Scatman
John
John Paul Larkin (March 13, 1942 – December 3, 1999), better known by his stage
name Scatman John, was an American musician who created a fusion
of scat singing and dance music, best known for his 1995 hit "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)".
A stutterer, Larkin stated that scatting was "turning my biggest problem into my biggest asset". Scatman John sold millions of recordings worldwide and was named "Best New Artist" in the Echo Awards in both Japan and Germany. He was a recipient of the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Annie Glenn Award for outstanding
service to the stuttering community and National Stuttering Association
Hall of Fame.
Born in El Monte, California, Larkin suffered
from a severe stutter since his beginning of speech which led to
an emotionally traumatic childhood. Even at the peak of his success
in 1995, journalists reported that during interviews he “hardly
finishes a sentence without repeating the phrase at least six or
seven times”. At age twelve he began to learn piano, and was introduced
to the art of scat singing at the age of fourteen through records
by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, amongst others. The piano
provided him with a means of artistic expression to compensate
for his speech difficulties. He remarked in a 1996 interview that
“playing piano gave me a way to speak… I hid behind the piano because
I was scared of talking”.
Larkin became a professional jazz pianist in the
1970s and '80s, playing many gigs in jazz clubs around Los Angeles.
In 1986, he released the self-titled album John Larkin on the Transition
label, copies of which are now extremely rare. He claimed to have
“hundreds of them lying around in [his] closet at home”. Around
this time, alcoholism and drug addiction were also beginning to
take a hold of his life. When fellow musician and friend Joe Farrell,
who also had a drug problem, died of bone cancer in 1986, Larkin
decided to beat his habits. He eventually did so, largely with
the help of his new wife Judy, also a recovering alcoholic. “You
have talent,” she told him. “I’m going to make something out of
you.”
[edit] Birth of “Scatman John”
To advance his career in 1990, Larkin moved to
Berlin, Germany. From there he discovered the appreciative jazz
culture and started playing jazz gigs.[1] Here he decided to add
singing to his act for the first time, inspired by the standing
ovation he received for his rendition of the song On the Sunny
Side of the Street. Soon after, his agent Manfred Zähringer from
Iceberg Records in Denmark thought of combining scat-singing with
modern dance music and hip hop sounds. Larkin was resistant at
first but BMG Hamburg was open.
Larkin was mainly scared that listeners would
realize he stuttered, so Judy suggested that he talk about it directly
in his music. Working with dance producers Ingo Kays and Tony Catania,
he recorded the first single, "Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)", a song intended to inspire children who stuttered to overcome adversity. He
adopted the new name and persona of Scatman John.
[edit] International success
In 1995, at age 52, Larkin became a worldwide
star. Sales of his debut single were slow at first, but gradually
reached #1 in many countries and sold over six million records
worldwide. Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) which charted quite
highly across Europe remains his biggest-selling and most well-known
song.[2] He later followed up with the song Scatman’s World entering
the UK Singles chart at #10, which met lesser but still notable
success, selling a million copies and charting highly throughout
Europe.[3]
Following the success of these two singles, he
released his debut album as Scatman John, also titled Scatman’s
World, which entered the top 10 album charts in many countries
including his then home Germany[4] as well as in Switzerland, Finland
and Norway,[5] which eventually sold millions of copies worldwide.[1]
He began a promotional and concert tour of Europe and Asia. “At
an appearance I did in Spain, the kids screamed for five minutes
straight, I couldn’t start the song”, he once recounted.[6]
[edit] Post-Scatman’s World
The second Scatman John album, Everybody Jam!,
was released in 1996. While nowhere near as successful on an international
level as his debut, the album and accompanying single took off
in Japan, the country in which he would see success on a larger
scale than anywhere else in the world. He was so popular there
that Japanese toy stores sold dolls of his likeness and he appeared
on phone cards and Coca Cola cans. The Japanese version of Everybody
Jam! included a total of five bonus tracks, including the hit singles
there Su Su Su Super Ki Re i and Pripri Scat, which were commissioned
by Japanese companies for commercials for cosmetics and pudding
respectively. The Ultraman franchise even jumped on the Scatman
bandwagon, releasing a single titled Scatultraman, the cover art
of which featured the Ultraman characters in hats and moustaches.
[edit] Final years
In 1999, Larkin released his third and final album
as Scatman John, Take Your Time. It was later revealed that he
had been battling ill health since late 1998. He continued work
on the album despite being told to take it easy from his substantial
workload. He was later diagnosed with lung cancer and soon went
into intensive treatment. Even while suffering, Larkin remained
positive saying “Whatever God wants is fine by me… I’ve had the
very best life. I have tasted beauty”.[7] He died in his Los Angeles
home on December 3, 1999. He was cremated and was buried at sea
near Malibu, California.[8]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
Rel. Title Rec. Label Formats Notes
Jazz
1986 John Larkin 1984-1985 Transition Records LP US only
Eurodance
1995 Scatman's World 1995 RCA Records LP, CD -
1996 Everybody Jam! 1996 RCA Records CD -
1999 Take Your Time 1999 RCA Records CD -
[edit] Compilation albums
Rel. Title Rec. Label Formats Notes
Jazz
2001 Listen to the Scatman 1984-1990 Stunt Records CD -
Eurodance
2002 The Best of Scatman John 1994-1999 RCA Records CD Japan only
[edit] EPs
Rel. Title Label Formats Notes
1995 Scat Paradise RCA Records CD Japan only
[edit] Singles
Rel. Title Label Formats Notes
1994 Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) RCA Records 12",
7", CD -
1995 Scatman's World RCA Records 2x12",
12", CD -
1995 Song of Scatland RCA Records 12",
CD -
1995 Only You RCA Records CD Japan only
1995 Popstar Scandinavian Records CD (promo) Promo single
1996 Su Su Su Super Kirei RCA Records CD Japan only
1996 Pripri Scat RCA Records CD3 Japan only
1996 Su Su Su Super Kirei / Pripri Scat RCA Records 12" Japan
only
1996 Everybody Jam! RCA Records 12",
CD -
1996 Let It Go RCA Records 12",
CD -
1998 Scatmambo RCA Records 12",
CD -
1999 The Chickadee Song RCA Records CD -
1999 Take Your Time RCA Records CD -
1999 Ichi Ni San... Go! RCA Records CD -
[edit] Interview albums
Rel. Title Album Label Formats Notes
1995 Interview CD Scatman's World RCA Records CD -
[edit] Videography
[edit] Music videos
Year Title
1994 Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)
1995 Scatman's World
1995 Song of Scatland
1996 Everybody Jam!
1996 Su Su Su Super Kirei
