ONE HIT WONDERLAND: "Macarena" by Los Del Rio

This was wonderful

I was 12 years old at the time, and I did not feel visceral, unabashed hate for anything, until the Macarena came along. Hate. Hate. Kill it With Fire Hate, did I have for this. I still haven't gotten all the way on the other side to actually tolerate this song, but it's very well in the past. A few tidbits...the parody I remember the most was a promo for NBC's very short lived sitcom Men Behaving Badly. Rob Schneider!! Also, much as I love "It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It" (Fun Boy Three version), it's a little deflating to know you can do the Macarena to the chorus. Finally, YES I do remember the Christmas Macarena. "Simpsons Christmas Boogie" wasn't just a throwaway joke, ya know...

Was that baby picture really what Justin Bieber looked like as a toddler?

not the hebrew version 💀💀💀

I was in second grade when the Macarena conquered the world. It was absolutely inescapable, it was so popular and ubiquitous that it almost felt like it was a long-standing universal cultural touchstone rather than just a goofy new dance fad.

I always figured Todd would never do this one because it sounds so terrible on the piano. Also, this was the Disco Duck of the '90s. Gonna be a rough watch since I actually had to live through it, in high school no less.

Bravo Todd, that might have been the best OHW you've ever did. Amazing 👏👏👏 what a treat

The first time I ever heard the Macarena, I was at a town fundraiser. This song comes on, and every single adult began doing it, and my cousins began groaning in annoyance. I then proceeded to do the dance because I thought it was funny. I was maybe like 8 years old

I woke up today hoping to see something that would include Charo, Alvin & The Chipmunks, Oprah, the Hawaiian Punch mascot, a reference the Generalissimo Francisco Franco, the Montreal Expos and Madeleine Albright. And this video made all my dreams come true.

"His bosses won't let him to play a song that's all in Spanish and Justin Bieber is not yet available to contribute a guest verse." 🤣🤣 By far, the funniest joke you've ever made.

Honestly as a young kid in school in '99/'00 it still felt absolutely inescapable, can't fathom what it was truly like at peak.

Todd, I am continuously amazed with how many iconic one-hit wonders you manage to pull like a rabbit out of a hat after 10 years of making these. I could have sworn you had already covered this but bravo. Outstanding.

Also, I'm a little older than Todd so I'm not sure anyone under 30 (heck, 40?) knows what Stars on 45 was. You can look them up, but I think of it every time I hear that Christmas Macarena song. Awkward dance medleys have a history in Europe, so I'm not that surprised it made some traction.

I worked at a Country radio station in the early 2000s and can confirm that stupid remix exists. I once played it for the new Program Director as a joke and he told me to bury that thing and never mention it again.

On the topic of "true" one-hit wonders, any chance of "In The Year 2525" by Zager and Evans? The past six years or so can't help but make it feel a little more timely...

I cannot believe there was an animated Bubu Lubu Macarena commercial. That actually warms my heart. Please try Bubu Lubus if you haven’t. They are chocolatey marshmallow and strawberry deliciousness. This is now my favorite OHW episode. You’ve been dethroned, Scatman.

That Chipmunk version of Macarena is terrifying!

Los del Rio, Los del Mar, Bayside Boys- I guess you have to live by the water to touch this song.

A+/10 Todd I literally stamped my feet in excitement when the Majora's Mask bit first happened and nothing about this disappointed. This is easily one of your best videos 🤘🤘🤘

im obsessed with the majoras mask countdown lol. Fantastic video <3

"Suspiciously foreign" around 3:40 could be taken the wrong way

I did one of those "what song was #1 the month you were born" things once. It's supposed to be like, important to you, a part of your identity, at least that's how quiz websites like that always pitch it. I was born in August of 96.

The funny thing is, I actually like the original - it's fun and catchy. The watered down version we got reminds me so much of Cotton-eye Joe. But what Todd said is accurate - I suffered through this song all throughout my 7th grade year via school dances, gym class, church events, any gathering period, it truly was a virus. I listen to kpop and one of the most famous acts of the 2nd generation just incorporated the dance into the choreo for their latest single, and now I'm worried - once kpop gets their hands on something and international fans catch wind of it, I'm worried it'll come back...much like how the current pandemic is going. How appropriate. :/

The weirdest thing to me was that at one point two different Los Del Rio versions and the Los Del Mar version were all in the hot 100 at the same time. That’s a whole lotta Macarena

Once again you've truly gone above and beyond with your research.

This actually explains why I remember Macarena in '93/'94. I have no idea why but my elementary school music teacher was obsessed with it before it became popular, so it existed longer for me than most

I remember there were a couple days at the absolute height of the madness when my elementary school would just play the Macarena over the loudspeakers so that everyone in the school would have to drop what they were doing and do that dance.

I, too, have been eagerly awaiting the day Todd released his episode on Macarena. I can die happy now, lmao.

Remember the Friends episode where Rachel accidentally mixes an English trifle with shepherd's pie? That has to be what combining Macarena with Christmas carols feels like. Except in this case it's more like trifle mixed with paella.

i was born in 99 and i remember the macarena being HUGE until i was like 10. every single event everyone had to get up and do that AND the nutbush. exhausting. great video, as always!

This explains why I don't remember the English verse--here in Canada the "official" version had to compete with Los del Mar's version. I think I even remember the del Mar version showing up on a MuchDance compilation.

If you weren't around at the time, yes, it really was that huge. I personally made a point of never doing the dance, which in a way, made it even more omnipresent with me. Trust me, "mass psychosis" isn't an exaggeration by much.

