Culture Beat | |
|---|---|
 Jacky Sangster of Culture Beat, 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Frankfurt, Germany |
| Genres | Eurodance[1][2] |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Members |
|
| Past members |
|
Culture Beat is a GermanEurodance project formed in 1989 byTorsten Fenslau. The act has gone through a number of lineup changes over the years; they achieved the most success whilst fronted by singerTania Evans and rapperJay Supreme. Their 1993 single "Mr. Vain" was a number-one hit in eleven European countries,[3] and the act claims to have sold more than 10 million records worldwide.[4]
Torsten Fenslau, who initially had a desire for becoming an architect, had been working as a DJ at theFrankfurt nightclubDorian Gray since 1982 (and remained for 11 years), when in 1989 he decided to form Culture Beat with his friends Jens Zimmermann and Peter Zweier.[3]
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.[5] Versions in English and French were also released (titled "Cherry Lips" and "Les lèvres cerises", respectively). An instrumental version was also played in clubs in theUnited Kingdom, where it reached number 55.
Shortly afterwards, Culture Beat recruited American,New Jersey-born rapperJay 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 CanadianRPM Dance Chart.[6] They released their first album,Horizon, in 1991 which went with only minor success.
Lana was replaced byBritish singerTania Evans in 1993, and the act took a harderEurodance sound. "Mr. Vain" became their biggest hit to date, reaching number one in 13 countries includingGermany,Australia and the United Kingdom.[7] It was also their first mainstream hit in theUnited States, peaking at number 17 on theBillboard 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.[8][9]
Subsequent singles "Got to Get It" and "Anything" were also pan-European hits, and their second albumSerenity was awarded at theECHO award for being theBest-selling German Act Abroad, with more than two million copies sold.[10] This also got Torsten Fenslau nominated in the same year at theEcho for being theBest Producer of the Year, who also walked away as a winner.[10]
On 6 November 1993, Culture Beat's founder Torsten Fenslau was killed in a car accident inMessel (district of Darmstadt) aged 29.[3][7] His brother Frank took over the act as a manager.
The group returned the act in 1995 with a third album calledInside Out,[7] preceded by a single of the same title "Inside Out" which reached number 5 in Germany and number 32 in the UK.A total of four singles were released from the album. Inside Out is the latest album released by Jay Supreme and Tanya Evans. This is also the first album not produced by Torsten Fenslau.
In 1997, Frank Fenslau 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" byCaptain 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 few rap vocals on the next album were produced by rapperNext Up. Although, in 1998, the albumMetamorphosis 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.[11]
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.[7] 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, aGreatest Hits package was released ahead of a planned new album with Jacky as vocalist called "Obsession", 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 containsacoustic andlounge versions of hits taken fromInside Out andMetamorphosis.[12]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [13] | AUS [14][15] | AUT [16] | FIN [17][18] | NLD [19] | NOR [20] | SWE [21] | SWI [22] | UK [23] | ||||||
| Horizon |
| — | 150 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Serenity |
| 8 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 13 | ||||
| Inside Out |
| 22 | 142 | 34 | 33 | 91 | — | — | 27 | — | ||||
| Metamorphosis |
| 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [13] | AUS [14][15] | AUT [16] | BEL (FLA) [31] | FRA [32] | NLD [33] | SWE [21] | SWI [22] | UK [23] | US [34] | |||||
| "Der Erdbeermund" | 1989 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 55 | — | Horizon | ||
| "I Like You" | 1990 | 30 | 164 | — | 40 | — | 22 | — | — | 96 | 56 | |||
| "Tell Me That You Wait" | 1991 | — | 180 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 109 | — | |||
| "No Deeper Meaning" | — | 126 | — | 30 | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Mr. Vain" | 1993 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1[A] | 1 | 17 | Serenity | ||
| "Got to Get It" | 4 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 107 | ||||
| "Anything" | 4 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 5 | — | ||||
| "World in Your Hands" | 1994 | 18 | 57 | 20 | 29 | 42 | 13 | — | 29 | 20 | — | |||
| "Adelante" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Inside Out" | 1995 | 5 | 62 | 10 | 14 | 46 | 30 | 23 | 11 | 32 | 122 |
| Inside Out | |
| "Crying in the Rain" | 1996 | 8 | 181 | 14 | 14 | — | 45 | 23 | 16 | 29 | — | |||
| "Take Me Away" | 26 | — | 39 | 15 | — | 48 | 24 | 33 | 52 | 111 | ||||
| "Walk the Same Line" | 64 | — | 38 | 30 | — | — | 40 | — | — | — | ||||
| "Pay No Mind" | 1998 | 27 | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Metamorphosis | ||
| "Rendez-Vous" | 53 | — | 38 | — | 88 | — | 48 | — | — | — | ||||
| "You Belong" | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Insanity" | 2001 | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Singles only | ||
| "Mr. Vain Recall" | 2003 | 7 | — | 8 | — | — | 66 | 30 | 46 | 51 | — | |||
| "Can't Go on Like This (No No)" | 2004 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Your Love" | 2008 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
Euro-dance sensations created by Torsten Fenslau (d. November 1993, Darmstadt, Germany) in 1989 by putting together the more visual duo of Jay Supreme and Tania Evans.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
