Linnéa Handberg Lund
Encyclopedia
Linnéa Handberg Lund, also known as Papaya , Miss Papaya, or Lynn. Born Linnéa Handberg 22 October, Hillerød
, Denmark
, a Danish eurodance
musician. She specialized in bubblegum dance
music, in the same vein as Aqua
, Bambee, Smile.dk
, or Toy-Box
.
In addition to her own music, Lund has also written songs for other artists producing similar music, such as the aforementioned Bambee and Smile.dk
.
Several of her songs, including Operator, Hero, and Pink Dinosaur, have appeared in the wildly popular Dance Dance Revolution
video games. Lund has also contributed the songs "No Princess" and "Spaceman" to In The Groove 2
.
She began her music career in the early 1990s, signing with record labels Maverick, Warner, and Scandinavian Records. After Aqua
's success in influencing other artists with their upbeat, dancy dancy music, Ms. Handberg decided to try it for herself (After teaming up with producers "Honeycutt"), using the same happy style as Aqua
.
The resulting "Miss Papaya Project" was at first a bit of a joke, intended to be quite silly and childish, as Ms. Handberg later admits "nobody expected Miss Papaya to get the success she did". Papaya released her first single, Jingle Bells in 1997. It was a small hit, but nothing extremely encouraging. Producers decided to release another single, Hero originally written by Ms. Handberg and Honeycutt. To everyone's surprise, Hero was a smash hit, and Papaya was cemented as a Bubblegum Artist in the same style as Aqua
.
Two singles were released after Pink, Supergirl in 1998 and Operator in 1999, and were received with the same amount of success.
However, by that time, Ms. Handberg was beginning to tire of the Bubblegum scene, moving on to more "Mature" projects. In 1999 she quit her contract with Scandinavian Records & Honeycutt, and abandoned the Miss Papaya Project. She began on a solo career and in 2000 released an album, This Is Who I Am, under her real name. The album was a success, being well received by critics. Fans proclaimed it "one of the most complete pop albums of all time".
Ms. Handberg still works as a songwriter and backup singer for current artists (including CH!PZ, from the Netherlands) and still writes some bubblegum tunes, though she doesn't spread that around.
Ms. Handberg was an artist behind Bambee, writing many of Bambee's songs along with Honeycutt. As Bambee's third album was being planned, however, Ms. Handberg was tiring out of the Bubblegum genre, and Bambee Project was dropped along with the Miss Papaya Project.
Ms. Handberg released some songs under the psudeonym Lynn including Are You Online? and No Princess, for Bambee and In The Groove 2
, respectively.
Pink (As Papaya) (1998)
This is Who I Am (as Linnea) (2000)
Japanese Edition(2001)
Dancemania
Hillerød
Hillerød Kommune is a municipality in Region Hovedstaden . The municipality covers an area of 191 km² , and has a total population of 46,568...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, a Danish eurodance
Eurodance
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
musician. She specialized in bubblegum dance
Bubblegum Dance
Bubblegum dance is a subgenre of Eurodance music. The genre is characterized by cute lyrics and happy sounds. Bubblegum dance usually has a more pop sound than other Eurodance. The lyrics and style are often light-hearted and are not intended to be taken seriously. They are often amusing and...
music, in the same vein as Aqua
Aqua (band)
Aqua is a Danish dance-pop group, best known for their 1997 breakthrough single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group managed to top the UK Singles Chart with their first three singles. The group released two...
, Bambee, Smile.dk
Smile.dk
Smile.dk is a Swedish bubblegum dance group with Veronica Almqvist and Cecilia Reiskog as the current members. The band is well-known around the world partly due to their many songs in Dance Dance Revolution, including "Butterfly", "Golden Sky", "Boys", "Mr...
, or Toy-Box
Toy-Box
Toy-Box was a Danish pop group, consisting of vocalists Anila Mirza and Amir El-Falaki. Mirza was born on October 8, 1974 in Hillerød, Denmark to a half-Pakistani, half-Iranian mother, and a Parsi father. El-Falaki was born August 12, 1973 in Copenhagen, Denmark to Moroccan parents...
