Dr Alban "It's My Life"

Dr. Alban (born Alban Nwapa, August 26, 1957 in Awomama, Nigeria) is a Stockholm, Sweden-based musician and producer with his own record label dr-records. His music can best be described as a Eurodance/hip-hop reggae with a dancehall style. Alban Uzoma Nwapa was born into a middle class family of 10 children in Oguta, Imo state, Nigeria and had his secondary education at Christ The King College, Aba, Nigeria. He spent most of his youth in his hometown Oguta. His father was a dentist. He grew up listening to Fela Kuti and James Brown. At age 23, he travelled to Sweden to study dentistry. In order to be able to finance his studies, Nwapa started making music. He worked as a DJ in the Stockholm club 'Alphabet Street'. Very quickly his name became widely known, especially since Alban often sang to the records he put on the turntable. DJ René couldn't help but notice him and so he was discovered. Alban finished his studies and even opened his own dentistry practice, keeping his disk jockeying as a lucrative sideline. In 1990, he met with Denniz PoP from the SweMix label. Together with Denniz and Rap-Queen Leila K, his first record, "Hello Africa" - his declaration of love for his African home - broke all records. Alban Xhezair Nwapa took the stage name Dr. Alban, a nod to his dental studies. His debut album Hello Africa sold roughly 1 million copies world-wide.One year later this success was surpassed by the second album One Love. 1.6 million singles of the song "It's My Life" were sold (the single was even used as background music for a Tampax advert). It was #1 in the Netherlands, Israel and Germany and #2 in the UK. The following single "One Love" was #5 in Israel. The album immediately sold over 1.7 million units. Then followed the albums Look Who's Talking and Born In Africa. All in all, Dr. Alban has racked up world-wide sales of over 5 million albums and over 6 million singles, which resulted in 7 times Silver, 30 times Gold and 30 times Platinum. His hit single "No Coke" was used to illustrate an anti-drugs campaign in Sweden. The single "Sing Hallelujah" reached #5 in Israel. After a re-release of "No Coke", Dr. Alban confirmed his Euro dance style with his hit "Look Who's Talking", which reached #4 in Israel, #6 at MTV Europe, and #54 in UK. "Let The Beat Go On" was #12 in Israel, and #12 at MTV9. [Wikipedia]

Bomfunk MC's "Freestyler"

The Bomfunk MC's are a robot hip hop and hip hop act, formed in 1997 in Finland. The group's front man is B.O. Dubb (formerly known as B.O.W., born Raymond Ebanks) and the main producer is Jaakko "JS16" Salovaara. The debut release was the 1999's album In Stereo (Sony Music) with the singles "Freestyler", "Uprocking Beats" and "B-Boys & Flygirls", all big hits in Finland. The success led to the release of "Freestyler" in Scandinavia and Germany. "Uprocking Beats" reached #1 position on Finnish Dance charts. In Stereo sold over 600,000 units. By 1999, "Freestyler" had become a big hit in Europe and it was the year's biggest-selling single in Europe. The single reached number one in Australia, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands,Italy and Germany, and number two in the UK. Also in 2000, they won Best Nordic Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Nevertheless, the single did spark a little controversy. The line "Who the fuck is Alice, is she from Buckingham Palace?" was censored on the UK radio version, and the video featured a lot of product placement by Sony. [Wikipedia]

JS16 "Lights Go Wild"

JS16, real name Jaakko Salovaara, is a Finnish musician and record producer. He owns the dance music record label 16 Inch Records. His first release was the vinyl Hypnosynthesis at the age of 16 (explaining the number 16 in his artist name). With the release of the club/dance music album Stomping System in 1998 and hits like "Stomp to My Beat" and "Love Supreme", he gained the Finnish audience's attention. Furthermore, the single "Stomping System" also reached #6 on the UK Club Chart. JS16 has also gained fame by being the producer of Finnish rap/electro group Bomfunk MC's, with three albums and the European megahit "Freestyler" (2000). He has also produced international club anthems like "Sandstorm" and "Feel the Beat" with the Finnish DJ Darude. In 2002 he produced the JS16 Remix and the JS16 Dub of Britney Spears hit single Overprotected. His remix was even included on the CD soundtrack of Britney's debut film Crossroads. Currently JS16 is producing the Finnish group Mighty 44. Additionally, he is a member of the group Dallas Superstars, alongside his countryman Bostik (aka Heikki Liimatainen). Their debut album was the 2003 Flash, with hits like "I Feel Love" (reached #1 on Finnish and Swedish Dance Charts) and "Fast Driving", a #4 on the UK Club Chart in the summer of 2004. [Wikipedia]

