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

Poor Ann Lee! 'Two Times' was probably third in line for my 11...

 

I'm glad 2 Times is out. It just irritates me.

 

"Ann Lee" always reminds me of

 

At some point, I had Ann Lee's album on a 8-track budget priced cassette thingy. These were my favorite album cuts.

And Portugal's biggest eurodance group did get to collaborate with Whigfield (Ann Lee?)!

 

So how about another one of your low scores?































































I wonder if anyone thought they'd be down to one song this early..





























































#36. Culture Beat - Anything - 7.136

After 5: #57
After 10: #52
After 15: #40
After 20: #41
After 25: #41
After 30: #36
Final: #36

Voting Average: #45

I think it ends up being a bit over-scored myself. I certainly would rank "Got to Get It" above it and in fact the two traded places in the standing throughout the voting process. Many times they were right next to each other on the leaderboard. "Anything" got a nice boost at the end though and the two songs switched spots from where they were after 30 voters.

Highest: 10 x 5 (@OspreyQueen, @geomixes, @idratherjack, @Sprockrooster, @ohnoitisnathan)

I remember @OspreyQueen saying that she couldn't wait until we got the Culture Beat on the song list, when we had the plug.dj listening party, now we see our first evidence of the stanning.

Lowest: 3 (@Conan) 4 (@GhettoPrincess)

My Score: 8

iheartpoptarts: 5 (She probably would say, "too long and not fun, so yeah there are some things you could do for me")

Album: Serenity (1993)

Charts: #3 (Austria, Israel) #4 (Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands) #5 (Belgium, UK) #6 (Canada Dance) #7 (U.S. Hot Dance) Gold (Australia, Germany)

Producer: Torsten Fenslau (Culture Beat founder)

Once we decided Culture Beat was important enough of a 90s Eurodance act and deserved three songs, I had to go with their third single from Serenity. Since its arguably one of the most well known albums in the genre's history, there shouldn't be any argument. I've always thought it was overshadowed by the previous two singles but as we can see here, "Anything" holds its own. I definitely use this track for sure, but there's quite a gap between it and the other singles. It reminds me of the reasons I love the chorus for "Crying in the Rain". If I were to add a song from Culture Beat's second album Inside Out it would have to be the title-track, but my favorites from the album are "Crying in the Rain" and "Take Me Away" without question.

There's nothing else to add, so lets get right into the commentary.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah:

@WowWowWowWow (7) - This seems to be the more industrial side of Culture Beat? The less radio friendly side? Not sure but the part that starts "and the beat keeps going on..." and then the sound starts to jitter around, is pretty epic for sure.

@31entrance (8.5) - not @ this taking place two years from now if the date on the surveillance footage is to be trusted.

This rate has our own investigator now, amazing.

@Sprockrooster (10) - This is very experimental and all over the place, but I am liking it a lot. The female voice is absolutely killing it with that tripping beat. She easily handles it vocally.

That would be Queen Tania Evans.

@One Stop Candy Shop (7) - Didn't know this, but it's a good one. I don't mind that it's 6 minutes long.

@ohnoitisnathan (10) - Another classic, though I actually preferred the LP version of this one to the single mix.

Me with "Got to Get It" teebs. Glad you scored based on the one you love.

@phily693 (7.5) - This is a much better follow-up to Mr.Vain. It has that video-game and Mortal Kombat madness which I love!

This just reminds me of this amazing Mortal Kombat remix my friend used to play back in high school.

@rav4boy (7) - I remember EVERYONE suddenly breaking into what must have been an early 90s flash-mob to this song…

@Cutlery (8.5) - A step up compared to their other two singles, in my opinion. The female vocals and rapping feel as energetic as the frenetic production, making a coherent package.

@ThisIsRogue (8) - Woah, is that surround sound moment supposed to happen. It's a trip if it is!

Is there anything more I could do for you:

Nobody was truly scathing towards it, but it definitely had its share of 'meh' reactions..

@Ray (5) - ‘Oh, it’s this one.’

@Seventeen Days (5) - I like it, but it’s not a song I would return to again, teebs.

@Empty Shoebox (6) - Not particularly bad in any way, but I feel that it lacks impact.

@sfmartin (6) - A bit of a overlong mess.

@CasuallyCrazed (7.5) - Fantastic chorus but a bit weak on the verses.

@berserkboi (7.9) - Pleasant but on the ‘meh’ side

​

 

Hmm, not too bothered.

I was one of the 9 people who bought Crying in the Rain. I think they were a bit too 'hard' sounding as they progressed, though the natural law for all of these acts seems to dictate diminishing chart peaks with 2-5 Top 10 hits, and Culture Beat had their allotted three big hits.

