Hanson – Mmmbop.

Despite their tender age at the time (singer/keyboardist Taylor was 15, guitarist Isaac 17, and drummer Zac just 3 months old) Hanson were not an overnight success. They had been dragging themselves around record companies for five years before Mercury signed them on the strength of Mmmbop.

The list of people Mercury brought in to work with Hanson on their major label debut Middle of Nowhere is staggering. Mmmbop was produced by The Dust Brothers; who had previously worked with Beck on Odelay and The Beastie Boys’ on Paul’s Boutique and went on to make the Fight Club soundtrack. Much of the album was produced by Steve Lironi (Black Grape, Fun Loving Criminals). Songs were written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, Saturday Night at the Movies and, fittingly, Who Put The Bomp?) and Desmond Child (Aerosmith, Alice Cooper and The Baha Men). The video for Mmmbop was made by Tamara Davis who had previously made a video for Sonic Youth’s Bull in the Heather.

Hanson went on to defy all expectations by failing to end up as bloated corpses floating in a pool of hookers and gin.


Hanson - Mmmbop

Buy Middle of Nowhere