Snap! is a German Eurodance project formed in 1989 by Frankfurt-based
producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been
through a number of line-up changes over the years, but was most
successful when fronted by rapper Turbo B, who performed on the UK
number 1 singles "The Power" and "Rhythm Is a Dancer".
Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti formed Snap! in 1989 under
the aliases Benito Benites and John "Virgo" Garrett III,
as they thought that the public had negative preconceived ideas of
German music.[1] Their first hit "The Power", a combination
of house and hip hop elements, contained a number of unauthorised
samples, taking the drum loop from "King of the Beats" by
Mantronix,[2] the rap from "Let the Words Flow" by Chill
Rob G and the classic line "I've got the power!" from "Love's
Gonna Get You" by Jocelyn Brown. It was initially released in
the United States through Wild Pitch Records, but after Chill Rob
G threatened legal action, the rap was re-recorded by Turbo B (born
Durron Maurice Butler, April 30, 1967 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[3]),
and additional vocals were recorded by Penny Ford (though the woman
in the video is Jackie Harris), Jocelyn Brown's vocals were replaced
by a female studio singer in 1999. The single rocketed to number
2 in Germany in March 1990, and spent two weeks at number 1 in the
United Kingdom, becoming the first rap single to top the chart. It
later reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified
platinum.
Jackie left the group shortly afterwards and Penny became its full-time
lead singer, recording the second single "Ooops Up", a
re-working of "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance
(Oops!)", a 1980 hit by The Gap Band, with which Penny was a
former backing singer. With drum samples from "Paid in Full" by
Eric B & Rakim, it was another number 2 hit in Germany and charted
at number 5 in the UK. Further hits followed with the oriental-sounding "Cult
of Snap", which charted at number 8 in the UK and number 3 in
Germany, and "Mary Had a Little Boy", which also charted
at number 8 in the UK, and reached number 4 in Germany. It was based
on the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Their first
album World Power reached #10 in the UK where it was certified platinum,
#30 in the U.S. where it was also certified platinum, sold in excess
of 7 million copies worldwide, and to this day remains one of the
best-selling dance albums of all time.
In 1991, Thea Austin joined the line-up and helped to write "Rhythm
Is a Dancer", which was planned to be the lead single from the
second album. However, Turbo B hated the track (particularly the
famous line "I'm as serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a
dancer") and protested that "Colour Of Love" should
be the first single cut from the album.[4] He got his way and it
was released in December 1991. It appeared to get lost in the Christmas
rush, limping to number 54 in the UK, though it did fare better in
Germany, climbing to number 9, as well as making it to number 6 in
France and Sweden. The two producers insisted that they now go with "Rhythm
Is a Dancer" and it was released as the second single in July
1992. With a backing-track inspired by "Automan" by early-80s
electronic hip-hop band Newcleus, it went on to become their biggest
hit yet, spending six weeks at number 1 in the UK, also topping the
charts in France, Germany, Netherlands and Italy, and peaking at
number 5 in the U.S. in early 1993.
The second album The Madman's Return was another multi-million seller
but Turbo B, who continued arguing with the act's producers, decided
to leave the group shortly after its release to pursue a solo career.
Both Penny Ford and Thea Austin followed suit, but Snap! was far
from over. The third single "Exterminate!", with vocals
by Michigan-born Niki Haris, formerly a backing singer for Madonna,
soared to number 2 in the UK in January 1993, and "Do You See
the Light (Looking For)" reached number 10 in June.
Now that all former members of the group had moved on, Münzing
and Anzilotti recruited Washington DC-born singer Summer to front
the act for the third album. Born Paula Brown, she had previously
worked as a dancer in the TV series Fame and the Spike Lee movie
School Daze.[5] Snap! moved towards a progressive house sound and
a new single called "Welcome to Tomorrow (Are You Ready?)" was
released in September 1994. After a slow start, it peaked at number
6 in the UK and was followed by the album, also titled Welcome to
Tomorrow. The second single "The First The Last Eternity (Till
The End)" was a moderate hit but "World in My Hands" and "Rame" (featuring
Rukmani and performed in Hindi) struggled to attract airplay due
to their less commercial sound.
On New Years Day 1994, Snap! performed the first of 3 essential
mixes for UK's BBC Radio 1.
[edit] Breakup and return
In 1996 the group was officially disbanded, with a greatest hits
compilation called Snap! Attack: The Best of Snap! released, preceded
by a new version of their first hit "The Power". However
they made a surprise return in 2000 with "Gimme A Thrill",
complete with a rap from Turbo B and vocal from the band's newest
addition Maxayn. However, it failed to chart and a proposed album
called One Day on Earth was never released.
A new version of "Do You See the Light" remixed by Plaything
was released in 2002, peaking at number 14 in the UK. The following
year, a new remix album called The Cult of Snap! was released and
further singles were issued, updating them for a new generation of
clubbers. "Rhythm Is a Dancer" was another UK top 20 hit
with a new mix by CJ Stone, a new bhangra mix by Motivo of "The
Power" also sold well, and a collaboration of Swedish girlgroup
NG3 on "Ooops Up" rounded the project up at the end of
2003. "The Power", which had already been used in countless
commercials and movie soundtracks over the years, was also introduced
into trailers and the soundtrack of the Jim Carrey film "Bruce
Almighty" in this year.
