Bloodhound Gang

Under the guidance of brash frontman Jimmy Pop, the alternative rock band Bloodhound Gang emerged from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and attained widespread recognition in the late 1990s through lyrics steeped in sexual innuendo and juvenile comedy. Pop and longtime associate Daddy Long Legs launched the project in 1992 under the initial name Bang Chamber 8, later borrowing the title Bloodhound Gang from the 1970s children’s public television series 3-2-1 Contact. Pop has cited Howard Stern as a primary inspiration, explaining that the group was conceived to “hurt everyone’s feelings; it makes us feel better about ourselves.” An early demonstration tape titled The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Hitler’s Handicapped Helpers underscored that intent, yet the Universal-affiliated imprint Cheese Factory Records embraced the band’s sensibility and issued its debut EP, Dingleberry Haze, in 1994.

Several tracks from that EP resurfaced on the 1995 full-length Use Your Fingers, the ensemble’s sole Columbia release, a label Pop believed never truly “got” the band. The album blended Red Hot Chili Peppers-influenced funk-rock with Beastie Boys-influenced rap-rock, opened with a spoken introduction from flamboyant comedian Rip Taylor, included a raucous rendition of Kim Wilde’s 1980s hit “Kids in America,” and yielded the minor success “Mama Say.” After Columbia parted ways with the act and Daddy Long Legs departed to establish Wolfpac, Pop recruited new members and returned to Cheese Factory for the 1996 album One Fierce Beer Coaster. Geffen reissued the record months later, propelling the single “Fire Water Burn” to number 18 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart; although the placement was modest, the song “had legs” and stayed available as a U.S. single for the subsequent two years. In 1998 the group’s cover of the Association’s “Along Comes Mary” opened the soundtrack for the stoner comedy Half-Baked.

Capitalizing on this growing profile, the 2000 release Hooray for Boobies—issued in clean form simply as Hooray—marked the band’s commercial breakthrough. The infectious dance-pop track “The Bad Touch,” built around the chorus “You and me baby ain’t nuthin’ but mammals/So let’s do it like they do on the Discovery Channel,” became an international smash, followed by the porn-star tribute “The Ballad of Chasey Lain” and the “Rock Me Amadeus”-sampling single “Mope.” Extensive European touring delayed the next studio effort, Hefty Fine, until 2005, when it was supported by the singles “Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo” and “Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss,” the latter later reworked by “stadium techno” powerhouse Scooter.