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

 

 

I dont have a clue what this means :o

 

No Good can handsomely claim to be one of the best dance songs of the 90s, even if I do prefer three of their other singles to it - its still a 10/10 track. The album version is obviously much longer and better developed - and is matched only by Break and Enter on Jilted for modern, thrilling beats and layers. Outstanding and easily the best dance song of 1994.

Maxx - Get-A-Way

 

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/rsz_maxx_zpslp2jizhx.png

 

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.

 

 

Yet another re-configuring of Rhythm is a Dancer's hooks.

 

I dont have a clue what this means :o

 

I thought the next song was about Enigma. Going from "Sadness Part I" to...

Enigma didn't qualify for this run down at all. It's another song that Dr B is alluding to.

I think I know what's coming next as I can only think of one long running dance hit from Summer 94, I just can't for the life of me think was the preceding track he refers to is. I want to check it out!

The Grid - Swamp Thing

 

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/rsz_grid_zpsc5mngf4l.png

 

Date 19th June 1994

7 Weeks

Official Chart Run 11-11-8-4-3-4-5-4-9-8-15-19-23-29-37-46-74 (17 weeks)

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

 

At the birth of the acid house scene in late 1987, record producer and musician Richard Norris was a regular at Danny Rampling’s Shoom (London’s first acid house club - broadcasting its revolutionary dance music from the cavernous tunnels beneath London Bridge train station), and was heavily involved with the production of Jack The Tab - an eclectic, electronic dance album put out in 1988 and disguised as a compilation of acid house tunes but actually the work of the Psychic TV supergroup. It was working on this fake compilation when he met David Ball, formerly of the recently split Soft Cell, and they began to work together creatively on a project they called ‘The Grid’.

 

Had it not been for the unstoppable 1-2 log-jam of Wet Wet Wet and All-4-One that summer (posting 15 and 7 consecutive weeks at #1 and #2 respectively) then it is quite likely that The Grid’s “Swamp Thing”, a frenetic techno instrumental driven by an equally chaotic and indefatigable banjo, would have been a number 1 - albeit briefly - however it gets promoted on this countdown as consolation. The influences on the duo’s first LP, 1990’s Electric Head were driven partly by Ball’s previous work in 1980s synth pop duo Soft Cell, but their main influences and style also incorporated innovative takes on house and techno. Their catalogue did contain some rather more ambient tracks like 1990 single “Floatation [subsonic Grid Mix]”, which traded the spiritual overtones of groups like Enigma and Deep Forest for much more subtle sampling and production, however this didn’t garner them much support (it charted at No. 60). They fared better with the singles from 1992 follow-up 456 and even broke into the Top 30 with “Crystal Clear” though mainstream success remained somewhat elusive, that is until the summer of 1994 and the release of “Swamp Thing”.

 

Third LP Evolver became their best-known and final work for 14 years when the success of banjo engulfed “Swamp Thing” launched them for the first time into the Top 20. Though away from the first two singles the album showcased the wide repertoire of the group, it was “Swamp Thing” that made their name (little success would follow) and that song would also precede a short-lived spell of popularity for novelty dance hits with a country & western theme, notably exploited by Two Cowboys (“Everybody Gonfi Gon”) who hit number 7 in July, and at Christmas by a certain Swedish quintet of which we may hear from later…

 

'swamp thing' ~ old skool jamz :heart:

For some reason this one stuck out for me more than Swamp Thing

 

Doop *.* I rather like The Real Thing too.

Perhaps a surprise entry next as I'm quite sure most people forget that this follow single ever existed.

I've always liked Rollercoaster by the Grid, a perfectly titled track.

Maxx - No More ( I Can't Stand It)

 

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/tonyttt31/maxx.jpg

 

Date 7th Aug 1994

1 Week

Official Chart Run 10-8-12-16-21-35-52-70 (8 weeks)

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

 

Following up the much more successful, Get Away - No More (I Can't Stand It) manages 1 week as the best selling dance single in August 1994.

