Here is a look back at one techno hit that went viral before the age of TikTok and is making a comeback because of it.
Today's popular media is making hits from the distant past shoot back up on music charts mostly because of nostalgia. From "Stranger Things" using Kate Bush and Metallica's music to TikTok Gen Z-ers rediscovering music from the 90's to the early aughts, past hits are now making huge comebacks, including what was was lauded as the "most annoying song" on the Internet: Crazy Frog's "Axel F."
What is 'Axel F' and Who is Crazy Frog?
Crazy Frog is a Swedish CGI-animated character and Eurodance musician who gained worldwide stardom when he released the song "Axel F" in 2005. The man behind the musical act is writer, actor, and digital artist Erik Wernquist.
"Axel F," the song that launched Crazy Frog (originally known as The Annoying Thing) into global stardom actually traces its roots back to 1997, when a 17 year old Gothenburg student Daniel Malmedahl recorded himself imitating the sounds of a two stroke engine, BBC News reported. Like many youths in the early days of the Internet, they posted it online.
A few years later in 2003, Wernquist encountered the sounds Malmedahl made and was inspired to create the 3D animated character called "The Annoying Thing" to accompany the music which would become "Axel F." Malmedahl was credited for the techno song that Crazy Frog would release that same year, which skyrocketed to number one in charts in most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Turkey, as per Indy 100.
Crazy Frog Makes a Comeback in the 2020s
It was only in 2009 that Crazy Frog established his official YouTube channel. In April 2020, he established an official Twitter account and his other social pages soon followed. To date, the "Axel F" video on YouTube has almost 3.5 billion views, a testament to its staying power.
Interestingly, "Axel F" is also the 19th most popular video in YouTube's history, surpassing even global pop superstar Taylor Swift. BBC reported that the song topped world charts in 2005 and even held the top spot in the UK for up to four weeks, beating Coldplay.
Sony Music president of A&R Wolfgang Boss reflected on the humble, very organic viral beginnings of Crazy Frog, saying, "When we started Crazy Frog, there was no TikTok, it didn't exist."
"But right now TikTok is super important," Boss remarked. "It's basically the number one platform for people to share new music and funny things connected with music."
While "Axel F" made it to many lists of the most annoying songs of all time because it had been sold as a ringtone and was accompanied by a rather explicit music video of a naked frog, people could not deny its staying power. The Guardian reported that the song was "irritating to the point of distraction and back again" but at the same time "strangely compelling."
Older millennials may find its resurgence mildly annoying or nostalgic, depending on how one looks at it. One thing's for sure, the reason why it's becoming viral again is because of TikTok influencers such as Kimberly Loaiza, who has 65.8 million followers, and Karla Bustillos, who has 23.5 million followers, who both performed dances to "Axel F."
