![](//www.4rfv.com/images/no_image.jpg)
Planet of the Bass: Will a Parody Be the Song of the Summer? Alum Chrissi Poland lends her voice to the Eurodance parody thats gone viral on TikTok and beyond.
By
Bryan Parys
August 18, 2023
Posing on The Planet of the Bass: DJ Crazy Times (Kyle Gordon), left, and Ms. Biljana Electronica (played in the video by Audrey Trullinger), right
Image courtesy of Kyle Gordon/TikTok
The Eurodance parody Planet of the Bass by DJ Crazy Times (played by comedian Kyle Gordon)-now a genuine contender for Song of the Summer-owes much of its mega-viral status to its highly meme-able lyrics.
Chrissi Poland B.M. 01
The lines between parody, homage, and nostalgia here are blurry, though. Gordon doesnt take any shortcuts on quality. For one, the voice behind the character Ms. Biljana Electronica is the acclaimed soul and jazz vocalist Chrissi Poland B.M. '01, who studied performance at Berklee, and has worked with Nile Rodgers '18H, Scissor Sisters, and more. And the words and arrangement are a pitch-perfect clone of the Eurodance genre that dominated the global charts in the 1990s.
How Does It Mean? Lyrically, Gordon does his job so well that it's hard to tell apart his parody from the original sources.
Consider some of the songs most memorable lines: All of the dream / How does it mean? There is nothing to be sad. If you want parties to be making / Have some noise.
Now compare these to the refrain, What is love? / Baby don't hurt me, from Trinidadian-German singer Haddaway; Rhythm Is a Dancer by German duo Snap!; or the line from Belgian/Dutch act 2 Unlimited that goes, People started dancing a long time ago / The bass was fast, but then again it was slow.
The People Wanna Make a Fun While the song does have good-natured fun with the Eurodance trope of clumsy English translations, it highlights one of the genre's most memorable feats: shifting focus from the lyrics' literal meaning to their sound, and to the feelings they can evoke.
A close look at the actual text of these lines is bound to uncover some silliness-that's what makes the genre so ripe for parody. But that's also a comment on how transporting these songs were in their day: we rarely stopped to think about what they were saying while they danced their way to the top of the global charts.
In a Stereogum article about the Swedish pop-rock group Roxette, music critic Tom Breihan makes the argument that lyrics in this vein are a feature, not a bug. Breihan says that, for their 1989 No. 1 smash The Look, Roxette was really participating in the grand Swedish pop tradition of picking the word that'll sound the best, regardless of meaning. . . . The lyrics, ridiculous as they are, are merely part of the whole musical equation. Everything about The Look is mathematically calibrated to hit just right.
A Passion in a Million Way Making Gordon's achievement even more impressive is the fact that he was able to evoke this whole genre while still sounding distinct.
It's a task that the king of contemporary parody music, Weird Al Yankovic, says is quite difficult. In an interview with Fast Company, Yankovic said, It's certainly more work to do a genre parody, compared to parodying one specific song. For a genre parody, not only do you have to do all the work that one necessarily does with an original song, but you also have to do a fair amount of research into the chosen genre or other artist's work.
Everybody Movement Does this mean that Planet of the Bass will actually topple songs such as Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo, Troye Sivan's Rush, or Barbie World by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice (which just so happens to feature seminal Eurodance band Aqua) as the definitive summer jam of 2023? Only time will tell. Until then, DJ Crazy Times entreats you to simply get out on the dance floor and have a body, feel the groove.
Oh wait, did you say you wanted a Eurodance playlist? Happy to oblige:
Related Categories
News
Playlists
Most Popular
Goose guitarist and vocalist Rick Mitarotonda B.M. 16 performed with the band at a sold-out Portland, Maine, show on July 6, 2023.
Image by Adam Berta
Both Sides of Goose, Americas Premier Jam Band On a new Sounds of Berklee: Goose's live act attracts a devoted following-and the bands studio work highlights the sharp songs that spark their legendary jams.
