Cartoons, also known as Cartoons DK, are a Danish Eurodance band, best known for their song "DooDah" and their cover of the 1958 novelty song "Witch Doctor", both hits released in 1998.
Cartoons | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Cartoons DK The Scooters (late 1980s–1997) |
| Origin | Denmark |
| Genres | Eurodance |
| Years active | 1997–2001, 2005–2006, 2018–present |
| Labels |
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| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | cartoons-world |
The group wears outlandish plastic costumes and wigs in live performances as caricatures of 1950s American rock and roll stars.
History
editCartoons started out as the Scooters in the late 1980s, playing rockabilly music from the 50s and 60s. In 1994, the Scooters released the album Live at Woodstock, and in 1997, they changed their name to Cartoons. Their musical style switched from rockabilly to "technobilly", their own expression of rock and roll mixed with Eurodance; many of their songs are remakes of old rockabilly hits that they covered as the Scooters. The group was first signed to FLEX Records, moving later to EMI Denmark.
Their most notable single to date is their cover version of Ross Bagdasarian's novelty song "Witch Doctor", which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] It features a combination of the original's "oo-ee-oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bing-bang" chorus (albeit lacking the record's double-speed playback of the chorus), driving dance beat and occasional guitar breaks. The group had further success in the UK with the Top 10 hit "DooDah" (a cover version of the American folk song "Camptown Races", albeit with completely different lyrics), the Top 20 hit "Aisy Waisy", which was performed on Jim Davidson's Generation Game, and a Top 20 debut album, Toonage (later rereleased with extra tracks as More Toonage).[citation needed]
The group's second album, Toontastic, did not match the success of its predecessor, but several notable hits were released from it, including "Diddley-Dee", "Little Red Ridinghood", "Big Coconuts", Lally Stott's "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" and a reworked cover of Les Humphries Singers' "Mama Loo".[2] The group was one of several artists to contribute to the soundtrack of the 2000 animated film Help! I'm a Fish, with the track "Wobble-Di-Bubble-Di-Doo".[3]
In 2001, the group disbanded for unknown reasons. In 2017, it was revealed by Toonie and Sponge on a Danish TV interview that they were to tour in the US, but their plans were cancelled at the advent of the September 11th attacks; feeling uncomfortable with the incident, they dropped their project. In 2005, the group made a brief comeback to promote their Greatest Toons release. It includes a new single, "Day Oh", both released by CMC Entertainment. They performed a number of shows throughout Europe, including at Bonbonland and the Jelling Musikfestival. They disbanded again in 2006.
In July 2016, Karina Jensen died of cancer, after having a double mastectomy in 2012. She was is survived by her husband and two children.[4] In 2018, the group returned once again to perform at the "We Love the 90s" festival in Aalborg, Denmark. The following year, another compilation album, De Bedste, was released by Warner Music Group and X5 Music Group; it includes a remix of their cover version of the Police's "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" by Sponge. In April 2019, Erling Jensen died of lymphoma; he was 50 years old.[5]
In 2020, the group returned to the studio with original producer Kenneth Bager to record a new single, "Shots", which was released in 2023. Later that year, they collaborated with Marnage to produce a faster version of "DooDah", titled "DooDah 2K23". As of 2024, Jesper Dukholt is the sole original member.
