It may be 25 years since its release, but the love for ‘Maniac 2000’ is eternal, according to DJ Mark McCabe. 

The music producer is known for releasing ‘Maniac 2000’, the “song that replaced the national anthem” in Irish clubs. 

The song reached number one in the Irish Single Charts, staying there for 10 weeks. 

Mark told The Anton Savage Show it’s “scary” to think the song will be 25 years old next year. 

“It's never felt like it's been that long,” he said. “But I had an experience recently which kind of made me go, OK, wow. 

“I’ve started doing these over 30s events... they start at 7.30pm and finish at 11.30pm. 

“Normally when I'm playing gigs it’s 17 to 25 – but this was 30 to 65. 

“It feels like I’m at my parents’ party.” 

Despite Mark recently becoming aware of his own mortality, electronic and house music remain a favourite genre amongst dancers. 

He said he is able to replay some of his classic hits and also rework many for a new audience. 

“The 17- to 25-year-olds are as much into the 90s and noughties stuff as we were,” he said. 

“It's the most bizarre track I have ever come across... if I step back and look at it from a producer point of view, it defies everything you’d expect from a track that would have the longevity. 

“You can understand Candle in the Wind or Riverdance... but Maniac just seems so far removed from all of that. 

“But yet in some bizarre, warped way it works, and it continues to keep on going – even though it’s not Spotify.” 

Creating Maniac 2000

Mark wasn’t the first to play a remix of ‘Maniac’ - but he certainly did it the best. 

He explained the song first developed on a pirate radio station Pulse FM between 1996 and 1999. 

“Part of the party piece at the shows that we were running, because that's how the station was funded, was ‘Maniac’,” he said. 

“It was this thing that we just did it at these gigs and people loved it.” 

When Pulse FM shut down, the team decided to release ‘Maniac 2000’, expecting to do well with its Dublin audience. 

They had no idea the song would become a national hit. 

Instead of a shiny studio, Mark recorded the song from an underage disco at Clontarf Cricket Club. 

“It was a complete mess,” he said. 

The song was also written by Al Gibbs, Simon Fitzpatrick, Tim Hannigan, Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky.