Doop - Doop

 

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/rsz_1doop_zps2jw1swub.png

 

Date 6th March 1994

6 Weeks

Official Chart Run 3-1-1-1-2-4-13-21-33-47-62-66 (12 weeks)

*Positions in red are the weeks when the track would be number 1 if just dance music was chart eligible.

 

Making your career debut inside the Top 3 was still an incredibly rare feat in 1994 - only four artists had achieved it prior to Doop (Vanilla Ice, Crystal Waters, Gabrielle and er, Mr Blobby), though it would become fairly commonplace as we entered the second half of the decade. Dutch production duo Frederick ‘Ferry’ Ridderhof and Peter Garnefski, were for a time better known as ‘doop’ and became the very definition of 1-hit-wonder when their almost entirely instrumental composition “Doop” jumped to #1 in March 1994, becoming the 2nd (and to-date, final) eponymous UK #1 single.

 

The duo were graduates of the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, a well established music school where they became ensconced within the thriving Dutch house scene. Inspired by the dancing at house parties to the popular music of the time (mainly rave, and house) they noted its resemblance to ‘the Charleston’ - a style of dance/music that was popularised in the 1920s close to the harbour city of Charleston in South Carolina. Noting the jazz styles prominent use of the saxophone and clarinet, Ridderhof and Garnefski asked local musicians to record ‘Charleston-esque’ music with the fragments on these dropped in against their own studio produced beats. This fusion of the 1920s jazz/dance style with the now well established house style of the early 1990s became the track “Doop”. The duo named the group after the tracks only lyric (sung by Ferry Ridderhof and pitched up), which is repeated quick-fire through the chorus, however they had no further success as Doop (follow-up “Huckleberry Jam” made #95 a year later) but continued to record under a number of different pseudonyms, scoring unlikely success with incredibly bizarre Australian #1 hit “Here's Johnny” as Hocus Pocus in 1995.

 

The club mix of “Doop” had gained huge support in the UK prior to release, particularly in gay clubs, and this helped it to achieve an impressive debut after which radio play soon followed and supported a 3-week run at the top of the national chart. The edit posted below is the ‘Urge 2 Merge Radio Mix’ which was the one used on the R1 chart show and merges the two different versions recorded by the Sidney Berlin Ragtime Band (original radio mix) and Jean Lejeux (club mix) separated by a drum break a minute in. Despite this change of pace, as with most novelty hits the initial appeal was not enduring, and after a 6 week run inside the Top 5 it soon dived out of the chart. However its arrival seemingly opened the floodgates to a roster of unknown dance acts whose hopes of scoring UK #1 singles just got a whole lot better, of which we will hear from very soon.

 

Love how bizarre the track is - We No Speak Americano & Loca People could NEVER!

I think We No Speak Americano did.

the video edit of 'Doop' is much better than the version linked here (had no idea there was a different mix for the UK release, this is the version I'm used to):

 

Yes, the one you've linked to is the Sidney Berlin Ragtime Band mix which was the version that was released in Europe.

 

The Jean Lejeux (which was mixed with the video edit above for the UK radio edit) was the UK club mix and is linked below: : )

I first heard Doop around 2003/4 time and was briefly obsessed with it. The version I heard was the Sidney-whatever one which just has that same pounding Charleston riff throughout the song, I get what the Urge 2 Merge mix is trying to do but for me it's not as good.

 

It often gets mentioned as a classic "bad number 1" like Mr Blobby a few months earlier, but I've always really liked it.

The vocals sounded to me like "Doop doop baby, what'cha gonna do"

Tony Di Bart - The Real Thing

 

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/rsz_screen_shot_2015-10-05_at_110335_zpsiy8ytcyj.png

 

Date 17th April 1994

5 Weeks

Official Chart Run 13-6-3-3-1-3-6-11-24-34-50-64 (12 weeks)

*Positions in red are the weeks when the track would be number 1 if just dance music was chart eligible.

