User:Eurodanceguy/sandbox

MAXX
Origin	Berlin, Germany
Genres	Eurodance
Years active	1993–1995, 2017-Present
Labels	Blow Up Records, Pulse-8 Records, Hansa Records, BMG (Berlin)
Members	Linda (Linda Meek) Jonn G.
Past members	Boris Köhler (Gary Bokoe) Samira Besic Eliz Yavuz (Alice Montana)
Website	maxx-musiclive.com

Maxx (short for MAX-mum X-tasy) is a popular eurodance duo act best known for the hit singles: "Get-A-Way", "No More (I Can't Stand It)", and "You Can Get It." Due to their creative mixture of raggamuffin style rap, female singing and uptempo dancefloor beats, Maxx became one of the a major hallmarks of European dancefloor music in the mid-1990's. The duo returned __

During their initial two year-run (1993-1995), the act itself went through noticeable changes in their lineup. Maxx originally consisted of German rapper Boris Köhler (stage Gary Bokoe) and German singer Samira Besic. When their debut single "Get-A-Way" became an surprise Top-10 European hit, Besic decided to leave the group to pursue a solo career. Unfortunately her departure happened before filming could begin on the music video for the single. As a result, singer-model Alice Montana (real name Eliz Yavuz) was hired to both star and lipsynch in Besic's place for the video. Montana was also fasley advertised as the voice behind the single and was featured on cassette/CD covers with Köhler. After an intense search English singer-songwriter Linda (aka Linda Meek) was later discovered and brought in to the act to be Besic's official replacement in early 1994. She recorded vocals for the followup Maxx signle "No More (I Can't Stand It)." The single became was also a major success on international music charts

History & Mainstream Success (1993-1994)

Group Orgins

In October 1993, music producers Jurgen Wind (aka George Torpey) and Frank Hassas (aka Dakota O'niel) were already hard at work producing for the group MC Sar & The Real McCoy as well as various other music projects for  Hansa Records in Berlin, Germany.  A&R Executive, David Brunner, worked closely with Wind and Hassas to market and promote their new music productions with varying degrees of success.

Songwriting and Production

After noticing the massive success of the hit single "Take Away the Colour" by Eurodance artist Ice MC, Wind also wanted to useing the ragamuffin style rap in a song and singing chrouses over his composing.  Brunner liked Wind's song idea and came up with the name Maxx for the project.  Songwriter, musician and music collaborator at Hansa Records, Bruce Hammond Earlam began helping Wind and Brunner searching for potential artists for the project. Wind and Brunner decided that Hansa records intern/apprentice Boris Kohler  would be the best choice as rapper for the project.  Kohler had already had some small success rapping under the name Bozo Der Boss for the music label. Kohler was first discovered by Earlam Earlam had already worked with Wind on various German music productions at Hansa Records including Kohler's single Ich Bin Der Farmer. The single was a humorous German cover version of Snow's "Informer."  Plans had been made for Kohler to release more material as Bozo Der Boss, but  Brunner that Kohler would be a better fit for Wind's new music project.  _____ .The song melody being composed by Wind went through various iterations until a final mix was realized with the help of co-producer Frank Hassas. Both producers spent hours experimenting with the E-mu_Emax keyboard and a Yamaha TG 500 digital workstation to produce the final mixes for the single. ____________________.  Earlam had already worked with Wind on previous music projects for Hansa Records. He wrote the song lyrics for the single and titled it Get-A-Way.  ____________ Singer Samira Besic was later discovered by Wind and was hired immediately to provide the singing chorus for the single.  Wind and Brunner initially struggled to find a unique group name for the project tossing around various ideas for a names.   Eventually, Brunner came up with the name  "Maxx" which stood for maximum ecstasy. However, that name was not initially available and they they had to wait until ____________

"Get-A-Way"

Maxx's first single "Get-A-Way" was released on October 1993.  At that time Hansa Records already had many different music releases out on the music market. While Get-A-way was believed to have some potential, it was not expected become a major success. However, the single almost overnight became a dance floor hit at night clubs all around Germany. The infectious beats and Kohler's ragga style rap blended with Besic's vocals became wildy popular in Germany and in nightclubs all around Europe. The single reached No. 11 on Germany music charts, while entering the top-5 in the UK, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands. It also entered the Top 10 in Switzerland and Norway.  By mid 1994, The single reached Gold Status in Germany for selling 400,000 units and silver status in the UK for 200,000 units.  In response to this massive unexpected success, Wind and Brunner made preliminary plans for more singles, an album and music videos. However, their singer (Besic) became uncomfortable with the idea of starring in music videos and being a live performer at singing gigs in front of large crowds. Besic only wanted to record vocals in studio.  She quickly exited the group to begin a solo career, late in 1993.  As a result, Turkish  model, Eliz Yavuz (stage name alice montana), was brought in to lip-sync for Besic in the group's first music video.  Yavuz also appeared in Besic's place alongside Köhler for magazine photoshoots

Controversy and Lawsuit

Italian producer Roberto Zanetti, producer of the artist Ice Mc accused Maxx of copy his artist Ice Mc and his hit "Take Away the Colour"  song "using ragamuffin rap however man their debut single "Get-A-Way" as a blatant copy of "Take Away the Colour."  While Get-A-Way features a very similar baseline and the use of ragamuffin rap -  however - However, many fans argue that while ragamuffin rap - the Maxx sound is very different from Ice Mc.

"No More (I Can't Stand It)"

In Janurary 1994, Maxx was still without a lead singer. Samira Besic had left the group shortly after the release of Get-A-Way, forcing the producers to hire a model to pose alongside Kohler for magazine photoshoots and the first maxx music video.   Get-A-Way was also still climbing various music charts around the world, putting the group into the industry spotlight. Wind and Brunner began an intense search for a replacement for Besic in Germany.  Bruce Hammond Earlam, writer of "Get-A-Way", offered to aide the producers in their search for a replacement singler since he had originally found both Besic and Köhler and had brought them to Hansa Records. After a month of searching, Earlam discovered British singer-songwriter Elyse_G._Rogers (then known as Linda Meek) in February 1994. At the time, Rogers was living in Osnabrück, Germany as a typist and secretary at a Military Police Station. At Earlam's suggestion, Wind and Brunner flew Rogers to Berlin to audtion for them in their studio.  Her audition material was an early version of the next planned Maxx singlealso written by Earlam.  Rogers impressed the producers with her vocal style and unique look.  Thanks to Earlam's campaigning for Rogers, she was chosen to be Besic's replacement.  At that point, Maxx's debut single was still at No. 4 on UK music charts and had been certified Gold in Germany.   Wind and Brunner's plan was to produce a new hit single with Rogers that would match the success of Get-A-Way.  The second Maxx signle titled: "No_More_(I_Can't_Stand_It)", was released in March 1994.  Rogers sang lead and backing vocals for the single while Kohler once again provided his ragga style rap for the song.  The single became a top 10 hit around Europe while peaking at No. 8 in the UK.  General audiences quickly embraced Rogers as the new vocalist of Maxx. She was advertised in German music magazines as "Die Engländerin Linda Meek", "Die Stimme von Maxx."  Rogers and Kohler were also heavily advertised together in pop music magazine covers all around Europe.  The music video for the single also received heavy rotation on MTV and on many other video channels worldwide.  By spring of 1994, an inter-continental buzz surrounded Maxx, putting them in high demand. Maxx's first single at this point had reached a total of 1.1 million in European sales while it's follow up single strengthened the group's commercial and club potential.   At the peak of the group's success,  Rogers and Köhler toured as a duo for 6 months, performing both singles live at various concert venues all around Germany, UK, Italy, Sweden, France and Canada. They also performed live on popular international music chart TV shows like Top of the Pops, Bravo_TV, Superclassifica Show, Power Vision and the long running French concert-television series called Dance Machine. Even though Rogers did not originally sing Get-A-Way or appear in the music video for that song; she became associated with the single, due to her powerful live covers of the song for concerts and live TV appearances.

