Song:MMMBop
Album:Middle of Nowhere
I'm sure you all remember MMMBop. It was a huge hit in 1997. It's perceived as a one hit wonder but Hanson had a second top ten hit. I guess they were characterized as a boy band but the big difference was that Hanson wrote and performed all their songs. And they really were teens at the time. Hanson are from Tulsa. Isaac Hanson played guitar. Taylor Hanson played keyboards and sang lead on MMMBop. Zac Hanson played drums. They started out performing locally in the early 90s and they appeared on Contemporary Christian singer Carman's show Yo! Kidz: The Vidz. After releasing a couple of albums, they performed at SXSW in Austin, TX and signed with manager Christopher Sabec. Record companies didn't take Hanson seriously until Steve Greenberg of Mercury Records saw them perform and signed them. Middle of Nowhere was released May 1997. Most of the album was produced by Stephen Lironi though MMMBop was produced by The Dust Brothers. MMMBop was a global chart topper. Hanson released it on one of their independent albums. They were working on a different song but MMMBop was created from a hook that stuck in their heads. Credit them for recognizing that it could be a hit. That's pretty smart for teens. The album was certified 4XPlatinum. I Will Come To You was Hanson's other top ten hit. They were a huge success on tour. After a Christmas album, Steve Greenberg left Mercury to start S-Curve. Universal turned Mercury into a country label and moved Hanson to Island. The 2000 album This Time Around didn't do well. Part of the problem was fans loved them as teens but not so much as adults with a more mature sound. And Island didn't promote the album. Hanson continued to record but Island rejected everything as not marketable. So Hanson left Island and since then have recorded for their own label. The 2006 documentary Strong Enough To Break details Hanson's problems at Island. Hanson's latest album String Theory is symphonic versions of their songs and they toured to support it. That's a long way from the MMMBop days. Here's the video of MMMBop by Hanson.
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