U96 is a German musical project formed by DJ and producer

Alex Christensen Alex Christensen (born 7 April 1967), also known by his stage names Jasper Forks or Alex C., is a German dance music producer, songwriter, and DJ generally known as the face and one of the founding members of U96. Since 2002, he has been coll ...

, and a team of producers named Matiz (

Ingo Hauss Alberto Hauss (born Ingo Hauss in 1962; also known as Bela Lagonda) is a German composer and producer. He has worked on projects with artists such as Oliver Cheatham, Beats 4 You, Chocolate, U96, F.R.E.U.D, Boytronic, ATC and Culture Beat. Hauss h ...

, Helmut Hoinkis, and Hayo Lewerentz). After a decade-long hiatus, the band returned in 2018 without Christensen and Hoinkis.

History

''Das Boot'': 1991–1992

The name of the project comes from the film ''

Das Boot ''Das Boot'' (, English: "The Boat") is a 1981 West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann. It has been exhibited both as ...

'' about German submarine '' U-96'' from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The project's first hit, "

" (1991), is a

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 ...

adaptation of the film's title melody, which had been originally composed by

Klaus Doldinger Klaus Doldinger (born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of 1997's Bavarian Film Awards. Life and work Doldinger was born in Berlin, Germany, and entered a Düsse ...

. An album of the same name was also released.

''Replugged'': 1993

The band's next album, ''Replugged'' (1993), was inspired by the electro sounds of the 1980s and by

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

and

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

music themes. It was less commercially successful than its predecessor, but achieved three top-10 hits: "

Love Sees No Colour "Love Sees No Colour" is a song recorded by German act U96. It was released in May 1993 as the first single off its second album, ''Replugged'' (1993), on which it appears as second track. It added sung male vocals, which was also going to be ...

", "

Night in Motion "Night in Motion" is a song recorded by German act U96, released in 1993 as the second single from their second album, ''Replugged'' (1993). It was successful on the charts in Europe, peaking within the top 10 in Austria, Finland, Germany, Lithu ...

", and "

Inside Your Dreams "Inside Your Dreams" is a song recorded by German act U96, released in 1994 as a non-album track. It was a major hit on the charts in Europe, peaking at number-one in Finland. Additionally, it was a top 10 hit in Austria and Switzerland, and a to ...

", which peaked at number 1 in Finland. Although uncredited, Ingo Hauss provided most male vocals for this album.

''Club Bizarre'': 1994–1995

The follow-up album, ''Club Bizarre'' (1995), radically changed the group's sound. It was dominated by a fast-paced

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 ...

sound with a significant

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 ...

influence. The hit single releases from this album were "

Love Religion "Love Religion" is a song recorded by German dance music act U96, released in October 1994, as the lead single from their third album, ''Club Bizarre'' (1995). Unlike their previous songs, "Love Religion" is more trance-oriented techno and pop. ...

" (with

Daisy Dee Desiree Rollocks (born 4 September 1970), better known by her stage name Daisy Dee, is a Dutch singer, actress, TV host, stylist, and television producer. She is well known in German-speaking German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly s ...

) as well as the title track "

Club Bizarre "Club Bizarre" is a song recorded by German dance act U96, released in February 1995 as the second single from the album of the same name (1995). It was a hit in several countries, although it was not as successful as the act's previous single, "L ...

", with

harmonies In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However, ...

that were reused later by

Brooklyn Bounce Brooklyn Bounce is one of several pseudonyms used by German producers Matthias Menck (Double M) and Dennis Bohn (Bonebreaker). They have also produced music under the names Mental Madness Productions and Beatbox feat. Rael. Menck and Bohn have cre ...

. Motor Music also released the ''Club Bizarre Interactive CD-ROM''. The audio part of this CD included several music tracks and the multimedia part featured a discography, interviews with Alex Christensen, and a game for

Mac OS Two major famlies of Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc. In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the "Classic" Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system, rebranded "M ...

and

Windows PC Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

''Heaven'': 1996

In 1996, U96's fourth album, ''Heaven'', was released. It was highly commercial in sound, with greater emphasis on

, despite retaining some electro and rave influences. On this album, a new singer, Dea-Li (Dorothy Lapi), was featured, who participated in the production of four titles. The chorus in the song "Heaven"—although with a faster pace and different text—closely resembles

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

's 1984 hit " Time After Time". The second single, " A Night to Remember", was a top-20 hit in Austria and Finland. The final single, " Venus in Chains", peaked at number 7 in the Czech Republic.

Hiatus, ''Reboot'': 1997–present

After their fourth album, the group released the singles "Seven Wonders" (1997), "Energie" (1998), "Beweg Dich, Baby" (1998), and "Das Boot 2001" (2000), before issuing the compilation ''Best of 1991–2001'', which included a few songs from the unreleased album ''Rhythm of Life''. They returned to the German Top 30 in 2006 with "Vorbei", which featured vocals by

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, � ...

. Another album, ''Out of Wilhelmsburg'', was released in 2007, albeit with a different group lineup, before the band went on an indefinite hiatus. In June 2018, U96 came out with the double album ''Reboot''. Two years later, in collaboration with

Wolfgang Flür Wolfgang Flür (born 17 July 1947) is a German musician, best known for playing percussion in the electronic group Kraftwerk from 1973 to 1987. Flür claims that he invented the electric drums the group used throughout the 1970s. However, pa ...

, they released another double album, titled ''Transhuman''. Helmut Hoinkis died on 19 February 2021.

Band members

Current members

(aka Bela Lagonda) * Hayo Lewerentz (aka Harry Castioni / Hayo Panarinfo)

Past members

* Helmut Hoinkis (aka Jeff Wycombe) *

(aka AC 16, AC Beat, Alex C.) * Stefan Hafelinger * Skadi Lange * Dorothy Lapi

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Alex Christensen's official website

U96 discography
* AllMusicGuide profile
History of U96
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1991 German electronic music groups German Eurodance groups Musical groups from Hamburg Polydor Records artists