‘How Bizarre’ is a song written and performed by New Zealand musical group OMC. It was released in December 1995 as the lead single from their album How Bizarre and went on to top the charts of five countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. Outside New Zealand, OMC is generally considered a one-hit wonder; they had a further few successful singles in New Zealand, including ‘On the Run’ and ‘Land of Plenty’. The song won the award for "Single of the Year" at the 1996 New Zealand Music Awards. It was also featured on Nature's Best 2, as the 34th-greatest New Zealand song of all time as voted for by members of the Australasian Performing Right Association in 2001. In 2002, the song was named as the 71st-greatest one-hit wonder of all time on a VH1 countdown hosted by William Shatner.
Lead singer Pauly Fuemana was a gang member in Auckland, New Zealand before achieving pop immortality with this song. He received his musical training in a New Zealand juvenile prison. Pauly Fuemana died after suffering from an illness for several months on January 31, 2010, aged 40. A music video was released to help promote the single. The video features lead singer Pauly Fuemana driving a 1968 Chevrolet Impala, dancing, rapping, throwing around money and breathing fire. The video was directed by Lee Baker and released in late 1995, shortly before ‘How Bizarre’ hit number one in New Zealand. Shot on a soundstage in Ponsonby, Auckland and Ellerslie Racecourse with a budget of $7,000 from NZ On Air, it was shown on US networks about 15,000 times in 1997 and 1998. Besides Fuemana, it also features backing vocalist Sina Saipaia, and a Filipino man named Hill who stood in for Brother Pele.
‘How Bizarre’ topped the singles charts in New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Canada and Ireland. The single was number one for one week in Canada, two weeks in Austria, three weeks in Ireland, three weeks in New Zealand and five weeks in Australia. As the track was only released to radio in the United States, with no commercial single made available to buy, the song was not allowed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 under the chart rules in place at the time. However, it topped the Billboard Pop Airplay chart for a week and peaked at number four on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. On 9 February 2010, the song re-entered the New Zealand charts at number 40 after Fuemana's death.
Labels – Huh!, Polydor
Songwriters – Alan Jansson, Pauly Fuemana
Producers – Alan Jansson, Pauly Fuemana
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Brother Pele's in the back, sweet Sina's in the front
Cruising down the freeway in the hot, hot sun
Suddenly red-blue lights flash us from behind
Loud voice booming, "Please step out onto the line"
Pele preaches words of comfort, Sina just hides her eyes
Policeman taps his shades, "Is that a Chevy '69?"
[Chorus]
How bizarre
How bizarre, how bizarre
[Verse 2]
Destination unknown as we pull in for some gas
A freshly pasted poster reveals a smile from the past
Elephants and acrobats, lions, snakes, monkey
Pele speaks "righteous," Sister Sina says, "funky"
[Chorus]
How bizarre
How bizarre, how bizarre
Ooh, baby (Ooh, baby)
It's making me crazy (It's making me crazy)
Every time I look around (Look around)
Every time I look around (Every time I look around)
Every time I look around
It's in my face
[Verse 3]
Ringmaster steps out, says, "The elephants left town"
People jump and jive and the clowns have stuck around
TV news and cameras, there's choppers in the sky
Marines, police, reporters ask where, for and why
Pele yells, "We're out of here," Sina says, "Right on"
Making moves and starting grooves before they knew we were gone
Jumped into the Chevy, headed for big lights
Wanna know the rest? Hey, buy the rights
[Chorus]
How bizarre
How bizarre, how bizarre
Ooh, baby (Ooh, baby)
It's making me crazy (It's making me crazy)
Every time I look around (Look around)
Every time I look around (Every time I look around)
Every time I look around
It's in my face
It's in my face
[Instrumental Bridge]
[Outro]
Ooh, baby (Ooh, baby)
It's making me crazy (It's making me crazy)
Every time I look around (Look around)
Every time I look around (Every time I look around)
Every time I look around
It's in my face
Ooh, baby (Ooh, baby)
It's making me crazy (It's making me crazy)
Every time I look around (Look around)
Every time I look around (Look around)
Every time I look around
It's in my face