Welcome to Fancy!
"Fancy" is the most famous pseudonym used by Ric Tess. This musical genius also goes by the name Jimmy Hollywood, Kai Robinson, Ric Toss, Ringo, Tess Teiges, Timerider, Alfa Centauri, Die Bayern-Buam, Honey-Train, Leonardo & Planetary Vision, The Hurricanes and others. This singer has the most entrancing voice and an extraordinary musical talent. As a singer and producer he has achieved chart success throughout Europe since the early 1970s. His music is renowned for its pounding beat, sophisticated production and especially, his angelic voice. His music cannot fail to make the listener dance; his lyrics and voice pull at the heartstrings.
His lyrics always speak of love. In his beautiful romantic ballads as in his mega-dance hits, love and passion are always his main topics. The energetic beat of his songs is a swirling vortex that tests our ears, our feelings, and the force within us all.
His life is surrounded by mystery. He is an extremely reserved person and thus, rarely gives interviews. His productions are always at the forefront. Tess spearheads new trends on every album; experiments and then considers new directions. His earlier releases are difficult to find outside of Europe, eagerly collected by fans and record collectors. From time to time he produces other artists under a variety of pseudonyms, but his musical style is always evident. He turns unknown singers into great artists... and he has helped others to make successful comebacks. He even met Jimi Hendrix in 1967 for the first time after a Club Show (Big Apple, Leopoldstreet in Munich) and Jimi's Soundeengenier (Dave S.) was recording in the late 70s some production-songs of Tess in the ArcoStudios in Munich.
Under the name Fancy, he was an instant success when his debut single "Slice Me Nice" shot to the top of the charts in 1984. This was the beginning of a long and colourful career of international success. Since then, Fancy has continued with his hit making and has been in Germany's media control "Musik Markt Top 20" singles chart no less than nine times. Six of his albums have also made the German media control LP charts. In Spain, "Bolero" soared to Number One and held that position for a staggering six months. In América, take a look at the U.S.Billboard Dance Charts in 85: "Chinese Eyes" #2, "Come Inside" #2, "Check It Out" #8!
He followed this with various Top 10 hits in Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium, France and other parts of Europe. He smashed into the Top 10 U.S. Billboard Dance Charts three times. He has given over 1000 concerts throughout the USA, Canada, Asia and Europe.
Always pioneering, he was the first Euro Disco (or Italo Disco) artist to have his own official website (launched in 1996), the first to use the release a CD Video Single (1988) and the first to release a DVD (2001). By the way, Fancy produced more than 40 promo videoclips.
Applauded as a great composer, lyricist, producer and singer, he is recognised for his non-musical talents as a writer, painter and actor. He is considered the "King of German Disco", "A Living Legend" and year after year he astounds us with his genius… What other artist is capable of generating at least one masterpiece a year? Tess has made many more:
"Slice Me Nice", "Kahlua Sun", "Bolero", "Cocoon", "Flames of Love", "You Set My Heart On Fire", "Freedom", "Lost in Paradise", “Angel Eyes”, "The Deliverance", "Stranger In A Foreign Town", "Gegen Den Strom", "We Can Move A Mountain", "Why Oh Why", "For One Night In Heaven"...
In fact, there is nothing quite like him!
There is simply no match for his impressive un-paralleled specialization in taking your breath away. A second look at the content of his works is enough to convince anyone that a considerable number of his songs does not reinforce the mass cultivated passive mainstream formula of top 40 music industry. A considerable number of his productions does not engage the fan in escapist, paper-constructed world of meaningless illusions as defined by stockholders of industry music giants. Working quietly in the margins of a very cruel world, he is among a handful number of artists who never needed superficial empty promotions to prop up a constructed hollow identity.
The story of his career as a silent and rather different legend of Discos speaks highly of his genius abilities in mastering the game of survival, and at the same time revealing his amazing sophistication in breaking the pre-defined boundaries and limitations of music industry standards. Strange, mysterious, deviant, stylish, sharp, surprising, subtle, extremely reserved and extremely multi-layered....
In his vast sea of meaning, a genius named Tess camouflages a vastly complex and multi-layered character. Withstanding the test of time, his unique sets of talents polished and blessed in a rain of his alternative touches have given rise to a fascinating cult figure; A frontier on the road of an everlasting performance!
Year after year, album after album, single after single, Ric Tess has provided his fans not only with the best of what euro-dance had to offer, but the best of his astonishing insights. It is no wonder that the kingdom of his music extends well beyond Germany reaching people of all colors and backgrounds from every corner in the world.
Beyond any shadow of doubt, dimensions of his music extend far beyond his fantastic melodies, voice and the strong beat we all love him for. Behind this facade, Ric Tess has many undiscovered layers much deeper than what we have seen on the surface. Fancy is not simply a typical phenomenon of the 80s or a casual day to day artist in his genre. Make no mistake about it. He is not a typical puppet mainstream artist propped up by MTV and paper-constructed promotions. He is meant to be a deliberate deviant from the convention; a definition of a true and real artist. He is himself. He is real, and that is precisely why his music with whatever mood or color or melody is meant to be timeless.
Tess is a master of two worlds; On the one hand, his commercial side has taken the stages by storm around the world, breaking new records, one smashing hit after another creating some of the best hits of all the time. The story of "Bolero Fever" in Spain as well as other top chart records are dramatic depictions of his talents in mastering the commercial world. On the other, his alternative side has created sensations among many intellectual fans who beside a great melody, among others, search for depth, content, creativity and simply a different style embedded in a unique and multi-layered framework.
Unraveling the fascinating dimensions of messages in his songs demands a sharp and unique mind with extensive background in analyzing such alternative works. For me, It is not just his music anymore, but it is my deep fascination for the multi-dimensional mindset and the mysterious driving force behind creating such masterpieces that has captured my imagination.
The powerfully multi-layered messages in this albums can instantly capture the imagination of a sharp mind who can read between the lines and extract the silent messages of his songs. So mysterious, so different and so alternative, it is not surprising that his works are well above the heads of many.
Although, a cloud of mystery have masked his character for many years and much is still unknown about his works, one thing is certain; what truly makes Fancy stand out as a shining star among other euro-dance artists is his excellence and breathtaking skills in conquering areas all others have failed. Contrary to other similar artists, the majority of Fancy's lyrics offer tremendous depth and meaning. The multi-layered messages of his lyrics, structure their content and depth in a fascinating framework of mystery and unknown realm of vague, yet mind-blowing capturing themes. Themes of the unknown, themes of infinite creativity, themes of freedom, themes of subtle resistance and above all the theme of being different.
The miraculous abilities of Fancy in becoming the master of two worlds, which in my opinion, entitles him to a great deal of admiration, credit and respect is one thing, but his talents for soaring many artists to golden status is another. There is simply so much that could be said about the lengthy list of his works for many other successful artists, as well as himself, that we have to spend hours discussing it. However, in this website we are after something beyond that!
In his endless cycle of creativity, in his wide spectrum of constantly shifting melodies and styles, his majestic style of performance, in his subtle questioning of the existing status quo, in his multi-layered lyrics and amongst his partially unrecognized world of talents, lies a powerful hidden message that has escaped the attention of all of us.
Now, discover the marvellous and mysterious world of Fancy...