No change in personnel nor in style for this much forgotten euro-dance track.

 

Euro dance was becoming humourously formulaic at this stage but top 10 hits all over the continent were not difficult to achieve, even with a facsimile like this. No More's approximation of the now 5 year old template of female singer and male rapper went top 10 in 5 countries.

 

Like many before them they thought an album was well within their creative limits and so To the Maxximum was released at the peak of their commercial success in Summer 1994, from which they culled a third Top 40 hit, You Can Get It later, in 1994.

 

Two more attempts at tempting dance fans to part with their cash came in the form of I Can Make You Feel Like and Move Your Body, the second of which failed to chart outside Austia and Finland. Gary B and Samira Besic were never heard of again.

 

1994 would get worse before it would get better.

 

 

Edited October 28, 20159 yr by Cauldron

Any predictions for the rest of the year?

You're correct, I had completely forgotten that Maxx had another hit.

Urban Cookie Collective - The Key: The Secret

 

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/rsz_the_key_the_secret_zpsdvnfd7rv.png

 

Date 1st August 1993

3 Weeks

Official Chart Run 40-29-20-11-6-2-2-4-6-7-13-20-33-42-56-67 (16 weeks)

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

 

We continue with more eurodance in the summer of 1993, though this time its origins are British and it has fewer and even more memorable lyrics than “No Limit”!

 

Urban Cookie Collective, were exactly that, a collective of Manchester-based record producers, songwriters, and musicians brought together by Rohan Heath - probably the most well-known and successful of which was Neil Claxton, aka Mint Royale - who now provides amusing commentary of the UK midweeks on twitter. Heath was himself influenced heavily by the Manchester dance scene that was tied closely to the hugely successful Haçienda nightclub and its co-founders New Order. He had previously worked with Together (who hit #12 in August 1990 with “Hardcore Uproar”) and toured as keyboardist with Gerald Simpson (aka, A Guy Called Gerald) who was responsible for the early acid house classic “Voodoo Ray” which also got to #12 in the summer of 1989.

 

Wanting to go it alone, Rohan set up Urban Cookie in 1992 and wrote/produced the hip-hop influenced track “Pressin’ On”. Both that single and follow-up “Lucky Stars” failed to chart, along with the original “The Key: The Secret”. Step forward into 1993 and the development of the ‘collective’ which included Mark Hadfield and the aforementioned Neil Claxton, who were both just starting out, but also Simon Bentall, Peter Samon and Johnny Jay. Perhaps the biggest coup however was the extremely talented vocalist Diane Charlemagne who had been the lead vocalist with 52nd Street during the 1980s, and was approached to provide the vocals on a remixed club ready version of “The Key: The Secret” which was based on Glam “Hell's Party”.

 

Despite its understated chart debut at 40, it quickly became the soundtrack to the summer with Diane Charlemagne’s soulful vocals elevated by the uplifting piano house melody, providing indie label Pulse-8 with their biggest hit when it went all the way to #2. The near identical follow-up “Feels Like Heaven” went to #5 in the autumn but diminishing returns soon set in. Charlemagne went on to record Goldie’s brilliant early D&B classic “Inner City Life” (which charted at an unfairly low #39 in 1995), and Neil Claxton went on to form Mint Royale with Chris Baker in 1997, who belatedly reached #1 in 2008 thanks to a dance by George Sampson on Britain’s Got Talent.

 

 

What a fitting tribute.... Finally number one just before she died. R.I.P. Diane Charlemagne

What a fitting tribute.... Finally number one just before she died. R.I.P. Diane Charlemagne

 

 

Rest in peace, Diane.

Oh, that's awful. I had no idea she was suffering with cancer. : ( Rest In Peace Diane.

DJ Miko - What's Up

 

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/tonyttt31/djmiko-whatsup.jpg

 

Date 14th Aug 1994

3 Week

Official Chart Run 10-6-7-8-12-17-24-33-44-62 (10 weeks)

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

 

There's been a long tradition of taking a hit rock song and making it palatable to club audiences. We've already had Bryan Adam's Run to You updated and uptempo-ed by Rage in this run down and here comes another example of someone spotting the chance to have a hit.

 

What's Up? had of course been a huge hit in 1993 for San Francisco band 4 Non-Blonds and its bellowing refrain seemed to offer obvious hooks for use as a dance hit. In steps Monier Quartararo Gagliardo, an Italian DJ with a stage name of Miko. His version features the even more distinctive vocals of British singer Louise Gard, than the original head Non Blonde Linda Perry.

 

This was DJ Miko's sole hit but he continued to cover songs which became staples of the Eurodance compilation Dancemania for the rest of the decade. Other such examples of such recreations are Jigsaw's Sky High and The Knack's My Sharona.

 

Just be grateful that Abigail's "version" of Smells Like Teen Spirit, which arrived in the charts a month earlier doesn't need to be reviewed in this run down.

 

 

Edited October 31, 20159 yr by Cauldron

Euro dance was becoming humourously formulaic at this stage but top 10 hits all over the continent were not difficult to achieve, even with a facsimile like this.

 

I agree, but interestingly, only the best stuff tended to be hits in the UK. The likes of DJ Bobo and Fun Factory bombed here. I think Maxx's hits were among the best of the Eurodance genre.

Corona - Rhythm Of The Night

 

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/tonyttt31/Corona_-_Rhythm_of_the_Night_single.png

 

Date 4th Sept 1994

1 Week

Official Chart Run 9-5-2-2-3-6-11-14-21-25-39-55-67-69-71R(3)-55-70-73 (18 weeks)

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

 

 

Corona came into existence in 1993 when Francesco Bontempi produced a song with Brazilian singer Olga Maria De Souza. That song was The Rhythm of the Night.

Olga first joined as a backing singer but Francesco decided to promote her to lead singer on account of her vocal talent. It wasn't a smooth transition as Olga had to learn how to sing in English.

 

While the singer of Corona was officially Olga, it was most likely that The Rhythm Of The Night was sung by Jenny Bersola. Olga could be seen singing on many TV shows during promotion of the song however she had a heavy Brazilian accent at the time the song was recorded. Bontempi was convinced of her talent so she remained part of the project .

 

To the song itself. The verse of The Rhythm of the Night was based on the verse of a hit by German band Say When! called Save Me, which was a hit Germany in 1987. The similarity is undeniable but the writing entailed a complete writing team that included Bontempi, Annerley Gordon, Giorgio Spagna, Peter Glenister and Mike Gaffey.

It was a major club hit and on release in early 1994 reached the summit of the Italian charts and stayed there for 8 weeks becoming the biggest selling single in Italy that year.

 

In 1994 it swept throughout Europe, however it didn't manage to reach the number 1 position anywhere else apart from Bontempi's homeland. Unusually, it also became a hit in the USA and Canada.

 

Over the course of its 18 month international promotional cycle between late 1993 and early 1995 it managed to accrue 26 separate mixes and edits - which I will not name here. They're available to view at your local Wikipedia if you're so inclined.

 

In the UK it managed just one week as the best selling dance single because of a juggernaut single that will be obvious to many came a long to outsell it and many others for months to come.

 

Unusually, for a 1990s dance band Corona are still recording today and had hits in Italy as recently as 2013. In the UK they had a handful more Top 10 hits but unluckily wont be featuring in our rundown - Baby, Baby and Try Me Out being the most well know.

 

The Rhythm of the Night is, of course,a Eurodance and 90s classic and as such has been subject to a few cover versions. Cascada tried their hand at it in 2012. Combined with that other rhythmic dance classic Rhythm is a Dance it was recorded by Bastille in 2013 and matched its 90s peak.

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 20159 yr by Cauldron