"The Bad Touch" is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

band

Bloodhound Gang The Bloodhound Gang was an American rap rock band from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1988 by rappers Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs (now in Wolfpac) as a hip-hop group, before branching out into other genres as their career prog ...

. It was released in September 1999 as the second single from their third studio album, '' Hooray for Boobies'', which was released the following year in the United States and United Kingdom. In most territories, the song was released as the first single from the album, as "

Along Comes Mary "Along Comes Mary" is a song composed by Tandyn Almer, originally recorded by American sunshine pop band the Association. It was the group's first hit, released on their debut album, '' And Then... Along Comes the Association'' (1966). Back ...

" was issued only in German-speaking Europe. "The Bad Touch" became a hit in Europe throughout late 1999 and early 2000, reaching number one in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Spain, and Sweden. Outside Europe, the song peaked at number five in Australia, number four in New Zealand, number nine in Canada, and number 52 in the United States. The song was remixed by many artists, including God Lives Underwater,

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...

, and

Eiffel 65 Eiffel 65 is an Italian music group that was formed in 1997 in the studios of the Turin record company Bliss Corporation, consisting of Jeffrey Jey, Maurizio Lobina and Gabry Ponte. They gained global popularity with their singles " Blue (Da B ...

Music video

The song's video features the band dressed in "MonkeyRat" costumes with oversized ears, in numerous locations in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, (including the Place de l'Estrapade, Avenue de Saxe, and

Champ de Mars The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after t ...

), and the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed ...

is visible in many shots. During the video, the band uses

blowgun A blowgun (also called a blowpipe or blow tube) is a simple ranged weapon consisting of a long narrow tube for shooting light projectiles such as darts. It operates by having the projectile placed inside the pipe and using the force created by f ...

s to shoot tranquilizer darts into the buttocks of four passing young women, then carry them away. They then use a fishing rod to dangle a

croissant A croissant is a buttery, flaky, Austrian viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough. Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape, the dough is layered wi ...

in front of a group of chefs, enticing them to follow. The band members dance around for a few seconds and then lure three chefs into following them. The band members swallow several

mealworm Mealworms are the larval form of the yellow mealworm beetle, ''Tenebrio molitor'', a species of darkling beetle. Like all holometabolic insects, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Larvae typically measure about or ...

s before finding two

effeminate Effeminacy is the embodiment of traits and/or expressions in those who are not of the female sex (e.g. boys and men) that are often associated with what is generally perceived to be feminine behaviours, mannerisms, styles, or gender roles, rath ...

gay men in a café, who are then beaten over the head with

baguette A baguette (; ) is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough (the dough, though not the shape, is defined by French law). It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust. A baguette has a dia ...

s and knocked unconscious. A

mime artist A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a theatrical medium ...

played by actor

Jordan Prentice Jordan Prentice (born January 30, 1973) is a Canadian actor. A self-described "person of short stature", he is known for his portrayal of Rock in '' American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile'' and Jimmy in ''In Bruges'', and for appearing in the m ...

is captured in a net then thrown into a cage with the four women, three chefs and gay couple in a parody of animal-collectors capturing frightened specimens. The band leap around the cage, taunting their captives. As the song draws to an end, the prisoners are released and all dance together in formation in the street. The mime artist escapes and is run over by a speeding

Renault 5 The Renault 5 is a four-passenger, three or five-door, front-engine, front-wheel drive hatchback supermini manufactured and marketed by the French automaker Renault over two generations: 1972–1985 (also called R5) and 1984–1996 (also called S ...

car driven by

Lüpüs Thünder The Bloodhound Gang was an American rap rock band from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1988 by rappers Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs (now in Wolfpac) as a hip-hop group, before branching out into other genres as their career progr ...

. The uncensored version of the video shows the band playing with and eating a brown semi-liquid food, with the implication it is

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin w ...

, and a beginning which features them feigning sex in a doggy-style position rather than dancing as in the clean version. The violent capture of the gay couple is also missing from some versions.

Controversy

A scene in the video featuring a pair of gay men, who share

french fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips (Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

and are subsequently beaten by the band members with baguettes, was cut after it premiered.

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayal ...

complained about the scene to

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

stating "a gay-bashing scene in any context in today's climate is not acceptable". MTV reviewed the video and suggested to

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

the scene be cut. Lead singer Jimmy Pop commented: "I would give any gay man two tickets to the

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musical ...

musical of his choice if he could describe exactly who's going to become violent based on that scene."

Track listings

US 12-inch single :A1. "The Bad Touch" (The Bloodhound Gang mix) :A2. "The Bad Touch" (The

mix) :A3. "The Bad Touch" (The God Lives Underwater mix) :B1. "The Bad Touch" (The

Rollergirl Nicole Safft (born 19 November 1975), known professionally as Rollergirl, is a German singer with a number of successful tracks such as "Dear Jessie" (a loose cover of the Madonna song) and " Luv U More", a cover of the Sunscreem song. Biogra ...

mix) :B2. "The Bad Touch" (The K.M.F.D.M. mix) :B3. "The Bad Touch" (The Bully mix) European CD single # "The Bad Touch" (LP version) – 4:23 # "

" (The Bloodhound Gang mix) – 3:20 European 12-inch single :A1. "The Bad Touch" (Eiffel 65 extended mix) – 4:28 :A2. "The Bad Touch" (12-inch Rollerbabe mix) – 5:59 :B1. "The Bad Touch" (album version) – 4:19 :B2. "The Bad Touch" (12-inch instrumental Rollerboogie mix) – 5:55 European and Australian maxi-CD single # "The Bad Touch" (LP version) – 4:23 # "The Bad Touch" (The God Lives Underwater mix) – 4:26 # "The Bad Touch" (The K.M.F.D.M. mix) – 4:19 # "Along Comes Mary" (The Bloodhound Gang mix) – 3:19 # "Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny" (video) – 3:27

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Touch, The 1999 singles 1999 songs Bloodhound Gang songs Dance-pop songs Eurodisco songs Geffen Records singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles LGBT-related controversies in music List songs Music video controversies Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Scotland Number-one singles in Spain Number-one singles in Sweden Songs written by Jimmy Pop Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles