Gone, but not forgotten
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Cool James, real name
James Maligisa Dandu also known as "Mtoto wa Dandu"or CJ
Massive( b. 1970 in Mwanza, Tanzania, d. August 27,
2002) was a Tanzanian musician.
Having finished his primary studies at Kurasini Primary School in Tanzania, he moved with his parents to Sweden. James wanted to study mathematics but could not do so because they only taught it in Swedish. He chose to study music instead and ended up enjoying it.
His professional musical career started in 1988, he released his first musical album in 1992, already a dance-oriented production. In 1993 he got together with another East African named Andrew Muturi to form the group Swahili Nation. After a while they let a brother of Andrew join the group, and after that yet another brother. James left and joined with a congolese J.Masena(Black Teacher).
In 1994 he and Black Teacher formed the group Cool James and Black Teacher. They released only one album, the 1994 record called Zooming You. It included many hits, especially the song Dr. Feelgood.
A while after the Cool James and Black Teacher project James moved back to his home continent and started making Swahili beats as well as more African style music. In 1999 he released album Africa's Most Wanted using the name CJ Massive.
James said he was inspired by musicians such as Koffi Olomide, Kanda Bongo Man, Puff Daddy and Michael Jackson.
On August 27, 2002 James Dandu died in a car accident in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. |
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Captain Jack was a musical
duo, specializing in Eurodance music, originating from
Germany. Its members (since 2000) were Francisco
Alejandro Gutierrez (stage name: Franky Gee), and Sunny.
The original female vocalist on the group's debut in
1995 was Liza Da Costa, replaced in 1999 by Maria Lucia
'Maloy' Lozanes, who was replaced by Ilka-Anna-Antonia
Traue (stage name: Illi Love) in 2001.
Captain Jack's music (and Franky Gee's persona) was stylized as a form of military training. Franky's costume consisted of a stylized military officer's uniform, with a red hat based on that of the US Marines. His other clothing was styled similarly to a US Army officers dress uniform. Franky chose this style because of his service in the United States Army, a career he despised but decided to follow when he was strapped for cash.[citation needed] After ending his time in the US Army, Franky remained in Germany, where he was last stationed, and began a recording career under the name "Westside".
While recording music under that name, he proposed the idea of a dance track based on a drill routine. That idea became his style: songs about peace and love in the style of a military regime. The hat—a US Marines "barracks cover" hat, in the color scheme evoking the Soviet Red Army—further protests the idea of the military, while symbolizing the idea of national unity.
The group has earned 19 gold and platinum records throughout Europe. Fans of the Konami arcade game Dance Dance Revolution know them from the numerous songs that, through the Dancemania series of albums, have been used in the game series. The group's music was also featured in other Konami music games such as beatmania and Dance Maniax.
The future of Captain Jack suddenly came into doubt when Franky suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while walking with his son in Spain on October 17, 2005. Doctors predicted that the damage was fatal, and Franky Gee died on Saturday October 22, 2005, after spending five days in a coma.
Future proceeds on the sale of Captain Jack's Greatest Hits album, which was being planned prior to Franky Gee's death, will be given to his son and fellow rapper Franky Gutierrez Jr. |
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John Paul Larkin (March 13, 1942 — December 3, 1999), better known as Scatman John (sometimes credited as Scatman internationally), was a famous American stuttering jazz musician who created a unique fusion of scat singing and eurodance, best known for his 1994 hit "Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)". As he liked to say, this was a process of "turning my biggest problem into my biggest asset." He has sold millions of recordings world-wide and was also named "Best New Artist" in the Echo Awards in both Japan and Germany. He was a recipient of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Annie Glenn Award for outstanding service to the stuttering community and was inducted into the National Stuttering Association Hall of Fame. He died of lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles, California at the age of 57. |
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Markus Löffel (27 November
1966 – 11 January 2006), also known as Mark Spoon, was a
disc jockey, musician and record producer from Frankfurt
am Main, Germany. His stage surname was a direct
translation: Löffel is the German word for spoon.
Together with Rolf Ellmer (Jam El Mar) he recorded under
several monikers, including Jam & Spoon, Tokyo Ghetto
Pussy and Storm; he also produced and remixed many other
artists as well as becoming a veteran performer many
times at Berlin's infamous Love Parade.
He began his professional career as a cook before changing direction and working as a DJ in the late 1980s. He then teamed up with Jam El Mar (a classically trained guitarist) in the early 1990s. Löffel was a pioneer in trance music and remixed seminal tracks, including Moby's Go (In Dub Mix) (1992), in addition to his work under other names. His greatest hits (in Germany) were those as Jam & Spoon ("Right in the Night" (1994) and "Kaleidoscope skies" (1997)).
According to Universal Music, he was found dead in his Berlin apartment on January 11, 2006, after suffering an apparent heart attack. On July 15, 2006, Löffel was remembered at the 2006 Love Parade with a live performance of his popular song, "Be Angeled", which was featured in the 2001 German film Be Angeled, in which Löffel performed. |
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Melanie Janene Thornton (May 13, 1967 - November 24, 2001) was an American pop singer who found fame in Germany and fronted the Eurodance group La Bouche, who formed hits such as "Be My Lover" and "Sweet Dreams" in the mid-1990s. She forged a moderately successful solo career in Germany before her death. Her hits include "Love How You Love Me", "Wonderful Dream", "Memories" and "Heartbeat". Thornton died in a plane crash near Bassersdorf, Switzerland. |