The song was voted the best single of the year inThe Village VoicePazz & Jop critics poll, while also topping critics' polls from such media asRolling Stone,Spin, andVH1, and was ranked number 20 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s", as well as number 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years". In 2023, Hanson released a new version of "MMMBop", entitled "MMMBop 2.0", in collaboration with Englishpop punk bandBusted.
The song "MMMBop" originally appeared on Hanson's 1996 independent albumMMMBop with a slower tempo, but was reworked as an upbeatpop track by producersthe Dust Brothers. This became the hit version. In an August 2004 interview withSongfacts, Zac Hanson explained the song's origins:
That song started out really as the background part for another song. We were making our first independent album and we were trying to come up with a background part. We started singing a slightly different incarnation of what is now the chorus of "MMMbop". That sort of stuck in our heads and never really worked as a background part, and over a couple of years, that piece really has stuck in our heads and we really crafted the rest of the song – the verses and bridge and so on.
What that song talks about is, you've got to hold on to the things that really matter. "MMMbop" represents a frame of time or the futility of life. Things are going to be gone, whether it's your age and your youth, or maybe the money you have, or whatever it is, and all that's going to be left are the people you've nurtured and have really built to be your backbone and your support system.
They [the lyrics] weren't inspired by one artist in particular. The first music that we got into was '50s and '60s music. If anything, "MMMbop" was inspired byThe Beach Boys and vocal groups of that era – using your voice as almost adoo-wop kind of thing. It was something we almost stumbled upon.[2]
"MMMBop" is written and composed in thekey ofA major.[3]
Larry Flick fromBillboard magazine wrote, "The rush of youth-driven acts on radio accelerates with the onset of this candy-coated pop confection. Try to imagine what theJackson 5 might sound like with the accompaniment of a skittlingfunk beat and scratchy faux-grunge guitars, and you will have a clear picture of where Hanson is coming from. Initially it's a mildly jarring combination, but it's ultimately quite cool. Factor in an instantly catchychorus, and you have the making of a runaway smash."[4] A reviewer from ScottishDaily Record noted, "They're about half the age of theSpice Girls, but Hanson can sing, play their own instruments and string a sentence together. It must be their American upbringing."[5] Sara Scribner fromLos Angeles Times named it "a lighthearted dollop of nonsensical pop."[6] A reviewer fromMusic Week gave the song four out of five, stating that "media attention is sky high for these threeTulsa brothers, aged 11, 14 and 16. And this cutesy, catchy pop song is the ideal debut single to cash in on that interest."[7]
Chuck Eddy ofRolling Stone felt it "sticks in your brain likeTrident in yourshag carpet." He explained, "Built on a turntable-scratch update of thesoul rhythms that served as turn-of-the-'70sbubblegum rock's secret weapon, the song is as unintelligible as it is indelible. Its hooks suburbanize the Jackson 5 as expertly asthe Osmonds used to, but whether its quivering lyrics really deal with chewing (a favorite bubble entendre since theOhio Express' "Chewy Chewy") is anybody's guess."[8] Ben Knowles fromSmash Hits said "MMMBop" sounded like "a one-off, tasty, unbelievably ear-tingling, perfect pop treat."[9] Ian Hyland fromSunday Mirror gave the song eight out of ten, commenting, "Teenage brothers from America who sound a bit likeSheryl Crow onhelium. You'll love this at first, but in a few weeks you'll be kicking the TV in whenever their smiley faces appear."[10] David Sinclair fromThe Times concluded, "No 1 in America and all over British radio like a rash, it sounds like a gilt-edgedpop standard already."[11]
"MMMBop" was voted the best single of the year inThe Village VoicePazz & Jop critics poll, while also topping critics' polls from such media asRolling Stone,Spin, andVH1, and was ranked number 20 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s",[12] as well as number 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years".[13] In 2021,Rolling Stone ranked it as the ninth-bestboy band song of all time.[14]
On the chart dated May 3, 1997, "MMMBop" debuted at number 16 on the USBillboard Hot 100.[15] On the chart dated May 10, 1997, the song rose to No. 6.[16] It continued to rise the next week, reaching No. 2.[17] On the chart dated May 24, 1997, the song topped theBillboard Hot 100,[18] staying there for three weeks before falling to No. 2.[19][20][21]
A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by American film, television and music video directorTamra Davis.[22] It features the Hanson brothers singing and playing their instruments in a suburban living room. In between, there are clips of them entering a cave, ending up on a beach. Other scenes show them playing around in a city, dancing on the Moon, driving a car or appearing in old footage ofAlbert Einstein.[23]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Twenty years after the first recording of "MMMBop", approximately 93,000 cover versions of the song were counted byMTV reporter Patrick Hosken in March 2016, as represented onYouTube.[113] The Hansons told Rebecca Milzoff atVulture that they had not heard any good cover versions, because "People can't sing the chorus right. Most of the time they syncopate it wrong," according to Isaac Hanson.[114] Later that year,Postmodern Jukebox recorded a cover in the style of 1950s swinging doo-wop with four male singers;[114] picking up 1.5 million views on YouTube in the first year.[115] In July 2019, the official HansonTwitter feed shared a video by Scary Pockets, a band founded by keyboardistJack Conte. The Scary Pockets version was fronted byLucy Schwartz on lead vocals, andAdam Neely covered the electric bass.[116]
In 2023, English bandBusted released a cover version of the song, in collaboration with Hanson, for their albumGreatest Hits 2.0. The new version, "MMMBop 2.0", was released as a single worldwide on May 26, 2023.[117][118][119] It peaked at number 10 on theUK Singles Sales Chart.[120]
^Newman, Melinda (April 5, 1997). "Mercury Makes Way for Hanson".Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 14. p. 15....'MMMBop,' which officially went to top 40 radio with a different mix March 24.
