1999 single by Bloodhound Gang
"The Bad Touch" is a song by American alternative rock band Bloodhound Gang. It was released in September 1999 as the second single from their third studio album, Hooray for Boobies, which was released the following year in the United States and United Kingdom. In most territories, the song was released as the first single from the album, as "Along Comes Mary" was issued only in German-speaking Europe.[5]
"The Bad Touch" became a hit in Europe throughout late 1999 and early 2000, reaching number one in Flanders, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Spain, and Sweden. Outside Europe, the song peaked at number five in Australia, number four in New Zealand, number nine in Canada, and number 52 in the United States. In Ireland, the song won a Meteor Music Award for Best Selling International Single – Group.[6] The song was remixed by many artists, including God Lives Underwater, KMFDM, and Eiffel 65.
Music video
The song's video features the band dressed in "MonkeyRat" costumes with oversized ears, in numerous locations in Paris, including the Place de l'Estrapade, Avenue de Saxe, and Champ de Mars; the Eiffel Tower is visible in many shots. During the video, the band uses blowguns to shoot tranquilizer darts into the buttocks of four passing young women, then carry them away. They then use a fishing rod to dangle a croissant in front of a group of chefs, enticing them to follow. The band members dance around for a few seconds and then lure three chefs into following them. The band members swallow several mealworms before finding two effeminate gay men in a café, who are then beaten over the head with baguettes and knocked unconscious. A mime artist played by actor Jordan Prentice is captured in a net then thrown into a cage with the four women, three chefs and gay couple in a parody of animal-collectors capturing frightened specimens. The band leap around the cage, taunting their captives. As the song draws to an end, the prisoners are released and all dance together in formation in the street. The mime artist escapes and is run over by a speeding Renault 5 car driven by Lüpüs Thünder.
The uncensored version of the video shows the band playing with and eating a brown semi-liquid food, with the implication it is diarrhea, and a beginning which features them feigning sex in a doggy-style position rather than dancing as in the clean version. The violent capture of the gay couple is also missing from some versions.
Controversy
A scene in the video featuring a pair of gay men, who share french fries and are subsequently beaten by the band members with baguettes, was cut after it premiered.[7] GLAAD complained about the scene to MTV stating "a gay-bashing scene in any context in today's climate is not acceptable".[7] MTV reviewed the video and suggested to Geffen Records the scene be cut.[7] Lead singer Jimmy Pop commented: "I would give any gay man two tickets to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of his choice if he could describe exactly who's going to become violent based on that scene."[8]
