Technotronic

In 1989, Technotronic scored an enduring global smash hit that remains a cross-generational clubland touchstone. Released as a single on August 18, 1989 and reaching Number 2 in the UK and the US, as well as topping the charts in Belgium, Iceland, Portugal and Spain, "Pump up the Jam" – featuring Congolese-Belgian rapper Manuela Kamosi aka Ya Kid K – was crafted from the iconic Roland TR-909 and melded hip-hop with Chicago-dwelling deep house to conceive a hip-house-leaning track that made pioneering chart waves in the US. Formed in 1987 by Belgian new beat trailblazer Jo Bogaert (born in 1956 in Aalst, Belgium) – who also operated as a musician under various other aliases including Thomas de Quincey – Technotronic released the debut studio album Pump up the Jam on November 28, 1989 which peaked at Number 2 on the UK Albums chart and Number 10 on the US Billboard 200. Following the success of the first album, Technotronic unleashed Trip on This: The Remixes the following September, which featured a number of well-known remixers and producers including David Morales, Todd Terry, Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez and Junior Vasquez and made it to Number 7 on the UK Albums chart. The album also featured a megamix single, which stitched together a string of Technotronic's previous hits and topped the Eurochart Hot 100. A second studio album, Body to Body, arrived in 1991 (with Ya Kid K having already left Technotronic to pursue a solo career) and featured the singles "Move That Body" and "Work." The following year, "Move This" (from the first album and also featuring vocals by Ya Kid K) was given a boost of fame after it was used in a TV commercial for Revlon, scoring Technotronic their third Top 10 in the US. Ya Kid K came back for third album Recall in 1995 but the album failed to chart. A Best of compilation came out in 2012.