THE EURODANCE ENCYCLOPAEDIA
 
Kullai_timi Gala Rebeca Dante_alana Whigfield Ann_lee Nance

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U96   (Germany)

 group
Added : 20/11/2001
45758


Das Boot
Replugged
Club Bizarre
Heaven
Rhythm Of Life
Best Of 1991-2001
Out Of Wilhelmsburg
Reboot
Transhuman
20.000 Meilen Unter dem Meer
Das Boot
I Wanna Be A Kennedy
Ambient Underworld
Come 2gether / Der Kommandant
Megamix (Das Boot / Kennedy)
Night In Motion
Love Sees No Colour
Club Bizarre
Inside Your Dreams
Love Religion
Boot II
Movin'
Heaven
A Night To Remember
Venus In Chains
Calling The Angels
Flash's Theme
Seven Wonders
In Your Mind
Energie
Beweg Dich, Baby
Das Boot 2001
We Call It Love
Vorbei
Mr. DJ Put On The Red Light
Planet Earth
Dark Matter
Das Boot 2017
Losing Our Time
Zukunftsmusik
Angels
Das Boot 2018
Quo Vadis
Night On Earth
Nightride
Let Yourself Go
Das Boot v2
New Life
Atlantis
Ich, Nemo
Dance Hall Days
Love Message
90 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Latest U96 news

11/05/2023 : Daisy Dee could be back with U96 for a new single. She is also working on a best of album (Thanks to Tavi Meran)

12/04/2023 : U96's new single will be entitled Dance Hall Days, a cover of Wang Chung, and it will be out on April 28th

25/09/2022 : DJ Effe dedicated his latest video megamix to U96

29/01/2022 : U96 created a show inspired from Jules Verne's 20 miles under the see for Planetarium Hamburg, with actors Claude Oliver Rudolph and Steve Karier

24/07/2020 : U96 and Wolfgang Flür released a limited double red vinyl entitled Transhuman

15/07/2020 : Discover the videoclip for U96's new single Let Yourself Go, from forthcoming album Transhuman

26/05/2020 : Next U96 single will be entitled Let Yourself Go

More news

 

U96 albums

Das Boot Das Boot 6th Mar 1992
BUY
Replugged Replugged 4th Jun 1993
BUY
Club Bizarre Club Bizarre 17th Feb 1995
BUY
Heaven Heaven 24th May 1996
BUY
Rhythm Of Life Rhythm Of Life (unreleased) 1999
BUY
Best Of 1991-2001 Best Of 1991-2001 21st Apr 2000
BUY
Out Of Wilhelmsburg Out Of Wilhelmsburg 2007
BUY
Reboot Reboot 29th Jun 2018
BUY
Transhuman Transhuman (with Wolfgang Flür) 2 CDs Nov 2020
BUY
20.000 Meilen Unter dem Meer 20.000 Meilen Unter dem Meer 9th Sep 2022
BUY

 

