|
Biographie of Scooter:
r /
First Chapter:
1994:
"Hyper Hyper"
The first Scooter single "Vallée de Larmes" is released. Scooter is only supposed to be a project at first. The single, however, goes to number 8 in the German Dance Charts.
In April they had their first live appearance at the "Palladium in Hamburg. Scooter perform "Vallée de Larmes", "Cosmos (B-Side)" and a (still) instrumental Techno track on which H.P. spontaneously starts MCing during the show. "Hyper Hyper" is born and Scooter change from being a project to a band.
During this time Scooter consist of H.P., Ferris and Rick. Jens Thele works behind the scenes as manager and co-producer.
In May "Hyper Hyper" is released. The reaction from the "Raving Society is euphoric and Scooter become famous overnight (number 2 in the German singles charts). 700.000 singles are sold in Germany alone- platinum!!! Even in the Israeli charts "Hyper Hyper" reaches number 1!
1995:
".And The Beat Goes On"
The third single "Move Your Ass!" is released. H.P.'s distinctive shouting style is established as a trademark. The single enters the German single charts at number 13 and becomes the highest new entry in the history of the chart. The single reaches number 23 in the British charts and number 3 in Germany. Scooter make their international breakthrough.
In spring and summer "Friends" (Germany: No. 3) and "Endless Summer" (Germany: No. 5) are released.
".And The Beat Goes On": That was the name of Scooter's magnificent first album in spring 1995. Over the years the name of the debut album has come to be the motto of the trio from Hamburg, who have stood out as the only quality performers in the short-lived and often monotonous Dance and Techno scene. And not only are the beat and the sound going on, but the different singles and albums over the years have ended up becoming massive sellers, going gold and platinum throughout Europe.
During June Scooter play on the summer solstice (start of the summer) at the Rantarock Festival in Vaasa/Finland. This becomes a tradition over the following years. With a few exceptions, Scooter have played at the festival every year since.
Rick moves from Hanover to Hamburg. He brings his studio with him which then becomes the band's own studio. First production: "Back In The U.K.".
With this single Scooter crack the British Top 20, reaching number 18! In Germany the song peaks at number 5. In Ireland the single is released with the title "Back In Ireland".
1996:
"Our Happy Hardcore"
Their second LP "Our Happy Hardcore", comes with an extra CD with photos, videos and information about Scooter. The first single out of this album is "Let Me Be Your Valentine".
With "Rebel Yell" Scooter becomes the first Techno band to cover a rock song. The track, probably the first rock song in musical history to be covered without a single trace of a guitar, reaches number 8 in the German charts.
In June Scooter release "Happy Hardcore Clips" - the band's first video compilation. Only some days later the group are presented the "Dance d'Or" music award for "Move Your Ass" at the Midem music fair in Cannes.
With "I'm Raving", Scooter reach a turning point. While the tempos of their previous songs ranged between 160 and 190 beats per minute (BPM), "I'm Raving" is 138 BPM and progressive House influences can also be heard in a Scooter song for the first time. The gamble pays off: "I'm Raving" reaches number 4 in Germany and also goes gold.
In December "Break It Up" is released and becomes the first ever Techno ballad.
1997:
"Rough And Tough And Dangerous - The Singles 94-98"
On their track "Fire" Scooter use a metal guitar riff. The single enters the charts at numer 6 on 8 April. Four weeks later it goes gold with over 250.000 copies sold.
The video for "The Age Of Love" is probably the most expensive video to date to come from a Techno act and wins a coveted video award. The following "Age Of Love" tour becomes the band's first organised indoor arena tour. After the tour, Scooter release "No Fate". At this point the band realise they are mentally exhausted and desperately need a creative break.
At the end of November "Rough And Tough And Dangerous - The Singles 94-98" is released as the first look back on Scooter's career.
Second Chapter:
1998:
"It's the first page of the second chapter"
A lot has happened within the band. Ferris has left, on one hand, because there were disagreements on the musical future of the band. On the other, because Ferris wanted to start concentrating on solo projects. They parted by mutual consent.
A new man was requested. He was soon found in Axel Coon, a well-known Hamburg trance and techno DJ, who was on an internship in the Scooter studio at exactly the same time. The chemistry was right, Axel was the man to fill the gap in the band - they quickly went into the studio to work on new tracks.
It did not take long for the first result of the now collaboration to come through. "How Much Is The Fish" - A question which still preoccupies fans from all countries today! One thing is certain, the song turned cut to be a real catchy track and turned gold within a short time in many countries. This proved to H.P. and Rick that they made the right choice in Axel. [.]
"How Much Is The Fish" was a real driving force for H.P., Rick and Axel. The three went into the studio with a new lease of energy and ideas to produce the first album with the new line-up. "No Time To Chill", the title of the album, was also the band's motto. Scooter started the second chapter of their musical development with new life - all disputes and discrepancies were forgotten.
In September Scooter play in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 17.000 in Moscow; in St. Petersburg 10.000 fans hold a party at the city ice ring.
Then they move onto Kazakhstan where the band plays in front of 3.500 fans in Almaty at the foot of the Himalayas.
Scooter are voted the best act of the year by MTV Russia viewers.
1999:
"Are you ready for the new technology?"
The years starts with the "No Time To Chill" tour - it becomes Scooter's online debut: Scooter are one of the very first bands to document their complete tour in an online tour diary.
In April the band celebrate their fifth anniversary. No other German Techno/Dance act has been as consistent and successful as the trio from Hamburg.
"Faster Harder Scooter" - the title of the first single to be taken from the new album "Back To The Heavyweight Jam" makes no promises that the album cannot keep. Scooter are crashing things up: rock guitar riffs, increased tempo - the band is louder and better then ever. "Faster Harder Scooter" quickly enters the German sales charts top 10, not least also thanks to airplay of the excellent video. The video, filmed in Cape Town, shows the band driving in a daredevil buggy race through the South African desert.
Axel's unintended stunt is certainly worth a mention. He lost control of his buggy and turned it over several times. Nothing happened to him thankfully. The director was of course pleased about the incident because the camera was still rolling and the spectacular stunt was immortalsed on celluloid for the rest of the world.
The year was coming to an end and so was the millennium. The world went millennium crazy. Millennium champagne, millennium mugs - H.P., Rick and Axel showed that they had clearly enough of the hysteria among the millennium slaves. Their altitude towards the euphoria was certainly clear: "Fuck The Millenium" - a distinct message and as ever a definite indication that the band was going against the tide.
The memorable single cover originates from a live appearance during a special Majorca edition of "VIVA Clubrotation" TV show. H.P. exposed his backside in front of the running cameras and once again made it clear what he thought about the millennium frenzy.
"Back To The Heavyweight Jam" turned gold in numerous countries and even won the band's first album award in Germany.
In the Ukraine, Scooter are the first western band to play concerts in Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkiv. In Kiev a total of 25.000 people come to the Olympic Stadium to see Scooter.
2000:
"We know you're addicted to the real hardcore"
In the year 2000 Scooter founded their own label, "Sheffield Tunes". H.P. gave himself the title "Sheffield Dave". The time for pseudonyms had come. In fact H.P. changed his name constantly, sometimes he was "Keyser Soze", sometimes "Candyman" and sometimes "Screaming Lord".
The first single Scooter released from the new album "Sheffield" was "I'm Your Pusher". The track did go down well among the fans, however, the band was not happy with the results in hindsight. "We didn't find our sound, our style", H.P. reckons, "everything got jumbled up."
With the second release, entitled "She's The Sun", Scooter started to experiment. "We wanted to try something new, a new sound, a new style", explains H.P., "the audience wasn't really into our ideas though somehow." In the end the single only made number 41 in the charts.
The album "Sheffield" sees Scooter take yet another new direction. Featuring 6/8 rhythms on "Don't Gimme The Funk", "Sex Dwarf" and the duet "Summerwine", a cover version of the song by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood - "Sheffield" is probably the most progressive work yet from the Hamburg boys.
The "Sheffield Tour 2002" becomes a success despite organisational difficulties.
You what? Suddenly they were everywhere: three life-sized rats in suits who made an assault on the charts with their song "Sunrise (Here I Am)". So who was behind the furry masks, who was behind the music?
After a period of secretiveness the identify of the musical rodents was revealed. Scooter were the people behind Ratty, as the project was called. "We just felt like doing something different, which didn't have the name Scooter on it", said Rick and Axel, "and it worked." They're right! Rattys "Sunrise (Here I Am)" soon entered the charts and caused more and more confusion. Were Scooter themselves wearing the masks?
The answer to that question is: no. Three other persons, called Martin, Janse and Jean, were behind the masks inside which temperature sometimes reached 60°. Martin is Axel's older brother by the way.
Even though the year was good all in all and the band picked up one of the coveted VIVA Comet prizes, Scooter were not all happy with the year 2000.
2001:
"Back on the track, ride on"
Scooter locked themselves into their Hamburg studio, for brainstorming sessions and to gather new ideas. Tracks were worked on, some were dropped again, sounds were programmed and others deleted again. The band talked and partied - and after a while it was there: the new Scooter track. Fresher, more cheerful and more revolutionary then before. Scooter turned their backs on the depressing winter.
"Posse (I Need You On The Floor)" was the decisive step in the right direction. Scooter went back to the roots and at the same time straight towards the future. Electronically pitched vocals, happy hardcore pianos - Scooter were sounding better then ever.
As the title suggests, "Posse (I Need You On The Floor)" is dedicated to the fans who stood by Scooter throughout the difficult times - Scooter and their fans were a community more than ever. This is also plain to see in the video for "Posse", a realistic road-movie of the Scooter tour. What's life like behind the scenes on the tour? What goes on in the tour bus? All these questions were answered in the video. Incidentally it was filmed during a dance festival in Denmark. H.P. had already played around with the idea of using pitched vocals, but nobody expected such an amazing success. Of course, there were lots of copiers - Scooter had started the retro trend.
The track "Aiii Shot The DJ" became the second single. They had a special idea for the video. Comedian Helge Schneider played the DJ who was shot with the champagne cork and had to be transported all around the Baltic Sea holiday resorts by Rick, H.P. and Axel.
In December Scooter release their 23rd single "Ramp (The Logical Song)". The video is produced by the production team from the German hit TV series "Alarm für Cobra 11". It's one of the most action-packed Scooter videos with its car chases and explosions.
Third Chapter:
2002:
"It\'s not a bird, it\'s not a plane - It must be Dave who`s on the train"
Scooter release their second "Best Of" album entitled "Push The Beat For This Jam (The Second Chapter)" and take another look back over the past years. The single "Ramp (The Logical Song)" and the album "Push The Beat For This Jam" reach number 1 in the Norwegian charts at the same time and both go platinum.
Axel Coon leaves the band to concentrate on his DJ and remix projects. He is replaced by Jay Frog, who has already released one single ("Pushin") on Kontor Records.
Things did not always run smoothly as you can imagine in a successful group. Despite the occasional arguments and stress, the fun factor shines through. The bands after-show parties are now legendary and the explosive gigs are still a terrific experience for all fans. H.P., Rick, Jay and their manager Jens are excitedly looking forward to the coring, third chapter of the Scooter story.
And the third chapter starts very successful for Scooter. The single "Nessaja", it is a version of the title track from Peter Maffay's musical "Tabaluga", reaches number 1 in Germany - like not other single of Scooter before. The hero in the video is without a doubt "Joey", a one-metre tall bush kangaroo, who has both the film crew and members running around.
In May the first Scooter DVD "Encore (The Whole Story)" and the live CD "Encore - Live And Direct" are released. Additionally "Ramp" is released in the U.K. and breaks all expectations: number 2 in the sales charts - a previous never reached success for Scooter in the U.K.
In October another Best-Of-Album is released (mainly for East Europe). "24 Carat Gold" contains all Scooter-singles at one CD.
2003:
"Respect to the man in the ice-cream van!"
In February the single "Weekend" is released. At the limited edition there is a special highlight waiting for the fans: the track is recorded in DTS-sound for the extravagant sound-pleasure.
Also in February Scooter win the ECHO-Award in the category "Best Dance Act" - it's the most important European music-award! Some days later the "McMega Award" follows up. .a very good start in the new year!
One month late, at the end of March, the new album "The Stadium Techno Experience" will be available.
It is still exciting because the end is a long way off.
"We still rock the nation, that's our reputation" |
