Many opportunities came to Baha Men after ‘Dogs’ released

If you’re going to see the Baha Men perform and you’re hoping the Bahamian band will play its smash hit “Who Let the Dogs Out,” you won’t be disappointed.

Drummer Colyn “Moe” Grant figures the group has played the song — which quickly became an anthem at sporting events following its release four years ago — about 1,000 times, and they’re not about to stop now.

“It’s still fun to do,” he says, because it’s a different experience “every time you play it for a new crowd.”

“Who Let The Dogs Out” was the driving force behind the group’s album of the same name, which sold 5 million copies. The song won a Best Dance Recording Grammy in 2001.

And while some have relegated the Men to “one-hit wonder” status, the song has created a lot of other opportunities for them.

Because “Dogs” was so popular, Baha Men songs have been included in several movie soundtracks, including “Shrek,” “Men In Black II,” “Scooby-Doo,” “The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course” and “Like Mike.”

The group’s new single, “Holla!,” from the album of the same name, was featured in “Garfield: The Movie.”

You may have noticed that most of those movies are targeted at kids. The Baha Men don’t set out to write songs for kids, Grant says, but the folks who put together movie soundtracks just find the group’s fun, danceable sound to be the right fit.

Just as the Baha Men don’t mind playing “Dogs” every night, they don’t mind that their concerts are attracting more and more kids. “These kids are going to get older,” Grant says. “Hopefully, when they get older they’ll remember the Baha Men.”

The band also is a mixed crowd: Ages range from 19 to 53, and one of the singers — Rick Carey — is the son of guitar player Pat Carey.

The Baha Men released seven discs before “Dogs,” Grant says, so their post-2000 popularity gives them a chance to get their older songs to new audiences.

“That song brought us from obscurity to notoriety,” he says. “It brought the band to prominence.”