.
In addition to her own music, Lund has also written songs for other artists producing similar music, such as the aforementioned Bambee and Smile.dk
Smile.dk
Smile.dk is a Swedish bubblegum dance group with Veronica Almqvist and Cecilia Reiskog as the current members. The band is well-known around the world partly due to their many songs in Dance Dance Revolution, including "Butterfly", "Golden Sky", "Boys", "Mr...
.
Several of her songs, including Operator, Hero, and Pink Dinosaur, have appeared in the wildly popular Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution, abbreviated DDR, and previously known as Dancing Stage in Europe and Australasia, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the...
video games. Lund has also contributed the songs "No Princess" and "Spaceman" to In The Groove 2
In the Groove 2
In the Groove 2 is the sequel to Roxor Games' 2004 arcade game In the Groove. It was released to arcades officially on June 18, 2005. It is available as an upgrade kit and as a dedicated cabinet developed by Andamiro...
.
History
Ms. Handberg was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she currently resides.She began her music career in the early 1990s, signing with record labels Maverick, Warner, and Scandinavian Records. After Aqua
Aqua (band)
Aqua is a Danish dance-pop group, best known for their 1997 breakthrough single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group managed to top the UK Singles Chart with their first three singles. The group released two...
's success in influencing other artists with their upbeat, dancy dancy music, Ms. Handberg decided to try it for herself (After teaming up with producers "Honeycutt"), using the same happy style as Aqua
Aqua (band)
Aqua is a Danish dance-pop group, best known for their 1997 breakthrough single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group managed to top the UK Singles Chart with their first three singles. The group released two...
.
The resulting "Miss Papaya Project" was at first a bit of a joke, intended to be quite silly and childish, as Ms. Handberg later admits "nobody expected Miss Papaya to get the success she did". Papaya released her first single, Jingle Bells in 1997. It was a small hit, but nothing extremely encouraging. Producers decided to release another single, Hero originally written by Ms. Handberg and Honeycutt. To everyone's surprise, Hero was a smash hit, and Papaya was cemented as a Bubblegum Artist in the same style as Aqua
Aqua (band)
Aqua is a Danish dance-pop group, best known for their 1997 breakthrough single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group managed to top the UK Singles Chart with their first three singles. The group released two...
.
Pink
Her First album, Pink, went on sale in 1998, at the peak of the Bubblegum boom, after the success of Hero, and was worked on by Ms. Handberg and Honeycutt. Containing 11 sugar-coated tracks and one Ballad (something all bubblegum albums seemed to require), the album was an instant success. Miss Papaya soon became a household name throughout Denmark. In 1998 Hero went across the pond to the US, something few Bubblegum artists get to do. The single was quite a success, attracting many fans outside of Scandinavia. Even Madonna's daughter was a fan, Madonna inviting Papaya over to meet her child and praising Papaya on her songwriting skills. While in America, Papaya was given a shopping spree for her American music video of Hero. She says it was one of the most fun things she had ever done, getting to pick out brightly colored outfits for the shoot. Her album was never actually released in the US... and her singles failed to chart due to bad promotion.Two singles were released after Pink, Supergirl in 1998 and Operator in 1999, and were received with the same amount of success.
However, by that time, Ms. Handberg was beginning to tire of the Bubblegum scene, moving on to more "Mature" projects. In 1999 she quit her contract with Scandinavian Records & Honeycutt, and abandoned the Miss Papaya Project. She began on a solo career and in 2000 released an album, This Is Who I Am, under her real name. The album was a success, being well received by critics. Fans proclaimed it "one of the most complete pop albums of all time".
Ms. Handberg still works as a songwriter and backup singer for current artists (including CH!PZ, from the Netherlands) and still writes some bubblegum tunes, though she doesn't spread that around.
Ms. Handberg was an artist behind Bambee, writing many of Bambee's songs along with Honeycutt. As Bambee's third album was being planned, however, Ms. Handberg was tiring out of the Bubblegum genre, and Bambee Project was dropped along with the Miss Papaya Project.
