iheartHazey's 90s EURODANCE PARTY: Wanna go for a rate? - THE END

he/him
That's right back-to-back eliminations. So what is the last song to miss the Top 60?



















































































Will Italy finally take a hit?











































































No we're going to start in on another of my personal selections.
























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#61. Emjay - Sound of My Heartbeat - 6.397
After 5: #55
After 10: #49
After 15: #60
After 20: #53
After 25: #55
After 30: #62
Final: #61

Wow, she was battling for the Top 50 for most of the voting period.

Highest: 10 (@31entrance) 9.5 (DJHazey)

Lowest: 1 (@Ray) 3 (@One Stop Candy Shop)

Emjay Is: Marie Josée Riel

Album: In Your Arms (1995)

Charts: #14 (Canada)

Producer: Jean-François Laprise (Solina)

Emjay first got into the music scene at age 12, when she was the backup singer for a local Ottawa band. I don't see the name of the band but apparently they won awards. It was her dream to one day be a lead singer though and she worked really hard. One of her first chances to be noticed was when she had the opportunity to provide the background vocals for Capital Sound's "Memories" on their debut album. (I didn't even know this).

Her debut album In Your Arms came off the back off a string of successful singles including Sound of My Heartbeat, Fascinated, Flying to the Moon, and of course In Your Arms itself. She won several Juno Awrads and MuchMusic awards during this time and performed at several live venues, including the MuchMusic's Winterlude, Energy 108's "Energy Rush", and at Kingswood Music Theatre. She also performed on Parliament Hill at Ottawa's Winterlude which was nationally broadcasted. She also appeared on many radio and television shows at the time. Emjay was a little bit of celebrity in Canada for a time. Maybe @iheartpoptarts has some more insight into it. If anything, she has a lot in common with Emjay who apparently loves to do a ton of shopping in her spare time, especially for shows, and buys anything with a sales tag on it even if she doesn't need it. She always said her one weakness is that she isn't a morning person.

After the success of In Your Arms, Emjay began working on her next album in 1997, signing with Tycoon Records. She had recorded the first single "We All Need Love" and was ready for an album release in mid-1998. In November 1997, she was chosen as an opening act for Backstreet Boys Canadian Tour. Then all of the sudden, as we've seen happy in the music industry many times, everything became quiet. She recorded two French songs for a French Tv show that were far from Eurodance and that's all we've heard from Emjay for a long time.

Now I know Emjay sounds like she is struggling to hit the notes on this song, which I figured would be targeted, but I chose this song because I figured it had a better chance than something like "Flying to the Moon" which I would consider to be my favorite Emjay song. That one is a bit slower to get going, while "Sound of My Heartbeat" comes right at you my a very recognizable eurodance flavor and it was her frist signle so it felt right. But yeah "my looooove" was always going to work against the 'vocal ability' critics, even though I swear she sounds great even listening to it now so I don't know what people are hearing. Also, I'm not really much a of vocal critic myself anyway. Let's get the hate out of the way first.

Listen to sound of her heartbeat again please:

@Empty Shoebox (6) - She's just trying a little too hard on the vocals here and it sounds screechy to me.

@Ray (1) - Not really for me. She’s off tune. Ugh.

Maybe more cowbell to drown it out then?

@One Stop Candy Shop (3) - Who is she? Why does she have to scream like that? Why am I listening to this?

I'm betting you'd love "Flying to the Moon" more, check it out.

@phily693 (5) - I don’t think her voice is right for this, it’s a bit thin.


*stops ducking and cringing* Wait, that could've been worse.

Won't you slide over here and groove with me:

@ohnoitisnathan (8) - Whigfield's sister.

Now the comparisons I made between her and @iheartpoptarts make so more sense.

@Sprockrooster (7) - Sounds like good filler to me.

All I saw was 'good'.

@Seventeen Days (7) - Okay, I’m liking this one. It’s got a solid melody, and I love the house piano.

@berserkboi (8.3) - Very pleasant

@CasuallyCrazed (8.5) - Incredible discovery. A+ synths and that wailing vocal. For some reason reminds me of Heidi Montague.

And yet Heidi is one bad vocalist that I don't stick up for. Oops.

