Bob Sinclar – Gym Tonic (1998)
Christophe Le Friant (born 10 May 1969), better known by his stage name Bob Sinclar, is a French record producer, DJ and remixer. He is the owner of the record label Yellow Productions. Le Friant adopted the new name of Bob Sinclar in 1998 (hero from the film Le Magnifique). He became known for popularising the “French touch” of house music with heavy use of sampled and filtered disco strings. He describes his musical style as inspired by “peace, love, and house music”.
In the 2000s, Several of Sinclar’s songs have become international hits, being particularly popular in Europe. Some of his most popular hits include “Love Generation” (2005, with Gary Pine) and “World, Hold On (Children of the Sky)” (2006, featuring Steve Edwards). In 2006, Bob Sinclar received the TMF Award Best Dance International (Belgium). In 2006, he released the song “Rock This Party” under the label Defected Records. In 2008, Bob Sinclar along with Steve Edwards released a song called “Together”.
In the 2010s, Bob Sinclar became a very prolific music producer. In 2011, he released a song with the Italian vocalist Raffaella Carrà called “Far l’amore”, a remixed version of Carrà’s song “A far l’amore comincia tu”. In 2013, he released a single called “Summer Moonlight”. In 2015, he collaborated with Dawn Tallman for a track titled “Feel the Vibe”. In 2016, he released the track “Someone Who Needs Me” under the label Spinnin’ Records. Also with Spinnin’ Records, he released a collaboration with Akon titled “‘Til the Sun Rise Up”. In June 2018, he released a single called “I Believe” that was very popular, particularly in Italy and Europe.
Bob Sinclar has produced dozens of official remixes over his long career, including remixes of songs by artists such as Jamiroquai, Moby, James Brown, Madonna and Rihanna.
“Gym Tonic” is entirely produced by Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk), “Gym Tonic” became, over the years, a kind of mythical record. According to the rumours, Bangalter didn’t want the track to be released commercially. But it gained such a success as a promo that Sinclar decided to put it on his first album “Paradise”, crediting himself as the main author and Bangalter as the remixer. This event leaded to several legal problems: Jane Fonda took legal actions for the uncredited use of her voice, and it finally cost around 75 000$ to clear the sample. Many opportunist, commercial dance acts stealed the main idea of the record: the most popular one, Spacedust, released “Gym And Tonic” (which even reproduce Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You” melody). Finally, Bangalter decided to “ban” Sinclar’s remix of “Music Sounds Better With You” by ordering new versions of the song to Dimitri From Paris and DJ Sneak.
