Genres Eurodance Origin Berlin, Germany | Website www.maxxmusic90s.com | |
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Years active 1993–1995; 2017-present Labels Intercord, Blow Up, Remixed Records, Pulse-8 Records Past members Gary Bokoe,Alice Montana,Dakota O'niel,Dawhite Albums To The Maxximum Members Linda Meek (Elyse), George Torpey, The Hitman | ||
Maxxis a German Eurodance project that was internationally successful in the mid-90s with the hit singles "Get-A-Way," "No More (I Can't Stand It)"and "You Can Get It."The project name 'Maxx' is an abbreviation for Maximum Xstasy.
Contents
- Group Origins 1993
- Success with Get A Way No More 1994
- Group Decline Hiatus 1995
- Comeback 2017 present
- References
Group Origins (1993)
Maxx was the result of the collaboration between A&R music executive David Brunner and music producer Juergen Wind. The project is recognized in Europe for its unique mixture of high energy dancefloor beats, female singing and raggamuffin (ragga) style rap. Brunner and Wind first founded the project in Berlin, Germany in 1993 after achieving notable success with the single "Another Night" by M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy. For the production credits, Brunner received an Executive Producer credit under the alias "The Hitman" due to his critical role in starting the project. Unbeknownst to the public, Wind was the true Executive Producer, composer and creative force behind the music production. Brunner mainly planned out the creative marketing and promotional strategies for the music while also handling the publishing and distribution worldwide. Wind composed the song melodies and chorus lyrics for the music with aide from his co-producer Frank "Quickmix" Hassas. Together, they were credited as the producer team "The Movement." Due to their desire to remain anonymous in the song credits, Wind used the alias 'George Torpey' and Hassas used the alias 'Dakota O'niel.' While producing hits for Maxx, Wind and Hassas were simultaneously producing new hits for M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy under the names 'J. Wind' and 'Quickmix' and the team name 'Freshline.' The raggamuffin (ragga) style rap lyrics of Maxx were composed by songwriter Bruce Hammond Earlam (from Bruce & Bongo). For unknown reasons, he was never officially credited for his songwriting role in the project. Maxx rapper Boris Köhler (Gary Bokoe) received Earlam's songwriting credits instead. Olaf Jeglitza (frontman and rapper of M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy) also received false credits for Maxx under the alias "Dawhite" due to his close connections with Wind and Hassas.Success with "Get-A-Way" & "No More" (1994)
In February 1994, the producers discovered British singer Linda Meek and recruited her into the project as the official replacement for Besic. Upon joining the group she began touring with Köhler as Maxx performing "Get-A-Way." She then recorded vocals for the followup single "No More (I Can't Stand It)." In mid-February, a music video was filmed for the single in Mariselle, France. The single debuted in March 1994 and became an instant Top 10-hit across Europe like it's predecessor. The single reached No.5 on music charts in France and in Israel, and No. 8 in the UK.
During that time, Meek was featured in German language pop culture/teen magazines alongside Köhler. In the magazine POP/Rocky, she was referred to as "Die Engländerin Linda Meek", "Die Stimme von Maxx" (The Englander Linda Meek, The Voice of Maxx). The music video for "No More (I Can't Stand It)" also became popular on music video channels in Europe and Canada. By Spring of 1994, Maxx had become one of Europe's new dance music sensations due to the continuing popularity of "Get-A-Way" and "No More (I Can't Stand It)." Meek and Köhler toured across Europe as Maxx performing at concert venues in Germany, England, Italy, Greece, Austria, France, Sweden and Canada. The duo made appearances at MTV sponsored festivals while also appearing three times on the long-running UK music chart TV program Top of the Pops. While Meek didn't originally sing vocals on "Get-A-Way" or appear in the music video; she became closely associated with the single by the media due to her energetic live performances on tour and on live television. "Get-A-Way" reached the Top-5 spot in the UK, Austria, Sweden, Netherlands and the Top-10 spot in Switzerland and Norway in 1994.The single was later certified Gold in Germany and Silver in the UK.By mid 1994, "Get-A-Way" reached a sum total of 1.1 million in European record sales. The major commercial success of both singles, motivated Wind and Brunner to release a new Maxx album titled To The Maxximum. Wind and Hassas produced a total of 13 new music tracks for the album while simultaneously producing the sophomore album of M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy titled Space Invaders. Earlam returned to write all new rap lyrics for Köhler while also working with Wind and Hassas to write new singing lyrics for Meek. He also provided essential percussion and drums for the album tracks. The tracks titled "Fight", "You Can Get It", and "I Want You" were the only new album tracks to blend rap lyrics with singing choruses. Other songs like "Suddenly", "Heart of Stone", "Vodoo Child", "Ritmo De la Casa", and "Should I Stay, Should I Go" were all singing tracks sung by Meek with no rap verses. The album track "Maxximum Extacy" was a rap-only track performed by Köhler. The album was officially released in June 1994. It charted at No. 22 in Germany and at No. 10 in Sweden and at No. 6 in Finland. While the album did perform well in Germany and Scandanavia the album still failed to perform well in other key territories like the UK only charting at No. 66. The album track "You Can Get It" was then picked to be the third single and was released in September 1994. The single reached No. 21 in the UK, No.13 in Finland and achieved commercial success in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. While still commerically successful, the single did not reach the same level of success as "Get-A-Way" and "No More (I Can't Stand It)." In October 1994, the track "Power of Love", was released exclusively on a Christmas themed dance compilation CD titled Bravo Dance X-Mas.
Group Decline & Hiatus (1995)
By 1995, Maxx had begun to struggle to produce new dance hits on the music charts. The album track "I Can Make You Feel Like" was selected to be the fourth Maxx single in May 1995. The single failed to chart in critical territories and only reached No.56 in the UK. The final Maxx single titled "Move Your Body" was released in October 1995. The single heavily sampled the hit "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntman. The single charted in Austria peaking at No.18 and in Finland at No.16. but failed to chart in other critical territories. A music video for this single was filmed starring Meek and Köhler. The duo also performed the single live on ZDF Television in Germany for the music program called 'Power Vision'. The live performance on Power Vision would be the last time Meek and Köhler performed together as Maxx. Due to declining record sales and major conflicts within the group behind the scenes, Maxx officially disbanded late in 1995.
Comeback (2017-present)
After almost two decades, Köhler resurfaced on March 15, 2014 and did a live performance at Club Onniteekki in Seinäjoki, Finland with a different singer.[10] Two years later, he appeared again as Maxx at a '90s festival at the Velodrom in Berlin Germany.
Late in December 2016, an official Maxx website surfaced online announcing the reunion between original vocalist Linda Meek (now known by the singer name 'Elyse') and the Maxx founders David Brunner and Juergen Wind. The website revealed their plans for an official relaunch of Maxx without Köhler's involvement and a new European tour in 2017 with only Meek involved. On August 8th, 2017, Köhler did his final live performance in Katowice, Poland under the name "Gary B. from Maxx" with an unknown singer.
On August 25th, 2017, Meek made her highly anticipated comeback performance as Maxx at the "We Love The 90's Estonia" festival in Tallinn.[14] Today, she continues to tour across Europe as Maxx while periodically using different rappers in her live show to perform the raggamuffin style rap verses on stage.