 

Hehe, I may or may not have oh so subtly thrown a boyband into the Producers section of that one!

Mortal Kombat!!!

 

Is Italy's luck beginning to run out?













































































































#35. Alex Party - Don't Give Me Your Life - 7.161

After 5: #18
After 10: #34
After 15: #28
After 20: #28
After 25: #29
After 30: #32
Final: #35

Highest: 10 x 4 (@roborovsky, @sfmartin, @Ray, @phily693) 9.5 x 2 (@dancingwithmyself, @ohnoitisnathan)

Lowest: 3 x 3 (@Daniel_O, @idratherjack, @Aester) 3.5 x 1 (@One Stop Candy Shop)

DJHazey: 5.5 (If I get my own section then so does he, hehe.)

Album: Alex Party (1996)

Best Charts: #2 (UK), #13 (Australia), #24 (Germany), #6 (Iceland), #2 (Ireland), #2 (Israel), #22 (Italy), #16 (Netherlands), #2 (Scotland)

Producers: Paolo Visnadi, Gianni Visnadi, and DJ Alex Natale (of Alex Party)

This is me once again being clueless on the big-in-UK stuff. I always thought Alex Party was a Eurodance singer with a bit of a stage name. Turns out it's a group and the girl isn't even called Alex!

Alex is in fact DJ Alex Natale, the girl is Robin "Shanie" Campbell, and the other two members are brothers Paolo and Gianni Visnadi, also of Livin' Joy. I so did not know that. Some of you did.

'Don't Give Me Your Life' was their breakthrough, and it could've gone all the way to UK #1 if it hadn't been for Celine Dion's 'Think Twice'. Remember ballads? That's another thing that was popular at the time. How about we don't?

Making 90s Eurodance was hard, guys. “The means of productions back then were not like today, and the production phase was actually more challenging,” said Paolo in a 2015 Idolator interview on the song. “I remember that the hardest part was the huge amount of work during the assembly, once the vocals were recorded on tape. After that, every single phrase from the vocals was sampled individually and controlled via midi with an Atari computer.”

Something like this, am I right?



'Wrap Me Up' was big enough thereafter to save them from one-hit wonderness, and in some countries, most notably their home market of Italy, it actually charted higher!

(Thank you @ohnoitisnathan!)

'Read My Lips' featured more catchy repeated vocals as well as your average music video warehouse dancing and 90s power suits.

(Thank you @AcerBenII!)

Their final single release was the turn-of-the-century bop 'U Gotta Be'. Did you know everyone in Italy in 2000 was working with Eiffel 65?

While we're looking at remixes, by the way, Alex has quite the remixography himself, including some of the artists in this rate! Something something six degrees etc. etc.

Alex Partying:

We begin with a nostalgia trip or two...

@Remorque (9) - This takes me waaaaay back. This kind of music was riding high in the French speaking part of the country, when the Flemish part didn't really play this on the radio, so every year when we had our holiday in the Ardennes when I was younger these kinda songs were riding high and I got my life every single time. Alex Party would soon go on to become the equal sounding, but not in any way less iconic, Livin' Joy.

@Ray (10) - WHAT A CLASSIC. I danced to this back when it came out in 1920s! Surprisingly many of those songs never got played anywhere in Warsaw gay clubs, but this did, and I even had a remix CD single! What kind of decadent luxury?

@Empty Shoebox (9) - For the longest time, I was convinced this was 'your lies'. You can see where I'm coming from, can't you?

You're not alone on that!

@roborovsky (10) - The title makes no sense but I used the love the performances you’d see of it, with the singer (was she British?) in some horrendous white fur coat sassing it up.

@rav4boy (8.5) - Pretty sure this song was huge in the UK? Great tune and very 1995!

@berserkboi (8.4) - A classic but not as strong as other entries thus far

@WowWowWowWow (8) - New to me. I would definitely not mind being a guest at an Alex Party! Although I did wonder to myself, this sounds a little bit Livin' Joy, am I being limited in my comprehension of Eurodance? Well come to find out the brothers from Livin' Joy were also the guys behind Alex Party. I almost know what I'm talking about sometimes!!!

Ain't no party like an Alex Party!

@Seventeen Days (5.5) - Middle of the road “divaz wit’ ATTITUDE” sound. Decent enough.

@ohnoitisnathan (9.5) - Effective.

@Cutlery (8.2) - What I dig is that the vocals don’t sound typical Eurodance singer at all

And it looks like we have ourselves a singalong...