@WowWowWowWow (6) - I feel like there's a better song in there crying to get out. Maybe that song is somewhere on an album. BTW howling at one of the comments on YouTube: "i met emjay in hull when this came out...she was very nice in person...i remarked at the time that she must be 5'2"....very sexy...she gave me an autographed picture that ten years later one of my exes found and destroyed...i wish i still had that picture...it reminded me of a great period in my life..."

OMG, I wonder if the ex was like "he loved Emjay more than me" or thought he had actually cheated on her with Emjay. This is grade A drama right here. Great find.



And the aforementioned ultimate fav of mine:

 
he/him
Top 60

Netherlands/Belgium (9/12)

#??. 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This
#??. 2 Unlimited - No Limit
#??. Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone
#??. Alice Deejay - Back In My Life
#??. Paradisio - Bailando
#??. T-Spoon - Sex On The Beach
#??. Vengaboys - We Like To Party
#??. Vengaboys - Boom Boom Boom Boom
#??. Vengaboys - We're Going to Ibiza

Italy (12/12)

#??. Alex Party - Don’t Give Me Your Life
#??. Ann Lee - 2 Times
#??. Black Box - Strike It Up
#??. Cappella - U Got 2 Let the Music
#??. Cappella - Move On Baby
#??. Corona - Rhythm Of The Night
#??. Corona - Baby Baby
#??. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee)
#??. Eiffel 65 - Move Your Body
#??. Gala - Freed From Desire
#??. Whigfield - Saturday Night
#??. Whigfield - Think Of You

Germany/Switzerland (19/20)

#??. Amber - This Is Your Night
#??. Amber - Sexual (Li Da Di)
#??. Captain Hollywood Project - More and More
#??. Culture Beat - Mr. Vain
#??. Culture Beat - Got To Get It
#??. Culture Beat - Anything
#??. DJ Bobo - Let The Dream Come True
#??. Fun Factory - Close To You
#??. Fun Factory - I Wanna B With U
#??. Haddaway - What Is Love
#??. Haddaway - Life
#??. La Bouche - Sweet Dreams
#??. La Bouche - Be My Lover
#??. Le Click - Tonight Is The Night
#??. Mr. President - Coco Jamboo
#??. Real McCoy - Another Night
#??. Real McCoy - One More Time
#??. Real McCoy - Run Away
#??. Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer

UK/Canada (6/9)

#??. Berri - Sunshine After the Rain
#??. Emjay - In Your Arms
#??. Gina G - Ooh Aah… Just a Little Bit
#??. Koko - Open Your Eyes
#??. Livin' Joy - Dreamer
#??. Livin’ Joy - Don't Stop Movin'

Denmark (7/11)

#??. Aqua - Barbie Girl
#??. Aqua - Doctor Jones
#??. Aqua - Lollipop (Candyman)
#??. Daze - Superhero
#??. Hit 'n' Hide - Space Invaders
#??. Me & My - Dub-I-Dub
#??. Toy-Box - The Sailor Song

Sweden/Norway (7/11)

#??. Dr. Alban - It’s My Life
#??. E-Type - This Is The Way
#??. E-Type - Angels Crying
#??. Reset - Blue
#??. Reset - Calling You
#??. Smile.dk - Butterfly
#??. Solid Base - Come'n Get Me

@iheartpoptarts has a couple more coming for you today. The eliminations might be a little bit more sparse at the beginning the work week, but we've been blasting them out quickly up to this point.​


 
Her debut album In Your Arms came off the back off a string of successful singles including Sound of My Heartbeat, Fascinated, Flying to the Moon, and of course In Your Arms itself. She won several Juno Awrads and MuchMusic awards during this time and performed at several live venues, including the MuchMusic's Winterlude, Energy 108's "Energy Rush", and at Kingswood Music Theatre. She also performed on Parliament Hill at Ottawa's Winterlude which was nationally broadcasted. She also appeared on many radio and television shows at the time. Emjay was a little bit of celebrity in Canada for a time. Maybe @iheartpoptarts has some more insight into it. If anything, she has a lot in common with Emjay who apparently loves to do a ton of shopping in her spare time, especially for shows, and buys anything with a sales tag on it even if she doesn't need it. She always said her one weakness is that she isn't a morning person.

Okay, so I know exactly what all this stuff is.

