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LABEL: Club Tools RELEASE DATE: January 8, 1999 GENRE: Hard Trance
// review by SoyBomb

Call me...what?

It's time to dig back into the vault of past Scooter singles. Yes, those three fellows hiding out in Hamburg came out with quite the number of hits back in the 1990s, and Call Me Mañana is no exception, boasting Top 20 status in a number of European countries. Of course, keep in mind that back in 1999 when this was released, current third member Michael Simon was only a technician for the band; DJ-turned-Scooter-member-turned-solo-artist-again Axel Coon was the last leg of the trio at the time, helping to transform the band from a happy hardcore group to a more modern-sounding trance and hard dance band at a time when its popularity was ever-increasing. However, Call Me Mañana doesn't exactly fit the mould of standard dance music at the time -- or of Scooter singles in general.

While the album version (from 1998's "No Time To Chill") was a more general dance track, it apparently simply would not do as a full-fledged single. Scooter has been known to rework album tracks to make singles, and this was no exception. The resulting concoction was an unusual blend of the original track (most of the lyrics and some of the background music) and the main hook from "James Brown Is Dead", a popular rave tune from 1991, courtesy of L.A. Style. That hook is a tad shrill to the average listener, so it was a bold decision to include it. To be honest, I do have a personal preference for the original version; this one just doesn't have the melodic grasp of a wonderful track, at least not to me. The Heavy Horses Radio Edit (attributed to the addition of horse sound effects) at least keeps it to a preferable length; the Heavy Horses Extended version is stretched out for DJ play if ever they want to screech up the dancefloor. To top it off, we have Bramfeld, and all I can really say about this is that it's a... shall we say, unique and minimalist twist on dance music, slowly adding a variety of different sound effects alongside a standard beat. However, there isn't much of a melody to follow or a hook to enjoy, so it's more or less a curiosity above all else. Skippable? Yes.

Overall, "Call Me Mañana" isn't a single that I can't closely connect with. Had they used the album version, I might be more inclined, but with the new direction they took, I find it difficult to truly enjoy like other Scooter singles. As well, its B-side is a slice of blandness. Luckily, the Hamburg trio was able to locate a better sound in future singles.


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