Jump Around

Jump Around
Date Aired	April 18, 2019
Running Time	18:29
Previous Review	Here It Goes Again
Next Review	TBA
Website	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBOGkD7xW2c

Todd plays the opening notes on his piano...

HOUSE OF PAIN - JUMP AROUND
A one-hit wonder retrospective

and starts bouncing to...

Video for "Jump Around"

Todd: [still bouncing] Welcome back to One Hit Wonderland, where we take a look at bands and artists known for only one song. [stops bouncing] Can we stop the music? [music stops] Sorry, can't talk and bounce at the same time. Now, as you may recall, a year ago, my car broke and, to pay for it, I [shows Patreon page] sold some requests, and, accidentally, I sold way too many. It's taken a while to get through them all, but, finally, a full 12 months later, I am finally finishing them. At last, I'm done, just in time for my (shows clip from The Blues Brothers where the Bluesmobile breaks down with caption "REENACTMENT" displayed below) car to break again. Next time, y'all are gonna buy me a new car, and I'll just do nothing but requests for the rest of my life. (opening clip of "Jump Around") But as we finally put a stop to this stretch of videos, there is only one song for which we can pack it up and pack it in.

Everlast: I came to get down, I came to get down

So get out your seat and jump around!

Todd: [singing along] Jump up, jump up, and get down!

House of Pain: Jump, jump, jump

Todd (VO): Yes, "Jump Around", the deathless jock jam that ruled the airwaves in 1992, and still gets the party jumping almost 30 years later, by DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, and Erik "Everlast" Schrody, collectively known as the House of Pain.

Everlast: Won't ever slack up, punk you better back up

Todd (VO): This is one of the most requested songs I get. And, in fact, I was saving this request for last specifically, because...

Todd: ...this song's requester had been a patron for the shortest amount of time.

Todd (VO): But there was another reason why I saved it for last and why I have never, ever reviewed it before today.

Todd: And that is that I love it way too much.

Everlast: So get out your seat and jump around

Todd (VO): This song is a part of me, and it has been for longer than I can even remember. Reviewing it is like reviewing my own hands.

Todd: If you took a microscope to my DNA, it would read, [rapping fastly] "Pack it up, pack it in, let me begin. I came to win, battle me that's a sin. I won't ever slack up, punk you better back up. Try and play the role and yo the whole crew'll act up. Get up, stand up, c'mon throw your hands up. If you've got the feeling, jump across the ceiling. Muggs lifts a funk flow, someone's talking junk. Yo I bust him in the eye, and then I'll take the punk's hoe. Feelin', funkin', amps in the trunk and I got more rhymes than there's cops at a Dunkin' Donuts shop. Sho' nuff, I got props from the kids on the hill plus my mom and my pops". [exhales deeply]

Todd (VO): And as one-hit wonders, House of Pain has a strange legacy. No one expects jock jam acts like them to have long careers. They felt like a novelty and no one knows a single other song by them. [clip of live performance] And yet, they had legitimacy that other one-hit wonder rap acts just don't have. Partly because "Jump Around" is such an eternal jam and...

Todd: ...partly because a few years later,  [clip of "What's It Like" by...] Everlast started a successful solo career as a bluesy folk singer, of all goddamn things. ["Jump Around"] But mostly, they're remembered for keeping white rap alive during what turned out to be a very dark time for Caucasian hip-hop.

Montage clips of Jesse Jaymes - "Shake It (Like A White Girl)"...

Jesse Jaymes: She was wiggling, giggling, shaking, jiggling

...and Icy Blu - "Pump It (Nice 'n' Hard)"

Icy Blu: Rollin' into town, I'm down, for an evenin' of dancin'

• Note from the editor: Please fill in this gap

Todd (VO): Yeah, every white rapper that came after House of Pain owes them a huge debt of gratitude just for not being this. Ugh.

Todd: So, let's bust that shit. [rapping] We came to get down, we came to get down. So get out your seat and jump around!

