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58-400: Crazy Frog (originally known as The Annoying Thing ) is a Swedish CGI-animated character and Eurodance musician created in 2003 by actor and playwright Erik Wernquist. Marketed by the ringtone provider Jamba! , the character was originally created to accompany a sound effect produced by Daniel Malmedahl while attempting to imitate the sound of a two-stroke engine . The Crazy Frog spawned

116-681: A racing game . A year later in 2006 a sequel was released, entitled Crazy Frog Racer 2 . A string of Crazy Frog merchandise was released in the UK. In 2005, the German production company The League of Good People was in talks with broadcasters about a TV series based on Crazy Frog. The TV series was cancelled. The Crazy Frog toured Australia in late 2005, beginning in Perth on 4 December and continuing through other major capital cities. He made appearances at numerous shopping centres and major hospitals around

174-721: A German party scene was started, based on the well established Chicago house sound and Belgian new beat . The following year saw acid house making a significant impact on popular consciousness in Germany and central Europe as it had in England. In 1989, German DJs Westbam and Dr. Motte established the Ufo Club , an illegal party venue, and co-founded the Love Parade . The parade first occurred in July 1989, when 150 people took to

232-651: A dance-party TV show broadcast nationally in English and French versions. Beginning in mid-1992, Eurodance began to dominate the RPM dance chart in Canada, with acts such as 2 Unlimited , Snap! , Captain Hollywood Project , Culture Beat , Haddaway , Whigfield , each reaching number-one. From approximately 1992 to 2000, Canadian acts such as Capital Sound , Love Inc. , Jacynthe and Emjay had success with

290-469: A drum machine clap beat. Sometimes non-rap vocals are used. Eurodance often carries a positive, upbeat attitude; the lyrics usually involve issues of love and peace, dancing and partying, or expressing and overcoming difficult emotions. The early to mid-1990s Eurodance vocals were frequently done by a solo vocalist or a mixed rapper-vocalist duet such as the male–female duets of 2 Unlimited , La Bouche and Magic Affair . Many groups used variations of

348-487: A frog and it's not particularly crazy either. Following 2009, the character went on hiatus. In 2018, a trademark claim by Kaktus Films, the original owners alongside Erik Wernquist, had music listed as one of many rights. On 22 April 2020, an official Twitter account for the character was created, and later that day it was announced that a new album was in development. In April 2022, the Government of Ukraine uploaded

406-476: A huge number of records) he decided to take the label into other markets and set up a UK office in the UK. Run by Peter Pritchard and featuring many records by Stu Allan's British Eurodance act Clock , this record company would eventually turn into hard house label Nukleuz (known for its DJ Nation releases). As Media turned into Nukleuz, it would fall to All Around the World Productions to be

464-465: A new single, "Tricky" was released after a 12-year hiatus. In 1997, 17-year-old Gothenburg student Daniel Malmedahl recorded himself imitating the noises produced by a two-stroke engine. He posted this on a website and caught the attention of a Swedish television researcher, who convinced Daniel to perform the sound live on air. After it debuted on television, recordings of his performance began appearing on file sharing networks and various websites under

522-479: A number of complaints to the United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regarding Jamster 's advertising campaign, complaining that Crazy Frog appeared to have a visible penis and scrotum. Some parents claimed that it was inappropriate for children. There were also complaints regarding the frequency with which the advertisement appeared on television, reportedly up to twice an hour across most of

580-417: A third album, Everybody Dance Now , released in 2009. The Crazy Frog also spawned many singles, a range of merchandise and toys, as well as two video games before going on hiatus in 2009. On 22 April 2020, a Twitter account for the character was created, and the account is listed on the official website, Facebook profile and YouTube channel. A new album was announced later that same day. On 10 December 2021,

638-667: A video on Facebook of Russian tanks being hit by Ukrainian strikes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine with the Crazy Frog's cover of "Axel F" playing in the background. On 1 July 2005, UK-based publishers Digital Jesters announced that they had acquired the rights to the video game licence for the Crazy Frog. Crazy Frog Racer (featuring the Annoying Thing) was released in December 2005 on PlayStation 2 and PC as

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696-527: A worldwide hit single with a cover version of the Beverly Hills Cop theme tune " Axel F ", which reached the number one spot in Turkey, New Zealand, Australia and most of Europe. The subsequent album Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits and second single " Popcorn " also enjoyed worldwide chart success, and a second album entitled Crazy Frog Presents More Crazy Hits was released in 2006, as well as