U96 singles

Das Boot Das Boot 28th Jan 1991  
BUY
I Wanna Be A Kennedy I Wanna Be A Kennedy Feb 1992  
BUY
Ambient Underworld Ambient Underworld Jun 1992  
BUY
Come 2gether / Der Kommandant Come 2gether / Der Kommandant 25th Sep 1992  
BUY
Megamix (Das Boot / Kennedy) Megamix (Das Boot / Kennedy) Nov 1992  
BUY
Night In Motion Night In Motion 19th Mar 1993  
BUY
Love Sees No Colour Love Sees No Colour 21st May 1993  
BUY
Club Bizarre Club Bizarre 17th Feb 1994  
BUY
Inside Your Dreams Inside Your Dreams 27th Feb 1994  
BUY
Love Religion Love Religion 14th Oct 1994  
BUY
Boot II Boot II 1995  
BUY
Movin' Movin' 1st Jun 1995  
BUY
Heaven Heaven 22nd Apr 1996  
BUY
A Night To Remember A Night To Remember 5th Jul 1996  
BUY
Venus In Chains Venus In Chains Oct 1996  
BUY
Calling The Angels Calling The Angels Promo only 1997  
BUY
Flash's Theme Flash's Theme (on compilation Queen Dance Traxx) 1997  
BUY
Seven Wonders Seven Wonders 12th May 1997  
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In Your Mind In Your Mind (unreleased) 1998  
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Energie Energie 11th May 1998  
BUY
Beweg Dich, Baby Beweg Dich, Baby 8th Aug 1998  
BUY
Das Boot 2001 Das Boot 2001 14th Dec 2000  
BUY
We Call It Love We Call It Love 2nd May 2003  
BUY
Vorbei Vorbei 3rd Mar 2006  
BUY
Mr. DJ Put On The Red Light Mr. DJ Put On The Red Light (feat. Das Bo) Dec 2006  
BUY
Planet Earth Planet Earth 12th Jan 2015  
BUY
Dark Matter Dark Matter 26th Oct 2015  
BUY
Das Boot 2017 Das Boot 2017 7th Jul 2017  
BUY
Losing Our Time Losing Our Time 15th Dec 2017  
BUY
Zukunftsmusik Zukunftsmusik (feat. Wolfgang Flür) 30th Mar 2018  
BUY
Angels Angels 15th Jun 2018  
BUY
Das Boot 2018 Das Boot 2018 (feat DJ T.H & Nadi Sunrise) 16th Nov 2018  
BUY
Quo Vadis Quo Vadis (feat. Joachim Witt) 8th Feb 2019  
BUY
Night On Earth Night On Earth (feat. Amy Fasola) 21st Jun 2019  
BUY
Nightride Nightride 8th May 2020  
BUY
Let Yourself Go Let Yourself Go 3rd Jul 2020  
BUY
Das Boot v2 Das Boot v2 15th Nov 2021  
BUY
New Life New Life 13th May 2022  
BUY
Atlantis Atlantis (feat. Claude-Oliver Rudolph) 24th Jun 2022  
BUY
Ich, Nemo Ich, Nemo (feat. Claude-Oliver Rudolph) 19th Aug 2022  
BUY
Dance Hall Days Dance Hall Days 28th Apr 2023  
BUY

 

U96 remixes

Das Boot Das Boot 1991  
BUY
Ambient Underworld Ambient Underworld 1992  
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Come 2Gether Come 2Gether 1992  
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Love Sees No Colour (Bass Bumpers Remix) Love Sees No Colour (Bass Bumpers Remix) 1993  
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Night In Motion (Bass Bumpers Remix) Night In Motion (Bass Bumpers Remix) 1993  
BUY
Inside Your Dreams Inside Your Dreams 1994  
BUY
Inside Your Dreams (Remixes Vol. II) Inside Your Dreams (Remixes Vol. II) 1994  
BUY
Love Religion Love Religion 1994  
BUY
I Wanna Be A Kennedy I Wanna Be A Kennedy Jan 1994  
BUY
Club Bizarre Club Bizarre 1995  
BUY
Movin' Movin' 1995  
BUY
A Night To Remember A Night To Remember 1996  
BUY
Venus In Chains Venus In Chains 1996  
BUY
Seven Wonders Seven Wonders 1997  
BUY
Night In Motion Night In Motion 27th Sep 2019  
BUY
Love Religion Love Religion 4th Apr 2020  
BUY
Dance Hall Days (Retro Club mix) Dance Hall Days (Retro Club mix) 16th Jun 2023  
BUY
Dance Hall Days (Schneider & Groenefeld remix) Dance Hall Days (Schneider & Groenefeld remix) 11th Aug 2023  
BUY

 

Featurings and collaborations

Love Message Love Message - Love Message 9th Feb 1996  
BUY

 