Clip of "Jump Around"

Everlast: I got lyrics, but you ain't got none

If you come to battle bring a shotgun

But if you

Before the hit

Todd: So, speaking of white rappers, [shot of article: "House of Pain Look Back at 20 Years of 'Jump Around'"] I was reading a recent interview with the House of Pain guys and [shot of Living Stereo magazine with the text "Vanilla Ice Is Back!"] Vanilla Ice came up, and Everlast was like, "Yeah, it sucked to have his career, 'cause...", quote, "There's a big part of me that could have easily been that dude. Had that first Warner Bros. record, with 'I Got the Knack' as the first single, blown up, I would've been that guy." (Everlast, SPIN Magazine, February 2012)" [raises his finger to say something but changes his mind] What's this now?

Video for Everlast - "I Got The Knack"

Everlast: You got it

Get up everybody and listen to this rhyme

My name is Everlast and yo, I'm always on time

Todd: Ohh...oh my.

Todd (VO): Nice suit, Mr. Schrody.

Everlast: Everlast lasts forever, that's why I'm number one

I got the knack

Todd (VO): You were correct, Everlast. It is good that this did not take off.

Todd: Okay, so, backstory...

Video for Everlast - "Syndication"

Todd (VO): Everlast was originally part of a posse called Rhyme Syndicate.

Video for Rhyme Syndicate - "What Ya Wanna Do"

Ice-T: My name is MC Ice-T

Everlast is in the house, come on, what you wanna do?

Todd (VO): That was Ice-T's group. It was this whole Young Money-type stable of future superstars.

Clip of "I Got The Knack"

Everlast: I'm also down with Divine, Bilal and Quincy D

Tairrie B., DJ Lethal and my brother cool Nick

Kid Jazz, Scratch, Bango and Cutmaster Quick

Todd (VO): No, I've never heard of any of these people either.

Todd: Look, 1990 was a...

Brief clips of MC Hammer - "U Can't Touch This" and Ice-T - "Colors

Todd (VO): ...weird year for hip-hop. Even Ice-T, the original original gangsta, [shot of soundtrack cover for...] was doing inane pop rap like the Dick Tracy theme, ["I Got The Knack"] and helping doofus shit like this into the world. ["Syndication"] Everlast's earlier tracks are way better, but for his big solo debut, I guess he dumbed himself down to get that Vanilla Ice money, ["I Got The Knack"] not knowing this style would be lamer than lame by next year. And even for pop rap, this is real bad.

Todd: Get it? It's called "I Got The Knack" [album cover for Get The Knack by...] 'cause it samples "My Sharona" by The Knack? Ugh, yeah, it's just the worst. His rhymes are all preschool-basic, [clip of...] and "My Sharona" was already a sample from Run-DMC's "It's Tricky".

Rev Run: It's tricky, tricky, tricky, tricky

Todd: It's been done. I mean, come on, it's 1990. There'd have only been, like 5 samples so far. Look harder.

Clip of Rhyme Syndicate - "The Rhythm"

Everlast: I'm Everlast, born to be a Caucasian

But it makes no difference what persuasion

Todd (VO): Oh my god, it gets worse. Ooof.

Todd: Fortunately, for him, no one ever saw this, or he would've never been taken seriously again.

Clip of live performance of Rhyme Syndicate with DJ Lethal

Todd (VO): But being in Rhyme Syndicate wasn't terrible for Everlast. That was where he met a teenage beatboxer named DJ Lethal. And from there, he recruited a high school friend called [clip of interview with...] Danny Boy.

Todd: And they gave themselves an awesome name.

Audio of House of Pain - "House of Pain Anthem" plays over video for "Jump Around"

House of Pain: The House Of Pain is in effect, y'all

I say the House Of Pain is in effect

The big hit

Video for "Jump Around" starts again

Todd does a salute

Todd (VO): Okay, so now that we've made it here, we have to ask the question...

Todd: Is "Jump Around" the best song of the '90s? It's a theory we have to take seriously, because what else is there? [brief clips of...] "Smells Like Teen Spirit? It's fine. [2Pac ft. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman's...] "California Love"? I mean, it's good. (...and Tevin Campbell's...) "Stand Out" from A Goofy Movie? Look, these are all classic songs! They're just not "Jump Around".

