"Addicted to Bass" is a song by Josh Abrahams (Puretone) and

Amiel Daemion Amiel Muki Daemion (born 13 August 1979), also known as just Amiel, is an American-Australian pop singer, songwriter and actress. She moved to Australia with her family at the age of two and starred in films in the 1990s, including '' The Silver ...

, featuring Daemion on vocals. It reached the top 20 in the Australian charts in 1998. It originally appeared on Abrahams' 1998 album, ''

Sweet Distorted Holiday ''Sweet Distorted Holiday'' is the second and final studio album released by Australian electronica music producer Josh Abrahams. It was released in 1998 and peaked at number 59 in Australia and 50 in New Zealand. At the ARIA Music Awards of 199 ...

'', and was included on the 2002 album ''

Stuck in a Groove ''Stuck in a Groove'' is the sole studio album released by Australian electronica music producer Josh G Abrahams under the alias Puretone. It was released in 2002 by record label Festival Mushroom in Australia, V2 in the US and Sony in the UK. ...

''—credited to Abrahams' alias Puretone. The original release reached number 15 in Australia and number 27 in New Zealand while a 2002 remix by Apollo 440 reached number two on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number one on the US

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

charts. In 2015, the song was listed at number 14 in In the Mix's '100 Greatest Australian Dance Tracks of All Time' with Nick Jarvis saying "With its memorable, sing-along vocals, nudge-wink drug references and – best of all – that monstrous pre-dubstep bassline paired with scattershot jungle breakbeats, it was a perfect fusion of radio-friendly pop smarts and club madness".

Australian success

Abrahams met Amiel in 1997. They collaborated in the writing and recording of his album ''

'', released in 1998, and the single was credited to Josh Abrahams and Amiel Daemion. The song became a hit when released on

Shock Records Shock Records (now part of Shock Entertainment) is an Australian independent record label. History The three founding members had all previously worked in music retail or distribution: Williams for a Melbourne distribution company called "Musi ...

in 1998 reaching the top 20 of the Australian charts and eventually being certified. The Australian Record Industry Association listed the song as its 100th best-selling single for 1998 in its end of year chart. The song was also popular in the

Triple J Hottest 100, 1998 The 1998 Triple J Hottest 100, announced in January, 1999, was the sixth such countdown of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J. As in previous years, a CD featuring 36 of the songs ...

being voted at number 16 and appearing on the compilation CD. The song also enjoyed a strong critical response. It was nominated for the

Australian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

"Song of the Year" in the awards held in May 1999 but lost to " Buses and Trains" by Bachelor Girl. Abrahams was nominated for five

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

Awards in 1999 including "Record of the Year" and "Music Video of the Year" for "Addicted to Bass". While "Addicted to Bass" lost out to "

The Day You Come "The Day You Come" is a song from the third studio album by Powderfinger. It was released as a single on 10 August 1998 by Universal Music Group. It won the ARIA Music Awards of 1999, 1999 ARIA Music Award for ARIA Award for Single of the Year, S ...

" by

Powderfinger Powderfinger were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bass guitarist John Collins and drummer ...

in the "Record of the Year", he won in the "Best Independent Release" and "Best Dance Artist Album" categories for ''Sweet Distorted Holiday''.

European single

The song gradually became popular in dance clubs in the UK and received a positive response in the media. UKmix.net wrote: "This slice of Australian vocal

drum & bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

has been tearing up dancefloors, radio stations, and particularly music television for some time now." The song was credited to Puretone to avoid confusion with Josh Abraham who has worked with Limp Bizkit and Staind. The song was officially released in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2002. The week before its release, several retailers accidentally made the single available for purchase, causing it to debut at number 68 on the

on 6 January, selling 809 copies. The next week, it rose to number two, beaten to the top spot by " More than a Woman", a posthumous number one for

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

. "Addicted to Bass" also reached number 18 in Ireland and was a modest hit in the rest of Europe.

Music video

Australian video

The original 1998 music video featured Amiel at GL Pro Sound, a high-end car audio store in Essendon, Victoria, sitting in a car, with installers working on a Holden VR Commodore and a Ford EL Falcon, installing various audio equipment. The Soundstream SPL series woofers were often shown operating on the heavy bassline of the song. Rockford Fosgate amplifiers, Image Dynamics speakers, JL Audio woofers, and Alpine head units were also featured. Josh Abrahams is shown performing on the decks on the screen of the Alpine headunit. The video was nominated for Best Video at the ARIA Music Awards of 1999.ARIA Award previous winners.

