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The Bad Touch

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"The Bad Touch"
Song

"The Bad Touch" is a song recorded by American alternative band Bloodhound Gang. It was released in May 1999 as the lead single from their album Hooray for Boobies, which was released a year later, in the US and UK. The song was remixed by many artists including God Lives Underwater, KMFDM and Eiffel 65.

Like much of the Bloodhound Gang's other music, the song contains a wide variety of sexual colloquialisms. The sleeve for the single features a photo of two zebras in copula.

Lyricism

"The Bad Touch"
The lyric "You and me baby, ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel" refers to sexual intercourse. The song has influences of dance-pop and euro disco
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The main chorus and anthem of the song is the stanza "You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals; So let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel", referring to the nature documentaries shown on the Discovery television channel in the 1990s. As the song starts, a spoken deadpan introduction states that there are distinctions between animal sexual behaviour and sexual intercourse in humans.

The rest of the lyrics are composed almost entirely of double entendre, which include a number of references to late-1990s or topical North American popular culture. In the first verse these are: lack of precipitation leading to drought in the United States and specifically the state of Texas; risqué lyrics from musician Prince; Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert from television film-review programme At the Movies giving "two thumbs up"; restaurant-chain Waffle House and their hash browns foodstuffs; the delivery speed of courier firm FedEx; the stock-price of The Coca-Cola Company; and daylight saving time change during the Northern-hemisphere spring-time and its relation to nocturnal penile tumescence.

The second verse continues alluding to: the lost Egyptian Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa and early Egyptian hieroglyphs; the southern Pacific Ocean; US-National Weather Service weather alerts distributed as a small craft advisory to marine vessels; oceanic high-tides; the boardgame Battleship; automated coffeemaker manufacturer Mr. Coffee; juvenile exploration through playing doctor; television programme-in-programme Tool Time, from sitcom Home Improvement; country music singer Lyle Lovett; and science-fiction series The X-Files.[4]

Music video

The song's video, shot during the summer of 1999, features the band dressed in "MonkeyRat" costumes with oversized ears, in numerous locations of Paris (including the Place de l'Estrapade, Avenue de Saxe, and Champ de Mars), and the Eiffel Tower is visible in many shots. During the video, the band uses blowguns to shoot tranquilizer darts into the buttocks of four passing young women dressed in black with short skirts and stockings, then carrying them away. They then use a fishing rod to dangle a croissant in front of a group of Italian chefs, enticing them to follow. The band members dance around for a few seconds and then lure three chefs into following them. The band members swallow several mealworms, before finding two stereotypically effeminate gay men in a café, who are then beaten over the head with baguettes and knocked unconscious. A dwarf mime artist played by actor Jordan Prentice is captured in a net and then thrown into a cage with the four women, three chefs and the gay couple in a clear parody of animal collectors capturing frightened specimens. The band leap around the cage taunting their captives. As the song draws to an end, the prisoners are released and all dance together in formation in the street. The mime artist escapes and is run over by a speeding Renault 5 car driven by Lüpüs Thünder.

The uncensored version of the video shows the band playing with and eating a brown semi-liquid food, with the implication that it is feces, and a beginning which features them feigning sex in a doggy-style position rather than dancing as in the clean version. The violent capture of the gay couple is also missing from some versions.

Controversy

A scene in the video featuring a pair of gay men in sailor suits, who share french fries and are subsequently beaten by the band members wielding baguettes, was cut after it initially premiered.[5] GLAAD complained about the scene to MTV stating that "a gay-bashing scene in any context in today's climate is not acceptable".[5] MTV reviewed the video and suggested to Geffen Records that the scene be cut.[5] On the scene, lead singer Jimmy Pop commented "I would give any gay man two tickets to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of his choice if he could describe exactly who's going to become violent based on that scene".[6]

Critical reception

Most recently, on September 11, 2010, Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio ranked "The Bad Touch" at No. 49 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever, stating that the song was "very juvenile", but that the lyric "You and me, baby, ain't nothin' but mammals / So let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel" was "pretty clever."[7]

Track listings

Promo Single

  • 1 The Bad Touch 4:20

Canada Promo

  • 1 The Bad Touch [Radio Version] 3:37
  • 2 The Bad Touch (Eiffel 65 Remix) 3:34

