I Wanna Be a Hippy

"I Wanna Be A Hippy"
Single by Technohead
from the album Headsex
Released 9 July 1995
Format
Genre
Length 5:03
Label Mokum Records
Songwriter(s) Lee Newman, Michael Wells
Producer(s) GTO
Technohead singles chronology
"I Wanna Be A Hippy"
(1995)		 "Headsex"
(1995)

"I Wanna Be A Hippy"
(1995)		 "Headsex"
(1995)
Music video
"I Wanna Be A Hippy" on YouTube

"I Wanna Be A Hippy" is a song by English electronic group Technohead. It was first released in early 1995 on the Dutch hardcore techno label Mokum Records as the B side of the Mary Jane EP (MOK 32). John Peel featured the track "Mary Jane" on his show on the 10th of February 1995, which helped give the release recognition. "I Wanna Be A Hippy" was also featured in March 1995 as the lead single from their album Headsex. It was later re-released as its own single due to its popularity (MOK 37 1/2), which included a remix by Dutch-American production duo Flamman & Abraxas, which propelled it into the mainstream charts later that year, reaching the top 10 in sixteen countries and hitting #1 in at least six.

In 1996 it also appeared on Mokum Records' compilation Make 'Em Mokum Crazy. Vocals are taken from David Peel's song "I Like Marijuana", albeit sped up.

The music video, which uses the Flamman & Abraxas mix, shows three identical gabbers wearing Mokum Records shirts chasing after a hippy on a bike through Vondelpark[1] in Amsterdam with inflatable hammers. The hippy eventually escapes by walking into a funhouse mirror and disappearing.

In January and February 1996, Technohead performed the song live on Top of the Pops twice, although both performances had the references to marijuana censored. [2]

In 1996, The Smurfs released a parody of the song called "I've Got a Little Puppy" which was included on the album The Smurfs Go Pop! The parody charted in the top 10 in the United Kingdom.

In a 2018 interview with AT5 commemorating 25 years of Mokum Records, Flamman & Abraxas revealed that their remix of the song was meant to be a joke and for the song to get played on the radio. The duo also revealed that when the song first came out, the song was insanely popular at Amnesia, a gabber club the duo opened up in Amsterdam. It reached the point where the song was requested as often as five times a night, leading the duo to contact Technohead about remixing the song due to how frequent it was played. Additionally, they added that despite the massive worldwide chart success of the song, they received no royalties due to a swap deal they did with Technohead. They made this remix for Technohead, in exchange Technohead did a remix for them, but both duo's kept the rights to their song. DJ Dano, who also did a remix of the song that was sold alongside the Flamman & Abraxas remix, didn't get any royalties either because he also made such a swap deal with Technohead.

It was also revealed in the AT5 interview that the song led to the downfall of gabber music in general when "Gabbertje" by Hakkuhbar, also released by Mokum, was released, spurring a wave of "funny gabbers" that made commercial hardcore, which showed similarities to Flamman & Abraxas' style. Despite this, Jeff "Abraxas" Porter joked that because of the remix's success and the string of #1 hits the duo had with the Party Animals, "[They] took over Mokum like Trump took over the Republican Party."[3]

Track listings

CD Maxi-single (Europe, 1995)
  1. "I Wanna Be A Hippy" (Flamman & Abraxas Radio Mix) - 3:17
  2. "I Wanna Be A Hippy" (Original Mix) - 5:03
  3. "I Wanna Be A Hippy" (Speedfreak Mix) - 6:04
  4. "I Wanna Be A Hippy" (Zippy Mix) - 4:17
  5. "I Wanna Be A Hippy" (Dano No Sweat Mix) - 5:12

Chart performance

Peak positions

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[4] 20
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[5] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] 1
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[7] 6
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] 12
Germany (Official German Charts)[9] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 5
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[11] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] 1
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[13] 3
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 5
United Kingdom (UK Singles Chart) 6
United Kingdom (UK Dance Singles Chart)[15] 13

References

  1. ↑ "How "I Wanna Be a Hippy" Became a Worldwide Hit (in Dutch w/ English subtitles)". YouTube. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Technohead Performing "I Wanna Be a Hippy"". YouTube. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  3. ↑ "How "I Wanna Be a Hippy" Became a Worldwide Hit (in Dutch w/ English subtitles)". YouTube. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Technohead – I Wanna Be A Hippy". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  5. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Technohead – I Wanna Be A Hippy" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  6. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Technohead – I Wanna Be A Hippy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  7. ↑ Billboard, October 14, 1995: Hits of the World Section
  8. ↑ "Technohead: I Wanna Be A Hippy" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  9. ↑ "Musicline.de – Technohead Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  10. ↑ "Irish Singles Chart – Search for song". Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on June 3, 2009. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
  11. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Technohead" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  12. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Technohead – I Wanna Be A Hippy" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  13. ↑ "Scottish Singles Chart (18 February 1996-24 February 1996)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  14. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Technohead – I Wanna Be A Hippy". Swiss Singles Chart.
  15. ↑ "Official UK Dance Singles Chart (04 February 1996-10 February 1996)". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
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