Aqua (band)

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Aqua
Aqua in 1997, from left to right: Claus Norreen, Lene Grawford Nystrøm, René Dif and Søren Rasted
Origin	Denmark
Years active	1994-2001
Genres	Dance-Pop Teen pop Eurodance
Labels	Universal Music
Members	Lene Grawford Nystrøm René Dif Søren Rasted Claus Norreen

Aqua was a Danish dance/pop group, best-known for their 1997 breakthrough single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989, and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Although often criticised by the media, the group managed to top the United Kingdom singles chart with their first three singles, a feat few artists have achieved. The group released two albums, Aquarium in 1997 and Aquarius in 2000, before splitting up in July 2001. The group sold an estimated 28 million albums and singles.^[1]

In their prime, Aqua managed to make the singles chart top ten in a number of countries where European pop acts would not normally succeed, including the United States, Australia and Japan. The group also caused controversy with the double entendres in their "Barbie Girl" single, with the Barbie doll makers Mattel filing a lawsuit against the group. The lawsuit was finally rejected in 2002.

The group consisted of Lene Grawford Nystrøm (born October 2, 1973), René Dif (born October 17, 1967), Søren Rasted (born June 13, 1969), and Claus Norreen (born June 5, 1970). All the members were Danish except Lene, who was Norwegian. Since their 2001 split, Lene, René and Søren have all achieved solo chart success, and Claus has continued in the music industry remixing other artists' material.

Contents 1 History 1.1 The birth of Aqua 1.2 International breakthrough and debut album 1.3 The "Aquarium Age" 1.4 The release of the second album 1.5 Plans for third album and sudden split 1.6 Following the split 2 Music videos 3 Greatest Hits/New CD Rumours 4 Musical style 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Singles 5.3 Other 5.4 Music samples 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

Although Aqua formed as a group called Joyspeed in 1989, their history together dates back to 1985, and the recording of the soundtrack for a little-known Danish film called Frække Frida og de frygtløse spioner(Naughty Frida and the Fearless spies). At the time René was working in Norway as a club DJ, and Søren and Claus were both starting out as producers. The three were brought in to make part of the soundtrack for the film, and after getting along well, decided that they wanted to work together again on a future project.

The future project would not come to fruition for several years, though, with the three pursuing their chosen career paths (production for Søren and Claus, and DJing for René). The three still intended to work together, and had discussed the possibility of forming a group, but lacked a lead vocalist to front them. The project looked like it was never going to happen, but in 1993, René discovered a young Lene Grawford Nystrøm whilst working in Norway on a cruise ship. Lene had been singing on the cruise ship, and after being sufficiently impressed by her vocal ability, he approached her with the offer of her joining the 'project'. She accepted, and the four decided that they would form as Joyspeed the following year.

The formation of Joyspeed was that both Claus and Søren would do the production for the group, with René rapping and Lene performing the main vocals. A small Swedish record label signed them in 1994, and their dancy first single "Itsy Bitsy" released in Sweden. The single failed to become popular, despite its being based around a popular nursery rhyme, and after one week at the lower end of the Swedish charts the single disappeared completely. The four were disappointed and cancelled their contract with the record label (although the label wanted to keep the group on for further releases).

[edit] The birth of Aqua

Following their cancellation of the contract with the label, the four began to change their musical style, having all agreed that it had been the main reason for the failure of "Itsy Bitsy". The four had been managed up until this point by the often controversial Swedish manager Michael Brinkenstjärna, who had got them the record deal in Sweden. Brinkenstjärna had also been very influential in choosing their musical direction, and as a result the group decided to change managers, feeling that he was becoming a burden to their chances of success.

With a new manager and no record deal, the group started from scratch, and began to develop their famous bubblegum pop sound. The four began to produce and write melodic, catchy European pop songs, attracting the attention of the major record company Universal. The four had also renamed themselves to Aqua, choosing the name having seen a poster for an aquarium in their dressing room. The four eventually accepted Universal Denmark's offer of a recording contract in 1996.

The group's first release under their new name would be "Roses Are Red", a dance song with a distinct pop sound. The single was released in Denmark only during September of 1996, and was expected to possibly scrape into the Danish top ten. The single far surpassed all expectations set by the label, though, by staying in the charts for over two months and eventually selling enough copies to be certified platinum. The success of the single was further proven when Aqua received a nomination for "Best Danish Dance Act", although the group wouldn't win.

The instant success of "Roses Are Red" had proven to Aqua that their new sound was popular with the public, and a result their follow-up single followed the same formula. Titled "My Oh My", the single again featured catchy lyrics paired with a soft, melodic beat. "My Oh My" would, upon its release in February 1997, break all Danish sales records by being certified gold within six days. The single went straight to number one in Denmark, and made Aqua a household name in the country. The first two singles had proven to Universal that Aqua was a very marketable group, and as a result the label looked to start marketing their music across the continent.

[edit] International breakthrough and debut album

Aqua released their debut album Aquarium in Denmark on March 26, 1997. The album contained 11 tracks, including their first two singles and their then upcoming third single "Barbie Girl". Universal Music had by now began to market the group in other countries, releasing "Roses Are Red" in Japan in February 1997 and in various countries across Europe in late 1996. The single had proven popular everywhere it was sold, convincing Universal that the group should not just focus on the Danish market, but instead on the general European market.

Aqua released their third single "Barbie Girl" in May of 1997. The song, at first glance, appears to be about the popular children's doll Barbie. However, at second glance, the song contains several sexual overtones, and clear double meanings. This caused some controversy upon its release in Denmark, but despite the controversy it still sold well and easily made number one in the charts.

Universal Music decided to ignore complaints about the double meanings in "Barbie Girl", and successfully released the single across the world in September 1997 and October 1997. The release was highly successful, making number one in the United Kingdom for four weeks, in Australia for three weeks, and even managing to make the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, something rarely achieved at the time by European pop acts. The song and group became a household name overnight, although to most of the world were instantly written off as a one-hit wonder. The double meanings in "Barbie Girl" caused the expected controversy, with many complaints aimed at Universal for releasing the track. The makers of the Barbie doll, Mattel, also filed a lawsuit against the group, claiming that the song had damaged the reputation of the Barbie brand. A court later dismissed the suit on grounds that it was a parody.

Aqua released their album Aquarium across the world in the Autumn of 1997. Although the album sold well, many still wrote the group off as a one-hit wonder. Despite this, and much criticism from the media, Aqua had made their international breakthrough, and were now known across the world.

[edit] The "Aquarium Age"

Aqua's follow-up to "Barbie Girl" in most countries would be "Doctor Jones", although in the United States it would be "Lollipop (Candyman)". "Doctor Jones" entered at number one in several countries, including the United Kingdom, where it stayed at the top spot for two weeks, and Australia, where it spent seven weeks at #1. "Lollipop" wouldn't fare as well in the USA, performing poorly in comparison to "Barbie Girl", however the song peaked at #3 in Australia. In Japan both songs were released as a double-A side, and achieved reasonable success in the singles chart.

"Doctor Jones" would be followed up by "Turn Back Time", a song which would prove to be accepted well by both Aqua fans and critics. The song, unlike all other previous releases, dropped the bubblegum pop sound in favour of a slow, mainstream rhythm. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the film Sliding Doors, and unlike many other Aqua releases achieved a large amount of radio and video airplay. The song became their third single to make it to number one in the United Kingdom. As of 2005, only a handful of other artists have managed to achieve that kind of initial success in the UK (acts that have included Westlife and the Spice Girls). Elsewhere, the song also performed well, including reaching #10 in Australia, however it would not be a huge success in the US and thus marked the end of Aqua's involvement Stateside.

"My Oh My", Aqua's second Danish single was resurrected in August 1998. The single was also released in several other European countries where it had not been released initially. "Good Morning Sunshine" was then released in some countries, including the United Kingdom, where it was released for the Christmas market and peaked at #18.

Following the release of "Good Morning Sunshine", Aqua decided to concentrate on their second album, and on touring around Europe. "My Oh My" was also released in October 1998 in Australia, to very moderate success, and marked the end of a period Aqua's fans dubbed the "Aquarium age". The group also released a documentary on December 1, containing several live performances of songs from the Aquarium album and interviews with the members.

[edit] The release of the second album

Aqua was relatively quiet during 1999, deciding to concentrate on recording their second album. According to promotional interviews with the group, over 30 songs were recorded for the album, although eventually only twelve made it onto the final version. The group released their second album Aquarius in February 2000. The album instantly proved popular with their fan base, despite some changes to their sound. Unlike Aquarium, the Aquarius album didn't just follow one formula, and instead contained several different musical styles. Tracks such as "Cartoon Heroes" and "Bumble Bees" preserved the pop sound of their debut album, but experimental tracks were also included, such as the Latin-influenced "Cuba Libre". Tracks similar to "Turn Back Time" also featured. The album also featured less of René's rapping, with Lene performing more vocals than on the previous album. The album was still, however, well-received by their fan base.

The single "Cartoon Heroes" was released along with the album. The song featured some 'anthemic' tones, but kept most of the features that had made Aquarium so successful. The single made #7 in the United Kingdom, a minor disappointment, and sold well across Europe and Australia, peaking at #16 on the Australian charts. The song is often best remembered for its music video. The album charted in the United Kingdom at #24. Aqua released their UK follow-up single "Around The World" in June 2000, although would be disappointed when it only managed to chart at #26. Although it was not expected to be at the time, "Around The World" would be Aqua's final UK single release.

Aqua released "Bumble Bees" and "We Belong To The Sea" as singles in Scandinavia, mainland Europe and Australia, achieving reasonable success with both. The group planned to release a third UK single in early 2001, and scheduled "Freaky Friday" for release. The single was pulled at the last minute, however, for undisclosed reasons. Aqua then decided that they would concentrate on starting work on their third album, as opposed to releasing further singles from Aquarius.

[edit] Plans for third album and sudden split

Aqua spent the first few months of 2001 touring around the world, and working on material for their third album. The group also performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, collaborating with the Safri Duo and providing the music during the voting stages of the competition. During a couple of low-key events in Denmark the group performed live versions of songs intended for inclusion on the third album, including "Couch Potato" and "Shakin' Stevens (Is A Superstar)", the latter a tribute to the 1980s performer Shakin' Stevens. The songs were said to have incorporated a rock sound into their music.

By the summer of 2001, however, problems between the members of Aqua were becoming apparent. René had, when the group first started releasing material under the Aqua name, been dating Lene. Lene had by now begun dating Søren, however, and reports of a rift between the three had been reported in the Danish press. Other reports had included that René was annoyed at his having a lesser role on the Aquarius album, and that the group was beginning to have other creative differences. Lene had also had some health problems, having collapsed on stage during their 2001 tour due to the exhaustion of the group's busy schedule. Despite the reports, most of their fans were surprised when, in July 2001, the group announced that they were going to be parting their separate ways.

The group's split proved to be quite a major event across Europe, and many media sources speculated as to why the four had decided to call it a day. René, in an interview after their split, had denied any rift between the members of the group, and stated that the four had split on good terms. The four had allegedly agreed to split when having dinner together, deciding that it was the "best thing to do". Regardless, many fans of the group still believe a rift between the band members was at least a partial cause for the breakup, especially given the past sexual relations between Lene and both René and Søren.

[edit] Following the split

After the group's split, all four members of Aqua continued within the music industry, with three former members all having successful solo careers. René was the first to release a single, releasing "Let It All Out (Push It)" in early 2003 in his native Denmark. The single performed well, and an album was planned, but the comparative failure of his second solo single "The Uhh Uhh Song" made him decide to not continue working on the album. René, in 2004, began to pursue a career as an actor, and appeared in the Danish films Den Gode Strømer and Incasso. He was also awarded the Zulu Achievement Award in the same year.

Lene released her debut album Play With Me in mid-2003. The album's first single, "It's Your Duty (To Shake That Booty)", showed a clear change in her musical direction, dropping the bubblegum pop vocal in favour of a rock and R&B influenced sound. The single performed well, making #3 in the Danish charts, but the album performed disappointingly, only making #74 in her native Norway. Although further singles were released from the album, none made much of an impact. Lene has not indicated any intention to release a second album in the near future.

Søren continued producing material for other artists up until 2004, before starting the Lazyboy Project. The project's first album Lazyboy TV was released in late 2004 to good reviews, and the first single "Underwear Goes Inside The Pants" made the top five of the Australian charts, also achieving airplay across Europe, Canada and the United States of America. Both Lene and Søren performed on a Danish charity single to benefit victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake in 2005.

Claus Norreen has been the quietest of the former members, although he has also remained in the industry, remixing material for other artists under a variety of aliases.

The lawsuit filed by Mattel over the song "Barbie Girl" was thrown out in 2002, with the judge refusing Mattel's claims that the song harmed the doll's reputation. The judge claimed that, as the song is a parody of the doll, it is legally acceptable. He also advised the parties involved "to chill".

In 2005, a Danish director got the band together for a Aqua-documentary called Turn Back Time. Filmed in a summerhouse, the band stayed together inside for twelve hours, talking about subjects a computer randomly picked including Lene and Søren's marriage and René's book. In between the band talking about the subject, there were clips of music videos and live performances.

In February 2007, René has announced to go forth & resume plans to work and release his very first solo album. It's due later this year, his first single, "Way to go" is currently playing on his Myspace page.[2]

[edit] Music videos

Aqua is well-known for their music videos, most of which followed a storyline of some sort. Due to their being one of Universal's biggest-selling pop groups, their budget for making videos has always been quite high. This has been reflected in their videos, which often appear to be cheesy, but tend to be accepted as fitting in well with their musical style.

The video for "Barbie Girl" is undoubtedly their most famous. The video features Lene as Barbie, and René as Ken. René asks Lene to "go party", and Lene informs René that he can "touch" and "play", and calls herself a "blonde bimbo". The music video caused a lot of the controversy surrounding the song, as it made the double meanings in the lyrics clear. "Doctor Jones" also followed a storyline featuring René and Lene as persons in love, with René (as Indiana Jones) saving Lene from an African tribe. The "My Oh My" video also featured a plotline where the two become lovers.

Aqua's early videos had several distinguishing features, and events which would be repeated in each video. One of these features is the way the video starts - A tympani beat and a screen informing the viewer that the video is brought to you in "Aquascope". Also, their first videos all featured a Lene and René kiss at the end. In videos from the Aquarius album this kiss wasn't present. Later videos also tended to gradually show the group in a more serious light, with their last video for "We Belong To The Sea" being presented in a serious manner, unlike other videos which always appeared to be put across in a light-hearted way. Also in the earlier videos they were presented in "AQUASCOPE". In the later videos it was not used. AQUA wanted their videos on the later CD to be a little more professional.

It is said, Toy-Box, an "Aqua-copycat" band, copied the cartoonish style for many of their videos, like "Superstar," "The Sailor Song," "Tarzan and Jane" and "Best Friend." Toy-Box also had serious-type videos like Aqua, one being "Teddy Bear."

[edit] Greatest Hits/New CD Rumours

In a Danish magazine and the Turn Back Time documentary Aqua reported that if all goes well, the band plans to released the Greatest Hits in June or July. A new Aqua site is planned to be popping up as well.

Aqua announced new songs will be on the Greatest Hits, and there will be a Greatest Hits. The album is entitled Cartoon Heroes: The Best of Aqua.

There recently were rumours about a new Aqua CD called 4-Inch Subwoofer, and a new single called "Dolphin Time". The rumours were squashed, and Dolphin Time wrongly credited as an Aqua single.

Unreleased songs include "Wow, Wow, Wow", "Shakin' Stevens (Is A Superstar)", "Couch Potato", "Hi-Fi Stereo" and "Here Comes The Birds".

Other rumours have also been wrong such as the song "Tarzan and Jane." It is actually a song made by "Toy-Box",who sound similar and are also Scandinavian. There are many other songs such as "Ugly Girl", a parody of "Barbie Girl". Believed by some to be the work of Weird Al, who denies ever making this song, instead being the work of "Jack off Jill".

There is also a song on YouTube and an animutation on Newgrounds (called "Bend it Like a Knife") that claims to be a German (lyrics) version of "Barbie Girl". The rumour was that the lead singer of Rammstein and Lene from "Aqua" made it, however both have denied making it. The "German" version of the song is in fact a Dutch parody of the song by Ome Henk. It is about female stereotypes and chauvinism.

[edit] Musical style

Aqua was musically influenced by the eurodance genre that was popular in Europe, Oceania and South America in the 1990s. The style of eurodance was dance music with a female singer and a male rapper. Often the lyrics would be meaningless and not follow the pattern of a traditional pop song. This however was what Aqua changed. Influenced by the recent wave of bubblegum pop started by the Spice Girls, Aqua followed a more traditional verse-chorus structure. Usually, the verse would consist of Lene starting and finishing, while René would sing in the middle. The chorus was mostly sung by Lene. René would sometimes sing a few words, but that was it. Because of the traditional pop structure on top of the eurodance inspiration, Aqua is considered to do bubblegum dance-pop more than eurodance.

Even though most people know Aqua for the dance tracks such as "Barbie Girl", "Doctor Jones", "Lollipop (Candyman)" and "My Oh My" they also made slower tracks like "Turn Back Time", "Good Morning Sunshine" and "We Belong to the Sea". These tracks do not belong to the general bubblegum pop genre. There is also a difference between the first album Aquarium and the second album Aquarius. Aquarium had many similar tracks whereas Aquarius experimented with acoustic instruments and genres like country and Latin music.

The lengths of all the songs were made so they were suitable for radio play. The average length for the tracks on Aquarium is 3:43^[3]. This is also a characteristic of pop music.

At the end of the 1990s the interest for eurodance music was dropping. Aqua's second album, Aquarius, which was released in 2000, was therefore not as well timed as the first one.

[edit] Discography

Also see List of Aqua songs

[edit] Albums

• Aquarium (1997) Total sales: 14,000,000 copies/ US: 3x Platinum
• Aquarius (2000) Total sales: 3,000,000 copies
• Cartoon Heroes: Best of Aqua (2002)

[edit] Singles

Note: The single chronology below is based on the date of the single's first release, regardless of which country that was in.

• "Itzy Bitsy Spider" (1995) (as Joyspeed)
• "Roses Are Red" (September 1996)
• "My Oh My" (February 1997, August 1998)
• "Barbie Girl" (May 1997 (US, Europe) September 1997 (UK))
• "Doctor Jones" (October 1997 to December 1997 (Europe, Japan, Australia) February 1998 (UK))
• "Lollipop (Candyman)" (November 1997)
• "Turn Back Time" (May 1998)
• "Good Morning Sunshine" (December 1998)
• "Around the World" (May 2000)
• "Bumble Bees" (August 2000, December 2000)
• "Cartoon Heroes" (September 2000)
• "We Belong to the Sea" (November 2000)

[edit] Other

• "Didn't I" (1998) - Song released as a non-single
• The Aqua Diary (1998) - A VHS release of Aqua's story up until December 1998
• Aquarium Bubble Mix (1998) - Remix album of songs from Aquarium
• Aqua Mania Vol. 1 (1998) - Remix album of songs from Aquarius
• Remix SuperBest (2002) - Remix album of songs from both Aquarium and Aquarius
• Aqua Video Collection (2002) - Released as a VHS and DVD, it has all of Aqua's music videos except We Belong To The Sea
• Cartoon Heroes: The Best of Aqua (2002) - Compilation CD released in Japan including the most successful hits of Aqua and a remix of Cartoon Heores

[edit] Music samples

[edit] Notes

1. ^  René Dif's official website - look under bio.
2. ^  AllMusic.com - a total running time of 40:38 divided by 11 tracks gives 3:43 on average.
3. ^  The Not Al Page - "Ugly Girl" listed as a track made by an unknown artist.

[edit] References

• Aqua: The Official Book by Jacqui Swift
• The Aqua Diary, a 1998 VHS release
• René Dif's official website
• The Official Single/Album Charts of the UK, US, Japan, Australia, Denmark and various other countries
• Lazy-B's official website
• http://www.lenemusic.com Lene Nystrøm Rasted's official website doesn't exist anymore...

[edit] External links

• Aqua
• René Dif
• Aquarama
• Aqua at Bubblegum Dancer