Scooter
Scooter are a German hard dance band founded in Hamburg, who have sold over
25 million records and earned over 80 gold and platinum awards.
Scooter are considered the most successful single-record German
act with 23 top ten hits. The band is currently composed of
members H.P. Baxxter, Rick J. Jordan and Michael Simon. Although
most of the band's early recordings are in the styles of happy
hardcore or hard trance, Scooter have experimented with other dance
genres such as hardstyle and jumpstyle, and occasionally hip hop,
hard rock and house.
Scooter's trademark sound features fast tempos and happy melodies, accompanied
by frontman H.P. Baxxter rapping lyrics, sampling, and occasionally
choruses involving artificially pitched voices. Among their more
well-known hits are "Move Your Ass!", "Hyper Hyper", "How Much Is The Fish?", "Ramp! (The Logical Song)", "The Night", "Jigga Jigga!", "Nessaja", "Maria (I Like It Loud)", "Weekend" and "Jumping All Over the World".
Contents
[show]
[edit] Career
[edit] Celebrate the Nun (1985–1992)
In 1985 H. P. Baxxter and Rick J. Jordan met in
Hannover, Germany through a small ad and founded the synthpop/new
wave band Celebrate the Nun. While the lead vocals were performed
by Baxxter and female vocals were delivered by Baxxter's sister
Britt Maxime, Rick J. Jordan took care of the keyboards and sound
engineering.[6] The band released their first album Meanwhile in
1988. Allmusic wrote that "During the mid-'80s, numerous synth pop acts dreamed of becoming the next Depeche
Mode. Celebrate the Nun could have been buried in the glut of Depeche
Mode doppelgangers; however, top-drawer songwriting and consistently
catchy hooks lifted Celebrate the Nun above the mass of wannabes".[7] The single "Will You Be There" off Meanwhile peaked at No.5 on the Billboard Dance/Club play chart on June
23, 1990, whereas the single "She's a Secretary/Strange" peaked at No.12 on Dance/Club play chart on December 8 of the same year.[8]
Slin Tompson, who was the fourth person in the band's original
line-up, left the band in 1990 to start a project on his own.[6]
In 1991, the band released their second album Continuous, but this
was less successful due to synthpop's declining popularity.[7]
Two singles were released off the second material, "Patience" and "You Make Me Wonder" both of which went without charting. Not finding the expected success in the
New Wave arena, Baxxter kept working at the former Hamburg based
Indie label (currently Edel Records) in the Distribution and Sales
department where he met Scooter's future manager Jens Thele.[9]
[edit] The Loop (1993–1998)
Soon afterwards, in late 1993, the former Celebrate
the Nun members joined up with Baxxter's cousin Ferris Bueller
under the management of Jens Thele to form a remix team known as
The Loop. The Loop became one of the top remix teams in Germany,
releasing remixes for artists like Adeva, Holly Johnson, The Tag
Team and RuPaul.[9][10]
[edit] The First Chapter (December 1993–1998)
Scooter started as a project in December 1993.
Their debut single was a cover of René & Gaston's "Vallée De Larmes" (French for Valley of Tears) and reached No.8 on the German official dance chart.
In April 1994, Scooter played their first live show at "The Palladium" in Hamburg. At that point, Scooter officially switched from being a project
into a band, and Baxxter's "rapping" became one of the band's trademarks.
