Pop Goes the World (song)

"Pop Goes the World" is the title of a song recorded by Canadian New Wave group Men Without Hats. It was released in 1987 as the lead single from the album of the same name.

1 Content
2 Music video
3 Charts
4 In popular culture
5 Cover versions
6 References

Content

The song very generally tells a story of "Johnny" and "Jenny," the two members of a fluid musical group (both the members' instruments of choice and the band name appears to change throughout the song, though Johnny is primarily a guitarist and Jenny is a bassist) on their quest for fame in the industry, though at one point the lyrics note that they come to the realization that they could make "more money on a movie screen." The lyrics imply that the fictional group's best-known single is, in fact, called "Pop Goes the World."

Music video

The music video for the song features lead singer Ivan Doroschuk who tells the story of "Johnny and Jenny" played by guitarist Stefan Doroschuk (impersonating Elvis Presley) and an unknown actress (playing a Höfner 500/1 bass) dancing around a bubble-filled stage along with numerous other characters including a keyboard-playing baby and Bonhomme Carnaval (the mascot of Quebec City's annual Winter Carnival. The word "Pop!", in writing reminiscent of a comic book appears periodically on screen, often timed with the popping noises that punctuate the song. The Video was released on a CD Video in 1988.

Charts

Chart (1987)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart	1
Canadian RPM Top Singles	2
New Zealand Singles Chart	15
Swedish Singles Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	20
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	27

In popular culture

The song was featured in the 1987 film Date with an Angel, which starred Phoebe Cates, Emmanuelle Béart and Michael E. Knight. The song was also featured very briefly in the 1991 film Scanners II: The New Order.

The main tune of the song has caught up among sports fans cheering for their teams in several countries across the world. In Argentina, for instance, it is arguably the most popular tune sung by football fans, no matter what team or division they belong to. If it is River Plate, they would sing "Ooo, vamos River Plate! River Plate, River Plate, vamos River Plate!".

It is also used by fans of the Yokohama F. Marinos soccer team in Japan and by fans of Sport Club Internacional soccer team in Brazil.^[1], and Olimpia from Paraguay

Cover versions

Stacy Ferguson covered the song in a 1988 episode of the TV series Kids Incorporated.
In 2004, LMP covered the song in their box-set A Century of Song.
In 2007, the song was covered by Canal Pop on the compilation Southern Waves: Argentinian Tribute To Classic Electropop.

Preceded by "Wonderful Life" by Black	Austrian Singles Chart number one single^[2] February 15, 1988 (4 weeks)	Succeeded by "My Love Is a Tango" by Guillermo Marchena

References

^ "Yokohama F. Marinos saposon" (in Japanese). http://www.55555.to/soccer/saposon/f-marinos/marinos_marinos_f-marinos.htm. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
^ Austriancharts.at

Men Without Hats

Ivan Doroschuk • Stefan Doroschuk • Allan McCarthy • Colin Doroschuk • Tracy Howe • Mike Gabriel • Jean-Marc Pisapia • Johnny Sour Ass (Joe Roberts) • Lenny Pinkas • Roman Martyn • Jeremie Arrobas • Heidi Garcia

Albums	Rhythm of Youth (1982) • Folk of the 80's (Part III) (1984) • Pop Goes the World (1987) • The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century (1989) • Sideways (1991) • No Hats Beyond This Point (2003)

EPs	Folk of the 80's (1980) • Freeways (1985)

Compilations	Collection (1996) • Greatest Hats (1997) • The Very Best of Men Without Hats (1998) • My Hats Collection (2006) • The Silver Collection (2008)

Singles	"I Like" (1983) • "The Safety Dance" (1983) • "I Got the Message" (1983) • "Living in China" (1983) • "Where Do the Boys Go?" (1984) • "Pop Goes the World" (1987) • "Moonbeam" (1987) • "Hey Men" (1989) • "In the 21st Century" (1989) • "Sideways" (1991)

DVDs	Live Hats (2006)