CHART SUCCESS
"Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit No.1 - UK (top 5 for 3 months) 1 million sales
No.12 - USA Billboard Hot 100
Top 5 - Europe
Top 5 - Australia
Top 5 - Asia
Sales in excess of 2 million worldwide
1997 Grammy nomination "Best Dance Single"
"I Belong To You" No.6 - UK
Top 5 - Rest of the world
"Fresh" No.6 - UK
Top 10 - Rest of the world
"Tiamo" Top 10 - UK
Top 20 - Rest of the world
"Gimme Some Love" Top 20 - UK
Top 10 - USA Radio chart
Top 40 - USA Billboard Hot 100
No.1 - Canada
"FRESH" Top 10 - UK
(album) Sales in excess of 2 million units worldwide
"Love The Life" Featured on Neighbours, Home & Away, Melrose Place, Models Inc., "Coca Cola "TVC
Gina G Biography
Born in the state of Queensland, Australia, Gina was introduced to music at a very early age by both her Mother and Father. Heather, a well known singer and Peter, a Jazz musician, formed a 5 piece band and played all over Australia and Britain.
Gina grew up listening to her parents rehearsing for their shows and sitting in the front row for a lot of their performances. Gina recalls that she was very inspired by her mother's stage show, which she says was highly entertaining. Hedy Benaud (her stage name) was a great performer.
From a very early age Gina was attracted to pop/dance music. As a teenager and desperate to get into music any way she could, she quickly became a fixture on Queensland's burgeoning music scene, working as a DJ at the hottest clubs while starting to write her own material.
Not satisfied with just playing records, Gina decided to relocate to Melbourne where there were more opportunities to become a singer/songwriter.
Gina put her talents to work in an innovative dance music act called Bass Culture. After many live club appearances the group was signed to Mushroom Records and made a big impact on the dance and pop scene with "Love The Life", a crossover Australian pop/dance hit written and performed by Gina.
This track, along with other tracks Gina had written and performed went on to enjoy regular use on the Australian daytime soaps "Neighbours" and "Home and Away", as well as being heard in America on the Aaron Spelling TV drama Models Inc.
But as promising a start Bass Culture may have been, it was only that -
A start.
Determined from the outset to take her huge pop vision as a far as she could, Gina left the group and relocated to the United Kingdom in 1994 to pursue her solo career. There she found herself at an independent London record company screening demo tapes, one of which was a rough'n'raw version of a song titled "Just a Little Bit" later renamed "Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit". It didn't sound anything like it does now", recalls Gina. "it had to be completely rewritten to get it right, but I knew the song had lots of potential the first time I heard it as a demo".
Gina's next move was to contact the two producers of the demo and they immediately got busy polishing the song bringing it to the pop sensibility that is unique to Gina G.
And the rest is history.
CHART SUCCESS
In March 1996, Gina entered the British Song Contest with the song "Ooh Aah, Just a Little Bit" in the hope of representing Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The song was chosen out of eight hundred entries to be in the final eight songs and then the final four songs. Gina won the British Song Contest and went off to Eurovision in May 1996. The competition was held in Norway that year.
After a dazzling performance, Britain came seventh, but Eurovision hasn't been the same since and we think "Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit" and Gina's performance may have had something to do with it.
Released in the UK in March 1996, and despite coming seventh in Eurovision, "Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit" rocketed to No.1 and remained in the Top 5 for nearly 3 months. It sold over a million copies in the UK, went to No 12 in America on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold 2 million worldwide.
Gina broke the record for the amount of times an artist has performed the same song on "Top Of The Pops" (Britain's highest rating music show). She also broke the record for the biggest selling British Eurovision entry ever.
During the week "Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit" was released, Gina performed and was interviewed on nearly every TV show and radio station in Britain which gave her huge exposure and made her an overnight star.
In September 1996, Gina's second single was released. Co-written by Gina the devastatingly catchy and eminently danceable "I Belong To You" hit the charts at No.6.