Darude "Feel the Beat"

Ville Virtanen (born July 17, 1975), better known by his stage name Darude is a trance producer and DJ from Finland. Debuting in 1995, he released in late 1999 the hit single "Sandstorm" and subsequent album Before the Storm. Darude is known worldwide for his progressive/uplifting style. Sandstorm" was a smash hit in Finland, topping the Finnish Single Chart, selling platinum and holding the #1 spot on the Finnish Dance Chart for seventeen consecutive weeks. Word quickly spread about the track, which found global success. After becoming the #3 single in the United Kingdom (becoming the first record by a Finnish artist to do so), "Sandstorm" eventually sold 2 million units worldwide, and was the world's biggest selling 12-inch record in 2000. Shortly thereafter, Darude released his debut album, Before the Storm, selling 800,000 copies worldwide, topping the Finnish album charts, and earning him three Finnish Grammy awards. Before the Storm was produced by JS16, and features two of his remixes. Darude's second single, "Feel the Beat," closely followed the success of "Sandstorm", reaching #5 on the UK Singles Chart. Subsequent releases, "Out of Control," and "Out of Control (Back for More)" (a remix of the former, featuring vocals by Tammie Marie) failed to match the success of Darude's first two singles. Darude began a successful world tour in 2001, releasing Before the Storm: Australian Tour Edition in the process. 2002 saw the release of Before the Storm: Special Edition, featuring a collection of remixes of Darude's work. Since the release of Rush, Darude has remained on the road, particularly the United States and Eastern Europe. In 2003, Darude released his second album, Rush, along with singles "Music" and "Next to You". All three had modest success, with Rush reaching #4 in weekly Finnish album sales and "Next to You" being commonly featured in DJ mixes. [Wikipedia]

Darude "Sandstorm"

Ville Virtanen (born July 17, 1975), better known by his stage name Darude is a trance producer and DJ from Finland. Debuting in 1995, he released in late 1999 the hit single "Sandstorm" and subsequent album Before the Storm. Darude is known worldwide for his progressive/uplifting style. Sandstorm" was a smash hit in Finland, topping the Finnish Single Chart, selling platinum and holding the #1 spot on the Finnish Dance Chart for seventeen consecutive weeks. Word quickly spread about the track, which found global success. After becoming the #3 single in the United Kingdom (becoming the first record by a Finnish artist to do so), "Sandstorm" eventually sold 2 million units worldwide, and was the world's biggest selling 12-inch record in 2000. Shortly thereafter, Darude released his debut album, Before the Storm, selling 800,000 copies worldwide, topping the Finnish album charts, and earning him three Finnish Grammy awards. Before the Storm was produced by JS16, and features two of his remixes. Darude's second single, "Feel the Beat," closely followed the success of "Sandstorm", reaching #5 on the UK Singles Chart. Subsequent releases, "Out of Control," and "Out of Control (Back for More)" (a remix of the former, featuring vocals by Tammie Marie) failed to match the success of Darude's first two singles. Darude began a successful world tour in 2001, releasing Before the Storm: Australian Tour Edition in the process. 2002 saw the release of Before the Storm: Special Edition, featuring a collection of remixes of Darude's work. Since the release of Rush, Darude has remained on the road, particularly the United States and Eastern Europe. In 2003, Darude released his second album, Rush, along with singles "Music" and "Next to You". All three had modest success, with Rush reaching #4 in weekly Finnish album sales and "Next to You" being commonly featured in DJ mixes. [Wikipedia]

Cascada "Everytime We Touch"

