Bloodhound Gang — "The Bad Touch"
"You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals..." Bloodhound Gang's gleefully crude smash turned a biology-class euphemism into an inescapable party anthem — and the monkey-suit video sealed the deal.
"The Bad Touch" was released September 3, 1999, as a single from Bloodhound Gang's album Hooray for Boobies, written by frontman Jimmy Pop. A rapid-fire barrage of double entendres set to a bouncy dance beat, it was the definition of a love-it-or-hate-it novelty record — juvenile, endlessly quotable, and impossible to get out of your head.
In the US it was only a modest chart entry, peaking at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100, but across Europe it was a monster, topping the charts in eight territories including Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Ireland. Its real cultural peak came in 2000 — which is where we home it, despite the 1999 release — and much of that reach came from the music video, in which the band roamed Paris, Eiffel Tower and all, dressed in oversized "MonkeyRat" ape costumes. One scene drew objections from GLAAD, and an edited version was released after MTV requested a cut.
Bloodhound Gang never matched it, and "The Bad Touch" remains their calling card: the turn-of-the-millennium's most shameless earworm, still guaranteed to make a room half-groan and half-sing along.
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