Cartoons, also known as Cartoons DK, are a Danish

Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

band, best known for their song " DooDah" and their

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

of the 1958

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

Witch Doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor), or witchcraft doctor, is a kind of magical healer who treats ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is often misunderstood, and they could more accurately be called "anti-witch doctors ...

", both hits released in 1998. The group wears outlandish plastic costumes and wigs in live performances as caricatures of 1950s

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

stars.

History

Cartoons started out as the Scooters in the late 1980s, playing

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

music from the 50s and 60s. In 1994, the Scooters released the album ''Live at Woodstock'', and in 1997, they changed their name to Cartoons. Their musical style switched from rockabilly to "technobilly", their own expression of

mixed with

; many of their songs are remakes of old rockabilly hits that they covered as the Scooters. The group was first signed to FLEX Records, moving later to EMI Denmark. Their most notable

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

to date is their

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Ross Bagdasarian Ross S. Bagdasarian (; January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), known professionally by his stage name David "Dave" Seville, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor best known for creating the virtual band, cartoon band Al ...

", which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. It features a combination of the original's "oo-ee-oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bing-bang"

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

(albeit lacking the record's double-speed playback of the chorus), driving dance beat and occasional

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

breaks. The group had further success in the UK with the Top 10 hit " DooDah" (a cover version of the

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

Camptown Races "De Camptown Races" or "Gwine to Run All Night" (nowadays popularly known as "Camptown Races") is a folk song by American Romantic composer Stephen Foster. It was published in February 1850 by F. D. Benteen and was introduced to the American mai ...

", albeit with completely different lyrics), the Top 20 hit "Aisy Waisy", which was performed on Jim Davidson's ''

Generation Game ''The Generation Game'' is a British game show produced by the BBC in which four teams of two people from the same family, but different generations, compete to win prizes. The game There are eight competitors, hence the catchphrase "Let's me ...

'', and a Top 20 debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' Toonage'' (later rereleased with extra tracks as ''More Toonage''). The group's second album, ''Toontastic'', did not match the success of its predecessor, but several notable hits were released from it, including "Diddley-Dee", "Little Red Ridinghood", "Big Coconuts",

Lally Stott Harold "Lally" Stott Jr. (16 January 1945 – 6 June 1977) was an English singer-songwriter and musician who wrote the song " Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" which became a UK number one hit for the Scottish band Middle of the Road in 1971, and char ...

's "

Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep "Chirpy Chirpy, Cheep Cheep" is a song recorded in 1970 by its composer Lally Stott, and made popular in 1971 by Scottish band Middle of the Road, for whom it was a UK #1 chart hit. That version is one of fewer than fifty singles to have so ...

" and a reworked cover of

Les Humphries Singers The Les Humphries Singers was a Pop music, pop vocal group formed in Hamburg, West Germany by English singer Les Humphries. Active from 1969 until 1980, the group had several chart hits in Germany and in other European countries. The group, who ...

' "Mama Loo". The group was one of several artists to contribute to the soundtrack of the 2000 animated film ''

Help! I'm a Fish ''Help! I'm a Fish'' (; also known as ''A Fish Tale'') is a 2000 animated science fantasy musical film directed by Stefan Fjeldmark, Greg Manwaring, and Michael Hegner, and written by Fjeldmark, Karsten Kiilerich, John Stefan Olsen, and Tracy J. ...

'', with the track "Wobble-Di-Bubble-Di-Doo". Cartoons disbanded in 2001, with the reasons remaining initially unclear. Toonie and Sponge later revealed in a Danish TV interview that the group had planned a US tour, but these plans were cancelled following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The group briefly reunited in 2005 to promote their ''Greatest Toons'' album, released by CMC Entertainment, which featured three new tracks, including the single "Day Oh". They performed a number of shows throughout Europe, including appearances at Bonbonland and the Jelling Musikfestival. In July 2016, Karina Jensen died of cancer, which she had been diagnosed with in 2012. She was survived by her husband and two children. In 2018, the group returned once again to perform at the "We Love the 90s" festival in Aalborg, Denmark. The following year, another compilation album, ''De Bedste'', was released by

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

and

X5 Music Group X5 Music Group is a record label based in Stockholm, Sweden with a branch in Manhattan, New York. Founded in 2003, it is a digital-only label that primarily licenses pre-existing music for compilation albums. X5 originally focused on classical mu ...

; it included a remix of their cover version of

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

's " De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" by Sponge. In April 2019, Erling Jensen died of lymphoma; he was 50 years old. In 2020, the group returned to the studio with original producer Kenneth Bager to record a new single, "Shots", which was released in 2023. Later that year, they collaborated with Marnage to produce a faster version of "DooDah", titled "DooDah 2K23". As of 2024, Jesper Dukholt is the sole original member.

Members

True to their name, the personnel of Cartoons has cartoon-inspired nicknames. The line-up is: * Toonie – lead vocals and backing vocals * Sponge – saxophone, keyboards and bass vocals * Shooter – lead guitar and backing vocals * Buzz – double bass and occasional backing vocals * Puddy – backing vocals * Boop – backing vocals

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

As main artist

As featured artist

References

External links

Official website

Cartoons at Bubblegum Dancer

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartoons, The Danish pop music groups Danish Eurodance groups Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 English-language singers from Denmark Bands with fictional stage personas 1996 establishments in Denmark 2006 disestablishments in Denmark Co-ed groups