Monday, March 11, 2013

BIZARRE part I

How Bizarre
"How Bizarre" is the title of a song written and recorded by New Zealand musical group OMC. It was released in December 1995 as the lead single from the group's debut album, How Bizarre. In the United States, the song was only released to radio and not as a retail single and therefore was not allowed to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100; however, it charted on the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay in 1997. The song was also featured in the 1998 movie Palmetto.

A music video was released to help promote the single. The video has the lead singer, Pauly Fuemana, driving a 1968 Chevrolet Impala. It also pictures him dancing, singing and throwing around money.
The song won the award for "Single of the Year" at the 1996 New Zealand Music Awards.
It was also featured on Nature's Best 2, as the 34th greatest New Zealand song of all time as voted for by members of the Australasian Performing Rights Association in 2001. In 2002, the song was named as the 71st greatest one-hit wonder of all time on a VH1 (an American cable television network) countdown hosted by William Shatner (yes, Captain James T. Kirk from the Star Trek serie).

OMC (band)
OMC, or Otara Millionaires Club, was a New Zealand music group. They were best known for their 1996 hit "How Bizarre", named one of the greatest New Zealand songs of all time by the Australasian Performing Right Association. The full name of the band is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Otara's status as one of the poorest suburbs of Auckland.

The Otara Millionaires Club was originally formed in 1993 by Phil Fuemana, who was previously in the bands Houseparty and Fuemana.Fuemana and his younger brother Pauly Fuemana recorded two tracks as the new band for producer Alan Jansson's Urban Pacifica collection Proud. Pauly suggested that they shorten the band's name to just the initials, and thereafter, he and Jansson were OMC. Pauly became the public face of the band and its primary performer, serving as the frontman and playing several instruments during performances and tours. However, the music was created by both of them, with Jansson co-writing all of the tracks and handling most of the arrangement and production duties in the studio.

"How Bizarre" was followed by the singles "Land of Plenty" which reached the top 5 in the New Zealand charts; "Right On" which achieved platinum-status in New Zealand; and "On The Run" which was a minor international hit in the Netherlands and the UK. By 1998, Fuemana and Jansson had had a falling out over royalties, which ended up in court. After a settlement, it was agreed Fuemana could continue to use the duo's name as a solo artist.

Death of Pauly Fuemana
On 31 January 2010, Pauly Fuemana died at North Shore Hospital in Auckland after suffering for several years from a chronic degenerative disease. He was 40 years old. His elder brother Phil had died in 2005 of a heart attack. "How Bizarre" briefly entered the charts again in New Zealand following news of his death.

 How Bizarre lyrics

 Brother Pele's in the back
 Sweet Seena's in the front
 Cruising down the freeway
 In the hot, hot sun

Suddenly red and blue lights
 Flash us from behind
 Loud voice
 "all will please step out onto the line"

Pele breathes words of comfort
 Seena just hides her eyes
 Policeman taps his shades
 Is that a Chevy 69?

How bizarre
 How bizarre
 How bizarre

Destination unknown
 As we pull in for some gas
 A freshly pasted poster
 Reveals a smile from the pack

Elephants and acrobats,
 Lions next monkey
 Pele speaks righteous
 Sister Seena says funky

How bizarre
 How bizarre
 How bizarre

Ooh baby, (ooh baby)
 It's making me crazy, (it's making me crazy)
 Everytime I look around
 Look around
 Everytime I look around
 Everytime I look around
 Everytime I look around
 It's in my face

Ringmaster steps up
 Says the elephants left town
 People jump and jive
 And the clowns get stuck around

T.V. news and cameras
 There's choppers in the sky
 Marines, police, reporters
 Ask the where, for and why

Pele yells "we're outta here"
 Seena says "right on"
 Make your moves and starting grooves
 Before they knew we're gone

Jump into the Chevy
 Headed for big lights,
 Want to know the rest
 Hey, buy the rights,

How bizarre
 How bizarre
 How bizarre

Ooh baby, (ooh baby)
 It's making me crazy, (it's making me crazy)
 Everytime I look around
 Look around
 Everytime I look around
 Everytime I look around
 Everytime I look around
 It's in my face
 It's in my face

Ooh baby, (ooh baby)
 It's making me crazy, (it's making me crazy)
 Everytime I look around
 Look around
 Everytime I look around
 Everytime I look around
 Everytime I look around
 It's in my face

Ooh baby, (ooh baby)
 It's making me crazy, (it's making me crazy)
 Everytime I look around
 Look around
 Everytime I look around
 Look around
 Everytime I look around
 It's in my face
  
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

No comments: