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On the side of president

Meaning the eurodance group Mr President, of course!

Mr President is first and foremost known for their divisive hit Coco Jamboo. Anonymous experts by experience share their story:

“I have never listened to Coco Jamboo by choice. I think of it as the noise in the nearby grocery store.”
“I don’t remember if I’ve ever heard Coco Jamboo outside the radio. At least it has been played there more than enough.”

Is Coco Jamboo all that Mr President is then? Surely not! Delving into the group’s discography props Mr President up as a noteworthy eurodance act. I bought the group’s three middle albums second hand during the spring, that’s how much the music convinced me.

A picture of three Mr President CD cases near each other.

Up'n Away

The group’s first album Up’n Away (1995) is alright. The intro alludes to the power of music and dance and invites the listener up to the steamy dancefloor. However, the general vibes on the album are cold and serious techno, although towards the end we get a few fluffy and upbeat pop songs.

The album has several bops, but their production and the singers’ energy doesn’t hit me with all the force I’d like. The lyrics are also hard to make out at times. It feels like the songmaking process has been a bit too serious considering the product being made is dance music. In any case, the album has a lot of potential and Mr President’s rise to power is just beginning!

We See the Same Sun

We See the Same Sun (1996) and its cover art, where the group’s members are shimmering in the sun over the sea, take me straight to summer and especially to Helsinki’s Swimming Stadium of my childhood. I strongly associate said place with a certain kind of eurodance. The production sounds more refined than on the previous album.

After the sloshing waves on the intro, the group’s hit Coco Jamboo blasts on with its synth flutes. As on the previous album, We See the Same Sun has dance tracks and europop-reggae, but a few songs serve up some variety with their stomping beat and piano riffs reminiscent of happy hardcore. The songs alternating between techno, club house, and the cheesy pop so characteristic of eurodance doesn’t feel discordant at all. The different genres caress the listener’s ears like a brisk sea breeze. It’s only the song Olympic Dreams that I’d remove from the album. Perhaps the team hoped the song would be a hit for the 1996 Olympics, but it just feels like arena rock in an ill-fitting coat of pop paint.

The booklet contains all the lyrics to the songs, albeit with some typos and small discrepancies to what it actually being sung. Even the hollers have been diligently written down, for example in the form of “Ohh wow woow ohOhh woo hoOhh wow woow ho”. The booklet also follows the group’s day all the way from waking up to climbing onto the stage through cute photos. The performers and other members of the team are candidly pictured shoving crisps in their mouths and having fun in the studio. On the pages a clock-like circle fills up as the day progresses. On the last page the members share their thanks to their fans and loved ones. Other eurodance artists from the German-speaking world, such as Masterboy and Dj BoBo, also get their share of thanks from the group.

A spread from the booklet of We See the Same Sun.
We See the Same Sun ends in an outro where a voice encourages the listener to remember that before you judge someone, we all see the same sun. This sun is worth seeing and hearing – the album is well produced eurodance and other dance music of the same period and spirit.

Nightclub

The third album Nightclub (1997) has a loose nightclub theme. This time the booklet doesn’t have any lyrics, but the group’s members share short comments about each song. On the pages Mr President poses in a nightclub setting and the general look of the design is stylish and effective. On the last spread, there’s an advertisement for joint dance lessons and a fan club called Mr President Dance Academy, of which I would love to hear more.

A spread from the booklet of Nightclub. The intro transports us from the noises of New York City to the world of the nightclub and its lights. A few house-flavoured tracks fit this theme, but the rest of the album lacks the sleek and sexy nightclub mood. The album has a few very cheesy songs, some techno, and as the last proper song, the doo-wop influenced Inline-Outline, which stands out from the crowd strongly. It’s not bad by any means, just surprising.

The album ends with an outro where the people of the nightclub face the dawn and its singing birds. The song fits the feeling of having been up all night and the day steadily breaking at around four or five. I played the outro at the end of my set at Makamik-fest at around 3AM and will surely play it again.

Space Gate

Space Gate (1999) is likewise draped in a loose scifi theme that doesn’t really show in the songs, but the songs bang a little more than the ones on the previous album. The general mood on the album is light and playful. It would pair well with Toy-Box's FanTastic, released the same year.

A gif of Space Gate rotating around its Y axis.
The album’s intro is a lovely blast of space scifi akin to the queueing space and takeoff countdown at Linnanmäki’s Linnunrata ride. As a Star Trek fan my jaw must have dropped open the first time I heard the Trek title sequence phrase referenced in the intro. The album’s charming art also gets points from me: the group is jumping through the physical case itself, as they’re shown from the front on the front cover and from the back on the back cover. There are no lyrics or comments to be found in the booklet, just stylish, futuristic pin-ups of the members and some thanks at the end.

A spread from the booklet of Space Gate.

Forever & One Day

Fifth and final is Forever & One Day (2003). The album is almost an hour long and its content is mostly old hat with no noteworthy embellishments. Mr President’s nineties eurodance elements are still present, but accompanied by hip hop and trance sounds of the new millennium.

However, few songs stand out in particular, and the album is mediocre dance music. Picks for relistening would be Love, Sex & Sunshine and Jippijaeo. The song Got to Get It also mentions Star Trek’s captain Kirk, which pumps me up for the duration of that line.


Mr President shines when it makes joyous and sunny eurodance. The first album is a tad too serious, whilst the last one chases trends and ends up losing the spirit of Mr President that was found on the albums in between. The group’s music as a whole is well made and no song is grating to listen to. We See the Same Sun and some choice cuts from the following two albums are really quite good, and it’s rare that eurodance albums are thoroughly as good as their singles.

So dear citizens, please lend an ear and your vote to Mr President!