"Mr. Vain" is a song by German group

Culture Beat Culture Beat is a German Eurodance project formed in 1989 by Torsten Fenslau. The act has gone through a number of lineup changes over the years; they achieved the most success whilst fronted by singer Tania Evans and rapper Jay Supreme. Their ...

, released in April 1993 as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from their second studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' Serenity'' (1993). It was written by Steven Levis, Nosie Katzmann and Jay Supreme, and produced by Torsten Fenslau.

Tania Evans Tania Evans (born 28 May 1967) is a British singer and songwriter. She gained popularity during her participation in the German Eurodance group Culture Beat from 1993 to 1997. Career Evans' first release was the single "Can't Let Go" in 1992 o ...

is the lead vocalist and Supreme is the rapper. The song achieved huge success worldwide, reaching the number-one position in at least 13 countries. In the United States, it peaked at number 15 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100, number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the ''Billboard''

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart. In 1994, the song earned an award at the German

Echo Award Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and it was set up to hono ...

, in the category for "Best International Dance Single" and an award in the category for "Best Hi-NRG 12-inch" at the WMC International Dance Music Awards in the US. In the UK, "Mr. Vain" was the first number-one single not to be available as a 7" vinyl single since the 1950s and heralded the demise of the 7" single as a mass market medium. It was also one of the few singles to reach number one in 1993 on only three formats.

Background

German DJ an producer Torsten Fenslau and his friend Jens Zimmerman formed Culture Beat in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

in 1989.Ramesh, Randeep (2 September 1993). "Just Set The Beat, Mr. Vain". ''

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''. They took the name from the idea of trying to mix high culture and music, and had their first hit same year, entitled " Der Erdbeermund" ("Strawberry Lips"), which meshed

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

sounds with the poetry of 15th century French writer

François Villon François Villon ( Modern French: , ; – after 1463) is the best known French poet of the Late Middle Ages. He was involved in criminal behavior and had multiple encounters with law enforcement authorities. Villon wrote about some of these ...

. With the success of songs like " Rhythm Is a Dancer" by German group

Snap! Snap! is a German Eurodance group formed in 1989 by Record producer, producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, including American singers, songwriters and rappers Thea A ...

in 1992, which several critics later would compare "Mr. Vain" to, the formula for what would be known as 90s

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

was now beginning to establish. Fenslau wanted to develop the group further and American rapper Jay Supreme and British singer

were recruited to front a new single and album. Supreme had moved to Germany after being in the

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, while Evans had been working as backing singer for

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk roc ...

. The lyrics to "Mr. Vain" was written by German musician and songwriter Nosie Katzmann with Supreme and Steven Lewis, and the single was released on April 16, 1993.

Chart performance

"Mr. Vain" was one of the best-selling singles across Europe of 1993. It first broke in Germany, topping the German singles chart for nine weeks before breaking more widely through the summer. The song also topped the charts in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

. In the UK, the song hit the top spot during its fourth week on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, on 22 August 1993, and was the first single to top the chart that was not released on

7-inch vinyl In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...

. The single spent four weeks at the top of the chart and sold over 442,000 copies in the UK. Outside Europe, it peaked at number-one in Australia, on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Dance/Urban chart in Canada and in Zimbabwe. In the United States, the single reached number 15 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 and number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, earning a

gold certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). "Mr. Vain" also peaked at number two for two weeks on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart. It charted also in Japan. The song also earned a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

in Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, while it received a silver record in France. It was also awarded a 3× gold record in Germany, with a sale of 750,000 units, and a platinum record in Australia and Norway.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor William Cooper called "Mr. Vain" an "engaging

tune". He compared it to

's " Rhythm Is a Dancer" and

Real McCoy "The real McCoy" is an idiom and metaphor used in much of the English-speaking world to mean "the real thing" or "the genuine article", e.g. "he's the real McCoy". The phrase has been the subject of numerous false etymologies. History The phr ...

's " Another Night" with its "instantly memorable keyboard hook".

