This next track is a must-listen in the trance world. It’s from a small project and only released 5 tracks but this main track have been played by most major dj’s and is probably still being played every now and then. So which track am I thinking of? It’s ofcourse Luminary – Amsterdam (Super8 & Tab Remix).
Lyrics:
Underground or Aeroplane
Doesn’t matter in the end
I know it has to be this way
You’re leaving me again
So I’ll write my little love song
And I’ll sing it to the wind
You’re out there on the road tonight
London, New York, Amsterdam
And I’m lonely here without you
Miss your breath against my skin
You love me then you leave me still I lie here
Pressing fingers, where your kisses have been
And I miss you
And I miss you
And I miss you
I know that I should be in bed
It’s almost 3am
But when I close my eyes I can only see miles of headlights
Fleshing out the distance
So I’ll sing my little lonely songs
It’s just part of who I am
Cause I know that its been calling to you
London, New York, Amsterdam
Goosebump-points:
00:55 in the small break when you first hear Ashley’s vocals 01:50 in the next mini-break before the full melody comes on. 02:20 when the music starts to fade just before the vocals. 02:33 when the vocals start. 03:16 when the breakdown comes and that bass. 03:43 when the music starts to build up again. 03:57 ”And I Miss You” while slowly building, 04:40 when the drums start.
They started working together as early as 2003 but their first release under the name Luminary came in 2005 with the track My World.
Ashleys vocals over Laurence’s track is really smooth, especially in the progressive Andy Moor-remix. The track was released as a 3×12” set whereas the first contained Original Mix and Nikola Gala Mix, the second an Andy Moor Mix and an Arksun Mix and the third a Pesh Mix and a Hydroid Mix.
Wasting also came with an Andy Moor-remix and like My World, both tracks are sweet progressive tracks and Ashleys soothing vocals fits the tracks like a glove.
All mixes of this track is simply amazing but i’d say that Super8 & Tab’s remix is the one that I prefer, a pure trancer.
Above & Beyond loved Ashley’s voice so much that they even let her sing on the amazing track Can’t Sleep off their legendary debut album, Tri-state.
Their fourth and last release, Dark Eyes was signed to Solarstone’s label, Solaris Recordings. While the original mix is somewhat of an ambient chillout-track, the Funabashi remix is really a pumping trancetrack. The release also came with a Gift Remix which is pretty decent, although too electro for me.
On the 17th October 2007 Luminary announced that they have decided to split. They decided to leave a last fingerprint to their loyal followers with the track Believe which was available as free-to-download on their webpage. Laurence himself describes Believe as ”(believe) which for me personally is the best track we ever created” and I can almost agree. The track (as the others) are really well produced and got a really sweet melody under the amazing vocals by Ashley.
So, what happened after this? Well, Ashley started to sing for various dj’s like Paul Van Dyk, Boom Jinx and Matt Darey, only to name a few and Laurence hasn’t really released anything since Luminary quit.
It’s hard to describe a track and what it’s effects are to you. The easiest for me is goosebumps. If you’ve followed my posts since the beginning you’ll see the goosebump-points marked in the post. That if nothing describes really well what I feel when I hear a really good track. And Amsterdam is just one of those tracks that does it for me.
For it’s a true classic for me.
2012 started like every other year, with some drunk new years resolutions, at a rooftop terrace, looking out over a snowy Stockholm, the mandatory cheap champagne and all friends cheering and laughing.
Although 2012 was just a child then, I don’t think anyone could know how it would turn out.
If I look back over the past year I can say it has been a really great year, music-wise at least.
This year is the first year Electronic Dance Music has been accepted in Sweden.
Not that long ago, people said that everyone who listen to house/trance/etc is a drug addict and should be put away in some prison for disturbing the peace.
Back in 2011, a huge party called Majestiq 12 was cancelled due to high costs for the police force that had to be there to make sure no one is taking drugs or fighting.
When this happened we were many who thought that this was it, no more festivals, no more arena-sized parties with Electronic music.
But, 2012 something happened. The big 2-day outdoor festival Summerburst was broadcasted LIVE on Swedish Public Television, with djs such as Tiësto, David Guetta, Sebastian Ingrosso, Nicky Romero and Calvin Harris.
Summerburst had over 65000 visitors during it’s four days (two days in Gothenburg and two days in Stockholm), and that was just the beginning.
