How I Fell In Love With: Aqua

My college years were not a time where I discovered a lot of new music. With the internet going from a strange mystery to a daily addiction all within my freshman year, I was spending a lot of time researching the bands and artists I had been listening to since childhood, discovering new facts about them and even some unknown albums. I remember sitting in the computer lab in Tomanek Hall at Fort Hays State University and discovering that Tiffany had an album released in Asia called "Dreams Never Die" that I knew nothing about, and that the Thompson Twins had gone on to form a new band called Babble which had put out an album called "The Stone." So, with all this excitement and the fact that I was pretty much completely busy with school and work during this time, it's no wonder that I mainly stuck with what I knew throughout this period. A few notable exceptions of bands that I discovered while in college include Garbage, Whale, and the band that I'm going to discuss now, Aqua.

I believe it was my junior year (one of them) when I was living in Russell Kansas, and I had recently gotten my yearly financial aid (re: student loan) check. Of course this meant lots of shopping trips to Wal-Mart, being in western Kansas.
I think I first saw the cover of the Aqua CD, with it's colorful and almost cartoonish depiction of the four band members: Lene, the beautiful girl singer with a black beehive hairdo; Rene with the bald head and big eyebrows; Soren with his blond spiky hair; and the cute shy red-head - Claus - who I always hoped was gay. Around the same time I had seen the band on MTV news discussing the lawsuit Mattel had filed against them over the song "Barbie Girl" which I hadn't actually heard. However, just due to their image and the fact that they were from Scandinavia was enough to have me hooked! I bought the CD and listened to it all the way home. On first listen, I wasn't completely taken; I thought the songs were somewhat repetitive and the synths were a little too cheesy in parts. However, there were enough songs that kept me coming back to the CD and I played it for my friends and roommates.
Somewhere along the way I realized this was the perfect feel-good CD, and it became the soundtrack for any parties or get-togethers we had at my house - which was about every night. All we had to do was put in "Aquarium", press play, and start singing - "HAPPY BOYS AND HAPPY GIRLS WE'LL BE!!!!" and let the good times roll!
My roomate's girlfriend, Christina (aka Honeybutt) and I basically became Aqua-addicts. We couldn't go anywhere or do anything without listening to "Aquarium" before, during, and after whatever we were doing. Soon, I was buying all the Aqua import CD-singles I could find - and we would listen to 6 remixes of the same song in a row, over and over again!!! It was really crazy. Soon my boyfriend at the time (who will remain nameless for many reasons) joined in on the fun and we were all "Barbie Girls" all the time!
Seriously, never in my life - before or since - have I listened to a CD as often as I've heard "Aquarium." I must have played it over 1,000,000 times that year. It's an anomaly for me, because even as much as I love any CD there usually comes a point where I have to put it away and save it for later. Not Aquarium. I listened to it every day for well over a year, I'm guessing, often multiple times per day. I think you could say I had a problem.
By the time I had worn out "Aquarium" I had moved on to "Mania Remix" which was basically just the singles from "Aquarium" remixed, with one new track added on ("Didn't I"). And just as that was almost getting old, I actually got a postcard in the mail from Universal announcing the released of "The Aqua Diary" - a VHS "movie" of Aqua's around-the-world adventures, including behind the scenes footage shot by the band themselves as well as all their music videos.
Well three years later and the magic had finally begun to fade, although it was with GREAT anticipation that I ordered the import version of their second album, "Aquarius" from my local record store (GB Records, see previous blog). This was the blossoming age of Napster however (when it was free) and I had already downloaded some of the tracks - a few of which I really loved at the time, but a few that had me worried. "Cartoon Heroes," the lead single, sounded way too much like a Disney Showtune (I never did care for that song) and the title track sounded like something the Little Mermaid would sing.
When I finally got the album (which, a few days later would arrive free at the office of the school newspaper I was the editor of - after paying over $40 for the Japanese import!) I was happy with it but there was definitely something lacking. The songs were a mixed bag - and without Honeybutt there to sing along with, it just wasn't the same.
The last track, "Goodbye To The Circus" was never one of my favorites - actually I usually skipped it - but it was a foreshadowing of things to come. After releasing "Aquarium" the band had written and performed several new tunes intended for a third album. However they too realized the magic was gone, and decided to call it a day.
Years later, the music of Aqua hasn't aged particularly well and it's a little too associated with a particular time and place in my life, which is full of bittersweet memories for me, and the opening strains of "Happy Boys & Girls" rather than putting me in a mood to party, reminds me of those times. However I will always hold a special place in my heart for this crazy, cartoon band who helped me get through the last of my college years with a smile on my face and an "untah - untah - untah" in my head.