The Baha Men - Who Let The Dogs Out (information & video)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams provides information about and a video of The Baha Men's Soca hit Soca song "Who Let The Dogs Out". A hyperlink to the lyrics for this song is also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to The Baha Men for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "WHO LET THE DOGS OUT"
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Let_the_Dogs_Out%3F
""Who Let the Dogs Out?" is a song performed by Bahamian group of the Baha Men, released as a single on July 26, 2000. Originally written by Anslem Douglas (titled "Doggie") for the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival season of 1998,[1] it was covered by producer Jonathan King under the name Fat Jakk and his Pack of Pets. He brought the song to the attention of his friend Steve Greenberg, who then had the Baha Men cover the song. The song became the band's first hit in the United Kingdom and the United States, and it gained popularity after appearing in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and its soundtrack album.

The song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, as well as topping the charts in Australia and New Zealand, and peaked within the top forty of the charts in the United States. It was Britain's fourth biggest-selling single of 2000, and went on to become one of the highest-selling singles of the decade not to reach number-one. The track went on to win the Grammy for Best Dance Recording on the 2001 Grammy Awards. It was the subject of a major lawsuit over copyright ownership that was settled.[1]"

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Excerpt #2
From http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1099
"Who Let The Dogs Out"
...["Who Let The Dogs Out"] was written by Anslem Douglas, a musician from Trinidad who wrote it two years before The Baha Men recorded it - his original version is called "Doggie." Various versions were hits in the Caribbean, but The Baha Men toned down the calypso rhythm to make it more appealing to American listeners.

We have yet to meet someone who can remember any words to this song other than the chorus, which is: "Who let the dogs out? Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof." The song does have verses and even a hint of meaning - the lyrics are about disrespectful men who hit on women at a party....

Considering what a sensation this song was in America, it had a surprisingly low chart position, peaking at just #40....

The title became a popular catch phrase in America when it was used in the 2000 World Series between the Mets and Yankees. At one point, an exasperated reporter who was sick of hearing the same questions over and over asked Yankees manager Joe Torre if he knew who let the dogs out.
This caused a spat with the Seattle Mariners baseball team, which was the first pro franchise to put the song in rotation. Catcher Joe Oliver was using it as his theme music, but shortstop Alex Rodriguez wanted it for himself. Rodriguez got his way because he was the star. The next year, Rodriquez signed a record $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers....

This is very popular with kids. It won Favorite Song at the 2001 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, and the following year Baha Men won for Favorite Band.
Shortly before Baha Men recorded this song, their lead singer, Nehemiah Hield, left the group. Steve Greenberg and his team went to the Bahamas to hold tryouts, and found three young singers to add to the band. These guys provided a more video-friendly look for the group, and their youthful energy came in handy when they had to travel the world performing this song over and over.

This won the 2000 Grammy for Best Dance Recording.

This was used in the 2000 movie Rugrats In Paris - the deal was made before the song became a hit. Other films that have used the song include:

Rat Race (2001)
Bubble Boy (2001)
Men in Black II (2002)
The Hangover (2009)

[...]

Baha Men are one-hit wonders in America, but wildly popular in their home country of the Bahamas, where their upbeat tunes exhibit the friendly, relaxed nature of the islands. "Who Let The Dogs Out" has a Caribbean sound, but many of their other songs are distinctly Bahamian, with junkanoo rhythms formed by goat-skinned drums, whistles and horns. The group prides themselves on live performance, but had a hard time showing their skills in the "Dog" days."...

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Excerpt #3
From http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1099
"Your grandma. Your old Sunday school teacher. The annoying lady at work. Everyone knows �Who Let the Dogs Out.� The Baha Men�s roots date back to the late 1970s when they were originally known as High Voltage. Despite their name and roots, the group was actually formed in England. They finally hit it big in 2000 with their cover of this song written in by Anslem Douglas. Not only was it the best-selling soca song of all time and one of the biggest songs of any variety in 2000, but it�s retained its place in pop culture ( by turning up in countless movies and TV shows since that time."

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Excerpt #4
From http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2012/07/Remembering-the-Time-Mitt-Romney-Speak-Sung-Who-Let-the-Dogs-Out REMEMBERING THE TIME MITT ROMNEY SPEAK-SUNG �WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?� BY JULI WEINER
JULY 11, 2012
..."A few years ago, when [Republican Mitt Romney* uncomfortably interacted with another group of black voters, he asked, inexplicably, �Who let the dogs out?� and then barked, like in the song. It�s impossible to give more context because there just isn�t any.
-snip-
Willard "Mitt" Romney was the nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election.
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDwwAaVmnf4 for a January 2008 video of Mitt Romney saying "Who let the dogs out". A 2012 article about then Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney indicates that "[he] once tried to appeal to a group of black kids at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade by singing the refrain of �Who Let the Dogs Out.� http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/11/african-americans-nowhere-to-be-found-in-romney-s-orbit "African Americans Nowhere To Be Found In Romney�s Orbit" by Ben Jacobs and Harry Siegel, 04.11.12

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SHOWCASE VIDEO- Baha Men - Who Let The Dogs Out (Original version)



Karan Thakur Uploaded on Jul 23, 2010

all time fav claassic song!
-snip-
The chorus of this song is
"Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}"
-snip-
Click http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bahamen/wholetthedogsout.html for the complete lyrics for this song.

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