Sqeezer
Sqeezer | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | Squeezer |
Origin | Cologne, Germany |
Genres | |
Years active | 1995–2016 |
Labels |
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Past members | Jim Reeves Yvonne Spath Loretta Stern Tee Jay Marc Theven Veronica Heidi Goldstein Andreas Höhnke Eve Nikole Arndt Daria Mirage Bella Mee Mikey Cyrox Olivia Rehmer |
Sqeezer, also Squeezer, was a German
Band history
1995–97: Formation and Drop Your Pants
The duo was formed in 1995 by Jim Reeves. Sqeezer was originally fronted by Reeves and Yvonne Spath. They released the Berman Brothers produced debut single "
In 1997, the fourth and final single "
1998–01: Streetlife and Departure of Stern
In 1998, Sqeezer along with other artists released the charity single "
In 1999, the single only release, the ballad "Wishing You Were Here", which William Orbit-esque sound resembles Madonna's "Frozen". After this release, Stern briefly left the band to concentrate on her acting and hosting career. She had been replaced by Veronica. Still both singers could be heard on the unreleased song "Lonely Nights" during production sessions for the planned third studio album. However, in September 2001, Stern briefly returned with Veronica being replaced by model Heidi Goldstein for the single "Remember Summertime", a reworked version from the song "Summertime" from Streetlife, before departing a second time for Stern from the group, to focus on her own music and acting career, later to form a Jazz group Mathilda in 2005.
2002–06: Line-up changes and Singles
Throughout the group's career, Sqeezer's members changed multiple times, with founder Jim Reeves always being a member in the group. Following the leavings of Stern and Goldstein, Reeves held an audition in March via
2007–10: Comeback as Squeezer and Singles
In 2007, Sqeezer, now comprising Reeves, Höhnke and new singer Daria, came back rebranded as Squeezer. In March 2008, the group released the single "High Heels", co-written by Delroy Rennalls alias Lazy Dee of
2013–16: Return to Sqeezer and Death of Reeves
In 2013, the band renamed their group back to Sqeezer. Reeves has been joined by singer Olivia Rehmer and Mikey Cyrox, a former The Voice of Germany participant.[4] They appeared on several 90s festivals.
On February 1, 2016, founding member Jim Reeves died of a homicide in a hostel at Stuttgarter Platz in Berlin. According to the autopsy report he was slain. His real name was Jim Nyasani and was born on April 30, 1968. He was 47 at the time of his death.[5][6] On the group's Facebook page, the remaining band members posted an official statement to Reeves death and decided to not continue the group without him. Reeves had also reportedly been raped before his death because of his homosexual harassment and the suspects are two Polish citizens aged 23 and 30.[7] The 23 year old was deported to Germany after finishing his prison sentence in Poland for other crimes, while the other was caught in Barcelona carrying fake documents, three mobile phones and a large amount of cash.[8]
Artistry
Music
Sqeezer is best known for catchy, good mood, high energy dance songs such as "Scandy Randy", "Blue Jeans" or "Sweet Kisses" or reggae fusion songs such as "Saturday Night", "Hey Helicopter" or "Remember Summertime" with easy beats, sounds, melodies and simple, sometimes grammatically flawed, lyrics. This style was very famous and popular in Europe, Oceania and South America at that time. The style of eurodance was dance music with a female singer and a male rapper to follow a traditional verse-chorus structure. However Reeves served as both, a rapper and a singer for the verses while the female singer sings the refrain. Although the group also released ballads such as "Without You", "Let The Music Heal Your Soul" or "Wishing You Were Here". Other genres include pop mixed with funk and soul such as "Wake Up". While mixing dance, reggae fusion and pop music with samples and elements from the 1950s on the debut album Drop Your Pants, Sqeezer changed their musical direction on Streetlife to a more mature sound, combining slower pop and reggae fusion with Hip Hop, Funk and Soul elements. Sqeezer sang in English and French, such on the French version of "Blue Jeans".[9]
Public Image
Known as a bubblegum act, Sqeezer rebranded their band name with the correct spelling Squeezer from 2007 to 2013 for a more mature look. However, later they changed their name back to the wrong spelling. Starting as a duo with Reeves as a rapper/singer and a female singer, the group soon later became a trio including a dancer. The band has been presented by numerous of performers. Ever since it has been an open secret, that German singer
Other ventures
Next to his musical career, Reeves has always modeled for campaigns such as
Members
1995–1997
1999–2001
2002–2006
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2007–2010
2013–2016
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Discography
- Drop Your Pants (1996)
- Streetlife (1998)
Tours
Headlining
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Opening act
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Accolades
- 1997: RSH-Gold - Newcomer of the year[11]
References
- ^ "Sqeezer". www.danceartistinfo.com. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
- ^ Photobucket.com: squeezertv's library
- ^ EURODANCE ENCYCLOPAEDIA: SQEEZER
- ^ The Dancefloor Movement: Sqeezer sind zurück!
- ^ "Mordverdacht: "Sqeezer"-Sänger Jim Reeves tot in Berlin aufgefunden". stern.de. 2016-02-02. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
- ^ "Zwei Monate nach Mord an Musiker Täter noch nicht gefasst". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 2018-12-30.
- ^ "Two go on trial for brutal 'homophobic' murder of 1990s pop star in Berlin hostel". 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
- ^ "Proces dwóch Polaków oskarżonych o zamordowanie muzyka w Berlinie". Onet Muzyka (in Polish). 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
- ^ "Sqeezer - Blue Jeans (New French Hit Version)". Discogs (in German). Retrieved 2018-12-30.
- ^ Vorstoß in einen oligopolistischen Markt Ein David gegen drei Goliaths Archived 2014-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "RSH - Wie alles begann... - RSH Gold 1997". www.rsh-history.de. Retrieved 2018-12-30.