Coco Star

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Coco Star
Singer and songwriter Coco Star.jpg
Coco Star – Electric Zoo Festival 2010
Background information
Birth nameSusan Brice
Also known asCoCo
Born (1971-03-16) 16 March 1971 (age 52)
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England
Origin Bristol
Genres Electronic dance music, UK garage, gospel, dubstep, drum and bass
OccupationsSinger, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1992–present
Labels Universal, Positiva
Website www.facebook.com/cocostar.uk

Susan Brice (born 16 March 1971), [1] better known by her stage name Coco Star (or simply Coco), is an English singer and songwriter, who was signed to Universal Music and EMI. [2] [3] [4] Brice has collaborated with artists such as Craig David, Artful Dodger [5] and Fragma for the number 1 hit, "Toca's Miracle". [4]

Contents

Early life

Brice was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Her parents were both musical artists and singers although not professionally. She was musically active before the age of just 5 with hopes of having a number one hit record, [3] which she later achieved. Brice can play the cello and all of the recorder family, and some piano. [6] [ non-primary source needed ]

At the age of just 12, Brice was writing and performing her own songs and had recorded her first track at the age of 15. [6]

Brice attended the University of the West of England, Bristol where she achieved a BA Hons degree in fashion and textiles. Prior to this, she had completed an art foundation course and a national diploma in art and design. [6]

Musical career

During her time at university, she met up with Jody Wisternoff, Massive Attack and Tricky and began to further enhance her live performances and songwriting skills, landing underground hits with "One By One" [7] and "Always on my Mind". [8]

In 1994, Brice was signed by Universal MCA music publishing as part of a development deal where she worked alongside Paul Connolly on live showcases. Brice was coached by Whitney Houston's vocal coach and had dance tuition at Pineapple Dance Studios, as well as meeting Rob Davis regularly to work on music he wrote, and "I Need a Miracle" was just one of a few projects Brice worked on between 1994 and 1997. The ad libitum parts and sections of the melody line in "I Need a Miracle" including harmonies are exclusively the creation of Brice, who gave the song its iconic stamp. Brice also spent some time working with Roger McKenzie (AKA Wildchild) who died in 1995 aged 24. [9]

By 1997, Brice had entered the main UK charts with "I Need a Miracle" at No. 39 [10] following its debut live performance at Pacha, Ibiza. It later went on to be the feature of a bootleg by UK DJ Vimto [4] with huge success. Originally called "Fragma vs Coco", the mashup of the two records "Toca Me" by Fragma, and "I Need a Miracle" by Coco resulted in the name "Toca's Miracle". [4] By the time of its official release in April 2000, the energy surrounding it was such that it went straight in at No. 1 in the UK, selling in excess of 500,000 copies. [4]

Brice is an accomplished songwriter, also signed to Universal Music Publishing for her works, including "It Ain't Enough" which features on the Artful Dodger album It's All About the Stragglers ; this version also featuring Brice's vocals. "It Ain't Enough" was a top 20 hit for the Artful Dodger in 2001 but featured vocalist MZ MAY.

Brice also wrote the track "Driftaway", which was covered by Kele Le Roc.

Brice worked on an EP of songs by songwriter/producer Peter Wright. "Take You There" was released in April 2011.

She has also signed a deal with DJ Smash, for a release of her self penned "Get Over You". This collaboration was part of the 2011 DJ Smash album, 23, [11] and featured production by another Russian, DJ She.

Ahead of the 2011 Winter Music Conference in Miami, Brice featured at No. 12 in the official buzz chart [12] with a re-vocal of "I Need a Miracle", in a fresh new collaborative work with MYNC and Australian house music star Christian Luke. As with "Toca's Miracle", the new release entitled "A Miracle in Melbourne" is a mashup of the iconic vocal from "I Need a Miracle" and the track "London to Melbourne" released in late 2010 by MYNC and Christian Luke on CR2 Records, London. [13]

Collaborations

Brice has collaborated with artists including Sub Love (Way out West) in 1993 (both writing and performing with DJ Die & Jody Wisternoff), [14] Tricky, Massive Attack, Victor Imbres (Deep Dish engineer), Rob Davis from 1994–'97 (Kylie Minogue's songwriter), Craig David and the Dreem Teem (Timmi Magic and DJ Spoony), Artful Dodger, Brian Harvey (East 17), Fragma (on the remix of "I Need a Miracle" 2000 & 2008 [15] ) and Photek under his moniker of 'Sentinel'. [16] In 2011, Brice teamed up with MYNC and Christian Luke for collaborative works involving "I Need a Miracle". [12]

Brice is also associated with Andy Levy and Simon Bartholomew of the Brand New Heavies with whom she collaborated with during the production of some of her self written music.

