Technotronic featuring Felly 'Pump Up The Jam'

Chart Peak: 2

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Felly, a Belgian-born former model and fashion designer, teamed up with studio wizards Technotronic to make her first single 'Pump Up The Jam' ... It made No. 2 in in early October 1989 for two weeks.

Well the chart info is accurate anyway - those were also the last two weeks at the top for Black Box, which must have been the moment when a lot of older people stopped being interested in the chart. However, it's pretty well-known known that Felly didn't sing on the record (and indeed couldn't speak English at the time): the vocals were apparently by Ya Kid K, who openly fronted some of their later singles. Oh, and she wasn't born in Belgium either, but in DR Congo, or Zaire as it would have been at the time.

Although I do remember some criticism at the time when it became obvious that Felly couldn't have been the singer, there was none of the same sort of outrage as with Milli Vanilli - I guess people didn't feel as duped with dance music because they don't really believe in it or take it seriously in the same way to start with. It's the kind of music I knew I was supposed to be a bit superior about even at the age of 11 and I didn't expect to have much time for it in my thirties but actually it's aged surprisingly well as simple and fairly minimalist dance - they called it "hip-house" back then apparently. The lyrics are as good as they need to be, ie not very, but they do accurately draw your attention to the fact that the beat is pumping. The space in the arrangement actually makes it feel a bit fresher now than it did then, especially to those of us who've heard the 2005 remix.


Technotronic also appear on: Now 17 (with MC Eric), 18
Available on: The Workout Mix: 5k &10k

Technotronic feat. MC Eric 'This Beat Is Technotronic'

Chart Peak: 14

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Buyers who found the second side of the record a bit too alternative were doubtless reassured by this return to Europop at the top of Side 3. 'This Beat Is...' was the third UK hit for Technotronic, and each had had a different vocalist: even at the time I thought MC Eric was a bit of an odd name for a rapper, although I didn't realise at the time that he was Welsh. At the opposite end of the decade he attempted to be taken more seriously under the new stage name of Me One.

Anyway, back to the record. I remember hearing this a lot back then, and noticing that they were dropping their own name into the chorus, which I somehow imagined was intended to assume familiarity with their previous material; as if they were saying "We know you like Technotronic, so here's some more Technotronic." Indeed, I'm surprised to see now that it was so much smaller a hit than the ones that preceded it. And this despite its being popular enough in some places to inspire a rival version by Daisy Dee, released in the UK at the same time - it narrowly missed the Top 75.

Technotronic also appear on: Now 16, 18
Available on: More Greatest Hits of the 90's