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U96 biography

In 1991, German producer Alex Christensen and a team of producers named Matiz (Ingo Hauss, Helmut Hoinkis, and Hayo Lewerentz) had the idea to present Klaus Doldinger's main soundtrack-theme of one of his favourite movies 'Das Boot' (by Wolfgang Peterson) in a techno-version. This extremely dynamic and powerful track with a lot of electronic sounds and underwater effects took German floor entirely while it peaked the charts in many countries: Norway, England, Denmark, Sweden, France, Holland, Belgium and Finland. Interestingly enough, this track made it to US and was released by a virtually unknown American label named 'Cohiba Records'. Das Boot was the first Platin-Maxi Single by this group, it sold at more than 500 000 copies.

In the beginning of 1993 U 96 released their first album called Das Boot. Another song from this album which is worth mentioning was I Wanna Be A Kennedy. In many places it reminded Visage's 1980 hit Fade to Grey. This album was produced by Matiz and AC16 (the team that actually produced all the U 96 albums), featuring Miss Melody (Come 2 Gether and Ambient Underworld), Miss Andromeda (Sportly Animal-Loving Extravert) and a rapper named Satchmo on Ambient Underworld.

In 1993, U 96 released their second album entitled Replugged. It was Alex's response to what MTV-Unplugged series which presented a lot of rock music, while he was introducing a techno-rave style in the dance music. The first hit from this album was Love Sees No Colour. Techno version of War Of The Worlds was a reference to Das Boot. While Das Boot was the only one single to be released in the US, Love Sees No Colour was advertised in the US as : 'The Euro-techno smash finally invades American shores !'. A version of Love Sees No Colour remixed by Bass Bumpers was also released. The album was mostly recorded in France (Paris), written and composed by French artists : Lagonda, Castioni, Wycombe, Ac Beat. As usual it was produced by AC 16 and Matiz. Both producers were already in demand by many stars like Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin or Jean-Michel Jarre. This team of writers brought a French flavor to this album which can be clearly heard in Jean-Michel Jarre-alike track called The One Russian. Alex Christensen meanwhile produced and composed songs for other artists : United sung by the team Prince Ital Joe and the ex- 'New Kid In The Block' Marky Mark.

The album Club Bizarre released in 1995 brought a quite new dimension to U 96's music and left a major impression on the new direction Eurodance was taking. The title song Club Bizarre was a small revolution. It was mixing the blue-sounded harmony with a strong and sharp sound of Vocoder creating a hybrid of melancholy and trance. It included a sample from Alannah Myles' A Song Instead Of A Kiss, and chorus was inspired from Carlton's 1990 single Do You Dream. Almost at the same moment, Italian DJ Saccoman released a single called Inspiration using the same melody.

The cover of this album showed Alex in crucified position. In Club Bizarre album was also featured Das Boot II and Love Religion featuring Daisy Dee's voice. The closing song in this album was the ambient-styled Dark Room Rituals with the leading motiv from classic movie by Steven Spielberg 'The Close Encounter of The Third Kind'. This album had a new set of writers and composers. Besides Alex, the music and the texts were also written by Ingo Hauss, Helmut Hoinkis and Hayo Panarinfo. Another revolution was the release of a CD-ROM version fully interactive.

Both 1995 and 1996 were some year of changes for Alex Christensen. First, U 96 was joined by Dea-Li (Dorothy Lapi) (23) a beautiful, dark haired professional dancer and choreographer from Frankfurt with an admixture of Sicilian blood. The second change was the fact that Alex bought a new house in Mallorca, a small palace with 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, large living room, kitchens, huge dining room, 3 fireplaces, obviously a pool. and 2 fountains. But Alex's love affair with Mallorca was also partially professional. He performs several times a year in the island, the most often in disco temples like BCM or Joy Parade, which are among the biggest dance floors in Europe. Alex was often invited to Mallorca by DJ Sammy, 'The King of Disco Heat', co-owner of Joy Parade who also helped Alex in purchasing his new house. Most of the songs in his new album were composed in here.

