Tic Tac Toe

Tic Tac Toe
Background information
Origin	Ruhr valley, Germany
Genres	Pop, hip hop, pop rap
Years active	1995-2000, 2005-2007
Labels	Sony BMG Germany
Website	http://www.sonybmg.de/artists2.php?artist=85946
Former members
Ricarda "Ricky" Wältken (1995-1997, 2005-2007) Liane "Lee" Sprenger-Wiegelmann Marlene "Jazzy" Tackenberg Sara Brahms (1998-2000)

Tic Tac Toe was an all-female German pop group that used hip-hop elements in their songs. They sold more than 3 million albums.

Formed in 1995, they released their self-titled debut album in 1996. Their second album, Klappe Die 2te, was released the following year. After a successful first few years, the group split due to personal difficulties. Tic Tac Toe attempted a return to the spotlight by releasing Comeback in 2006, which includes the 2005 comeback single "Spiegel". At the same time their former record company released The Best of Tic Tac Toe. After low sales, their record company ended the project in January 2007.

History

Tic Tac Toe was initiated by Claudia Wohlfromm and comprised three young women, Jazzy, Lee, and Ricky, from the industrial Ruhr valley area.^[1] According to their record company, Tic Tac Toe was founded in 1995, when the three girls met at a hip hop festival. However, as many details of their biographies later turned out to be manipulated, one should be careful with information like this, especially as the company never disclosed where and when said festival had taken place.

Their first single was "Ich Find' Dich Scheiße" ("I Think You're Shit"). Their success continued with the 1996 release of their debut album Tic Tac Toe, which went Platinum, and the release of two singles, "Funky" and "Leck Mich am A, B, Zeh," which reached the top 20. This was followed up with the single "Verpiss' Dich" ("Piss Off"), which landed at number one and also reached Platinum status. In this same year, Tic Tac Toe won a VIVA Comet award for Newcomer of the Year.^[2]

1997 brought the release of their second Platinum album, Klappe Die 2te, which included their biggest hit, "Tic Tac Toe - Warum?" ("Why?"), which spent 7 weeks in the number one spot. Other singles from this record included "Mr. Wichtig" and "Ich wär' so gern so blöd wie du." They also received attention for the song "Bitte küss mich nicht" ("Please don't kiss me"), which addressed the sexual abuse of children. Through these two albums, Tic Tac Toe sold nearly 3 million records.

Despite their professional success, the members experienced turbulence in their personal lives. At the insistence of their record company, all three members had pretended to be only 18 years old in order to market themselves to young buyers; however, it was soon revealed that Lee was not only older, but also married. This fact came to light when her husband committed suicide while the group was on tour. A week later it was revealed that she had worked for two weeks as a prostitute in order to finance her drug habit. The band lost credibility with the public after these revelations, especially since the record company had marketed the group as "sincere girls next door." Ricky left the band in 1997 after a public dispute. Her replacement, Sara Brahms, contributed to some more hits (the first released under the name "Sara @ Tic Tac Two"). Amid the resulting fallout and a lukewarm response to their third album, Ist der Ruf erst ruiniert the band faded into obscurity.

In 2004, Jazzy attempted to initiate a solo career, appearing on "the Comeback Show," but was eliminated in the first round.

In 2005, the group reunited with its original three-member-cast and in December 2005 they produced the single called "*Spiegel," , which entered German Media Control single chart at number 9 and peaked at number 7. In February of 2006, the trio released the album "Comeback," their first new material in five years. The album's success, however, could not be compared to their previous ones. It charted only at #25 in German Media Control album chart, which drove the record company to scale back the promotional tour from the originally announced ten locations to just three. In May, they released their 2nd single from "Comeback". This, however, was their least successful single; it reached only #103. A third and presumably final breakup was announced on January 31, 2007.

Musical Contributions

Researcher Mark Pennay contrasted Tic Tac Toe with Cora E, an old-school German female hip-hop act. In comparison, Tic Tac Toe produced more commercial music that was received with acclaim and commercial success. Rather than striving for a political message in their music, like Cora E and Advanced Chemistry, Tic Tac Toe's songs have an "explicit recognition of the need for emotional honesty."^[3] Mark Pennay compares them to the successful German rap group Die Fantastischen Vier, writing, " Tic Tac Toe are clearly heirs to the Fantastichen Vier tradition." ^[4] The music of both groups distinguishes them from traditionalists such as the previously mentioned Cora E and Advanced Chemistry, instead creating "commercially accessible music centered on the traditional pop themes of feelings and relationships." ^[5]

Discography

Albums

• Tic Tac Toe (1996) D: #3 , PL: #10
• Klappe die 2te (1997) D: #1 , PL: #2 Gold ^[6]
• Ist der Ruf erst ruiniert (2000) D: #34 , PL: #45
• Best of (2006) D: #70
• Comeback (2006) D: #25

Singles

• Ich Find' Dich Scheisse ("I Think You're Shit") (1995) D: #4 , PL: #25
• Funky (1996) D: #14 , PL: #23
• Leck mich am A, B, Zeh ("Lick Me On A, B, Toe ") (1996) D: #21 , PL: #17
• Verpiss' Dich ("Piss Off") (1996) D: #1 , PL: #8
• Warum? ("Why?") (1997) D: #1 , PL: #3
• Mr. Wichtig ("Mr. Important") (1997) D: #6 , PL: #6
• Ich Wär' so Gern so Blöd wie Du ("I'd Love To Be As Stupid As You") (1997) D: #32 , PL: #20
• Bitte Küss Mich Nicht ("Please Don't Kiss Me") (1997) D: #47 , PL: #88
• Nie wieder ("Never ever") (1999) as Sara @ Tic Tac Two D: #4 , PL: #6
• Ist der Ruf erst ruiniert ("Once your reputation's ruined...") (2000) D: #27 , PL: #23
• Ich liebe dich ("I Love You") (2000) D: #11 , PL: #18
• Morgen ist heute schon gestern ("Tomorrow Today Is Already Yesterday") (2000) D: #96
• Spiegel ("Mirror") (2005) D: #7 (2006 Year End Charts: #51)
• Keine Ahnung ("No Idea") (2006) D: #103

External links

Tic Tac Toe - Music Video. [1]

Notes

1. ^ Pennay, Mark. "Rap in Germany: The Birth of a Genre." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA. Ed. Tony Marshall. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. 123.
2. ^ Pennay, Mark. "Rap in Germany: The Birth of a Genre." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA. Ed. Tony Marshall. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. 123.
3. ^ Pennay, Mark. "Rap in Germany: The Birth of a Genre." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA. Ed. Tony Marshall. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. 124.
4. ^ Pennay, Mark. "Rap in Germany: The Birth of a Genre." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA. Ed. Tony Marshall. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. 124.
5. ^ Pennay, Mark. "Rap in Germany: The Birth of a Genre." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA. Ed. Tony Marshall. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. 122.
6. ^ http://zpav.pl/plyty.asp?page=zlote&lang=pl