I Wanna Be a Hippy

"I Wanna Be a Hippy" is a song by English electronic music group Technohead. The vocals were taken from David Peel's song "I Like Marijuana", which he sung in the movie Rude Awakening. It first appeared as the B-side to the group's Mary Jane EP, issued by Dutch hardcore techno label Mokum Records. John Peel featured the track "Mary Jane" on his show on 10 February 1995, which helped give the release recognition.

"I Wanna Be a Hippy"
Single by Technohead
from the album Headsex
Released16 June 1995 (1995-06-16)
Genre
Length5:03
LabelMokum
Songwriter(s)
  • Lee Newman
  • Michael Wells
Producer(s)GTO
Technohead singles chronology
"I Wanna Be a Hippy"
(1995)		 "Headsex"
(1995)
Music video
"I Wanna Be a Hippy" on YouTube

In June 1995, "I Wanna Be a Hippy" was released as the lead single from the group's first album, Headsex (1995); the single includes a remix by Dutch-American production duo Flamman & Abraxas. The song appeared on the mainstream charts later that year, peaking at number one in Austria, Flanders, Germany, and the Netherlands and reaching the top 10 in several other countries. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number 77 during its original release, but when re-released in early 1996, it reached a new peak of number six.

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.[1] In September 2019, in celebration of Mokum Records' 200th release, Tellurian and Technohead released a remix of the song known as the "Panama 2019 Mix".[2]

Background

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 number-one hits the duo had with the Party Animals, "[They] took over Mokum like Trump took over the Republican Party."[3]

Critical reception

British magazine Music Week gave "I Wanna Be a Hippy" two out of five, adding, "Could be a surprise hit along the lines of Rednex's Cotton Eye Joe. Relentless, speedy techno that's proving a hit across the water."[4] James Hyman from the magazine's RM Dance Update rated it three out of five, saying, "With blatant references to getting high and smoking marijuana, this novelty gabba-fuelled hit has already been number one in Holland, Germany and Austria."[5] Another editor, Tim Jeffery gave it five out of five, picking it as Tune of the Week. He commented, "If you get the European satellite music programmes you'll be familiar with this fabulously irreverant track because its brilliantly funny video, featuring ravers chasing a hippy, has been on heavy rotation for ages. At breakneck speed, this is pop gabba with its tongue firmly in cheek and it's been a massive hit everywhere in Europe except here. [...] Deserved to be number one in the charts, no question."[6]

Music video

The music video for the song, which uses the Flamman & Abraxas mix, shows three gabbers, who Flamman & Abraxas knew from Amnesia, wearing Mokum Records shirts chasing after a hippy on a bike through Vondelpark[7] in Amsterdam with inflatable hammers. The hippy eventually escapes by walking into a funhouse mirror and disappearing. The video was directed by Matthijs Van Heyningen Jr.[8] In the aforementioned interview with AT5, MC Remsy revealed that after the song become a huge success, Flamman & Abraxas recruited him and the other gabbers featured in the video to form another group, which became the Party Animals.[9]

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

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for "I Wanna Be a Hippy"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[35] Gold 250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[36] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[37] Silver 200,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Release history and formats for "I Wanna Be a Hippy"
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Europe 16 June 1995 Maxi-CD Mokum [18]
United Kingdom 11 September 1995
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [38]
United Kingdom (re-release) 22 January 1996 [39]

Covers and parodies

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 within the top 10 in the United Kingdom, peaking at number four for two weeks in September.[40]

References
  1. "Technohead Performing "I Wanna Be a Hippy"". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2016 – via YouTube.
  2. "Tellurian vs Technohead – I Wanna Be A Hippy (Panama 2019 Mix)". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2019 – via YouTube.
  3. "How "I Wanna Be a Hippy" Became a Worldwide Hit (in Dutch w/ English subtitles)". Retrieved 13 July 2018 – via YouTube.
  4. "Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 19 August 1995. p. 29. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  5. Hyman, James (23 September 1995). "Hot Vinyl" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 13. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  6. Jeffery, Tim (25 November 1995). "Hot Vinyl: Tune of the Week" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 9. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  7. "How "I Wanna Be a Hippy" Became a Worldwide Hit (in Dutch w/ English subtitles)". Retrieved 13 July 2018 – via YouTube.
  8. "technohead – i wanna be a hippy ( viva tv )". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2018 – via YouTube.
  9. "How "I Wanna Be a Hippy" Became a Worldwide Hit (in Dutch w/ English subtitles)". Retrieved 13 July 2018 – via YouTube.
  10. "Technohead – I Wanna Be a Hippy". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  11. "Technohead – I Wanna Be a Hippy" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  12. "Technohead – I Wanna Be a Hippy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  13. Billboard, 14 October 1995: Hits of the World Section
  14. "Technohead: I Wanna Be a Hippy" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  15. "Technohead – I Wanna Be a Hippy" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  16. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – I Wanna Be a Hippy". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  17. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 28, 1995" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  18. "Technohead – I Wanna Be a Hippy" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  19. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  20. "Technohead – I Wanna Be a Hippy". Swiss Singles Chart.
  21. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  22. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 8. 24 February 1996. p. 16. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  23. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  24. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  25. "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  26. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1995". ARIA. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  27. "Jahreshitparade Singles 1995" (in German). Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  28. "Jaaroverzichten 1995" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  29. "1995 Year-End Sales Charts: Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 51/52. 23 December 1995. p. 14. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  30. "Top 100 Singles – Jahrescharts 1995" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  31. "Jaarlijsten 1995" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  32. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1995" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  33. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1995" (in German). Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  34. "Top 100 Singles 1996". Music Week. 18 January 1997. p. 25.
  35. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Technohead; 'I Wanna Be a Hippy')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  36. "Dutch single certifications – Technohead – I Wanna Be a Hippy" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 13 May 2019. Enter I Wanna Be a Hippy in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1995 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  37. "British single certifications – Technohead – I Wanna Be a Hippy". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  38. "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 9 September 1995. p. 51. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  39. "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 20 January 1996. p. 31. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  40. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 01 September 1996 – 07 September 1996". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
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