754-476: Is typically around 140 beats per minute , but may vary from 110 to 150. Most Eurodance is very melody -driven. Most Eurodance songs are in minor keys , similarly to techno . This, along with positive lyrics, helps contribute to the overall powerful and emotional sound of Eurodance. Besides the contribution of the female or male vocals, there is often a noticeable use of rapid synthesizer arpeggios . Eurodance music videos were often seen with dance acts by

812-675: The 1980s and 1990s. By the end of the 1990s, however, some of the later acts such as Italian group Eiffel 65 and Danish group Aqua did receive extensive airplay. Despite lack of widespread radio play, many Hi-NRG and Eurodance songs are popular at professional sporting events in the United States, especially ice hockey and basketball. Compilation albums, such as the DMA Dance: Eurodance series of compilation albums (1995–1997) from Interhit Records and Dance Music Authority magazine, were popular and helped to define

870-560: The 2001 video game Mario Kart: Super Circuit , players race across tracks to win and use power-ups to stop their opponents along the way. Unlike the PS2 and PC version, the GBA version has four modes but no multiplayer: Crazy Frog Racer received negative reviews with an aggregate review score of 28% by GameRankings for the PlayStation 2 release. This racing game –related article

928-463: The ASA ruled that the Crazy Frog, along with other Jamba ringtone advertisements, could not be shown before 9pm. This adjudication was revised on 25 January 2006, maintaining the "upheld" decision but revising the wording of one of the points. Following the release of "Tricky" on 10 December 2021, an official non-fungible token release was planned on "Metabeats". This was met with backlash on Twitter, with

986-471: The Dutch techno dance project L.A. Style received quite a bit of airplay early on. The more Hi-NRG -oriented artists were typically played only during special "mix" shows, and it was often necessary to go to a club to hear Eurodance music. While Eurodance did become popular with club DJs in the United States, radio stations were cautious about playing anything that sounded too much like disco during most of

1044-544: The Eurodance sound. The Toronto sound was more pop-oriented, while the Montreal one was more house-oriented. While Eurodance is well known in major metropolitan areas such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami, Eurodance did not make as big of an impact in the rest of the country. Exemplifying this is the Eurodance classic " Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) ", by Scatman John , an American artist; despite topping

1102-591: The German charts. A few Eurodance artists including 2 Unlimited , Haddaway , La Bouche and Ace of Base made the Rhythmic Top 40 , Top 40 Mainstream and the Billboard Hot 100 during the early to mid-1990s. However, the sound tended to be more house and the rap-oriented artists received airplay. For instance, the German hip-house project Snap! , the Belgian hip-house project Technotronic and

1160-483: The German charts. Therefore, in the second half of the decade the popularity of Eurodance started to decline. " Scatman's World " by Scatman John was the last major hit of the original Eurodance sound in the Eurochart Hot 100 , being number 1 for 3 weeks between late August and early September 1995. Just before that, La Bouche released " Be My Lover ", which has sold six million copies worldwide to date. In

1218-750: The Jam " was released. It reached number one in Belgium and Spain, and it popularised the house variant called hip house in Europe. On 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell; free underground techno parties mushroomed in East Berlin, and a rave scene comparable to that in the UK was established. East German DJ Paul van Dyk has remarked that the techno-based rave scene was a major force in re-establishing social connections between East and West Germany during

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1276-539: The Jam 's music video is described as having a "colour scheme of brilliant reds, greens and purples in a staggering array of chequered backdrops [...] [It is] a great insight tot the power of music videos on party wardrobes". Bright, sometimes over-saturated colour schemes were used, with contemporary party clothing or outfits referring to space-age , with videos that were fully or in part using computer-generated imagery elements and effects. Large, sometimes digitally multiplied, dance troupes also frequently featured. As

1334-482: The Netherlands and Italy. From 1992 until the genre's decline in popularity after 1995, the sound became increasingly NRG-oriented, leading to songs raising in B.P.M. up to 150. Some of the genre's defining songs in this period, dubbed as the "golden era" of Eurodance, are " It's My Life " by Dr. Alban in 1992 (number 1 in 8 countries), " No Limit " by Dutch group 2 Unlimited in 1993 (number 1 in 14 countries, it

1392-483: The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and it helped to raise awareness of the genre within Europe. In the following years, other Eurodance acts formed in Frankfurt, including Jam and Spoon , Intermission and Culture Beat . After the breakthrough single " Rhythm is a Dancer " by Snap! in 1992 (number 1 in 12 countries), new groups started to appear all over Europe, mainly in Belgium,

