L.A. Style was a Dutch

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

group, consisting of founder, producer and

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Wessel van Diepen Wessel Dietrich van Diepen is a Dutch radio host, music producer, and former TV presenter. Under the pseudonym DJ Delmundo, he is part of Danski & Delmundo, the production duo behind acts like the Vengaboys and Alice Deejay. With a total of 10 UK ...

(who later also created Nakatomi and the successful

Vengaboys Vengaboys ( ) is a Dutch Eurodance music group based in Rotterdam consisting of lead and female vocalist Kim Sasabone, female vocalist Denise van Rijswijk and male vocalists Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa. Created by Dutch producers Wessel va ...

), composer Denzil Slemming (a.k.a. Michiel Van Der Kuy of Laserdance fame) and FX aka Frans Merkx, as well as Foco (Alfons "Fonny" de Wulf) and Ray Decadance (surname Muylle) of the Belgian project Rofo (credited i.e. as writers and producers of "Balloony"). L.A. Style was most notable for their

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

single "

James Brown Is Dead "James Brown Is Dead" is a song by Dutch electronic dance music duo L.A. Style, produced by Wessel van Diepen and Denzil Slemming. It was released in August 1991 as the lead single from their debut album, '' L.A. Style'' (1993). The song was a ...

", which appeared on

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Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until July 1993) is released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout the United States ...

chart, becoming the first EDM group to venture near the top 50 of the main Billboard singles chart. Another famous song of L.A. Style was ''Balloony'' of 1992.

Career

The group was fronted by rapper/singer/songwriter & producer FX AKA Eazee F & The BFD (real name Frans Merkx). Wessel van Diepen was known for his skill in bringing a different sound to dance and mixing that with the talents of the lead artist FX. FX is considered as one of the first to set the trend of combining Euro pop with Rap in an effort to bring the masses the flavor of Rap music with a different twist. FX had numerous hits with Infobeat, most notable the single 'We got the Funk' and 'Are u Ready'. At the time L.A. Style followed up the huge success of International hit "

" with the smash hit 'I'm Raving'. L.A. Style appeared on 'MTV 'The Grind' and toured extensively all over North America, Asia & Europe with massive success. FX lso known as The Godfather of Technoand Wessel van Diepen helped pushed the boundaries of dance music to another level where it was acceptable to mix Rap, Rock & Techno and for all genres and people from walks of life to come together. It was a bold statement but because of their groundbreaking styles L.A. Style set the trend for other super groups like 2 Unlimited and 2 brothers on the 4th floor to name but a few. They released a self-titled album as well as other

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 ...

s, but despite massive success overseas as well as

dance club Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...

play, L.A. Style's moment faded after the departure of the lead artist FX Frans Merkx and they quickly faded and dispersed in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. In recent years the group has again come to the attention of the pop world and rumors are that the group could be reformed with the original line up of FX as lead artist. There were also rumors that L.A. Style would be fronted by a totally new line up, however all agreed this would not go down well with the fans. Since the time of L.A. Style Wessel van Diepen continues to be one of the most sought after radio DJ's in The Netherlands and FX has been working with the main producer and old friend behind DJ Chukie, Mr. Fabian Lennsen. As FX has said, "I've worked with many great artists and even found great artists and if something comes a long that excites me then I will be back in the studio."

Discography

Albums

*'' L.A. Style'' (1993)

Singles

References

{{Authority control Dutch dance music groups Dutch techno music groups Hardcore techno music groups Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 1995 1991 establishments in the Netherlands