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11jun05
IF you thought frogs were on the endangered list in Australia, think again.
The hysteria surrounding an annoying, spluttering frog, which sprang to life as a ringtone, is set to spread to Australia.
The UK went hopping mad for Crazy Frog Axel F when it was released as a single there two weeks ago, pushing it to the No.1 spot ahead of Coldplay's Speed of Sound.
Local record companies are now locked in a bidding war, all trying to get the jump on each other to release it as a single here.
It was released in the UK on independent Gusto Records, which once had a licensing deal with BMG Australia (now Sony-BMG).
But a Sony-BMG spokeswoman yesterday could not confirm any deal.
"It's very popular. Any record company would like to have it," she said.
According to an industry source, the tune is still up for grabs.
Already, 2DayFM is playing a version it downloaded from the internet. The success of Crazy Frog in the UK prompted Coldplay's Chris Martin to tell a British newspaper he wanted to eat the character's legs.
Crazy Frog is the brainchild of Swedish components salesman Daniel Malmedahl, who, in 1997, recorded himself muttering nonsensical sounds he thought sounded like a two-stroke moped engine. Then, in 2003, Erik Wernquist drew the Crazy Frog frog and put it on his website in 2003.
The ringtone became a single, when German band Bass Bumpers combined Crazy Frog with Axel F, Harold Faltermeyer's Beverly Hills Cop movie theme.
But like most phenomena, Crazy Frog's rise to stardom has not been without controversy. Earlier this year, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority received numerous complaints that Crazy Frog appeared to have genitalia.
That complaint was dismissed as ads for the ringtone were already deemed inappropriate for children's TV viewing hours.
It's the first ringtone to be released as a single on the mainstream charts.
© Northern Territory News
Jezi same with me when they start buying it