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described it as a "chirpy

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

/ NRG track", stating that "if its European chart success is a fair indicator", then the song "will be all the rage within minutes." Nicole Leedham from ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'' noted

's "combination of soul, insightful lyrics and dance floor-friendly music". Student newspaper ''

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after ''The Harvard Crimson'', and has ...

'' stated that "near-indiscernible rapping over a pulsing

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

beat and an unforgettable synth line" make it "the quintessential '90s dance track." Tom Ewing of ''

Freaky Trigger ''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2000 ...

'' wrote that "Mr. Vain" "heads straight for the dark heart of the club, sketching a dancefloor predator who – like Eezer Goode – is as much metaphor as character. For drugs, lust, loss of control – who knows? The lyrics' almost-there English works to the song's benefit – there's an awkward poetry to "Call him Mr Raider, call him Mr Wrong" – and for once the obligatory rap isn't an embarrassment, with Jay Supreme's gloating, bassy flow reminding me of knowingly devilish

Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s. History and origins Disco ...

classics like "Your Only Friend". "Mr Vain" is the hustling flipside to "

All That She Wants "All That She Wants" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base. It was released in Scandinavia in 1992 as the second single from their first studio album, ''Happy Nation'' (1992), and in the following year, it was released as the first single from ...

", and almost as good a pop record." John Patrick from ''

Lake District News ''The Lake District News'' is a weekly newspaper in Burns Lake, British Columbia. It publishes Wednesday and is owned by Black Press. See also *List of newspapers in Canada This list of newspapers in Canada is a list of newspapers printed and d ...

'' stated, "The beat is a dream to any dance and the words become so familiar, you can sing along with the chorus on cue."

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

said in his weekly UK chart commentary, "Stand by for the dance hit of the summer." He added that "although in actual fact as one of the best European dance records of the year so far it would probably have been a major hit anyway." Diana Valois from ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after ''The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its Al ...

'' noted its "formula of staccato beats, deep bass lines, and nervous and tinny keyboard riffs." She added, "Balancing the somber vocals of Jay Supreme is the optimistic soulfulness of a cheery

". Machgiel Bakker from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' viewed it as a "snappy and poppy dance groove". Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' declared the song as "maddeningly commercial but lyrically nonsensical", and with "hugely commercial hooks". Jim Farber from ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'' described it as "propulsive", with "snappy electronic rhythms and trendy rap break". He commented, "Musically, the song strongly recalls Snap's smash "Rhythm Is a Dancer", but its clash of two voices offers a fresh twist. One voice (provided by R&B singer Tania Evans) mockingly describes the ace narcissist "Mr. Vain", while a second (from a rapper named Jay Supreme) embodies the title character's selfish desire – it's a winkling comment on self-absorption on a track made for the indulgent world of dance clubs." In an retrospective review, ''Pop Rescue'' called it "fantastically catchy".

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was produced to promote the single, directed by Swedish-based director

Matt Broadley Matt Broadley is a Swedish director. He has made music videos for several songs that went #1 on the charts, like "All That She Wants" and "Mr. Vain". Career Broadley has directed many TV commercials and music videos. His clients include: * Al ...

. It begins with Supreme in black-and-white, looking at himself in a mirror, putting on a ring. As he looks into the mirror again, he sees the cracks in his face. He then attends a house party. Now in colours, people are dancing at the party.

Evans Evans may refer to: People *Evans (surname) *List of people with surname Evans Places United States *Evans Island, an island of Alaska *Evans, Colorado *Evans, Georgia *Evans County, Georgia *Evans, New York *Evans Mills, New York *Evans City, ...

sits in the corner of the room and sees Supreme peeking by the curtain. He walks towards her and offers her his hand. She leaves, with him following her down the hallway. As the video ends, she takes a hand-mirror lying on a nightstand and puts it up to his face. In black-and-white, his face becomes cracked and chipped again. The video received

heavy rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely sh ...

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

in July 1993. Broadley would also be directing the videos for "

Anything Anything may refer to: Albums * ''Anything'' (The Cranberry Saw Us demo), by the band later named the Cranberries, 1990 * ''Anything'' (The Damned album) or the title song (see below), 1986 * ''Anything'' (Kinnie Starr album) or the title son ...

