M2M (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| M2M | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Lørenskog, Norway |
| Genres | Pop, Folk, Teen pop, Pop rock |
| Instruments | Acoustic guitar, piano and vocals |
| Years active | 1999-2002 |
| Labels | Atlantic Records, Warner Music |
| Former members | |
| Marit Larsen Marion Raven |
|
M2M was a Norwegian pop music duo - Marion Elise Raven and Marit Elisabeth Larsen. They released three albums under Atlantic Records and Warner Music: Shades of Purple, The Big Room and The Day You Went Away: The Best of M2M released by their record label after M2M disbanded.
Contents |
[edit] History
Raven and Larsen had known each other since they were five. They formed a duet in the mid-1990s. Initially, they wanted to call themselves M&M, a combination of their initials. The name was already taken, though, by both a candy brand and the notable rapper Eminem, so the teenagers decided to call themselves M2M instead. [1] The group's first single, "Don't Say You Love Me", appeared in 1999, and was featured on the soundtrack of Pokémon: The First Movie.[2] The movie helped the song to reach success worldwide and the duo released their first album, Shades of Purple, in 2000, which debuted at number one in Norway and several Asian countries and in the Top Forty in most other countries. In September that year, they toured with Hanson, performing as the boys' opening act. Earlier in the year, they performed a concert special at Epcot in Walt Disney World, broadcast on April 29th, 2002, under the name "M2M and BBMak in Concert", performing six songs with breaks in between of them walking around the park and seeing the sites.
Four more singles were released from the album: "Mirror Mirror", "The Day You Went Away", "Pretty Boy" and "Everything You Do". Their trilingualism made them popular in Asia as they released several songs sung in Mandarin such as "Pretty Boy". However, they did not record a Mandarin version of their hit "The Day You Went Away", and Taiwanese singer Cyndi Wang recorded her own version.
In 2002, the duo returned with a more mature, less pop-oriented sound with their second album, The Big Room. In two years, their voices had changed, especially Raven's. The first single from the album was "Everything" followed by "What You Do About Me". They did not release a third single, even though "Don't" was released to U.S. and Latin America's radio stations and "Wanna Be Where You Are" was released in the Philippines. The promotion for their second record included TV appearances that year, such as a spot on the WB's Dawson's Creek, appearing in the 100th episode of the show towards the end of its fifth year. That year, they also took part in the Pantene Pro-Voice concert series that aired on the now defunct MuchMusic USA.[3] While on tour with Jewel,[4] M2M was dropped by Atlantic Records, who cited a lack of record sales, although the album did do well in Norway, Asia and Australia. Although M2M was the most popular Norwegian female band, the most successful, and the youngest artist to get an international career after a-ha, the duo eventually split in September of that year. They are currently performing as solo artists, now going by their own names.
[edit] Discography
| Album | Year | Achievements |
|---|---|---|
| Shades of Purple | 2000 | #89 U.S.; #1 Norway (Certified Gold, over 20,000 copies);[5] #3 Philippines (4x Platinum, over 60,000 copies); Mexico (Certified Gold, over 75,000 copies); Chile (Certified Gold, over 7,500 copies); Thailand (7x Platinum, over 105,000 copies); Indonesia (7x Platinum, over 280,000 copies); Malaysia (3x Platinum, over 60,000 copies); Singapore (2x Platinum, over 30,000 copies); Taiwan (Platinum, over 14,000 copies); South Korea (Platinum, over 300,000 copies) |
| The Big Room | 2002 | #1 Norway (2x Platinum, over 80,000 copies); #2 Philippines (3x Platinum, over 45,000 copies); Mexico (Gold, over 75,000 copies) |
| The Day You Went Away: The Best of M2M | 2003 |
[edit] Singles
- "Don't Say You Love Me" (1999/2000) #21 US (Certified Gold), #2 Norway, #1 Finland, #16 UK, #1 Denmark, #1 South Korea, #1 Thailand, #4 Australia (Certified Gold), #4 New Zealand (Certified Gold)
- "Mirror Mirror" (2000) #62 U.S. (Certified Gold), #30 Australia
- "The Day You Went Away" (2000) #1 Thailand
- "Pretty Boy" (2000)
- "Everything You Do" (2000) #1 Norway
- "Girl in Your Dreams" (2000)
- "Everything" (2002) #27 Australia, #44 New Zealand
- "What You Do About Me" (2002) #46 Australia
[edit] Awards and nominations
- M2M was nominated for the "Best Song" category and won the "Best Norwegian Group" honors at Norway's HitAwards 2000.
- In June 2000, M2M was named "Discovery of the Year" by the Singapore Radio Association.[6]
- M2M was nominated for the "Best Group" award at the 2001 Spelleman Awards.
- M2M was nominated for the "Favorite Pop Act" at the 2002 MTV Asia music awards.
[edit] References
- ^ "M2M Biography". http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003660/M2M.html.
- ^ billboard.com (1999). "Pokemon Soundtrack Stacked With Exclusive Songs". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=949955. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ Jonathan Cohen (2001). "Atlantic Launches 'Teensation' TV Concerts". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=781306. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ Barry A. Jeckell (2002). "Jewel Takes Labelmate M2M On The Road". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1357301. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ http://lista.vg.no/album_info.php?AlbumOp=show&albumId=6&albumtype=album&albumtype_id=1
- ^ Hip Online (2003). "M2M Awards". Hiponline.com. http://www.hiponline.com/artist/music/m/m2m/. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
