Technotronic

The Belgian electronic group Technotronic combined hip-hop with house music to create an energetic, infectious sound exemplified by the 1989 smash “Pump Up the Jam”. • Technotronic was spearheaded by Belgian producer Jo Bogaert, who grew up listening to rock music and playing guitar. He became interested in dance music because it allowed him to have total control over the sound. • Their 1989 debut single, “Pump Up the Jam”, features Zairian rapper Ya Kid K. The single charted in numerous countries, including the US—where it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Dance Club Songs chart—and the UK, where it peaked at No. 2 on the pop charts. • Fans might not have realised that Ya Kid K was the voice on the track, as the single artwork and music video feature model Felly as a stand-in. • The follow-up, “Get Up! (Before this Night Is Over)”, was another global hit. It went Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 2 on Dance Club Songs. In the UK, it was Technotronic’s second No. 2 pop hit. • Technotronic notched two more UK Top 10 hits: “Rockin’ Over the Beat” and “Megamix”, a mash-up of earlier singles. In the US, they managed one more major pop hit with “Move This (Shake That Body)”, which became a Top 10 hit in 1992, after the 1989 song was resurrected for a cosmetics commercial. • The group’s 1989 debut album, Pump Up the Jam, went platinum in the US and the UK. • Both Ya Kid K and fellow vocalist MC Eric left the group before Technotronic’s second album, 1991’s Body to Body, which failed to match the success of its predecessor. • Ya Kid K returned to the fold for 1995’s Recall, another album with minimal commercial impact.