Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Dancemania -20th Anniversary Special Edition-
Release Date: 10/11/17
Price: 2160 yen

Edit (8/25/17): As I feared, the release is now showing up as canceled on CD Japan and other retailers. I’m hoping it’s just a delay at worst.

Edit (8/22/17): Well, this is a worrying sign. Universal have removed any mention of the 20th anniversary release from their website. This could mean that they’ve canceled the release outright. However, it’s also possible that they canceled it in favor of something else (perhaps a 2-disc set?) instead. Right now the original release is still available for pre-order at a number of retailers, so we’ll see if those pre-orders get canceled.

Edit (8/14/17): Early list is out, and so far 4 of the 6 songs already appeared on Sparkle and Party. I had forgotten that EMI/Universal had reacquired the AATW license from Avex at some point, and it looks like they’ll be drawing quite a bit from that catalog. The lack of Smile.dk, Me & MY, or Captain Jack is a bit concerning. On one hand, we’ve heard the same songs dozens of times. But it wouldn’t be a proper celebration of Dancemania without them.

01. Mamma Mia / A*Teens
02. Samba de Janeiro / Bellini
03. Jump / Bus Stop
04. Santa Maria / DJ Milano feat. Samantha Fox
05. Eyes on Me featured in Final Fantasy VIII (Almighty Mix) / Faye Wong
06. I Wanna Dance with Somebody / Flip & Fill

Original Post: Dancemania-EX.com lives!!! Apologies for the complete lack of updates, but I’ve been busy the past year. I also lost a lot of motivation for continuing the site given that Universal didn’t bother releasing anything during it’s 20th anniversary in 2016. It seemed that Dancemania was all but dead…

Then today, out of nowhere, I noticed a listing for a new Dancemania album! That’s right, this October will see the release of Dancemania -20th Anniversary Special Edition-. At first I thought the title didn’t make any sense, since the first release was back in April of 1996. But then I realized that if the 1st anniversary was in 1997, then technically 2017 would indeed be the 20th. Of course, this doesn’t explain why the 10th anniversary was celebrated in 2006.

But I digress, the important thing is Dancemania is back! Presumably Atsushi Sekimoto is still at Universal and spearheaded the effort to commemorate 20+ years of Dancemania. Details are sparse on the release. CD Japan’s description mentions it’ll once again feature the best of ’90s dance music. Unfortunately, it’ll only be a single disc release. Since Universal lost the rights to many EMI artists when they bought out EMI, it’ll be interesting to see exactly what tracks they’ll include.

Meanwhile, Japanese Dancemania fans continue to keep its spirit alive. Earlier this year they held another Dancemania Birthday party and even had the one and only Mitsugu “Red Monster” Matsumoto as a special guest. You can see videos of the event here: https://twitter.com/hashtag/dancemaniabirthday?f=videos&vertical=default&src=hash

Pre-order at CDJapan.

Dancemania Springs 2
Release Date: 4/10/16
Total Length: 1:19:42

Happy 20th anniversary, Dancemania! It’s been 20 years to the day since the first release in the series, and while the series hasn’t been too active in recent years the great memories will always remain. Thanks for the music that always kept my spirits up!

Unfortunately, it looks like Universal won’t be releasing an anniversary CD any time soon. Instead, celebrate with a fan mix I did a while back that features the best in bubblegum dance pop. A play on the Summers/Winters series, Dancemania Springs 2 is a bubbly mix of artists like Smile.dk, Me & My, Bambee, and E-Rotic, with some Almighty thrown in for good measure. Apologies in advance for the amateurish production; I originally just did it for something to listen to during my commutes. ^^; If you’ve been following me for way too long you’ve probably already heard it 😉

Also a quick reminder that a special, unofficial 20th birthday event will be held in Japan today: http://tweetvite.com/event/DancemaniaBIRTHDAY

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The 20th anniversary of Dancemania 1’s release is just a couple of months away. And while Universal don’t yet have anything planned to celebrate, a bunch of dedicated Dancemania fans will be holding an unofficial event to commemorate the momentous occasion. The event will be held at Stella Asakusa in Tokyo on Sunday, April 10, with an entrance fee of 2,000 yen (or 1,500 if you bring the flyer or a Dancemania CD). More details can be found here: http://tweetvite.com/event/DancemaniaBIRTHDAY

Expect a myriad of styles to be played, including classic eurodance, eurobeat, bubblegum dance, trance and hardcore. DJs include Hyuji, kazpulse, B, Anvil, DJ KIMO, DJ mAsa, Takahiro Aoki, and StackStorm. It seems that the DJs will also bring their personal Dancemania collections, so this is a chance to see all of the Dancemania CDs lined up, and perhaps even some special promotional releases as well. It should be a great time for Dancemania fans!

Dancemania -Let’s Party-
Release Date: 11/11/15
Price: 1000 yen
Total Length: 1:17:03

Dancemania lives! Oh, and so do I 😀 As you may or may not have noticed, the blog hasn’t really been updated for a few months now. In addition to a lack of motivation and being busy, there just hasn’t been all that much to write about. I intended on starting things up again next year with a renewed focus (sorry, no more non-dance Exit Tunes releases), but had to break my hiatus to bring news of a new Dancemania release!

That’s right, after a break of its own, Dancemania comes back with a new digital release. The last release in the series was Zipmania All Best Mix almost two years ago exactly. And while a digital release isn’t exactly ideal, it’s nice to know that Universal still think that the Dancemania brand still has value. The album art even has the squiggly mascot! Here’s hoping this means that there’ll be a proper anniversary release next year, which will mark 20 years since the release of Dancemania 1 back in 1996.

Now for the bad news: the tracklist. It’s mostly EDM, which is fine since that’s what dance music sounds like today. What’s not okay is including tracks like “Beauty and a Beat” or “Hangover” from 2012. Thankfully, there are some more recent tracks that actually debuted in 2015, but they’re too few and far between. I wouldn’t mind if Dancemania returned as an EDM mix series, but put some effort into it, Universal!

The album is available on iTunes Japan as well as other Japanese digital stores.

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E-Rotic feat. Lyane Leigh
Release Date: 2015

Well, hot damn, I never saw this coming. The original E-rotic lead singer, Lyane Leigh, announced in December of 2014 that she would be returning to the group, and a new album will be released some time in 2015, which happens to be the 20th anniversary of their first album, Sex Affairs. Right now the new album is being planned as a best-of release with a few new tracks. In addition to the return of Lyane, the group will have a new male rapper, Stephen Appleton. And it appears that David Brandes will still be on board as a producer.

It looks like the ’90s nostalgia boom is in full swing in Europe. Later this month, E-Rotic will perform with Captain Jack, Snap, Culture Beat, and Fun Factory at a German concert.

Keep up with the latest E-Rotic news at their new Facebook page.

Thanks to Vincent for the tip.

Say Captain Say What 2015 (Single)
Artist: Captain Jack
Release Date: 3/6/15

It’s been about two years since the last Captain Jack single, but CJ is back with a couple of new 2015 remixes of “Say Captain Say Wot.” There’ll also be a new album coming soon titled “20 Years,” which probably means another greatest hits.

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ZIPmania Special

The end of the year is upon us, and that can only mean one thing: Toy Day (otherwise known as Christmas) is coming! As a special present for Dancemania fans who are supporting the releases, I’ve got something special for people who have purchased either ZIPmania All Best Mix, ZIPmania Super Greatest Hits, or both. Just make a post in the comments with a link to a picture of your copy of the album and a little piece of paper with your username on it, or take a screenshot of your iTunes receipt (make sure to edit out any identifying details). I’ll contact you via e-mail, hopefully by the end of the year, with details on how to claim your present. Please no photoshops or printouts of the ZIPmania cover in a CD case. Unless they’re really good, in which case I’ll send you something for trying, lol.

Dancemania 25 Tracks
Release Date: 2/15/12
Price: 750 yen

It seems that Universals has been updating some old iTunes releases, giving them cleaner artwork and, in some cases, lower prices. The most notable is Dancemania 25 Tracks, which is down to 750 yen from 1200 yen.

