One of the strangest song titles ever has to be 'Mmm mmm mmm mmm'. The Canadian band Crash test dummies had a big hit with this in 1994. It peaked at no. 2 in the UK and no. 4 in the Netherlands. I even went to a concert by this band during that year, because Sarah McLachlan was opening for them (!). During this concert I realised that the Crash test dummies would never have a hit again, because all their other material was so similar. Lead singer Brad Roberts commented during this concert that he stuck with the demo's lyric 'Mmm mmm mmm mmm' because the alternative, 'fucking shi-it' didn't sound so commercial.In a 1994 essay in which he makes the case that modern life is better than life in the past, humorist P.J. O'Rourke wrote 'Even the bad things are better than they used to be. Bad music, for instance, has gotten much briefer. Wagner's Ring Cycle takes four days to perform while 'Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm' by the Crash Test Dummies lasts little more than three minutes.' Still, I think the music in this track is nothing short of beautiful.
My collection: 7" single no. 2666
Found: Record fair, Leeds, June 30, 1996
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Mmm mmm mmm mmm' / 'Here I stand before me'
Download: Album 'God shuffled his feet', including both tracks
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