Passion Fruit (band)

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Passion Fruit
Origin Madrid, Spain
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Berlin, Germany
Genre(s) Pop
Europop
Eurodance
Bubblegum Dance
Years active 1999–2001
Former members
Manye "Blade" Thompson
Viola "Dawn" Schubbe
Carla "Pearl" Sinclair
Mario "MC Steve" Tub
Maria Serrano Serrano (deceased)
Nathaly(ie) van het Ende (deceased)
Deborah "Debby" St. Marteen

Passion Fruit was a Eurodance/bubblegum dance group consisting of three girls of Dutch, Spanish and German descent:

Named after the tropical fruit, Passion Fruit began in June 1999 with the top ten dance-pop “The Rigga-Ding-Dong-Song”. “Wonderland”, “Sun Fun Baby” and “Bongo Man” followed in 2000 and 2001, all making the top 40 on the German singles chart[1].

Their style is sweet and bouncy, with sugar-coated lyrics and catchy rhythms, reflecting the characteristics of a passion fruit . Passion Fruit’s lyrics are mainly in English, but occasionally some Spanish, German and Dutch is included.

Contents

[edit] Original Formation

Established in 1999, Passion Fruit originally consisted of three females and a male who performed the rapping parts. It was this group that performed "The Rigga Ding Dong Song", which was the group’s most successful single, reaching the top 10 in 14 countries, including number 9 in Germany and number 1 in Mexico. The original line-up can be seen in the single’s cover sleeve and video.

The four original members were:

  • Blade (Manye Thompson)
  • Dawn (Viola Schubbe)
  • Pearl (Carla Sinclair)
  • MC Steve (Mario Tub)

Following MC Steve leaving in October 1999 and tensions within the group, record company X-Cell Records decided not to continue with the project. Subsequently, the management team that created the group found a new line-up and a new record company and kept the name Passion Fruit to leverage the success of the first single.

[edit] Second line-up

  • Nathaly(ie) van het Ende – a background singer, dancer and much sought-after model, who was the second runner up in the 1995 Miss Holland pageant and appeared in many music videos
  • Debby (Deborah) St. Marteen – a dancer and model who appeared in many music videos for Dutch and Belgian artists
  • Maria Serrano Serrano – a trained nurse who was also a dancer, model and background singer for various artists

While Marie, Debby and Nathaly sang some vocals, the lead vocals for the songs, including "The Rigga Ding Dong Song", were performed by Cuban-German singer Leticia Pareja-Padron[2].

[edit] Death

On November 24, 2001, the group was on board Crossair Flight 3597 from Berlin to Zurich when it crashed into a wooded range of hills four kilometres (2.5 miles) short of the runway on approach towards Zurich International Airport, near the town of Bassersdorf. Maria Serrano-Serrano and Nathaly van het Ende died along with La Bouche’s vocalist Melanie Thornton, who was also on the plane, while Debby St. Marteen survived with serious injuries along with eight other people.

In December 2001, Passion Fruit’s management decided to donate all the proceeds from their single “I’m Dreaming of...a Winter Wonderland” to the victims and survivors of the crash.

No new formation of the band has been planned.

[edit] Debby, post-crash

In 2006, Debby was continuing to have treatment for her injuries. She occasionally posts messages on the official Passion Fruit website, usually each November around the anniversary of the plane crash to remember her beloved friends, Maria and Nathaly. She currently lives in Zoetermeer in the Netherlands. On December 5, 2006, to mark the fifth anniversary, she appeared in an interview on the ZDF television show Hello Germany which showed her visiting the site of the crash.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • Spanglish Love Affairs (10 April 2000)
    • 1. Wonderland (Radio Mix)
    • 2. Rigga Ding Dong Song (Radio Edit)
    • 3. Sun Fun Baby
    • 4. Do You Remember
    • 5. Xl Holiday
    • 6. Tangomania
    • 7. Hot Tongue Twister (Vamonos)
    • 8. Let’s Go Crazy
    • 9. Passion Gang (Ladadi)
    • 10. Space Attack
    • 11. I Feel So Blue
    • 12. Shine On
    • 13. Wonderland (Bonus)

[edit] Singles

Release Date Title Highest Chart Position
DE CH AT NL
24 June 1999 The Rigga-Ding-Dong-Song 9 7 9 15
6 March 2000 Wonderland 22 69 11 —
5 June 2000 Sun Fun Baby (Looky Looky) 34 81 33 —
25 June 2001 Bongo Man 35 81 44 —
3 December 2001 I’m Dreaming of…A Winter Wonderland 72 56 63 —

[edit] References

  1. ^ 1
  2. ^ 2

1. http://www.elephant-music.de/profil.html
2. http://www.leticia.info

[edit] External links

Languages