When the heavy metal revolution exploded in the 1980s, it sent heavy rock fans into fits of euphoria. But it did not sit well with many parents, peers, and authority figures. They felt long-haired dudes, especially in leather and studs, were not to be trusted (if you can believe that).
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Despite Platinum and multi-Platinum sales for many bands, truly heavy metal (as opposed to pop metal) was not embraced by commercial radio. Instead it was banished to nocturnal weekend airplay by MTV around 1985. (Anyone remember Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider hosting Heavy Metal Mania?).
These bands were also continually accused of being a pernicious satanic influence. Check out this hilariously overblown 20/20 news report from back in the day as proof of that. These days people know better (although “Satanic Panic” made a little comeback recently).
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When Wheatus frontman Brendan B. Brown sat down to pen the pop rock anthem “Teenage Dirtbag,” he was seemingly writing from personal experience. It’s an ode to being an outsider, and wanting to win over the popular girl he likes. Oddly, and perhaps fittingly, this American one-hit wonder was actually bigger everywhere else. Still, Columbia Records scored well with the single and album back in 2000. Let’s explore the meaning behind “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus.
Blame It on Metal
The inspiration for “Teenage Dirtbag” came from Brown’s own childhood. In a 2012 interview with Sharona Lin from Tone Deaf, the frontman explained. “It came from the summer of 1984 on Long Island, when I was 10 years old. That summer in the woods behind my house, there was a Satanic, drug-induced ritual teen homicide that went down. And the kid who did it was called Ricky Kasso, and he was arrested wearing an AC/DC t-shirt.
“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 and Iron Maiden and Metallica. 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.”
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The Smut Police
Blaming rock music for bad things became a trend in the ‘80s. In 1985, the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) held Senate hearings on obscenity and vulgarity in modern rock and pop music. They seemed to crave censorship. In 1986, Ozzy Osbourne was put on trial for inciting a fan to kill themselves because of the lyrics to his song “Suicide Solution.” And Judas Priest was sued for years by the parents of two teens who killed themselves after listening to their music. They claimed subliminal messages made them do it.
Both those artists were exonerated from the charges. After the horrific Columbine school shooting in 1998, Marilyn Manson and the Goth subculture were fingered as influences. They, too, had nothing do with the tragedy.
A Whimsical Retort
Anyone who knows “Teenage Dirtbag,” however, probably sees at as a far less intense song than one of the topics that inspired it. Brown’s high-pitched vocals make him sound like a young teenage boy. The overall vibe of the song is like Barenaked Ladies meets Weezer. So we’re talking “sarcastic ditty.”
In the song, Brown professes his love for a hot babe named Noelle who makes him giddy. She’s dating a gun-toting, alpha jock douchebag. (The gun reference has been edited/censored from some versions since the song arrived post-Columbine.)
As Brown noted in the Tone Deaf interview, the chorus is still rebellious in its understated way. “When I sing ‘I’m just a teenage dirtbag,’ I’m effectively saying, ‘Yeah, f— 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.”
Yeah, I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby
Listen to Iron Maiden, baby, with me, ooh
A Star-Crossed Debut Video
The video for “Teenage Dirtbag” intercuts a band performance in a high school gymnasium (with Brown proudly wearing Commack t-shirts) with a dramatic scenario inspired by the Amy Heckerling film Loser. The 2000 film’s stars, Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari, both (kind of) reprised their roles in the video. (The song is on the movie soundtrack.)
In the movie they are NYU students, and Suvari is having an affair with an older professor. But in the Wheatus clip, they are high school peers and she’s dating one of the jocks who likes to bully Biggs. In the video, though, she scores Maiden tix by the end and asks him to go with her when they’re at the prom. The whole thing, of course, is a mere dream fantasy.
A Hit Everywhere Else but Here
One might think the outsider messaging of “Teenage Dirtbag” would have resonated with a lot of American teens. It did not, at least at the time. Although the song peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Modern Rock radio chart, it did not crack the Hot 100 singles ledger. But in plenty of other countries it was a hit.
“Dirtbag” went No. 1 in Australia, Austria, and Belgium; No. 2 in the UK; Top 5 in Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Switzerland; and Top 10 in four more countries. The single has reportedly sold over 5 million copies worldwide. About a third of that was in the UK.
The video was nominated for Best Video at the Kerrang! Awards in 2001. The Wheatus album itself performed decently, hitting No. 76 in America and reportedly selling 300,000 units in the UK. The band went through some line-up upheaval for awhile (perhaps too much success too soon?), and while they’ve never hit the same level of success, Brown is happy the song single-handedly gave him a career.
Global Impact!
The global following of “Teenage Dirtbag” has allowed it to reach over 568 million Spotify streams and 275 million views on YouTube as of this writing. It’s still getting fresh comments from middle-aged fans who remember the song from back in the day. And younger fans are just discovering it on their own (or through their parents).
Metal remains the type of music that sits on the outskirts of popular music, although it certainly gets a lot more radio airplay than it did way back when. But that’s part of the fun and cache of being a metalhead. You don’t want your music to be so popular that everyone likes it. It’s still fun to stick it to the mainstream, whatever one’s age.
Let’s hear it for the teenage dirtbags.
Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for iHeartRadio
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