Sash! is the product of German DJ Sascha Lappessen. On this project he
works together with two other German DJ's called Ralf 'Kappi' Kappmeier
and Thomas Alisson.
These two DJ's have had several other dance projects like cover band
'Minnesota', who did a dance version of the 4 Non Blondes song "What's
Up?" back in 1993.
But back to Sash!. In 1996 they debuted with "It's My Life" which
became a huge clubhit across Europe. This song introduced the sound as
we've all gotten to know of Sash! It brought us a mixture of
progressive house, dreamhouse, trance and mainstream eurodance.
Combined together you get Future Trance, the new sound of eurodance.
They also did many remixes for famous dance acts like 2 Unlimited (
'Spread Your Love').
In the second half of 1996 they met a girl called Sabine Ohmes. Who?
Sabine Ohmes!! Remember the words: '... Madames, Monsieurs... Le Disque Jockey Sash! est de retour...? She's the one who spoke them.
Sabine Ohmes is the voice of Sash!'s first real international hit 'Encore Une Fois', which means 'one more time'.
After a slow start this song eventually reached top 10's in many
countries. In some countries it didn't do much until 1997, like in the
UK where it wasn't until '97 until it managed to reach the no. 2 position!
Additional information Sabine Ohmes:
Sabine Ohmes now has her own band called Encore!. The first Encore
single was called "Le Disque Jockey". This song is based on "Encore Une
Fois" and was produced by the the Sash! production team. The beginning
of this song is almost identical to "Encore Une Fois". But this time
she says something else: "... En dansant dans un club comme d'habitude,
j'ai aperçu à travers le fumigène le regard du Disc Jockey...", which
translated in English means as much as: "Dancing in a (night)club as
usual, I was watching the look of the DJ through the smoke". And this
time she yell's: "...(Je Suis) Tout feu tout flamme... ", which means
"...(I'm) So enthusiastic..." or "...so excited...", instead of "Encore Une Fois".Remixes of this song were made by JPO & Beam, who were also responsible for the success of M.R.
After 'Encore Une Fois' turned into a huge international success,
Sascha was accused of plagiary by another great dance producer!!!
Faithless' producer Rollo accused Sash! of stealing parts of his songs
'Salva Mea' and 'Insomnia'! You have to admit that the pizzicato sound used in the Sash!-song is quite similar to the one in the Faithless-songs...
Sascha was furious when he heard this accusation. So he contacted
Rollo's manager to set up an appointment with him, but the manager
didn't agree on this! So... this was the end of the Rollo story...
Additional info Faithless vs. Sash!:
Faithless was advised not to take Sash! to court by musicologists. They
said that the Sash!-song was too different from the Faithless-songs.
Going to court would most probably have resulted in them losing this case.
Then Sascha teamed up with Rodriguez for his third single 'Ecuador'.
'Ecuador' followed in the footsteps of the previous Sash! single and
went straight up to the top of the international charts.
A few days after this song was released, Sash! released their debut
album called 'It's My Life'.
The follow-up to 'Ecuador' was called 'Stay'. For this single Sash!
used a new female vocalist called La Trec. La Trec, who is in real life
called Frankie McCoy, met Sash! by incident. She was recording a
commercial in a studio next to the studio where Sash! were recording
their debut album. They heard Frankie sing and asked her to do some
vocals on a couple of tracks.
The reason Sash! uses different vocalists is because they want don't
want to repeat themselves! But... I recall that on their debut album
they've used La Trec's vocals on three songs!!!And then history repeated itself...
Sash! was again accused of plagiary! This time it was British producer
/DJ Andrew Hagerty who claimed that Sash! had stolen something from
him. He said that they've stolen the main hook used in 'Stay'. Andrew,
who works under the name Kaleid, made a track in 1996 called 'Durrel'.
I've heard both tracks and the similarity between 'Stay' and 'Durrel'
is indeed very strong! Only a few things differ between these two
songs! You can listen for yourself at Kaleid's homepage!
Sash! has stated in several interviews that he did NOT steal anything!
It drives Sascha Lappessen nuts! He said that Sash! will probably be
accused of plagiarism again when they release their next single!
Quote: 'Sash! is 100 percent original! Everybody who claims otherwise
can go to court!'.
And Andrew Hagerty has taken Sash! to court!! Check back here for the
latest developments about Sash! vs. Kaleid.
The fifth Sash! single was released in March/April and it is called "La
Primavera". This is a new track taken from the second album "Life Goes
On". And yes... it happened again... people are saying that the main
hook from this song is very reminiscent of "Chariots Of Fire" by
Vangelis... Does it never end??
In the meantime Sash! is very occupied with the lawsuit about the song
"Stay" which started early February. It looks like Kaleid has the
better cards...
May sees the release of the follow up to "La Primavera" and it's called
"Mysterious Times". The vocals on this track are being performed by
British dance diva Tina Cousins, who has already scored major solo hits
with "Killin' Time" and "Angel".
October '98... Tina Cousins released her new single called "Pray"... a
better title would have been "Stay - Part II"... And at the same time
Sash! released their new single featuring female vocalist Shannon. The
new single "Move Mania" brings back some of that Eurodance feeling of
the years '93 to '95. A Hi-NRG melody combined with todays Future
Trance sound... Should become a big hit easily...
For the 8th Sash! single the producers chose "Colour The World". The
official release is set for March the first 1999. On this single you
can hear Dr. Alban doing some rapping and singing! According to Byte
Records this is the strongest Sash! release of the Life Goes On" album
to date!
October 99 is the month in which the new Sash! single should be
released... "Adelante!" is the title and it will be the first release
of the new album "Trillennium" !
2000. "Adelante!", which features the vocals of Rodriguez, entered the
UK charts at number 2. In several countries like Belgium, Spain, Italy
and Norway it also reached top 10 positions, but in other countries
like Holland, it barely reached the top 50.
Sash! are now signed to Edel Records in the Benelux and Germany. In the Benelux they used to be signed under the Byte Records label of Jean-
Paul de Coster (2 Unlimited, CB Milton, The Oh!, DJ Peter Project), but
due to a row they left this label. Byte Records seems to have a
trackrecord of devastating recorddeals with highly succesfull dance
acts. First they mess up the new 2 Unlimited project, then they give up
on a promising dance act like Critical Mass and now they let Sash! slip
away... I can not imagine what they are thinking in Belgium... What a
waste of time.
The second single release of the forthcoming album "Trillennium" has
already been chosen. The new single will be the track "Just Over The
Hill". This track will be available throughout Europe at the beginning
of March. The album will then follow one month later at the beginning
of April.
After the release of the album a third single was taken from it. "With
My Own Eys" is the current single of Sash! For the single release, the
album mix has been reworked a little bit. The Maxi-single contains the
anthem "Rock The Block" as a bonus for the fans!
In the 4th quarter of 2000 a best of CD will be released and "Together
Again" will be released in most European countries. I say most, because
in some countries it was already released instead of "With My Own Eyes
"!
Latest Album S4
1. Ouverture
2. Ganbareh
3. I Believe - feat. T.J. Davis
4. The Sunset
5. The Secret - feat. Sarah Brightman
6. Run - feat. Boy George
7. Rainforest
8. Nessun Dorma
9. Luna Llena - feat. La Isla
10. Habibi
11. Peace Of Mind - feat. Kirstin
12. Baila Loca
13. Stop Pushin´ - feat. Marvin Broadie
14. S 4 Sash!
15. The Walk
16. Don´t Be So Rude
My favorite song " Nessun Dorma"
Try it guys u'll not regret