In 2009, New York electronic music fans were stirred up by the appearance of a new extraordinary group called Duck Sauce (literally translated as “Duck Sauce”). The group was a duo of American DJ Armand van Helden and Canadian DJ A-Trak.
Armand van Helden is a New York native and super famous musician who has created top 40 house and electronic music hits in the UK. In addition to the above, he is known as a DJ, Grammy nominee and producer. Lit up as the author of remixes for songs by Janet Jackson, Rolling Stones , etc.
A-Trak (Alain Malkovich) is a famous Canadian DJ, a native of Montreal. Since early childhood, his hobby has been transforming popular music on DJ turntables to create a new sound. Alain Malkvich was practically one of the first DJs to use the game simultaneously on several records, and also invented a number of new techniques for scratching and rhythms of music records. Thanks to such achievements, he quickly gained popularity and in 1997 was recognized as the winner of the ‘DMCs World DJ Championship’. Currently, Alain Malkovich is a frequent guest at events such as the ‘MTV Video Music Awards’ and the Grammy Awards. He created both solo albums and in the company of other musicians.
Given the above talents and the achievements of its creators, the Duck Sauce group has been awarded the status of a “super duet” of electronic music. The eccentricity of the characters of the group members naturally influenced their joint work, the results of which repeatedly amazed the fans. However, the most famous was their 2010 single “Barbra Streisand”.
After the release of the track “Barbra Streisand”, Duck Sauce gained recognition in a wide circle of electronic music lovers in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, South Africa, Sri Lanka and other countries. This fact, apparently, only incited the creators of the popular track, and in 2011, another of their compositions, “Big Bad Wolf,” sounded on BBC radio, which later became no less famous.
It is known from official sources that the single “Big Bad Wolf” was released on September 29, 2011 by the Dutch label Spinnin’ Records, which specializes specifically in electronic music and has a multi-million audience of subscribers on various social platforms. A short time later, “Big Bad Wolf” was nominated on the official UK Singles Chart, which is formed by The Official Charts Company (OCC), a well-known British recording industry. According to established practice, lists of winners are formed based on at least a number of positions: high sales results of tracks on physical media, paid listening and listening on streaming services in real time (television, radio broadcasting, etc.). Taking all factors into account, the track “Big Bad Wolf” took the seventy-ninth line of the hit parade.
Thus, given that since about 1952 the UK Singles Chart has been the main hit parade in the UK and an analogue of such charts as, for example, the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA, the won seventy-ninth place is quite honorable.
The creators of the hit say that the idea was originally born to use digitized sound fragments in the form of a wolf’s howl when arranging the track, which would be intertwined with the sounds of electric musical instruments. Such fragments were subsequently processed and supplemented with various sound effects, which also added originality to the track.
Literally, the title of the song “Big Bad Wolf” can be translated as “Big Bad Wolf”. This phrase is repeated in the lyrics of the song many times. As the creators of the hit explained, each person faces some kind of difficulties in life, for each of us they have their own meaning and scale. The use of the tactical technique of repeating the phrase “Big Bad Wolf” was supposed to enhance the feeling of negative factors in our lives, hidden fears that torment each of us, give power and globality. The call of the song is not to retreat and steadfastly overcome all life’s obstacles. The optimistic notes of the performers encourage the listener to look fear straight in the eye and move only forward, no matter what. The main meaning of the song is that a person will always succeed if he is persistent and resolute!
In the same 2011, a video clip of the same name was shot for the single “Big Bad Wolf”. It is safe to say that watching this clip will not leave anyone indifferent. The main idea of the clip, which, by the way, belonged to its cameraman Keith Schofield, is that men instead of a penis have grown heads, however, this does not prevent them from leading a normal life and enjoying its charms. Later, the guys meet their own kind of girls, and the fun continues. At first glance, the picture is very obscene, but, nevertheless, exciting, because the viewer is tormented by questions: “What will happen next and how will it all end?”. After the release of the video, the audience was divided into two fronts. Some admired the creative idea of its creators, while others considered the video a nauseating spectacle that should not be censored.
According to news reports, the “Big Bad Wolf” video was a contender for Duck Sauce’s “Most Outrageous Video of the Year”. In addition, Billboard magazine named it “the most disturbing video of 2011” and “the most frightening video of 2011”. The main roles in the video were played by the members of Duck Sauce themselves, and therefore, the video has been assigned the NSFW stamp and it is not recommended to view it on working gadgets.
As the creators of the video clip explained, its meaning lies in the desire to help people fight with themselves. So, for various reasons, both the “Defenseless Pink Piglet” and the “Big Bad Wolf” can live inside of us. As soon as we become aware of our fears and problems, learn to accept them within ourselves, the struggle with ourselves will be completed and crowned with success.
Nevertheless, despite the ambiguity of both the song and the video for it, in 2011-2012 the single becomes the unofficial anthem of the famous football player Jason Robertson and the Red Bull Racing Formula One auto racing team. As the athletes explained, it is played in the locker rooms and during the lap of honor to raise morale and the right attitude to win. In 2016, this single was also used in the advertising campaign of the Money Supermarket t retail chain .
