Joy (Austrian band)

JOY
JOY at Retro FM festival in Moscow, 2010
Background information
Origin	Bad Aussee, Austria
Genres	Pop, Euro disco, Europop
Years active	1984-1995 2010-present
Labels	OK-Musica, BMG, Major Babies
Associated acts	Mess, Seer
Website	joy.or.at
Past members	Johannes Groebl Anzo

Joy is an Austrian pop band, best known for the hits "Touch By Touch" and "Valerie".

The band was formed in Bad Aussee, Austria. Andy Schweitzer (born 26 February 1960), Freddy Jaklitsch (born 22 January 1960) and Manfred Temmel (born 25 February 1959) met during High School. At that time, they played in different amateur bands together. But, after graduation, they pursued into different careers: Andy was a policeman, Freddy taught German language and history at school, and Manfred was a popular DJ in Orion disco club in Traunreut, Germany.

They met again in 1984, and decided to focus their joint efforts on a professional musical career. Quickly enough, they got a record deal with an Austrian label OK Musica. The record owners appointed Michael Scheickl (who was part of Mess at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1982, where their track "Sonntag" reached #10) as the band's producer.

Their first single, "Lost In Hong Kong" (composed by Michael Scheickl, under M. Mell), was released in February 1985. Despite becoming a minor hit, the band began to gain attention.

The next single "Touch By Touch", composed by Schweitzer and Jaklitsch, was released in September 1985. It immediately reached European Top 20 Dance Charts, and topped the Austrian national chart. It even reached Gold status in their native Austria, Portugal and Spain, wherein more than 50,000 copies were sold.

Their third single, "Hello", also composed by Michael Scheickl, again became a hit - and reached 26th position in Austrian national chart. The first album - also entitled Hello - immediately entered Austrian national chart, and charted in many European countries as well. That brought worldwide popularity to the band with their albums sold in more than 30 countries. "Valerie" became a hit it Eastern Europe, notably in USSR, where it reached No. 3 in the charts by Krugozor magazine in 1987. In Hungary, a few years later a local group Inflagranty recorded a cover version entitled "Te meg en". Since 1986, they began performing on various TV shows, such as the GDR-based TV-show

In 1986, the trio recorded a second album Joy And Tears. The album included the single "Japanese Girls". It reached No. 14 in the Austrian national chart, and their popularity had reached Asia. In 1986, the trio won the most popular international act in South Korea.

Their Asian tour, which occurred on January and February 1987 in Bangkok, Hongkong, Singapore, Taiwan and Seoul, was attended by more than 60,000 spectators. In Seoul, South Korea, JOY twice played for 12,000 people at the sold out Jamsil Olympic Stadium, and performed a version of their hit "Japanese Girls", re-titled as "Korean Girls". Later on, they went on a mini tour in USA, notably at the Shrine Auditorium and in San-Jose - mainly for Chinese and Vietnamese-American audiences. A picture taken in San Jose was later used on a sleeve for the "It Happens Tonight" single.