The mysterious Aqua releases (Part I: Lollipop, Freaky Friday and Mania Remix Volume 2) (18/11/06)

I have written this series of articles with the intention of clearing up many misteries and not well-known issues about certain Aqua releases. I hope you enjoy it and that it helps you to know this band better.

Lollipop (Candyman), almost a worldwide single?

In USA, Lollipop (Candyman) was the second and last single from Aquarium (Turn Back Time was heavily promoted on radio, clubs and television, but never became commercially available). It was also released in different formats in France and Australia, at the same time that Doctor Jones. In Japan, these two singles were kind of a double A-side release.

But, could have Lollipop (Candyman) been released in other countries, making it a worldwide single? It seems so, as even an artwork and a project of the european Maxi-CD were done (as can be seen in the picture). It is believed to have contained many remixes of the song.

Lollipop (Candyman) was probably going to be released in Europe and other countries early 1998, about three months later than Doctor Jones (which was released in December 1997). But then, Turn Back Time was selected to be the song to promote the film Sliding Doors, and so the plans changed. The european Lollipop (Candyman) release was then cancelled, and because of this, the excellent remixes for this song became very hard to find, as they were splitted between several scarce formats: promotional vinyls (3 of them, including "Fitch Brother's Sugar Mix"), the australian maxi-CD ("Radio Edit", "Extended Mix" and "DJ Greek's Candy Mix"), the european Mania Remix compilation ("Antiloop Club Mix") and certain Aquarium re-editions ("Razor'N'Go Lick It Mix").

Freaky Friday, the ghost single and Bumble Bees, the doomed single

The official Aqua site announced in mid 2000 that Freaky Friday would be the third single from Aquarius. It was going to be released in 08/08/2000, worldwide-wise. But in the last moment, Universal thought that after two risky singles and a chart-sinking Aquarius CD, Bumble Bees would be a better choice, because it sounded more like the previous (and more sucessful) album. So Bumble Bees was released in 15/08/2000. Aqua parodied the decision of Universal of releasing a more Barbie-sound single in the video of the song, with that memorable "We are not a Barbie-band" scene.

However, remixes for Freaky Friday had already been commisioned, like the one from Eiffel 65, a very famous eurodance band at that moment. To take profit of it, Universal decided that they would give a try to Freaky Friday, releasing it as a single, but only in Japan (where weird songs like Freaky Friday can prove successful). Freaky Friday was meant to be released in Japan in 08/09/2000. It even had a proper catalogue number, MVCE-1106. But Universal changed their mind again in the very last moment, and finally the third japanese single was Bumble Bees, released in 20/09/2000.

This crazy situation was fatal for both Freaky Friday (as it wasn't released as a single, although its "Eiffel 65 Extended Remix" was included in some asian Aquarius re-editions) and also Bumble Bees, which failed everywhere, thanks in part to its serious lack of promotion after the sudden change of single. With this, the whole Aquarius project became doomed, and the 4th single was only released in a few selected countries. It's impossible to guess now what would have happened, had Freaky Friday been released like originally planned. But, certainly, a single with a strong promotion and a cool remix from a then-famous band, would have been more successful than the precipitated and almost unpromoted Bumble Bees.

The doubtful existence of Aqua Mania Remix: Volume 2

When the first album era was about to end (mid 1998), Universal released in Japan an Aqua remixes compilation called Mania Remix: Volume 1. With some differences in the tracklist, this compilation was also released in Australia and a few asian countries (as Bubble Mix) and even in selected european countries (as Mania Remix). But, because the japanese title featured the subtitle Volume 1, it seemed obvious that there should be a sequel in the future.

Two years later, the Aquarius era ended with the release of We belong to the sea. There was an asian re-edition of the album with a Bonus CD that included 5 remixes, one of each single from the album (counting the almost-single Freaky Friday). And then 2001 year came by and news about the upcoming third album popped out. But, suddenly, the split-up happened and any further Aqua release seemed unlikely.

However, many on-line stores still list in their catalogues a not-in-stock import release: Aqua Mania Remix: V.2. This CD is described as an "Aqua remix compilation with tracks from their second LP". Its supposed release date was 01/10/2001. There are no cover or tracklist given. Another weird thing is the label stated: Polygram, not Universal (although this is not as strange as it seems: Polygram is part of the Universal group since 1998 and Lene released her solo album under this label), with the catalogue number 4988005256676. But no one seems to know about this release. No one owns it, no one has seen it. It has never been sold at eBay. It looks more like a planned, but cancelled project, maybe in favour of the more known (and more easily available) japanese Aqua Remix Superbest, a 2002 compilation with unique edits of remixes from every Aqua single.

It was not until recently that a friend of mine sent me a picture from the Aqua collection of some unknown person. He had found that picture while surfing the web. One of the items catched my attention. A strange CD, with a late Aquarius era picture, the new Aqua logo, an obi-strip (the side paper of many asian releases) and even a couple of starfishes (a minor but meaningful detail because Mania Remix Volume 1 had the number engraved in a similar starfish). So this obscure item is most likely the mysterious Mania Remix: V.2. This must be the ultimate acquisition for any Aqua collector!

Update: The owner of this collection contacted me about this item. It's not Aqua Mania Remix Volume 2, but a rare bootleg with remixes. Thanks for clearing it up!

Next article: Part II (more Aqua releases)
Coming soon: Part III (featuring Lene, Ren� Dif, S�ren Rasted/Lazyboy and Claus Norreen releases).

Information sources: Aqua Express, Amazon, Aqua Official Site and Half store.

Remember that webmaster Lleonard Pler is the author of every news article and they may not be used or copied without permission.