Aaliyah - One In A Million

First off, I tried to get a cleaner version from the CD of yesterday's Abbe post but was unable to. I first listened to the CD when I got it and thought that it was a clean rip. (I listened to it a low volume during dinner). After listening to it with headphones on, I found it wasn't a clean rip to begin with. The scratchy sound is actually on the CD. Must have been a used record that is was recorded from. Oh well, things happen.

Today, I'm posting another song that one of my readers sent to me from my request list. Bob sent me the songs from the Aaliyah promo 12" single of "One In A Million". These are great rips and hope you all enjoy this song. Boy these mixes are totally different from the radio single version. Thanks goes out to Bob for the great mixes.

Aaliyah was born Aaliyah Dana Houghton On January 16, 1979 in Brooklyn, New York; moved to and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She starred in the movies Romeo Must Die and Queen Of The Damned. In 1994, she got married to R. Kelly but that marriage was later annulled.

Her life was tragically taken in a plane crash on August 25, 2001. She died at age 22. ;-(

Todays post was the first time that Aaliyah saw one of her songs hit the dance chart, and with these cool remixes you can see why this was such a big dance floor filler.

Taken from the original double disc promo 12" single on Blackground Records
One In A Million (Armand Van Helden Drum N Bass Mix) - 7:09
One In A Million (Nitebreed Mongolodic Mix) - 9:31
One In A Million (Geoffrey Curtis Housemix) - 11:48
Song charted on March 22, 1997. Spent 13 weeks on the chart and reached #2

E-Type - Calling Your Name

Bo Martin Erik "E-type" Eriksson was born in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1965. In his teens he moved to Bromma, and now he lives in the middle of Stockholm. His musical career started early. After having been a drummer for many years he met up with Stakka Bo in 1991, with three singles as a result. This lead to a work as a VJ at one of the most popular TV-station in Sweden - Z-TV! In the summer of 93, his first solo single, called "I'm Falling", was released without reaching any great success.

This was the third and last time he charted on Billboard's Dance Disco Chart.

Taken from the original 12" import single on Stockholm records
Calling Your Name (Pierre J's Q-Type Mix) - 5:47
Calling Your Name (Antiloop Garage Club Mix) - 5:42
Song charted on February 8, 1997. Spent 12 weeks on the chart and reached #17

Ultra Nate - Free

Born in 1968 in Baltimore Maryland, Ultra Nate is a female dance singer/songwriter. Before her being discovered by the Basement Boys, she was a pre-med student. Of course, she dropped that and it's a good thing she did since she has made a name for herself on the dance floor.

Ever since Ultra released the internationally renowned deep house classic, "It's Over Now" with the esteemed Basement Boys in 1989, which led to her equally eminent debut album, "Blue Notes in the Basement" (Warner Bros., 1991), Ultra has been a perennial force in dance music, regardless of idiomatic styles. Considering the ephemeral nature of dance/electronica music, Naté's endurance attests to her musical acumen.

This post incorporates the Mood II Swing remix of her number 1 song from 1997.

Taken from the original 12" single on Strictly Rhythm 12512
Free (Mood II Swing Extended Vocal Mix) - 12:09
Song charted on May 24, 1997. Spent 14 weeks on the chart and reached #1

Mister President - Coco Jamboo

Mr. President is a dance group consisting of German-born vocalists Judith Hildebrandt (T-Seven aka T) who left the project in 2000, Daniela Haak (Lady Danii aka Lady Dany aka Danii) who also appeared in Kai Matthiesen's project "Reset feat. Danii", and rapper Sir Prophet Of Funk, who was kicked out of the project when the two girls refused to work with him anymore because of his attitude after the success of "Up 'n' Away". He was replaced with rapper Delroy Rennalls (Lazy Dee aka Lazy). When Judith left, a female singer called Nadia took her spot, but she didn't stay for long. Her part was eventually given to Myra who did background-vocals for Mr. President before and was also involved to the project "Paffendorf".

Released in 1997, this is the only time the group charted in the US. I can't believe it's been 10 years.

I feel this song was ahead of it's time. It's got a nice African grove, basic lyrics and a catchy hook. (I still don't know what a Coco Jamboo is or what it means).

Song taken from the original promotional 12" single on Warner Bros.
Coco Jamboo (Extended Version) - 5:45
Song charted on August 2, 1997. Spent 11 weeks on the chart and reached #17