Songoftheday 6/20/18 - Pack it up pack it in let me begin, I came to win battle me that's a sin...
from the album House Of Pain (1992)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 25
Today's song of the day come from the white-boy rap trio House Of Pain, who came together as former schoolmates in the early 90s in Los Angeles. Adapting a branding that tied them to Irish-Americans (even though DJ Lethal was Latvian), maybe to curate a, well, lighter audience, Erik "Everlast" Schrody and "Danny Boy" O'Connor were taken on by Tommy Boy Records and released their debut single "Jump Around" in the spring of 1992. Produced by DJ Muggs (Lawrence Muggerud, who again has no Irish background), who helped orchestrate the dancehall-beat jumper that took a sample ot Jr. Walker's soul classic "Shotgun", and twisted the sax wail to be acting as a percussion instrument. Add the beginning and beat, which cribs Bob & Earl's "Harlem Shuffle", which the Rolling Stones made into a top ten cover hit a few years before, and it became a huge party anthem for the stoner/drinker college frat boys that could sign on to this presentation of "hip-hop". Add a video filmed at the St. Patty's parade in New York to add to the image, and you've got a brand. That being said, it's clear that the trio have a real love for the art, and aren't just posing...
I counted three black people in this entire video, including a female police officer.
Aaaaaaaannnyhooooo, "Jump Around" became a massive success, reaching the top 3 on the American pop chart in October of 1992, and spending more than seven months on Billboard's Hot 100 list. The single also crossed over to their R&B genre chart, peaking at #14, while the extended version of the track helped it go to #17 on their Dance Club Play tally. Internationally, "Jump Around" originally climbed to #32 in the UK that year, them returned in 1993 to make it all the way to #8 (they did the same in Ireland, going first to #9 in '92, then the following year to #6). It also went to #10 in the Netherlands, and hit the top-40 in Australia (#15), Sweden (#26), Belgium (#28), and New Zealand (#31). It just missed that level in Canada, rising to #45.
The trio's second single, "Shamrocks and Shenanigans", tried to continue the momentum, but while the more underground funky song did make the top-40 in Ireland (#9), the UK (#23) and the New Zealand (#18), the track stopped at #65 in America (#74 R&B). They appeared in the movie Who's The Man with Yo MTV Raps hosts Dre and Ed Lover, and their title track snuck on to the pop chart at #96 (#77 R&B). In 1994, the trio returned with their second album Same As It Ever Was, which was their highest-charting disc at #12, but from it only "On Point" slipped on to the pop chart down at #85. Meanwhile three singles from the set hit the top-40 in both the UK and Ireland, with "On Point" hitting #10 in the Emerald Isle. Their third and so-far last album, Truth Crushed To Earth Shall Rise Again, arrived in 1996; the lead track "Fed Up" featuring rapper Guru appeared on Billboard's "Bubbling under R&B Chart" at #107, and in the UK at #68. However, Everlast left the act as the album was released to pursue a solo career. His album Whitey Ford Sings The Blues, released in 1998, showed him as a rock singer, and single "What It's Like" was a #13 pop hit. He also teamed up with Carlos Santana for the track "Put Your Lights On", which was a top ten rock hit and gave Everlast a Grammy Award for Duo/Group Rock Performance. Meanwhile, DJ Lethal had just as much success, joining nu-metal giants Limp Bizkit. Since then the song has outlived most of the "one hit wonder"-type rap songs, becoming a sports and movie staple. In 2017, House of Pain reunited for a short tour.
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Here's the trio appearing live in 1992..
and on MTV that same year...
Everlast revisited "Jump Around" as a strum-ballad in 2013...
and finally, the reunited House Of Pain at Woodstock 2017...
Up tomorrow: The "Queen of Rave" proclaims emotional liberty.
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