The Next Big Thing

While I drift aimlessly waiting for The Sopranos penultimate episode to turn up. Special guest Metal Mike has something to bestow... (originally a myspace post via The Angry Samoans friends compound.)

Holland's CHIPZ on the dutch TOTP show for One Day When I Grow Up, just last fall 2006 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDXUvnsJhZY (Dutch TOTP, One Day When I Grow Up / CHIPZ, 2006) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gErEAyoR97Q (the original video for the song, also sublimely retarded in a great way)

the TOTP clip = this is absolutely fucking insane, almost dada-esque. the 2 guys in CH!PZ (it's a 2 girls/2 guys pop group that formed barely a nanosecond after the A*Teens broke up, but without any real singer(s) unlike the greatest pop group ever next to ABBA, the duhhh A*Teens) -- are REALLY into it. i mean they're like fucking crazed on pep pills or something. are they gay? straight like the 2 guys in the A*Teens were? (and therefore w/a subtext of hustling or impressing the opposite sex). i now really need to know the "back story" on the personalties on this band. they can REALLY fucking dance, too. my eyes bugged out when I realized this group is doing = a 4-person version of the old MTV Say What Karoke HALL OF FAME ROUND (all seasons' winners, head to head against each other) champions, the greatest MTV SWK act ever, the lunatic LeeJay, Ernesto, & Christine from long beach (two of them executed more or less planned/choreographed stuff, while the third member/second guy just went nuts/crazy like a lunatic, breakdancing or just rolling around and/or making wild movements around the perimeter).

if you do not know who LeeJay, Ernesto & Christine are/were, you know nothing about the highest level of performing arts and you should probably go back to Summer School 101, aka "Rock And Roll = It Was DANCE music!!" but anyway the 2F/ M singing/dancing quartet in Holland's awesomely awesome CHIPZ all DO DIFFERENT STEPS/MOVEMENTS when dancing. and they're reallly fucking good, ie athletic. so it looks WILD (4 people not in one bit duplicating any 1 of the other 3's steps/movements), but at the same time extremely energetic and professional.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Hmw0gB1RA&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hFBXyqLnUE&mode=related&search=

(TV clips of CHIPZ, One Two Three) more TV clips of CH!PZ dancing like loopy madmen fucking genius. the guy with the long--ish hair (a beatles haircut) is insane. he is REALLY INTO THIS SHIT, ie the performing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UabqZJhoZm8&mode=related&search= (store promo) should you doubt my "insane" theory, here is a record store promo (on clip) with "Mr Insane" on camera offstage i need to see his astrology chart! need to talk to his mother! his brother! his schoolmates! how did such a one of a kind human male mutant come to exist? oh wait.

HOLLAND. both AQUA (the amazingly great "barbie girl" album AQUARIUM) and their great clone TOY-BOX (the equally great FANTASTIC album from 1999) were based in Denmark. (and Lene of Aqua was a Norweigan transplant) wow, the CHIPZ Greatest Hitz album (16 songs) is not only the greatest pop/dance album of the last umpteen years, and a mandatory item for every pop/bubblegum/bubblegumdance fan ever but it's like Holland's refraction of the old Aqua/Toy-Box precursor and the DJUMBO album JUMP is even better (all their songwriting/production/playing/recording for DJUMBO, is done by a two-man writing/playing/production team = auteur theory at work at its highest!)

their "dancing" is so bad as to be hysterical/cute but that's a different story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE0w_UfpNmc (Djumbo Jump video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtIm2umbOKc (the Eyahe single, great hit song when played with full stereo volume)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQCaOEKUtCc (supermarket in-store) omg good lord the dancing is so godawful it's almost cute. skinny white chicken arms flailing -- euros living up to their "worst dancers in the world" rep, yep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcTTyci3Pa0 (Undercover but not the orig video, a pastiche live-candid thing) all of this pales compared to the coolest pop/rock song ever, a No. 1 hit in Year 2000 Germany http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usSlUG3jvBM Skaterboy / JUNIA (long BEFORE avril dork's song)

-- metal mike 6/ 1 / 2007