1450-480: The World (La La La La La) " by German group ATC in 2000. Basshunter , Scooter and Cascada saw significant success during the 2000s, however, by the early 2010s, popularity waned, and by about 2012, Eurodance music disappeared almost completely from the majority of European radio airplay. The term "Eurodance" gradually became associated with a specific style of European dance music. During its golden years in

1508-476: The account managers stating they had been receiving death threats over the matter. After the release was repeatedly postponed, all mentions of Crazy Frog were removed from the Metabeats website in late 2023, and shortly after the official Crazy Frog website removed its link to Metabeats. Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG ) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in

1566-552: The broadcaster or the regulator, Ofcom . In May 2005, viewers inundated the ASA with new complaints regarding the continuous airing of the latest Crazy Frog advertisements. The intensity of the advertising was unprecedented in British television history. According to The Guardian, Jamster bought 73,716 spots across all TV channels in May alone — an average of nearly 2,378 slots daily — at a cost of about £8 million, just under half of which

1624-601: The character's genital area in later broadcasts of its advertisements. Similar action occurred in Australia, with similar results. In November 2021, the Crazy Frog Twitter account made light of the controversy, saying, "A lot of people were shocked to see my PP in 2005. And still shocked to see it now in 2021!!". In April 2005, UK television viewers complained about misleading advertisements produced by Jamba!, trading as Jamster and RingtoneKing. Viewers felt that it

1682-445: The chart at the end of May 1995. Technotronic from Belgium had hits with "Pump Up the Jam" and "Get Up" (featuring Ya Kid K). By 1996, the popularity of this genre had started to decline. From then, the classic Eurodance sound gradually morphed into progressive house . By 1997 and towards the end of the millennium house and trance music increased popularity over Eurodance in Europe's commercial, chart-oriented dance records. In

1740-647: The charts in multiple European countries and reaching number 3 in the United Kingdom, it only reached as high as "number 60" on the US Hot 100 . Another notable example is the Life in the Streets album, a combined Eurodance music project from American rapper Marky Mark and Caribbean reggae vocalist Prince Ital Joe , which was not released in the United States, but was a huge success in several European countries including singles like "Happy People" and " United " that topped

1798-506: The country. In 2007, the Animation World Network wrote in connection with The Annoying Thing that there was a "planned feature film" to "be completed by the end of next year" into an animated feature film. The feature film was cancelled. In 2017, a documentary called The Not So Crazy Frog was released, originally made in 2012. The Crazy Frog was broadcast for the first time on Belgian television in mid-2004, though it

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1856-407: The day, with some channels showing it more than once per commercial break. The ASA did not uphold the complaints, pointing out that the advert was already classified as inappropriate for airing during children's television programmes as it contained a premium-rate telephone number , and that it was the broadcasters' decision how often an advertisement should be shown. Jamster did voluntarily censor

1914-492: The early 2000s, the mainstream music industry in Europe moved away from Eurodance in favour of other styles of dance music such as nu-disco , electro house , dance-pop and R&B . After Cappella's Gianfranco Bortolotti set up Media Records in Brescia, northern Italy to release his 'commercial European dance music' (a set-up which included fifteen studios featuring various production teams working almost non-stop on

1972-422: The emerging trance music scene. Representatives of Eurodance such as Starsplash and Mark 'Oh are sometimes regarded as forerunners of hands up. The biggest commercial success was the music until the mid-2000s. The synthesizer melodies are often catchy and simple. Often the vocal melody is accompanied by a synthesizer. In contrast to techno, short, high-pitched synthesizer tones are used. Hands up does not rely on

2030-407: The filename "2TAKTARE.MP3" (" Tvåtaktare " is Swedish for "two-stroker"). The sound was adopted as the sound of a Formula One car as early as 2001 in the form of "Deng Deng Form" and later "The Insanity Test", both of which were a static background of a Ferrari Formula One car accompanied by the sound. In late 2003, another Swede, Erik Wernquist, encountered the sound effect and, not knowing about

2088-491: The genre as well as to make it accessible in the U.S. and Canada. Hands up (also known as handz up! (stylized as HandzUp!) or dancecore in Eastern Europe ) is a style of trance music , and a derivation of Eurodance. The genre comes from its name, meaning music that requires listeners to "put their hands up", as well as fitness and danceability. The genre developed in Germany in the mid- to late 1990s as part of