@phily693 (10) - An explosion of Eurodance. This is camp, fun and sassy. I love everything about it, I love screaming along to the chorus!

@sfmartin (10) - Insanely good. You can't help but shout along as your drink spills all over the club floor at 4am.

Alex Partied Out:

@CasuallyCrazed (4) - Forgettable but enjoyable.

@One Stop Candy Shop (3.5) - I didn’t know this and it’s not a discovery.

@Sprockrooster (4) - Being a fan of Italy and also their music it baffles me to see they got so many songs up for rating. I had no idea it was a Eurodance paradise. Who knew Italy had the range?! This song however is filler and doesn't give me life at all.

---

Get your lives... or not.

 

That first sentence made me think we were saying goodbye to Gala! This is a bit better!

 

What the actual fuck? Already?

I’m feared for my 11.

 

Just had no interest in Alex Party at all, which was a new act for me. Even listening to the other songs imbedded in that writeup, I think I just don't like this singer's voice much at all.

Two more eliminations coming up soon and another later today and we're both taking Sunday off, so just a heads up.

 

I had this cassette single; my sister and I once rowed over the (admittedly non-sensical) lyrics.

 

Hey, it's actually been a while since we've touched the Sweden/Norway region..





























































































































































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#34. Reset - Blue - 7.186​

After 5: #25
After 10: #36
After 15: #43
After 20: #46
After 25: #43
After 30: #35
Final: #34

Leaderboard Average: #38

Highest: 10 x 5 (@Ana Raquel, @31entrance, @Eric, @Aester, @rav4boy) 9.7 (@berserkboi)

So in fact those two both lose a 10 instead and trust me I would've had Dr. Alban go now (or earlier) myself so I'm right there with you. In fact I think both hosts would agree with this sentiment.

Lowest: 0 (@geomixes) 2.5 (@CasuallyCrazed) 3 (@soratami)

Those first two have basically torched the whole region, but what did they do with Dr. Alban? We'll find out later.

My Score: 9
iheartpoptarts: 9

Album: Play (1999)

Charts: #5 (Norway)

Producer: Stig Antonsen (Reset)

"Blue" is Reset's biggest single to date and in fact is still the #1 selling Norwegian dance single ever. You can the difference between their albums Play and Calling You with the two choices I made for this rate. Calling You is when the group decided to allow Camilla Henningsen to dominate the vocals and have more of a trance/atmospheric style to the sound. We saw many people come for Camilla's thin 'autotune' vocals with "Calling You" but on their debut album we see more of a classic 90s Eurodance sound. Thomas Borgvang provided the standard rap element which dominated the verses and Camilla only had to provide the hook which allowed her to shine on this song and I think this worked so much better with the new listeners. I feel like a proud parent watching a song go all the way up to #34 when I know it was brand new for most if not all of you.

Fly High on the Plane of Love:
​

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@WowWowWowWow (7) - Love the pizzi-ish sounds!

Yes they really drive this song.

@berserkboi (9.7) - LOVE!

But would this 9.7 make a song contest Top 10?

@sfmartin (9) - Powerful and high energy. Another discovery from this rate. The instrumental breakdown is my favourite part.

@31entrance (10) - yesss give me that kinda-sad-but-kinda-happy banger.

What's sad is the song that ended up winning this region.

@Empty Shoebox (7) - I can't say exactly what's lifting this above average for me, but something is. It's not the most distinctive of records, and I've marked others down for it before. Maybe it's something I don't really understand, like production.

Oslo Syndrome.

@Eric (10) - This was the discovery of the rate for me - the beat is instantly addictive, the piano adds an element of drama and the perfect blend of vocals and rap/speaking. The chorus is a highlight.



@Seventeen Days (8) - This song’s melody just feels so huge - it almost envelops you. It’s practically begging for a fantastic sound system in a club.

@One Stop Candy Shop (7.5) - Sounds a lot more polished and better produced than most of the rate.

The little Reset that could.

@phily693 (8.5) - I love the slightly trancier sound of this. I REALLY like that chorus!

@rav4boy (10) - I LOVE the production.



This romance is out of order:

@ohnoitisnathan (7) - Catchy but not spectacular.

@Ray (6) - Pleasant-ish.

@Sprockrooster (5) - Very danceable post-chorus and that is all that strikes me from this track.

Your lowest score from this region so I bet you're happy.

@CasuallyCrazed (2.5) - This song has no chill — makes me feel manic and borderline psychotic.

Sis...

