Rocktober '90s Song #5: "Three Little Pigs" by Green Jellÿ (1992)

I'm going to be out of town tomorrow, so there won't be another Rocktober post until Monday (or a Hair Band Friday post).  For this, I issue you my sincerest of apologies, but I'll leave you with something fun before I go.

One of the surprise hits of 1993 was Green Jellÿ's updated and comical take on the classic folk tale "Three Little Pigs."  Originally named Green Jellö, the comedy metal -- and yes, that's a genre! -- band had to change their name to Green Jellÿ because of legal pressure from Kraft, who owned Jell-O.  The best part is that, despite the name change, the name of the band is still pronounced "green jello."

Anywho, in the early '90s, future Tool lead singer Maynard James Keenan and drummer Danny Carey were members of the band, and the band's bassist (and one of the co-founder) from 1981-1995 was Scott Rozell, who would then go on to form punk band Scatterbox.

Originally released in 1992 and then re-released in 1993 after the band changed the spelling of its name, "Three Little Pigs" is the band's biggest hit.  As I mentioned above, it's a humorous take on the Three Little Pigs, set to a backdrop of heavy metal.  Lead singer Bill Manspeaker (a.k.a. Moronic Dicktator) handles lead vocals, while Keenen, Pauly Shore, and Les Claypool all provide backing vocals as the pigs on the song.

Buoyed by the claymation video, which was in heavy rotation on MTV, the song went to #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the New Zealand pop chart, Top 10 on the pop charts in six other countries.  Looking back on it, it seems very strange that this song was so popular, but then again, that was the beauty of the '90s.  A lot of weird shit was embraced, and we're all better for it.