Nostalgia Trip: Cartoon Network Groovies Vol. 2

Last week I brought you the original Cartoon Network Groovies starring your favorite Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Except Scooby Doo. I didn't have Scooby Doo.

So this week, I thought I bring in Groovies starring one of the best cartoons to ever grace the Network. And they also had some of the best Groovies. It's all about the Powerpuff Girls on this addition of Nostalgia Trip.

Love: It's pretty shitty. But damn if the Powerpuff Girls didn't try to make it look good and not complicated. And it was mostly done in song. While the show itself boasted a lot of songs that can easily get stuck in an 18 year old male's head and embarrass the living hell out of him (Lauren Faust, you have a habit of working on shows that do that), the Groovies that came from this show were always the most unique and fun. Japanese punk or British pop, they were unique and always interesting to watch.

Well I tirelessly spent maybe an hour finding them all and posted them here. And oh did the nostalgia flow.

Devo - "Go Monkey Go"

Oh Devo. We missed you. Well not the kids who watched this video, we had no clue who the hell you were. The '80s were weird. Our President looked like a mummy, the best music was made by a white black guy, and our biggest concern was trying to tear down a wall. Long after whipping people, Devo came back to bless us with a song about everyone's favorite Napoleon syndrome monkey, WatchMojo.com Mojo Jojo.

This was played constantly, I can easily remember coming home and seeing this. Then seeing it again. Then five more times. I didn't have friends, okay? Point is, it is catchy and strange as any Devo song. Rock, funky, strange, I mean shit it's about an evil genius monkey. And the band dresses like him. It's simply beautiful. Now all that's needed is a strong dose of LSD and this video on a 10 hour loop...

Shonen Knife - "Buttercup (I'm a Super Girl)"

Oh Japanese girls, why do you make everything more interesting. If the Toonami anime blocks, Pokemon, Teen Titans, and Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi wasn't enough evidence of eastern culture's influence on the unsuspecting American youth, then you can certainly take this Groovie as evidence. Once again the Powerpuff Girls continue to get the most diverse and interesting videos and songs, this time with a Japanese punk girl band known as Shonen Knife. And they sound suspiciously like The Ramones. 

Even if they are ripping off a legendary dead band, Shonen Knife makes a pretty kick ass song. "Buttercup" delivers a quick, loud, crunchy song. The video that accompany fits that tone: Fast and loud. The panels fly by before you know what's going on and the Japanese spelling just adds to the shows. I have no idea what's being said, even with the english lyrics, but I don't care. This is a song I can play full volume at the gym in my special made Sailor Moon workout shirt and official My Little Pony sweatpants. 

The Apples in Stereo - "Signal in the Sky"

Reminiscent of The Monkees or even some of The Beatles tracks, The Apples in Stereo came out with probably the funniest and most recognizable Powerpuff Girl Groovie, Signal in the Sky. Whiny and British songs seems to irritate the fish monster from the very first episode, because it tries to kill them constantly. And it is pure fun, certainly something incredibly strange to see on a network where there weren't allowed to be shows involving actual people. Until the CN dark ages but that's a long winded rant for another day.

Signal in the Sky was something crazy that mocked all the old monster movies like Godzilla or...other Godzilla movies. Destroying an entire cardboard and foam city, it's the exact dose of crazy, wacky, and destructive that gave little me a freaking smirk every time it came on. While the song isn't really amazing, it's just catchy enough to get stuck in your head and it just goes surprisingly well with massive destruction by fish monsters. And did you see the explosions? Thanks Michael Bay!

Cherish - "Power of the Female"

Ugh, the early '00s. Do you remember how awful it was? Buildings were blowing up and shit and if a song wasn't over processed white people stuff it was sexy black girl R&B. And the biggest trend was girl power. And we had super powered little girls. Then someone combined them. I'll be the first to admit that young me hated this Groovie, but now the older me can appreciate dem titties the great sound that really came from this track.

R&B group Cherish made not one but two Groovies for the Powerpuff Girls, and the first one Power to the Female is literally what the titles says, a song about how girls can kick some ass too. So it would make sense that the girls kick ass in the video, which they do, and in a clever way. The professor sets them up in a recording studio that turns out to be the same training simulator that Bubbles went fucking nuts in. And some of the effects and animation sync, for the time and format, is pretty good. They smack around the bad guys and it's just perfect '00s eye and ear candy. If only there was a big, wavy American flag in it.

Cherish - "Chemical X"

The members of Cherish were clearly fans of the show. While this second video was technically more the movie, I'm going to count it because it's the catchiest video I've found. I literally sat here snapping my fingers to the beat and replayed it. Once again, it's perfect early '00s fodder. It's really a shame that, besides a few songs, Cherish didn't have more success. Their voices were great and clearly they had a producer that knew how to make some good beats. Sadly they'll mostly be remembered for a couple of promotional songs for cartoons.

Oh but what songs they are. The accompanying video for "Chemical X" is a mix of modern 3D, funk style graphics, and clips from the Powerpuff Girls Movie. Simple for the most part, but the colors and timing are perfect and fit exactly what the song is going for. And it's all because of the Chemical X.

Nostalgia: It was fun then and it's fun to revisit. Join us next time on Nostalgia Trip for the third volume of Cartoon Network Groovies and memories to make you wish Stuart Snyder was dead.