European video

The European Music Video was inspired by the 1979 movie '' Mad Max'', filmed using the same roads in the You Yangs region of Australia and also featured actors

Megan Dorman Megan Dorman (born 1977) is an Irish-born Australian actress who is best known for her role as Katherine Ingram in the series, Head Start. She had a small role in ''Queen of the Damned'', playing Maudy, one of Lestat's band members. Dorman als ...

and

Kick Gurry Christopher "Kick" Gurry (born 25 May 1978) is an Australian actor. Gurry was born in Melbourne, Australia. He got his nickname when his brother could not say Christopher so he said "Kicker". When he got into high school, he shortened it to "K ...

. The video was conceived and directed by Jolyon Watkins (Exit Films, Australia) and was a finalist for music promo of the year of the 2002 Muzik Magazine awards. The video begins with two bored girls (played by Dorman &

herself) getting off a bus and looking for some fun, until they spot a black modified unoccupied 1974

Ford Falcon (XB) The Ford Falcon (XB) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1973 to 1976. It was the second iteration of the third generation of the Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (XB), the luxury-oriented version. Overview The ...

which resembles the iconic V8 Interceptor

Pursuit Special The Pursuit Special, also referred to as the Last of the V8 Interceptors, is the iconic black GT Falcon muscle car featuring a distinctive supercharger driven by the title character Mad Max during much of the ''Mad Max'' franchise, where it app ...

from ''Mad Max'' next to a Bank of Australasia in

Lancefield, Victoria Lancefield is a town in the Shire of Macedon Ranges local government area in Victoria, Australia north of the state capital, Melbourne and had a population of 2,743 at the 2021 census. History The area was used by the indigenous aborigina ...

. They steal it, but before they could drive off, two male bank robbers have robbed the bank and attempt to flee the scene in the car as it was theirs. They notice the girls inside, who immediately speed off with the robbers bag of stolen money. In the confusion, the robbers are arrested by police. The girls enjoy their joyride through the country roads until they are pursued by two Main Force Patrol (MFP) officers in a yellow interceptor that resembles to the ones used in the opening chase sequence in ''Mad Max''. Ultimately the girls find the bag of stolen money in the backseat along with an explosive dye bomb planted inside, they subdue the MFP officers by throwing the dye bomb at their interceptor’s windscreen, making them lose sight and spin out in the process thus the officers start fighting. Afterwards another MFP officer (played by Gurry) is called in and pursues the duo, he then stops his interceptor and waits for the girls just as they are speeding towards him. They both play a game of chicken with their cars and ultimately the MFP officer spins out but continues to pursuit. The climax ends with both the MFP officer and the girls go neck-and-neck down the road. The MFP officer takes off his sunglasses to get a clear view of the girls, until they brake off and the MFP officer without watching, crashes his interceptor straight through a caravan towed by a broken down pick-up truck, similar to the stunt in ''Mad Max''. The MFP officer climbs out of his vehicle unharmed and looks at the girls in disappointment and despair, they then once again speed off into the distance.

Track listings

1998 Australian CD single # "Addicted to Bass" (original version) # "Addicted to Bass" (Lords Garden Dub Buttons mix) # "Addicted to Bass" (Lords Garden Reef Fried mix) # "En voyage" (1965 Melbourne University Language Dept. mix) 2002 Australian and UK CD single, UK cassette single # "Addicted to Bass" ( Apollo 440 mix) # "Addicted to Bass" (original version) # "Addicted to Bass" (Different Gear mix) UK 12-inch single :A. "Addicted to Bass" (Different Gear mix) :B. "Addicted to Bass" (

John Creamer & Stephane K John Creamer & Stephane K are international DJs, and as a duo, a New York City-based electronic music and house music production team. They are perhaps best known for creating original dance singles as well as dance remixes for artists such as i ...

mix) European CD1 # "Addicted to Bass" (original version) # "Addicted to Bass" (Beats Intro mix) European CD2 # "Addicted to Bass" (original version) # "Addicted to Bass" (Beats Intro mix) # "Addicted to Bass" (Different Gear mix) # "Addicted to Bass" (video version) European CD3 # "Addicted to Bass" (original version) # "Addicted to Bass" (John Creamer & Stephane K mix) # "Addicted to Bass" (Hyper & Rhymes mix) # "Addicted to Bass" (Solid Groove dub)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

madmaxmovies.com article on inspiration of video

Everything2.com article on "Addicted to Bass"

UKmix.net review
cited on Josh Abrahams Festival Mushroom page
YouTube.com , Addicted To Bass Music Video
The Mad Max inspired promo for the UK release. {{Authority control Songs about music 1998 debut singles 1998 songs 2002 singles Australian electronic dance music songs Drum and bass songs Festival Records singles Music videos directed by Tim Pope UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles