28 July 2001
We, the nation of ride-or-die devotees to ‘Maniac 2000’, aren’t in much of a position to sneer at ‘Hey Baby (Uhh, Ahh)’. Crowd-pleasing dance tracks like those were huge in the early ’00s. When discussing Mark McCabe’s contribution to Irish society I implied that DJ Ötzi may have subsequently been following the same formula, but in truth it’s a formula as old as cheesy party records: familiar cover version, holiday vibe, bouncy arrangement, singalong bits. Ötzi’s slant on it is to add some James Last-style schlager so that it sounds as much Saturday evening shiny-floor light entertainment show as Saturday night dancefloor anthem. It’s not something I listened to, or even stayed long enough to overhear, in 2001 if I could help it.
So, I was genuinely surprised to find this is not as bad as I had remembered or feared. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s good – DJ Ötzi comes across as Whigfield’s embarrassing dad who runs a mobile karaoke business. Also, schlager. Still, it has more energy than the simpering, buttoned-down ’60s US folk-pop original, and there’s always kudos for a cover version better than the original. For those who want this sort of thing, DJ Ötzi’s ‘Hey Baby (Uhh, Ahh)’ is harmless, cheesy fun. Now get it away from me.
