Originating in vocal jazz, scat singing or scatting is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice solely as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. This is different from vocalese, which uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos.
A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with only one hit single that overshadows their other work. Some artists dubbed "one-hit wonders" in a particular country had achieved success in other countries. Music artists with subsequent popular albums and hit listings are not properly considered a one-hit wonder, although artists with multiple hits have sometimes been erroneously labelled as "one-hit wonders" if one particular hit has become much more well-remembered years or decades later than their other hits. One-hit wonders usually see their popularity decreasing after their hit listing, and most often never return to hit listings with other songs or albums.
John Paul Larkin, known professionally as Scatman John, was an American musician. A prolific jazz pianist and vocalist for several decades, he rose to prominence during the 1990s through his fusion of scat singing and dance music. He recorded five albums, which were released between 1986 and 2002.
David Lubega Balemezi, better known by his stage name Lou Bega, is a German singer. His 1999 song "Mambo No. 5", a remake of Pérez Prado's 1949 instrumental piece, reached no. 1 in many European countries and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Bega added words to the song and sampled the original version extensively. Bega's signature musical sounds consist of combining musical elements of the 1940s and 1950s with modern beats and grooves.
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use of rich vocals, sometimes with rapped verses. This, combined with cutting-edge synthesizers, strong bass rhythm and melodic hooks, establishes the core foundation of Eurodance music.
Scatman's World is the debut major-label studio album by American musician Scatman John, recorded after the worldwide success of his debut single "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)". It is a loose concept album dealing with an imaginary Utopian society named "Scatland". He speaks about this at length in the liner notes, as well in several tracks on the album, most notably the track "Song of Scatland".
"Scatman's World" is a song by American singer Scatman John, released in June 1995 as the second single from his album of the same name (1995). Co-written by John, the song was the follow-up to the international hit "Scatman " and reached number-one in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary and Spain. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it became John's second number-one hit in August 1995. Its music video was directed by Zowie Broach.
Everybody Jam! is the second major label studio album by Scatman John. The album continues along the thematic lines of the first album but with an evolved sound, and cemented his popularity in Japan, released there with five bonus tracks.
"Be My Lover" is a song recorded by German Eurodance group La Bouche and released in March 1995 by Arista and RCA Records as the second single from their debut album, Sweet Dreams (1995). The song was written by group members Melanie Thornton and Lane McCray with Uli Brenner and Gerd Amir Saraf, who co-produced it with Frank Farian. It remains their most successful song, alongside "Sweet Dreams", and was a worldwide hit. In Europe, it was a number-one hit in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Romania, and Sweden, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100. In the US, the single reached numbers five and six on the Cash Box Top 100 and Billboard Hot 100, and also topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for two weeks in December 1995. To date, it has sold six million copies worldwide. Two different music videos were produced to promote the single. "Be My Lover" earned La Bouche the 1996 Echo Music Prize in Germany in the category for Best Dance Single as well as the ASCAP Award in the US for the Most Played Song in America. It was dubbed into many megamix tracks and has had several remix versions.
"Another Night" is a song by German Eurodance and pop music project Real McCoy. The single is featured on their hit album Another Night (1995), which was the American release of the project's second album, Space Invaders. The song was written and produced in Germany by Juergen Wind and Frank Hassas (Quickmix) in 1993 under the producer team name Freshline. It was released in Europe on 12 July 1993 by Hansa Records and two music videos were produced, directed by Nigel Dick and Angel Garcia.
"The Bomb! " is a house music track by Kenny Dope's musical production team The Bucketheads, released in February 1995 by Positiva and Henry Street Music. It was later dubbed into the project's sole album, All in the Mind (1995). The single was a commercial hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart, while in the United States, it peaked at numbers 49 and 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. Its music video was directed by British directors Guy Ritchie and Alex De Rakoff. In 2020, Slant Magazine ranked "The Bomb! " number 48 in their "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time" and in 2022, Rolling Stone ranked it number 77 in their "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time".
Scat Paradise ("スキャット天国") is a Scatman John EP released only in Japan. It features the song "Hey, You!", a rarity previously only available as the B-side to the "Song of Scatland" single and later remixed and re-released as "U-Turn" on the Everybody Jam! album.
"Run Away" is a song by German Eurodance and pop music project Real McCoy from their album Another Night (1995), which was the US version of their second album, Space Invaders (1994). The song was produced by music producers Juergen Wind and Frank Hassas (Quickmix) under the producer team name "Freshline". It was first released in Germany in July 1994 by Hansa. "Run Away" reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it was certified gold, and number six in the United Kingdom. A music video was produced to promote the single, made especially for the European market, directed by Swedish-based director Matt Broadley.
"Rhythm Is a Dancer" is a song by German Eurodance group Snap!, released in March 1992 by Arista and Logic as the second single from their second studio album, The Madman's Return (1992). It features vocals by American singer Thea Austin. The song is written by Benito Benites, John "Virgo" Garrett III and Austin, and produced by Benites and Garrett III. It was an international success, topping the charts in France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The single also reached the top-five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. It spent six weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart, becoming the second biggest-selling single of 1992. Its music video was directed by Howard Greenhalgh and filmed in Florida, the US.
"The Rhythm of the Night" is a song by Italian Eurodance group Corona. It was released as their debut single in 1993 in Italy, then elsewhere the following year. The song is the title track of the group's debut studio album, The Rhythm of the Night (1995), and was written by Francesco Bontempi, Annerley Emma Gordon, Giorgio Spagna, Pete Glenister and Mike Gaffey. It was produced by Bontempi, and the vocals were performed by Italian singer Giovanna Bersola, who is not credited on the single and does not appear in the music video. The woman who appears in the video is the group's frontwoman Olga Souza. The video was A-listed on Music TV-channels, such as Germany's VIVA. The song was a worldwide hit in 1994, peaking at number-one in Italy, and within the top five in most of Europe, while in the US, it fell short of the top ten, reaching number eleven on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Top 100.
"Dub-I-Dub" is the debut single by Danish Eurodance duo Me & My, released in August 1995 from their eponymous album (1995). It was successful on the charts in many countries, peaking at number-one in Denmark and Japan, and being a top 10 hit in Belgium, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Sweden.
"Club Bizarre" is the single performed by the German musical project U96, created by record producer Alex Christensen. The song was released in February 1995 and is the second track from the album of the same name.
The discography of Scatman John, an American scat and dance musician occasionally known under his real name John Larkin, consists of five studio albums, one compilation album, eight singles and five music videos.
"Cotton Eye Joe" is a song by the Swedish Eurodance group Rednex, released in August 1994 by Jive and Zomba as the lead single from their debut studio album, Sex & Violins (1995). Based on the traditional American folk song "Cotton-Eyed Joe", it blends the group's Eurodance style with traditional American instruments like the banjo and fiddle. The song was written by Janne Ericsson, Örjan "Öban" Öberg, and Pat Reiniz, and produced by Reiniz. The vocal verses are performed by Annika Ljungberg, while the "Cotton Eye Joe" chorus is sung by Göran Danielsson, who does not appear in the music video, which was directed by Stefan Berg. The song became a number one hit in at least eleven countries and reached numbers 25 and 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 charts, respectively. In 2002, "Cotton Eye Joe" was remixed into a new dance version and included on Rednex's first greatest hits album, The Best of the West (2002).
"Sweet Dreams" is a song by Norwegian record producer Alan Walker and Kazakh record producer Imanbek, released as a single on 11 June 2021. The song samples the Scatman John track "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)" and was a hit in both Norway and Sweden. A remix contest of "Sweet Dreams" was launched in partnership of Alan Walker and the digital workstation, FL Studio.
