29 August 1993
There’s a sad story behind this number one single. Culture Beat was the project of German producer Torsten Fenslau. In November 1993, a mere two months after ‘Mr. Vain’ topped the charts across Europe, he was in a car crash and died, aged only 29.
That said, there’s no hidden depth or latent poignancy to ‘Mr. Vain’. It’s another slice of pure early-’90s Eurodance with the same formula of beats, synths, singer and rapper. While not as much unadulterated fun as 2 Unlimited’s ‘No Limit’, it’s far better than Snap!’s ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’ – the beats are more intricate than mere four-on-the-floor thumping, Jay Supreme is a less hectoring rapper, and Tania Evans sings with a playful R&B lilt. It helps that Supreme and Evans are both native English speakers and therefore able to add a bit of nuance and charm even to TEFL-bothering lyrical hooks like “Call him Mr Raider”. Culture Beat continued in various line-ups after Fenslau’s death, and today Evans still performs ‘Mr. Vain’ and other Culture Beat tracks. That’s a happy legacy.
