Smile.dk
Encyclopedia
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. Wonderful
", "Petit Love", "Koko Soko", "A Geisha's Dream" (with Naoki Maeda), and "Dancing All Alone".
They marketed their album in Denmark, hence the ".dk
" tag.
. The popular song "Butterfly
" was licensed by Konami
and featured in the first release of Dance Dance Revolution
--a popular dance video game. They have also regularly appeared on the albums of the popular dance compilation Dancemania
series since its tenth issue
, including many of its sub-series such as Dancemania Speed
. Smile.dk has been one of the most featured bubblegum/eurodance acts in the Dancemania series, along with the likes of Captain Jack
and E-Rotic
.
After the first album, Boquist left Smile and started a solo career and Malin Kernby replaced Boquist in Smile. The band name was also changed from Smile to Smile.dk.
The single "Kissy Kissy" from their second album is also a popular track in the dance game
EZ2Dancer
.
The group's songs, particularly "Butterfly", are often mistaken as being by the similar artists Toy-Box
and, on occasion, Aqua
.
On many online sources, the song Butterfly is wrongly attributed to Japanese pop singer, Ayumi Hamasaki
- more than likely due to its "oriental" themes, and more-than-passing similarity to contemporary Japanese pop
music.
The video for "Boys" pays homage to Sabrina Salerno
's hit 'Boys Boys Boys (Summertime Love)' in that Almqvist is seen performing in a crystal-clear swimming pool, as did Salerno in her own video.
. It was also announced that Kerby would be leaving the group, and Hanna Stockzell later joined. Then-new singer Stockzell performed in all of the songs on 'Party Around The World' except for "Doki Doki" which featured only Almqvist and Kernby, despite Kernby no longer being an active member.
Smile.dk (with Almqvist and Stockzell) performed live at San Japan
, an anime convention
located in San Antonio, Texas
, USA, on August 9, 2008. This was the first time they have ever performed in North America.
They also performed live at Sakura-Con
2009, an anime/manga convention located in Seattle, Washington, USA, on April 10–12, 2009.
In April 2010, it was announced that Stockzell would be leaving Smile.dk and that a new member would be joining who turned out to be Cecilia Reiskog. They are currently recording a new album with an expected release date of 2011.
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...
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
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...
, including "Butterfly
Butterfly (Smile.dk song)
"Butterfly" is one of Smile.dk's most popular songs and featured on their 1998 album Smile.The song gained popularity outside of Sweden when it was included on the first version of Konami's music video game, Dance Dance Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix...
", "Golden Sky", "Boys", "Mr. Wonderful
Mr. Wonderful (Smile.dk song)
"Mr. Wonderful" is one of Smile.dk's most popular songs and featured on their 1998 album Smile.The song gained popularity outside of Sweden when it was included on Konami's music video game, Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix....
", "Petit Love", "Koko Soko", "A Geisha's Dream" (with Naoki Maeda), and "Dancing All Alone".
They marketed their album in Denmark, hence the ".dk
.dk
.dk is the country code top-level domain for Denmark. The supervision of the .dk top-level domain is handled exclusively by DK Hostmaster. Any new .dk domain name has to be applied for via an approved registrator. Then the domain name applicant can ask the registrator to manage his domain name or...
" tag.
History
Veronica Almqvist and Nina Boquist first formed their band as Smile and published their first album Smile in 1998. It received wide attention, especially in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The popular song "Butterfly
Butterfly (Smile.dk song)
"Butterfly" is one of Smile.dk's most popular songs and featured on their 1998 album Smile.The song gained popularity outside of Sweden when it was included on the first version of Konami's music video game, Dance Dance Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix...
" was licensed by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
and featured in the first release of 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...
--a popular dance video game. They have also regularly appeared on the albums of the popular dance compilation Dancemania
Dancemania
Dancemania 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...
series since its tenth issue
Dancemania 10
Dancemania 10 is the tenth set in the Dancemania series of dance music compilation albums, released in 1998 by EMI Music Japan.The album debuted at #13 on Oricon's weekly album chart, reached #9 the next week, and appeared on the yearly best-selling album chart at #84 in 1998 with 254,870 copies...
