Snap! is a German Eurodance project formed in 1989 by Frankfurt-based producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti.
The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years,
but was most successful when fronted by rapper Turbo B, who performed on
singles "The Power" and "Rhythm Is a Dancer". Luca Anzilotti and
Michael Münzing started project under the name "16 bit" in 1986 and had a
big success with their first single "Where Are You?". In 1987 they
released album "Inaxycvgtgb".
Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti formed Snap! in 1989 under the
aliases Benito Benites and John "Virgo" Garrett III, as they thought
that the public had negative preconceived ideas of German music. Their
first hit "The Power", a combination of house and hip hop elements which
was fronted by rapper Turbo B. and American Singer, Penny Ford, peaked
at No.2 in Germany in April 1990 and spent five weeks in that position
eventually going Gold for sales of 250,000 units. The single topped the
charts in the United Kingdom, and picked up a Silver-award for sales of
200,000 units. In the U.S., it reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100,
and was certified Platinum for 1,000,000 units.
Jackie Harris was used to mime Penny Ford's voice in the video "The
Power" and left the group shortly after and Penny Ford became its
full-time lead singer, recording the second single "Ooops Up", a
re-working of "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Ooops!)", a
1980 hit by The Gap Band, with which Penny was a former backing singer.
The song "Oops Up" was another No.2 hit in Germany which spent nine
weeks in the position. The single entered the top-5 in the UK picking up
another Silver-award, it was also awarded a Gold certification in the
U.S. Further hits followed with the oriental-sounding "Cult of Snap",
which charted at No.3 in Germany and No.8 in the UK, and "Mary Had a
Little Boy", which charted at No.4 in Germany, and again No.8 in the UK.
Their first album World Power reached No.7 in Germany, No.10 in the UK
and No.30 in the U.S. The album received Platinum in Germany, and Gold
in the U.K. and the U.S.
In 1991, after Thea Austin joined the line-up and helped to write
"Rhythm Is a Dancer", which was initially planned to be the lead single
from the second album but later was pushed back to be the second single
from the second album. The first single, "Colour of Love" managed to
peak at No.9 at Snap!'s home of Germany, but did poorly in the UK
peaking at No.54 only. "Rhythm Is a Dancer" was released as the second
single in July 1992 and inspired by "Automan" by early-80s electronic
hip-hop band Newcleus, it went on to become their biggest hit yet. The
single shot to No.1 in Germany, the UK, France, Switzerland, Austria,
the Netherlands, Belgium. In the U.S., it peaked at No.5 collecting
another Gold for sales of 500,000 units. At home in Germany, the single
went Platinum for 500,000 units, and picked up a Gold in the U.K. for
sales of 400,000 units. The third single from the second album, which
charted at No.3 in Germany and No.2 in the UK, was awarded with a Gold
certification in Germany.
Despite that the second album, The Madman's Return did well in the
charts, peaking at No.3 in Germany and entering a Top-10 in the UK, the
Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland, Turbo B decided to leave the
project due to disagreements with the act's producers. The album went
Gold in Germany and the UK, for sales of 250,000 units and 100,000 units
respectively.
Follow-up singles "Exterminate" (charting No.2 in the UK and 3 in
Germany) and "Do you see the light?" featured Niki Harris on lead
vocals, a professional vocalist also known for her long-time work with
Madonna.
The producers, Münzing and Anzilotti recruited Washington DC-born singer
Summer to front the act for the third album. Summer was born Paula
Brown and previously had worked as a dancer in the TV series Fame and in
the Spike Lee movie, School Daze. Snap! moved towards a progressive
house sound and released their first single called "Welcome to Tomorrow
(Are You Ready?)" in September 1994. The single peaked at No.4 in
Germany, No.6 in the UK and was followed by the album, also titled
Welcome to Tomorrow. The second single "The First the Last Eternity
(Till The End)" was a moderate hit in the UK, but managed to climb as
high as No.7 in Germany. Snap! released two more singles from the album
"World in My Hands" and "Rame" (featuring Rukmani), both of which
experienced a moderate chart entries.
In 1996 the group was officially disbanded releasing a greatest hits
compilation called Snap! Attack: The Best of Snap!. The album included a
new version of their first hit "The Power '96" and "Rhythm Is a Dancer
'96".
However, the act made a surprising return in 2000 with a track entitled
"Gimme a Thrill", complete with a rap performed by Turbo B. and vocal
from the band's newest singer Maxayn. It didn't attract attention and
failed to chart.
A new version of "Do You See the Light" remixed by Plaything was
released in 2002. The following year, a remixed album, The Cult of Snap!
was released and re-worked singles were issued. "Rhythm Is a Dancer
2003" peaked at No.7 in Germany and No.17 in the UK, while "The Power
(of Bhangra 2003)" charted moderately in Austria, Switzerland and
Denmark. The act also released a re-done version of "Oops Up!" which
featured vocals by NG3 and managed to enter the German top 100 singles
chart at No.69 only.
Buoyed by the success of the remixes, Münzing and Anzilotti went back
into the studio with male singer Damien Behanan, also known as Loc, and
released the single "Beauty Queen" in September 2005 through Luma Music,
but once again it failed to enter the charts. They would also release
another single in 2008 featuring Loc, Jumping! But this also failed to
chart.
On June 16, 2008, a new version of "Rhythm Is a Dancer '08" was released as a CD single in the UK which peaked at No.23 there.