In recent years, they’ve become events and real signifiers for the year, and those that do big numbers online inevitably make their way into becoming Hottest 100 contenders. It’s become less of a surprise to see Like A Versions perform well in the Hottest 100. Perhaps most interesting of all is that The Wiggles now boast the highest-charting Like A Version in Hottest 100 history, snatching the record from Denzel Curry’s equally internet-breaking version of Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Bulls On Parade’, which reached #5 in 2019. ![]() The win would have an additional surreal sweetness for Wiggles Field and Fatt, who never enjoyed any Hottest 100 glory as part of The Cockroaches - the 1980s and early ‘90s pub rock band that was the precursor to forming the now world-famous children's act. A look back at Hottest 100 novelty songs (and what they say about meme culture) In fact, looking back over nearly three decades of Hottest 100 #1 songs, The Wiggles’ victory is closer in spirit to the ‘WTF!’ wins: the polarising ‘Thrift Shop’ in 2012 (from pop-rappers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) and ‘Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)’ in 1998 (by The Offspring). The Wiggles are also the first artist in 28 years to make their debut at the #1 spot – a feat that hasn’t happened since Denis Leary’s ‘Asshole’ surprise win way back in 1993, when the Hottest 100 pivoted from an ‘all-time’ format to a yearly countdown. ![]() It’s the first cover to ever top the annual countdown and a rare instance where it has outranked the original (Tame Impala’s ‘Elephant’ came in at #7 in the Hottest 100 of 2012). It may not come as a massive surprise that The Wiggles’ LAV has topped this year’s Hottest 100 but it is still hugely significant, making Hottest 100 history on a number of levels. But we really did do the song out of love.” Making Hottest 100 history “It’s not something we ever thought would happen. “It’s an absolute spin-out,” added Field, reacting to the prospect last week. “In the end, it’s been a special experience for all of us.” “It’s bizarre, it’s just been this amazingly popular thing,” Lachlan ‘Purple Wiggle’ Gillespie told The Sydney Morning Herald in anticipation for Saturday’s (22 January) countdown. The ‘Elephant’ LAV led predictions to top the Hottest 100 for several weeks leading up to the annual countdown, with betting agencies and online commentators projecting The Wiggles to come in at #1. ![]() Emma slaying the kit, Murray shredding, Simon’s bottom-end vocals, Anthony rocking an actual elephant outfit – it was its own kind of singular psychedelia. Many riffed on the musicianship and mild anarchy of the performance. Reactions flooded triple j’s textline and social media, coverage reached international music press, and memes, glorious memes redlined on Twitter and Sultanaposting (a Facebook group dedicated to triple j-tailored visual gags). The bizarre but beautiful novelty of hearing the world’s biggest kids’ act putting a family-friendly stamp on a stoner rock anthem had both an immediate and long-lasting impact. The result was so big that it’s stampeded its way to the top of the Hottest 100 of 2021, eventually triumphing over strong challengers like pop blockbusters The Kid LAROI, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Lil Nas X, and even beloved triple j heroes like Gang of Youths, Spacey Jane, and RÜFÜS DU SOL. But in March, The Wiggles – Australian icons, The Beatles of children’s music – offered us some much-needed relief from our anxiety-inducing horrorscape with a very special Like A Version debut.įeaturing an enhanced line-up - namely current members Anthony Field, Lachy Gillespie and Simon Pryce, alongside the recently retired Emma Watkins, and Field’s OG Wiggles co-founders Jeff Fatt and Murray Cook – the supergroup recorded a cover of ‘Elephant’, the psych-rock stomper from Tame Impala’s 2012 album Lonerism, mixing in The Wiggles classic ‘Fruit Salad’. ![]() The promise of a new year free of the burdens of the last, quickly dashed by the frustrating reality it would be more of the same. That’s a whole lotta history packed into a single song.įor many, 2021 often felt like a bad rerun of 2020. Your Hottest song of 2021 comes from an iconic Australian band celebrating 30 years, covering a 2012 track for a beloved radio segment that’s been running for 17 years.
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