the original Addams Family television series to create the song Addams Family (Whoomp!) for the film Addams Family Values. Actors Christina Ricci and Jimmy Workman reprised their film roles as Wednesday Addams and Pugsley Addams (respectively) for the song's music video. Addams Family (Whoomp!) won the 1994 Razzie Award (Worst Original Song) for its writers (Ralph Sall, Stephen Gibson and Cecil Glenn.

• In 1994, when the Houston Rockets won their first NBA Championship, Tag Team re-mixed their song yet again. This was titled Hoop! (There It Is). It was released on a CD honoring the team by Houston radio station 97.9 The Box and Mobile One.

• In 1995, Tag Team made an alternate version of the song called Whoomp! (There It Went) together with several Disney characters. It is basically the same song, but with several lyrics altered to depict Donald Duck's party in this version rather than a generic one in the original.

• In 1998, German House-artists "Triple S", "Klubbheads" and "DJ Disco" released their own mixes of the song on a maxi-single. Triple S's version warranted its own music video, the same year. Let's Be reality.

• British dance band Clock released a cover of the track in July 1995, with the slightly altered title of "Whoomph! (There It Is)".

• The song was again covered in 2005 by Crazy Frog for the album Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits.

Cultural references

• Nickelodeon had a promo for new Fairly OddParents episodes involving Baby Poof from Fairly OddBaby. They used the song for the promo, this time titled "Poof! There He Is!".

• Beavis and Butt-Head once watched the video for this song, which features the word "Whoomp" on screen several times. Beavis thus described it as a good video for learning how to read. The duo also sang along with the chorus, altering the lyric to "Whoomp! There's my butt!"

• The song was used in an advertisement for the chocolate snack Swoops, with the changed lyric, "Swoop! There it is!".

• The phrase "Whoomp! There it is!" has become a cultural phenomenon in other countries as well. In Brazil, the phrase is commonly pronounced "Uh! Tererê" likely due to oral misinterpretation.

• An episode of The Secret Life of the American Teenager was named "Whoomp! (There It Is!)

• The track was also sampled in the 1990's series Daria. In the episode "One J at a Time" Tom, Jake and Jeffy are seen singing the song whilst releasing a squirrel into the wild, to which Jake remarks "I love this song!".

• The song in also featured in the film Elf, where Buddy is seen dancing to the song while in the mail room.