Wildly (but temporarily) popular techno-pop group of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Technotronic burst on the scene in 1989 with "Pump up the Jam," a thumping, repetitive, largely meaningless, and thoroughly catchy song based on synthesizers and drum machines and vocal loops ("Pump up the jam, pump up the jam, pump up the jam, pump it up, pump it up, yo pump it up..."). It took European clubs and radio stations by storm, and quickly topped charts in North America.
Three more hits followed: "Get up," "This Beat Is Technotronic," and "Move This" (from a much-less-successful second album). Then, except for a torrent of remixes, club mixes, and reissues, they were hardly heard from again.
Technotronic was based in Belgium, the brainchild of Jo Bogaert (who sometimes called himself Thomas De Quincey). He combined the rhythmic vocals of rap with the musical sensibilities of the European club scene (taking contributions from established European players such as Manuela "Ya Kid K" Kamosi), put some pretty faces out front (the, er, "band" was initially fronted by model "Felly," who lip-synched to Ya Kid K's vocals), and sat back and waited for the royalties.