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La Bouche

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La Bouche
OriginFrankfurt, Germany
GenresEurodance, house, techno, pop, dance
Years active1994–2002, 2007–present
LabelsHansa Records, RCA
MembersLane McCray
Sofie Cairo
Past membersMelanie Thornton (deceased)
Kayo Shekoni
Dana Rayne
Websiteofficiallabouche.com

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 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

1994–95: Career beginnings and Sweet Dreams

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. Years later, it was revealed that the rapper featured on the track was not McCray, but was actually Robert Haynes, who would later join Le Click. McCray provided vocals on every other La Bouche song. 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 was released on June 12, 1995, which went to number 13 in the U.S., featured two more hit single releases, "Fallin' in Love" (a cover 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. The song 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 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" and Men Behind's "How Can I".

1996–99: S.O.S. and All Mixed Up

A remix album called All Mixed Up was released in 1996. Their second studio album, S.O.S. was released in 1996, with A Moment of Love being the album title for the European version, preceded by the singles "Forget Me Nots", a cover 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 which 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: Melanie Thornton's Solo Career and Death

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. 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

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 was previously unreleased. Farian combined her vocals with Kayo Shekoni's vocals from Le Click, a band which Thornton also provided guest vocals for, 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.

On December 1, 2003, Thornton's first remix compilation album, Memories – Her Most Beautiful Ballads was 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 was released along with a 3-track EP, 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

Since 2007, La Bouche has toured around Europe in different '90s revival shows like the "I Love the 90s" show which is held every year in the Ethias Arena in Hasslet, Belgium. La Bouche continues to wow fans around the world from Europe, South America, Australia and the USA. Lane has under gone several enchantations of La Bouche since Melanie's passing and currently performs for sold out crowds with "The Voice" Hungarian born chaunteuse Sofie Cairo. This is it says Lane McCray of searching for the perfect compliment to his own voice and style. 2016 will be busy for La Bouche as they booked all over the Globe. Performance dates can be found At officiallabouche.com website or at lanemccray.com

Members

Member 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Lane McCray
(1994–2002, 2007–)
Melanie Thornton
(1994–2000, 2002)
Kayo Shekoni
(2002, 2014–)
Dana Rayne
(2007–2014)
Sofie Cairo
(2015–Present)

In 2002 Shekoni completed Thornton's vocals on "In your life" with additional backing vocals due to her death. Rayne only fronted the band during the groups' tours from 2007–2014, but no material had been released.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications Info
AUS
[3] 		AUT FIN NZ NED NOR SWE SWI US
Sweet Dreams
  • Release date: June 12, 1995
  • Label: MCI
  • Formats: CD
 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.
  • Release date: June 16, 1998
  • Label: MCI
  • Formats: CD
 — — 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

  • 1996: All Mixed Up (Remix Album)

Compilation albums

  • 2002: Best of (Credited as "La Bouche feat. Melanie Thornton") (May 21, 2002)
  • 2007: Greatest Hits (April 2, 2007)

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold) 		Album
UK
[2] 		U.S.
[10] 		GER
[11] 		AUS
[3] 		SWE
[12] 		AUT
[12] 		ITA
[13] 		SWI
[12] 		FIN
[14] 		FRA
[12] 		NED
[12]
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 80 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

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
UK
[2]
1996 "Be My Lover" (Remix) 25 Sweet Dreams
"Sweet Dreams (Ola Ola E)" (Remix) 44

Notes

  • A^ "Sweet Dreams" was released in North America and re-released in the UK in 1996.

References

  1. ^ IMO Records. "La Bouche Biography", IMO Records' Retrieved on 08 March 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 310. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ^ a b Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
  4. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  5. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (La Bouche)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
  6. ^ Music Canada: Certifications
  7. ^ "Certifications Albums Or – année 1995". Disque en France. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
  8. ^ "Vuonna myönnetyt kulta- ja platinalevyt: La Bouche". IFPI (Finland). Retrieved 2010-08-14.
  9. ^ "AWARDS 1995". IFPI (Switzerland). Retrieved 2010-08-14.
  10. ^ Allmusic.com – Charts & Awards
  11. ^ German peaks
  12. ^ a b c d e Intl. peak positions
  13. ^ Top Italian singles per year
  14. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 9789511210535.
  15. ^ a b c "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1996". ARIA. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  16. ^ German certification for "Sweet Dreams"
  17. ^ Austrian certifications ifpi.at (Retrieved July 28, 2008)
  18. ^ French certifications Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved July 28, 2008)
  19. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Be My Lover')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
  20. ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved July 28, 2008)
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