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Animotion
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Animotion is a 1980s U.S. New Wave/synthpop band best known for their songs "Obsession", "Let Him Go", "I Engineer" and "Room to Move". They signed a record deal with Polygram Records in 1984 and made three albums.
Animotion's original six members were lead singer/guitarist Bill Wadhams, lead singer Astrid Plane, lead guitarist Don Kirkpatrick, keyboardist Greg Smith, bassist Charles Ottavio, and drummer Frenchy O'Brien. They released their self-titled debut album in 1984. The following year, a single from this album, "Obsession" brought the band international success and became the band's first Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten single. The follow-up single from this album, "Let Him Go" also cracked the U.S. Top 40.
The follow-up album, Strange Behavior, which saw Jim Blair replacing O'Brien on the drum kit, had several singles that cracked the US Top 100. During 1986 and 1987, Animotion toured extensively, appearing alongside performers such as Phil Collins, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, Genesis, Howard Jones, INXS, and Simply Red. Animotion had great success in Germany and South Africa with their two first albums, thanks to the singles "Obsession" and "I Engineer" (both Top 10 in those countries), and entered several European charts in high positions during this period.
In the midst of recording their third album, Animotion went through personnel changes as all three of the remaining founding members (Bill Wadhams, Astrid Plane and Charles Ottavio) departed. Following their departure, actress/dancer/singer Cynthia Rhodes, known for her performance as the character "Penny Johnson" in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, replaced Plane as female lead singer, and former solo artist/Device member Paul Engemann replaced Wadhams as the male lead for Animotion's second self-titled album. The single "Room to Move," was aided by its inclusion in the movie My Stepmother is an Alien, became a radio hit in April 1989, and their second Top 10 hit in the U.S., after "Obsession" in 1985.
The members reunited for the first on February 8, 2001 with a sold out crowd in response to a request from Alex Hart and 94.7 NRK Radio Station in Portland, Oregon. In the summer of 2005, founding members Wadhams, Plane and Ottavio appeared as Animotion in the American version of the TV show Hit Me Baby One More Time, performing their hit "Obsession" and a cover of Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By".
As of 2008, Animotion have again reunited in a line-up including original members Wadhams, Plane, Ottavio, Smith and Kirkpatrick; and drummer Kevin Rankin for touring dates along the West Coast.
In 2009 Animotion was thrust into pop culture again as it was featured on VH-1's Top 100 One Hit Wonders of the 80's (in spite of the fact that Animotion are technically not one-hit wonders, as their song "Room to Move" cracked the top ten in 1989, albeit with an almost entirely different line-up). Animotion came in at #12 with the hit "Obsession." Both Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams were interviewed and featured. |
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