FSOTD #45/Let's Get It Started (2005)

I am a casual Black Eyed Peas fan.  I bought Elephunk a few years back (one of over 8 million copies it has sold worldwide since its release in 2003), but it's only gotten a few listens (at most) around here.  I didn't really even know that today's FSOTD "Let's Get It Started" was their song.

It all started about a week ago when a friend asked me to put together some music for a party he's having tonight.  I asked him to submit some some bands/songs so I could cook him up the kind of mix he wanted.  His selections were varied - some old, some new, some black, some white.  Among the newer and blacker was "Let's Get It Started" by the Black Eyed Peas.  So I went to my copy of Elephunk, and there was the track "Let's Get Retarded".   Huh?  Upon further review, I found out that "...Retarded" was re-styled in 2005 as "...Started" for an NBA Finals commercial that ran worldwide.  Apparently, it was more than a good idea: "Let's Get It Started" peaked at #21 US Hot 100, #11 in the UK, and it went all the way to #2 in Australia.  My, how those Aussies love their hoops!

A pretty clever idea, the re-casting of a song, especially with lyrics that rhyme smoothly with the original.  It got me thinking about songs that have been done twice by the same artist.  I harken back unto the Beatles with "Revolution."  Steely Dan did "My Gold Teeth" and came back with "My Gold Teeth II" using the same lyrics but an entirely different tune.  Bob Dylan did a fast and a slow version of "Forever Young".  Which reminds me, especially since we're doing the BEP thang today, wasn't it will.i.am who did a commercial about a year back meshing with Dylan in a sort of hip-hop "Forever Young"?  Anyone remember that?  I want a copy of that recording, whoever it was.  It was cool.

But back to The Peas.   What with Fergie joining the band since Elephunk, they're just a regular ol' hip-hop super group.  But don't take my word; the proof is in the numbers.   I gleaned this from the BEP wiki article:  The Black Eyed Peas are one of only 11 acts ever to simultaneously hold the #1 and #2 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  That happened earlier this year with "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling".  I must admit, I kinda missed all that when it went down, but even a few months after the fact, it's quite the jaw-dropping feat.