Shake it, shake it, make it alright

If you tuned into 1994's far-from-classic Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, you will remember them. They were like an all-female version of the Village People. Mekado performed what many regard as Germany's 'last decent entry' to the competition. Wir Geben 'Ne Party was a camp little disco number, with a dance routine involving lots of hand-clapping, thigh-slapping, head-twisting choreography. And where did it get out plucky German trio? Only third place! Surely one of the greatest Eurovision travesties of all time. Relive the good times here and imagine what might have been.



I propose three cheers for this fabulous teutonic trio! They say good things come in threes, so here are three things you never knew and possible never cared about Mekado

1. The name Mekado was taken from merging the first names of the girls in question. Melanie is the one with black hair who often appears to draw inspiration for her outfits from an S&M catalogue. Katie is the tall blonde who has always disturbed me purely by having an unnatural distance between her eyes. Dorkas is the brunette who appeared on stage at Eurovision in what appeared to be a sailor suit constructed purely from her grandmother's crochet kit.

2. Dorkas went on to continue being a successful star in Germany and is now more blonde than Katie (the one with the dodgy eyes, sorry - can't get past that)

3. The group went on to release a full album, titled We're Giving A Party (Should've sacked the translator, girls). It's now out of production, but you can pick it up on Ebay if you're a shrewd bidder. Here's a taster of what the album includes. Good Morning I Love You is a slow pop number which gets catchy after the third listen. There's even a slight whiff of a key change towards the end.

Best Before 1997: Pure German cheese

I'm in a holiday mood today. Not just because of the early summer weather in UK, but also because I booked my summer holiday yesterday - three weeks beside the seaside, so I felt it was high time for some 100% cheese on the blog and what could be cheesier or more summery than a trip back ten years to visit Germany's greatest Europop/dance export (okay, that's not saying much), Mr. President.

Check out the video for JoJo Action. For me, this song features the world's all-time worst ever lyrics. Ah, they could only have been written by a German, not least because rhyming 'Candy apple tree' with 'JoJo honeybee' is actually an offence in some countries (well, it ought to be). At least the video redeems itself with a gorgeous shot of a discoball at 02'29.

Of course, it's hard to realise from watching their later stuff that Mr. President's earlier material was much harder. Take a look at the video from Forever and one day. It includes all the key ingredients of a summer Europop smash. Look at the sun drenched camera shots, and listen to the obligatory 'Oh-way-oh-way' lyric, pioneered by the Vengaboys themselves. Where could this beach be? Spain? Greece? Perhaps, but we're not too far from Germany, because methinks I can hear the sound of a jaunty alpine accordion in the background. The only downside is the irritating twang in the blonde one's voice... I challenge anybody to listen to the first thirty seconds without cringing at it.