Bus Stop (band)

Bus Stop were a British dance act made up of Darren Sampson (known as Daz Sampson), alongside Graham Turner, Mark Hall and Nikki Reid (Lane). It was formed in 1998 and had a string of hit singles before disbanding in 2002. The main vocalist Daz Sampson went on for a successful musical career including representing Britain in 2006 in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Style

The band was best known for its dance remakes of well-known hits, and some of the remakes quite often featured the original artists themselves invited to take part in the new recordings. This way, Bus Stop was able to bring back many old hits to the charts with new catchy arrangements and revved up tunes and mixes. On many recordings, Daz Sampson, the main vocalist of the band, would add some rap sequences as well.

Career

Starting in 1998, Bus Stop had a string of hits and are best known for their very successful 1998 single "Kung Fu Fighting", the original being a UK #1 hit in 1974. Bus Stop's remake of the original song featuring the vocals of the original artist himself Carl Douglas. The sampled song added original rap lyrics, a style they would resort to in later hits as well. The single reached #8 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1998.^[1]

After the success of "Kung Fu Fighting", the group released three further remakes, "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" that featured Randy Bachman, dance version of Van Halen's "Jump" and "Get It On" that featured T. Rex.

Other hits included remakes of "Footloose" (originally by Kenny Loggins) and "Na-Na" (originally a hit by Steam called "Goodbye" popularly known as "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". Bus Stop also released "Kick the Can", "Swing It", "One Two (Little Bitch)" and "Long Train Runnin'".

In addition to their single releases, the band was featured on many tracks in the Dancemania series.^[2] The group disbanded in 2002.

After break-up

Band member and Bus Stops's main vocalist Daz Sampson has since gone on to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Teenage Life". He has also enjoyed a prosperous career and has had chart success as part of Fraud Squad (with JJ Mason), Rikki & Daz (with Ricardo Autobahn, real name John Matthews), with Barndance Boys (also with Matthews) and very notably in Uniting Nations (with Paul Keenan).

Members

• Darren Sampson
• Graham Turner
• Mark Hall
• Nikki Reid (Lane)

In popular culture

Many of the Bus Stop songs have been featured in the popular game series Dance Dance Revolution, including "Kung Fu Fighting", "Kick the Can", "Swing It", "One Two (Little Bitch)", "Na-Na", "Swing It" and "Long Train Runnin'".

Discography

Albums

• Ticket to Ride (1998)^[3]
• Get It On (2000)^[4]
• Bustin' Rhymes & Melodies (2002)^[5]

Singles

Compilation appearances

Dancemania

• Dancemania Delux 3 (1999) with "Jump"
• Dancemania Speed 2 (1999) with "Jump"
• Dancemania X1 (1999) with "Jump"
• Dancemania Delux 4 (2000) with "Kick The Can"
• Dancemania Euro*Mix Happy Paradise (2000) with "Na-Na (B4 Za Beat Mix)"
• Dancemania Speed Best 2001 Hyper Nonstop Megamix (2000) with "Jump (Fast Mix)" and "Kick The Can (Hyper KCP Mix)"
• Dancemania BASS #8 (2000) with "Rock You"
• Dancemania 21 (2001) with "Long Train Runnin'"
• Dancemania Bass #10 Super Best 1998-2001 (2001) with "Kung-Fu Fighting (Miami Booty Mix)"
• Dancemania Speed 7 (2001) with "Footloose (Hyper Mix)"
• Dancemania X8 (2001) with "Footloose"
• Classical Speed 1 (2002) with "Orphee Aux Enfers [Kick The Can]"
• Dancemania 22: Energy Overload (2002) with "Owner of A Lonely Heart"
• Dancemania Best Yellow (2002) with "Jump" and "Long Train Runnin'"
• Dancemania Speed 8 (2002) with "Long Train Runnin' (Ventura Mix)"
• Dancemania Speed 9 (2002) with "Na-Na (KCP Remix)"
• Dancemania EX2 (2003) with "Let The Music Play"
• Dancemania Hyper Delux (2003) with "Long Train Runnin'"

References