GIRLBAND LEGEND: FUNKY DIAMONDS

Music

Summer Vibes-From their first album. This was totally ripped off by Vengaboys. Sounds like a better version of Stars Are Blind....

Spooky-From their first album. This was totally ripped off by Backstreet Boys.

Its My Game-From their first album. This was totally ripped off by Solid HarmoniE.

I Wanna Have-An amazing dance track. Early Pay-TV? This was totally ripped off by Vengaboys. The similarity is shocking. From their second album "Diamonds Are Forever".

Bad Girls(Bad Boys Remix)-A Hardcore yet vocal edit of their debut single taken from the maxi cd. Fiercely poptastical!

Info

To start off our series of Girlband Legends DontStopthePop revisits the group Funky Diamonds. There is very little about the group and their wikipedia entry is highly flawed. They had two albums not one! The second album "Diamonds Are Forever" was a huge success in my bedroom when I was a kid. So there.

Who are they and what makes them legendary? Well, without the Funky Diamonds you'd never have had Samajona, No Angels, Monrose and Preluders for they were the German girlband that kicked it all off. They allowed NSync to support them in Germany and scored high positions in Japan and parts of Europe. They also covered Donna Summer before it was fashionable. Need we say more?

They were pop pioneers who recorded stuff that would later be heard on the UK shores in the bands Spice Girls, S Club 7, All Saints and so on. The greatest example would be the track I Wanna Have which was totally copied by the Vengaboys/Alice Deejay. But thats how original Funky Diamonds were. Every song on their albums were like templates for future pop sounds, genres and bands. Their album was like the future of pop of the mid and late 90's. Its such a shame history has forgotten them. Until now that is.

Funky Diamonds consisted of Mo, Kira, Deedee, Y and Indira. Despite being a German girlband all their music was recorded in English. They released two albums which included covers of Conga, Night Fever and the aforementioned Bad Girls. Soundwise their first album read like the best pop album that Max Martin failed to record. Indeed, their track Spooky was ever so similar to Everybody (Backstreets Back!) released by the male version of Funky Diamonds.

Perhaps because of their original pop brilliance their record company never gave up on Funky Diamonds despite being upstaged by Backstreets Back and Spice Girls at every damn turn. Boombastic Records in Berlin released a string of singles as proof of their passion and faith in the girls. By the second album the girls channeled PWL and produced some pop thrillers like "One In A Million", "Slip and Slide" and the Grace Jones sampling "Get Funky, Go Sista".

Their videos were themselves a subject by themselves. Take their discotastic track Bad Girls released in 1996. Usually a single that not only covered disco queen Donna Summer but also included lyrics about afro-pumps and referenced the songs "DJ Let The Music Play" and "Jump To The Beat" would have a video set in a disco. Think again! Check out the promo here thanks to the lovely YouTube. As you'll see a ruin and some steps set the scenes for the video. Just sublime. If you liked Solid Harmonie check out the video for "Its My Game". Not only does the song sound very similar to the British girlband but so does the look! Judge for yourself.

If you listen closely to"Its My Game" you'll hear the baseline of the song somewhat reappears on "I'll Be There For You" by Solid HarmoniE. But thats nothing surprising. Most of the songs by Funky Diamonds would be remorphed by other acts and claim the sound all for themselves. It would appear that that "Swedish" sound that journalists go on about when talking about Max Martin and Cheiron isn't so Swedish when you play the albums by Funky Diamonds which were recorded in Berlin!

Funky Diamonds are girlband legends. They recorded music that would shape the pop for the next five years or so. They set the pace, caste the die and never get a thank you. Hopefully, this will turn the tide and restore them to their rightful place in the genealogy of pop music...