Ms. Handberg released some songs under the psudeonym Lynn including Are You Online? and No Princess, for Bambee and In The Groove 2
In the Groove 2
In the Groove 2 is the sequel to Roxor Games' 2004 arcade game In the Groove. It was released to arcades officially on June 18, 2005. It is available as an upgrade kit and as a dedicated cabinet developed by Andamiro...
, respectively.
Music
AlbumsPink (As Papaya) (1998)
- Operator
- Hero
- Pink Dinosaur
- Supergirl
- Teddy Bear
- Sugarboy
- Sweet Senorita
- Casanova
- Cinderella
- Mr.Macho Man
- Party Song
- Please Don't Leave Me Tonight
- Hero (Joyworx Hi Octane Club Mix) *
- Supergirl (Team 33 Club Mix) *
- bonus tracks
This is Who I Am (as Linnea) (2000)
- This Is Who I Am
- I'll Believe It When I See It
- Why You Doin' Like That
- I've Had Enough
- Letter In My Heart
- No Good For Me
- You&Me
- Show Me What You Got
- Friends Like That
- Will You Be Mine
- Make Up My Mind
- Every Time
Japanese Edition(2001)
- No Good For Me
- This Is Who I Am
- Make Up My Mind
- I'll Believe It When I See It
- Friends Like That
- Letter In My Heart
- Why You Doin' Like That
- Show Me What You Got!
- I've Had Enough
- You&Me
- Will You Be Mine
- Every Time
- No Good For Me (Joy Worx Hi Motion Edit)
- No Good For Me (DJ SOMA Grow Sound Remix)
Jingle Bells (1997)
- 2size Radio Edit (3:00)
- Honeycutt's Original Radio Mix (3:11)
- 2size Club Mix (5:28)
- Instrumental 2size Radio Edit (3:00)
- Hero (1997)
- Supergirl (1998)
- Operator (1999)
- Hero (2001) (re-release)
DancemaniaDancemaniaDancemania is a series of remix compilation albums by i-DANCE. The series deals primarily with dance music, especially eurodance. Despite its tracks have been made by various musicians from all over the world mainly from the European continent, the albums have been released exclusively in Japan.The...
- Main series : 8Dancemania 8Dancemania 8 is the eighth set in the Dancemania series of dance music compilation albums, released in 1998 by EMI Music Japan.The album debuted at #9 on Oricon's weekly album chart in January 1998 and remained within the top 20 positions on the chart for 4 consecutive weeks, peaking at #8.The...
(1998), X1Dancemania X1Dancemania X1, a.k.a. Dancemania 11, is the eleventh set in the Dancemania series of dance music compilation albums, released in 1999 by EMI Music Japan....
(1999), X2 (1999), X3 (1999) - Delux : 3 (1999), 4 (2000)
- SpeedDancemania SpeedDancemania Speed is a sub-series of Toshiba EMI's Dancemania compilation series. This series features faster, further remixed versions of recordings from previously released Dancemania albums or faster remixed covers of various famous songs...
: 4 (2000), Best 2001Dancemania Speed Best 2001Dancemania Speed Best 2001 Hyper Nonstop Megamix, or simply Dancemania Speed Best 2001, is a greatest hits compilation album of Dancemanias Speed series, released by EMI Music Japan in 2000...
(2000) - Bass : #6 (2000), #10 Super Best 1998-2001 (2001)
- Zip Mania : II (1999), Best (2001)
- Others : Extra (1998), Diamond Complete Edition (2000) Best Red (2002), Treasure (2006), Hime Trance 2 (2006), Trance Paradise The Best (2008), Summer Story 2008 (2008),
Sources
- Miss Papaya at Bubblegum Dancer
- Discogs : Papaya
- EMI Music Japan, Trance Paradise The Best, Dancemania Extra, Dancemania X2, Dancemania Bass #6, Diamond Complete Edition, Zip Mania II, Zip Mania Best, Summer Story 2008