Crispy (band)

Crispy (later known as XPY) was a Danish Eurodance group, formed in Copenhagen in 1997 by music producer Mads B.B. Krog and vocalists Christian Møller and Mette Christensen. Their notable major hits are "Licky Licky" from the 1998 album The Game, and the 2000 single "In & Out".[2] Three of their songs ("Bubble Dancer", "The Game" and "Kiss Me Red") were also featured in the four-panel dance game In the Groove.[3]

Crispy
Also known asXPY (2000–2001)
OriginCopenhagen, Denmark
GenresEurodance, bubblegum dance, trance, dance-pop.
Years active
  • 1997–2001
Labels
  • Icebergs Records[1]
  • RCA
  • Gramophone Records
Associated actsBlush
Websitewww.crispyfan.dk
Past membersMette Christensen
Christian Møller
Mads B.B. Krog
Gry Bay

Crispy's debut album, The Game, was recorded in 1997 and released the following year. The Japanese version of the album contained four exclusive bonus tracks, including two unreleased songs, "Bad Girls" and "Happy King".[2] The group was very successful in Scandinavia and Asia, and was awarded the "Pop Shop Award '98" for best Scandinavian debut release in 1998 among 15 nominees. Crispy performed in over 150 concerts across Europe and also toured Japan in the years they were active.[3]

Career

1997-1998: Beginning of Crispy and The Game

In 1997, inspired by the success of Aqua, young music producer Mads B.B. Krog decided to form a bubblegum dance act in a similar vein. He named his group Crispy (reasons for choosing the name are unknown), featuring Mette and Christian as the vocalists. Crispy's first single, "Kiss Me Red", was released in February 1998 in Scandinavia, and enjoyed only moderate recognition at first. Their next single, "Licky Licky", was much more successful, reaching the Top 20 of the major dance charts in Denmark that year, and remaining the group's best-known song to date.[2][4][5]

Crispy released their debut album, The Game, in mid-1998. The album was recorded and mixed in Denmark, Sweden and Germany.[2] Several editions of The Game were released, the most common being the release of 12 tracks. The Japanese edition contained four exclusive bonus tracks, including two previously-unreleased songs, "Bad Girls" and "Happy King". The group became well-established in the Danish pop/dance scene.[3][5]

1999: Tour and success

At the end of 1998 Crispy went on a promotion tour in Japan, performing among large crowds in the cities of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. They also visited Singapore and the Philippines, where their album had also sold very well, and performed at a total of over 150 concerts in Europe over the following year. The group's success was visualized with crowds of enthusiastic people singing along with the band.[2][5]

2000: Second album's cancellation and closure of Crispy

After the success of The Game, Crispy decided to make a new album. They recorded a large number of tracks, and released two of them ("I Like..." and "In & Out") as singles. The album was planned to be released sometime in mid-2000, but the release was cancelled due to the lead vocalist, Mette Christensen, passing away from cancer just days after the release of "In & Out". Out of respect for Mette, Christian and Mads decided to not release any further material as Crispy; the group renamed themselves XPY, and released their next two singles, "L/R" and "La Fiesta", under that name.[3][4]

2000-2001: Activities as XPY and disbandment

After Mette's death in 2000, Danish singer and actress Gry Bay joined XPY as the group's new female vocalist. The group decided to pursue a new musical style, transitioning away from bubblegum and trance in favour of traditional dance music. However, this new project was not as successful as Crispy, and the group disbanded permanently in 2001.

Gry Bay later went on to achieve success as an actress in Denmark. Mads B.B. Krog became a businessman but remains a music producer and composer; he has released music under the name Blush and remixed the song "In & Out". Christian Møller retired from music, devoting himself to his personal life.[3]

2017: Crispy demos unveiled

In 2017, Bubblegum Dancer exclusively obtained three CDs of Crispy demos recorded around 1999 for their second album. The CDs contained a total of 19 tracks, including several bubblegum dance songs that sounded like remnants of The Game, and an early demo of "In & Out" in trance style. Most of the songs were successfully ripped with good quality, but one track ("Whoops!!") could only be partially salvaged due to the CD being badly damaged by age. Christian Møller, former member of Crispy, asked the site to share the songs on YouTube in memory of Mette so they could reach the widest audience possible.[6]

Letter and style

Songs in The Game were generally produced with a cheerful and childish feel to them, but some of the lyrics contained hidden sexual innuendos that appealed to adults. This was very common among bubblegum dance artists at the time. Crispy moved on to a more mature trance-like sound for their planned second album, though a few of their demos ("Mumbo Jumbo" and "Whoops!!") did retain a bubblegum dance vibe reminiscent of their first album.

Members

Mette Christensen, also known as Icy B (Copenhagen, born September 25, 1976 – July 23, 2000), was Crispy's lead vocalist, and co-wrote the song "Love Is Waiting". She passed away from cancer at 23-24 years old.[7]

Christian Møller (Copenhagen, born December 16, 1974) was Crispy's main composer and lyricist, and also provided the male backing vocals.[8]

Mads B.B. Krog (Copenhagen, born June 9, 1976) helped write Crispy's songs with Christian and was the group's main producer.[9]

Gry Bay (Frederiksberg, born August 15, 1974) became the lead vocalist of the group in 2000 after Mette's death.

Discography

Albums

Remix albums and compilations
  • 1998: The Game (Danish Release)
  • 1998: The Game (Japanese Edition)
  • 1998: The Game (Special Edition)[10]

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
DEN[11]
"Kiss Me Red" 1998 16 The Game
"Licky Licky" 12
"Love Is Waiting" 15
"Calendar Girl" —
"Mr. Dinosaur" 1999 —
"DJ Santa" — N/A
"I Like..." 2000 —
"In & Out" 3
as XPY
"L/R" 2001 11 N/A
"La Fiesta" 18
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References
  1. "Iceberg Records Selo | Edições". Discogs. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  2. "Crispy, biography discography, recent releases, news, featurings of bubble gum group - The Eurodance Encyclopædia". EuroKdj. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  3. "Crispy biography, discography, songs, lyrics, remixes and more! Bubblegum Dancer". Bubblegum Dancer. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  4. "Crispy | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". myspace.com. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  5. "New feeling of the moment: 'Crispy' An act of taking the account of Dance / Pop Danish music". Billboard. 29 May 1999. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  6. "New Crispy demos revealed". Bubblegum Dancer. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  7. "Mette Christensen". Bubblegum Dancer. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  8. "Christian Møller". Bubblegum Dancer. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  9. "Mads B.B. Krog". Bubblegum Dancer. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  10. "The Game Album of Debut Crispy on Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  11. "Danish chart peaks for XPY". danishcharts.dk. Hung Medien.
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