It’s strange to think that it’s 20 years since this came out. About a year later, I had it as my ringtone, but we’ll come back to that shortly. Gnarles Barkley was a pairing between Danger Mouse and CeeLo Green, and it was fabulous they actually went to number one with this track for 9 weeks in the US. The beat bounces along and then CeeLo’s vocals come in powerfully tinged with gospel and blues flavours, and when the chorus hits it’s evident as to why it was such a big track, even after 20 years.
I won a Sony Ericsson W810i in a battle of the bands competition in cooperation with Sony Ericcson, and I decided to purchase a ringtone – remember we used to do that back in the day? Anyway, for a few years, this was my ringtone, and the four count bounce still reminds me of those times, because I never let my phone ring longer than that.
Another memory that sticks out for me is watching them perform this song on the MTV Movie Awards dressed as Star Wars characters. CeeLo Green was dressed as Darth Vader, and Danger Mouse was dressed as Obi Wan Kenobi.
Genius.