 

The overnight ‘rags to riches’ success story where a complete unknown is thrust into the spotlight may have become all-too-familiar as countless manufactured stories were played out in front of primetime audiences, a conveyor belt 'pump ‘em then dump ‘em' trend that started in earnest with Pop Idol way back in 2001. However 7 years earlier genuine examples were somewhat rarer to come by and therefore all the more impressive; Tony Di Bart, who still owned a luxury interiors and bathroom fittings company in Slough when debut single, appropriately enough entitled “The Real Thing”, hit #1 was one such example.

 

Antonio Carmine Di Bartolomeo came from a fairly modest background, and initially started out as a gospel singer in the churches of Watford and St. Albans. Heavily influenced by soul legend Marvin Gaye, he had been writing songs since the age of 16 though had failed to make an impact nor strike a deal and subsequently had trained as a plumber to pay his way. Then in 1993 his demo containing the original soulful recording of “The Real Thing” was picked up and given a soft release by Wolverhampton based Cleveland City records whereupon it narrowly missed out on a Top 75 placing - sensing the potential of a dance remix the Joy Brothers were called upon to give the track a completely different feel. Now in its remixed form “The Real Thing” began to take off in the clubs across the Midlands, and in particular in Birmingham, developing enough momentum for a fresh release which went straight in at No. 13.

 

The new dance mix had worked, Di Bart’s heartbreaking plea to a first love backed by a darker rumbling synth stab took the single into the Top 10, however “The Real Thing” built slowly at radio and took a number of weeks to take off properly, this could be because many thought the song was actually titled “If I Can’t Have You” - the chorus’ main hook. Despite this eventually it logged a solitary week at number 1 at the beginning of May. Subsequently “Do It” made #21 in the summer, and “Why Did Ya” #46 the following year - however despite an album being planned it never materialised and Di Bart never made another the transition to bonafide popstar - a similar fate awaited the manufactured pop singers of the 2000s.

 

Edited October 22, 20159 yr by Doctor Death

It would be considered a "non-#1" these days but I really like it. The production is good & the chorus is catchy.

Three number 1s take us up to the middle of May. :o

My fave Tony Di Bart track is the fourth single "Turn Your Love Around" that peaked at #66.

 

Maxx - Get-A-Way

 

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Date 22nd May 1994

3 Weeks

Official Chart Run 13-5-4-4-5-9-12-21-24-36-44-60 (12 weeks)

*Positions in red are the weeks when the track would be number 1 if just dance music was chart eligible.

 

Reggae managed a bit of a resurgence in 1993, the apex of which was an all-Reggae Top 3 that took hold on the 21st March - the number 2 record that week being “Informer” by Snow (a Canadian rapper no less!) - a song which was covered later that year by Boris Köhler (aka Gary B) who would then go on to join Maxx. Boris Köhler was born to Yugoslavian and German parents in Sweden but was brought up in Germany, and formed at the age of 16 the group Make It Ruff who had a highly political agenda and mainly dealt with worries over the resurgence of fascism in Germany; this was where he cultivated his ragga rap style which was utilised on all of the Maxx recordings.

 

Maxx were manufactured, a carefully constructed project, that following his cover in 1993 saw Boris team up with Frank Hassas, Olaf Jeglitza and Jürgen Wind (Olaf and Jürgen were also working on the (MC Sar and) The Real McCoy project at the time - more on that LATER..). Along with David Brunner who helped to write the tracks, and Samira Besic who laid down the now well established eurodance ‘standard female chorus’ on each track the group Maxx (shortened from Maximum Ecstasy) were born. The main hook in their songs was an innovative mix of eurodance, reggae, and rap - heavily influenced as it was by Köhler, and by October they had penned the powerful and chaotic “Get-A-Way” which exploded across the dancefloors of Europe, energised by Köhler’s quick fire ragga rap, and soon arrived in the UK the following Spring assisted heavily by Radio 1 A-listing.