Scooter band during 1st Chapter (1993-1998). From left to right:
Rick J. Jordan, Ferris Bueller, H.P. Baxxter
At first, "Hyper Hyper" was
expected to be a small hit within the club scene, but it managed
to reach the No.2 position on the German single chart, Media Control,
eventually going triple gold for selling 750,000 units.[9][11] "Hyper Hyper" also entered the top-5 in Switzerland, Austria and in Italy, meanwhile, entering
the top-10 in the Netherlands and Norway.[12][13] Scooter's third
single "Move Your Ass" reached No.3 on Media Control's single chart after a few weeks of its release
and managed to achieve a gold status for sales of over 250,000
in Germany.[11] The single also gained similar success as its predecessor
outside of Germany, it entered the top-5 in Switzerland, Austria
and the Netherlands, meanwhile, entering the top-10 in Norway and
Italy.[14][15] The follow-up singles, "Friends" and "Endless Summer" managed to enter the top-20 in number of countries including Switzerland, Austria
and Finland.[16][17]
The band maintained the initial technique of their
sound throughout their second album, Our Happy Hardcore, until
the style became noticeably different with their 1996 single "I'm Raving" (from the 3rd album Wicked) as the tempos were down to 138 BPM from their previous
tempos which were between the range of 160 and 190 BPM. The single
reached No.4 in Germany and earned a gold certification for selling
well over 250,000 units.[11]
Scooter's fourth album, Age of Love which reached
the No.19 slot on Germany's Media Control album chart was the last
album that featured Baxxter's cousin Ferris Bueller.[9][18]
[edit] The Second Chapter (1998–2002)
Scooter in Moscow, circa 2000. From left to right: H.P. Baxxter,
Rick J. Jordan, Axel Coon
In 1998, Ferris Bueller (Soren Buehler) left the
group to pursue a solo career (he later admitted that he had been
suffering from depression for several years due to his then new
time-demanding life as a pop star), and was replaced by DJ Axel
Coon, who had been working with the band at the recording studio
for some time already. Coon had also played live with Scooter in
some occasions, covering for Rick J. Jordan. In June 1998, Scooter
released one of their most popular singles to date "How Much is the Fish?" which peaked at No.3 in Germany, the single also went gold selling over 250,000
units in Germany alone.[11][19] Their fifth studio album, No Time
to Chill reached the No.4 position on Germany's Media Control album
chart, whereas it topped the album chart in Finland and earned
a gold-award for sales of over 36,000 units.[18][20][21] In the
same vein, the album reached a gold status in Poland for sales
of over 50,000 units.[22]
In July 1999, Scooter released their first single "Faster
Harder Scooter", from their sixth album, Back to the Heavyweight Jam. While the single peaked
at No.7 at home, it did quite well in Scandinavia peaking at No.3
in Sweden and No.2 in Finland, and the trio eventually picked up
a platinum-award in Sweden for selling over 40,000 copies of the
single.[19][23][24] The second single, "Fuck the Millennium" was released in November 1999 which reached No.11 on Media Control singles charts
and as its predecessor spent 11 weeks on the chart.[19] The single
as its predecessor did similarly well over in Scandinavia charting
at No.3 in Sweden and No.4 in Finland, it eventually earned the
trio a gold-award in Sweden for sales of over 20,000 units.[24][25]
The album, Back to the Heavyweight Jam just like the singles turned
out to be a hit in Scandinavia, it entered the top-5 both in Finland
and Sweden where it eventually reached a gold status for sales
of over 40,000 units.[26][27]
Scooter released their seventh studio album, Sheffield,
in May 2000. Sheffield took another new direction containing 6/8
rhythms on tracks "Don't Gimme the Funk" and "Sex Dwarf". In late 2000, after their second single "She's the Sun," Scooter were awarded a Comet at the 2000 VIVA Comet Awards in the category of "Most Successful Dance Act" .
The band's 21st single, "Posse
(I Need You on the Floor)" was released in Germany on May 21, 2001 and it was the first Scooter single
since "Endless Summer" to include a high-pitched-voice in the chorus. The single peaked at No.7 at
Scooter's home market spending 13 weeks on the official single
chart.[19] Their eighth album, We Bring the Noise, released in
June 2001, included another single, "Aiii Shot the DJ." A limited edition version of the album included a cover of the 1978 City song "Am Fenster" as a bonus track.
