This week’s article is about one project that has been released over 120 times on different labels and remixed by many of the worlds major DJ’s over 40 times. First released in 1993 and still played by many dj’s worldwide. I’m ofcoruse talking about Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Three ’N One Remix). (Buy on Itunes)

Goosebump-points:

01:11 when the synth-stab kicks in.
02:10 when the main melody kicks in.
03:07 when the full melody kicks in .
04:48 when the track starts to fade out.
05:17 when the strings come in.
05:32 when the track starts to build before the explosion.
06:01 when the bassdrum kicks in.
06:15 when the reverse bassdrum kicks in.
06:29 when the full melody starts.

Energy 52 was a small project by German Paul Schmitz-Moonmann, most known under his Kid Paul-guise started dj’ing in 1988 like Dubmission, E-Werk and Tresor.

Before the release of Cafe Del Mar, Paul released 3 other singles under the Energy 52-moniker. The 1991 releases Expressions/Eternity/The Bassline & State Of Mind and the 1993 single Weak didn”t leave many impressions. Eternity and State of Mind were produced by Harald Bluechel (a.k.a Cosmic Baby) aswell as Cafe Del Mar.

When the initial release came in 1993, no one knew what impact that track would have to the clubgoers. For instance, It was nominated as one of 50 tracks as Top 20 Dance Tracks of Last 20 Years by the listeners of BBC Radio 1 in 2011.

Worth noticing is that the track is heavily influented by Wim Mertens 1988 track Struggle For Pleasure.

The original 1993 release only had 2 versions, Kid Paul Mix and Cosmic Baby’s impression but it was with the 1997 remixes that the track became huge.

In 1997 we saw remixes by Solar Stone, Oliver Lieb & Three ’N One whereas the Three ’N One’s remix did get some chartsuccess and climbed to no 51 in the UK singles chart.

It was the Three ’N One-remix that got me hooked to the track. I later heard the Olier Lieb-remix which I also find really good. There was even a video made for the Three ’N One-remix. Worth noticing is that the same video were also used for the Nalin & Kane-remix aswell as the 2002-remix by Marco V.

In 1998, the track was re-released with remixes by Hybrid, Kinky Roland and Nalin & Kane. The latter made it into the charts and peaked at no 12. IMHO, the Nalin & Kane-version is too ”dark” for me but still well-produced and not that bad.

The 1999 release contained new remixes by Deepsky, Pure Nova & Dj Eyal and a brand new version from Kid Paul called ’99 rebuild.

The 2000-release had a slow version by Humate and a stunning ambient remix by Michael Woods. IMHO, Michael Woods-remix capture the mood of the song better than Humate. There was also an unofficial bootleg flying around which contained the vocals by Sonique but IMHO, that version was pretty bad.

Next chart-success came in 2002 with the Marco V-remix which peaked at no 24 in the UK singles chart. The release also contained new version by John ’00’ Fleming, Sven Väth and a updated version from Three ’N One which also came with a new video.

2003 saw a remix by Chicane and a new track from Fragma called Man In The Moon which uses Cafe Del Mar as background. When the Fragma-track first did it’s rounds around the DJ’s of the world it was called Mar In The Moon as it was released as white label.

The next remix-batch came in 2006 with remixes by Raul Rincon, Tall Paul, Soul Seekerz, K-Klass and Kenny Hayes. I can’t say that i’ve heard any of them before but now as I was listening thru them, i’d have to say that the Kenny Hayes-remix is the best of them.

The 2008-release contained some stunning version from Michael Woods, Deadmau5, Dabruck & Klein aswell as remixes by Whelan & Di Scala, Oliver Lang, Dave Robertson, David Puentez and Bruckmann.

This year also saw an unofficial release from one of Sweden’s biggest talents, Jonas Hornblad. You can get his version exclusively here.

In 2011, we saw new remixes by Ricardo Villalobos and so far in 2012 we’ve seen remixes by Sidelmann & The Orbiter.

So what will 2013 bring us?

Cafe Del Mar will always be a track that’s talked about with the highest respect as it’s IMHO one of the tracks that defines trance. As I mentioned before, the track was nominated for top 20 of dance tracks over the last 20 years. That’s so wrong. In my book it IS in my top 3 of the best tracks ever made. My personal top 20 varies but one thing is sure. Cafe Del Mar will always be one of the 3 best tracks in the world.

Related tracks:

Energy 52 – Expressions
Energy 52 – State Of Mind
Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (DJ Kid Paul Mix)
Energy 52 – Café Del Mar (Cosmic Baby’s Impression)

Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Solar Stone Remix)
Energy 52 – Café Del Mar (Oliver Lieb’s L.S.G. Remix)
Energy 52 – Café Del Mar (Hybrid’s Time Traveller Remix)
Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Kinky Roland Remix)
Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Nalin & Kane Remix)
Energy 52 – Café Del Mar (Deepsky’s Stateside Cannon Remix)
Energy 52 – Cafe del Mar (Humate Remix)
Energy 52 – Café Del Mar (Michael Woods Ambient Remix)
Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Marco V Remix)
Energy 52 – Café del Mar (John ”00” Fleming Remix)
Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Sven Väth Remix)
Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Kenny Hayes remix)
Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Michael Woods Out Of Office Remix)
Energy 52 – Café Del Mar (Deadmau5 Remix)
Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Dabruck & Klein Remix)
Energy 52 – Cafe del Mar (Ricard Villalobos Remix)
Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Sidelmann 2012 Remix)

Wim Mertens – Struggle For Pleasure
Fragma – Man In The Moon