Songoftheday 2/11/22 - Yo listen up here's a story, about a little guy that lives in a blue world...

 

 

"Blue (Da Ba Dee)" - Eiffel 65

from the album Europop (1999)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 14

 

Today's song comes from the Eurodance act Eiffel 65, who are not from France, but rather three guys from Italy, who came together in the northern city of Turin (the site of the upcoming 2022 Eurovision Song Contest) in the late 1990s. Singer Jeffrey Jey, keyboardist Maury Lobina, and DJ Gabry Ponte released their debut album Europop in 1999 on Republic Records in America, with the single "Blue" as the lead track. Subtitled "Da Ba Dee" because of the nonsensical chorus that nevertheless sticks in your brain like glue, the song was written by Jey, Lobina, and Massino Gabutti, who co-produced the track with Ponte. It rides a mostly minor-key trance beat with at times silly lyrics that at times are pretty downbeat but end up just negating themselves by using the word "blue" as either an emotional descriptive or a color choice about fifty times in the song in a sing-song modulated voice. And the video takes everything literally, with computer graphic blue aliens mixing it up with the group in space. Nevertheless, despite "Eurodance" losing the grip it had on the world in the earlier part of the decade, this caught on like (blue) hotcakes globally, and the trio found themselves with a big hit even in America...

"Blue" reached the top ten on the American pop Hot 100 in Billboard magazine in January of 2000. The song climbed to #25 on Billboard's older-skewing Adult Top-40 radio chart and #4 on the Rhythmic format list, while the remixes of the track helped it go to #6 on their Dance Club Play chart. Internationally, the single was massive, going to #1 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK, while peaking at #2 in Spain and (surprise) their native Italy. The Europop album, release in November of 1999, rose to #4 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, going on to sell over two million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 2001, "Blue" was nominated for Best Dance Recording, losing to the Baha Men's equally novelty "Who Let The Dogs Out".

Despite the great reception of the single and the album, "Blue" would pretty much be it for the trio in America. Their second single, "Too Much Of Heaven", tried to be more noble in its anti-capitalist lyrics and slower in beat but with the same Autotune. While the song finally scored them a #1 in their homeland Italy, and was a top ten hit in Romania (#3), Greece (#5), and France (#6), it missed the American charts altogether, even the dance charts. That was followed by the more direct "Move Your Body", which topped the charts in Italy, France, Austria, and Denmark, made it back into the top ten in the UK at #3, as well as making the top ten in Switzerland (#2), Spain (#3), Germany (#4), Australia (#4), Ireland (#4), Belgium (#4W/#15F), Hungary (#5), New Zealand (#6), Canada (#7), Sweden (#8), and Finland (#10). It did get on to Billboard's Mainstream Top-40 radio chart at #36, but its airplay and sales weren't enough to make it on to the Hot 100. 

Eiffel 65 returned in 2001 with their sophomore effort Contact!, which spun off three top-40 hits in Italy, with "Back In Time" doing the best at #12. Follow-up "Lucky (In My Life)" did almost as well at #13 in Italy, while being a minor hit in a few more countries in Europe and making the top-40 in Austria at #23. Although the album did moderately at home, America was really only ready for one dose of the trio.

A self-titled third album, released in separate Italian and English versions, also made the top-20 in Italy at #13, with the song "Quelli che non hanno età" ("Those who have no age") making it to #5 on the Italian singles chart. The trio left their record company, with Ponte going on to produce and Jey and Lobina continuing as Bloom 06. The trio reunited in 2010, and ten years later, the single "Auto Blu", with Italian rapper Shiva using the group's biggest hit, topped the Italian chart in 2020. 

(5/10)

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Here's the trio doing their thing on Top Of The Pops in the UK in 1999...

and yes, in concert in Italy in 1999...

Fast forward to 2011 for their reunion in their home base in Turin...

and finally, their return to the top of their homeland chart with rapper Shiva in 2020...

Up tomorrow: This R&B group isn't fond of your guy,.