 

The single managed four consecutive weeks in the Top 5, and there was an equally successful follow-up “No More (I Can’t Stand It)” (featuring the similar sounding Linda Meek as Samira had left the group), though the formula was a complete retread of the previous single and the plight of diminishing returns was soon to set in, followed by the band capitulating in early 1995 and becoming somewhat forgotten today.

 

Edited October 23, 20159 yr by Doctor Death

Get A Way is still a dance jam! Love the production & the hook! :music:

Edited October 23, 20159 yr by Ne Plus Ultra

Get-A-Way is Eurodance PERFECTION. Shame it got forgotten so quickly.

So 2 Unlimited's The Real Thing does not knock Tony Di Bart's The Real Thing off #1 here...

The Prodigy - No Good (Start The Dance)

 

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Date 12th June 1994

1 Week

Official Chart Run 9-5-6-4-6-8-13-16-22-32-43-69-57 (13 weeks)

*Positions in red are the weeks when the track would be number 1 if just dance music was chart eligible.

 

It’s an overused maxim, but it applies to the dance scene of the nineties - “evolve, or die” - words that were taken to heart by The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett, who whilst touring previous LP Experience in 1992 decided that the band were at a crossroads. After having embraced the underground rave culture and given it a mainstream platform with 5 consecutive Top 20 hits, he was looking for something different, and the band were about to produce their most important, and possibly the decades most inspirational dance album Music For The Jilted Generation.

 

First single “One Love” was put out on white label under the alias Earthbound, this was done in order to prove that they could produce underground and write critically acclaimed music - it worked, that white label went to #1 on the Mixmag club chart - and was promptly issued as the first single from Music For The Jilted Generation crashing into the Top 10 during October ’93. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, the gulf between Experience and Music For The Jilted Generation doesn’t seem that large however rather than risk alienating their fans they produced “No Good (Start The Dance)” as a kind of transition record to carry their existing fan base with them. “No Good...” emulates the same ravey synths of previous singles but is accompanied by a fantastic bouncy jungle rhythm, a nod back to Liam’s hip-hop roots with a sample of The Beginning of the End’s “Funky Nassau” as the guitar lick behind the beat, and a main vocal hook which drives the record. This sample came courtesy of American singer Kelly Charles’ forgotten early 1987 house track “You’re No Good For Me” - released as a single but failing to chart either in the UK or the US.

 

Initially Liam, though trying to answer-back to the whole eurodance movement, was worried that the “You’re No Good For Me” sample would sound too ‘eurodance’ or pop however he used it anyway though swore to never use such a sample ever again. He wasn’t the first to sample Charles, with Hithouse scoring a #14 hit at Christmas in 1988 with “Jack To The Sound Of The Underground” though since 1994 and the release of “No Good (Start The Dance)” there have been more than a dozen artists sampling her including Plan B, Oxide & Neutrino and more recently Matrix & Futurebound.

 

The single had an impressive Top 10 chart run, peaking at #4 to give the group their fifth Top 10 hit in just under 3 years and the album went to #1 in July (though it famously lost the Mercury Prize to M People’s “Elegant Slumming”!) starting a run of five consecutive number 1 albums and cementing them as one of the biggest and most important dance groups of all-time.

 

'no good' (start the dance)' is sublime and easily the prodigy's best effort~ :dance: :wub: :dance:

Coming up tomorrow: a group that produced a fantastic ambient chill-out hit single in 1990 but are always going to be remembered for this surprise massive hit in summer ’94.

Coming up tomorrow: a group that produced a fantastic ambient chill-out hit single in 1990 but are always going to be remembered for this surprise massive hit in summer ’94.

 

I'm surprised that song is considered dance. If it's the song that's about going back to not being guilty.

My fave Tony Di Bart track is the fourth single "Turn Your Love Around" that peaked at #66.

 

 

Thanks for this. Had only ever hear The Real Thing which does nothing for me. This however, I love :cheer: