Listening to it on YouTube right now, but no, I don't know it. It's possible that I've heard it somewhere before but it's not something I recognized after listening to it. It looks like it was more popular in Europe than it was here though, and it came out at a time when I would have had virtually no exposure to music like this. In 1999 I didn't watch MTV, didn't listen to top 40, didn't go to clubs, and was going to art school where I was surrounded by other people who also didn't watch MTV, didn't listen to top 40 and didn't go to clubs.

Or maybe it's just something college kids weren't listening to. I'm sure there's some crappy pop music I remember from when I was 6 or 7 that people 15 years older than me have no recollection of.

I'd be interested to know if other Americans my age (like Bob, Sidewinder or Engine) are familiar with this song or not.

This is like the time when I met a girl who didn't know who the Beatles were.

Really?

Wow, can't believe Janszoon isn't familiar with this song. It was designed in a way so that it gets stuck in your head and stays there.

That, Tubthumping, Rockafeller Skank (which actually holds up as a damn good song) all remind me of the cheesy 90s radio

No doubt I was wasting my time back then listening to nonsense like Swans, Godflesh, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and Trans Am when I could have been listening to the genius that is Eiffel 65. :laughing:

Ha! I definitely don't remember ever hearing that song. But, like you, I wasn't ever in a situation where I would have. No bars, parties, friends, or casual acquaintances of mine at the time would have paid any attention to that, and I didn't listen to any top 40 radio. I have a vague recollection of knowing the name Eiffel 65 and I think that's because I saw their CDs in stores (probably in the used bins).

Although the first iteration of the chorus sounds familiar. Maybe that's because it's so generic, or maybe it was sampled in some hip-hop or something. None of the rest of the song rings a bell at all.

I did play Oddworld though, and it looks like they based the blue character in the video on that.

edit:
I'd be utterly shocked if anybody here has ever forgetten the sensational hooks and bodyrocking rhythms of Sexy Eyes by Dr. Hook. It was crazy popular in '79-'80.

You see, people? I'm not alone. :laughing:

I was living in Nowhere, Maine when that song came out in 4th grade, and I remember being desperate for the one pop radio station in the state to play it (I think I only heard it on the radio two or three times). My friends and I all knew it from that top 40 station, and I bought the album.

To reply to the OP, I think its catchiness had something to do with its overall techno vibe: that style of music was largely unpopular (at least in the US) at the time. I think it kinda revived a forgotten 80s sound...er...kinda.

How old are you?

It's not THAT catchy. It just annoys me. Most popular music does, but particularly this song.