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Maxx (group)

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Maxx
OriginBerlin, Germany
GenresEurodance
Years active1993-1995; 2014-present
Labels
  • Intercord
  • Blow Up
  • Remixed Records
  • Pulse-8 Records
MembersLinda Meek ("Elyse")
George Torpey
The Hitman
Past membersGary Bokoe
Alice Montana
Samira Besic
Dakota O'niel
Dawhite
WebsiteOfficial Maxx Website

Maxx is 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)"[1] and "You Can Get It."[2] The project name 'Maxx' is an abbreviation for Maximum Xstasy.

Group Origins (1993)

Maxx was the result of the successful but short-lived collaboration between music executive David Brunner and music producer Juergen Wind (J. Wind) under the German Dance-pop label known as Blow Up (a sub-label of Intercord).

Prior to forming Maxx in mid-1993, Brunner had first collaborated with Wind when developing the new single release for M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy under Hansa Records (BMG Berlin). Wind and his co-producer Frank Hassas (Quickmix) had produced the single "Another Night" under the team name Freshline while Brunner had planned out the distribution strategy for the single as an A&R executive at Hansa/BMG. The single "Another Night" was released in the Summer of 1993, but had achieved mixed results in Europe, barely making the Top 100 in several countries. Following the disappointment, Brunner and Wind quickly began developing an all new single release for the Maxx project under Blow Up. Wind handled the music production for the single with support from Hassas while Brunner mapped out the marketing, promotion, distribution and sales strategies. To avoid conflicts with Hansa Records and remain anonymous in the Maxx credits, the team used producer aliases and a pseudonym in place of the production team name Freshline. Wind and Hassas were credited as producers under the names "George Torpey" and "Dakota O'niel" and the team name "The Movement." Brunner was credited as Executive Producer of the project under the name "The Hitman." Olaf Jeglitza (the rapper of M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy) was falsely tied into the Maxx credits under the name "Dawhite" due to his strong affiliation with Wind and Hassas and their production company Freshline Records. In reality, Jeglitza had no involvement in the production or songwriting for Maxx. The raggamuffin (ragga) style rap lyrics of Maxx were composed by songwriter Bruce Hammond Earlam (from Bruce & Bongo). Due to contractual restraints, Earlam could not officially receive credit for his songwriting role in the project and therefore went uncredited. Maxx rapper Boris Köhler (Gary Bokoe) received Earlam's songwriting credits instead.[3]

Success with "Get-A-Way" & "No More" (1994)

The debut single "Get-A-Way" featured vocals from Köhler and singer Samira Besic. Due to unknown circumstances, she was forced to depart the project before filming could begin on the music video for the single. A dancer and model named Eliz Yavuz (Alice Montana) was quickly hired to take Besic's place and mime her vocals for the video. In the early stages of the promotion for the single, Yavuz and Köhler were featured together in the initial press photos for Maxx. Yavuz was also falsely advertised as the voice of the single.[4]

"Get-A-Way" was officially released in Germany by Intercord via Blow Up on October 27, 1993. The single became an overnight success in the country reaching No.11 on the charts and remained there for over 26 weeks. It later earned Gold status in Germany for selling over 400,000 units.[5] The single was also a major success in neighboring countries like Austria where it reached No.3 and in Switzerland where it reached No.8. In the United Kingdom,[6] "Get-A-Way" had reached No. 4 on the charts and had later earned Silver status in the country for selling over 200,000 units. The single was also successful in Scotland reaching No. 6 and Ireland at No.8. Thanks to the promotional efforts of Remixed Records, the single was an even bigger success in Scandinavia. In Sweden it charted at No.3, in Denmark at No.4, Finland at No.5, and Norway at No. 8.[7] "Get-A-Way" was also a success in Belgium, The Netherlands, Israel and France while also appearing in the Eurochart Hot 100.

After an intense search in Germany for a replacement singer for Besic, British singer-songwriter Linda Meek was discovered early in 1994. After joining the project as the new lead singer, she immediately began performing live gigs with Köhler as Maxx in Europe. After their debut performance on Top of the Pops, Meek and Köhler then began recording vocals for the second Maxx single "No More (I Can't Stand It)." The single was offically released on March 1st, 1994 and was a massive success like it's predecessor reaching the Top 5 in over 18 countries. The success of both singles lead to recurring appearances on Top of the Pops and performances on other major music chart shows in Europe like France's Dance Machine, Italy's Superclassifica Show and MTV Europe. By mid-1994, "Get-A-Way" had sold over 1.1 million units across Europe.[8] While Meek didn't originally sing vocals on "Get-A-Way" or appear in the music video for that single, she became closely associated with the single by the media due to her performing the single while on tour and on live television appearances for Maxx. Meek was also featured in various 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).

At the height of Maxx's success in mid-1994, Wind and Brunner were beginning to have notable success with M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy as well. Under the names "J. Wind" and "Quickmix" and the team name "Freshline," Wind and Hassas had produced the hit singles "Automatic Lover (Call for Love)" and "Run Away" under BMG Berlin (Hansa). The single "Another Night" was also beginning to grow in popularity in Canada and Europe alongside the massive success of the Maxx hits. At this phase, Brunner had taken over the music publishing duties for both projects through his company Maxximum Songs (Maxximum Music).

Following the success of "Get-A-Way" and "No More (I Can't Stand It)," Wind and Hassas immediately began work on the debut Maxx album To The Maxximum. The duo produced a total of 13 new music tracks for the album while simultaneously producing Space Invaders, the sophomore album of M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy. To The Maxximum was officially released in June 16, 1994 and reached No. 22 on the German chart. The album was also a major success in Scandinavia, reaching No. 10 in Sweden and No. 6 in Finland. It also peaked at No.28 on the European Top 100 Albums chart. While the album was a commercial success in Europe, it still failed to match the massive sales of the first two singles. The album had also failed in key territories like the United Kingdom where it peaked at No. 66.  

