| La Bouche | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Frankfurt, Germany |
| Genres | Eurodance Hi-NRG House Techno Pop Dance |
| Years active | 1994–2002, 2014–present |
| Labels | Hansa Records, RCA |
| Website | officiallabouche.com |
| Members | Lane McCray Kayo Shekoni |
| Past members | Dana Rayne Melanie Thornton (deceased) Natascha Wright |
La Bouche (French: The Mouth) is a German dance duo formed by producer Frank Farian in Frankfurt in 1994, originally consisting of lead singer Melanie Thornton, later replaced by Natascha Wright, and rapper Lane McCray, scoring major worldwide hits in the mid-1990s with "Be My Lover", "Sweet Dreams (Ola Ola E)", "Fallin' in Love", "I Love to Love" and "Tonight is the Night" feat. Le Click.[1]
Career[edit]
1994–95: Career beginnings and "Sweet dreams"[edit]
Primarily produced by longtime friend, Frankfurt-based Techno DJ Ulli Brenner, their debut single "Sweet dreams (Ola ola e)" caught the attention of producer Frank Farian, the mastermind of the infamous 1980s duo Milli Vanilli, when Thornton recorded it and found work in studios recording demos. It was released in 1994 and was a pan-European and Australian hit. It was followed by "Be my lover" in 1995, which peaked at number one in Germany and Sweden, while also reaching the Top 10 in fourteen European countries. It also peaked at number 27 in 1995 and number 25 in 1996 in the UK Singles Chart when re-issued in that year.[2] "Be my lover" went to number 1 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart in 1995 and climbed to number 6 on the Hot 100 in early 1996. It was then re-released in the UK and reached a new peak of number 25. It went on to win the ASCAP award for the "Most Played Song in America", and sold 6 million copies worldwide. La Bouche went on to become one of the biggest Eurodance groups of the 90s, with a string of hits, worldwide. The debut album "Sweet dreams" has been released in June 12, 1995, which went to number 13 in the U.S., features two more hit single releases, called "Fallin' in love", a cover version of the 1975 Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds song and "I love to love". While still with the group Thornton had some American chart success as featured vocalist on the Le Click hit "Tonight is the night", which reached number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100. That's why it was included on the U.S. version of La Bouche's debut album, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard 200. It was certified double-platinum by the RIAA and sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Thornton provided guest vocals on a lot of dance projects on their single releases such as on Orange Blue's "If you wanna be (my only)", Comic's "I surrender to your love", 100%'s "Power of the light", Trance-Vision's "Take me 2 heaven 2 nite" or Men Behind's "How can I".
1996–99: "S.O.S." and "All mixed up"[edit]
A remix album, called "All mixed up" has been released in 1996. Their second studio album "S.O.S." has been released in 1996, with "A moment of love" being the album title the European version, preceded by the singles "Forget me nots", a cover version of the Patrice Rushen song, "Bolingo (Love is in the air)", which only appears on the U.S. album version and followed by the singles "You won't forget me", "A moment of love" and "S.O.S.", being minor to moderate hits in Europe. "You won't forget me" was released in 1998 and reached number 48 on the Hot 100. One highlight on "A moment of love" was a bonus track, a cover version of the Elton John song "Candle in the wind" in a gospel version that features guest vocalists Chilli of girl group TLC, Christin Sargent, Freda Goodlett, Rejime, The Jackson Singers, Joan Faulkner, Ma Belle and label mates No Mercy, which only appears on the European album version.
2000–01: Departure of Thornton and "All I want"[edit]
Next to La Bouche, Thornton still provided guest vocals on singles such as Orange Blue's "Sunshine of my life" and "Runaway" and 100%'s "The way it is", which led Thornton in February 2000 to leave La Bouche to pursue a full solo career, to be replaced by Natascha Wright as the new front-woman. With Lane McCray and Natascha Wright, the group released a single entitled "All I want" in April of the same year.
During this time Thornton as a solo singer was climbing the German charts with her hit "Love how you love me". Towards the end of 2001, Thornton was asked to record "Wonderful dream (Holidays are coming)" for a Coca-Cola Christmas TV commercial to be shown on German television. While promoting it, and a re-release of her solo album Ready to fly, she was killed in a plane crash near Zurich on November 24, 2001. After her death, the single went on to become her biggest solo hit, reaching number 3 on the German singles chart.
2002–07: Compilations, "Return" of Thornton and breakup[edit]
In April 2002, Farian compiled songs from Thornton's solo album along with selections from the first and second La Bouche albums into a best of collection entitled "Best of" billed as La Bouche feat. Melanie Thornton. In November 2002, one year following Thornton's death, Farian prepared a tribute single entitled "In Your Life", a song which had been previously unreleased. Farian combined her vocals with Kayo Shekoni's vocals from Le Click, a band where Thornton also provided guest vocals, who completed the song with additional vocals. The single was released worldwide in 2002 and in the U.S. in 2003. It peaked at number 9 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. In December 1, 2003, Thorntons first remix compilation album "Memories – Her Most Beautiful Ballads" has been released, which also includes new ballad versions of La Bouche songs such as "Sweet dreams" and "Fallin' in love". In 2007, the second La Bouche compilation, called "Greatest Hits" has been released along with a 3-Track EP, which was released on iTunes under the name 'Le Click' titled "Let's Click: 90's Dance Classics." These are 3 tracks from the "S.O.S."/"A moment of love" album recording sessions that didn't make the final cut.
