OTR: The Bloodhound Gang - Hooray For Boobies

There are three stickers on my copy of this album. The first is a "Parental Advisory" label. The second is a "promotional use only" label. The third sticker reads as follows: "With lyrics sharper than a new set of Ginsus, and beats phatter than Fat Albert at a Vegas buffet, we are proud to bring you the new Bloodhound Gang album Hooray for Boobies. They finally cleared that Pink Floyd sample on Track 14 & on Track 18 they cover the 60's band The Association, throwing in a RUN-DMC sample. Every track on this album is fun fun fun, so go ahead...spin it & have some fun. (Strange concept, huh?) Please note, that even on the "clean" version, Track 5 contains the word "shit", but apart from that all tracks are clean."

Hooray For Boobies was the Bloodhound Gang's third album and, for me, the "spoils of war" after having endured a year at WAIH where the music director thought that Limp Bizkit was a good band that a had a place in high rotation on a college radio station. The album had been released in the final week of February in 2000, the clean version staying on WAIH's playlist until the summer rolled around. At that point, I had taken the reins of music directing at WAIH, thoroughly cleaning out the back office. "Dirty" versions and spare copies became perks for me...and I took this one because I didn't want to be caught paying for it.

"The Bad Touch" is a guilty pleasure, and, as I recall, this band's only hit. However, in Potsdam, New York, they may as well have been superstars. Their sophomore effort, One Fierce Beer Coaster was inescapable throughout high school - it seemed that everyone aside from me owned a copy of the disc. Stoners would wander the halls, singing, "the roof...the roof...the roof is on fire...we don't need no water, let's the motherfucker burn..." This was 1996.

The band's lack of evolution between then and 2000 - and indeed, 2005's Hefty Fine - is nothing short of amazing. They are the perpetual college freshmen; never growing up, never changing...which would be great for them if it could spawn more than one hit. Still, according to their website, the members of the group have yet to be forced into taking jobs as janitors or fast-food drive-through clerks. It's coming though...it's coming...

The tracks on this album provide mild amusement for when I'm feeling particularly immature, but swimming through 18 proper tracks (both songs and inteludes), plus one hidden track (#47) is proving tiresome. "The Bad Touch" is the best song on here, but any of the others will serve if one needs a quick pinch of stupidy. And that's the problem - all anyone ever needs is a quick pinch, the full album is just too much at once.

I keep it because someday, somewhere, there will be a 90s dance party in desperate need of "The Bad Touch" and I will be a hero (for four minutes and twenty seconds).