Back in 1998, the musical video game called Bust -A- Groove was released (AKA Bust -A- Move in Japan).
Some of the songs were "re-recorded" from Japanese to English for its American & European release, and these artists were never credited.
It took me many years of research to find out who they were and I'd like to share the info with you.
The game Bust -A- Move was launched onto the market in Japan on 29/01/1998, and some days later, the game soundtrack was released in Japan by the music label Avex on 11/02/1998.
This soundtrack presented the original songs from the video game. The tracks were sung in both English and Japanese and all the artists who took part in it were credited.
Months later, the game was released internationally, but it had to change its name to Bust -A- Groove because there was already another game with the same title in these territories.
The release dates were:
Europe: 20/11/1998
America: 24/11/1998
America: 24/11/1998
Four songs from the video game were re-recorded from Japanese to English for its American and European release.
The American/European version never had a soundtrack release. Therefore, the artists from those re-recordings remained unknown.
The re-recorded songs were:
After years and years of research, I finally found all the uncredited artists from these versions.
- Transform was sung by Robbie Danzie, and Kaleb James wrote the English part.
- CAPOEIRA was performed by Dawn Moore, Kaleb wrote the lyrics too.
- SHORTY and the EZ MOUSE's vocals were provided by Crystal Kay. Kaleb also wrote the lyrics in English.
- Bust A Groove (sometimes mistitled as "Kitty-N's song"), was performed by Sharon Woolf. The producers were Phil Harding, Ian Curnow, Dave Ford and the assistant engineer was Dan Dodd and, apparently, they four made the English lyrics for the song.
Bust -A- Move 2 was released in Japan on 15/04/1999.
Its soundtrack on 21/04/1999.The game was released in America as Bust -A- Groove 2 on 22/08/1999.
(It hadn't got European release or OST soundtrack outside Japan either).
Four songs were re-recorded from Japanese to English, and the same story happened:
- Moon Light Party (Moon Light Party ~ Clap Your Hands in the Japanese version) and Happy Heart In The Sunshine (Hiza Shi No Oku No Happy Heart) were performed again by Robbie Danzie
- Magic Tower (same title in the Japanese release) and Hello Kitty (Hello! Kitty-N) were sung by Lala Moore.
This would be a resume. If you are still interested in knowing the rest, keep reading.
As I mentioned before, the "re-recorded" songs were never credited, but there were some artists that used pseudonyms and they are well-known singers.
During my years and years of research, I barely saw the name of DJ Ike (AKA Ike Nelson).
DJ Ike performed the Frida's rap in English and his voice appeared in the Japanese version of the game.
The song was Sora To Umi To Niji No Yume and was sung 50% in Japanese and 50% in English.
This theme was the only one which wasn't re-recorded fully in English for America and Europe.
Ike Nelson was contacted by Avex and provided her voice and the lyrics.
The name of "Donna" appeared credited in the Japanese OST, but time ago, I discovered it was Donna Burke, I asked her representative and she confirmed this information to me.
She is well-known for singing in the Metal Gear Solid saga.
Donna arrived in Japan in 1996 and a year later performed FLYI'N TO YOUR SOUL.
This was one of her first works in Japan and she didn't use her full name.
Lenne Hardt & Mary Dunne used "pseudonyms".
They were the backing vocalists on "Aozora No Knife" and they were credited as "Lanna Hardt" & "Mary Dunne" probably because of music label's issues.
One of the most remembered Lenna's works is her voice as Anna Williams from Tekken.
Mary sang many songs for Avex until she moved to New Zealand and keeps singing.
The songs 2BAD, POWER and i luv hamburgers were sung by the intersex singer Faith Chase/Chosen Effect.
She/he was credited as "Terry-T" and/or "Sweet Jodi", being able to change her/his voice.
After years of success, and being part of the bands Subsonic Factor and Raveman, she/he moved to Australia.
Dawn Moore sang CAPOEIRA.
She was both main and backing vocalist.
Dawn worked in Japan many years as a singer, sang in the video game "PaRappa the Rapper", performed the theme "No Turning Back" from the film "Abunai Deka Returns" and toured with many Japanese artists.