" and "

World in Your Hands "World in Your Hands" is a song by German Eurodance group Culture Beat, released in March 1994 as the fourth single and the last one marketed in almost all countries in Europe from their second album, '' Serenity'' (1993). As for other Culture ...

Impact and legacy

The German

honored the song with an award in the category for "Best International Dance Single" in 1994. Same year, it also received an award in the category for "Best Hi-NRG 12" at the WMC International Dance Music Awards in the US.

MTV Dance Club MTV, formerly MTV Dance, is a European pay television music channel from Paramount Networks EMEAA that was separated from the UK channel on 27 May 2014. It broadcasts electronica, dance and r'n'b music programming. The channel is widely ava ...

ranked "Mr. Vain" number 65 in their list of "The 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems of All Time" in November 2011. ''

'' picked "Mr. Vain" in their "Sounds of Germany: a history of German pop in 10 songs" in 2012. They wrote, "Culture Beat's glorious Mr Vain, with its rollicking beat, diva vocals and stilted rapping, comes as close as anything to summarising the spirit of the genre." Australian music channel Max placed "Mr. Vain" at number 732 in their list of "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2012. In their "The ABC in Eurodance" in 2016, Finnish broadcaster

Yle Yleisradio Oy ( Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, found ...

noted, "If someone could look up "The archetypal Eurodance hit song" in an Encyclopedia there would probably be a link to an audio file for "Mr Vain" - a song that more than anyone else came to define the 90's dance music." ''

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

'' listed the song number 17 in their "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s" list in 2017.

Track listing and formats

*CD maxi single (Germany, 1993) #"Mr. Vain" (Vain Mix) – 6:35 #"Mr. Vain" (Decent Mix) – 7:05 #"Mr. Vain" (Special Radio Edit) – 4:17 *CD maxi single – Remix (Germany, 1993) #"Mr. Vain" (Mr. House) – 6:18 #* Remixed by Doug Laurent #"Mr. Vain" (Mr. Rave) – 6:42 #* Remixed by Doug Laurent #"Mr. Vain" (Mr. Trance) – 6:20 #* Remixed by Doug Laurent #"Mr. Vain" (Mr. Hardcore) – 6:37 #* Remixed by Doug Laurent *CD maxi single (United States, 1993) #"Mr. Vain" (Radio Edit) – 4:17 #"Mr. Vain" (Intense Radio Edit) – 3:52 #"Mr. Vain" (Vain Mix) – 6:35 #"Mr. Vain" (Mr. Intense) – 5:28 #"Mr. Vain" (Mr. Hardcore) – 6:38 #* Remixed by Doug Laurent *12" vinyl single (US, 1993) #"Mr. Vain" (Vain Mix) – 6:35 #"Mr. Vain" (Mr. Club) – 6:39 #"Mr. Vain" (Mr. Intense) – 5:28 #"Mr. Vain" (Mr. Liebrand) – 5:40 #"Mr. Vain" (Mr. Hardcore) – 6:38 *Cassette single (US, 1993) #"Mr. Vain" (Radio Edit) – 4:17 #"Mr. Vain" (Radio Edit) (w/o Rap) – 4:17 *CD single – Promo (US, 1993) #"Mr. Vain" (Lone Star Edit) – 3:30 *CD maxi single – (United Kingdom, 1993) #"Mr. Vain" (Special Radio Edit) – 4:17 #"Mr. Vain" (Vain Mix) – 6:35 #" (Cherry Lips) Der Erdbeermund" (Single Version) – 4:05 #"I Like You" (Single Version) – 3:58 *CD maxi single – Remix (Japan, 1996) #"Mr. Vain" (FM 802 Rock Kids 802 Mix) – 4:25 #"Mr. Vain" (Hyper Rave Mix) – 5:32 #"Mr. Vain" (Tribal Mix) – 4:47 #"

" – 6:26 #"Mr. Vain" (Album Version) – 5:39 #"Culture Beat Mega Mix" – 6:38

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Original version

¹ Mr. Vain Remix! (Japanese mini album) ² Remix

"Mr. Vain Recall" version

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Covers and samples

One of the song's original writers, Nosie Katzmann, recorded a new country version of the song.

References