In December 2001, Scooter released their 23rd
single "Ramp! (The Logical Song)" from their Best of compilation album Push the Beat for This Jam. While the single
went platinum in Australia and Norway, it managed to reach the
No.2 position in the United Kingdom, where it went gold for sales
of over 400,000 units.[28][29][30][31] The album itself, which
was released on January 7, 2002 managed to reach a gold status
in the UK, Sweden and Norway.[29][31][32]
[edit] The Third Chapter (2002–2006)
Scooter in Kiev in 2004. From left to right: Jay Frog, H.P. Baxxter,
Rick J. Jordan
At the beginning of 2002, immediately after the
release of trio's compilation album Push the Beat for this Jam,
Alex Coon left the band to pursue a solo career in DJing and remixing,
and Jay Frog became the new third person. Jay Frog was already
familiar with the band as he had occasionally covered for Axel
Coon.
As a quick way of introducing the new member Frog
to their fans, the trio released a second compilation album in
November 2002, 24 Carat Gold. Scooter's 24th single, "Nessaja" was a cover version of the title track from Peter Maffay's musical Tabaluga,
and debuted at No.1 on the German official single charts.[19] The
single managed to reach a gold status in Germany for selling over
250,000 units.[11] The single also did well in numerous markets
including Austria, Norway and Denmark in all of which it entered
the top-5, it also managed to enter the top-10 in Switzerland,
Finland and the Netherlands.[33]
Scooter enjoyed a comeback within the UK charts,
with six top-20 UK singles "The Logical Song" (UK No.2), "Nessaja" (UK No.4), "Posse (I Need You On The Floor)" (UK No.15), "Weekend!" (UK No.12), "The Night" (UK No.16) and "Maria (I Like It Loud)" (UK No.16) all charting within an 18 month period.[30]
In 2003, the video for "Weekend!" caused
a scandal with its scenes of topless dancers. The song reached
No.2 on the German Media Control single chart.[19]
In March 2003, Scooter released their next studio
album, The Stadium Techno Experience. The album climbed to No.7
on the Media Control album chart and was certified gold in Sweden,
Norway and Hungary.[18][29][34][35] The single "The Night" became the last to feature the high pitched voice effect and reached the top-10
in Germany.[19] The next single from the album, "Maria (I Like It Loud)", was released in collaboration with hardcore producers Marc Acardipane and Dick
Rules, reaching No.4 on the single charts.[18]
Mind The Gap was Scooter's 10th studio album,
which was released on November 8, 2004 in three different versions,
basic, regular and deluxe. While the album peaked at No.16 at home
and spent 21 weeks on the album chart, the trio's 28th single, "Shake That!" flavored with 70s disco sound was released on October 4, 2004 in most European
countries, the single entered the German Media Control single chart
peaking at No.8.[18][19]
Their 11th studio album, Who's Got the Last Laugh
Now?, featured a cover version of "Everlasting Love." The Who's Got The Last Laugh Now? 2006 tour was followed by the release of both
the CD and the 2-disc DVD entitled Excess All Areas, one of the
DVDs containing the final Hamburg concert of the tour and the second
containing every music video released so far.
[edit] The Fourth Chapter (2006–Present)
Scooter on their "Under
The Radar Over The Top" Tour, at the Leipzig Arena, in Leipzig, Germany 2010.
On August 14, 2006, it was announced that Jay
Frog had decided to leave the band to pursue a solo career. Frog
was replaced by Michael Simon, who had remixed some of Scooter's
tracks while in search of success with his "Shahin & Simon" project.[10] On August 19, Scooter played at the Tufertschwil Open Air in Switzerland,
where Simon debuted.