Other price drops include:

Wa Euro Best -Download Selection- 1200 yen ? 750 yen
Anim80s 1200 yen ? 750 yen

The downside to all of this is that it seems they’re taking down older stuff. I noticed I no longer have cloud access to the Wa Euro Best releases. -_-

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ZIP Hot 100 No. 1 Mega Hits – ZIP-FM 20th Anniversary Special
Release Date: 11/20/13
Price: 900 yen

The digital counterpart to ZIP Hot 100 1993-2013 All Time No. 1 Hits features 14 full versions from the CD … which already had full versions. So, yeah, this is kind of pointless if you already have the CD.

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ZIPmania Super Greatest Hits – ZIP-FM 20th Anniversary Special
Release Date: 11/20/13
Price: 900 yen

Update (11/26/13): As pointed out by Mike D in the comments, the full album is back up on iTunes Japan with the correct track list.

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ZIPmania All Best Mix
Release Date: 11/13/13
Price: 2190 yen

Update (11/25/13): A bit of good news for Dancemania fans. ZIPmania All Best Mix managed to snag a spot on the Oricon weekly Top 100, debuting at 97 for the week of its release. It’s far from the days when Dancemania releases routinely broke the Top 20, but when you compare it to VIP X (115), Super Eurobeat Vol. 225 (182), Speed Anime Trance Best 19 (111) or even Dancemania Party (184), it’s a surprisingly solid number. ZIPmania’s companion release, ZIP Hot 100, debuted at 125.

And for those that missed it in the comments, the old Dancemania website has been reproduced on Universal’s site: http://microsites.universal-music.co.jp/dancemania/

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ZIP Hot 100 1993-2013 All Time No. 1 Hits
Release Date: 11/13/13
Price: 2190 yen

This release features songs that have reached the top of the ZIP Hot 100 charts over the past 20 years. Unfortunately, the list skews highly in favor of more recent Universal artists. I think the only EMI artist on the list is Janet Jackson, so I’m not sure how much this will appeal to Dancemania fans. There are 20 full-length tracks plus some talk from ZIP-FM DJs.

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ZIPmania All Best Mix
Release Date: 11/13/13
Price: 2190 yen

Final list and cover art are out. It’s great to see the Dancemania mascot being so prominent. 😀

The final list is pretty much the same as the early one, so not much new info other than the addition of “Why Don’t You” by Gramophonedzie, and the Che’Nelle remix being done by ZIP staff. I’m a bit disappointed that there are really only 3 Dancemania tracks, with one of them from Crazy Frog. It’s nice to know EMI still have the rights to E-Rotic and Misa, but Captain Jack is the second-most prolific Dancemania artist, and the fact that he’s not present here makes me wonder if they let the rights go.

Still, not a bad list overall. I could probably do without the more mainstream, non-remixed songs from LMFAO and Flo Rida, but at least most of the other mainstream songs are here in remixed form. In particular, I’m glad they licensed the kz remix of “Take Over Control” from FARM since it’s an awesome remix that breathes new life into the song.

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ZIP Hot 100 1993-2013 All Time No. 1 Hits
Release Date: 11/13/13
Price: 2190 yen

Canceled again!

Okay, not really. A final list and cover art have emerged, so I’m pretty sure this will actually come out this time. This release features songs that have reached the top of the ZIP Hot 100 charts over the past 20 years. Unfortunately, the list skews highly in favor of more recent Universal artists. I think the only EMI artist on the list is Janet Jackson, so I’m not sure how much this will appeal to Dancemania fans. There are 20 full-length tracks plus some talk from ZIP-FM DJs.

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No Nobody’s Love (Single)
Release Date: 10/1/13
Price: $0.99

Dam Dariram and Bye Bye Baby Balloon were released within the past two years, and it appears that the final Joga song to be featured on Dancemania has finally been released digitally. As 134217728 pointed out in the iTunes comments, however, it appears that they just used the Dancemania X7 edit. I haven’t bought it yet to confirm, but the length is exactly the same as the one featured on X7, and I’m kind of wondering if they even bothered to at least add a proper intro or ending.

Also of note are worldwide digital releases of Misa’s Du-Du Di-Da and So So singles. The “So So” single has been available on iTunes Japan for a while now, but this is the first time the extended version of “Du-Du Di-Da” has been made available digitally. Personally, I hope they finally release the original version of “Natsu Monogatari,” assuming it even exists.