Members
editTrue to their name, the personnel of Cartoons has cartoon-inspired nicknames. The line-up is:
- Toonie – lead vocals and backing vocals
- Sponge – saxophone, keyboards and bass vocals
- Shooter – lead guitar and backing vocals
- Buzz – double bass
- Puddy – backing vocals
- Boop – backing vocals
Discography
editAlbums
editStudio albums
edit| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL [6] |
DEN [7][8] |
NLD [9] |
NOR [10] |
SPA [11] |
SWE [12] |
POR [13] |
ITA [14] |
UK [1] | |||||
| Toonage | 25 | 2 | 24 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 17 | ||||
| Toontastic |
|
— | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | |||||||||||||
Compilation albums
edit| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN [19] | |||||||||||||
| Greatest Toons |
|
20 | |||||||||||
| De Bedste |
|
— | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | |||||||||||||
Singles
editAs main artist
edit| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [20] |
BEL [6] |
DEN [21] |
FRA [22] |
IRE [23] |
ITA [24] |
NLD [9] |
NZ [25] |
SWE [12] |
SPA [26] |
GER [27] |
UK [28] |
EUR | ||||
| 1998 | "DooDah" | 31 | 5 | 3 | — | 21 | 9 | 56 | 31 | 10 | 19 | — | 7 | 15 | Toonage | |
| "Witch Doctor" | — | 9 | — | 22 | 2 | — | 12 | 31 | 13 | — | 68 | 2 | 11 | |||
| "Yoko" | — | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 51 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Let's Go Childish" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1999 | "Aisy Waisy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 34 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 54 | ||
| "The X-Mas Single" | — | — | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | 43 | — | — | — | — | More Toonage | ||
| 2000 | "Diddley-Dee" | — | — | — | — | — | 40 | — | — | 46 | — | — | — | — | Toontastic | |
| "Mama Loo" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2001 | "Big Coconuts" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005 | "Day Oh" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Greatest Toons | |
| 2023 | "Shots" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | ||||||||||||||||
As featured artist
edit| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN | ||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | "Selv en dråbe" (as part of a charity single in aid of Kosovo) |
1 | Grænseløs Greatest | |||||||||||||
| 2023 | "DooDah 2K23" (as part of a collaboration with Marnage) |
— | Non-album single | |||||||||||||
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | ||||||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 96. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Eurodance USA - Artists - Cartoons". eurodanceusa.com. 2004. Archived from the original on 17 February 2006. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Hjælp! Jeg er en fisk : originalt soundtrack med musik fra filmen bibliotek.dk. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
- ^ "Dansk sangerinde er død af kræft – Ekstra Bladet". Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
- ^ "Erling Jensen from Cartoons has passed away: it Was only 50 years". JellyPages.com. 7 April 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ a b "ultratop.be - Discografie Cartoons". Ultratop. ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ "Cartoons / Toonage" (in Danish). TOP20.dk. Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ "Cartoons / Toontastic" (in Danish). TOP20.dk. Archived from the original on 12 June 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ a b "Discografie Cartoons - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl.
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "norwegiancharts.com - Discography Cartoons". Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ^ "Hits of the World: Spain (AFYVE/ALEF MB) 04/17/99". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 19. Nielsen Business Media. 8 May 1999. p. 47. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "swedishcharts.com - Discography Cartoons". Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ^ "Hits of the World: Portugal (Portugal/Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa) 08/03/99". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 33. Nielsen Business Media. 14 August 1999. p. 79. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ "Hits of the World: Italy (Musica e Dischi/FIMI) 04/10/99". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 15. Nielsen Business Media. 10 April 1999. p. 48. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ xfactor,matia. "Cartoons - Toonage (1998)". Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ^ "Listen - Danmarks Officielle Hitliste - Udarbejdet af AIM Nielsen for IFPI Danmark - Uge 52". Ekstra Bladet (in Danish). Copenhagen. 27 December 1998.
- ^ a b "Certified Awards Search: Cartoons". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original (To access, enter the search parameter "Cartoons" and select "Search by: Keyword", with the other two set to "All") on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ xfactor,matia. "Cartoons - Toontastic (2001)". Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ^ "danishcharts.dk - Danish charts portal". danishcharts.dk. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ "australian-charts.com - Discography Cartoons". australian-charts.com.
- ^
- For "DooDah": "Hits of the World: Denmark (IFPI/Nielsen Marketing Research)". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 32. Nielsen Business Media. 8 August 1998. p. 51. ISSN 0006-2510.
- For "The X-Mas Single": "Hits of the World: Denmark (IFPI/Nielsen Marketing Research)". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 51. Nielsen Business Media. 18 December 1999. p. 71. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ "lescharts.com - Discographie Cartoons". lescharts.com.
- ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ "italiancharts.com - Cartoons - Diddley Dee". italiancharts.com.
- ^ "charts.org.nz - Discography Cartoons". charts.nz.
- ^ "spanishcharts.com - Spanish charts portal". spanishcharts.com.
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "Cartoons - Witch Doctor". austriancharts.at.
- ^ "Cartoons". UK Singles Chart. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 January 2012.