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The trouble with McLaren is that he sets himself up as a hate figure so assiduously that it's difficult not to feel that you're playing into his hands by criticising him.
However, there's no getting away from the fact that his vocals are pretty much the worst thing about this record, which otherwise manages the unlikely feat of being a big hit about skipping. Well, I think it's about skipping anyway - being a boy I was never wholly initiated into all that stuff at school, so I don't really know what any of it means.
There's no question that this was an important record for its time, one of the first major hits to combine hip-hop, world music and an annoying bloke who sounds like a bingo caller, becoming an influential crossover success. The disadvantage of this is for my present-day self is that this record seems so carefully suited for its time that it can't really have any of the same impact a quarter of a century later when all these ideas have become commonplace and the Trevor Horn production sounds a bit dated - in fairness, maybe it would be better if I had a mint 12" copy and really cranked it up to get all the bass, rather than just listening online.
Of course, this tune got a second (at least) lease of life in 1999 thanks to 'Double Double Dutch by Dope Smugglaz, which I actually bought for some reason. Years later I discovered that some people I was at school with had mimed the string section to that on Top Of The Pops.
Also appearing on: Now 4
Available on: Duck Rock
[MP3 only]
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