"I Need a Miracle" and "Toca's Miracle"

"Toca's Miracle"
Single by Fragma and Coco
from the album Toca
Released10 April 2000 (2000-04-10) ("Toca's Miracle")
7 April 2008 (2008-04-07) ("Toca's Miracle 2008")
Recorded1999 (1999)
Genre Euro house
Length5:44(Original Mix)
5:38 (Vocal Club Mix)
3:22 (Radio Edit)
3:01 (U.S. Radio Edit)
Label Positiva
Songwriter(s) Dirk Duderstadt, Marco Duderstadt, Ramon Zenker, Rob Davis, Victor Imbres
Producer(s) Ramon Zenker
Fragma and Coco singles chronology
"I Need a Miracle"
(1997)		"Toca's Miracle"
(2000)		"It Ain't Enough"
(2001)

Her most notable work to date is as the vocalist of "I Need a Miracle", released by EMI/Positiva in the UK and by Greenlight Recordings in the US. [17] [18] This track is also known worldwide under the guise of the mashup "Toca's Miracle" which was a number 1 hit [19] in 14 countries worldwide in 2000. [20] "Toca's Miracle" is the result of splicing tracks (see mashup (music) ) from two separate entities, namely Fragma (the German-based electronic production trio) and their hit "Toca Me", and "I Need a Miracle" which was initially written for solo artist Coco, [4] by Universal Music publishing writers Victor Imbres and Rob Davis in 1994. Despite appearances in the "Toca's Miracle" video and Fragma album line-up, Brice was never part of the Fragma group, and remains a solo artist. Rebranding of the original song "I Need a Miracle" to Fragma's "Toca's Miracle" occurred without permission or prior agreement. [21] [ non-primary source needed ]

Brice appeared live on Top of the Pops on four occasions, including the Christmas special during 2000 and 2001 to perform "Toca's Miracle" as well as on CD:UK , T4 and the Pepsi Chart Show . Further live performances of "Toca's Miracle" and Brice's other works were given on MTV and The Prince's Trust's Party in the Park.

"Toca's Miracle 2008"

Brice's vocals can also be heard on the 2008 remix of "Toca's Miracle", remixed by brothers Marko and Dirk Duderstadt. Again it uses the vocal parts from Brice's signed release of "I Need a Miracle". The 2008 remix was released by EMI/Positiva on 7 April 2008. Although the original 2000 release topped the charts in several countries exactly eight years previously, the remix climbed to No. 2 in Australia [22] and No. 16 in the UK. The original is acknowledged as one of the top 5 biggest dance anthems ever. [23] [24] Remixes of Toca's Miracle were released without authorisation of Brice or Universal Music in 2008 and 2012.

Both poor credit and lip-synching [25] issues were discussed by press in Central Europe in 2010 [26] when official singer Coco Star announced on National TV that a passing off act was appearing worldwide claiming to be the singer of the hit, [27] either lip-synching or performing live over Brice's copyright-protected vocals, a scenario compared with the Milli Vanilli scandal, although it relates to only one song "Toca's Miracle", effectively a remix of "I Need a Miracle" written for Brice in 1994. The offending passing off artist appears on the cover of the Australian release [28] of "Toca's Miracle 2008" adding to further confusion.

Related Research Articles

A mashup is a creative work, usually a song, created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, typically by superimposing the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another and changing the tempo and key where necessary. Such works are considered "transformative" of original content and in the United States they may find protection from copyright claims under the "fair use" doctrine of copyright law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Positiva Records</span> British record label

Positiva Records is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group and concentrates on releasing dance music in the UK. The record label was set up in 1993, by Nick Halkes, who previously ran XL Recordings. Its headquarters are at the Universal UK offices, where it is the only large dance music label under the EMI banner.

