THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

859-Wheatus-Teenage Dirtbag.

2000-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 2.49. If your schooldays are meant to be the happiest, then you’re in for some tough times ahead.

Wheatus were formed in Northport, New York, United States, in 1995, by Brendan B. Brown, (lead vocals, and guitars) his brother Peter Brown, (drums) and Rich Liegey, (bass) in total there have been 31 different members come and go, with Brendan B. Brown being the groups one constant, and at the time of writing they remain active. As children the Brown brothers were nicknamed ‘wedus’ by their father, and that is from where the groups name derives. The discography of Wheatus includes five studio Albums released between 2000-2013, and 32 singles issued between 2000-2022, their are also two official live Albums, and two extended plays available. In their home country of America, they have never managed to break into the national charts, but they have achieved great success in Europe, and Australia, where ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ was a Number 1 single, and also the second best selling song in Australia in the year 2000. In the UK, three of their singles have reached the top 40, with ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ charting the highest at Number 2. Their other two UK hits are a cover of the Erasure (see also best songs 700) song ‘A Little Respect,’ which made Number 3 in 2001, and the double ‘A;’ sided release ‘Wannabe Gangstar’ / ‘Leroy,’ which reached Number 22 also in 2001, all three of their hits in the UK were taken from their self titled debut studio Album.

‘Teenage Dirtbag’ was written by Brendan B. Brown, who is affectionately known to his fan base as ‘BBB.’ with the songs production credited to Philip A. Jimenez, who was also co-producer with Wheatus on the the songs parent Album. ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ was the first of three singles released from the debut studio Album by Wheatus from August 2000, and has gone on to sell in excess of five million copies worldwide.

Brendan B. Brown got the idea for the song from a very famous incident that shocked America in the summer of 1984. In the woods behind the house, in Long Island, where Brown, who at the time was 10 years old was living, there was a so called ‘Satanic, drug induced ritual teenage homicide.’ The person who committed the crime was called Ricky Kasso, (1967-1984) who when arrested was wearing an ‘AC/DC’ – T-shirt. Brown has said,’That made all the papers, and the television, obviously, and here I was, 10 years old, walking around with a case full of AC/DC, (see also best songs 797-245 and 170) and Iron Maiden, (see also best songs 666) and Metallica (see also best songs 730 and 52) and all the parents and the teachers and the cops thought I was some kind of Satan worshipper. So that’s the backdrop for that song.’ Brown has also said that the sing-a-long chorus is an act of defiance,’So when I sing: ‘I’m just a teenage dirtbag’, I’m effectively saying: ‘Yeah, f–k you if you don’t like it. Just because I like AC/DC doesn’t mean I’m a devil worshipper, and you’re an idiot. That’s where it comes from.’

It is suspected, but not fully confirmed, that Brendan B. Brown actually performs all of the vocals on ‘Teenage Dirtbag,’ including the female sounding parts. The second verse of the songs begins with ‘Her boyfriend’s a dick/He brings a gun to school,’ the radio edits often omit the word ‘dick,’ or replace it with the slightly less offensive ‘prick,’ while the ‘He brings a gun to school,’ is often covered up by ‘scratching sounds,’ as when the song was released the ‘Columbine High School massacre,’ (1999) was still fresh in people’s minds. On the subject of the songs continued popularity, Brown has recalled the words of his father,’Every teenager has to go through that, being an outsider, thing, at least a little bit, so that story is still the same for people, even if it’s 30 years after I went through it.’

‘I’ve got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby, come with me Friday, don’t say maybe. I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby, like you ooh.’