Aqua is a Europop dance group that hit it big with the single “Barbie Girl,” and went on to be the most successful band to ever come out of Denmark. They have sold more than 33 million albums and singles worldwide. The members include lead female vocalist Lene Nystrøm, DJ and lead male vocalist René Dif, keyboardist Søren Rasted, and guitarist Claus Norreen. These four geniuses together make sweet pop perfection. The brilliance of exceptional beats, the clever wit of catchy lyrics, and the excitement of fun music is a recipe for a happy fan!
Aqua introduced me to the sound of Europop music, and eventually led to my love for EDM. As an American growing up on R&B, old-school disco, and 80s freestyle music, the 90s definitely spawned a new sound for dance music. I was mesmerized and couldn’t get enough. I wanted Aqua. I had to have more Aqua. To make matters even more tantalizing, they released three remix albums outside of the US. I remember spending over $30 US Dollars on the import CD of the Aqua Mania Remix album, the most I had ever paid at the time for a single CD. And yes, it was worth it!
Having temporarily disbanded and reunited several times, each of the band members have ventured into many different side projects along the way. Lene went solo and released the album Play With Me in 2003. René went solo and collaborated with other vocalists, as well as recorded music under the aliases Ferrish Key and Mista Dif. Søren produced and wrote music for other artists, and released a spoken word album called Lazyboy TV under the name Lazyboy. He also started a new elctro-pop band called Hej Matematik, partnering up with his nephew Nicolaj Rasted, but instead singing lyrics primarily in Danish (very little English). Claus can be found remixing music under the name Aeroflot, of which was originally an electronic band from the early 90s before he joined Aqua. Claus has since left Aqua in 2016 to pursue other musical interests, including his creation with Danish producer Kasper Bjørke to form the Kasper Bjørke Quartet. The electronic ambient sound can be heard on their 2018 album The Fifty Eleven Project.
My favorite remix of each single by Aqua (and solo projects) is listed in chronological order below.
- Itzy Bitzy (Aqua as Joyspeed) (Hard Radio Spider Mix)
- Roses Are Red (Disco 70s Mix)
- My Oh My (Spike, Clyde N Eightball Club Mix)
- Barbie Girl (Perky Park Radio Mix)
- Lollipop (Candyman) (DJ Greek’s Candy Radio Mix)
- Doctor Jones (Adrenalin Club Mix Edit)
- Turn Back Time (Metro Radio Edit)
- Good Morning Sunshine (Love To Infinity’s Radio Mix)
- Twisted Megamix (Rob Di Cradle Remix)
- Cartoon Heroes (Iti’s Soda Club Radio Mix)
- Around The World (Soundsurfers Club Mix Edit)
- Bumble Bees (Jay Jay Remix Edit)
- We Belong To The Sea (Love To Infinity Classic Radio Mix)
- Freaky Friday (Hampenberg Remix Edit)
- Back To The 80’s (DJ Tool’s Pizza Club Remix)
- My Mamma Said (Aerofeel5 Remix)
- How R U Doin (Club Mix)
- Playmate To Jesus (DJ S@n’s Sunshine Paradise Rework Mix)
- Like A Robot (StereoRYZE Remix)
- Roses Are Red 2017 (Svenstrup & Vendelboe Remix Edit)
- Rookie (Dario Xavier Club Mix)
LENE NYSTRØM:
- It’s Your Duty (Bimbo Jones Vocal Remix Edit)
- Pretty Young Thing (Club Mix Edit)
- Here We Go (Shanghai Surprise Remix Edit)
- Doin’ It To You (Tidus Done Club Mix)
RENÉ DIF:
- I Believe (with Factual Beat) (Dance Club Mix)
- Jamaica Ska (as Mista Dif) (Flipside Remix)
- All Up To You (as Mista Dif) (Hampenberg Radio Mix)
- Til Døden Os Skiller (Darwich Remix)
SØREN RASTED:
- I Love N.Y. (featuring Lene Nystrøm) (Original Version)
- (Vi Ka’ Alt Vi To (featuring Lene Nystrøm) (Original Version)
- Party I Provinsen (Danish Mafia Remix)
- Legendebørn (Twin Maniacs Radio Mix)
- Maskinerne (Kato Remix)
- The Loser Sign (Elektronix Remix)
- 2012 – Shift Happens (as Lazyboy featuring Lene Nystrøm) (No Speak Version)
- Sikke En Fest (Jack Rowan Remix)
- Ik Ordinær (featuring Jesper Binzer) (Original Version)
AQUA WANTED LIST:
- Live Fast – Die Young (any remix)
- Spin Me A Christmas (any remix)
- Pretty Young Thing (Milk & Sugar Remix) (Lene)
- The Uhh Uhh Song (Xtra Fun @ The Beach Mix) (Rene Dif)
- Uh La La La (any remix) (Rene Dif)
- Alive (any remix) (Rene Dif as Ferrish Key)
- Sitting In A Room (any remix) (Rene Dif as Ferrish Key)
- Let It All Out (Push It) (any remix) (Rene Dif)
- Way To Go (any remix) (Rene Dif)
- S.T.E.R.E.O. (any remix) (Rene Dif with Kaya Jones)
- Celebrate The Love (any remix) (Rene Dif with Mirami)
- remixes of any song title not listed above
*My favorite remixes are of personal opinion entirely. All remixes in my collection are edited versions that were either released as professional edits or edited using my personal editing software. This page will be updated as new favorites are added, and new songs are released by the artist. If anyone can supply a track from my Wanted List, please contact me.