The single "Behind the Cow" was
premiered at The Dome 40 in Düsseldorf on December 1, 2006, and
was released on January 19, 2007. The song and its lyrics are based
on "What Time Is Love?" by The KLF. Their 12th album The Ultimate Aural Orgasm, which includes the songs "The United Vibe" (cover version of Den Harrow's "Catch the Fox"), "Scarborough Affair" or "The Shit That Killed Elvis" (collaboration with Jimmy Pop, the frontman of American fun-rock-band The Bloodhound
Gang), was released on February 9, 2007. The album peaked at No.6
in Germany and spent 16 weeks on the album chart.[18] The second
single released off The Ultimate Aural Orgasm was "Lass Uns Tanzen" which appeared in stores on March 23. Despite the fact that the single peaked
only at No.19 at home, it managed to stay on the singles chart
for 18 weeks.[19]
On August 10, Scooter released a new single called "The
Question is What is the Question", the release of which surprised many of their fans as they were expecting a
third single from the current album rather than an entirely new
material. The single peaked at No.5 on the singles charts with
overall of 26 weeks on the charts.[19] That was a record as none
of Scooter's previously released singles had so far remained that
long within the singles charts. The band released a jumpstyle cover
version of classic 1970s track "How Do You Do" by Mouth & MacNeal. Scooter released their 13th studio album, Jumping All Over the World,
on 30 November 2007, containing all three singles ("The Question is What is the Question", "And No Matches" and "Jumping All Over the World"). A limited edition of the album contains a bonus CD including all Scooter's
German top-10 hits, from "Hyper, Hyper" to "How Much is the Fish?" as well as a previously unreleased version of "The Question Is What Is The Question?"
In November 2007, the band made its debut tour
of Australia, never having visited the country before despite their
single "The Logical Song" peaking at No.1 there some 6 years earlier.[36] Scooter performed at the famous
Scattered rave party in Sydney as well as in Adelaide, Brisbane
and Perth.
In March 2008, the group embarked on its first
arena tour of the UK as part of Clubland Live, appearing alongside
other All Around The World acts such as Cascada and Ultrabeat.
During this tour, Scooter performed a retooled version of "I'm Lonely" from Jumping All Over The World; the single was released in Germany on 18 April
2008. "The Question Is What Is The Question" was released in the UK the same week, charting at No.49.[30] The band made international
news in May 2008 when Jumping All Over The World unexpectedly entered
at No.1 on the UK Albums Chart, replacing Madonna's album Hard
Candy after just one week.[30][37] It was Scooter's first No.1
in the UK and first album release there in five years.[30] The
album eventually ended up earning the trio a platinum-award in
the UK for sales of over 300,000 units.[31]
Rick J. Jordan and Michael Simon together while promoting Under
The Radar Over The Top.
Where The Beats...
A 30 second sample of "Where
The Beats...", from the album Under The Radar Over The Top
Problems listening to this file? See media help.
February 2009 saw the release of a Scooter tribute
album entitled Hands On Scooter, featuring artists such as The
Bloodhound Gang, Status Quo, and Sido covering or sampling Scooter
songs.[38]
During the summer of 2009, Scooter announced the
release of their next studio album, Under The Radar Over The Top.
On August 14, 2009, Scooter released "J'adore Hardcore", the first single from Under The Radar Over The Top. "J'adore Hardcore" was based on Planet Funk's "Chase the Sun" and The Pitcher's "I Just Can't Stop." On July 30, 2009, during the video shoot for "J'adore Hardcore," Baxxter was almost a victim of a car bomb attack in Majorca, Spain.[39] Michael
Simon reported that Baxxter was alright and it was a very near
miss. For their next single, "Ti Sento", Scooter collaborated with Italian singer Antonella Ruggiero. "Ti Sento" which peaked at No.10 in Germany, was released the day Under The Radar Over
The Top was released.[19] During the first week of sales, Under
The Radar Over The Top peaked at No.2 on the German album chart.[18]
It was confirmed on November 3, 2009 that "The Sound Above My Hair" would be the third single from the album. The video premiered on YouTube on
the 12th of November.[40] The single was released on November 27.[41]
On February 9, 2010 it was announced that Scooter
would perform the official song of the 2010 IIHF World Championship.
This song would be "Stuck on Replay", and it would, in addition, be released as the 4th single from Under The Radar
Over The Top.
The Under The Radar Over The Top Tour was announced
before the album was released. The tour was a week long through
several German cities such as Hamburg, Berlin, and Leipzig and
one Swiss city, Zurich, throughout March 2010. This was the largest
tour to date, and again featured the Sheffield Jumpers. During
this tour, Scooter performed in front of a total of 40,000 people,
and the Hamburg concert was the largest on the tour, with a sold
out venue of 14,000. This was followed by Leipzig, with 10,000
people attending the final concert of the tour.
