Encore une fois

"Encore une fois"
Single by Sash! featuring Sabine Ohmes
from the album It's My Life – The Album
LanguageFrench
Released21 January 1997
Length3:41
LabelPolygram
Songwriter(s)
  • Ralf Kappmeier
  • Sascha Lappessen
  • Thomas Lüdke
Producer(s)
Sash! featuring Sabine Ohmes singles chronology
"It's My Life"
(1996) 		"Encore une fois"
(1997) 		"Ecuador"
(1997)
Music video
"Encore une fois" on YouTube

"Encore une fois" ([ɑ̃.kɔʁ yn fwa]; French for "Again one time") is a song by German DJ group Sash!, released in January 1997 by Polygram as the second single from the group's debut album, It's My Life – The Album (1997). The song features French vocals by German vocalist Sabine Ohmes and found huge success in clubs throughout the world. To date, it is one of Sash!'s biggest hits. In the UK, it was released in February same year and propelled itself to number two on the UK Singles Chart, quickly earning a Gold certification. Throughout Europe, the track became a top 10 smash in countries such as Belgium, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden. In Greece and Ireland, the song reached the top of the charts. In the United States, it became a club smash and hit number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart,[1] staying on the chart for fourteen weeks. The music video for "Encore une fois" was directed by Oliver Sommer.

11 years after it was first released, the song again reached the top 40 in three countries as part of a mashup. The music from Sash!'s hit was combined with the vocals from Stunt's "Raindrops" to create the new track "Raindrops (Encore une fois)".

Release

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"Encore une fois" was initially meant to be a big club record but it outgrew that and the group would become a pop act in its own right.[2] Two main versions of the song exist. One is the original edit, which was used in the music video and appeared (in extended form) on Sash!'s debut album It's My Life. The second is the Future Breeze edit, which is a much harder version of the track and is the most popular with fans.[according to whom?] It appears on Sash!'s best-of albums and as a bonus track (in extended form) on It's My Life – The Album.

When the single was originally released, a pressing-plant error swapped the first two tracks (Original and Future Breeze edits) thus giving the Future Breeze remix accidental success; it therefore became the official version.[3]

Critical reception

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Barry Walters for The Advocate said, "Ripping off all those intensely dramatic Rollo mixes for Faithless, Kristine W, and others, that trance track you keep hearing with the girl screaming in French defines clubland à la mode — fabulous now, soon tired."[4] Jon O'Brien from AllMusic noted the "pizzicato sounds" of the song.[5] Chuck Campbell from Knoxville News Sentinel felt that "a smoky undercurrent" on tracks like "Encore Une Fois" "expose the darker side of dance music."[6] British magazine Music Week gave it three out of five, writing, "Topping the import charts and with a buzz on dance radio, this storming floor-filler could well find its way into the Top 40."[7] A reviewer from Smash Hits commented, "Think Faithless' "Insomnia" in a trancey continental style", and remarked that the song is "big on the synth stabs, massive on bangin' 4/4 beats, huge on some husky French bird screaming, "Encore une fois!"."[8]

Chart performance

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"Encore une fois" proved to be very successful on the charts globally and remains one of the group's biggest hits. In the United States, it peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, staying within the chart for a total of fourteen weeks. In Europe, it peaked at number-one in both Greece and Ireland, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it peaked in April 1997. The single also made its way to number two in Denmark, Scotland and the United Kingdom. In the latter, it hit that position in its first week at the UK Singles Chart, on February 23, 1997.[9] It was held from reaching the top spot by No Doubt's "Don't Speak". But on the UK Dance Chart, "Encore une fois" hit number-one. It entered the top 10 also in Belgium (5, in both Flanders and Wallonia), Finland (5), France (7), Iceland (5), Italy (4), the Netherlands (9), Norway (4), Spain (5) and Sweden (6). In New Zealand and Australia, the single reached number 34 and 35, respectively.

Music video

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The accompanying music video for "Encore une fois" was directed by Oliver Sommer.[10]

Two versions of the video exist, one with the Original Edit and one with the Blunt Radio Edit (an edited version of the Future Breeze Remix). The former can be seen on 10th Anniversary's bonus DVD and the later can be seen on Altra Mode Music's official YouTube channel.[11] By January 2023, the video had generated more than 11 million views.

Track listings

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Charts

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References

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  1. ^ "Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales". Billboard. Hot Dance Club Play. 1997-08-09. Retrieved 2009-07-08. Sash!, Encore Une Fois ... Chart Listing For The Week Of Aug 09 1997 ... This Week: 1, Last Week: 2, Two Weeks Ago: 3, Peak Position: 1
  2. ^ Jones, Stephen (24 January 1998). "Talent: Sash! — Determined to Keep the Albums Coming" (PDF). Music Week. p. 23. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Sash! - Encore Une Fois". Discogs.
  4. ^ Walters, Barry (2 September 1997). "Music". The Advocate. Issue 741.
  5. ^ O'Brien, Jon. "Sash! – The Best of Sash [X-It]". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  6. ^ Campbell, Chuck (14 November 1997). "All that's missing is Donna Summer". Knoxville News Sentinel.
  7. ^ "Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 15 February 1997. p. 23. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Bangin' Choons". Smash Hits. No. 476. 26 February 1997. p. 59. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100 23 February 1997 - 01 March 1997". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  10. ^ "Encore Une Fois (1997) by Sash!". IMVDb.com. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  11. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Sash! - Encore Une Fois (Official Video)". YouTube.
  12. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  13. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  14. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  15. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  16. ^ "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14, no. 19. 10 May 1997. p. 18. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  17. ^ Billboard, April 5, 1997: Hits of the World Section
  18. ^ "Sash!: Encore une fois" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  19. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois" (in French). Les classement single.
  20. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  21. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (17.04.1997 - 23.04.1997)" (PDF) (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir - Tónlist. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  22. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Encore une fois". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  23. ^ "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14, no. 4. 25 January 1997. p. 25. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  24. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Sash!" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  25. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  26. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois". Top 40 Singles.
  27. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois". VG-lista.
  28. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  29. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  30. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois". Singles Top 100.
  31. ^ "Sash! – Encore une fois". Swiss Singles Chart.
  32. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  33. ^ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  34. ^ "Bubbling Under Hot 100". Billboard. 22 November 1997. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  35. ^ "Dance Club Songs". Billboard. 9 August 1997. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  36. ^ "Dance Singles Sales". Billboard. 20 September 1997. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  37. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1997" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  38. ^ "Rapports Annuels 1997" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  39. ^ "1997 Year-End Sales Charts: Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14, no. 52. 27 December 1997. p. 7. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  40. ^ "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 1997" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  41. ^ "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1997". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  42. ^ "Årslista Singlar, 1997" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  43. ^ "Top 100 Singles 1997". Music Week. 17 January 1998. p. 27.
  44. ^ "The Club Top 100 of 1997" (PDF). Music Week, in RM (Dance Update Supplemental insert). 10 January 1998. p. 5. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  45. ^ "The Year in Music 1997: Hot Dance Club-Play Singles". Billboard. Vol. 52, no. 109. 27 December 1997. p. YE-44.
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