Reset Recap

53. Calling You - 6.522
34. Blue - 7.186

Highest: @DJHazey (9.5) - @Ana Raquel (9.5) - @31entrance (9.5) - @rav4boy (9.5) #TeamTaste

Lowest: @geomixes (0) - @soratami (3) - @CasuallyCrazed (3.5) - @idratherjack (3.5)

Artist Ranking

Alex Party - 7.161
Ann Lee - 7.121
Paradisio - 7.108
Me & My - 7.053
Captain Hollywood Project - 6.929
Reset - 6.854
Koko - 6.808
E-Type - 6.774
Fun Factory - 6.628
Le Click - 6.617
Hit 'n' Hide - 6.497
Toy-Box - 6.467
DJ Bobo - 6.458
Emjay - 6.442
T-Spoon - 6.346
Bambee - 6.303
Twenty 4 Seven - 6.292
Maxx - 6.236
Technotronic - 6.228
Smile.dk - 6.139
Crispy - 6.108
Solid Base - 6.010
Capital Sound - 5.889
Miss Papaya - 5.478
Tiggy - 5.289​

 

Okay so that was a bit cruel to @31entrance and @Aester, making them think one of their least favorite songs was going before booting a 10 instead.















































































































So let's give them a song that won't mind leaving nearly as much.

Also, this one not being Top 20 in a 90s Eurodance rate is kind of shocking I'll admit.





















































































#33. Mr. President - Coco Jamboo - 7.272

And in fact it was going to be Top 20 for a while at least..

After 5: #20
After 10: #18
After 15: #23
After 20: #43
After 25: #38
After 30: #37
Final: #33

Leaderboard Average: #30

As we can see there was a time when it was a Top 20 song and another time when it was being underrated as a fringe Top 40 song, so it settles at a place just outside our Top 30.

Highest: 10 x 6 (@iheartpoptarts, @WowWowWowWow, @berserkboi, @Sprockrooster, @Remorque, @Conan) 9.6 (@P Grandson)

Lowest: 1 (@Empty Shoebox) 3 x 2 (@CasuallyCrazed, @soratami)

My Score: 8.5

She only gave out one 0 in this rate, which is a miracle but here's one of her other low scores I'm sure she'll be happy to see go.

Album: We See the Same Sun (1996)

Charts: #1 (Austria, Switzerland, Sweden) #2 (Germany, Netherlands) #3 (Finland) #7 (Australia) #8 (UK) #21 (U.S.) #28 (France) Platinum (Germany, Australia) Gold (Austria, Switzerland, Sweden) Silver (UK)

Producers: Kai Matthiesen (Crispy, Scatman John) and Rainer Gaffrey

The trio that make up the band are the girls Lady Danii and T Seven with the male rapper Lazy Dee. However things began began in 1991 when T met manager Jens Neumann and wanted to be in a group called Satellite One. Jens refused because T was only 14 at the time but changed his mind when he saw her dancing skills. Competitive dancer Lady Danii would join later when he caught the eye of Jens. Like T, she tried to convince Jens to let her join Satellite One to no avail. But when one of the singers got sick one time, Lady Danii took her spot. The original male vocals were provided by "Sir Prophet", but before Lazy Dee would join the group in 1994.

Without much success as Satellite One, Jens decided to change the name to Mr President. The M stands for "music" and the R stands for "rhythm", and since they figured President is one of the highest positions a human could be in, the name came together. The stated to have some underground success in the German night club scene with the song "MM" which stood for Marilyn Monroe. This may also add to the explanation for their name as Mr. President. Then came their first breakout hit "Up'n'Away" which almost hit the German Top 10. At this time Sir Prophet started to have arguments with the management and reportedly the girls did not want to work with him anymore, so he was replaced by Lazy Dee.

Their debut album Up' N Away was a mild success in Germany, but when they released "Coco Jamboo" as a promotional single in march 1996, everything changed for the band. Suddenly they were being heard on both sides of the Atlantic. They won a BMI award for being the European track played most by American radios. The We See the Same Sun album would be released later that year which would provide another Top 10 German hit "I Give You My Heart". Love the bubblegum "dum-dum-doobi" bits, little bit of discovery for me.

The album was known for it positive upbeat nature which Lazy Dee expands upon: "There is no band that reflects joy, happiness and fun in the way that we do. When we sing, people start to realise that there are many things in life other than war, violence and envy. We make music so that people don't forget all the beautiful things that life has to offer."

The next single "Show Me the Way" might have soured fans because the sound was extremely different and much slower and the drop in success reflected that. Then in 1997 scandal would strike the group when German magazine Stern accused the members of Mr. President of being fake and that the voice you hear on the album are not theirs. The report started after the band had an interview on German radio station Bremen 4. They were asked to sing "I Give You My Heart" acapella in the studio and apparently sounded terrible as if they couldn't even sing. Then Stern added that the true singers went by the names Anne Schroeder, Karen Mueller, and William King, and everything was lip-synced by the band members. Mr. President denied all accusations and went on.

