Down The Dumper – The 90s Part 16.

This is a group who were briefly big in the late-90s. Barenaked Ladies are a Canadian group that formed in the late-80s. It could be said that some of their songs contained lyrics that were rather quirky and humorous, right in the “you’ll either find it very funny or very annoying” category. And indeed none of them were ladies, and they weren’t barenaked either as far as I know. They must be very difficult to find on Google as well.

It took about a decade for them to find some success in the UK, I remember my sister told me once that she had a Canadian pen pal who told her all about Barenaked Ladies and how popular they were in Canada, when they were still unknowns in the UK (although in 1994 their second album “Maybe You Should Drive” was a minor hit).

It wasn’t until February 1999 that they finally had some success on the singles chart when “One Week” was released, which became their first and only Top Ten hit in the UK. This was on the radio for a while rather frequently… indeed too frequently it could be said. I remember one day on Virgin there was a technical error and the beginning of this one kept playing over and over before being cut off, and nobody seemed to notice for a long time.

I’m not sure if it was the emergency tape misfiring or not, but for a brief moment, they had the radio station all to themselves, that’s probably why can I remember the lyrics so clearly. “One Week” also rather appropriately spent one week at Number One in America, and the video was directed by McG. In March 1999 fourth album “Stunt” made the Top 20. Next in May 1999 was “It’s All Been Done”, but this turned out to be their second and final Top 40 hit single.

They went on to have two more minor hit singles in 1999 with “Call And Answer” and “Brian Wilson” (their celebration of the Beach Boys musician), which reached only no. 73. And that was it. Apart from fifth album “Maroon” becoming another minor hit in 2000, Barenaked Ladies didn’t make the UK chart again. They are still together, and along with providing the theme to US sitcom The Big Bang Theory, they have now made 16 albums.