, including many of its sub-series such as Dancemania Speed
Dancemania Speed
Dancemania 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...
. Smile.dk has been one of the most featured bubblegum/eurodance acts in the Dancemania series, along with the likes of Captain Jack
Captain Jack (band)
Captain Jack is a musical duo, specializing in Eurodance music, originating from Germany.- History :Its members were Francisco Alejandro Gutierrez , and Sunny...
and E-Rotic
E-Rotic
E-Rotic is a German Eurodance project. They are mostly known for their use of sexual topics and innuendo in their music. Some of the female vocalists who fronted E-Rotic over the years also fronted Missing Heart vocals.-History:...
.
After the first album, Boquist left Smile and started a solo career and Malin Kernby replaced Boquist in Smile. The band name was also changed from Smile to Smile.dk.
The single "Kissy Kissy" from their second album is also a popular track in the dance game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
EZ2Dancer
EZ2Dancer
EZ2Dancer is a series of dance video games developed by the Korean video game company Amuseworld. The gameplay of the series is similar to other dance simulation games, but unlike most games of their genre, EZ2Dancer incorporates both hand sensors and foot sensors into gameplay.-Gameplay:The core...
.
The group's songs, particularly "Butterfly", are often mistaken as being by the similar artists 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...
and, on occasion, 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...
.
On many online sources, the song Butterfly is wrongly attributed to Japanese pop singer, Ayumi Hamasaki
Ayumi Hamasaki
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, record producer, model, lyricist, and actress. Also called "Ayu" by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" because of her popularity and widespread influence in Japan and throughout Asia. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to...
- more than likely due to its "oriental" themes, and more-than-passing similarity to contemporary Japanese pop
J-pop
, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
music.
The video for "Boys" pays homage to Sabrina Salerno
Sabrina Salerno
Sabrina Salerno , also known in her singing career as Sabrina, is an Italian singer, television hostess, model, actress and record producer...
's hit 'Boys Boys Boys (Summertime Love)' in that Almqvist is seen performing in a crystal-clear swimming pool, as did Salerno in her own video.
Hiatus
In 2005, according to their manager, Smile.dk had begun a hiatus due to both Almqvist and Kernby having become married; Kernby with a child on the way. However, he did not believe that Smile.dk would become defunct, which proved correct with their return, albeit without Kernby.Return
In early 2008 Smile.dk producer's Jamie Thompson (J-Mi) & Dick Örnå (Mr. Dee) and promoter Jason Thompson (DJ Slash/MC Jay) announced at the BubblegumDancer.com Forums that Smile.dk would be returning in 2008 with a worldwide single, "Doki Doki", and a soon to be released album, Party Around The World. The Panik Mix of "Doki Doki" appears in the video game Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3
Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3, or DDR Universe 3, is a video game for Xbox 360. It was announced by Konami on May 15, 2008 and it was released on October 21, 2008...
. It was also announced that Kerby would be leaving the group, and Hanna Stockzell later joined. Then-new singer Stockzell performed in all of the songs on 'Party Around The World' except for "Doki Doki" which featured only Almqvist and Kernby, despite Kernby no longer being an active member.
Smile.dk (with Almqvist and Stockzell) performed live at San Japan
San Japan
San Japan is a Japanese anime convention and culture convention held annually in San Antonio, Texas. The event, which debuted in 2008, is San Antonio's first major anime convention and has developed into the largest fan-oriented convention in the city...
, an anime convention
Anime convention
An anime convention is an event or gathering with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Commonly, anime conventions are multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels...
located in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, USA, on August 9, 2008. This was the first time they have ever performed in North America.
They also performed live at Sakura-Con
Sakura-Con
Sakura-Con is an annual three-day anime convention held during March or April at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington.- Programming :...
2009, an anime/manga convention located in Seattle, Washington, USA, on April 10–12, 2009.
In April 2010, it was announced that Stockzell would be leaving Smile.dk and that a new member would be joining who turned out to be Cecilia Reiskog. They are currently recording a new album with an expected release date of 2011.