The Maxx 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 peaked at No.31 on the Eurochart Hot 100. While still commercially 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 31, 1994, the Maxx song "Power of Love," was released exclusively on a Bravo Hits compilation music CD called "Bravo Dance X-Mas."

Thanks to the success of "Another Night" in Canada, Arista Records had become interested in bringing M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy to the U.S. market, despite Maxx's greater success in the European market at the time.

Group Decline & Hiatus (1995)

By mid-1995, Maxx had made a sharp decline in commercial sales and was now struggling to score new hits on the European charts. The Maxx album track "I Can Make You Feel Like" had been selected to be the fourth single release in May 1995. For unknown reasons, the single received limited distribution in the United Kingdom via Pulse-8 Records and only peaked at No.56 on the singles chart in that country.

While Wind and Brunner were now struggling to create new Maxx hits, the two were having unparalleled success with M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy (re-branded as Real McCoy) . Thanks to the promotional efforts of Arista Records and BMG, Real McCoy had achieved platinum sales in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia while also achieving new in the European market.

The fifth and final Maxx single "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 and only charted in Austria peaking at No.18 and in Finland at No.16. For unknown reasons, the single was not distributed in any other key territories. A music video for "Move Your Body" 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 ZDF television performance by Meek and Köhler was the last time the duo performed together as Maxx. Due to declining record sales, creative differences and other major conflicts within the production team, the Maxx project officially dissolved late in 1995.

Comeback (2014-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.[9] Two years later, he appeared again as Maxx at a '90s festival at the Velodrom in Berlin Germany.[10]

Late in December 2016, an official Maxx website surfaced online announcing the reunion between Maxx original vocalist Linda Meek (now known by the singer name 'Elyse') and the Maxx founders David Brunner and Juergen Wind. The website revealed their new plans for an official relaunch of Maxx without Köhler's involvement and a new European tour in 2017 with only Meek involved. [11] On August 8th, 2017, Köhler did his final live performance in Katowice, Poland under the name "Gary B. from Maxx" with an unknown singer.[12]


On August 25th, 2017, Meek made her highly anticipated comeback performance as Maxx at the "We Love The 90's Estonia" festival in Tallinn.[13] 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.

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions
GER
[14] 		AUT
[15] 		FIN
[16] 		NETH
[17] 		SWE
[18] 		SWI
[19] 		UK
[6]
To The Maxximum
  • Released: June 22, 1994
  • Label: Blow Up
  • Formats: CD, Cassette, Vinyl
 22 32 6 25 10 29 66

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
GER
[4] 		AUT
[15] 		FIN
[16] 		FRA
[20] 		IRE
[21] 		NETH
[22] 		NOR
[23] 		SWE
[18] 		SWI
[24] 		UK
[6]
"Get-A-Way" 1993 11 3 5 15 8 3 8 3 8 4 To The Maxximum
"No More (I Can't Stand It)" 1994 10 9 2 16 11 6 8 4 12 8
"You Can Get It" — 25 13 28 — 32 — 37 — 21
"I Can Make You Feel Like" 1995 — — — — — — — — — 56
"Move Your Body" — 18 15 — — — — — — — Non-album single

Compilation features

  • 1994: "Power of Love" - Bravo Dance X-Mas [26]

Remixes

  • 1993: Get-A-Way (Remixes)
  • 1993: Get-A-Way (UK Remixes)
  • 1994: No More (I Can't Stand It) (Remixes)
  • 1994: No More (I Can't Stand It) (UK Remixes)
  • 1994: You Can Get It (Remixes)
  • 2017: Get-A-Way (Reloaded)

References

  1. ^ "Germany: Hitmakers '94". Billboard Magazine. 1994-12-03. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  2. ^ "Hits of the U.K." Billboard Magazine. 1994-10-29. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  3. ^ "Maxx Bio - International Artists Holland". Internatioanl artists. 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  4. ^ a b "Charts.de: Maxx (Singles)" (in German). Charts.de. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  5. ^ a b "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Maxx)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  6. ^ a b c "Official Charts > Maxx". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  7. ^ "Maxx: Get-A-Away". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  8. ^ GSA (Germany) Hitmakers '94. December 3, 1994. Retrieved June 19, 2018. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  9. ^ "Club Onniteekki: Maxx (GER) la 15.03.2014 22:00". Meteli.net. 2014-04-15. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  10. ^ "Velodrom 03.12.: 6 Jahre Mega Sause". gaesteliste030.de. 2016-03-12. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  11. ^ "Maxx History / Announcement (2016)". maxxmusic90s.com. 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  12. ^ "Katowice 90 Festival 2017 PROGRAM". dziennikzachodni.pl. 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  13. ^ "Retrostaarid Alphaville, Kate Ryan ja MAXX saadavad eestlastele tervitusi: please, tulge meid vaatama!". publik.delfi.ee. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  14. ^ "Charts.de: Maxx (Albums)" (in German). Charts.de. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
  15. ^ a b "austriancharts.at: Maxx". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  16. ^ a b Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 9789511210535.
  17. ^ "GfK Dutch Charts: Maxx (Albums)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  18. ^ a b "swedishcharts.com: Maxx". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  19. ^ "swisscharts.com: Maxx (Albums)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  20. ^ "lescharts.com: Maxx (Singles)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  21. ^ Search for Ireland peak positions
  22. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40: Maxx". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  23. ^ ": Maxx (Singles)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  24. ^ "swisscharts.com: Maxx (Singes)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  25. ^ "Certified Awards Search". BPI. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  26. ^ "Bravo Dance X-Mas 1994". discogs.com. 2018-07-27. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
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