Funkstar De Luxe
Funkstar De Luxe (born Martin Aulkjær Ottesen in 1973) is a Danish house producer and remixer. He is best known for his million-selling reworking of Bob Marley's "Sun Is Shining".
Work edit
Funkstar was first exposed to Marley's music as a teenage keyboardist in an amateur reggae band. "Sun Is Shining" was a worldwide hit reaching the top 20 in nine countries including No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also awarded best-selling international reggae single of the year at the World Music Awards.
Longtime Marley manager Chris Blackwell hurried to release his own remixes, but Funkstar had already moved on and had another hit with a remix of Marley's "Rainbow Country." He has since recorded other remixes for artists including Tom Jones, Mary J. Blige, Grace Jones, and Barry White, the most notable of which appeared on "Keep on Movin: It's Too Funky in Here". In 2003, Funkstar released an album of his own material, "Funkturistic". His track "When I Think Of You" got a remix by SASH! In 2004.
Dubbed "The Danish King of the Remix" by AllMusic,[2] after two sabbaticals away from the music industry during the 2000s, Funkstar returned to the scene in 2013 charting with a remix of Kim Wilde's "You Keep Me Hanging On". In 2014, his long-time label Lifted House released a rework of his Marley hit "Sun Is Shining - 15th Anniversary" which reached No. 1 on the UK Dance Chart.
His 2015 single "Million Miles" featured Michael Jackson collaborator Geoffrey Williams. The single reached No. 8 on the British Dance Chart and spent ten weeks in the UK Dance Top 20.
Discography edit
Albums edit
- Keep On Moving (1999)
- Keep On Moving (It's Too Funky in Here) (2000)
- I'm a Rainbow too (2000)
- Funkturistic (2002)
Singles edit
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN [3] | BEL | CAN | FRA | GER [4] | IRE [5] | NLD | NOR | NZL | SWE | SWI [6] | UK [7] | US Dance | ||||
| "Sun Is Shining" (vs. Bob Marley) | 1999 | — | 7 | 3 | 12 | 19 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 1 | UK: Silver | Keep On Moving (It's Too Funky in Here) |
| "Rainbow Country" (vs. Bob Marley) | 1999 | — | 58 | 12 | 78 | 47 | 28 | 78 | — | 27 | 40 | 54 | 11 | — | ||
| "Let the Music Play" (vs. Barry White) | 2000 | — | 24 | — | 39 | — | — | 91 | — | — | — | 92 | — | — | Single only | |
| "Sunshine Reggae" (vs. Laid Back) | 2000 | — | — | — | — | 68 | — | 35 | — | — | — | 64 | — | — | Single only | |
| "Walkin' in the Name" (vs. Terry Maxx) | 2000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 42 | — | Keep On Moving (It's Too Funky in Here) | |
| "Pull Up to the Bumper" (vs. Grace Jones) | 2000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 60 | 4 | ||
| "Blinded by the Light" (with Manfred Mann's Earth Band) | 2002 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Funkturistic | |
| "Saturday" | 2003 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Easy" | 2003 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "When I Think of You" | 2004 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Singles only | |
| "She's a Lady" (vs. Tom Jones feat. DJ the Wave) | 2004 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 96 | — | — | ||
| "Itch It Up" | 2004 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "So Invincible" (feat. Kristine Blond) | 2008 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (feat. Kim Wilde) | 2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Sun Is Shining (15th Anniversary)" | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Million Miles" (feat. Geoffrey Williams) | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||||
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 217. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Funkstar de Luxe Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
- ^ "danishcharts.dk - Danish charts portal (Search for: Funkstar)". danishcharts.dk. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
- ^ German peaks[dead link]
- ^ Search for Irish peaks 2009-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community (Search for: Funkstar)". swisscharts.com. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
External links edit
- Official website
- Funkstar De Luxe discography at Discogs