Everlast: Pack it up, pack it in, let me begin

I came to win, battle me that's a sin

Todd (VO): Like I said, I couldn't even begin to analyze why this song is so great.

Todd: It's just classic line after classic line, especially, of course, the immortal...

Everlast: I'll serve your ass like John McEnroe

Todd (raises the roof): Oh-oooh!

Todd (VO): What else is there to say, really? I mean, you don't need me to explain the greatness of "Jump Around".

Todd: You're already familiar with it if you've gone to literally [clips of...] any St. Patrick's Day party or sporting event in the last 25 years. [clip of Jump Around playing at a sporting event in Madison, Wisconsin] I went to a Yankees game just this weekend, and they played it. And what's amazing is that it took off...right around the time that...

Clip of Vanilla Ice - "Play That Funky Music"

Todd (VO): ...white people rapping was pretty close to being discredited. [clips of "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" by...] The Beastie Boys were always considered more rock than hip-hop, [...and "Good Vibrations" by...] Vanilla Ice and Marky Mark were already jokes after just a year or two.

Todd: And from then on, trying to rap while being white just had this horrible stigma attached to it.

Video for Eminem - "My Name Is"

Todd (VO): Even after Eminem, white rap was treated as a novelty for years and years until...

Todd: ...roughly now. When they're so ambiguous, it's not a thing anymore.

Video for "Jump Around"

Todd (VO): So, really, "Jump Around" was, like, the last good white rap song for a very long time. And it's very, very white.

Todd: And not in a bad way. Not in the "failing to be black" kind of way. It was their own thing. [clip of "Fight For Your Right" by...] Now, take the Beasties. They adopted this persona of, you know, [Brooklyn accent] "Bowery boy, New York wise guys". [normal] And it worked for them because...it was pretty close to who they really were. House of Pain did something similar by leaning on their...

Video for "Jump Around"

Todd (VO): ...Irish-American heritage. Yeah, you see the pub, the bagpipes, the Celtics jerseys. I honestly assumed they were from Boston for the longest time, they're-they're actually from LA. And it works 'cause...

Todd: Well, you know, Irishness has a weird place in American culture.

Video for Dropkick Murphys - "I'm Shipping Off To Boston"

Todd (VO): Like, it's understood to be, like, tough, even though it's been so watered down by this point that, like, [image of two guys in green] everyone is part-Irish.

Todd: I'm part-Irish. And, trust me, you would not know when to look at me. Plus, I'm a total wuss.

Footage of early Irish people in America

Todd (VO): But there was a time in history that the Irish were [image of sign that reads "Help Wanted: No Irish Need Apply] the filthy poor immigrants of the country. And they suffered through oppression in America and in their homeland that...gives Irishness a certain level of street cred. [clips from...] In fact, just a year earlier, there was this movie, The Commitments, about a bunch of Irish street kids trying to be soul singers.

Dean Fay (Felim Gormley): Well, like...maybe we're a little white for that kind o' thing.

Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins): D'yeh not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe.

Todd: I don't know how true that is, but, you know, you get it, there's a level of respect.

Video for "Jump Around"

Todd (VO): And House of Pain found an image everyone can get behind: the mook, bar-dwelling tough guys. Like, [brief clip of "The Rhythm"] this guy, this guy's a poser. But ["Jump Around"] this guy's the real deal.

Todd: Yeah, I know this is an act too.

Video for Everlast - "Syndication"

Todd (VO): And it's especially obvious if you've seen his career progression.

Todd: It's just an act that worked.

Clip of "Jump Around"

Everlast: Get up, stand up (c'mon!)

C'mon throw your hands up

Todd (VO): You gotta give credit to that beat, too. Every St. Paddy's Day,...

Todd: ...that "skree" comes on...

Todd (VO): And that's the cue for a bunch of drunk people to start jumping up and down.

Todd: That bounce was made by [images of...] Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs.

Everlast: Muggs lets the funk flow

Todd (VO): And it is the greatest beat ever made.

Todd: There's no one who can't move to this. You know "white people can't dance"?

