Artist
Scooter
Why we feature this artist The rave chorus as a group sport Scooter reduce rave to some of its most direct pleasures: a hard kick, a huge melodic figure and H.P. Baxxter treating the microphone as an invitation to make more noise. The records are knowingly exc…
- From
- Germany
- Sound
- Techno, happy hardcore, Eurodance
- Active
- 1993–present
Start with the music
Tracks to explore
The artist, in context
The story of Scooter
Why we feature this artist
The rave chorus as a group sport
Scooter reduce rave to some of its most direct pleasures: a hard kick, a huge melodic figure and H.P. Baxxter treating the microphone as an invitation to make more noise. The records are knowingly excessive, but the timing of the release is usually very carefully judged.
The Hamburg beginning
The group emerged in Hamburg in 1993, with Baxxter, Rick J. Jordan and Ferris Bueller at the centre of the first line-up. “Hyper Hyper” in 1994 established a formula that made the voice part of the percussion and the crowd part of the idea. …And the Beat Goes On! in 1995 put that approach into album form.
Our Happy Hardcore followed in 1996, keeping the pace high while drawing on familiar melodic material. “Back in the U.K.” and their version of “Rebel Yell” show how readily Scooter could turn recognition into a new burst of energy. The result was less concerned with subtle genre boundaries than with whether a room would respond.
Changing the ingredients, keeping the effect
Later records brought in hard trance, jumpstyle and other dance-floor sounds. “Ramp! (The Logical Song)” and “Nessaja” gave the group another major wave of international attention in the early 2000s, with pitched vocals and sharply defined breakdowns at the centre.
The catalogue makes most sense when its humour and craft are heard together. Baxxter’s slogans can seem deliberately absurd, but the tracks around them know when to strip down and when to bring everything back. Scooter have repeatedly changed the ingredients while keeping that moment of collective release recognisable.
Essential releases
…And the Beat Goes On!
The first full statement of Scooter’s rave-pop language.
Our Happy Hardcore
Fast rhythms and familiar melodies pushed towards maximum response.
The Stadium Techno Experience
An early-2000s snapshot of the group’s larger crossover sound.