The Swedish wonderchild Avicii played for three sold out shows in front of 34000 visitors in Stockholm Globe Arena (at that time the biggest concert venue in Sweden), and the Swedish House Mafia had three sold out gigs at the newly built Friends Arena, housing a total of 120000 visitors over the three shows.
This is something a EDM-fanatic like me only could dream about a few years ago.
But, somehow, if we look at smaller promoters, it seems like the people has abandoned them, unless there is some Hardstyle-dj or similar playing. Then it’s full house.
Our scene has changed, and it’s sad to see what it has become, and the Swedish EDM-scene has grown huge this year, and the trend seems to be never ending. More and more people attend the biggest event and leaves the smaller to die.
Our beloved Swedish promoter Monday Bar, who has celebrated their 20th birthday this year, have had an great year with a lot of parties. First off was the Springbreak Cruise onboard the 203 meter long Cruise ship Silja Symphony. This vessel is a little special since it has an 140m long shopping street on the inside. This was of course the main floor with Ferry Corsten and Headhunterz as headliners, among other great dj’s.
In 2012, we launched our new design layout, making us the only Scandinavian EDM-webzine based in Sweden.
We launched with some new functions, among others the Classic for the Weekend, which has become a really popular part of the page. Our writer Niklas has not yet run out of classic-tunes to write about, and I don’t thinK he will either.
Another great thing with the re-launch of bejbi as a webzine, is that we now can write about parties, music, lables and basically everything. This will be more noticeable in 2013!
This year was also the start of an new era of bejbi.se’s podcast. We merged us with the talented dj Tatsumi Suzuki’s podcast #podgressive, and it has been a success. We now have over 4000 listeners every month, and it rises every day!
Our plans for 2012 was to have at least one party together, and in June 9th it was time. We had a SummerJam-party at the nightclub Slakthuset in Stockholm and the party was nothing else but a success!
We also did a really fun collaboration together with Future Sound of Sweden and Kidson Mediaproduction in Zandvoort, just outside Amsterdam later in June. We held an Swedish midsummer night, with an all star swedish lineup. It was an unofficial warm up to the Luminosity Beach festival.
I for one can say that that was just the beginning!
Music wise this year has been really strange. The mainstream radio stations in sweden has begun to play some sort of EDM. Which has lead to a lot of great music coming out to the wider masses here.
Unfortunately it’s mostly Swedish House Mafia and Avicii, but sometimes a real piece of gold sips out, like Porter Robinson – Language.
There has been a lot of great releases this year, and it has been a tough task to come up with three top tracks but I’ll give it a try.
My top three with trance-tracks this year would be
3 Luigi Lusini & Starchaser ft. Molly Bancroft ”All I want” Matteo Marini mix
A beautiful vocal trance track that unfortunately didn’t get as much time in the spotlight it deserves.
[spotify:track:3VXDuubG7IGOWQU76XVaoh]
2 Porter Robinson – Language
What can I say, this is the Trousetrack of 2012, love it in every way, every part of it!
[spotify:track:3tDRu7QhSQ2tV2fjK3UCXx]
1 Ummet Özcan – The box
Tune of the year! Heard it the first time at Luminosity Beach Festival in June and loved it right away!
[spotify:track:1ALXCNz1kHx80i24kFn1D7]
Let’s see what 2013 has to offer.
We here at bejbi.se wishes everyone A happy New Year!
The year of 2012 is about to end. It’s December and it seems to be a white christmas for us here in Stockholm. It all started a couple a weeks ago with really cold temperatures and as you can see on the cover picture taken towards Riddarfjärden and with our city house, it’s not a snowstorm over the water. It’s fog because of the big temperature changes between air and water. We had -10c to -15c that morning. It has been snowing quite some since then and there has been some difficulties with cars that has jammed here and there but overall, it’s beautiful now! I would like to give some credits to my friend Carl Efvergren for the great picture taken from his office that morning. He is btw the lad behind the guitar on mine and Millaways two tunes that we made, Millaway & Tatsumi Suzuki ft. Carl Efvergren – Lynchburg Lemonade and Empire Of The Sun – We Are The People. Check them out and if you would like to have a copy of them, let me know!
