" by Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch.
"Come on swing it." Hold on there, Marky Mark. What exactly are we swinging? Also, you seem pretty tough for a guy who was initially a member of New Kids On The Block. Perhaps to hide the fact that you were briefly in New Kids On The Block. Still, your need to rap over early 90's House music has intrigued me.
I'm not going to lie...I liked Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch. I liked them enough to buy both of their albums (and sadly still own them to this very day) and enough to play the Sega CD game baring their name. Why, you may ask? There was something about it that appealed to me when I was 11 and thought Marky Mark was cool. As an 11-year-old, "Good Vibrations" was a awesome song. It has a danceable beat. Marky Mark wasn't a horrible rapper. It was played everywhere which made escaping the song impossible. Also, it's a very catchy song that allows you to say "come on, come on...feel it, feel it." What's better than that?
I'm obviously no longer an 11-year-old so revisiting this song has made it a bit laughable. As a rapper, Marky Mark leaves a lot to be desired. His rhymes are a bit silly ("The vibrations good like Sunkist, many wanna know who done this"), his style and flow are really lame (especially for 1992. I mean Hammer was still doing the party rhyming thing but Hammer had presence) and, most of all, the backing track for "Good Vibrations" is all over the place with its bass, piano, computerized ahhs and whatever that weird water dripping sound is. And knowing that a New Kid supplied the beat isn't helping much.
This track, however, provided the world with the future Dirk Diggler and on that level, it's great to revisit the song because it's now hard to imagine that Mark Wahlberg, the Oscar nominated actor, was the same Marky Mark that said "I'm gonna get mine so get yours. I wanna see sweat coming out your pores." On that level, it's still fun to hear. The track is still danceable and shouting "come on, swing it" or "feel the vibrations" still incites some humor.
The video for the track is no more than a glorified, black and white ad for Marky Mark's shirtless body and his toughness as evidenced using cinder blocks for weights and shadowboxing. Seriously, this makes up the majority of the video. When these things aren't happening, there are scenes of Marky Mark on the streets with the Funky Bunch, a woman singing the hook and a dude rocking out on piano. I never thought I'd say this but I'd rather watch Marky Mark act his way through The Big Hit than see this video ever again. Hell, can't he just talk to animals instead of shadowboxing.
Pros:
It's funny to see the birth of Mark Wahlberg's fame.
Danceable.
Featured on a Sega CD game.
For women and gay men, the video has lots of shirtless Marky Mark.
A No.1 hit in the U.S., Switzerland and Sweden.
Cons:
Great when you're 11 and in the early 90's. Besides that brief window of time, it's bad.
Lame, unmemorable rapping.
Featured on a Sega CD game (the Make Your Video games were horrible).
Sounds very, very dated like most 90's club sounding Rap songs.
For straight men and lesbians, the video has lots of shirtless Marky Mark.
Dude, your name is Marky Mark and with a name like that, it pretty much sums up the song. It was fine for its time but the truth is that the song is pretty pointless and uninspired. To my knowledge, this might be the only one hit wonder that quit his day job to get a better one and more respect. Hey, I don't blame him for ignoring his past, I would too if I told people to "feel the vibrations." Sorry, Marky Mark, but you and your Funky Bunch definitely made a blunder...now I wish I hadn't told you I still own the two records he made.
and for further lameness...here's some Sega CD Marky Mark. Awesome!!!
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