The Key the Secret
"The Key the Secret" is a song originally released in 1993 by British band Urban Cookie Collective. It was released as the first single from their debut album, "High on a Happy Vibe" and features vocals by British singer Diane Charlemagne. The single peaked at number-one in the Netherlands and was a Top 5 hit in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the UK. It was the best-selling Dance song of 1993 and was also picked as the theme tune for a major TV show in Japan with a viewing audience of some 30 million . Today, the song is widely regarded as one of the biggest dance anthems of the '90s and has been remixed several times. A remix of the song was also included in episode 2 of the second series of Channel 4's drama series "Queer as Folk" in 2000. "The Key, The Secret" was more recently covered by Phobos & Deimos. And German pop singer Jasmin Wagner heavily sampled the chorus and the beat of the song in the German version as "Er ist so süß" in 2000, which was released on her fourth studio album, "Die Welt gehört Dir". Background and  release. "The Key the Secret" was originally a track written at home by Rohan Heath in a soul and hip hop vein. It was released on the tiny Unheard Records label. After a subsequent re-mix provoked a massive club response it was picked up by the Pulse 8 record label and released in July 1993. Critical reception. British DJ Graham Gold picked the song as one of his favourites in 1995, adding, "I don't care who dissed it – or if it crossed over into the charts. The vocal was so up and positive it made me feel how  music should make you feel – "good"." Music writer James Masterton viewed it as "a rather weak-kneed piece of girlie dance" in his weekly UK chart commentary. Andy Beevers from "Music Week" rated it three out of five, describing it as a "poppy house tune with catchy female vocals". James Hamilton from the magazine's "RM" Dance Update noted it as a "Charlemagne cooed raving galloper". Upon the release of the 1996 remix, a reviewer from "Music Week" gave it four out of five, commenting, "A seemingly superfluous reissue remix of the 1993 number two hit. Nevertheless, the song maintains  its effervescent hook of housey piano and celebratory vocal, and could well be a hit again." Australian music channel Max included "The Key the Secret" in their list of "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2012. Chart performance. "The Key the Secret" was very successful globally. It remains the band's biggest hit, peaking at number-one in the Netherlands. In Europe, the single made it to the Top 10 also in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100 and MTV's European Top 20, where it hit numbers ten  and two. It also reached number eight on the European Dance Radio Chart. In the UK, "The Key the Secret" peaked in its sixth week at the UK Singles Chart, on 8 August 1993. It was held off the top spot by Freddie Mercury's "Living on My Own" and spent two weeks as number two and sixteen consecutive weeks inside the UK Top 75. Additionally, it was a Top 20 hit in Finland, Italy and Spain. Outside Europe, it went to number three on the "RPM" Dance/Urban chart in Canada, number four in Australia, number ten in Zimbabwe , number 26 on the "Billboard" Hot Dance Club Play in the United States and number 31 in New Zealand. In 1996, the track was remixed and again entered the UK charts peaking for one week at number 52. It was remixed again in 2004, this time peaking at number 31 in 2005. An uptempo Eurodance remix was also made by DJ Dougal and Mickey Skeedale for "Dancemania Speed" in 1998. Music video. The music video of "The Key the Secret" was directed by British director and assistant director Lindy Heymann. It features the band performing the song in an indoor  botanical garden. Singer Diane Charlemagne sings between the plants. Several dancers also appear in the video, with body painting in gold. The colours of the video repeatedly fades out into black-and-white or opposite. Some scenes also shows the dancers looking into or they are seen through a glass sphere.