Scatman John
Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)

Imagine being eccentric musicians and needing to create something original, like wizards. Instead of magical potions, you have musical styles at your disposal. What do you do?

You take what you like and mix it carefully. What comes out of it?

Surely a mess, because everything has a meaning, never mix chickpeas and beans, beer and wine, meat and fish. Yet there is someone who, musically speaking, has managed to perform a miracle; can you mix scat improvisation, the class of jazz, and the rhythm of eurodance? Yes, if your name is John Paul Larkin. This crazy and stuttering jazz musician, unfortunately deceased from cancer in 1999, brought to life "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)", an internationally renowned hit, cleverly and spectacularly mixing musical styles that are light-years apart. After living almost like a nomad, earning a living by performing in European hotels, J.P. Larkin used to enjoy humming at the end of his evenings.

During the summer of 1994, in a Norwegian hotel, his "vocal arrangements" gave birth to Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop), the last part of the title refers to his stuttering.
Under the stage name John Scatman, the Californian jazz musician made a name for himself in the shadows; indeed, at the beginning, few knew who he was, but everyone was familiar with the hit Scatman (for those few who still don't remember, it's the closing piece of the 1995 comedy movie "Selvaggi"). Great jazz singer's voice and disco base, make the piece, the hit of the year first in Germany and then in the rest of the world. Danced practically everywhere, with 5 million copies sold in a short time, Scatman turned J.P. Larkin into a media phenomenon while respecting his privacy.

Passed away in silence, his piece, thanks to a magnificently catchy base, is among the most significant of the '90s, becoming for the younger generation the backbone of a nightclub evening and for stutterers a reason for self-irony but also for pride.

Let us not forget this funny, tenacious, clever, and charismatic jazz wizard; aspiring musical Harry Potters, be inspired by the old, valiant Scatman.