Robert Berkeley Davis is an English guitarist and songwriter.

Fragma is a German vocal trance music group, originally comprising three producers. The group was successful in the early 2000s when they released several singles that charted successfully across Europe, especially the United Kingdom and Ireland, but also found some success in the United States and Australia. They continued to produce music until 2012 following the departure of vocalist Damae. After several years of hiatus, Fragma recruited a new vocalist in 2017, Tess, to front the group.

Paffendorf is a German electronic dance music project. The group consists of Ramon Zenker, also producer of Fragma, Gottfried Engels and Nicolas Valli. The project is represented by the Cologne DJ Christian Schmitz, active on Tiger Records. Paffendorf is best known for their year 2000 hit, "Where Are You", although they have had various successful hits across Europe, their best known in the UK being "Be Cool," which peaked at number 7 in the UK Singles Chart in June, 2002. Their song, "Under My Skin", had become an Internet meme, featuring Momo, a character from the anime series Sumomomo Momomo repetitively imitating a train engine with her hands and jumping up and down. The song had been sped up to sound similar and rival to a more popular Internet meme, Caramelldansen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Novy</span> Musical artist

Tom Novy is a DJ and producer from Munich, Germany.

I Need a Miracle may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fill Me In</span> 2000 single by Craig David

"Fill Me In" is the debut solo single of British singer Craig David. It was released on 3 April 2000 as the lead single from his debut studio album, Born to Do It (2000). The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 9 April 2000. "Fill Me In" was then released in the United States on 22 May 2001 and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. According to the Official Charts Company, it was the 10th-best-selling single of 2000 in the UK, having sold 573,000 copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toca's Miracle</span> 2000 single by Fragma

"Toca's Miracle" is a release by German vocal trance group Fragma featuring vocals from British singer Coco Star. Taken as the second single off Fragma's debut studio album, Toca (2001), the song is a mashup of Coco's "I Need a Miracle" (1996) and Fragma's own "Toca Me". The instrumental was written by Dirk Duderstadt, Marco Duderstadt, Ramon Zenker and the lyrics were written by Rob Davis and Victor Imbres, while the original music was produced by Zenker and the Duderstadts; the vocals were produced 3 years earlier by Imbres and Tim Orford.

Joseph Wisternoff is an English electronic music producer and DJ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movin' Too Fast</span> 1999 single by Artful Dodger

"Movin' Too Fast" is a song by UK garage duo Artful Dodger, released on 26 July 1999. The song features Romina Johnson and was included on the duo's debut studio album, It's All About the Stragglers (2000). "Movin' Too Fast" was originally recorded by Johnson as a solo artist and appears on her 1998 debut album, Simply Passion, produced by Rolando Bacci Hardage. The Artful Dodger remix version of the track was first distributed as a white label vinyl release. After it was picked up by DJs, it was licensed to Locked On for mainstream distribution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tara McDonald</span> British songwriter and vocalist

Tara Jane McDonald is an English singer-songwriter. She is signed to Play Two/Warner Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damae</span> Musical artist

Daniela Marina Elisabeth Klein, known by her stage name Damae, is a German TV presenter and singer-songwriter who debuted as a vocalist on the Fragma track "You Are Alive". At the age of 14, Damae was discovered by a photographer from the teen magazine Bravo in Germany and began modeling. Soon after, she started receiving offers from music and film producers which she declined, preferring to sing and write in a punk band, and to do freelance and studio gigs. She later met Ramon Zenker, who she admired from Hardfloor. He invited her to his studio to see if they could work together. Damae describes the musical chemistry between them as "amazing" and Damae soon found herself with a record deal as the singer for Fragma. Following the success of Fragma, Damae became the presenter for Dance:District on onyx.tv in Germany and got to interview Paul van Dyk, Tiësto, WestBam, Jean Jacques Smoothie, Junior Jack, Boogie Pimps, Milk & Sugar, Mousse T. and many more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All I Do Is Win</span> 2010 single by DJ Khaled featuring Ludacris, Rick Ross, T-Pain and Snoop Dogg

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everytime You Need Me</span> 2001 single by Fragma

"Everytime You Need Me" is a song by German trance group Fragma featuring English singer Maria Rubia. It was released in January 2001 as the third single from their debut album, Toca (2001). The single peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and in Finland while also becoming a top-10 hit in Ireland and Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Are Alive</span> 2001 single by Fragma

"You Are Alive" is a song by German trance music group Fragma featuring vocals from German singer-songwriter Damae. It was released on 7 May 2001 as the fourth and final single from their debut album, Toca. The single peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart in May 2001 and charted within the top 20 in Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Romania, and Spain. In the United States, the song reached number 17 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart.

