Tic Tac Toe (band)
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| Tic Tac Toe | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Ruhrpott |
| Country | Germany |
| Years active | 1995-2000, 2005-2007 |
| Genres | Hip Hop |
| Labels | Sony BMG Germany |
| Past members | Ricarda Wältken, Liane Sprenger-Wiegelmann, Marlene Tackenberg, Sara Brahms |
| Website(s) | http://www.sonybmg.de/artists2.php?artist=85946 |
Tic Tac Toe is an all-female German hip hop group. Having sold over 3 Million Albums, they are the most successful German language rap group to date. Formed in 1995, they released their self-titled debut album in 1996. Their second album, Klappe Die 2te, was released the following year. After a successful first few years, the group split due to personal difficulties. Tic Tac Toe attempted a return to the spotlight by releasing The Best of Tic Tac Toe with Sony BMG (Germany) in 2006, which includes the 2005 comeback single "Spiegel".
[edit] History
Tic Tac Toe was founded in 1995. Its original members, "Ricky" (Ricarda Wältken), "Lee" (Liane Sprenger-Wiegelmann) and "Jazzy" (Marlene Tackenberg) were just 18, 21 and 20, respectively, when they were signed to a record label. Their songs expressed young women's views about dating, partying, sex, and racism.
Meeting at a hip hop festival in 1995, the three young women from Ruhrpott broke on radio with their first single, "Ich Find' Dich Scheisse" ("I Think You're Shit"). Their success continued with the 1996 release of their debut album Tic Tac Toe, which went Platinum, and the release of two singles, "Funky" and "Leck Mich am A, B, Zeh," which reached the top 20. This was followed up with the single "Verpiss' Dich" ("Piss Off"), which landed at number one and also reached Platinum status.
1997 brought the release of their second Platinum album, Klappe Die 2te, which included their biggest hit, "Warum?" ("Why?"), which spent 7 weeks in the number one spot. Other singles from this record included "Mr. Wichtig" and "Ich wär' so gern so blöd wie du." They also received attention for the song "Bitte küss mich nicht" ("Please don't kiss me"), which addressed the sexual abuse of children. Through these two albums, Tic Tac Toe sold nearly 3 million records, making them the most successful German Rap group of all time.
Despite their professional success, the members experienced turbulence in their personal lives. At the insistence of their record company, all three members had pretended to be only 18 years old in order to market themselves to young buyers; however, it was soon revealed that Lee was not only older, but also married. This fact came to light when her husband committed suicide while the group was on tour. A week later it was revealed that she had worked for two weeks as a prostitute in order to finance her drug habit. The band lost credibility with the public after these revelations, especially since the record company had marketed the group as "sincere girls next door." Ricky left the band in 1997 after a public dispute. Her replacement, Sara Brahms, contributed to some more hits (the first released under the name "Sara @ Tic Tac Two"). Amid the resulting fallout and a lukewarm response to their third album, Ist der Ruf erst ruiniert the band faded into obscurity.
In 2004, Jazzy attempted to initiate a solo career, appearing on "the Comeback Show," but was eliminated in the first round.
In 2005, the group reunited with its original three-member-cast and in December 2005 they produced the single called "*Spiegel," , which entered German Media Control single chart at number 9 and peaked at number 7. In February of 2006, the trio released the album "Comeback," their first new material in five years. The album's success, however, could not be compared to their previous ones. It charted only at #25 in German Media Control album chart, which drove the record company to scale back the promotional tour from the originally announced ten locations to just three. In May, they released their 2nd single from "Comeback". This, however, was their least successful single; it reached only #103. A third and presumably final breakup was announced on January 31, 2007.
Albums Tic Tac Toe (1996) D: #3, Klappe die 2te (1997) D: #1, Ist der Ruf erst ruiniert (2000) D: #34, Best of (2006) D: #70, Comeback (2006) D: #25
Singles Ich Find' Dich Scheisse (1995) D: #4, Funky (1996) D: #14, Leck mich am A, B, Zeh (1996) D: #21, Verpiss' Dich (1996) D: #1, Warum? (1997) D: #1, Mr. Wichtig (1997) D: #6, Ich Wär' so Gern so Blöd wie Du (1997) D: #32, Bitte Küss Mich Nicht (1997) D: #47, Nie wieder (1999) as Sara @ Tic Tac Two D: #4, Ist der Ruf erst ruiniert (2000) D: #27, Isch liebe disch (2000) D: #11, Heute ist morgen schon gestern (200) D: #96, Spiegel (2005) D: #7 (2006 Year End Charts: #51), Keine Ahnung (2006) D: #103
