Whoomp! (There It Is)

"Whoomp! (There It Is)"
Single by Tag Team
from the album Whoomp! (There It Is): The Album
Released	1993
Format	12-inch single
Recorded	1993
Genre	Miami bass
Length	3:56
Label	Life Records
Writer(s)	Stephen Gibson and Cecil Glenn
Producer	Tag Team
Certification	4× platinum
Tag Team singles chronology
"Whoomp! (There It Is)" (1993) "U Go Girl" (1993)

"Whoomp! (There It Is)" is a number two Billboard Hot 100 single by the Atlanta bass group Tag Team^[1]. The song sampled a beginning synthesizer line from the 1980 Italo-disco hit "I'm Ready" by Kano. The chorus is almost the same as the song "Whoot! There It Is" released by 95 South a month earlier, however the verse lyrics are much different. Both songs charted on the Billboard chart at the same time, but "Whoomp! (There it is)" reached a higher spot.

The hit song spent one week at #1 on the US R&B chart in 1993. It spent seven weeks at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, but was kept out of the top slot by UB40's "Can't Help Falling in Love" and Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover". The single is certified 4× Platinum in the US for sales of over 4,000,000 copies and, despite never reaching number one on the pop chart, was the second top song of 1993, behind Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You"

"Whoomp! (There It Is)" was commonly used at sporting events, particularly basketball. It was the theme song for the 1993 Philadelphia Phillies baseball team and was featured prominently during the 1993 World Series. Between innings at one game, Tag Team performed the song on the field, with special lyrics related to the Phillies. A young Rob Capellupo appears in the video with black teeth. When Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings goal beat the St. Louis Blues in the 1996 Western Conference Semifinals, the song was played with fans yelling out the "WHOOMP!" part. The song would later be included on 1995's Jock Jams, Volume 1.

"Whoomp! (There It Is)" was rated #97 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders.

The song listed at #58 on "Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time".[1]

In 2010, the song became the subject of media scrutiny when Gawker posted an item asking whether President Barack Obama appears as an extra in the song's video.^[2] A similarity was noted between Obama, who was 31 and working as an attorney in Chicago at the time the video was shot, and an Atlanta-hired extra who appears at the 1:01 mark in the clip.^[3] The Gawker writer came to the conclusion that it was not Obama.

Contents 1 Charts 2 Alternate, cover and remix versions 3 Cultural references 4 References

Charts

End of year chart (1993)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4]	2
End of year chart (1994)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5]	42

Alternate, cover and remix versions

• Within a year of the release of Whoomp! (There It Is), Tag Team re-mixed the backing music with a version of the theme song from the original Addams Family television series to create the song Addams Family (Whoomp!) for the film Addams Family Values. Actors Christina Ricci and Jimmy Workman reprised their film roles as Wednesday Addams and Pugsley Addams (respectively) for the song's music video. Addams Family (Whoomp!) won the 1994 Razzie Award (Worst Original Song) for its writers (Ralph Sall, Stephen Gibson and Cecil Glenn.^[6]

• In 1994, when the Houston Rockets won their first NBA Championship, Tag Team re-mixed their song yet again. This was titled Hoop! (There It Is). It was released on a CD honoring the team by Houston radio station 97.9 The Box and Mobile One.

• In 1995, Tag Team made an alternate version of the song called Whoomp! (There It Went) together with several Disney characters. It is basically the same song, but with several lyrics altered to depict Donald Duck's party in this version rather than a generic one in the original.

• In 1998, German House-artists "Triple S", "Klubbheads" and "DJ Disco" released their own mixes of the song on a maxi-single. Triple S's version warranted its own music video, the same year. Let's Be reality.

• British dance band Clock released a cover of the track in July 1995, with the slightly altered title of "Whoomph! (There It Is)".

• The song was again covered in 2005 by Crazy Frog for the album Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits.

Cultural references

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2009)

• Nickelodeon had a promo for new Fairly OddParents episodes involving Baby Poof from Fairly OddBaby. They used the song for the promo, this time titled "Poof! There He Is!".

• Beavis and Butt-Head once watched the video for this song, which features the word "Whoomp" on screen several times. Beavis thus described it as a good video for learning how to read. The duo also sang along with the chorus, altering the lyric to "Whoomp! There's my butt!"

• The song was used in an advertisement for the chocolate snack Swoops, with the changed lyric, "Swoop! There it is!".

• The phrase "Whoomp! There it is!" has become a cultural phenomenon in other countries as well. In Brazil, the phrase is commonly pronounced "Uh! Tererê" likely due to oral misinterpretation.^[7]

• An episode of The Secret Life of the American Teenager was named "Whoomp! (There It Is!)

• The track was also sampled in the 1990s series Daria. In the episode "One J at a Time" Tom, Jake and Jeffy are seen singing the song whilst releasing a squirrel into the wild, to which Jake remarks "I love this song!".

• The song in also featured in the film Elf, where Buddy is seen dancing to the song while in the mail room.

• Also featured in the movie's soundtrack, "Whoomp! (There It Is)" is played during the "street puck" scene of "D2: The Mighty Ducks" in which Team USA faces off against Russ Tyler's team of local boys. The scene is integral to the movie's plot development, for it is after that particular game that Team USA regains its cohesion and motivation for the Junior Goodwill Games. Also the viewers are introduced to the "knuckle puck" for the very first time.

References

Preceded by "Weak" by SWV

Billboard's Hot R&B Songs number one single July 17, 1993

Succeeded by "Lately" by Jodeci

An article from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, distributed under GFDL (authors)
To view the original version of this article or to improve Wikipedia, just follow this link