Regardless of the tour, "Stuck
on Replay" peaked at only position No.34 on the German singles chart, but remained on the
charts for 12 weeks.[19]
A week after the tour, Scooter announced in an
interview with a Russian radio station that a live DVD, CD, and
Blu-Ray of the Hamburg concert would be released. It was eventually
announced that Scooter's fourth live DVD would be released on May
7, called Live in Hamburg.
On May 10, 2010, Scooter announced another European
tour to follow up the previous Under The Radar Over The Top tour,
which would take place in December 2010, and be known as the "Stuff the Turkey X-mas" tour. It would tour through several German cities, such as Rostock, Stuttgart,
and Dresden. At the same time, a very large concert was announced
to take place in June of the next year, in Hamburg once again,
at the HSH Nordbank Arena.[42]
On June 29, 2010 it was announced Scooter would
be headlining the Clubland Live 4 Tour, appearing alongside other
acts such as Ultrabeat, Italobrothers, and Alex K. This would be
Scooter's second tour of the United Kingdom. Interspersed among
these dates were small concerts held at festivals such as Tomorrowland
in Belgium, and in other places such as Iceland.[43] However, on
6 October 2010, Clubland Live 4 was cancelled, thus cancelling
the band's second UK tour.[44]
In April 2011, an updated version of their 1995
single "Friends", entitled "Friends Turbo", was released as the official German movie theme to the film New Kids Turbo.,[45]
however it charted very badly.
Scooter has completed their fifteenth studio album,
entitled The Big Mash Up, which was released on October 14, 2011.[46]
The first single from the album, "The Only One", was released on 20 May 2011,[47] which peaked at No.45.[19] In comparison with
all of Scooter's previous first singles representing a new material, "The Only One" is the first to have charted poorly.
September 2011 saw the announcement of a second
single from The Big Mash Up, entitled "David Doesn't Eat". The single was released on the same day as the new album.[48][49] A third single
from the album, entitled "C'est Bleu" and featuring Vicky Leandros, was released on 2 December 2011.[50]
[edit] Musical style
Scooter's musical style has been defined as a
fusion of Happy Hardcore and Hard Trance. Scooter has taken inspiration
from such artists like Marc Acardipane, Charly Lownoise and Mental
Theo, and has more recently sampled melodies from hardstyle producers,
such as Technoboy and Headhunterz. Frontman H.P. Baxxter performs
his own vocals, which usually rhyme and occasionally involve puns,
sayings, and idioms. Scooter vocals are usually shouted, and are
usually meant to arouse a crowd. Crowd samples prevail in Scooter's
style, with songs like "Maria (I Like It Loud)", "J'adore Hardcore", and "Seven Bridges" featuring full crowd refrains. Most of the music produced by Scooter is above
135 BPM, though there are also occasional slow tracks. Many of
the slower tracks, such as "Second Skin", draw inspiration from New Wave music.[51] This leans toward H.P. Baxxter and
Rick J. Jordan's roots as new wave musicians before Scooter began.