Europe Promo

  • 1 The Bad Touch [Radio Version] 3:37

Europe Single

  • 1 The Bad Touch [Album Version] 4:19
  • 2 The Bad Touch [Eiffel 65 Remix]3:33
  • 3 Along Comes Mary [BHG Mix] 3:23

Europe Single

  • 1 The Bad Touch [LP] 4:23
  • 2 Along Comes Mary [The Bloodhound Gang Mix] 3:20

Australia & Europe Maxi-CD

  • 1 The Bad Touch [LP]
  • 2 The Bad Touch [The God Lives Underwater Mix]
  • 3 The Bad Touch [The K.M.F.D.M. Mix]
  • 4 Along Comes Mary [The Bloodhound Gang Mix]
  • Video Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny (Video)

Europe Maxi-CD

  • 1 The Bad Touch [The Bloodhound Gang Mix] 4:20
  • 2 The Bad Touch [The Eiffel 65 Mix] 4:28
  • 3 The Bad Touch [The Rollergirl Mix] 5:59
  • 4 The Bad Touch [The God Lives Underwater Mix] 4:23

UK Promo

  • 1 The Bad Touch [The Bloodhound Gang Mix] 4:20
  • 2 The Bad Touch [The K.M.F.D.M. Mix] 4:19
  • 3 The Bad Touch [The God Lives Underwater Mix] 4:23
  • 4 The Bad Touch [The Eiffel 65 Mix] 4:29
  • 5 The Bad Touch [The Rollergirl Mix] 6:00
  • 6 The Bad Touch [The Eiffel 65 Acapella Mix]

Spain Vinyl 12"

  • A1 The Bad Touch [Eiffel 65 Extended Mix] 4:30
  • A2 The Bad Touch [12" Rollerblade Remix] 6:02
  • B1 The Bad Touch [Eiffel 65 Instrumental] 4:30
  • B2 The Bad Touch [Album Version] 4:20


Charts performances

Chart (1999–2000) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[8] 5
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[9] 3
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 1
Canada (RPM) 9
Denmark (IFPI) 2
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 8
France (SNEP)[12] 21
songid field is MANDATORY FOR GERMAN CHARTS 1
Ireland (IRMA) 1
Italy (FIMI) 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[13] 17
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 4
Norway (VG-lista)[15] 1
Spain (AFYVE)[16] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[17] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 4
United Kingdom (The Official Charts Company) 4
UK Dance (The Official Charts Company) 1
US Billboard Hot 100[19] 52
US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[19] 6
US Billboard Mainstream Top 40[19] 21
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs [19] 1
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[19] 1

References

  1. ^ Hann, Michael (2008). The Guardian Book of Rock and Roll. London: Aurum Press. p. 132. The Bad Touch' by Bloodhound Gang 1999's out-of-character plunge into Euro disco found the Gang...
  2. ^ Jeffries, David. "Bloodhound Gang". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved February 24, 2013. Titled just Hooray on the clean version, the album featured 'The Bad Touch,' an infectious dance-pop number...'
  3. ^ "Bloodhound Gang's 'Bad Touch' Turns Clock Back Two Decades". MTV News. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch Lyrics" (annotated lyrics). Genius. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Sansone, Glen (2000). "Bloodhound Gang Edits Objectionable Video". CMJ New Music Report. 61 (658). CMJ Network: 4. ISSN 0890-0795. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  6. ^ Kenneally, Tim (2000). "Ask the Experts". Spin. 16 (6). SPIN Media LLC: 52. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  7. ^ Wilkening, Matthew (September 11, 2010). "100 Worst Songs Ever -- Part Three of Five". AOL Radio. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  8. ^ "Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  9. ^ "Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  10. ^ "Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  11. ^ "Bloodhound Gang: The Bad Touch" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  12. ^ "Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch" (in French). Les classement single.
  13. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Bloodhound Gang" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  14. ^ "Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch". Top 40 Singles.
  15. ^ "Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch". VG-lista.
  16. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 8480486392. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  17. ^ "Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch". Singles Top 100.
  18. ^ "Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch". Swiss Singles Chart.
  19. ^ a b c d e https://www.billboard.com/artist/bloodhound-gang/chart-history/
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