Podgressive EP037 – The Yearmixes
As the most of you know. When Podgressive started, the colaboration with Bejbi.se wasn’t started yet. I got this podcasting idea with my friend, Kambiz. We have been playing alongside for several years and we wanted to try this out. So, in January 2010 we launched our first episode. The first six months had lot’s of beginner-fails. Either our voice-overs were too loud, way too low and our self-confidence as ”radio-speakers” were not that high. After a while it all started to sound pretty well. However, the year went by and so did we with the show. Kambiz hopped off the project and I kept on with the show. But, his help on the first year has been crucial for the future of Podgressive. We have and will as in every December have a yearmix put together from each of us.
I have been working on my set with Ableton for a while and I’m truly impressed by all the great artists that puts together a yearmix every year. It takes time and a lot of knowledge to mash the tracks up and at the same time still have the right build through the entire set. In writing moment, the set is about 60min and with a little more than 30 tracks. I think the final result will land on 75 minutes and about 40 tunes. Hopefully the result will be in your taste!
The Year 2012
This year has been really intresting. A year when Podgressive got a bit more serious. Much thank’s to Patric and his ideas and help and of course our great artists and the fact that we see more and more subscribers and feedback. That is something that makes you keep on with this. We would like to thank WEZZ DEVALL, MARCUS SCHOSSOW, CONCHA, MICHAEL CASSETTE, KIMONO, AMEX, KOLIZZ, AUSTIN LEEDS, MATT STELLAR, JOHAN MALMGREN, AYDA, EMRAH CELIK, ORKIDEA, WALD, JOHAN VILBORG, AMAR.S, KAMBIZ, TECHNOPHOBIA, CONTACT, VAN DRESEN, MARCUS STORK, SKYRACER, ZACHARIAS TIEMPO and SANDE for your great dj-sets, they have been appreciated!
TOP10 – December 2012
It’s time for the last toplist for the year of 2012. Some released, some not, some new and some not. Theese songs has made my month!
1. Emma Hewitt, please marry me! This tune has the perfect balance. A modern electro, progressive, vocal track that has made my month!
This week’s article is about a small project who only released 4 tracks. Their biggest success was known under 2 names, the initial name and the soundtrack-name. So which track am I thinking of? It’s ofcourse Watergate – Heart Of Asia (DJ Quicksilver Remix)
The Watergate-project was started in 1998 and heir first release, The Battle (also known as Mull Of Kintyre) contains a bagpipe-sample inspired from the hit single Mull Of Kintyre by The Wings (ex-BeatlePaul McCartney’s old band). The track peaked at no 20 in the German singles chart.
Their second release, Watergate EP contained 3 new tracks. Maid Of Orleans (The Battle 2), Chi Mai and Fire ’n Spice. Maid Of Orleans was a cover of an old OMD-track with the same name and Chi Mai was a cover of Ennio Morricone’s track with the same name
But it was with the third release, Heart Of Asia that the big success came. The track was heavily inspired by Ryuichi Sakamotos 1983 track Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence which was on the soundtrack to the movie with the same name (starring David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto amongst others).
Worth noticing is that there was a bootleg floating around called Waiting For Tonight In Asia mashed with Jennifer Lopez’s popular track, Waiting For Tonight. The bootleg was done by a guy called Mixmachine. He did some nice mashups back in the days.
There was even an album, the 1999 title The World Of… which contained 13 tracks including the singles mentioned above.
The last release from Watergate was the 2002 collaboration with Mythos (of Mythos ’N Dj Cosmo-fame) called A Neverending Dream which was a vocal track. The track got pretty catchy lyrics and came with a pretty hard remix by Hennes & Cold.
So what can be said about Watergate which I havent mentioned above? Well, not much I guess. When I first heard Heart Of Asia, i was blown away with the track, especially in the breakdown. When I later heard the Jennifer Lopez-bootleg I fell in love again.
And that love has so far lasted for more than a decade.