Gina's first release of 1997 was the single "Fresh", a breezy, up-tempo Pop/R'n'B dance smash showing her diverse style of writing and vocals. It also went straight in the UK Top 10 at No.6.
Following this was Gina G's eagerly awaited debut album "Fresh" produced by Metro who went on to produce Cher's album and massive hit "Believe".
Metro's founder Brian Rawlings was quoted saying that Cher personally chose Metro based on the style and success of Gina's album. Enrique Eglasias also chose Metro after hearing Gina G's fourth single, the Latin flavoured "Tiamo". "Tiamo" was a huge hit all over Europe and still enjoys major radio play.
There were more singles released from the album "Fresh", "Tiamo", and the energetic dance pop smash "Gimme Some Love", also produced by Metro and both UK Top 20 hits.
All of Gina's 5 singles from"Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit" to "Gimme Some Love" were No.1 in the Pop Tip Chart in Music Week, a chart compiled by the UK club DJ's and all huge in the clubs thanks to the fantastic remixes.
British style Gina-mania was emulated across the continent as the singer embarked on a European tour which sparked huge sales and chart topping air play in virtually every country on her itinery. The word soon spread back to her native country, Australia, where the song also landed in the Top 5, making a stop over in Japan, the album "Fresh" reaching Gold status in just two weeks and topped the Asian charts along the way.
Having already conquered the rest of the world and repeating it's European flight pattern "Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit" bulleted up the American charts. It was the Greatest Gainer on the Billboard Hot 100 for four straight weeks, while Top 40 monitor, which tracks airplay, pegged it at No.5. The single reached No.12 with a bullet on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997 for the category "Best Dance Single".
Warner Bros in the US decided not to follow the same choice of releases as the UK and opted for "Gimme Some Love", already proven successful in the UK and Europe.
"Gimme Some Love" raced up the Billboard Hot 100 and reached Top 10 on the Radio Airplay chart and was Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Gina spent all of 1997 promoting her album "Fresh" around the world. She toured the whole of Europe, Asia, Australia and finally America and South America.
But the question on everybody's lips is.......what happened to Gina G?
In November 1997, she went back into the studio to write and record her second album but a producer Gina had directly signed to in the very beginning prevented Gina from releasing her recordings.
This producer had licensed all Gina's first singles and album "Fresh' to Warner Music in the UK. When it came time to record the second album and because of Gina's success, this producer wanted all power and control.
He demanded that he write and produce every single song giving Gina absolutely no creativity input whatsoever. When Warner Music blatantly disagreed with this the second album was never made. Warner's hands were tied because Gina had signed a contract with this producer. He would not free her from the contract either.
This created major frustration but on top of this, Gina G, who co-wrote her No.1 worldwide smash hit "Ooh Aah, Just a Little Bit" was never credited for writing it. Also, the producer never paid her any of the royalties owed to her for the sales for her hit records.
Gina was unable to release any new material for 3 years due to being stuck in this very binding contract with this producer.
But despite this and being the positive girl she is, Gina surged ahead regardless and continued to write songs and record in the hope of grabbing the success again she so deserves.
During the time Gina was unable to record and very determined not to be beaten by the unfortunate events, she flew to America to write with well-known and successful songwriters and cutting edge producers.
As fast as the music industry churns out pop artists, Gina G has been churning out songs, guarding her morality until the time is right to either unleash her own recordings or provide other artists with the vast array of hits she has.
During this time Gina also enjoyed success with "Love the Life" a song written by Gina and chosen as the theme for a nationwide TV advertising campaign for Coca Cola. "Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit", was also chosen for the Burger King TV advertisement in the UK.
Gina's third single "Fresh" off her debut album of the same name landed a spot as the theme track for the reality television show "Big Brother" in Poland. It has been covered by the two stars of the show and is on the soundtrack.
In May 2005, Gina released a brand new album "Get Up & Dance" that showcases an innovative new sound incorporating the infectious and catchy pop/dance edge, which made her famous.
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