Singles
- "Butterfly"
- "Boys"
- "Mr. Wonderful"
- "Coconut"
- "Dragonfly"
- "Doo-Be-Di-Boy"
- "Circuit Girl"
- "Dancing All Alone"
- "Kissy Kissy"
- "Domo Domo Domo"
- "Doki Doki"
- "A Geisha's Dream" (Naoki featuring Smile.dk)
- "Butterfly '09 (United Forces Airplay Edit)"
- "Koko Soko"
- "Butterfly (Upswing Mix)"
- "Moshi Moshi"
Albums
- SmileSmile (Smile.dk album)Smile is the debut album by the Swedish Pop band, Smile.dk. The album sold gold in Japan, and Smile.dk received "Best International Girl Group" in Hong Kong in 1999.-Track listing:# "Butterfly"# "Coconut"# "Middle of the Night"# "Tick-Tock"...
(1998) - Future GirlsFuture GirlsFuture Girls is the second album by Swedish pop music/Bubblegum Dance group Smile.dk. The album was released in 2000. The song "Dancing All Alone" was featured in the video game Dance Dance Revolution 5thMIX...
(26 July 2000) - Smile ParadiseSmile ParadiseSmile Paradise is the third album of Swedish bubblegum pop group Smile.dk. It contains remixes of songs from their previous two albums, along with one new song.-Track listing:#"Dancing All Alone"#"Dancing All Alone "#"Petit Love"...
(31 January 2001) - Golden SkyGolden SkyGolden Sky is the fourth album of Swedish bubblegum pop group Smile.dk. It was released in 2002.-Track listing:#"Domo Domo Domo"#"Golden Sky"#"Come Chameleon"#"Ding Ding Dong"#"This Is the Time "#"Don't Believe You're Leaving"...
(4 December 2002) - Party Around The WorldParty Around The WorldParty Around the World is the fifth album from Swedish bubblegum pop group Smile.dk. It was released in 2008. It contains twelve new tracks and a bonus remix of "Heal My Broken Heart", a song from their album Future Girls...
(13 October 2008) - "The Make-Up Collection" (2011, working title)
Dancemania
- 10Dancemania 10Dancemania 10 is the tenth set in the Dancemania series of dance music compilation albums, released in 1998 by EMI Music Japan.The album debuted at #13 on Oricon's weekly album chart, reached #9 the next week, and appeared on the yearly best-selling album chart at #84 in 1998 with 254,870 copies...
(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), X5 (2000), X7 (2000), X8 (2001) - 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...
: 2 (1999), 3 (1999), 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), 6 (2001)
- Speed G : 1 (2003), 2 (2003)
- Happy Paradise : 1 (2000), 2 (2001)
- Best Red (2002)
- Ex : 2 (2003), 4 (2003)
- Hyper Delux (2003)
- Treasure (2006)
Others
- All Stars 2000 (1999)
- Lato - The CD Edition (1999)
- Erocawa Trance Luxury (2006)
- Hime Trance : 1 (2006), 2 (2006), Himetra Speed (2008)
- Hard Times Vol. 1 (2008)
- Super Eurobeat Vol. 198: Queen Of EurobeatSuper EurobeatSuper Eurobeat is a CD compilation series of Eurobeat music in Japan. The series itself is one of the longest running in the entire world. It has been running for over twenty years and consists of 214 volumes as of May 2011...
