"Power of American Natives" (sometimes also spelled as "P.ower of A.merican N.atives") is a song by German techno duo Dance 2 Trance featuring vocals by USA-born, Germany-based singer Linda Rocco. Released in 1992 by Blow Up, Dance Pool and Logic Records as the third single from the duo's first album, Moon Spirits (1992), it is their most commercially successful single, and now widely considered as a classic of its genre. It peaked within the top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. In the UK, it was a top-30 hit, peaking at number 25, but fared even better on the UK dance and club charts, peaking at number three. The single sold 250,000 records and was awarded a gold disc.[1] Its accompanying music video reached the mainstream networks such as MTV.
In 1998, the song was released in a new remix by DJ Quicksilver, charting in Austria, Germany and Sweden. Also in 1997 and 2009, remixes were released.
Background and release
Singer Linda Rocco told about making the song in the 2020 book Move Your Body (2 The 90s): Unlimited Eurodance, "I had been working for a long time already with Rolf Elmer (Jam El Mar) and one day he asked if I would be interested in singing on Dance 2 Trance's new song. They had already released "Power of American Natives" as an instrumental but didn't have much success with it. I then wrote the spoken verses, sang the hook, and the rest is history." She added, "And yes, people know exactly who I am on this song. It is still played numerous times a day around the world!!"[2]
Chart performance
"Power of American Natives" was successful on the singles chart across Europe. It peaked at number two in the Netherlands in June 1993, as well as on the European Dance Radio Chart in July same year, being kept from the number one position by Janet Jackson's "That's the Way Love Goes".[3] On the Dutch Top 40, the song peaked at the next best position for two weeks, being held off the top spot by Haddaway's "What Is Love". "Power of American Natives" entered the top 10 also in Austria (7), Belgium (10), Finland (3), Germany (9), Norway (5) and Spain (9). In the UK, it reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart, but was more successful on the UK Dance Singles Chart, peaking at number three. Additionally, the single was a top-20 hit in Denmark (12), Ireland (16), Sweden (15) and Switzerland (11), as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it hit number 13 in May 1993.[4] In France, it entered the top 50 (50).
Critical reception
In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote, "Another dance hit that crosses over having finally been released, this could well make a big impact on the chart in future having already picked up a great deal of radio airplay even before its release, which probably prompted this relatively strong new entry."[5] Andy Beevers from Music Week named it Pick of the Week in the category of Dance and gave the song three out of five, describing it as a "trancey tribute to American Indians". He added that "with its nice pan pipe samples and exclusive UK remix by Jam & Spoon, it is now getting plenty of club exposure here and should sell well."[6]
Kris Needs from NME wrote, "These two must have an American fixation — their last single was called "Hello San Francisco" and now comes a (rather noisily) voiced tribute to the American Indian. Make for the Ethno Instrumental Mix where pipes parp and the trance quotient gets an erection which could blow Tonto's loincloth clean out of the window."[7] On the album review, Needs praised it as "perfect hi-tech dance-pop" with "raucous vocal", concluding, "It sounds as good banging out of the radio as it does shaking a dancefloor."[8]James Hamilton from the Record Mirror Dance Update declared "Power of American Natives" as an "Andean pan-pipes tootled trancey Hi-NRG galloper".[9]
Track listing
"'Power of American Natives' was inspired by DJ Dag's inspiration by American Indians. It was the last track among the tracks of the Moon Spirits album, and we had to deliver a potential chart hit to the record company. After a long search we finally ended ut with this pan flute melody. But still there was no vocal on it. We hired a studio and asked Linda Rocco, a great female rock singer I knew for some time, into the studio. Eventually we had a recording and the record company was super happy. It became our first ever golden record!"
^Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
