So two years ago NBC ran a summer replacement program titled Hit Me Baby One More Time that almost no one wrote about apart from John Darnielle, renaissance man and Mountain Goat. And he was right: the show was really awesome, particularly the debut episode, in which the one and only Tommy Tutone blistered through his one-hit-wonder “867-5309 (Jenny)” and then rocketed through Blink-182’s “All the Small Things.” But don’t take Darnielle’s or my word for it: the clips are after the jump.
First, the song that put Tutone on the map:
And then the cover version:
Tutone is apparently a computer analyst in Portland these days. But two years ago, for a few minutes on television, he was something like a pissy little god.
Haddaway was robbed. Seriously. And thank you, I have been looking for this on YouTube for two years (now and then).
Other highlights: Wang Chung doing a surprisingly sharp, funny version of Nelly’s “Hot in Herre.” Awesomely bizarre idea, especially for an 80s nerd like me-but i think the results were always going to depend on how good-natured the artist is about the whole thing.
All I can remember from this show are all those Arrested Development fans…and how I can’t distinguish their fans from Deadheads or Phishheads.
Yes, my Mom and I loved this show!
@MTS: ZING!
Cameo doing Bowling for Soup’s “1985″ was strangely great, too.
I always thought there should be a disclaimer displayed when a band only had one original member, like A Flock Of Seagulls or Missing Persons. Let’s face it, is it REALLY Missing Persons when it’s only Dale Bozzio?
(Oddly enough, “A Flock Of Seagulls” and “Missing Persons” made up 2/3rds of a bill I saw at some sort of “Ribfest” in Philadelphia. The Tubes were the headliners. They had THREE original members!)
BB: That’s what the Truth In Music Bill is all about. Write to your Congressman!
I was at the taping of the Loverboy / Arrested Development / A Flock of Seagulls / Tiffany episode. And it was AWESOME. Although Flock of Seagulls were definitely the weak link.
It should also be mentioned that there was a British version of Hit Me Baby in the spring of 2005, with slightly better lineups: Belinda Carlisle covering Coldplay! Jordan Knight doing Mario! Limahl covering Maroon 5! Gloria Gaynor doing Christina Aguilera! Did I mention LIMAHL?