Sash! featuring La Trec 'Stay'

Chart Peak: 2
YouTube

'Stay' was the third massive hit of 1997 for Sash!... They are the first act to start their UK chart career with 3 consecutive No. 2 hits, the others being 'Encore Une Fois' and 'Ecuador'.

Not just three Number 2s, but also their first three hits were in different languages, albeit that the music of Sash! was not particularly noted for its lyrical complexity. That said, 'Stay' is a more conventional song with a full lyric (unsurprisingly in English) and for that reason less distinctive than the previous two hits. Nothing actually wrong with it but it doesn't really seem to go anywhere or do anything for me.

Also appearing on: Now 36, 37 [with Rodriguez], 39, 41 [with Shannon], 42, 45, 71 [with Stunt]
Available on: The Best Of

Sash! featuring Stunt 'Raindrops (Encore Une Fois)'

Chart Peak: 9

YouTube

'Encore Une Fois' gained massive chart success for Sascha "Sash!" Lappeson in early 1997 and 'Raindrops' was a big club hit for DJ Stunt a couple of years ago... The two combined forces along with vocalist Molly Smithen Downes to score a Top Ten hit in October 2008.

There seems to have been a big retro movement in the clubs in 2008, with many a 90s hit re-worked and back in the high end of the chart. The history of this track is confusing, but the original Stunt track (which already seems to have the vocal) bears at least a passing resemblance to 'Encore Une Fois' already, so a couple of years later a French DJ took the obvious next step and fitted the two together, with the actual 'Encore Une Fois' vocal appearing at times. I was never a great fan of the original Sash! song and hearing the Stunt one for the first time tonight it didn't do a lot for me either. The combined version seems somehow even less than the sum of its parts although I guess I can imagine it going off well in a club, at least the first couple of times people heard it.

Sash! also appears on: Now 36, 37 [with Rodrigues], 38 [with LaTrec], 39, 41 [with Shannon], 42, 45,
Available on: 20 All Time Dance Anthems

Sash! 'Colour The World'

Chart Peak: 15

YouTube

Sash!'s European house sound has been a huge success both in clubs and in the charts over the last two years... Since debut smash 'Encore Une Fois', Sash! has had five Top 5 singles and two Top 10 albums in the UK alone.

It's not exactly a curse, but this glowing report on their massive success was the beginning of the end for Sash! in the UK chart, though they did manage three more Top 10 hits in 2000. 'Colour The World' remains their only single to chart below 10, despite the presence of Dr Alban in his only Now appearence; perhaps it's unhelpful that this is one of their few hits in English, thus allowing Anglophones to consider the lyrical content. In fact, thanks to the Danish Dr (actually a dentist) there are a lot more words than we normally get on a Sash! single, and it's not a style that really suits them all that well. It's the big anthems with minimal lyrics that are their real metier, and the more they attempt conventional songwriting, the more obvious it is that they can't do it. The song mostly sounds tired.

Also appearing on: Now 36, 37 [with Rodrigues], 38 [with LaTrec], 39, 41 [with Shannon], 45, 71 [with Stunt]
Available on: Life Goes On (The Remix Edition)

Sash! 'Encore Une Fois'

Chart Peak: 2 YouTube

Sash!'s Faithless-inspired smash 'Encore Une Fois' flew into the chart at No.2 on 23rd February '97... It is one of the fastest-selling dance tunes of recent times selling around 200,000 copies in just 2 weeks.

Few would have guessed at the time, but Sash! were embarking on a record-breaking career: this was the first of three hits to peak in the runner-up position in 1997 alone, and they ended up with five number 2s, more than any other act who never managed a Number One. And by the way, I did say "they" - although Sascha Lappessen is the public face of the act, they are in fact a trio; I presume the other two DJS shown in this video are the other two members of the groups, but it's hard to tell as they're rarely seen publicly. As usual, they worked with various guest vocalists, sometimes credited, sometimes not: this one is fronted by their fellow German Sabine Ohmes, who capitalised on this success by adopting the stage name Encore! and singing only in French hereafter, most famously on her hit 'Le Disc Jockey' (see what she did there?), which is even more similar to the original of this track than to the British hit version.

I do recall hearing this for the first time on the chart rundown and being totally unable to grasp the appeal of it to anyone. Although it was hardly the first record in this style to become a hit (hence the sleevenote reference to Faithless), it still remained utterly beyond my ken. This wasn't even the "serious" dance I was reading about in the NME, to my ears just a lot of humming noises with somebody speaking French over it. Over the years, Lappeson became a more endearing presence on the pop scene and I can get into "imagining why people might like it" territory with this one now, but it's not a favourite of mine still.

Also appearing on: Now 37 [with Rodrigues], 38 [with LaTrec], 39, 41 [with Shannon], 42, 45, 71 [with Stunt]
Available on: Ministry Of Sound: The Rush 2010