Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits

The Crazy Frog also known as The Annoying Thing has become a cultural phenomenon. The character has reached peaks of international music charts and generated millions of mobile downloads. Axel F, a version of Harold Faltermeyer's classic and the tune that started the unfortunate phenomenon, kept Coldplay's Speed of Sound off the top spot in the singles chart, while also keeping U2 at bay. It was only a matter of time, therefore, before the pesky amphibian spawned an album of work. The brainchild of German club duo, Bass Bumpers (aka Reinhard Raith and Wolfgang Boss), Crazy Hits is a stagnant collection of lazy dance-floor fillers combined with Crazy Frog ringtones. Included in the mix are Frog versions of Tag Team’s Whoomp! (There It Is), Hot Butter’s 1972 top 10 hit, Popcorn (the next single), Ana Barbara's Latino club favourite, Bailando, and Felix's Don't You Want Me, and mangled versions of the theme to Dallas, Technotronic’s Pump Up The Jam and The Pink Panther theme. The minimal presence of the Frog on most of the tracks merely serves to underline the suspicion that this is a get rich quick attempt to cash in on the overnight success of the Crazy Frog by the Bass Bumpers.

For those of you who haven't been living on a desert island free from any interaction with the human race you won't know a thing about the Crazy Frog. Unfortunately the vast majority of us know exactly what the Crazy Frog is all about. A computer generated thing that doesn't look much like a frog at all has been invading our TV channels, not just one or two, but seemingly every single one of them. Approximately every 15 minutes this little animation dances around our screens. First it was simply a vocal imitation of an internal combustion engine. Daniel Malmedahl of Sweden created a recording of his imitation in 1997 that eventually spread through peer to peer file sharing on the Internet. In 2003 another Swede named Erik Wernquist created a 3D animated figure called The Annoying Thing to accompany the sound effect. The Annoying Thing is an amphibian that wears a motorcycle helmet, goggles and leather jacket. The character makes hand-movements as if twisting the controls of a motorcycle, whilst making his 'crazy' comedic sounds. The next step toward fame for The Annoying Thing occurred in 2004 when the Jamba! group licensed Wernquist's animation and the accompanying sound to create a mobile phone ringtone. The ringtone and animation were named Crazy Frog. The release of the ringtone was accompanied by a barrage of advertising in the U.K. Soon it was the most recognized and popular ringtone downloaded from the Internet. For many Crazy Frog truly did become a seriously annoying thing.

Now Crazy Frog begins assault on US. Watch out America, that annoying amphibian is coming to get you. Crazy Frog has already conquered Europe, his trademark 'ba-ding-ding' warble ringing in the ears of millions of mobile users. Now he's also released an album and has reached number one in the singles chart in 10 countries. Now Crazy Frog is targeting the US, the awful Axel-F tune creeping on radio playlists across the States and even becoming a cult hit in nightclubs. The invasion begins on August 23 when Crazy Hits is released Stateside. Don't say we didn't warn you, America. :-)