Latest
John Paul McGee, assistant chair of Berklees Piano Department
Image courtesy of John Paul McGee
Gospejazzical Pioneer to Moderate Panel with Hip-Hop Icons Dr. John Paul McGee, Berklee's assistant chair of piano, will guide a discussion with a group that includes Cheryl Salt James of Salt-N-Pepa about the influence of jazz and R&B on early hip-hop.
Danielle Queen D. Scott
Image courtesy of the artist
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Turns 25 Berklees Arun Pandian and Danielle Queen D. Scott talk about the groundbreaking album and its impact on their lives.
cehryl
Image courtesy of the artist
Hong Kong Indie Artist cehryl Faces Her Fears The alum talks through her layered pop/R&B production, then explores some common fears of the artist and the importance of just getting to work.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Most recent headlines
07/09/2024
The official kickoff to the college football season provided another reminder of how football can boost audiences across all platforms, with ESPN and ABC report...
07/09/2024
CAMBRIDGE, U.K. Adder Technology, a provider of connectivity solutions and high performance IP KVM technologies, has announced a new addition to its KVM matrix ...
07/09/2024
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) has promoted Sean Franklin to vice president and general manager for WLEX, the Scripps-owned NBC affiliate in ...
07/09/2024
AMSTERDAM Cobalt Digital has announced that during the IBC Show it will be sharpening its focus on IP-based solutions by adding a scalable software-based multiv...
07/09/2024
The IBC Talent Programme will look at how the industry can collaborate to foster new talent, make training more accessible, and develop common standards for div...
07/09/2024
The non-profit association aims to reduce risks and support trust in media, in the face of increasing threat levels
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: September ...
07/09/2024
Cerberus Tech, a leader in cloud-native IP contribution and distribution, today announced a series of updates that combine to increase user control in working w...
07/09/2024
Interra Systems, a leading provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions to the digital media industry, today announced a strategic partnership with Videli...
07/09/2024
oMoVo, an innovator in AI-driven digital asset management (DAM), is launching ioPilot, a new feature in its game-changing DAM platform. Designed to streamline c...
07/09/2024
Creativepool Annual 2024: The Most Awards Launched at Sinfonia Smith Square
Brie Clayton September 7, 2024
0 Comments
The creative industry's mo...
07/09/2024
Meredith Veloz has been named news director at WRMD Tampa, part of NBC Universal Local's Telemundo Station Group. She starts in early October and will repor...
06/09/2024
By Jessica Herndon
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Fes...
06/09/2024
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 22: (L-R) Eugene Grygo, Phoebe Hoffman, Lana Wilson, Michael Kim, and Nikenya Hall attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Look Into M...
06/09/2024
The highly anticipated opus from director Quentin Tarantino doesn't disappoint. It's a typically outrageous conglomeration of comedy and shock laced wit...
06/09/2024
Cinema, the most voyeuristic of mediums, is uniquely placed to convey both the act of surveillance and the psychology of the surveilled. In Seberg, director Ben...
06/09/2024
In February 2019, director J.J. Abrams called Cut! for the last time during principal photography of the ninth chapter of the long-running Star Wars saga. Sta...
06/09/2024
In a cinematic universe expanding with superheroes, the creative challenge for filmmakers is to set newcomers apart from the crowd. The task is doubly important...
06/09/2024
Having photographed episodes of the Showtime horror drama Penny Dreadful's second and third seasons, John Conroy, ISC was eager to reteam with showrunner Jo...
06/09/2024
The psychological thriller Homecoming returns for its sophomore season with fresh twists, nail-biting cliff-hangers, and more of the unnerving cinematography th...
06/09/2024
Based on the series of novels by Eoin Colfer, the feature Artemis Fowl finds its namesake a precocious, hyperintelligent 12-year-old boy (played by Ferdia Sha...
06/09/2024
Vincent lives in Los Angeles, Anthony in New York City. They met on a dating app and have been talking for months, but the physical distance between them has ke...
06/09/2024
What are we going to talk about today? cinematographer Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC asks almost immediately after answering his phone. It's late July when Pana...
06/09/2024
The recent features and bear a number of similarities. Chief among them: Both were shot by cinematographer Hillary Spera. Each story also exists in the realm of...