I was fourteen when this took over the world, and I'm proud of the fact that I never once danced the Macarena.

It's too early in the day to have this stuck in my head. "Can you imagine being these guys and being unsatisfied with what life had brought you?" Great way to sum it up.

18:20 "But then, there is the One-Hit-Wonder in its truest and purest form. To go all the way to Number One, and then never sniff the ass-end of the charts ever again." ["Bad Day" by Daniel Powter: Sweats nervously]

What can I say but bravo! This episode put a huge smile on my face. I was 4 years old in 1996 and I have hazy memories of doing the Macarena. By the time I was in middle school in the 2000s it was still being taught in midwestern gym classes as a party dance alongside the electric slide. I have no idea if it lives on among today’s middle school classes or if it’s finally fading out.

Well done as usual Todd, thanks for all of your hard work :) Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna go listen to as much other music as possible to get this earworm out of my head lol might put the OHW playlist on shuffle

The only dance that I can think that even scratches the ground near the Macarena is Las Ketchup's "Asereje (The Ketchup Song)", which was inescapably HUGE literally everywhere but the US. I have friends who grew up in South Sudan who danced along to Asereje it was that big. They also came from Spain and had a musical background in flamenco (their father was a famous Spanish guitar player) It seems that Spain just had the monopoly on viral dance-craze songs during the late 90s and early 2000s

It's really hard to put into perspective how big the song was. The charting album for it was 8 songs long and over half of them were just remixes of 'The Macarena.' On the 1996 year-end it was both in first and 98th place. It was bigger than 'One Sweet Day' ffs. The longest lasting number one in history at the time. In truth, I think that's because it's not viewed as a song or a dance. It's a party game. Its closest comparison isn't 'The Twist' or even meme-able reference pseudo-dances like 'Walk Like an Egyptian' but rather something like the 'Hokey Pokey' or 'The Limbo.' And I bet if it weren't for copyright 'The Macarena' would probably supplant both those two in the cultural canon for kindergartens and dance party shorthand, respectively.

You might want to reword the "run a train on her" thing at 16:05 ish. It's a little sexist.

Ya know Todd, it's ok to admit you did the Macarena and had fun doing it. It looks cringe now but we were all on that shit. Especially if you were a kid

I was young enough to only remember the tail end of the Macarena craze, but I mainly remember my elementary school Spanish teacher using the Macarena moves to teach us the Spanish months of the year. Even managed to find a video of a teacher doing the same thing: https://youtu.be/BfS3C7vFxxE?t=127

Looks like I'm having earworm for breakfast!

❤️❤️❤️

Did you know that Los Del Rio has an “official” YouTube Channel that they started 1 year ago? It’s those same two guys making far more traditional music not even trying a little bit to ride on any modern pop trends. Their occasional videos also only get 2-6k views, which is crazy to think about. https://youtu.be/RygB6h9vKMM

This is the biggest nostalgia bomb I've ever had dropped on me. Thank you, Todd.

Wow. I can tell you put a lot of effort into this one - the video clips alone must have taken ages! The most surprising was the Christmas Macarena - I'm going to have to slip that one into the playlist this December and see how long it takes people to notice ~

I miss late 90s/early 00s KTU — lots of great and now-obscure dance music you could probably extract from the very core of my brain. Glad to know they were also extremely powerful... They're now little more than Top 40 with a dance beat. Also lol Topo Gigio doing the Macarena (23:34)

I was 5 when this song came out, was paying no attention to music at all and I completely missed it. My first exposure to it was the other kids randomly doing the dance in the playground. I remember thinking it was so strange, everyone doing the same thing and so I have never performed it out of protest. I leave the dancefloor whenever it comes on and it's the same for any other song with a specific dance you have to do.

HOLY CRAP And yeah, I did the Macarena then as well. It was inescapable.

Wow, normally when I watch these I either never knew something, or I remember it... but the Christmas Macarena I distinctly remember now, but had banished from my memory until you played it. Amazing. Also shutout to 'fuck the Macarena', that was huge in my friend group - boy we loved shitting on whatever was cool at the time - but it's also a pretty legit edm song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFnEPfBgKmY )

👏👏👏👏👏

holy crap, todd's piano has a built in delay. that's neat. If you ever find a way to work a quick Darude-Sandstorm cover into an ep that'll come in handy

i remember dancing this at my uncle's wedding. when i was maybe 7-8

Fun fact, Australia has a similar dance to the Macarena called the Nutbush, but there is no chance Tina Turner is getting a OHW video since well, outside the dance only being known in Australia, Tina Turner is FAR from being a One Hit Wonder.

FUCK YEAH

That was an absolute trip

I could have sworn Todd did this one already because it is the quintessential OHW. What other really obvious targets have not gotten an episode yet?

fun fact: that "fuck the macarena" gabber remix in the montage at the end was a top ten hit in the netherlands. of course it was.

Great episode! One little note though, "Macarena Christmas" got as high as #57, not five lower as stated at 19:06... thanks Todd!

I'd say the only thing even close to the Macarena in the 21st century is Gangnam Style.

Ahhh, I remember doing the Macarena in Girl Scouts/ Good times.

The Macarena is honestly better thought of as a cultural phenomenon than a piece of popular music. It was not popular the same way that popular songs are popular. The best thing to compare it to today isn't anything on the charts, it's more something like, I dunno, Wordle or some shit. (The Macarena was way bigger than Wordle).

OH MY GOD OHW #101, BARELY MISSED 100 BUT WE CELEBRATE REGARDLESS

the release of this OHW is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse