Songoftheday 2/25/19 - Feel the presence of the aura of the man none to compare Loveless dying For a chance just to touch a hand or a moment to share
from the album Serenity (1993)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #17 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 13
Today's song of the day comes from the German Eurodance act Culture Beat, which was put together by DJ/producer Torsten Fenslau in the late 1980's with friends and fellow keyboardists Peter Zweier and Jens Zimmerman. Their first single, "Der Erdbeermund" ("Cherry Lips"), which was sung by German Jo Van Nelsen, almost made the top ten in their native country, peaking at #11 in Germany and #55 in the UK. With that success though, he was replaced quickly with two English-speaking artist, rapper Jay Supreme and singer Lana Earl. Their first release together, "I Like You", scored another German top-40 hit at #30, while breaking through in a few more markets, and crossing over the Atlantic to land at #6 on Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart. A third single, "No Deeper Meaning", grabbed the act their first international top ten hit, reaching #4 in the Netherlands, while peaking at #9 on the American Dance chart. These three were included on the act's debut album Horizon.
Hiring on British singer Tania Evans to replace Earl, Culture Beat returned in 1993 with their sophomore effort Serenity. That record would become their most successful to date, and included their first American pop radio success. "Mr. Vain", written by Jay Supreme with Nosie Katzmann and Steven Levis, was a fast-paced trance/house throwdown about a nefarious dude that seemingly takes what he wants...
"Mr. Vain" became Culture Beat's first and only top-40 pop hit in the U.S. in January of 1994. The song also spent two weeks at #2 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart. Internationally, the single topped the singles charts in the UK, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Finland. It also hit #2 in Sweden, and #3 in France, Spain, and Iceland. But by that time tragedy had already struck the act when Torsten Fenslau was killed in an motor vehicle accident. He would be replaced by his brother Frank.
They would put out three more hit singles from Serenity, with "Got To Get It", which would be their sole #1 Dance hit in America, but that song never made even a dent in the pop charts. It would be much more successful worldwide, reaching the top-10 in Belgium (#1), Finland (#1), Spain (#2), the Netherlands (#2), Ireland (#3), the UK (#4), Germany (#4), Italy (#4), and Sweden (#5). The third offering, "Anything", got to #7 on the American dance chart, and did top ten business in most of Europe. Lastly, "World In Your Hands", the final single, climbed to #4 in Finland and #10 in Norway.
Frank Fenslau brought Culture Beat back in 1996 with Inside Out. The lead single and title track "Inside Out" was a big success internationally, hitting #5 in Germany, #8 in Denmark, #10 in Austria. It even scored them another moderate dance hit at #15 with the song. Their next release, "Cryin In The Rain", got to #8 in Germany and #10 in Denmark, and it's their most recent British top-40 hit at #29. And again, Tania Evans and Jay Supreme were even exiled in favor of Kim Sanders for the act's fourth album Metamorphosis. The lead single, "Pay No Mind", scraped the bottom half of the top-40 in both Germany and Austria, while the album would be their last studio set. In 2003, ten years after the release of "Mr. Vain", the single was re-recorded with singer Jacky Sangster, and the result was a top ten hit in Germany (#7) and Austria (#8), while stopping at #51 in the UK. That would be their final album, but the act continues to tour internationally. At the same time, Tania went the solo route, going to #19 on the American dance chart in 1998 with "Prisoner of Love (La-Da-Di)" (it's a total jam, check it out).
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's Jay and Tania performing live on Top Of The Pops promoting the single...
Next up is the "Decent Mix" that helped it hit #2 on the dance chart...
And a live shot from the same year...
In 2003, Culture Beat re-released a re-recorded version of "Mr. Vain" with Jacky Sangster, and hit top ten in Germany and Austria, and #51 in the UK ...
And lastly live at a festival in Paris called Dance Machine in the mid-90s...
Up tomorrow: Indie-rock darlings say goodbye to each other via the Boss.
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