1989–1990: Early success in Germany The Real McCoy project (originally known in
Europe as
M.C. Sar & the Real McCoy) was the result of the successful collaboration between record producers Juergen Wind (J. Wind), and Frank Hassas (Quickmix), plus the rapper
Olaf Jeglitza (O-Jay), under their music production company Freshline Records. Wind and Hassas wrote and produced the project's main hits between 1990 and 1994 at Wind Studios B.C. in
Spandau,
Berlin. Traditionally, Jeglitza was given additional producer credits alongside Wind and Hassas as
J. Wind, Quickmix & O. Jeglitza for Freshline. In reality, Jeglitza only had a minor songwriting role on the team, and strictly provided rap vocals for the song productions. In 1993, he became the front man of the project. The first single from the project was a cover version of the hit "
Pump Up the Jam" by
Technotronic featuring new rap verses from Jeglitza. Following the unexpected success of the single, Wind took over the management of Freshline Records, and became the leading producer and composer behind the project. The follow-up releases were
hip house style records. "
It's On You" debuted in 1990 and became a top hit in Germany and a success in other European territories. The cover art, imagery and marketing for the album was completely changed to present a lighter romantic tone. Several tracks from the album were removed for the new release. Davis commissioned a new team of producers to write and produce three new covers songs ("
Come and Get Your Love", "
Ooh Boy", "
If You Should Ever Be Lonely (Deep in the Night)"), along with an original track (Sleeping with an Angel) for the album. The new production team included: songwriters
Billy Steinberg &
Rick Nowels, producer
Shep Pettibone and the Lemon Productions team (Per Adebratt, Douglas Carr & Tony Ekman). Thanks to the promotional efforts of Arista along with the popularity of "Another Night" and "Run Away", the album reached double platinum status and became a mainstream commercial success in 1995. "Come and Get Your Love" was released as the third Real McCoy single and reached No. 1 on the
Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play chart. "Automatic Lover (Call for Love)" was also released late in 1995 as a fourth single but saw lesser success peaking at No. 52 on the chart. The
Space Invaders track "
Love & Devotion" was released in Europe and
Australia as a Real McCoy single. It earned gold status in Australia and peaked at
No. 11 in the
United Kingdom. While Real McCoy's success was at its peak in 1995, the Maxx project had quickly begun to decline in Europe due to the lack of new hits on the European charts. By the end of 1995, the project had permanently disbanded. In May 1996, Real McCoy won a
World Music Award for World's Best-Selling German Group.
1997–1998: Group decline after One More Time album In 1997, the follow-up album
One More Time was released. on the chart. The follow-up singles "I Wanna Come (with You)" and the Shania Twain cover "(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!" failed to chart and were also commercial failures. The disappointing commercial sales of the album and the final singles lead to the quick demise of the lineup in 1997. In 1998, BMG re-released the original
Space Invaders album, under the title
Real McCoy – Love & Devotion in Germany.
1999–2015: Real McCoy continuation and hiatus In 1999 and 2000, two new Real McCoy singles were released with an all new line-up. Rapper Jason Ammon and singers Gabriele Koopmans and Ginger Maria Kamphuis were marketed as the 'new' Real McCoy. The first single released with the new line-up was a re-recorded version of "It's On You". Koopmans and Kamphuis recorded new vocals for the song, while Jeglitza re-recorded his original rap verses. A music video was filmed for the single in
Miami,
Florida, starring Ammon, Koopmans and Kamphuis with a cameo from Jeglitza. Ammon mimed Jeglitza's rap vocals in the music video. A second single titled "Hey Now" was released in 2000, featuring rap from Ammon and singing from Koopmans and Kamphuis. Both singles became commercial failures resulting in the demise of the new line-up. After a long hiatus, Jeglitza (under the name Real McCoy) collaborated with the
Polish band
Ich Troje in 2006 to create the song "
Follow My Heart". Jeglitza and the band represented Poland at the
2006 Eurovision Song Contest. The song, however, failed to qualify for the grand final. In early 2007, a new Real McCoy song titled "
People Are Still Having Sex" was released in Germany. The single was a cover of the famous
LaTour single of the same name. In August 2009, Jeglitza performed as Real McCoy with singers Debbie Butts and Gemma Louise Sampson for
DJ BoBo's "DJ BoBo and Friends" concert in
Engelberg,
Switzerland. Jeglitza also recorded the track "Two Hearts" with Butts and Sampson, but the track was never released officially.
2016–2020: Return of Karin Kasar and Real McCoy revival In 2016, Jeglitza returned again as Real McCoy with the original studio singer Karin Kasar. As a live duo act, Jeglitza and Kasar performed as Real McCoy at 1990s festivals worldwide.
2020–present: Kasar's departure and line up changes In January 2020, Karin Kasar revealed on her
Instagram page that she was retiring from performing with the group. Real McCoy remained dormant for much of 2020 and 2021, with a handful of performances in the latter year with O-Jay as the sole member. In late 2021, Real McCoy announced that they would be returning for performances in 2022 with O-Jay, producer/hypeman K.I.S.T.E, and new vocalists Sara Mosquera and Mac. In December 2023, the band released a new single called "Magnify". == Members ==