"To The Maxximum" (Album)

After the major success of "Get-A-Way" and "No More (I Can’t Stand It)", Wind and Brunner wanted to continue their success with a new Maxx album.  The album was recorded, produced and mixed during the spring of 1994 in Berlin, Germany. All of the the final mixes were recorded using a standard 24-track analog tape machine.  Linda was only needed for a total of 7 days to record her singing vocals for the album. Kohler was needed for an even shorter amount of time to record his ragga style rap. Brunner and Hassas, however, spent a total of six to eight weeks mixing and mastering a total of 13 new music tracks for the album.  They once again used the E-mu_Emax keyboard and the Yamaha TG500 digital workstation to produce the new tracks in their Berlin Studio. They also experimented with various effects devices such as the Eventide H 3000 during the producing sessions. Instead of just repeating the style and rhythm of the first two singles, Wind and Hassas decided to experiment with a wide range of  music styles, melodies, and cultural rhythms to provide a unique ambience of each album track.  Songwriter Bruce_Hammond_Earlam returned to work closely with Wind and Hassas to write new song lyrics for Rogers and Kohler.  Earlam also provided essential percussion and drums for album tracks like "Vodoo Child" and "Ritmo De La Casa".  The album  tracks titled "Fight", "You Can Get It", and "I Want You" were the only newer songs on the album to mix Rogers' singing with Kohlers' ragga style rap.  Other songs like "Suddenly", "Heart of Stone", "Vodoo Child", "Ritmo De la Casa", and "Should I Stay, Should I Go" are all solo tracks for Rogers. The album track "Maxximum Extacy" is an uptempo track with only rap vocals by Kohler.  The album mainly showcases Rogers' vocal range and versatility since she was new to the group.  The final result is a unique blend of uptempo dance songs along with some slow moving chill-relax style songs.  Two dramatic instrumental tracks titled: "To the Maxximum, Part 1" and "To the Maxximum, Part 2"  start off the album incorporating _ and various soundeffects to _ of what's . Songs like Vodoo Child incorporate african tribal style percussion. While, Ritmo De La Casa, uses various Latin themes along with latin style percussion. Other album tracks like "Heart of Stone", "Should I Stay, Should I Go"  and "I Want You" and "I Can Make You Feel Like" were closer to the uptempo style of dance music common in the mid 90's incorporating strong base and ___.  The album was officially released in June 1994. Unfortunately, Wind and Hassas' experimentation with creating more variety for the debut album lead to mixed results. The album, while well produced, did not match of success of the first two singles. Worldwide reactions to the album by fans and music critics were mixed at the time. Some fans and dance music lovers enjoyed the variety and the unique sound of the album, while others were turned off by it.

While their debut album To The Maxximum album failed to match the massive sales of Get-A-Way and No More I Can't Stand It, the album was not considered a total failure. It still sold well in Germany charting at No. 22 on German music charts. The album also performed well in Sweden charting at No. 10 and in Finland at No.6.  However, it failed to perform well in critical territories like the United Kingdom only charting at No. 66. However, the group still had a strong following among dance music fans all around all Europe and especially in Germany.

"You Can Get It"

You Can Get It was picked from the album to be the third single and was released in September 1994.  At that time the release, the single received a heavy promotional push in German music magazines.   It's accompanying music video was filmed at Hotel Gellért (a famous spa hotel in Budapest, Hungary). Various portions of the video were filmed within the the massive hot water steam baths inside the hotel.  The theme of the video is about old men trying to get to a fountain of youth. In the video the old men are led by Kohler (dressed in black monk attire)  down a long corridor. Once as they get dressed in special ceremonial white monk attire, Rogers is then seen in the music video pouring magic youth potion into the baths. Once that happens the old men in the video are then seen racing to the baths to become youthful again, hence the theme "You Can Get It."   Rogers and Kohler also added this song to their live act and performed it live with the groups first two singles. You Can Get It featured a fast uptempo dance beat different from their previous two singles. While it reached No. 21 in the UK music charts and enjoyed good airplay on European radio stations; It still failed to attract the same level of popularity that the previous two singles did.

"Power of Love"

In October 1994, the company behind the Bravo Hits compilation CD series asked the Maxx producers to provide them with an all new original dance music track for their upcoming Christmas themed compilation CD titled Bravo_Dance_X-Mas. The producers felt this would be a good way to keep their popularity going in Germany and keep their name in the spotlight. The song they produced was a fast uptempo dance song titled Power of Love  and, as expected, featured a mix of Rogers' singing vocals and Kohler's ragga style rap. The song was only made available on this particular compilation CD and was never released in any other format.