This week’s article is about a singer that i’ve mentioned a couple of times before. On her first collaborations, she wasn’t even credited but since then she’s released 2 albums and have done tonnes of collaborations with most of the major DJ’s. I’m ofcourse talking of Susana and her track together with Armin Van Buuren called Shivers. (Buy on Itunes)
Lyrics:
A little bit just a little bit… [x4]
World’s on turn around
Music make no sound
Where is sweetness found
Where love is gone
Sun don’t come around
Don’t make a sound
Where can love be found
If your heart won’t feel
Shivers
Up and down my spine
Breaker
Not on my mind
A little bit just a little bit… [x4]
How could it end this way
Don’t leave me, love me
Just a little bit longer [x3]
They don’t turn tonight
Morning don’t bring light
Where is sweetness found
Where love is gone
Won’t you stay tonight
Let the truth shine bright
Where can love be found
If your heart won’t feel
Memories
Emotions that we share
Teardrops
Signing my face
How could it end this way
Don’t leave me, love me
Just a little bit longer [x4]
A little bit just a little bit… [x4]
Goosebump-points:
00:51 when the vocal part ”A Little bit, just a little bit” starts 01:19 when the main vocal starts. 02:31 when the main breakdown starts and fades out. 03:00 when the full breakdown starts. 03:12 when the main chorus starts. 03:56 when the full music starts. 04:53 when the mini-break comes with the piano. 05:06 when the second chorus start with the full music.
Susana Boomhouwer started her singing career in 2004 as a vocalist on Ernest vs Bastian’s hit single Dark Side Of The Moon. The track was officially released in 2005 but had already done it’s rounds among the DJ’s as a promo. IMHO, the Dogzilla-remix is the one you should listen to.
She later appeared on Armin Van Buuren’s hit single Shivers and also signed to Armin’s label Armada Digital. 2005 was also the first year that Armin set up his liveshow Armin Only where Susana sung live.
She also appeared on Re:Locate’s album Rouge where she sung on the track Escape.
The next collaboration with Armin Van Buuren was with the 2008 hit single If You Should Go and has since then been featured on all Armin’s albums. On Armin’s last album, Mirage, Susana sung on the intro-track Desiderium 207. The single If You Should Go was also the first release that Susanas vocals were credited on.
Since then, she has done some amazing tracks with most of the world’s biggest names in dancemusic.
Susana did a collaboration with Talla 2XLC on the track I Know. The original track is pretty good but I really love the more uplifting Paul Miller-remix.
Susanas first album, Closer featured all the tracks above + some new tracks like the title track, Closer with Omnia and The Blizzard which was truely one of 2010’s best tracks. Just love the Closer-vocals together with the beautiful track by Omnia and The Blizzard, especially the bass which is an Omnia-signature.
Worth noticing is that Home (together with Dark Matters) is a remake of Coast 2 Coast featuring Discovery – Home from 2000. I warmly recommend the Daniel Kandi Remix.
Susana has a really distinctive voice and you can easily hear that it’s her singing on all those collaborations. Ever since I first heard Dark Side Of The Moon, i’ve liked her voice. I hope to see more collaborations in the future and who knows which DJ she’s gonna perform with next. As long as she keeps up with the good work, she has a bright future. I hope to hear more from her soon!
It’s Friday again and it’s soon payday for the most of us.
Podgressive EP036 is released and it’s a episode full of talanted guests and filled with the best dance music the world has to offer at this moment. First up is the very talanted artist Michael Cassette. His sound has made us impressed for several years and it’s nice to have him with us! Next up is Orkidea. He has been up on the very top of the nordic dance scene for more than a decade and his uplifting and melodic sound will hopefully squeeze the juice of this show! As for the resident dj Tatsumi Suzuki, he have a little more melodic and a bit faster mix for this month. We think this will suite for all you trance people out there! We have also the winner of last months contest with Analog Sweden and another intresting interview of Millaway by Patric from bejbi.se. Enjoy!
We hooked up with the predicted superstar, Millaway, in his studio in Stockholm for a quick interview.
Hi, Millaway, how are you?
I’m fine, thank you.
Are you working on something new that is soon up for release?
Yes, I have a couple of remixes that is already done and just waiting for a release date. I think some of them will be released now in December and the rest in 2013.
I’m actually working on a couple of original tracks for the next year. None of them are really finished yet since I’m working full time I’m having a hard time finishing them right now, but I will get there, eventually!
Yeah, Future Sound of Sweden and Christian Rusch approached me, actually just a week before the deadline of the remix requests. And when I got the package I really enjoyed the track and I have enjoyed Christian’s productions in the past as well. It was really nice working with the track and I actually finished the track in time as well, one week is actually quite good for being me. It was really fun and I’m really satisfied with the result.
