An indie pop act is breathing new life into Bowling For Soup’s (BFS) hit, “1985.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Nashville-based alt-pop duo davvn, comprised of lead singer McCall Bliss and guitarist Mike Nuzzolo, were childhood fans of Bowling For Soup—so much so that when a Twitter user pointed out in 2021 that “1985” was nearly 20 years old, it compelled davvn to craft their own remake of the song. Giving it a millennial twist, the band wrote “2002” packed with references to 2000s pop culture like Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s famed romance, iPods, iTunes, mixtapes, the Sims computer game, flip phones, Hit Clips, Kelly Clarkson winning the first season of American Idol, and many more staples that defined the era, all set to the tune of “1985.”
At the beginning of 2023, davvn re-shared the video on their Tiktok account and the clip scored more than two million views. This caught the attention of Bowling For Soup frontman Jaret Reddick, who shared a video of himself reacting to the track. He took his appreciation one step further by asking the band if they wanted to collaborate on “2002.” After passing lyrics and instrumentals back and forth, “2002” featuring Bowling For Soup was released on February 3.
“It feels absolutely surreal to us that we were able to work with Bowling For Soup on this adaptation of the song, especially since we grew up as huge fans of them and listened to ‘1985’ on repeat!” Bliss shares with American Songwriter. “It was incredible to see how our version resonated with other nostalgic ’90s/2000s kids on social media and we can’t wait to show them everything we’ve been working on, especially since our artist project takes a lot of influence from the 2000s bands we grew up listening to, like BFS, with newer, fresh sounds we’ve grown to love.”
In 2004, Bowling For Soup released their cover of the song that was originally recorded by rock band SR-71 for their final studio album, Here We Go Again, which came out the same year. The song features a laundry list of ’80s references, including artists Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Blondie, and U2, along with MTV and films Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club, and St. Elmo’s Fire. BFS’ version reached No. 5 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart and No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Davvn is slated to release its debut EP in spring 2023.
Photo Credit: Marion Shaina and Charde Fuller / Courtesy of davvn