(2009) - Almighty The Definitive Collection 6 (2009)
Video game discography
| Song | Game | Hardware | Region | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butterfly Butterfly (Smile.dk song) "Butterfly" is one of Smile.dk's most popular songs and featured on their 1998 album Smile.The song gained popularity outside of Sweden when it was included on the first version of Konami's music video game, Dance Dance Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix... |
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... |
Arcade | Japan | 1998.11.21 |
| Boys | Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMIX Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix, or 2ndMix, is the 2nd game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released as an arcade game by Konami on January 19, 1999. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide... |
Arcade | Japan | 1999.1.19 |
| Butterfly (Upswing Mix) | Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix, or 3rdMix, is the 3rd game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released in the arcades by Konami on October 30, 1999. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide... |
Arcade | Japan | 1999.10.30 |
| Mr. Wonderful Mr. Wonderful (Smile.dk song) "Mr. Wonderful" is one of Smile.dk's most popular songs and featured on their 1998 album Smile.The song gained popularity outside of Sweden when it was included on Konami's music video game, Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix.... |
Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix, or 3rdMix, is the 3rd game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released in the arcades by Konami on October 30, 1999. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide... |
Arcade | Japan | 1999.10.30 |
| Boys (Euro Mix) | Dance Dance Revolution 4thMix Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX Dance Dance Revolution 4thMix, or 4thMix, is the 4th game in the main Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released as an arcade game by Konami on August 24, 2000. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide. 4thMix features 136 songs, 42 of which are new... Dance Maniax Dance Maniax Dance Maniax is a game from the Bemani series of rhythm games, published by Konami, with songs mostly from the Dancemania series of music, and shares many songs with Dance Dance Revolution... 2ndMix |
Arcade | Japan | 2000.7.24 |
| Petit Love | Dance Dance Revolution 4thMix Plus Dance Maniax 2ndMix |
Arcade | Japan | 2000.7.24 |
| Dancing All Alone | Dance Dance Revolution 5thMix Dance Dance Revolution 5thMix Dance Dance Revolution 5thMIX, or DDR 5th Mix, is the 5th game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released to the arcades by Konami on March 27, 2001. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide. DDR 5th Mix contains a total of 124 songs, nine of... |
Arcade | Japan | 2001.3.27 |
| Golden Sky | Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova is an arcade game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was produced by Konami and released through Betson Enterprises. The game was released in Europe on April 28, 2006, followed shortly by the North American release on May 15... |
Arcade | Japan | 2006.7.12 |
| Kissy Kissy | Ez2Dancer EZ2Dancer EZ2Dancer is a series of dance video games developed by the Korean video game company Amuseworld. The gameplay of the series is similar to other dance simulation games, but unlike most games of their genre, EZ2Dancer incorporates both hand sensors and foot sensors into gameplay.-Gameplay:The core... UK Move Special Edition |
Arcade | UK | 2003.4.?? |
| Butterfly (Delaction Mix) | Pop'n Music Pop'n Music , commonly abbreviated as Pop'n, PM or PNM, is a music video game in the Bemani series made by the Konami Corporation. This game is known for its bright colors, upbeat songs, and cartoon character graphics... Carnival (13) |
PS2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
Japan | 2006.??.?? |
| Doki Doki (Panik Mix) | Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3 Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3 Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3, or DDR Universe 3, is a video game for Xbox 360. It was announced by Konami on May 15, 2008 and it was released on October 21, 2008... |
Xbox 360 Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... |
US | 2008.11.?? |
| Koko Soko | Dance Dance Revolution X Dance Dance Revolution X Dance Dance Revolution X, abbreviated DDR X or simply X, is a music video game, and a part of the Dance Dance Revolution series. DDR X was originally announced by Konami on May 15, 2008 for the North American PlayStation 2. The arcade version was announced on July 7, 2008, July 9, 2008 in Europe,... |
Arcade | Japan | 2008.12.24 |
| A Geisha's Dream | Dance Dance Revolution X Dance Dance Revolution X Dance Dance Revolution X, abbreviated DDR X or simply X, is a music video game, and a part of the Dance Dance Revolution series. DDR X was originally announced by Konami on May 15, 2008 for the North American PlayStation 2. The arcade version was announced on July 7, 2008, July 9, 2008 in Europe,... |
Arcade/PS2 | Japan | 2009.01.29 |
| A Geisha's Dream (Ruffage remix) | Dance Dance Revolution S Dance Dance Revolution S Dance Dance Revolution S, commonly abbreviated as DDR S, is a rhythm game by Konami available for the iOS, as part of the company's Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. Announced by Konami in January 2009, the game was made available via Apple's App Store in Japan on February 27, 2009... |
iPhone OS IPhone OS iOS is Apple's mobile operating system. Originally developed for the iPhone, it has since been extended to support other Apple, Inc. devices such as the iPod Touch, iPad, and Apple TV. Apple, Inc. does not license iOS for installation on third-party hardware... |
Japan/US | 2009.02.25 |