If the Bloodhound Gang is known for any song in particular, it's "The Bad Touch", a rather risqué little number from way back in 1999. It was chock full of sexual innuendos and featured the band running around some miscellaneous town in monkey costumes causing all sorts of inane havoc. And of course, if you ask anyone if they can remember a Bloodhound Gang song nowadays, they will likely respond by asking if they were the group behind the one that went "You and me, baby, ain't nothin' but mammals so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel". They were. But since their rise to immediate fame based on that one tune alone, their popularity has waned, especially in the United States. This doesn't mean that they weren't pumping out new material though. In fact, they seem to have quite a lucid fanbase in Germany. Among their more recently released singles is this one: the onomatopoeia-centrically-titled "Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss".
It is clear upon first listening that their interest in raunchy lyrics has not dissipated in any way, but that's no surprise, and I won't complain about such things because they won't be changing anytime soon. Lead vocalist Jimmy Pop lays down his unequivocal double entendres all over the place amongst the album version of this song (off the album "Hefty Fine"). Overtop classic synths, a standard beat, a guitar sample not unusually found in any Bloodhound Gang tune, and, expectedly, a hi-hat, he manages to toss in random phrases that string together quite flowingly, even though they're pretty much nonsensical to the average listener. His best line? "Serious Levis, so tight, can't be classified / That's why I'm here to fill that opening". That's just dandy. It's pretty obvious, at least with the female voice sample of "uhn tiss baby" that the song's title is referring to intercourse. Then again, everything the Bloodhound Gang says is about sex. Overall, the original version has turned out to be average synth-pop with nothing special to discern it from everything else the genre has to offer. It is likely to be easily forgotten, even with those brow-raising lyrics.
Additionally, some remixers have come to try and improve upon the groundwork already laid down in the album version. The first is by Push, an artist who has about two thousand aliases, but is most well-known under this one. He has opted to pretty much demolish any remnants of the original, save for the female "uhn tiss" sound byte. In essence, this is a completely new song that has nothing to do with the Bloodhound Gang at all. Worst yet, it's not even that impressive; his powerful bassline and typical angelic pads have little effect on me whatsoever. This is less than generic trance: it's just using instruments for the sake of making oneself heard. The Push remix (if it can be called a remix) is not a worthy addition to the single.
The same cannot be said for the remix by German hard dance trio Scooter. They have taken the lyrics and "uhn tiss" and created a dancefloor smash that could be even bigger than the original version. After an intro build-up with the "uhn tiss" sample, Scooter frontman H.P. Baxxter says a few words and then calls Jimmy Pop to enter. Jimmy's vocals, here in their entirety, have been altered with special vocal effects, all of which are effective enough. We are soon placed in the middle of what can only be described as a powerful trance chorus with a funky bassline and a rolling pad to keep the simple but enticing melody at play. This pattern is repeated again with vocals and another run of the trance part before the outro. It is without a doubt the most enjoyable of all remixes while still successfully implementing the source material. Jimmy Pop must have realized this as well; he returned the favour by co-producing one of Scooter's tracks on their 2007 album "The Ultimate Aural Orgasm".
Finally, there is the Tomcraft Remix. I have been a great fan of Tomcraft for a long time, even though I feel that his most recent material is strongly lacking in the same brand of inspiration that he had in his classic works. He has provided for us an electro-house take on the lyrics, but to be honest, while it is certainly funky enough, it just doesn't suit the lyrics. Frankly, I wish he had simply kept an instrumental version of this for himself and used it for one of his albums; it would have been the best thing on there. What we have here, though, is some strange electro vibe that simply doesn't connect with the beat initialized by the source vocals. It might be okay in a club where the set is of this genre though, but it doesn't end up in my personal playlist too frequently. Lead singer Jimmy Pop must have liked it though; he later collaborated with Tomcraft on an MP3 single known as "Broadsword Calling Danny Boy". That one turned out okay.
I am grateful that there is a variety of electronic musical styles available here, but about half of them were unwarranted for the type of lyrical material that the Bloodhound Gang is presenting, thus essentially decreasing the overall effect of the single. The Tomcraft remix ended up with a groove too strong for the vocals, while the Push remix was a completely new song altogether. The original album version is solid enough, but clearly the strength of the single lies in the Scooter remix, which takes the lyrics and adds a high level of danceability for the club scene. If the Bloodhound Gang decides to put out more singles with remixes, they really ought to be careful who they hire as remixers because you never know what kind of a mixed bag you'll end up with.