She now lives in North Carolina.
Robbie Danzie sang Transform (English version).
The song released in Japan was partially sung in Japanese, and Robbie sang that part in English.
She has also participated as both singer and lyricist in "Dance Dance Revolution".
Robbie Danzie is also an actress, and keeps performing in America.
Despite not being 100% sure, the singer Lala Moore from "Dance Dance Revolution" must have sung Hello Kitty and Magic Tower (this last one was already in English in Japan, but it was re-recorded anyway).
Lala (Noriko Fukushima) has got the same voice tone. I'm sure it must be her.
Kaleb James is one of the most important figures in the game.
He not only was involved in a total of eight tracks from the video game, but also contacted many of the singers to record for the game.
Kaleb wrote the lyrics for Tranform (English version), SHORTY and the EZ MOUSE and CAPOEIRA.
He worked very fast due to the lack of time and keeps many good memories from the game.
And now we move on to my favourite song, the most famous theme from the game.
The song is named Bust A Groove, not "Kitty-N's theme" like many people say.
Ian Curnow, Phil Harding, Dave Ford produced the song and Dan Dodd was the assistant engineer.
Their names appeared in the Japanese version named Aozora No Knife (Dan was credited as Danny The Man), but they didn't appear in the re-recorded version in English.
Bust A Groove is the game's anthem.
This theme is the only re-recorded theme which had a different music arrangement, probably because the Japanese one was going to be released apart for the singer Hatsumi Morinaga, and Avex didn't want to use the same arrangement.
This is, without any kind of doubt, the most beloved song.
It's been covered, remixed, played...
For years people wondered who sang that song.
It took me 20 years to figure out, and thanks to Dan Dodd, I could FINALLY know the truth.
Sharon Woolf sang Bust A Groove.
She was contacted by Ian & Phil and she recorded the song with them in London.
Sharon never realised how popular the song was.
She continued her career singing and songwriting.
Two of her most famous songs are "Straight From The Heart" & "Sweet Like Chocolate".
This last song was able to reach #1 in the UK.
She got a total of two platinums in the UK & Australia and gold in New Zealand, selling around 800,000 copies.
Sharon also performed and wrote a song for Grey's Anatomy named "Running On Sunshine" and also performed some of the tracks in "Thomas & Friends" until she finally retired.
It was very difficult to contact Sharon Woolf, but I was able to!
I made her know how popular the song is despite the years it was released, and she became very surprised and grateful!
One of the questions was about the lyrics of the song.
Some people usually write "I would never ever run away" and others "I will never...", or almost 100% write "Gonna see you blink, no matter how", and I have my doubts.
That's why I asked her to transcript the lyrics, and are these ones:
(Turn and face the music)
(Turn and face the music now)
(Turn and face the music)
(Bust... bust... bust a groove!)
I would never, ever run away
I'll be here to fight another day
I will make you realise
I'll always be right by your side
Now our love is sanctified
I'm here to bust this groove
(Bust a groove!)
Bust a groove
(Bust a groove!)
Boy, you're everything I'll ever need
Oh boy, you know you mean the world to me
Oh, I could never see you blinded by the blue
I would never, ever run away
I'll be here to fight another day
I will make you realise
I'll always be right by your side
Now our love is sanctified
I'm here to bust this groove
(Bust a groove!)
Bust a groove!
(Bust a groove!)
I would never ever run away
I just can't live without. you now
I'll be here to fight another day
Gonna see it through
No matter how
I would never ever run away
I'll be here to fight another day
I will make you realise
I'll always be right by your side
Now our love is sanctified
I'm here to bust this groove
(Bust a groove)
Bust a groove!
(Bust a groove)
These are the lyrics.
Another interesting facts about the song is that the robotic voice and the men screaming "bust a groove!" could have been recorded by Phil, Ian and maybe Dave too.
And something people don't know is that Bust A Groove (in English) was recorded first than Aozora No Knife.
The music production of the English version was created at the same time as the Japanese one.
I don't know which one was first, but taking into account that both versions were produced in the UK, and knowing the vocals from the Japanese version had to be recorded in Japan, the English version was fully produced first than the Japanese one.