2007–present: Tours and possible return[edit]
Since 2007, La Bouche has still toured around Europe in different 90's revival shows like the "I Love The 90s" show every year in the Ethias Arena in Hasslet, Belgium. Dana Rayne has become the new frontlady since. According to TalkToMusic magazine, La Bouche could be back in 2014 with a brand new single entitled "Raise The Bar", this time featuring the real voice of Dana Rayne, however in November 2014, Kayo Shekoni replaced Dana, so her voice might be used instead of Dana's in "Raise The Bar", which could be released sometime in 2015.
Members[edit]
| Member | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lane McCray (1994–2002; 2007–) |
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| Melanie Thornton (1994–2000, 2002) |
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| Natascha Wright (2000–2001) |
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- 2002: Kayo Shekoni (Completed Thornton's vocals on "In your life" with additional backing vocals due to her death)
- 2007: Dana Rayne (Frontwoman of the group during tours from 2007–14.)
Discography[edit]
Studio albums[edit]
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Info | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | AUT | FIN | NZ | NED | NOR | SWE | SWI | US | ||||||
| Sweet Dreams |
|
10 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 41 | 26 | 29 | 2 | 28 | Debut studio album by La Bouche. This album features the singles "Sweet Dreams (Ola Ola E)", "Be My Lover", "Fallin' in Love" and "I Love to Love" | |||
| S.O.S. |
|
— | — | 21 | — | — | — | — | 40 | 194 | Second and final studio album by La Bouche with Thornton as lead vocalist. Previously released in February 9, 1998 in Europe retitled as "A Moment of Love" excluding "Bolingo (Love Is in the Air)" and including bonus track "Candle in the Wind" | |||
| "—" denotes studio albums that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
Remix albums[edit]
- 1996: All Mixed Up (Remix Album)
Compilation albums[edit]
- 2002: Best of (Credited as "La Bouche feat. Melanie Thornton") (May 21, 2002)
- 2007: Greatest Hits (April 2, 2007)
Singles[edit]
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [2] |
U.S. [8] |
GER [9] |
AUS [10] |
SWE [10] |
AUT [10] |
ITA [11] |
SWI [10] |
FIN [12] |
FRA [10] |
NED [10] |
||||
| 1994 | "Sweet Dreams (Ola Ola E)" | 63 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 32 | 31 | Sweet Dreams | |
| 1995 | "Be My Lover" | 27 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 7 | 3 | ||
| "Fallin' in Love" | 43 | — | 13 | 39 | 19 | 13 | — | 13 | 4 | 24 | 15 | |||
| "I Love to Love" | — | — | 21 | 6 | 42 | 19 | — | — | 18 | 27 | 30 | |||
| 1996 | "Forget Me Nots" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | S.O.S. | |
| "Bolingo (Love Is in the Air)" | — | — | 26 | — | 23 | 19 | — | 15 | 15 | — | — | |||
| 1997 | "You Won't Forget Me" | — | 48 | 29 | — | 24 | — | — | — | 18 | 28 | — | ||
| 1998 | "A Moment of Love" | — | — | 100 | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | — | — | ||
| 1999 | "S.O.S." | — | — | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000 | "All I Want" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Single only | |
| 2002 | "In Your Life" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Best of | |
| "—" denotes singles that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
Other charted songs[edit]
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK [2] |
|||
| 1996 | "Be My Lover" (Remix) | 25 | Sweet Dreams |
| "Sweet Dreams (Ola Ola E)" (Remix) | 44 |
Notes[edit]
- A^ "Sweet Dreams" was released in North America and re-released in the UK in 1996.
References[edit]
- ^ IMO Records. http://www.imorecords.co.uk/house-2/house-artists/la-bouche-biography/ "La Bouche Biography"], IMO Records' Retrieved on 08 March 2011.
- ^ a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 310. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (La Bouche)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
- ^ Music Canada: Certifications
- ^ "Certifications Albums Or – année 1995". Disque en France. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ^ "Vuonna myönnetyt kulta- ja platinalevyt: La Bouche". IFPI (Finland). Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ^ "AWARDS 1995". IFPI (Switzerland). Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ^ Allmusic.com – Charts & Awards
- ^ German peaks
- ^ a b c d e f Intl. peak positions
- ^ Top Italian singles per year
- ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 9789511210535.
- ^ German certification for "Sweet Dreams"
- ^ Austrian certifications ifpi.at (Retrieved July 28, 2008)
- ^ French certifications Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved July 28, 2008)
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Be My Lover')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
- ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved July 28, 2008)
External links[edit]
- La Bouche
- La Bouche – Biography, discography, singles
- La Bouche – Discography
- Natascha Wright
- Melanie Thornton & La Bouche Forum (English) (German)
- La Bouche Chart History at Billboard.com
- La Bouche (Russian)
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