AQUA

Members : Claus Norreen, Søren Rasted, Lene Nystrom, Rene Dif

Maverick Danish pop quartet Aqua could hardly have earned a higher profile than that produced by their third UK single, "Barbie Girl". A tribute-cum-pastiche of the American toy favoured by pre-adolescent girls, it received extensive television and radio airplay as it climbed and eventually topped the UK charts. It sold over 4 million copies and lead Aqua to fame all around the world. This came about when a Danish radio station sent copies of the song to American radio stations. As time passed by, it became the most requested song ever. "Barbie Girl" went straight in at n°7 on the Billboard Hot 100, the highest position ever for an act’s debut single. It went to number 2 in the UK as well on it’s way passing the Spice Girls, and Elton John’s "Candle In The Wind 1997". It reached # 1 in Israel where it was elected song of the year. Aqua's album (titled "Aquarium") was soon released and received gold after just two days!

Part of the reason for the success of "Barbie Girl" was its amusing video, which featured lead singer Lene Nystrom dressed in a succession of Barbie outfits, with band member Rene playing male doll Ken. On the scene, they don't need any dancer, because they prefer spontaneity and creativity. For their first TV appearance they tried to learn some dance steps but it was impossible.

The group was formed in 1994, though the production and writing nucleus of Claus and Søren had been together since 1989 as members of Joyspeed (they started composing music for a Danish movie called "Fraekke Frida"). In this incarnation they enjoyed a solitary success in the Danish charts with "Itsy Blitzy". Meanwhile Rene was working as a DJ in Norway. Rene soon discovered Lene’s talent for singing in a TV show. She was only 20 years old. They both headed of for Denmark and got together with Claus and Søren. Joyspeed got a contract with a record company in Sweden. Its first single was released in the Swedish charts but lasted there only for a week. It was a flop and their music style had to be reconsidered.

Then came the idea of Aqua. The name came from a poster in Rene, Lene, Claus and Søren’s practice room. Their new style started to take shape : they headed to soft and melodic Europop songs so they decided to dissolve their old contract and got a new one from Universal Music in Denmark. Their debut single, "Roses Are Red", released in September 1996, was a huge success in Denmark (topping the charts, achieving platinum sales and earning a Danish Grammy nomination as Best Danish dance act). The follow-up, "My Oh My", released in February 1997, also went straight to number 1 in Denmark (it received gold after only 6 days). The smash hit "Barbie Girl" was released next.

"Doctor Jones" (track 5 on the "Aquarium" album) has proved to the world that Aqua were not one-hit-wonders. It reached successively to the number one spot in many countries such as Israel and UK. "Lollipop (Candyman)" followed and made it to the Top five of the Australian charts whereas it peaked # 7 in Israel.

The 5th September 1997 MCA, which releases Aqua's songs in the USA, stopped the distribution of "Barbie Girl" as a single. As a reaction to this the track fell from #7 to #9 on the Billboards Hot 100 singles. The reason for this was that the album's release was planned for 20th September in the USA and MCA was worried that people only want this very song and therefore be satisfied with just the single and that way avoid the album. This was a way to force the fans to buy the whole album.

On the 12th September 1997, Mattel Inc. had filed suit against MCA Records Inc. and Universal Music & Video Distribution Inc. for trademark infringement and dilution resulting from the alleged unauthorized use of the toy manufacturer's Barbie doll trademarks and likeness in the hit song "Barbie Girl". Filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division, the suit, which also names MCA's British, Danish, and Swedish affiliates, claims that the song contains lyrics that 'associate sexual and other unsavory themes with Mattel's Barbie products.' Among the lyric examples cited are "kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky" and "make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please, I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees." The suit seeks an injunction forcing the defendants to stop their alleged infringement of the Barbie doll trademarks, the recall and destruction of all infringing products, and unspecified damages. In a prepared statement, MCA responds: "In our view, Aqua's "Barbie Girl" is just a fun, funny Pop song, and every copy is clearly marked with a disclaimer that reads: "The song "Barbie Girl" is a social comment and was not created or approved by the makers of the doll.". Anyway, thanks to their protest, Mattel provided a non-voluntary and free advert for Aqua...

In total, around 3 million copies of the album "Aquarium" have been sold through out the world. In the US it went #7 on the Billboard Album chart. The gang has still to get their hands on the huge amount of cash that their album and singles have brought in. Despite this they already have plans on what it will be spent on. "Each one of us wants a brand new, cool car." - boasts Lene, "For myself, I want a jeep." Unlike many other fortunate newbies in the music branch, buying a mansion of their own is not on their top list. "We don't have to worry about buying houses yet since we're presently much too busy touring. I can buy a house when I turn 50 after all !"

On the 1st of December, 1997, Aqua released an 80 minutes long documentary. It summarizes Aqua's carreer from the beginning to where they are now. The video is filled with clips from Aqua's visits in several countries, for example USA and Japan, and interviews with all four members. Along with the video there is a CD with a completly new Aqua song only released in Japan : "Didn't I", a poster and four Aqua-postcards.

After "My Oh My" (once again # 1 in Israel and #6 in UK) Aqua released "Didn't I" taken from the Japanese version of "Aquarium" in the beginning of 1998. They also released a remix album called "Aqua Mania Remix". Aqua's following single was "Turn Back Time". Released in 1998, it made its debut at number one in the UK and #3 in Israel. It was the theme song from the movie "Sliding Doors". The video clip for Aqua's "Turn Back Time" was different from previous ones as colour and dancing was missing. In fact, it was more of a contrast to "Barbie Girl" and the other songs made by Aqua. "Turn Back Time" was one of a few ballads featured on the album. This proved the diversity of Aqua, a variation from classical to Rock-like band. The last single to be taken form "Aquarium" was "Good Morning Sunshine", which ranked # 19 in Israel and # 18 in UK.

