Felix (musician)

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Felix
FELIX "Francis Wright".jpg
FELIX in Los Angeles 2012
Background information
Origin Chelmsford, Essex
Genres House, dance
Occupation(s) Producer, DJ
Years active1992–present

Felix is a British producer and DJ. He is known for his hit singles "Don't You Want Me" and "It Will Make Me Crazy", and his underground house project "The Party Crashers".

Contents

Life and career

Felix was born in Chelmsford, Essex. His passion for music began early with a love of Soul & Funk from the "Street Sounds" compilations and the House Sound of Chicago. At the age of 15, after exploring a brief interest in Hip Hop, he decided to create his own music and began getting involved with DJing. [1]

After a handful of releases, Felix's 1992 track "Don't You Want Me" changed his career. [2] In an interview with AXS celebrating the track's 23 year release, Felix said he "was working a 9-to-5 job when the song first came out. It was just such a massive, massive hit. It caught a lot of people off guard and it changed [his] life completely because [he] jumped into it full-time... making music, then touring, DJing, and producing." [2] The track, which sampled Jomanda's "Don't You Want My Love" (remixed by Rollo and Red Jerry), went to number one on the Billboard European Hot 100 Singles and Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts. It also reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart in 1992. [3] A remix of the song,"Don't You Want Me: Pugilist Mix", formed the soundtrack to the 1996 TV commercial for Blackcurrant Tango. "Don't You Want Me" was also sampled by David Guetta and Snoop Dogg on their collaboration "Wet" in 2011.

Writing in 2000, music historian Colin Larkin commented that Felix "represented something of an enigma – never talking to the press or appearing in his videos. He even took the stage at the DMC awards sporting a lion suit. However, his anonymity was not helped by the massive success of singles like 'Don't You Want Me' and 'It Will Make Me Crazy', which sold nearly two million copies between them worldwide. Both predicted the rise of trance and hard house." [4]

"Don't You Want Me" was sampled by Meck in 2007, to provide the majority of the music for his single, "Feels Like Home". In 2008, Madonna used elements of Meck's version during "Like a Prayer" on the Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Other UK charting singles for Felix included "It Will Make Me Crazy" and "Stars". [3]

"Don't You Want Me 2015" was released on Armada Music on 13 April 2015 and included five new mixes: "Classic", "Turbo", "Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike", "Atjazz Club" and "Brodanse Bass Hall". [2]

In 2015, Felix launched his new label "DANCE FX" and all sales from his release of "Reaching for the top" were donated to the David Lynch Foundation. [5]

Felix is currently working on new releases, but is also enjoying his time with his family. [1]

Discography

Albums

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
Album
UK
[3] [6]
AUS
[7]
AUT
[8]
BEL
(FLA)

[13]
EUR
[14]
FIN
[15]
GER
[9]
IRE
[16]
NED
[10]
NOR
[17]
SWE
[11]
SWI
[12]
1992"Don't You Want Me"6173311273541#1
"It Will Make Me Crazy"1155867154963
1993"Stars"29100316316
"Fastslow/It's Me" (promotional only)
1994"Get Down" (promotional only)Singles only
1995"Don't You Want Me" (Patric Prins remix)101619
1996"Don't You Want Me" ('96 Pugilist mix)17
2015"Reaching for the Top"
2016"Give You My Heart"
2016"Golden" feat. SJae
2017"Nothin More I Need" feat. Brendan Reilly
2017"Boom, Boom, Boom" (with Rrotik)
2016"F*ck That (Keep It Real)"
2017"Fuego Hot"
2018"Don't You Want Me" (Robert Feelgood & Luca DeBonaire Remix)
2019"Panic Mode" (with Salvador Santana)
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Nonato, Pedro. "Dance Music 101: DJ Felix". Rio Music Conference. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Foster, Allen. "FELIX releases celebratory remix bundle of historic 'Don't You Want Me'". axs.com. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 197. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  4. Larkin, Colin (2000). "Felix". The Virgin Encyclopaedia of Nineties Music. London: Virgin Books. p. 154. ISBN   0-7535 0427 8.
  5. "ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: FELIX RELEASES NEW TRACK TO SUPPORT DAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION". magneticmag.com. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Official Charts > Felix". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  7. 1 2 Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
  8. 1 2 "austriancharts.at > Felix in der Österreichischen Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  9. 1 2 German chart peaks:
  10. 1 2 "dutchcharts.nl > Felix in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  11. 1 2 "swedishcharts.com > Felix in Swedish Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  12. 1 2 "hitparade.ch > Felix in der Schweizer Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  13. "Ultratop (Vlaanderen) > Felix in Ultratop Vlaanderen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  14. Eurochart Hot 100 chart peaks:
  15. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN   951-31-2503-3.
  16. "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for Felix (from irishcharts.ie)". Fireball Media. Retrieved 16 August 2016 via Imgur.com.
  17. "norwegiancharts.com > Felix in Norwegian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  18. "Certifications Albums Argent - année 1992". Disque en France. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  19. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Felix)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved 9 June 2011.