How long does it generally take for you to produce a tune?
It’s really different from time to time. I still have a track I started with back in 2009 and I’m still not finished with it. I’ve reworked it four times and now I have four different versions of it. I still love the melody but it’s not yet the standards I expect from myself.
I think my speed records for a track is three days. But I had to go back to it a week after and correct some minor details of it.
What inspires you the most when you’re composing: people or places?
I think it’s a mixture of both. If I leave the studio for a couple of days just enjoying the environment around me, meeting people, attending clubs usually do it for me. When I get home after a great evening and I’ve heard a really great tune with a massive drop which I like and want to reproduce myself.
I think the environment is the main source of inspiration, you can work a lot easier when you got a feeling after an experience.
Do you remember where you were when you first heard one of your own productions on the radio? How was that feeling?
It was a great feeling. The first time was on a radio station called Digitally Imported, some dj played one of my track, and it was an amazing feeling hearing a live set on a MondayBar Cruise when the dj played it.
I also had a fun experience at a store called Webhallen here in Stockholm where they played one of my tracks in the radio system in the store. I was standing in the queue waiting for the service and of course no one else noticed it, but that was the first time I actually heard it in a store and in an environment I didn’t expect.
What is the most radest support you’ve got up until now?
I think some of the biggest names is still Markus Schulz and Paul Oakendfold. But what means the most for me is actually the support from Rank1. They got me into trance several years ago. I started to listen to another of their alias, Dutch Force, and their famous track Deadline. It got me into trance, I’ve seen them live and several years later they supported my tracks in their radio show which meant truly a lot for me since I still admire them so much, it was quite unbelievable to hear them commenting on my tracks and play it.
Do you aspire to hit the decks someday, or are you pleased with the producing?
Right now I’m pleased with the producing part, cause I want to climb higher before I start DJing more. Several years ago you could actually hit the decks as a DJ and work your way up and then start to produce your own tracks.
Nowadays you have to make really good music before you start to DJ and not the opposite way around.
I’m focusing on my tracks and hopefully it leads me to more time at the decks in the future.
Thank you very much for taking your time to meet us!
Thank you for coming to my studio and visit me, hope you’ll and everyone enjoys the track!
—
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.
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 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.
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.
Transforming the tunes
We need your support!
If you’ve got the breath back
It’s the first page of the second chapter
I want you back for the rhythm attack
Coming down on the floor like a maniac
I want you back for the rhythm-attack
Get down in full effect!
I want you back for the rhythm attack
Coming down on the floor like a maniac
I want you back, so clean up the dish
By the way, how much is the fish?
How much is the fish?
Here we go, here we go
Here we go again
Yeah!
Sunshine in the air!
We’re breaking the rules
Ignore the machine
You won’t ever stop this
The chase is better than the catch!
I want you back for the rhythm attack
Coming down on the floor like a maniac
I want you back for the rhythm attack
Get down in full effect!
I want you back for the rhythm attack
Coming down on the floor like a maniac
I want you back, so clean up the dish
By the way, how much is the fish?
How much is the fish?
Sunshine in the air!
Come on! Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Everybody! Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Come on!
Together!
Yeah! Yeah!
How much is the fish?
How much is the fish?
Yeah!
Come on, come on
Argh!
Resurrection!
Celebrate The Nun hand some hits with the singles Ordinary Town & Will You Be There. The latter peaked at no 5 in the US Billboards Dance/Club play chart in June 1990. Their next hit, She’s A Secretary peaked at no 12 in the same chart in december the same year.
All in all, Celebrate The Nun released 2 albums and 5 singles before H.P and Rick left the project for Scooter.
Their first single, Vallée De Larmes was released in 1993 and didn’t get that much notice. It was first after the release of second single, Hyper Hyper that the guys saw that this wouldn’t be a short-term project.
The single did very well, both in the charts where it peaked at no 2 in the German singles chart and within top 10 in most european countries and it also did really well on the dancefloors. Worth noticing is that H.P. mentions most major DJ’s who were popular at the time in the track.
The followup, Move Your Ass! did even better and sold Gold in Germany with over 250.000 singles sold and had the same success in the charts. Worth noticing is that this was the first ever Scooter-track I heard. A friend of mine later bought the Hyper Hyper-single. The track also features the famous line ”It’s nice to be important – but it’s more important to be nice” which is somewhat of my motto.