06/09/2024
Angeliena follows the adventures and self-discovery of its namesake heroine (played by Euodia Samson), a lovable parking attendant who harbors dreams of traveli...
06/09/2024
Pair a British-born songwriter-director who's collaborated with musicians like Jay-Z with a Romanian cinematographer known for shooting intense dramas, and ...
06/09/2024
It was June 2019 when director Baz Luhrmann first approached cinematographer Mandy Walker, ACS, ASC about collaborating on the new biopic Elvis. I was extremel...
06/09/2024
Based on the best-selling mystery novel of the same name, the feature Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a young woman who grew...
06/09/2024
Johannesburg, 05 September 2024 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF),...
06/09/2024
Video over IP, in the sense that's used in film and television, sometimes feels like a newer idea than it really is. That might be because the high-end, unc...
06/09/2024
The ability of NFL football to attract large audiences in an era of declining viewing for linear TV was on full display in the NFL seasons opener, with an avera...
06/09/2024
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has beefed up its team in EMEA and APAC with the addition of three new positions intended to enhance its growth and better serve customers...
06/09/2024
NEW YORK FutureB2B, a world-leading provider of business intelligence and networking services, is proud to announce the appointment of Joe Palombo as the publis...
06/09/2024
Adventurer A/V, a leading Taiwanese broadcast production company and equipment rental service provider based in Taipei City, has invested in latest-generation U...
06/09/2024
At IBC 2024, Hall 1 B33, leading video software provider, Synamedia, will unveil a raft of new video network solutions as it solidifies its position as a key te...
06/09/2024
LiveU today launched its Lightweight Sports Production solution making fully featured, professional live sports production accessible and affordable for every e...
06/09/2024
Osprey Video
IBC2024 Show Preview
Sept. 13-16
Various Partner Stands
At IBC2024, Osprey Video's encoding/decoding technology will be on display at sever...
06/09/2024
GB Labs, the leader in intelligent, centralized media storage, today announced the launch of NebulaNAS, a transformative new cloud storage solution developed fr...
06/09/2024
Suitest, provider of test automation for OTT applications, today announced the full availability of image- and object-based test automation capabilities in a si...
06/09/2024
France 3 Nouvelle Aquitaine (.3NoA) is a 100% regional channel that aims to promote culture and creativity at regional level.
At the beginning of 2024, the cha...
06/09/2024
At IBC 2024, Camera control specialists Videosys Broadcast will be announcing a new bidirectional radio camera system that will simplify wireless workflows, as ...
06/09/2024
Magnifi by VideoVerse, an AI-driven video technology company and powerful video-editing SaaS platform, has announced a partnership with Storyteller,a leading Sa...
06/09/2024
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices and services, is proud to announce its selection as the official vendor for the HbbTV ...
06/09/2024
LTN and Skyline Communications announce a new collaboration to drive enhanced broadcast monitoring and control for Tier 1 media, sports, entertainment, and tech...
06/09/2024
IBC2024 today announces the line-up of speakers and sessions for the first-ever dedicated IBC Talent Programme, taking place on Monday 16 September in the Showc...
06/09/2024
Kiloview, a leading provider of IP-based video transmission solutions, is set to make a significant impact at IBC 2024 with the unveiling of three groundbreakin...
06/09/2024
The newly combined entity of Fabric and Xytech Systems, currently known as Fabric x Xytech, is pleased to announce the appointment of Kira Baca as Chief Revenue...
06/09/2024
Student Spotlight: Mateo Londo o The producer talks about leaving Berklee to grieve the passing of a close friend and fellow student and then returning to fin...
06/09/2024
More rough news for grownups in traditional media. According to a new study from Precise TV, teens prefer the ads on YouTube and are turning to Netflix and YouT...
06/09/2024
A data-driven campaign created by Samsung Ads and Davis Elen Advertising for the...
06/09/2024
Glen Dacy has been named VP of news content and streaming at WFLD-WPWR Chicago, starting September 9. He most recently worked with the CBS Network News Special ...