Todd (VO): Well, don't worry. You don't have to. You just have to [rapping to the song] jump, jump, jump.

Todd: A movie came out that year called White Men Can't Jump. Well, turns out they can. The drunker you are, the better.

Everlast: I'm the cream of the crop, I rise to the top

Todd (VO): And, fun fact: you can literally only listen to this song with a beer. Not whiskey, not tequila, certainly no fruity cocktails. Just beer.

Todd: In fact, [holds up...] a beer just appeared in my hand right now. Don't know where this came from. [shrugs and takes a sip]

Everlast: Or better yet a Terminator, like Arnold Schwarzanegger

Todd (VO): And this came out right during the glory years of a subgenre of rap music that...

Todd:...kinda crossed over with [images of...] the alternative kids and the metalheads. ["Fight the Power" by...] These are groups like Cypress Hill and Public Enemy, and (...and "So What Cha Want" by...) the Beasties, obviously, because it was so aggro and hard.

Todd (VO): In fact, "Jump Around" was the start of a lot of forceful...onomatopoeic rap songs in that time.

Todd: You know just a lot of...[slams fist]

Clips of Onyx - "Slam"...

Onyx: Slam, da duh duh

Todd continues slamming his fist as a segue for...

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - "Boom! Shake The Room"

Will Smith: Boom! Shake, shake, shake the room

...and Tag Team - "Whoomp! (There It Is)"

Tag Team: Whoomp, there it is!

Todd (VO): It wasn't even...

Todd: ...the only "Jump" song in 1992. That was also the year of ["Jump" by...] Kris Kross.

Kris Kross: Jump, jump

Todd (VO): And "Jump Around" even...

Todd: ...takes a hit at Kris Kross. I-I didn't even know this.

Everlast: This is dedicated to Joe "The Biter" Nicolo

Todd: Joe Nicolo was a [image of Joe in the studio] music executive they sent their "Jump Around" demo to, and he passed on it, and then, a short time later, he makes...

Video for...

Todd (VO): ..."Jump" with Kris Kross. I guess House of Pain thought their song got stolen. But, fortunately, it turned out there was more than enough "jump" to go around that year. It was the best year for jumping...

Todd: ...since 1984.

Brief clips of Van Halen - "Jump"...

David Lee Roth: Jump!

...and Pointer Sisters - "Jump (For My Love)"

Pointer Sisters: Jump, if you wanna...

Todd (VO): And also, I think there was this, like...

Todd: ...brief period in 2000 where you could've heard [ clips of Destiny's Child's...] "Jumpin' Jumpin'" back to back with [...and Third Eye Blind's...] "Jumper".

Stephan Jenkins: I wish you would step back from the...

Todd (VO): That song's not as great for jumping, though.

Everlast: Try to play me out like, as if my name was Sega

Todd (VO): I-I feel like I'm talking in circles. I just love this song way too much. It speaks to me like nothing else ever will. It's just stood the test of time.

Todd: But no group of Irishmen, no matter how rowdy, can jump forever. What next?

The failed follow-up

Video for House of Pain - "Shamrocks and Shenanigans"

Denis Leary: Three words, folks: House. Of. Pain. Okay? Three more words: St. Patrick's Day. Okay? Guy's got his own day, guy's got his own parade...

Todd: Oh, wow. Denis Leary, huh? We're really going there.

Denis Leary: Real Irish guys wear Celtics jerseys with the big 33 in the front. I think you hear me knocking...

Todd: [sarcastically] Oh, are you Irish, Denis? I had no idea.

Denis Leary: Don't talk to me about U2, those guys aren't Irish. Those guys wear berets, they're French.

Todd: That's funny, because I remember Bono having some (clip of live performance of U2) harsh words for Americans acting like they know anything about being Irish.

Clip of live performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" from Rattle and Hum

Bono: I've had enough of Irish-Americans who haven't been back to their country!

Todd (VO): Well, anyway, this is House of Pain's second song. This one is called, not joking...[single cover for...] "Shamrocks and Shenanigans".

Todd: [Irish accent] Ooh, shamrocks and shenanigans!