The 1995 single Friends followed the same recipies as the earlier singles with H.P. Baxxter on vocals, except that they used a pitched up sample for the main song-part.
The track was in the top 20-charts all over europe. The followup, Endless Summer followed the same recipy and did as well in the charts.
The first Scooter-album, …And The Beat Goes On which featured 11 tracks including the ones mentioned above and some tracks which were featured on the b-sides to the singles.
With their second album, Our Happy Hardcore their influences can easily be spotted.
For instance, first single, Let Me Be Your Valentine samples ”Mu Mu” from The KLF. You can hear loads of KLF-influences when you listen thru material from 1996 and onwards.
The next track, Rebel Yell is a remake of Billy Idol’s track with the same name.
You can find more Billy Idol-influences when listening thru their albums.
I’m Raving is also a remake of Marc Cohn’s track Walking In Memphis (which many artists since have covered). The track did really well and peaked at no 4 in the German chart and even sold Gold. You can also hear a tempo-change from 160-190 bpm in earlier tracks to 138 bpm in this one. The track was featured on their third album, Wicked.
The single Break It Up is actually a ballad which was a big change from the bmp-pumped harddance-tracks they’ve done before and later became the first of many ballads.
The next single, Fire was featured on the soundtrack to Mortal Kombat – Annhiliation and the single sold gold in Germany. It was also the last track that featured Ferris Bueller who left the band to pursue his solo career. Ferris Bueller was replaced by Axel Coon.
The second single, Fuck The Millennium (another KLF-reference as The KLF released a single as 2K called Fuck The Millennium) and did almost as well, peaked at no 4 in Sweden and no 3 in Finland. The single sold Gold in Sweden with over 20.000 units.
In the track, H.P. calls himself Dave From Sheffield. Why Dave and Sheffield, nobody knows. Rumor has it that he was once interviewed by a guy who greeted H.P. As ”Hi, i’m Dave. Dave From Sheffield” but who knows why and what influented them.
Worth noticing is that this album was the first of many released on the label Sheffield Tunes which is a sublabel to Kontor Records and founded by Scooter.
Scooter actually got an award for Most Successful Dance Act at the 2000 Viva Comet Awards which IMHO is a big leap for bands like this. It’s not often that you see a group like this get an award as their music isn’t exactly radiomusic.
Ramp peaked at no 2 in the UK where it sold Gold with over 400.000 copies. The track was featured on the best of-album, Push The Beat For This Jam (The Singles 94-02) which was 19 of the best tracks so far and included 3 new tracks. Ramp was a remake of Supertramp’s 1979 track The Logical Song
In 2002, Alex Coon quit the band to pursue his DJ career and Jay Frog took his place.
The first track released with Jay Frog in the band was Nessaja. The track was influented by a track from German Peter Maffay called Tabaluga. The track did really well and peaked at no 1 in the German chart and sold gold with over 250.000 units and did really well in most european countries.
The followup, Weekend uses the main sample from Push – Strange World. There’s also a reference to The KLF with the line ”Respect the man in the ice cream van” The track did really well chart-wise and peaked at no 2 in the German chart and did top no 10 in many european countries. Worth noticing is the topless dancers in the video
Second single, The Night was the last who featured a high pitched voice sung by Nikk (married to Rick J. Jordan). The track did fairly well and got a top 10 spot in the german chart.
A fun fact about track is that during the shoot of the music video, H.P. Met his future wife.
The track did really well and peaked at no 1 in both Austria and Hungary and also reached no 4 in Germany
It was around this time I stoped listening to Scooter, especially after the single Shake That which was more disco-ish. If I hadn’t stoped listening at this time, I surely had stoped later.
After 2006 when Jay Frog left the band and Michael Simon joined they were heavily influented by Jumpstyle which I personally loathe. They did have some success after this though but they had lost me as a follower. I know many more who has said the same thing.
But again, you win some, you loose some as the old saying goes.
I was watching the DVD Scooter Live In Hamburg the other day and I realise that (except for the Jumpstyle-parts) that I really miss the good old Scooter. I only wish I’d have seen them live. For that would be the ultimate Scooter experience.
