Culture Beat
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Culture Beat is a German
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 ...
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 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 ...
and rapper Jay Supreme. Their 1993 single "
Mr. Vain "Mr. Vain" is a song by German group Culture Beat, released in April 1993 as the lead single from their second studio album, '' Serenity'' (1993). It was written by Steven Levis, Nosie Katzmann and Jay Supreme, and produced by Torsten Fenslau ...
" was a number-one hit in eleven European countries, and the act is thought to have sold more than 10 million records worldwide.


Biography


Origins and formation

Torsten Fenslau, who initially had a desire for becoming an architect, had been working as a DJ at the
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 ...
nightclub
Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical '' Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''.''The Picture of Dorian G ...
since 1982 (and remained for 11 years), when in 1989 he decided to form Culture Beat with his friends Jens Zimmermann and Peter Zweier.


1989–1991: ''Horizon''

Their first single, the track " Der Erdbeermund", with a spoken vocal in German by Jo van Nelsen, peaked at number 11 on the German singles chart. Versions in English and French were also released (titled "Cherry Lips" and "Les lèvres cerises", respectively). An instrumental version was also a club hit in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, where it reached number 55. Shortly afterwards, Culture Beat recruited American,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
-born rapper Jay Supreme and singer Lana Earl to front the act. While the second single "I Like You" reached number 22 in the Netherlands, their fourth single " No Deeper Meaning" managed to reach as high as number 4 in the Netherlands and number 3 on the Canadian ''RPM'' Dance Chart. They released their first album, ''
Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...
'', in 1991 which went with only minor success.


1993–1994: ''Serenity'' and international success

Lana was replaced by
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
singer
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 ...
in 1993, and the act took a harder
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. "
Mr. Vain "Mr. Vain" is a song by German group Culture Beat, released in April 1993 as the lead single from their second studio album, '' Serenity'' (1993). It was written by Steven Levis, Nosie Katzmann and Jay Supreme, and produced by Torsten Fenslau ...
" became their biggest hit to date, reaching number one in 13 countries including
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and the United Kingdom. It was also their first mainstream hit in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, peaking at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The single was certified three times Gold in Germany for selling over 750,000 units, it also managed to reach a Gold status in several other countries including US. Subsequent singles "
Got to Get It "Got to Get It" is a song by German group Culture Beat from their second studio album, '' Serenity'' (1993). Written by Nosie Katzmann, Jay Supreme, Torsten Fenslau and Peter Zweier, it was released as the second single from the album on 13 Se ...
" and "
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 ...
" were also pan-European hits, and their second album '' Serenity'' was awarded at the
ECHO In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...
award for being the ''Best-selling German Act Abroad'', with more than two million copies sold. This also got Torsten Fenslau nominated in the same year at the
Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...
for being the ''Best Producer of the Year'', who also walked away as a winner. On 6 November 1993, Culture Beat's founder Torsten Fenslau was killed in a car accident in
Messel Messel is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in Hesse near Frankfurt am Main in Germany. The village is first mentioned, as ''Masilla'', in the Lorsch codex. Messel was the property of the lords of Groschlag from ca. 1400 to 1799 ...
(district of Darmstadt) at age of 29. His brother Frank took over the act as a manager.


1995–1996: ''Inside Out''

The group returned the act in 1995 with a third album called '' Inside Out'', preceded by a single of the same title " Inside Out" which reached number 5 in Germany and number 32 in the UK.


1997–1998: Major changes and ''Metamorphosis''

In 1997, Frank decided to take Culture Beat in a different musical direction diverging the act from the Eurodance sound into a more commercial pop sound. He also replaced Tania with Kim Sanders, who had previously scored a hit with "Impossible" by Captain Hollywood Project. Jay Supreme remained with the act for a short time after Tania's departure, but during recording of the next album he decided to leave the group and the rap vocals on the next album (only a few tracks contained rap) were produced by rapper ''Next Up''. Although, in 1998, the album ''
Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...
'' managed to reach number 12 at home, it was a minor chart success as it remained in the top 20 of the album chart for only four weeks, and spent overall 10 weeks appearing on the chart.


2001–present: Singles and present status

Three years later, Jacky Sangster replaced Kim as the fourth female lead singer for Culture Beat. The single called "Insanity" was released in 2001 which flopped in Germany; however, reached number 1 in Israel. In 2003, to commemorate ten years since the release of the group's biggest hit, a new version of "Mr. Vain" was issued in Germany and reached number 7 in the singles chart. In 2004, a ''Greatest Hits'' package was released ahead of a planned new album with Jacky as vocalist, but was canceled before "Can't Go on Like This (No No)" was released. This single had minor success as well. "Your Love" was released in 2008, and is Culture Beat's most recent single to date. Jacky and a male rapper known by the stage name MC 4T (according to the official website) have performed as Culture Beat since 2003 and continue to perform at different 90's revival venues around the world. In January 2013, a compilation album was released, "The Loungin' Side of", which contains acoustic and
lounge Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol- bar * Airport lounge, or train lounge (e.g., AMTRAK's Acela Lounge), a premium ...
versions of hits taken from ''Inside Out'' and ''Metamorphosis''.


Band members

* Torsten Fenslau – keyboards and programming (1989–1993, died 1993) *Lana Earl – Vocals (1989–1993) * Juergen Katzmann – guitars, keyboards and programming (1989–1995) * Jay Supreme – rapper and vocalist (1989–1998) *Jens Zimmermann – keyboards and programming (1989–1991) *Peter Zweier – keyboards and programming (1989–1994) *
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 ...
– vocals (1993–1997) *Frank Fenslau – keyboards and programming (1994–) *
Kim Sanders Kim Sanders (born October 24, 1968 in East Chicago, Indiana) is an American singer and songwriter based in Germany. Sanders began to release singles as a solo artist in 1994 and wrote songs for other musicians. In 1993 and 1994, she released th ...
– vocals (1998–1999) *Next Up – rapper (1998) (rapper on two songs on ''
Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...
'' : "Pray for Redemption" and "Language of Love".)
*Jacky Sangster – vocals (2001–) *MC 4T – rapper (2003–)


Discography


Studio albums


Compilation albums

*''The Remix Album'' (1994) *''Best of Culture Beat'' (2001)


Singles


See also

*
List of Billboard number-one dance hits This is a list of number-one dance hits as recorded by '' Billboard'' magazine's Dance Club Songs chart – a weekly national survey of popular songs in U.S. dance clubs. It began on October 26, 1974, under the title ''Disco Action'' chart. It is ...
*
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in th ...


Notes


References


External links


Culture Beat's official websiteTania Evans' official website
{{Authority control German Eurodance groups Musical groups established in 1989 1989 establishments in Germany Musical groups from Frankfurt Epic Records artists Columbia Records artists East West Records artists