Erick Morillo was a Colombian-American disc jockey, music producer, and record label owner. Having produced under a number of pseudonyms, including Ministers de la Funk, The Dronez, RAW, Smooth Touch, RBM, Deep Soul, Club Ultimate, and Li'l Mo Ying Yang, Morillo was best known for his international work in house music, in particular for the label Strictly Rhythm, and the 1993 hit "I Like to Move It", which he produced under the pseudonym Reel 2 Real, and which was featured in commercials, movies, and ringtones. His label Subliminal Records produced the number-one Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play hit "Fun" by Da Mob, and won the Muzik magazine "Remixer of the Year" award in 1999. Subliminal also brought attention to artists like Eddie Thoneick, Carl Kennedy, and DJ DLG. He was a three-time winner of DJ Awards "Best House DJ" in 1998, 2001, and 2003 and a three-time winner of "Best International DJ" in 2002, 2006, and 2009 receiving a total of 15 nominations in all from 1998 to 2010.
"I Like to Move It" is a song by American solo project Reel 2 Real, featuring ragga vocals by Trinidad and Tobago rapper The Mad Stuntman. Released by Strictly Rhythm in 1993 as the second single from the project's debut album, Move It! (1994), it appeared on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1994, peaking at number 89, and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart the same year. It was a number-one hit in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Zimbabwe. On the Billboard Dance Club Play chart, it peaked at number eight. At the second International Dance Awards in 1995, it won the award for Best Tune of the Year. Its music video was directed by Craig K. McCall and filmed in New York City.
"Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" is a song by German electronic music duo Jam & Spoon, released by JAM! and Dance Pool as the second single from the duo's second album, Tripomatic Fairytales 2001 (1993). It is a Eurodance song with elements from progressive and vocal trance. It is based on "Leyenda" by the classical composer Isaac Albéniz and features vocals by American vocalist Plavka, with lyrics by Nosie Katzmann. The flamenco-styled riff in the song is played by duo member Jam El Mar, who was trained as a classical guitarist.
Mark Quashie, better known as The Mad Stuntman, is a Trinidadian-born American electronic dance artist and vocalist. Quashie's moniker was inspired by the 1980s action/adventure television program The Fall Guy which starred actor Lee Majors as a Hollywood stuntman, moonlighting as a bounty hunter. Making his home in Brooklyn, New York, The Mad Stuntman was introduced to producer/DJ Erick Morillo by Panamanian reggae artist El General, who is dubbed the "Father of Reggaeton". Morillo was looking for an act to be featured on his upcoming single "Go On Move" and to ultimately join him on tour as a group. "Go On Move" was originally intended to be an underground dub track, primarily instrumentals with minimal vocal showcasing on the hook, however the distinct energetic rough reggae style vocals of The Mad Stuntman propelled the 1992 single into mainstream success, and prompted its modification for commercial release.
"Feeling So Real" is a song by American electronica musician Moby, released on October 17, 1994 by Mute and Elektra, as the second single from the musician's third studio album, Everything Is Wrong (1995). The song features the phrases "sound system rocking my....." and "set it up DJ!" spoken by Kochie Banton, who also appears in Moby's following single, "Everytime You Touch Me". The guest vocalist for the song is Rozz Morehead. It peaked at number 30 on the UK Singles Chart, number nine on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart, and number one on the Finnish Singles Chart. Julie Hermelin directed the song's accompanying music video.
"100% Pure Love" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Crystal Waters from her second studio album, Storyteller (1994). It was released on April 11, 1994 by Mercury and A&M (UK), as the album's lead single. The song was a hit in many countries, reaching the top 20 in Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It is certified platinum in Australia and gold in the US. In 1995, it was awarded the prize for Top ASCAP Dance Song. And its accompanying music video, directed by Marcus Nispel, was nominated for Best Dance Video at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards.
"Move on Baby" is a song by Italian group Cappella, released on 10 February 1994 as the fifth single from their second studio album, U Got 2 Know (1994). It is written by Gianfranco Bortolotti, Ricardo Overman, Diego Leoni, Lorenzo Carpella, Alessandro Pasinelli and Bruno Guerrini. Bortolotti produced the song and it achieved great success in many countries, particularly in Finland, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland, where it topped the chart. It received gold status in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland. The music video for the song was directed by B. Smith and W. Holloway.
Move It! is the debut album by American electronic dance music project Reel 2 Real, featuring vocalist The Mad Stuntman. The musical project had seven top 10 hits on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the 1990s including "I Like to Move It", which was a big hit in many other countries around the world. Other singles released from the album were "Go on Move", "Can You Feel It?", "Raise Your Hands" and "Conway".