A couple of little fun facts about this song too (I know poptarts loves these kind of things).

Mr. President released a Christmas-themed version of "Coco Jamboo" in 1996, by changing the lyrics for the occasion:

One of my favorite songs from Inna "Rendez Vous" is known for sampling "Coco Jamboo"

You would think that @iheartpoptarts may be better served to do this elimination and she may very well be, but the reason I took it is because I've always considered one of my first memories of loving music. Now it has aged some, more than some of my other favorites on this song list, but it's iconic just the same. One of my first memories of hearing Eurodance was at this random little amusement park/animal park we have in Maine called the York Wild Animal Kingdom. Basically it's half zoo half carnival. No roller coasters or anything huge, more like go karts, bumper cars, and all the spinney ride you'd see at a carnival. I only remember going once but for some reason I remember them playing music throughout the park and it was all current Eurodance. Someone must have loved the genre back then and had control of the playlist because this song and a couple others stand out for me from this experience. I had to be like 12 at the time and I look back at this as another example of when my tastes later in life would start to form (before entering my metal stage later and coming back to dance music). I recall going home and listening to Q97.9 (Portland Maine's hit music station) so I could record "Coco Jamboo" onto a cassette and have it on one of my mixtapes.

Lets see if anyone else has great memories tied to this song.

Put me up:

@WowWowWowWow (10) - Wig! One of the music steals of my lifetime was inexplicably finding the Mr. President album in a Massachusetts Wal-Mart, that I don't even think had been released in the USA at that point, and it was marked down to $9. Why the hell do I remember that? Anyway, I try to drop this into any party playlist that I make, because it still brings sonic enjoyment. I know we shouldn't just lazily compare groups to one another, but I'm thinking that Mr. President is the reason that I never really got into T-Spoon. Like, if I wanted Euroreggae, I had Coco Jamboo. If I wanted Eurobops, I had Up 'n' Away. How simpleminded I was!

Another iconic walk down memory lane indeed. And yes, I had mentioned not liking the reggae beach style much, but forgot that this was still a jam when I said it.

@Hudweiser (7) - My friend Grace does THE best impression of the woman's voice.

A Lazy Dee stan…

@berserkboi (10) - What a classic! My 11 could go to this easily! Sight for sore eyes too that hot man!!

@sfmartin (8) - Lot's of fun, the chorus is very catchy. Sex On The Beach's less promiscuous sister.

@Sprockrooster (10) - Bring in the summer with this. A summerbop!

@One Stop Candy Shop (7.5) - Why does this sound slower than I remember? I don't mind hearing this again after a long time though.

@phily693 (9) - Great chorus, although I always get it confused with another song.

Put me down:

@CasuallyCrazed (3) - I thought this was LaBouche singing this… the jibberish lyrics ruin the song.

Me and brother had a habit of mis-hearing lyrics. We always thought this was "coco jungle". If I told you guys some of our other iconic mis-hears than I would have to log off permanently. They are that embarrassing.

@Empty Shoebox (1) - Oh no, I've never liked this one. There's nothing about it that I like, but I gave it a point because [UN-REDACTED - "Cotton Eye Joe"] makes me angrier.

@Seventeen Days (4) - I feel like such a hater every time one of these reggae-tinged tracks comes up. Still, there are some elements that make this one pretty decent.

@Ray (5.5) - Oh gosh, I bought this album too. This production AGED even compared to everything else in the rate. Pan Flute Soothing New Age Music Vol. 51 meets ‘All That She Wants’. But the rapper was cute and his voice wasn’t extremely jarring. *sounds of barrel bottoms being scratched*

Part 5,682 of the 'Ace of Base soundalikes are amazing' files.

@ohnoitisnathan (6) - The woman's voice, to me, sounds like Taylor Dayne on downers. Obviously the woman in the video is not the actual singer. The verses are meh.

@rav4boy (7.5) - This song would have a higher score if the male vocal didn’t jar so badly.

@Cutlery (7.3) - This one had always been somewhat annoying for me, but relistening for this rate made me fonder of it

​

 

Poor Reset but I’m glad to see Coco Jamboo go!

 

Me every time someone calls for Dr Alban:

I once did a rate where I didn't give out any zeroes over a hundred songs. You're shocked. I can see.

 

Yeah Dr. Alban can go now

 

Me looking for reasons why Coco Jamboo is out before the B-list Haddaway song and BERRI (among others)

 

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