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A Touch of Class (group)

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This article is about the German-based international pop group also known as ATC. For the American soul/R&B group from Philadelphia, see Touch of Class (band). For other uses, see A Touch of Class.
A Touch of Class
Logo for the band as seen on "Touch The Sky"
Logo for the band as seen on "Touch The Sky"
Background information
Also known asATC
OriginHamburg, Germany
GenresEurodance
Years active1997–2003
Past membersJoseph "Joey" Murray
Sarah Egglestone
Tracey Elizabeth Packham
Livio Salvi
Websitehttps://xcxlucas.wixsite.com/atoc/concat

A Touch of Class (often shortened in initials as ATC) were an international Eurodance group based in Germany. The pop group was active from 1997 and their most successful release was "Around the World (La La La La La)", released in 2000. The group disbanded at the end of 2003.

Career

[edit]
The original ATC lineup in February 2001 (From left to right: Tracey Elizabeth Packham, Joseph "Joey" Murray, Livio Salvi, and Sarah Egglestone)

The original members of ATC each came from different countries[1]—Joseph "Joey" Murray from New Zealand, Sarah Egglestone from Australia, Livio Salvi from Italy, and Tracey Elizabeth Packham from England. The four met together in Hamburg, Germany as cast members of the international Broadway theatre German production of the stage musical Cats from October 1997 to April 1998.[2] Egglestone played Bombalurina, Salvi played Mungojerrie, Packham played Syllabub, and Murray played as Munkustrap/swing dancer. The four quickly became friends and decided to form a dance group together.[3]

The group was active from as early as 1997. Egglestone noted, "We were there sitting watching television one day, seeing groups and saying 'there's no reason [...] why we can't do this.'"[4] The group first met with producers Alex Christensen and Thomas M. Stein in 1999 and began working on material under the name ATC.[5] The group experimented with merging male and female vocals together. "Producers don't seem to want to mix the voices so often [...] that helps give us that little bit of an edge," Murray remarked.

Their first single, "Around the World (La La La La La)" (which was an English cover of the song "Pesenka" by the Russian group Ruki Vverh!) was first released on 1 April 2000 and went number one in Germany for six weeks in summer 2000. It was later an only Top 40 hit in the United Kingdom and United States. Their debut album Planet Pop, featuring songs from Alex Christensen and Clyde Ward, was released on 6 February 2001 by Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Republic Records, for which they were awarded an ECHO for Best Dance Act.

In 2001, the group released the single "I'm In Heaven (When You Kiss Me)", which was moderately successful in parts of Europe. In 2002, "Set Me Free" was released as a single but was not successful. In 2003, the DJ and producer ATB successfully took the band's record label to court, and the band was forced to formally drop the ATC initials.[1] Following the name change, the group released a final single, "New York City", and their second album, Touch the Sky in 2003, but they did not match the success of their previous records and the group disbanded as the members decided to go their separate ways.[1]

Post-disbandment

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The new line-up of ATC at the Ladioo Open Air in Vechta, Germany (2022)

The band members all pursue different activities post-disbandment; Egglestone runs a pilates studio in Australia, and Packham works as a carer.[3] Murray and Salvi would together form a cover band, Démodé Trio, with Yvette Robinson in 2016.[3]

In 2019, Dutch-Moroccan DJ R3hab remade All Around the World (La La La), crediting ATC and collaborating with the group to make the remixed version.[6] In 2021, American singer-songwriter Ava Max interpolated the song in her single My Head & My Heart.[7]

In 2020, the original 4 members of the band reunited for a photo, while hinting that the band could reunite for the sake of performing for 90s music festivals.[1] The group was intending to reunite for a tour before the outbreak of COVID-19.[3]

ATC was later reformed with entirely new members under the direction of Gabriela Gottschalk,[8] a German choreographer, and would have its first performance in 2022.

Discography

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Albums

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Title Album details
Planet Pop
  • Released: 6 November 2000 (Int.) 6 February 2001 (US)
  • Label: Republic/Universal (formerly; US), King Size/BMG (currently; worldwide)
  • Formats: CD, Audio Cassette
Touch the Sky
  • Released: 23 March 2003
  • Label: King Size/BMG
  • Formats: CD, digital download

Singles

[edit]
Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds) 		Album
AUS AUT
[9] 		BEL
[10] 		FIN FRA GER[10][11] IT NED POL[12] SWE SWI
[13] 		UK US
2000 "Around the World (La La La La La)" 11 1 10 7 12 1 16 5 1 8 1 15 28
  • GER: Platinum
  • AUT: Gold
  • SWI: Gold
  • FRA: Silver
 Planet Pop
"My Heart Beats Like a Drum (Dum Dum Dum)" 76 6 11 12 39 3 46 37 18 38 21 — —
  • GER: Gold
"Why Oh Why" — 16 39 — — 16 — — 29 — 64 — —
"Thinking of You" — — — — — 46 — — — — 51 — —
2001 "I'm In Heaven (When You Kiss Me)" — 27 — — — 22 — — — — 31 — — Touch the Sky
"Call on Me"[14] — — — — — — — — — — — — —
2002 "Set Me Free"[15] — — — — — 44 — — — — — — —
2003 "New York City" — — — — — 81 — — — — — — —
2019 "All Around the World (La La La)"
(with R3hab) 		— 35 11 10
[16] 		63
[17] 		29 — 18 — 62
[18] 		39 — —
  • SWI: Platinum
 Non-album single
"—" denotes releases that failed to chart or not released in that country.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "ATC, biography discography, recent releases, news, featurings of europop group". The Eurodance Encyclopædia. EurokDJ.com. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  2. ^ "Germany performers". LemonDeDeCats.free.fr. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  3. ^ a b c d Daw, Robbie (2021-04-09). "Where Are They Now? Catching Up With 2001 Stars Afroman, S Club 7, American Hi-Fi & More". Billboard. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  4. ^ "0:26 - ATC A Touch of Class Behind The Scenes 2001 - YouTube". YouTube. 2013-09-15. Retrieved 2016-09-03.[dead YouTube link]
  5. ^ "ATC - Biografia - Muzyka - WP.PL". Muzyka.wp.pl/. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  6. ^ Stickles, Nisha (2019-04-10). "R3hab Remakes 2000s Hit "All Around The World" with A Touch Of Class". EDM.com - The Latest Electronic Dance Music News, Reviews & Artists. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  7. ^ Shaffer, Claire (November 19, 2020). "Ava Max Interpolates ATC in New Song 'My Head and My Heart'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  8. ^ "SINGLE". gabriela-gottschalk.de. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  9. ^ "Discographie ATC". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Discografie ATC" (in German). Ultratop. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Discographie ATC". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  12. ^ Peak chart positions for singles in Poland:
  13. ^ "Discographie ATC". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  14. ^ "ATC - Call On Me - CDsp @ FaN Sklep z Muzyką". Fan.pl. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  15. ^ "ATC - Set Me Free - CDsp (P)2002 @ FaN Sklep z Muzyką". Fan.pl. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  16. ^ "Suomen Virallinen Lista".
  17. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles (téléchargement + streaming) – SNEP (Week 29, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  18. ^ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 27". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
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