La Bouche

La Bouche
La Bouche (2016)
Background information
Origin	Frankfurt, Germany
Genres	Eurodance, house, techno, pop, dance
Years active	1994–2002, 2007–present
Labels	Hansa Records, RCA
Associated acts	Le Click, Melanie Thornton
Website	Official Website
Members	Lane McCray Sophie Cairo
Past members	Melanie Thornton (deceased) Natascha Wright Kayo Shekoni Dana Rayne
Notable instruments
Vocals

La Bouche (French: The Mouth) are an American dance duo based in Germany formed by producer Frank Farian in Frankfurt in 1994, originally consisting of lead singer Melanie Thornton (later replaced by Natascha Wright) and rapper Lane McCray, scoring major worldwide hits in the mid-1990s with "Be My Lover", "Sweet Dreams (Ola Ola E)", "Fallin' in Love", "I Love to Love" and "Tonight is the Night" feat. Le Click.

Primarily produced by longtime friend, Frankfurt-based techno DJ Ulli Brenner, their debut single "Sweet Dreams (Ola Ola E)" caught the attention of producer Frank Farian, the mastermind of the infamous 1980s duo Milli Vanilli, when Thornton recorded it and found work in studios recording demos. It was released in 1994 and was a pan-European and Australian hit. Years later, it was revealed that the rapper featured on the track was not McCray, but was actually Robert Haynes, who would later join Le Click. McCray provided vocals on every other La Bouche song. It was followed by "Be My Lover" in 1995, which peaked at number one in Germany and Sweden, while also reaching the Top 10 in fourteen European countries. It also peaked at number 27 in 1995 and number 25 in 1996 in the UK Singles Chart when re-issued in that year. "Be my lover" went to number 1 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart in 1995 and climbed to number 6 on the Hot 100 in early 1996. It was then re-released in the UK and reached a new peak of number 25. It went on to win the ASCAP award for the "Most Played Song in America", and sold 6 million copies worldwide. La Bouche went on to become one of the biggest Eurodance groups of the '90s, with a string of hits worldwide. The debut album Sweet Dreams was released on June 12, 1995, which went to number 13 in the U.S., featured two more hit single releases, "Fallin' in Love" (a cover of the 1975 Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds song) and "I Love to Love".