'Oooga Chaka'

April 10, 2002 9:58 AM

'Oooga Chaka' indeed. David Hasselhoff as you've never seen him before. (or ever want to see again)
[ link, to video, via threeoh ]
posted by MintSauce (36 comments total)

Scary times ten. I must shower now, thanks.
posted by cowboy at 10:03 AM on April 10, 2002

wow... I'm speechless... just... wow.
posted by starvingartist at 10:03 AM on April 10, 2002

I tried, but there is not enough water in the water cooler to wash this taint off of me. Now I must go home (well, I need to change into dry clothes anyway) to wash this off.
posted by dwivian at 10:04 AM on April 10, 2002

David Hasselhoff is so hottt.
posted by animoller at 10:05 AM on April 10, 2002

Thanks. One of the best videos I've seen in a long time.
posted by dobbs at 10:06 AM on April 10, 2002

I have no idea how to process that, but I hold those enabling Germans indirectly responsible.
posted by donkeyschlong at 10:06 AM on April 10, 2002

Bizarre as it may seem, I found myself chanting "ooga chaka ooga chaka ooga ooga ooga chaka" last night for absolutely no reason at all. And now this.

I feel dirty.
posted by adampsyche at 10:11 AM on April 10, 2002

Hey, you gotta like a guy who can laugh at himself. Er, uh...this is some kind of joke, right?

*silence*

Uh oh.
posted by Succa at 10:12 AM on April 10, 2002

You just ruined my day.
posted by a3matrix at 10:22 AM on April 10, 2002

i'm hooked on a feeling as well, dave. unfortunately, it's a feeling of disgust.
posted by lotsofno at 10:26 AM on April 10, 2002

Thanks, MintSauce. I had no other way of remembering I had carrots for lunch. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:27 AM on April 10, 2002

This. This is the worst video I've ever seen. omigod.
posted by dabradfo at 10:27 AM on April 10, 2002

It's bad, but not nearly as bad as the new Creed video "Bullets" (found on this page). The lead singer of the group fancies himself a CGI angel, fighting off a whole slew of CGI demons for overwrought, unintentional hilarity!

Oh, but the Hasslehoff video is pretty funny. When I was in Germany a couple years ago, I was actually flipping through the television stations there and another video, which was just as cheesy, was playing. He was in a hospital bed, singing (as over-the-top as he is in "ooga chaka") and I could only stand watching it for about as long as I did the aforementioned (which is to say, about 20 seconds) before I began weeping and had to shut it off.
posted by almostcool at 10:53 AM on April 10, 2002

It's got an intentionally bizarre feeling about it, like similar video clips that have made the internet meme rounds. It might be poor taste, or it might be pure marketing genius.
posted by jennyb at 11:08 AM on April 10, 2002

i would type this in all size 5 caps, but Wow. Holy Shit. Amazing, truly amazing. Favorite parts:

holding the fish with his mouth while snowboarding

the weirdo big-eye mask guy, popping in at random

the classic fist-being-pulled-down-in-front-of-his-face lyrical emphasis technique.

flying with his legs down so low...like his boots are weighing him down
posted by th3ph17 at 11:12 AM on April 10, 2002

Proud to say I watched the whole thing.

Sometimes I wonder about the chain of events which allows something like this to happen. Where did the idea come from? How many people had creative control, but neglected to awaken to the absurdity of what they were making? Someone clearly put some money into this; you don't get wire harnesses and Eskimo suits for free, you know.

It's like Bizarro put together a music video project.
posted by jmcmurry at 11:19 AM on April 10, 2002

I still think William Shatner could do it better...
posted by dissent at 11:23 AM on April 10, 2002

Where is the antidote..? Where is Daler Mehndi and "Tunak Tunak Tun" when you really need it...
posted by kokogiak at 11:24 AM on April 10, 2002

That is so wrong. But he has held up well now hasn't he? :)~
posted by oh posey at 11:27 AM on April 10, 2002

I think this is "Exhibit A" on why we shouldn't have let Germany reform.

I really hope this isn't the reason I get fired from work. Any other reason would be fine, but getting caught watching that and having it on my "permanent record" is just too shameful.
posted by grum@work at 12:53 PM on April 10, 2002

Ja tue sehn hotte!! Einder dicklicken und cocksmokien bei c. DM 50.00!!
posted by Settle at 1:58 PM on April 10, 2002

"the weirdo big-eye mask guy, popping in at random"

posted by holloway at 2:13 PM on April 10, 2002

Wow. That was pretty awful, and it locked up on me while D.H. was in mid dipthong, too.

And the worst part is that song -- well, not the D.H. rendition, but the mainstream Ooga Chaka one -- is, for all intents and purposes, Our Song (in the me & SO sense, not the general MeFi or national anthem senses or anything like that.)

So now, Hasselhoff will come to mind. Eek.
posted by cortex at 2:14 PM on April 10, 2002

if y'all bothered to read self link y'all woulda seen this last week.
posted by quonsar at 3:17 PM on April 10, 2002

holloway...exactly. what in the hell is that supposed to be?

cortex...i wish you luck finding a new song. you may just want to buy a few bottles of cheap wine and just drown out the images for a few days.
posted by th3ph17 at 3:33 PM on April 10, 2002

th3ph17: Haven't a clue, sorry. The shoulders don't look wide enough for Hasselhoff.

Maybe it's death, stalking him.
posted by holloway at 3:54 PM on April 10, 2002

One can only pray.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:03 PM on April 10, 2002

kokogiak you read my mind. Thank you for posting a new link--the one I had was not good any more. I thought this video was very Tunak like and wouldn't be surprised if Hasselhoff had been inspired by it. Hasselhoff rules!

Personal note: My mom went to high school with David Hasselhoff. She has pictures of him on the high school tennis team & she says he wore eyeliner to school.
posted by macadamiaranch at 5:23 PM on April 10, 2002

Oh quonsar - you and your instant smelly shit, honestly!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 3:42 AM on April 11, 2002

I really think somebody took the real video and used some sort of Photoshop-like video editing software to put that together. I have no idea whether a program exists that could do some of what I think are the special effects, but I bet there is something.
posted by acridrabbit at 8:02 AM on April 11, 2002

Miguel: it goes well with the vintage harley and the immolated cat, no?
posted by quonsar at 9:33 AM on April 11, 2002

acridrabbit: thats what i thought as well, but the video is also linked directly from hasselhof's site!
posted by quonsar at 9:35 AM on April 11, 2002

[this is terrifying]
posted by wadner at 5:54 PM on April 11, 2002

Yes it does, quonsar. I honestly don't understand why more people don't visit your amazing blog, when they need some serious cheering up. I mean, where else can you get all that human comedy and a haxor translator? :)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:05 PM on April 11, 2002

all your hasselhoff are belong to us
posted by bwg at 9:57 PM on April 11, 2002

I have no reason to post besides the similarity to my metafilter name.
posted by ookamaka at 12:02 AM on April 12, 2002