The Macarena

The all-time tsunami of fads and novelty songs began its reign atop the charts on this date 14 years ago (seems like only yesterday, no?)

“The Macarena” was both a song AND a dance—and 1996 was the year it peaked, but the song set a record for longevity on the Billboard charts (60 weeks)

Originally recorded in 1992 as a rumba, it was released the following year and was huge in Latin American countries. This popularity leaked into cities like Miami and New York, where the Latin population was significant.

Like a wildfire raging out of control, the song by Los Del Rio landed on the radio—and that was it!

The dance took off, the video only fueled the craze—and a pop culture phenomenon was born. Here is the video—viewed over 10 MILLION times on YouTube:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN62PAKoBfE


Over 50,000 fans did the dance simultaneously at Yankee Stadium in 1996, setting the Guiness World Record for crowd dancing. At the Democratic Convention that year, Al Gore got the crowd roaring by doing “his” version…..standing completely still while the song played.

But, just as fast as it ascended in popularity, it dropped like a stone after 1997. What was once greeted enthusiastically by young and old alike (no matter how silly it make them appear)—was soon greeted by groans when played in public.

Like fashion, the “Macarena” will probably enjoy a resurgence someday…but hopefully not soon! The composers would love to see it—as this one song has sold over 11 million copies, making the duo exceedingly wealthy virtually overnight. VH-1 named it the “#1 All Time One-Hit Wonder”

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