Maxx Decline (1995)

By 1995, Maxx, like many European dance music acts at that time, had become widely commercialized and overexposed. Maxx had two major hit singles that brought them international fame and massive record sales.  Even though Maxx still had strong fanbase in Germany; general dance music audiences around the world began to quickly loose interest in Maxx.

I Can Make You Feel Like

I_Can_Make_You_Feel_Like  was picked off the album to be the fourth Maxx single in May 1995. No accompanying music videos were filmed for the single. The song only features Roger's singing and no rap vocals by Kohler.  The single did not perform well only charting at No.56 in the UK.

Move Your Body

A final non-album single titled "Move_Your_Body" was released in October 1995. The single imitated the Reel_2_Real song I Like to Move It  and only charted in Austria peaking at No.18 and in Finland at No.16. The single only features rap vocals by Kohler. A music video for this song was filmed featuring Kohler and Rogers in a abandoned warehouse setting. While the song only features rap lyrics by Kohler, Rogers can be seen directly next Kohler in the music video. Rogers and Kohler also performed "Move_Your_Body" live on the German music television program called Power_Vision in 1995. This single was the last song recorded by Maxx.

Maxx Return (2017)

In Februrary 1994, English singer-songwriter Linda Meek was hired to be Besic's official replacement. She recorded vocals for the single ,"No More (I Can't Stand It)."  When the single debuted in March 1994, it quickly became a top 10 hit in Europe like its predecessor. It peaked at No. 8 in the UK and it's music video received heavy rotation on MTV (UK).

By the Spring of 1994, an inter-continental buzz had surrounded Maxx. 'Get-A-Way' had managed to remain in the No.4 spot in the UK, while reaching Gold status in Germany after selling over 1.1 million units worldwide.  "No More (I Can't Stand It)" had also nearly match number of sales as "Get-A-Way."  At the peak of the groups' success, Maxx performed live at various concert venues all around Germany, UK, Italy, Sweden, France and Canada. The group also performed live on popular music chart TV shows like Top_of_the_Pops, Bravo_TV, MTV (UK) and Dance Machine. Their debut album, To The Maxximum, was released in June 1994. While the album failed to match the massive sales numbers of "Get-A-Way" and "No More (I Can't Stand It)," it still generated a third hit single titled "You Can Get It " that debuted at No.21 in the UK  in September 1994.

In Octorber of 1994, Maxx recorded a song titled "Power of Love." The song featured on a compilation CD titled "Bravo Dance X-Mas," which  showcased songs by other major eurodance acts of 1994 (i.e. Mr. President, Masterboy, Magic Affair, La_Bouche). "Power of Love," was never released as a single.

By 1995, Maxx's success had begun to wind down. Their ingles "Get-A-Way" and "No More (I Can't Stand It" and "You Can Get It" brought the group massive success. But, after the lukewarm reception of their debut album general audiances began to quickly loose interest in Maxx. A final album single titled "I Can Make You Feel Like" was released in May 1995. The single was not a commceial success only charting at No.56 on UK music charts.  A non-album single titled "Move Your Body" was released in October 1995 along with an accompanying music video. The melody of this single closely resembled the style of the Reel 2 Real single titled I_Like_to_Move_It. The single also also failed to perform commercially and  only charting in Finland and Austria. Maxx quickly disbanded in 1996.

in 2014.

2017.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		GER	AUT	FIN	NETH	SWE	SWI	UK
To the Maxximum	Released: June 22, 1994 Label: Blow Up Formats: CD, Cassette, Vinyl	22	32	6	25	10	29	66

Singles

Year	Peak chart positions										Certifications	Album
	GER	AUT	FIN	FRA	IRE	NETH	NOR	SWE	SWI	UK
"Get-A-Way"	1993	11
5	15	8	3	8	3	8	4	GER: Gold UK: Silver	To the Maxximum
"No More (I Can't Stand It)"	1994	10
2		16	11	6	8	4	12	8
"You_Can_Get_It"	—	25
28	—	32	—	37	—	21
"I_Can_Make_You_Feel_Like"	1995	—
—		—	—	—	—	—	—	56
"Move_Your_Body"	—	18
—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Non-album single