2146-572: The genre's popularity also expanded further to East Asia, in nations such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan; towards the end of the golden era also in Russia. By 1995, Eurodance dominated European charts with 5 singles in the top 10 of the singles charts. Despite its success, many observers within the music industry said that the Eurodance sound had to change or die, and Eurodance producers and singers started to follow different paths and different sounds, such as happy hardcore and house music, but not all

2204-404: The groups followed this trend immediately. Notably, the group 2 Unlimited wanted to remain within Eurodance sounds in order to remain chartbusters, although the producer De Coster predicted a retreat from a pop-like to a more club-like sound. After a string of successful Eurodance hits, the producer Nosie Katzmann called angrily the record label because one of the songs dropped at number 26 in

2262-408: The label in the 21st Century which was more likely to release Eurodance tracks in the UK than other, with its Clubland TV music channel still having regular blocks of Eurodance videos in 2020 (though extending its scope to include hits by David Guetta as well as Cascada and Scooter ) During the 1990s, Eurodance became popular in Canada, which produced its own variant called Candance (although it

2320-529: The late 1980s in Europe . It combines many elements of rap , techno and Eurodisco . This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use of rich vocals, sometimes with rapped verses. This, combined with cutting-edge synthesizers, strong bass rhythm and melodic hooks , establishes the core foundation of Eurodance music. Eurodance music originated in the late 1980s in central Europe, especially in Germany, where rave parties were becoming popular. By 1987,

2378-427: The late 1990s Eurodance productions. The Swedish group Rednex also introduced American country music elements into the sound. Eurodance lyrics are almost always sung in English, regardless of the artist's nationalities. However, there are cases like in the Belgian group's Paradisio where Spanish lyrics are used along with latin music elements. Almost all Eurodance emphasizes percussion and rhythm. The tempo

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2436-567: The late 1990s, the classic Eurodance sound gradually morphed into progressive house . Notable examples of successful Eurodance songs of this era are " Coco Jamboo " by German band Mr. President in 1996, " Freed from Desire " and " Let a Boy Cry " by Italian singer Gala , " This is Your Night " by Amber and " Bailando " by Paradisio in the same year, " Barbie Girl " by Danish-Norwegian group Aqua in 1997, " Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! " by Dutch group Vengaboys in 1998, " Blue (Da Ba Dee) " by Italian group Eiffel 65 in 1999 and " Around

2494-449: The main vocals of the songs (or models ad-libbing), often dancing in bright-coloured infinity cove studios or wide, urban spaces (stations, parking garages) with high visual contrast, or in empty nature scenes. Electronicbeats describes the cliché Eurodance music video as having "strobe-lit rave scenes, pixelated ‘90s computer graphics and, of course, an urban montage: cue the subway stations, streetlights and business commuters". Pump up

2552-446: The mid-1990s, it was referred as "Euro-NRG"; in Europe it was often called "dancefloor". While some use a much broader definition of what is considered "Eurodance", over time, the term particularly came to refer to an NRG-based genre from the 1990s which included a solo vocalist or a rapper/vocalist duet. Most Eurodance is characterized by synthesizer riffs, one or more vocals with simple chorus, one or more rap parts, sampling and

2610-460: The music is largely electronically generated, shots of artists in studios or playing at concerts, frequent in videos of other genres, were infrequent. From the early to mid-1990s, Eurodance was popular in Europe; the style received extensive airplay on radio stations and television shows, resulting in many singles appearing in the charts. For example, in Italy there were seven singles in the top ten of

2668-547: The previous incarnations of the sound, was inspired to create the 3D animated character he named "The Annoying Thing" to accompany it. Wernquist worked on the first animation in his spare time using the LightWave 3D modeling application, and the whole process took between six and eight weeks. On 7 October 2003 he posted it on his website and on the CGTalk forum. The animation was a popular attraction at Wernquist's website, but

2726-729: The rapper-vocalist theme, such as a German rapper with American singers ( Real McCoy ), or the use of reggae rap as in Ice MC and Fun Factory , or combination of rapper and reggae vocalist like in the Life in the Streets album, or scat singing as in Scatman John . Solo singing artists such as Alexia , Whigfield and DJ BoBo also contributed to the genre. Some acts like the Swedish dance-pop originated group Ace of Base use more pop vocals rather than rap/soul vocals along with Eurodance sound. Pop vocals were particularly popular in

2784-400: The rights to the creation in an attempt to capitalize on its popularity. They renamed it "Crazy Frog" and began to market it in mid-2004. In an interview with HitQuarters , Wernquist expressed his displeasure at the choice of name: If I had known that this was going to be such a big thing I would not have allowed them to use that stupid name. It has nothing to do with the character. It's not

2842-458: The sound was credited to "Anonymous". Eventually, word reached Malmedahl that his impressions had been used in a now well-known animation studio. He contacted Wernquist, apparently giving an impromptu performance to confirm his claims. Wernquist was convinced, and gave credit to Malmedahl for his creation. The animation received attention through filesharing and word of mouth. Ringtone Europe and Jamster België (now both merged into Jamba!) licensed

2900-566: The streets in Berlin . It was conceived as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through love and music. On 19 July 1989, Black Box 's single " Ride on Time " was released. The song spent six weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom and it was the UK's best-selling single of 1989. It contained the Korg M1 's "house piano" which can be found in many Eurodance releases. On 27 September 1989, Technotronic 's single " Pump Up

2958-625: The structure of tension build-up, but rather is based on the typical verse-chorus pop music scheme. The main elements are the bassline , drums and a catchy lead sound. A typical stylistic device of hands up is pitched female or resulting feminine vocals, but male vocals are also common. In addition, distorted, autotuned, chopped and repeated spoken phrases are common characteristics. DJs & groups such as Manian , Rob Mayth, Rocco & Bass-T, DJ Gollum, Scooter , ItaloBrothers , Klubbingman , Discotronic , Ma.Bra., and Megastylez etc. are representative figures of this subgenre in both Germany and around

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3016-546: The unification period. In the same year, German producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti (under the pseudonyms Benito Benites and John "Virgo" Garrett III) formed the Snap! project in Frankfurt. Snap! songs combined imported hip hop and soul vocals adding rhythm by using computer technology and mixing electronic sounds, bass and drums, mainly house music . By doing so a new genre was born: Eurodance. Snap!'s first single, " The Power ", released in 1990, reached number one in

3074-711: The world. Crazy Frog Racer In the PlayStation 2 and PC versions, players race as the Annoying Thing , an animated character, across four tracks to come in 1st place. As they race, there are coins scattered across the tracks that give the player 500 points for each coin picked up, which can be used to buy bonuses during races. There are four modes, each played differently: In the Game Boy Advance version, players can play as The Annoying Thing along with seven other characters: Big Elk, Dream Boy, Puschel, Rasta Dog, Punk Girl, Mafia Hen, and Toro. Similarly to

3132-409: Was Europe's biggest-selling song for 1993), " What Is Love " by Haddaway in the same year (number 1 in 13 countries), " Mr. Vain " by Culture Beat also in the same year (number 1 in 13 countries), " Cotton Eye Joe " by Rednex in 1994 (number 1 in 12 countries) and " Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) " by Scatman John in the same year (number 1 in 9 countries). In the same period,

3190-489: Was mostly referred to as "Eurodance" or "dance music"). Eurodance received significant airplay on radio stations in the Greater Toronto Area such as Power 88.5 , Energy 108 and Hot 103.5 . Montreal was also a major Eurodance market, with MC Mario 's famous radio show on Mix 96 , called "Party Mix" and Bouge de là , a popular TV show on MusiquePlus . Eurodance featured prominently on Electric Circus ,

3248-517: Was named the Annoying Thing. There it was marketed as Albert Motàr. "Axel F" (a remix of the 1980s Harold Faltermeyer song produced by the German band Resource ) was released on 23 May 2005 and became one of the most successful singles of the year. The single debuted at number one in the UK, remaining there for four weeks, and it was released on the debut album Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits . In February 2005, viewers submitted

3306-438: Was not made sufficiently clear that they were subscribing to a service, rather than paying a one-time fee for their ringtone. The complaints were upheld. As the authority had already adjudicated on the matter and confirmed the matter was not within its remit, the unusual step was taken of adding a notice to the ASA's online and telephone complaints system informing viewers that Jamster!-related complaints should be directed towards

3364-411: Was spent on ITV. 87% of the population saw the Crazy Frog adverts an average of 26 times, 15% of the adverts appeared twice during the same advertising break and 66% were in consecutive ad breaks. An estimated 10% of the population saw the advert more than 60 times. This led to many members of the population finding the Crazy Frog, as its original name suggests, immensely irritating. On 21 September 2005,

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