MC Fixx It – I Can't Stand It

In 1989, when this was recorded, I used to go to a small nearby village named Asten in order to spend some of my Saturday night parties on a dance floor of the local Freebird club, where DJ Ruud Van Rijen was spinning. I had a chance to spot him at Freaky Records in Eindhoven (the shop, not the associated record label) when I was a freshman at the local Technical University, and he told the shop keeper that he was working on a track. As a matter of fact, an instrumental demo of "I can't stand it" was playing, sounding like a sort of prototype big beat, including a "Ben Liebrandish" vocoder voice, having more resemblance with Tears for Fears' "Shout" than the likes of Technotronic to which the most popular version of it is associated to (I didn't know at that time that it was HIS track that was playing).

Things changed a bit when MC Fixx It's rap was added to that same 100 BPM-or-so electro hip hop tune, and a single edit as well as the original vocoder track were included as well on the original 12" release. It received some local club play, it entered the Dutch club chart in September 1989 and remained in it for 7 weeks, peaking at #29 of 40, but commercial media did not seem to be interested.

Things radically changed when (probably inspired by Technotronic's "Pump up the jam" which also alternates rapped and sung parts) it was decided to turn the track into a hiphouse tune, replacing the vocoder voice by vocals of local female singer Nancy Coolen. Released December 1989, "I can't stand it" scored considerably better, peaking #7 in the Dutch club chart and remining in it for another 16 weeks. A Dutch Top 40 entry followed, and the full hiphouse version also found its way to a Turn Up The Bass compilation. But more important, the hiphouse version also got very great attention all over Europe.

There are multiple stories about why most international versions contained alternative lyrics by Captain Hollywood rather than MC Fixx It. One says it was a demand from BCM, the German label they would sign to, another says that MC Fixx It had poor articulation, making his voice hard to understand. Anyway, only the Dutch and Italian releases of the song contain MC Fixx It's original main vocals.

Today, "I can't stand it" is more important than you might think. It was the first international success for Freaky Records, putting the label on the map. It launched the musical career of 4 artists (Ruud van Rijen, MC Fixx It, Nance and Captain Hollywood who would form his own project after some time). And it was one of the cornerstones of a new style of music that would later be branded "Eurodance".