Cascada is a German Eurodance group most famous for their hit singles "Everytime We Touch" (which won them a World Music Award in 2007) and "What Hurts the Most". They have so far sold an estimated 4 million copies of their two albums worldwide. Cascada consists of singer Natalie Horler, and producers DJ Manian and Yanou. [Wikipedia]

La Cream "You"

La Cream was short-lived Swedish eurodance band. They released only one album, Sound & Vision (1998), but had several hit singles. Duo consisted of songstress/dancer Tess and DJ/producer Andréz. Their lyrics were mixture of French, Spanish and English. Band split up as Tess Mattisson pursued a solo career. [Wikipedia]

Pandora "Trust Me"

Pandora is a Swedish eurodance artist. Her real name is Anneli Magnusson (born June 20, 1970, in Västerås). Pandora was most popular during the 1990s, mainly in the Nordic countries. [Wikipedia]

Drömhus "Vill Ha Dig"

Vill ha dej (English: I Want You) is 1980 single by Swedish synthpop group Freestyle. Side B of the vinyl contains English language versions of songs on the A side. It did stay #1 in Svensktoppen for 5 consecutive weeks. The song was covered in 1998 by another Swedish artist Drömhus and was featured by Lorén Talhaoui in 2004 Swedish Idol compilation Det bästa från Idol 2004. [Wikipedia]

ATB "Let You Go"

"Let U Go" is a song originally written by the Canadian musicians Ken Harrison and Roberta Michaels as "Wrong to Let You Go". This pop-rock song, recorded by the Wild Strawberries, the band consisting of Harrison and his wife Roberta Carter, first appeared on volume 3 of the compilation album series Women & Songs, then on the Wild Strawberries album Twist (2000). German dance DJ and producer ATB remixed the song and released it twice as a single, it being ATB's 6th and 15th single releases. The first version of the song was released on CD 1 (The World of Movement) of ATB's second album Two Worlds, which was released in 2000. The song bore a similar sound to prior singles "The Fields of Love" and "The Summer" from the same album. A year later ATB remixed the song again for a single release. By doing this he stepped away from his traditional sound and created a harder dance track, leaving out pitch-bends and guitar sounds. Apart from these changes, a second verse was also added to the song and a new main-hook was created. The single became one of ATB's biggest hits in his home country Germany, while peaking at number 34 in the United Kingdom. Eventually this version of the song appeared on his third album Dedicated, which also contained additional songs produced from the now-ongoing collaboration between Tanneberger and the Wild Strawberries. [Wikipedia]

Armin van Buuren feat. Sharon den Andel "In And Out of Love"

Imagine is the third studio album of trance producer Armin van Buuren. The first single "Going Wrong" was debuted on Armin Van Buuren's A State Of Trance radio show. The single sees the collaboration of Armin Van Buuren with DJ Shah and Chris Jones. On iTunes, "If You Should Go" was offered as a bonus along with the Inpetto Vs. Duderstadt version which was only up for pre-order. It debuted at #4 on the US Billboard's Top Electronic Albums Chart. "In and Out of Love" which featured Sharon den Adel from band Within Temptation became the second single off Imagine. [Wikipedia]

Fragma "Everytime You Need Me"

Fragma, or the Fragma Project are a German dance project, originally comprising four members. Their most successful single "Toca's Miracle" reached #1 in the UK, selling over 500,000 copies. [Wikipedia]

Sash! feat. Stunt "Raindrops (Encore Une Fois)"

"Raindrops" is a dance music song released in 2006, the first international hit by the relatively new production team Stunt. Produced in the Canada by Dave Valler and Gary Johnson, its synthesizer-based rhythm and powerful vocals by Molly Smitten-Downes have made it a top 3 hit dance single in the U.S., reaching #18 on the World Dance/Trance Top 30 Singles charts in April 2006. As remixing is popular in dance music communities, at least six different mixes have been released. Lyrically, "Raindrops" compares the feeling of "raindrops on my skin" to love. A large portion of the song's success is attributed to the synth-based sample of Sash!'s UK hit Encore Une Fois, although it is modernised and developed. [Wikipedia]