Are You Ready for Some More? is the third and final album released by the house and reggae-influenced musical project Reel 2 Real. By the end of 1996, the producer, Erick Morillo, had abandoned the alias Reel 2 Real and began establishing himself as an underground DJ.
"Saturday" is a song by Swedish musician Basshunter. It was released in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2010 as the lead single from his forthcoming fifth studio album. The song samples Reel 2 Real's "I Like to Move It". "Saturday" peaked at number twenty-one on the UK Singles Chart and number five on the UK Dance Chart. In Ireland, it peaked at number thirty-seven.
Reel 2 Real was an American hip house musical project that had seven top 10 hits on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the 1990s.
"Get-A-Way" is a song by German Eurodance project Maxx, released in October 1993 as the debut single from the project's first album, To the Maxximum (1994). In Germany, the song reached Gold status for selling over 250,000 units. It peaked within the top 10 in at least 13 countries; Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. By mid-1994, it sold over 1.1 million singles in Europe. Its music video was directed by Jonathan Bate.
"United" is a song recorded by Dominican-American reggae/ragga recording artist Prince Ital Joe and American rapper Marky Mark. It was released in March 1994 as the third single from their debut album, Life in the Streets (1994). The song was co-written and produced by Alex Christensen and Frank Peterson. It reached number one in Germany and the top 10 in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.
This is the discography of American DJ and producer Erick Morillo.
"Close to You" is a song by German Eurodance band Fun Factory, released in March 1994 by various labels as the second single from the band's debut-album, NonStop (1994). The song received positive reviews from music critics, peaking at number-one on the Canadian RPM Dance/Urban chart and at number 22 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Additionally, it peaked at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. In Europe, the song reached number 19 in Germany and number 97 in the UK. Its music video was directed by Swedish director Stefan Berg and filmed at a quarry. It was A-listed on Germany's VIVA in June 1994. "Close to You" uses the same melody as the 1993 hit single "Hold On" by German group Loft.
"Incredible" is a song by British jungle producer M-Beat featuring General Levy on vocals. It was first released as a single in 1994 and reached No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart. A re-release a few months later featuring new mixes was much more successful, peaking at No. 8, and remaining on the chart for 12 weeks. "Incredible" was the first jungle track to reach the top 10 in the UK. It was released on Renk Records.
"On a Ragga Tip" is a song by British breakbeat hardcore group SL2, released as a single in 1992. The song contains samples of Jah Screechy's "Walk and Skank" and Kid 'n Play's "Gittin' Funky ".
"Rockin' for Myself" is a song by British electronic dance music record producer Motiv8, aka Steve Rodway. Based around a vocal loop originally performed by Anne-Marie Smith on Italian dance act 49ers' 1992 single, "Move Your Feet", it was released in late 1993 and features vocals by British singer Angie Brown. This version reached number 67 on the UK Singles Chart. In the spring of 1994, it was re-mixed and re-released, peaking at number 18 in the UK. But on the UK Dance Singles Chart, it was even more successful, peaking at number-one. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it reached number 63. Outside Europe, it was successful in Australia, peaking at number nine. A music video was produced to promote the single, featuring a model and dancer lip-syncing the song on a red sofa, wearing yellow sweater and beret.
"Do You Wanna Get Funky" is a song by American dance music group C+C Music Factory featuring vocals from Martha Wash, Zelma Davis, and Trilogy. Released in July 1994 by Columbia as the lead single from the group's second album, Anything Goes! (1994), it reached number 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped both the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and the Canadian RPM Dance chart. In Europe and Oceania, it was a hit in several countries, peaking at number two in New Zealand, number five in Finland, number 11 in Australia, and number 18 in the Netherlands. Keir McFarlane directed the song's music video, featuring the artists performing in a nightclub. "Do You Wanna Get Funky" was awarded one of ASCAP's Rhythm & Soul Awards in 1995.
"Whiggle in Line" is a song by Italian group Black Duck, released as their only single in December 1994 by Flying South Records. It is an electronic Eurodance style take on "Saturday Night" by Danish/Italian act Whigfield. Produced by Davide Riva and Larry Pignagnoli, the producers of the original track, it has an added ragga rap element and slightly different female vocals to the original, which is performed by British singer and TV host Carryl Varley, who also used to front Italian band Jinny. The single was a notable hit in several countries, peaking at number 11 on the Canadian RPM Dance/Urban chart and number 20 in Denmark. In the UK, it reached the top 40, peaking at number 33, but on the UK Dance Chart it fared better, reaching a respectable number 12. It also enjoyed modest airplay in the US.