In May 24th, 1996 U 96 released their fourth album entitled Heavenin which Dea-Li was featured (she participated in the preparation of 4 tracks). Right from the start the title song Heaven, first single to be released, became a hit. The controversy around this track was an almost obvious 'ripoff' of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time. The major difference beside the text is the speed of the track (154 BPM). Besides Heaven, the album contained several potential hits such as Are You Ready (sort of Trip Hop track but with nice sequence lines and vocals), A Night To Remember (nice male vocal, danceable Euro-Energy sound), Venus in Chains (which repealed to Grace Jones' hit Slave To The Rhythm), or the completely instrumental Drag Queen (acid sound with help of tribal drums).

During the summer Alex came back to Mallorca, where in July he took part to the meeting gathering the leading DJ's from Europe (such as Charlie Lownoise, Mental Theo, DJ Hooligan or Mark 'OH...). From Heaven, many singles were released. In May the title song Heaven was one of the summer hits of 1996. It was followed by A Night To Remember in August and Venus In Chains in October. In May 1997 U-96 released a new single entitled Seven Wonders, where a new vocalist was introduced : Nicky. Seven Wonders brought back the unique U 96 sound, virtual dance techno sound at its best.

2000 : U 96 released an album called Best Of 1991-2001 with 5 new songs and a bonus megamix CD. In the album's sleeve, you can find Alex's a and U96's story. There was also a new version of Das Boot released as a single, entitled Das Boot 2001.

Meanwhile Alex began to work on other projects, among which Rollergirl (started in 1999) and ATC (started in 2000).

2002 : some rumours are going around that there would be soon a full album called like I Love Italo Disco... The new video shows Alex with a nice girl called Yasmin K, who took part to the real-TV broadcast Popstars - his "new" artist-name would be "Alex C.". His new title was an interesting cover (also dance-style) from Corona's eurodance classic hit Rhythm Of The Night... Then came the singles Angel Of Darkness (named after the new Tomb Raider game) and Amigos Forever.

2003 : U 96 was back again, wtih a new single entitled We Call It Love. It contained a sample of a pop-song, as well as soundparts of the hits Das Boot and Inside Your Dreams.

2005 : Love Sees No Color was covered by the project Shokata.

2006 : New single of U96, a slow track entitled Vorbei, featured Ben and it was . It peaked to #28 in the German charts. In May Alex worked on the new Paul Anka album. He had just finished the new Allessandro Safina album, and did also the top single Erinner Mich from Ivonne Catterfeld.

The follow-up single featured the rapper Das Bo, and was called Put On The Red Light. It was absolutely not a dance track. The video shooting was on October, 14th in the H1 CreamClub in Hamburg. The new album Out Of Wilhelmsburg is planned for release in 2007.

2007 : Dea Li, after a long pause during which she appeared in a few movies, released an album entitled Hungry as a Hunter.

2010 : Das Boot was remixed by Manolo Fernandez. The result is Das Boot 2010 by Manolo Fernandez vs. U96, released at the end of last March.

2014 : Club Bizarre was covered by Andrew Lias & Crew 7 feat. Paloma

2015 : former U 96 members Ingo Hauss and Hayo Lewerentz created U96 Reboot, without Alex Christensen. They recorded songs Planet Earth, Run With It and Dark Matter

Thanks to Ulrich Valtat, Denis "DJ Hooligan" Zhabkine, Tavi Meran, Nico and Shervin A.
Thanks to Christian DTM NoLimits for the latest informations

U96 biography was last updated Sat, March 4th 2023



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DISCLAIMER : unless you see the artist's name among the credits of this biography, it was only created by gathering infos from the web and from fan sources. Sorry if, even if I did all verifications I could, some parts of the biography are false or lack accuracy. Please keep ini mind that I am alone running the site. If you are the artist himself or contributed to the project, please wait till I come back from holidays to submit corrections.



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