"All The Small Things" by Blink-182 (2000)

Blink-182: legacy

A UK music poll once adjudged "All The Small Things" by Blink-182 as one of the best music videos of all times. Westlife's "Flying Without Wings" and the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody" also made it to the top ten. Back then, the songs were noteworthy, the videos were fantastic, and the artists were great. Not anymore.

The first time I heard Blink-182's pop punk magnum opus was way back in 2001, when part of the song was incorporated into the teaser of a local TV station's Sunday sitcom, Bitoy's World, top-billed by the talented Michael V and shown on GMA 7 every Sunday evening. Too bad it didn't make it to year 2002.

Bitoy's World. All roles performed by Michael V (Image from Retro Pilipinas blogspot)

But I remember the song. In 2003, my brother got hold of an FM station that played rock, R&B, and hip-hop tunes, and "All The Small Things" was included in rotation on the station's Sunday afternoon rock music program. It was also on this FM station that I first heard Evanescence, t.A.T.u., Matchbox Twenty, and Daniel Bedingfield. It was also on this station where I heard Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong", Christina Aguilera's "Fighter" and "The Voice Within", and Michelle Branch's "Breathe".

"All The Small Things" was etched in my consciousness. Maybe because the three-piece band parodied the popular music videos of that time: "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys, "Because of You" by 98 Degrees, "Sometimes" by Britney Spears, and "Genie in a Bottle" by Aguilera (who was a teen pop gal then).

Or maybe because the song was catchy and timeless. Well, timeless because no pop punk, metal and rock bands make it to today's music scene, and what we have now is an overdose of music that appeals to oversexed, club-hopping, and drunk teenagers and adults. Good Lord, if the devil can take them now and bring back to life Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Whitney Houston, and Amy Winehouse.

In the summer of 2005, I would fall for another Blink-182 hit, "Stay Together For The Kids". I stumbled upon the song on a local music video station, and next year, I would watch a live performance of the song, wherein the band got a pianist to perform with them.

Weeks ago, I read about one of the members being ousted from the band. So bad, so sad.