Kingswood is the concert venue at iconic theme park Canada's Wonderland. (You know, where I practically grew up, like I told you.) Nobody really does shows there anymore but in the 90s (and apparently 80s, says my Dad) it was a thing. They did used to have the finale of The Next Star there (you know, that tween X Factor show that gave us PJSC icon Victoria Duffield and Alyssa Reid) but that's not a thing anymore either.

(P.S. I miss the iced tea flavoured popsicles.)

Energy 108 is a dance station I used to listen to on my walkman when I was in the fourth grade or so. It's long gone.

I've never been to Winterlude. Too cold for me!

In November 1997, she was chosen as an opening act for Backstreet Boys Canadian Tour.

I was there!
 
And so we bid an act farewell...





























































































































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#60. Smile.dk - Butterfly - 6.400

After 5: #53
After 10: #53
After 15: #62
After 20: #60
After 25: #55
After 30: #66
Final: #60

Highest: 10 x 3 (@DJHazey, @Ana Raquel, @31entrance) 9.5 x 1 (@rav4boy)

Lowest: 0 x 1 (@geomixes) 1 x 1 (@One Stop Candy Shop)

Album: Smile (1998)

Producers: Robert Uhlmann and Robin Rex (Dr. Bombay)

@DJHazey did a flawless job of covering Smile.dk when 'Boys' sadly left us. They're bubblegum dance legends. They're Swedish, not Danish—the ".dk" is because they were marketed in Denmark. They're big in Japan. They've got virtual butterflies everywhere.



'Butterfly', of course, is the Dance Dance Revolution song. And it's pretty much THE Dance Dance Revolution song. Here it is in all its DDR'd up remixed glory.



One of my university friends legitimately thought there was a Eurodance group called DDR and 'Butterfly' was their signature hit. So yeah.

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According to Wikipedia, 'Butterfly' was also misattributed back in the Kazaa days to Ayumi Hamasaki, presumably on account of the Japanese influences in it, and Aqua, like every bubblegum dance song ever.

After capturing the attention of DDR stans worldwide, Smile.dk continued to work the Japan angle with tracks such as 'Tokyo', 'Domo Domo Domo', 'Doki Doki', 'Tomoe', 'Moshi Moshi', and a predictable 'Japanese Boy' cover.

And at least as of last year, Smile.dk is still bringing the Japan-inspired bubblegum today! @DJHazey sent this to PJSC because he's awesome.



I 12'd it because I'm also awesome.

Smiling:

@Ana Raquel (10) - The other song which made me listen to eurodance nowadays, thanks to DDR. And the closest I've been to get a SS in the game.

I've DDR'd this one so much I've lowkey gotten tired of it!

@Sprockrooster (8) - Loving the chorus a lot!

@Ray (7) - Are you sure this belongs in the rate? It’s a goddamn ballad! *plays the video* …ignore me…

@Seventeen Days (7) - Another catchy track, though I would probably return to “Boys” first before this one.

@berserkboi (8.6) - Very good

@WowWowWowWow (8) - Look at that video budget! This was going to be a 7 but then I started Googling and found out that one of the smile.dk producers was responsible for songs by Dr. Bombay, Arash and Polish Margaret, and we love a legend! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Uhlmann_(composer)

I can't wait for Polish Margaret to go full bubblegum.

@rav4boy (9.5) - Very interesting production

@Empty Shoebox (7) - Not sure that this whole East Asian vibe they're trying to pull quite works here, but it makes the song stand out in this list, so credit there.

@CasuallyCrazed (5.5) - This is a clearly awful, but I also secretly enjoy the awfulness.

We've got some shout-outs to the 90s graphics...

@Eric (8.5) - The graphics in this video are something to behold - the hedges and spaceship reminded me of Steps's Here and Now / You'll be Sorry video.

@A$AP Robbie (9) - oh my god the 3d graphics in the video.

And 90s nostalgia in general...

@31entrance (10) - those toy phones that use to play these anyone??

Frowning:

@phily693 (3) - The chorus reminds me of Die Antwoord’s Enter The Ninja and that song just freaks me out so no thank you.

It was sampled in 'Enter the Ninja'! How about I be nice and not post it?

@ohnoitisnathan (4) - Not really my thing.