1999 : Axel Boys Quartet did a cover of "Barbie Girl".

In December 1999, Aqua performed in a small club in front of a selected audience in San Francisco, California in September. Last time Claus, Søren, René and Lene did a real live show was when the band ended their mini tour of Scandinavia in the autumn ‘98. Back then, the capacity of the venues were around 15 000, culminating in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, where 70 000 people turned up. Nevertheless, Aqua was really anxious about performing in the San Francisco club Bimbo – despite the fact that the audience only consisted of a ”few” hundred people and the entrance was free! However, the audience consisted of the absolute top management of the Universal Music Group who were gathered at a convention in the city and among other things they were introduced to the top priorities of the near future. Aqua was selected to perform at this convention together with A*Teens and S Club 7 and the set consisted primarily of songs from Aqua’s coming album. However, the single "Dr. Jones" from "Aquarium" had also found its way to the set list. Everything lived up to Aqua's usual insistent live show style and as the mood rose and the ties were loosened singer René Dif showed why the band is called Aqua: When the Managing Directors had come all the way up to the edge of the stage, Dissf repaid them by splashing a bottle of water in their faces...

"Cartoon Heroes" was the first single from the new Aqua album "Aquarius" (planned for release in February). The promo video arrived in January 2000 "It is a good story. We are four super heroes who save the world – but not four super heroes who take themselves too seriously. The universe is futuristic yet old-fashioned, a mixture of past and present to make everything a bit corny in a funny way," says Søren Rasted about the concept. Canadian music television channel Much Music put the video for on heavy rotation. Not surprisingly, as a matter of fact, since Aqua had been extremely popular in Canada since "Aquarium" made Canada one of Aqua's best selling territories in the entire world with sales of more more than one million albums.

On the official Danish top 100 singles airplay chart the single has gone sky-high from its #92 entry to #5 - in just three days! The music video for the single was enjoying similar demands from music TV-stations. Sweden’s ZTV was shouting "hit warning", and Italian news channel RAI-1 just premiered "Cartoon Heroes" on its evening news slot. In Asia, Channel V International added "Cartoon Heroes" as video of the week and put it on "nuclear rotation" - just like the station's Greater Chinese wing. In Israel it reached position # 1 during one week, and it went #7 in UK.

After a fantastic, 10-day airplay extravaganza, Aqua finally reached the top spot on the official airplay chart in the band’s native Denmark (and also in Spain), with no less than 394 plays in one week. "Cartoon Heroes" was out in the stores on January 31st. Then came "Around The World", which went #26 in UK. Afterwards they released their third single from the "Aquarius" album, "Bumble Bees". Aqua was also featured on Pavarotti's album - titled "Pavarotti & Friends For Cambodia & Tibet" - released worldwide on September 12th 2000.

The next single to be released is "We Belong To The Sea", with a video clip shot in Spain. It's already a very succesful track everywhere in Europe and in Israel where it peaked # 6 (and still charting).

In March 2001 Aqua won three awards at the Danish music awards. Best Music Video ("Around The World"), Best Pop Album ("Aquarius") and the Danish government's special award for international success leading to high export figures. Afterwards they went back in the studio, working on their 3rd album. So far it looks as if we can expect an album to be released in the autumn, with a single coming out before summer. "For this album we have chosen an approach different from what we did when we recorded "Aquarius" in various rented houses where we were locked away for months", explains Søren Rasted. "We have actually bought or own recording studio in London where we all live. So now we can go to the studio and work as long as we like and then go back to our homes and relax, without having that feeling of working, eating and sleeping in the same house for ages. I think it applies a more spontaneous approach to the whole work process."

Aqua also recorded track that were never officially released. Among them, "Hi-Fi Stereo" (absolutely the best of these 4 songs), "Shakin' Stevens (Is A Superstar)", "Here Come The Birds" (a classic Aqua song, reminding of the sixties), and "Wow, Wow, Wow" (a song containing a lot of rapping by René Dif).

Søren and Lene recently got married in Las Vegas. Claus, Lene, René and Søren have decided to take a break from Aqua - for the time being. Say the band members in an official statement : "We have been very privileged. We have had lots of great adventures, seen the world and loved to meet our fans when we’ve been out performing. Yet still, we have realised that the spark just isn’t there right now." ”We owe to our fans to give one hundred per cent and that is why we feel this is the right thing to do : Take a break and not record a new album, as long as we ourselves don’t know exactly which way to go." Aqua stress that the break is absolutely non-dramatic. The foursome are still best friends. They still own a recording studio in London, and none of them could possibly dream about a life outside the music business. Lene and René have already announced they will pursue solo carreers, while Søren and Claus will continue writing and producing music, as a duo and as individuals, for Lene and René as well as other artists.

2005 : Lene and Søren contributed with many other Danish artists to a benefic single to raise funds for the Tsunami victims : "Hvor Små Vi Er", released in January.

On the 12th of November, the documentary movie "Turn Back Time" by Tomas Gislason premiered in Copenhagen. In the movie the four members of Aqua join each other in a house and talk about their time as Aqua, the split-up of the group and more...

2006 : there were rumors about a comeback album but it could be another project of the same name. In March Rob Mayth released a cover of "Barbie Girl".

Aqua just announced a Comeback tour in Denmark for 2008. The rest of the world could follow. They do not have plans to record new material, but are considering a best of album with extra tracks from the third album which was never released.