<i>Toca</i> (album) 2001 studio album by Fragma

Toca is the debut album by German trance group Fragma. It was released on 22 January 2001 through EMI Europe.

Ramon Zenker is a German music producer, songwriter, sound engineer and remixer. He is a member of Hardfloor, Fragma Paffendorf and E-Trax, who had a UK #60 hit with Let's Rock.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Need a Miracle (Tara McDonald song)</span> 2016 single by Tara McDonald

"I Need a Miracle" is a single released by British singer-songwriter Tara McDonald in 2016. It was chosen as the Europride anthem for 2016 remixed by Gregor Salto. The single charted at No. 83 in Portugal and No. 47 in France. It is a cover of the song originally recorded by Coco Star released on Green Light Recordings, which was re-released as a mashup/remix by Fragma called "Toca's Miracle". It was co-written by Rob Davis and Victor Imbres. McDonald's version of the song is produced in a tropical dance style and the BPM for this cover version is slower than the original. One line repeated often in this version is "I won't take nothing less than a deeper love", which McDonald felt was the message of the song she wanted to share.

References

  1. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "Coco Discography at Discogs". discogs. 10 April 2000. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  3. 1 2 Coco's Got Her Miracle by Bill Lennon, Hertfordshire Magazine June 2000
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "RAMON ZENKER: Recording Fragma's 'Toca's Miracle'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Dreem Teem Vs. Artful Dodger Feat. Coco And Craig David – "It Ain't Enough"". Last.fm. 15 January 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 United States. "Coco Star – Toca's Miracle Vocalist". Myspace.com. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "Sublove* – One By One E.P. (Vinyl) at Discogs". discogs. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  8. ↑ Mixmag Music Magazine 1993
  9. ↑ "Music – Roger McKenzie". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  10. ↑ "The Official Charts Company | Top 40". Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  11. ↑ "GET OVER YOU (Feat Dj She & Coco Star) – Dj Smash". Djsmash.promodj.ru. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  12. 1 2 Archived 7 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ "CR2 Records". CR2 Records. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  14. ↑ "Coco – Drum & Bass Projects by CoCo Star on SoundCloud". Soundcloud.com. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "CoCo Star Fragma "Toca's Miracle" 2008 Inpetto Radio Edit by CoCo Star on SoundCloud". Soundcloud.com. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  16. ↑ "Sentinel Feat. CoCo – "Toulépleu" by CoCo Star on SoundCloud". Soundcloud.com. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  17. ↑ "Positiva » Coco". Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  18. ↑ "Images for Coco – I Need A Miracle". discogs. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  19. ↑ "Radio 1 – Chart – The Official UK Top 40 Singles Chart". BBC. 17 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  20. ↑ John-Paul. "Coco Star one of the biggest dance vocalists of all time!" Archived 14 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine , "Don't Stay In", 31 December 2008.
  21. ↑ "Discography & Flyers". Facebook. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  22. ↑ "Australia's Official Music Charts | Single, Album, Digital Charts". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  23. ↑ "Coco Star | MN2S Booking Agency". Mn2s.com. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  24. ↑ Archived 3 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ↑ "Fragma – "Toca's Miracle" video". Video.mail.ru. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  26. ↑ "Coco Star: Nikdy jsem nebyla Fragma – t-music". T-music.cz. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  27. ↑ Karine Sanche. "Coco (2), biography discography, recent releases, news, featurings of Coco Star eurotrance member – The Eurodance Encyclopædia". Eurokdj.com. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  28. ↑ "Toca's Miracle 2008 – Fragma Release Information". Centralstation.com.au. 9 April 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
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