@One Stop Candy Shop (1) - My god these girls are annoying. Japan deserves better.

They saved their best for Japan! As it happens, my fave Smile.dk tracks forever are a Japanese bonus track and an obscure song off a Japan-only EP.



 
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Here's an act we haven't seen before...





























































































































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#59. Fun Factory - I Wanna B With U - 6.432

After 5: #34
After 10: #30
After 15: #51
After 20: #61
After 25: #69
After 30: #68
Final: #59

Highest: 10 x 2 (@iheartpoptarts, @Conan) 9.6 x 1 (@berserkboi) 9 x 2 (@WowWowWowWow, @rav4boy)

Lowest: 0 x 1 (@geomixes) 2 x 2 (@Empty Shoebox, @Ray)

Album: Fun-Tastic (1995)

Best Charts: #45 (US), #18 (Austria), #12 (Finland), #11 (Germany), #25 (Iceland)

Producers: Team 33 (Darkness, 2 Eivissa)

Y'all know Fun Factory. "Bang bang bang, here we come, here we slam! It's the Fun Factory with the BSB!"



...At least, that's one of the first things I associate them with in my head. See, @DJHazey? I can fit boybands in everywhere.

Fun Factory got their start in the early 90s. They released a single or two before lead singer Balca Tozun "left" the group and was replaced with French model Marie-Anett Mey. It was later confirmed that Balca had provided Marie-Anett's vocals the whole time.



See the blonde? She doesn't sing on any of this. Oh, Eurodance.

Meanwhile, member Smooth T a.k.a. Toni Cottura produced not only the Backstreet Boys masterpiece above, but also the *NSYNC singles 'Here We Go' and 'U Drive Me Crazy'. In other words, he's boyband royalty without actually being in a boyband.



When @DJHazey wakes up to this post he's gonna fire me. Just kidding. Hehe.

At one point Smooth T was married to 90s dance artist Daisy Dee. (Thanks @ohnoitisnathan and your many YouTube channels!) It's a small world, after all.

'I Wanna B With U' was the soundtrack to every 90s kid's summer waterpark adventures (or mine, anyway) and you guys better stan. But did you?

What's Up?:

@ohnoitisnathan (7) - Obviously from the era where everyone wanted to sound like Ace of Base, with the reggae elements.

My fave genre is Ace of Base. No, really, I mean it!

@Sprockrooster (8) - Juvenile in a good way.

@phily693 (7) - I was NOT expecting this! A lovely change of pace, it’s surprisingly low-key and groovy.

@WowWowWowWow (9) - Demonstrating that versatility of our Eurodance acts! Who knew you could do midtempo etc. etc.

@berserkboi (9.6) - great discovery

And because all our Euro summer bops sound a bit alike, and I'm not complaining...


@Cutlery (8.4) - Sex on the Beach whomst?? This is where it’s at

@sfmartin (7) - A cute Vengaboys lite song.​

What's Wrong?:

@CasuallyCrazed (6.5) - Couldn’t escape this on the radio in the 90s, but its aged poorly.

@Empty Shoebox (2) - The male vocals here are horrible, and the way that the female vocals are mixed is completely putting me off this song.

@Seventeen Days (5.25) - *sigh* another song with that mid-tempo reggae-tinged beat that I just can’t get into. I gave a bonus point for the little chime intro, because that was my favorite part.

I love them, so you can blame me!

@One Stop Candy Shop (4) - Still not a fan.

@Ray (2) - Poor Ace of Base.

---

I present you with the other Fun Factory summer jam singles. The first one is so totally Ace of Base.



 
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he/him
What is wrong with ya’ll?

Also fun fact about me: I used to be obsessed with Smile.dk and I used to have all of their discography on my old laptop so there’s that

I have their discography in CD form, some of them were expensive as I had to buy the imports off Amazon.

@iheartpoptarts -- You're not fired, you're doing flawless! I'm guessing the "this one is for Hazey" is "Kissy Kissy" which is indeed my all-time favorite Smiel.dk song, just ahead of "Dragonfly" and "Koko Soko".

We're going slow down a little today and there will be just one reveal tonight from @iheartpoptarts and then it'll be just one dayside and one nightside reveal for most days this week.
 

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