Buoyed by the success of the remixes, Münzing and Anzilotti
went back into the studio with male singer Damien Behanan, also known
as Loc, and released the single "Beauty Queen" in September
2005 through Luma Music, but once again it failed to make the charts. "Excited" and "We
Want Your Soul" were both released on vinyl in July 2006.[6]
In May 2008, Brains from the programme Thunderbirds appeared in
a TV commercial in the UK for Drench spring water. He is shown dancing
around a room to "Rhythm Is a Dancer". Its regular TV airings
prompted thousands of downloads of the original album mix of the
song, and it has so far peaked at number 23 in the official UK singles
chart. A brand new version of the song with added vocals from Loc
was released as a CD single in the UK on June 16, 2008.
In August 2008, they released a new single called "Jumping".
Recently the group have signed to Hard2Beat records.[7]
On Sunday 27 June 2010 Snap! performed at Glastonbury Festival,
UK, in the WOW! tent. Original lead vocalist Penny Ford was joined
by rapper Benjamin Lowe to do a 30mins Live PA show. Festival-goers
flocked to see Snap! and numbers far outstretched the tent's capacity.
Some were left disappointed when the famous rap 'I'm serious as cancer
when I say rhythm is a dancer' was omitted from the track.
The latest performance by Snap! was at Penn Festival in South Buckinghamshire
on 9 July 2011. Snap! headlined the first evening of the inaugural
Penn Festival along with Dodgy, held at the Big Park on the Penn
Estate.
[8]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
Year Title Chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
GER
[9][10] AUS
[11] AUT
[12] NDL
[13] NOR
[14] SWE
[15] SWI
[16] UK
[17] US
[18]
1990 World Power 7
[19] 25 4 - - 20 4 10 30
GER: Platinum[20]
US: Gold[21]
UK: Gold[22]
NDL: Gold[23]
SWE: Gold[24]
SWI: Platinum[25]
AUT: Gold[26]
1992 The Madman's Return 3 - 3 32 12 21 7 8 121
GER: Gold[20]
UK: Gold[22]
NLD: Gold[27]
SWI: Platinum[28]
AUT: Gold[26]
1995 Welcome to Tomorrow 10 - 15 12 - - 10 69 -
1996 Snap! Attack: The Best of Snap! 14 - 43 6 - 55 37 47 -
NLD: Gold[29]
2003 The Cult of Snap! 43 - 59 - 5 47 2 - -
2009 The Power Greatest Hits - - - - - - - 76 -
[edit] Singles
Year Title Chart positions Performers
GER
[30] AUS
[31] AUT
[32] FRA
[33] NDL
[34] SWE
[35] SWI
[36] UK
[17] U.S.
[37]
1990 "The Power" 2 13 3 15 1 3 1 1 2 Turbo B, Penny Ford,
Jackie Harris
"
Ooops Up" 2 4 2 34 2 2 2 5 35 Turbo B, Penny Ford
"
Cult of Snap" 3 27 2 - 6 12 5 8 -
"
Mary Had a Little Boy" 4 18 9 - 3 7 4 8 -
1991 "Mega Mix" 15 28 22 - 5 17 5 10 -
"
Colour of Love" 9 - 4 - 6 6 4 54 -
1992 "Rhythm Is a Dancer" 1 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 5 Turbo B, Thea
Austin
1993 "Exterminate!" 3 50 9 18 5 7 2 2 - Niki Haris
"
Do You See The Light (Looking For)" 13 - 8 40 9 20 10 10 -
1994 "Welcome to Tomorrow (Are You Ready?)" 4 - 11 - 9
3 - 6 - Paula "Summer" Brown
1995 "The First The Last Eternity (Till the End)" 7 - 3
- 2 - - 15 -
"
The World in My Hands" 53 - - - 39 - - 44 -
1996 "Rame" 34 - 34 - 28 40 - 50 - Rukmani
"
The Power '96" - - - - - 40 - 42 - Einstein
"
Rhythm is a Dancer '96" - - - - - 58 - - - Turbo B, Thea Austin
2000 "Gimme a Thrill" - - - - - - - - - Turbo B, Maxayn
2002 "Do You See the Light 2002" 66 - - - - - - 14 - Niki
Haris
2003 "Rhythm is a Dancer 2003" 7 32 10 - 46 - 35 17 - Turbo
B, Thea Austin
"
The Power (Of Bhangra)" 21 - 36 - 76 - - 34 - Turbo B
"
Ooops Up 2003" 68 - - - - 36 - - - Penny Ford, NG3
2005 "Beauty Queen" - - - - - - - - - Loc
2008 "Rhythm Is a Dancer 2008" 84 - - - - - - 23 - Thea
Austin, Loc