With summer comes the perennial debate about what song gets to be crowned the official Song of the Summer. The thing is, though, that the crown can sit pretty damn heavy, especially when it gets to the point that everyone’s heard your song so many times they’d happily stab themselves before hearing it again. And the other thing is: a lot of these songs are awful. So bad, in fact, that their authors haven’t been heard from for quite some time. Whatever did happen to Las Ketchup? Or the guy who made “Itsy-Bitsy Teenie-Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”? Wonder no longer, because we have (most of) the answers.
LFO
You’ll want to forget them for… “Summer Girls,” 1999
Where are they now? It’s even worse than you might think, actually. LFO disbanded in 2002, and haven’t exactly been blessed with good fortune since: Rich Cronin died in 2010 of a stroke brought on by medication he was taking for a rare form of leukemia, while Devin Lima is apparently a barber, the author of at least one curious solo track, and recently got into a fight on Twitter with someone who accused him of abusing a dog. And Brad Fischetti? Why, he’s an anti-abortion activist! What a guy!
The Ataris
You’ll want to forget them for… “The Boys of Summer” (Don Henley cover), 2004
Where are they now? Still together, curiously, although singer/songwriter Kris Roe is the only remaining member from their incarnation a decade ago. Proving that the market for pop-punk is as inexplicably healthy as ever, Roe’s still plugging away, although he’s only released one album since 2004 (namely, 2007’s Welcome the Night).
Los Del Rio
You’ll want to forget them for… “Macarena,” 1994
Where are they now? Also still together, just as they have been since 1962, believe it or not. “Macarena” was their first hit after 30 years, so if nothing else, it’s an example of (possibly insane) persistence. Anyway, they persist still, and their Wikipedia entry contains perhaps the most terrifying sentence you’ll ever read: “Los Del Rio collaborated with Bahama pop rap group Baha Men on the 1997 single ‘Car Loca Rosa’, which featured the group and hip hop musician MC Hammer.” Which brings us to…
Baha Men
You’ll want to forget them for… “Who Let the Dogs Out,” 2000
Where are they now? Curiously, their biggest hit seems to have largely put a halt to their career. Before 2000, Baha Men — who apparently formed in London way back in the 1970s, operating for a while under the name High Voltage — had been on a strict album-every-couple-of-years schedule. Since 2004, though, they’ve released nothing at all. Hopefully, they’re sitting somewhere on a beach sipping piña coladas and absolutely not recording anything.
Bryan Hyland
You’ll want to forget him for… “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” 1960
Where is he now? Still alive, which is less surprising when you learn he was only 16 when he recorded the risible novelty song that would be his first and biggest hit. It appears he’s still making records, too, albeit with artwork that looks like it was done on a Dell PC that he bought in 1997.
Len
You’ll want to forget them for… “Steal My Sunshine,” 1999
Where are they now? Who can say? Consequence of Sound’s Ted Maider conducted his own investigation in 2010 and largely came up empty, although his article is worth giggling through anyway for gems such as “you are full of shit if you say you didn’t like Sugar Ray’s 14:59” and “The rest of the album sounds like Jimmy Pop of the Bloodhound Gang singing for the Pixies, which, as you can imagine, is nothing spectacular.” I can’t imagine, actually, which is probably just as well.
Las Ketchup
You’ll want to forget them for… “Aserejé (The Ketchup Song),” 2002
Where are they now? Um. Well, the last the world heard from the Muñoz sisters was in 2006, when their song “Un Bloodymary” was the official Spanish entrant for that year’s Eurovision Song Contest. It came in 21st. Out of a field of 24. As this, the only extant Las Ketchup fan site on the internet, notes sagely: “The choice to represent their country in the Eurovision Song Contest was arguably a bad bet, and they were a joke in the media.”
LMFAO
You’ll want to forget them for… “Party Rock Anthem,” 2011
Where are they now? On hiatus, thank god. Weirdest thing I learned researching this article: the two members of LMFAO are uncle and nephew. (The guy with the massive hair is the one who’s officially Old Enough to Know Better.) As a rule of thumb, I find it’s best to avoid doing things that involve Spandex with members of your immediate family. But shit, they do things differently on the West Coast.