With all this talk of memorable summer songs, I’ve decided to nominate some under-the-radar candidates. Granted, most of them can’t be heard on pop radio, and their videos aren’t in rotation on MTV, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of a listen.
Today’s nominee is "King Kong" by Shanadoo. Huh? Xanadu? Exactly. The J-pop techno mess is such a train wreck that it’s impossible to turn off — so-bad-it’s-good territory. And the video is so surreal, in the "Is that really the video?" kind of way, that it necessitates repeated viewings. Who wouldn’t want to watch three-and-a-half minutes of Japanese girls trying to dance and rap, while watching themselves on TV?! "King Kong" won’t win any awards, but if pop radio played this once, you know it’d be requested every hour by those crazy tweens. Anyone remember "The Ketchup Song"? I rest my case.
It’s like the Japanese Spice Girls. Yikes! Magically delicious saccharine pop. Also, it helps that I don’t know what they are saying.
Wow.
It’s likeable, in a very scary way!
What about Kelly Clarkson’s “Go”? Sure, it might not technically be released as a single yet, but that doesn’t mean that the 30 seconds that it plays on the Ford Focus commercials gets stuck in my head over and over again. Plus, it’s really great to sing to in the car.
Thanks for the throwback to Las Ketchup – I forgot how much I like that song! Thank goodness for youtube!
King Kong is way better than all the other terrible songs that are apparently in contention for the dubious Song of Summer title.
Give it up. There is no summer song ’06.
if you like that abomination, then visit the link below for some really & truly excellent J-pop: http://www.mollyopoverty.com/?p=393
I have the best under the radar summer song. It is called Girl and the Sea by the Presets. You can get this song as iTunes free download of the week. It is along the line of the Gorillaz. It is a great summer dance song.
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