[edit] Lineup
[edit] Current
Hans-Peter Geerdes (H.P. Baxxter 1993–present)
(born 16 March 1966) – (Vocalist and guitar)
Hendrik Stedler (Rick J Jordan 1993–present) (born 1 January 1968) – (Sound
design, audio engineering, composer, producer, keyboards and guitar)
Michael Simon (2006–present) (born 29 August 1971) – (Producer, composer and
keyboards)
[edit] Former
Sören Bühler (Ferris Bueller, born: 29 September
1971) – 1993–1998, keyboards
Axel Broszeit (Axel Coon, born: 23 March 1975) – 1998–2002, keyboards,composer
and producer
Jürgen Frosch (Jay Frog, born: 7 May 1976) – 2002–2006, keyboards, producer
and composer
[edit] Collaborations
Marc Acardipane and Dick Rules on "Maria
(I Like It Loud)"
Bloodhound Gang on "The Shit That Killed Elvis"
Fatman Scoop on "Behind the Cow"
Status Quo on "Jump That Rock (Whatever You Want)"
Antonella Ruggiero on "Ti Sento"
Vicky Leandros on "C'est Bleu"
[edit] Management
Jens Thele (Manager)
Kai Busse (Bookings)
Klaus Perreth (Tour-Management)
[edit] Discography
Main article: Scooter discography
...and the Beat Goes On! (1995)
Our Happy Hardcore (1996)
Wicked! (1996)
Age of Love (1997)
No Time to Chill (1998)
Back to the Heavyweight Jam (1999)
Sheffield (2000)
We Bring the Noise! (2001)
The Stadium Techno Experience (2003)
Mind the Gap (2004)
Who's Got the Last Laugh Now? (2005)
The Ultimate Aural Orgasm (2007)
Jumping All Over the World (2007)
Under the Radar Over the Top (2009)
The Big Mash Up (2011)
[edit] Live performances
[edit] Concerts
Scooter are known for giving very extravagant
live performances, usually with dancers on stage performing certain
styles of dancing, like Jumpstyle or the Melbourne Shuffle.[52][53]
These are accompanied by laser shows and pyrotechnics (an example
of such would be a light changing positions every beat while small
explosions occur on stage at the same rate).[54] In concert, Scooter
encourages crowd participation, often having frontman H.P. Baxxter
shout out certain phrases and have them mimicked by the crowd between
songs, and having the crowd sing along to the chorus of many songs.[55][56][57]
Scooter also opens concerts with large introductions, coupled with
laser shows and thematic music.[58] Fireworks also make occasional
appearances during both indoor and outdoor shows.
[edit] List of Tours
Year Tour Title
1997 Age Of Love Tour
1999 No Time To Chill Tour
2000 Sheffield Tour
2002 Push The Beat For This Jam Tour
2004 We Like It Loud Tour
2006 Who's Got The Last Laugh Now? Tour
2007 Lass Uns Tanzen Club Tour
2007 The Ultimate Aural Orgasm Australian Club Tour
2008 Clubland Live Tour
2008 Jumping All Over the World Tour
2010 Under The Radar Over The Top Tour
2010 Stuff The Turkey X-mas Tour
2011 The Stadium Techno Inferno
2012 The Big Mash Up Tour
[edit] List of Music Awards Scooter Have Achieved
Year Award Title
2003 Viva Comet Award - Best Dance Act[59]
2003 Echo Award - Best Dance Single[60]
2004 Echo Award - Best Dance Act[61]
2009 The Dome Award - For 20 Performances At The Dome[62]
2010 Viva Platinum Comet Award - All Time Most Played[63]
[edit] In popular culture
In the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (sequel
to 1995's Mortal Kombat), "Fire" was used[64] during the fight between Liu Kang, Kitana, Smoke and some ninjas.
In 1998, Scooter made a guest appearance on the
popular German action/crime TV series Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die
Autobahnpolizei. In the episode Tödlicher Ruhm ("Deadly Fame"), Baxxter is held for ransom by a young DJ who accuses him of stealing lyrics
for the song "The Age of Love".[65]
Oliver Pocher, a German comedian, performed a
comedy spoof of HP Baxxter on VIVA.[66]
In 2003, the English dance music group Emmet formed
a Scooter tribute act entitled "Moped." Their songs received airplay on BBC Radio 1.[67]
Scooter tracks often feature in releases of the
Les Mills group fitness program Bodycombat.
The Norwegian comedy duo Bye & Rønning
made several parodies of Scooter, including Scooter in studio and
Party in Heaven.
"Nessaja" was used
in the opening of the 2009 film Brüno.[68] "Crank It Up" had previously been used as the theme tune for Brüno's segments on Da Ali G
Show.
"How Much is the Fish?" often
played during goalscoring and after victory matches of FC Lokomotiv
Moscow.[69]
Beginning in 2010, "Maria
(I Like It Loud)", is played after every goal at Philadelphia Union's soccer stadium PPL Park.
It is has also been played after a goal at the Philadelphia Flyers
arena, the Wells Fargo Center[70]
H.P. Baxxter became the frontman of German newspaper
BILD in 2011,[71] and for German megastore Saturn.
