How Bizarre (song)

"How Bizarre" is a single written and recorded by New Zealand musical group OMC. It was released in December 1995 as the lead single from their only album of the same name and went on to top the charts in at least five countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. Outside New Zealand, OMC is generally considered a one-hit wonder; they had a further few successful singles in New Zealand, including "Land of Plenty".[1] The song was featured in the 1998 movies Palmetto and Disney's The Parent Trap and plays at the start of the first episode of the second season of American sitcom Clueless.

"How Bizarre"
Single by OMC
from the album How Bizarre
Released15 December 1995
Recorded1995
GenrePop-rap
Length3:43
LabelHuh!
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Alan Jansson
  • Pauly Fuemana
OMC singles chronology
"We R the OMC"
(1994)		 "How Bizarre"
(1995)		 "Right On"
(1996)
Music video
"How Bizarre" on YouTube

Critical reception

The song won the award for "Single of the Year" at the 1996 New Zealand Music Awards.[2] It was also featured on Nature's Best 2, as the 34th greatest New Zealand song of all time as voted for by members of the Australasian Performing Right Association in 2001. In 2002, the song was named as the 71st greatest one-hit wonder of all time on a VH1 countdown hosted by William Shatner.

Music & Media wrote about the song: "Polynesian pop with a twist. Pauly Fuemana has a gravelly, deep voice and a major rap attitude. The Spanish guitar, trumpet and the sweet female background vocals create a radio friendly mood. This single from the forthcoming album Time Is Money smashed New Zealand and Australian sales figures; OMC's quirky catchiness should kick up some dust in Europe too."[3]

Chart performance

"How Bizarre" topped the singles charts in New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Canada and Ireland. It also topped the airplay chart in South Africa. As the track was only released to radio in the United States, with no commercial single made available to buy, the song was not allowed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 under the chart rules in force at the time. However, it topped the Mainstream Top 40 for a week, then called the Pop Singles. It also peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. The single was number one for one week in Canada,[4] two weeks in Austria,[5] three weeks in Ireland,[6] three weeks in New Zealand[7] and five weeks in Australia.[8] On 9 February 2010, the song re-entered the New Zealand charts at number 40 after Fuemana's death.[7]

Music video

A music video was released to help promote the single. The video has lead singer Pauly Fuemana driving a 1968 Chevrolet Impala. It also pictures him dancing, rapping, throwing around money and breathing fire.[9] It was a second version, directed by Lee Baker, and released very late in 1995 just as "How Bizarre" went to number one in New Zealand.[10] Shot on a soundstage in Ponsonby and at Ellerslie Racecourse for a budget of $7,000 from NZ On Air,[10] it was shown on US networks about 15,000 times in 1997 and 1998. Besides Pauly, it features backing vocalist Sina Saipaia,[11] and a Filipino man named Hill who stood in for Brother Pele.[12]

Charts and certifications

Release history
Country Release date
New Zealand 15 December 1995[7]
Europe 8 July 1996
United States 25 February 1997[52]

Covers and parodies

In 1996, a radio personality named Dean Young created a cover of the song called "Stole My Car". Dean was working with The Rock when the radio station was based in Rotorua on 99 FM.[53] In 2003, the radio stadion ZM and Iain Stables released a compilation album of some of the parodies that were created in the radio company called Stables Label Volume 3.[54] The album name was a parody itself as there was no Volume 1 or 2. The song "Stole My Car" was the 8th track on the album.[55]

References
  1. "Top 10 one-hit-wonders". Stuff. Fairfax. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  2. "How Bizarre's Pauly Fuemana dies". ONE News. TVNZ. 31 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  3. "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13 no. 30. 27 July 1996. p. 9. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  4. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9791." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  5. "Austriancharts.at – OMC – How Bizarre" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  6. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – How Bizarre". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  7. "Charts.nz – OMC – How Bizarre". Top 40 Singles.
  8. "Australian-charts.com – OMC – How Bizarre". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  9. OMC – How Bizarre on YouTube
  10. Gallagher, Robyn (25 November 2011). "OMC "How Bizarre"". 5000 Ways to Love You. WordPress. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  11. "A brief biography..." Alan Jansson. 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  12. "How Bizarre Music Video – 1996". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  13. "Ultratop.be – OMC – How Bizarre" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  14. "Ultratop.be – OMC – How Bizarre" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  15. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9724." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  16. Danish Singles Chart 27 September 1996
  17. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13 no. 45. 9 November 1996. p. 24. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  18. "Lescharts.com – OMC – How Bizarre" (in French). Les classement single.
  19. "Offiziellecharts.de – OMC – How Bizarre". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  20. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13 no. 50. 14 December 1996. p. 14. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  21. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 44, 1996" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  22. "Dutchcharts.nl – OMC – How Bizarre" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  23. "Norwegiancharts.com – OMC – How Bizarre". VG-lista.
  24. "Notowanie nr768" (in Polish). LP3. 18 October 1996. Retrieved 6 March 2019. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  25. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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  27. "Swisscharts.com – OMC – How Bizarre". Swiss Singles Chart.
  28. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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  30. "OMC Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  31. "OMC Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  32. "OMC Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  33. "1996 ARIA Singles Chart". ARIA. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  34. "Jahreshitparade Singles 1996" (in German). Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  35. "Jaaroverzichten 1996" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  36. "RPM Year End Top 100 Hit Tracks". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  37. "1996 Year-End Sales Charts: Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13 no. 51/52. 21 December 1996. p. 12. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  38. "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 1996" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  39. "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1996". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  40. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1996" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  41. "End of Year Charts 1996". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  42. "Årslista Singlar, 1996" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  43. "Swiss Year-End Charts 1996" (in German). Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  44. "Top 100 Singles 1996". Music Week. 18 January 1997. p. 25.
  45. "RPM '97 Year End Top 100 Hit Tracks". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  46. "Tops de L'année | Top Singles 1997" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
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  48. "Year In Music: 1997 – Hot Adult Top 40 Singles & Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 109 no. 52. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 27 December 1997. p. YE-83. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  49. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (O M C; 'How Bizarre')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  50. "New Zealand single certifications – OMC – How Bizarre". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  51. "British single certifications – OMC – How Bizarre". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  52. "Promo Only: Mainstream Radio [1997-02] February 1997". Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  53. "Stole My Car". nzradioaudio. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  54. "Stables Label Volume 3 Youtube playlist". LX Archives. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  55. "Stables Label Volume 3". Discogs. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
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