Wikipedia

Impossible (Captain Hollywood Project song)

"Impossible" is a song by German musician Captain Hollywood Project. It was released in October 1993 by labels Blow Up and Intercord as the fourth single from his debut album, Love Is Not Sex (1993), and features vocals by American singer Kim Sanders. The song was co-written by Nosie Katzmann and Tony Dawson-Harrison (real name of Captain Hollywood), and became a notable hit in several countries. But like "All I Want", it achieved moderate success in comparison with the two previous Captain Hollywood Project's singles, "More and More" and "Only with You". A music video was produced to promote the single, featuring Petra Spiegl instead of Sanders.

"Impossible"
Single by Captain Hollywood Project
from the album Love Is Not Sex
Released1 October 1993
Length4:14
Label
  • Blow Up
  • Intercord
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Cyborg
  • DMP
Captain Hollywood Project singles chronology
"All I Want"
(1993) 		"Impossible"
(1993) 		"Flying High"
(1995)
Music video
"Impossible" on YouTube

Critical reception

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In his review of the Love Is Not Sex album, Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that "Impossible" "is another study in contrasts, as [Captain] Hollywood ponders the darkness of greed and power, amid a flurry of active, rave-flavored synth-beats. It is during this particular track that he best exhibits the poise and command of rhyme needed to resurrect the dormant hip-house movement."[1] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton described it as "Euro-disco in the Culture Beat mould".[2]

James Hamilton from Music Week's RM Dance Update viewed it as a "girl wailed gruffy rapped cheesy typical German techno-pop bounder".[3] Tony Cross from Smash Hits praised the track, giving it four out of five. He wrote, "Front man Tony Dawson-Harrison [...] has come up with a monster dance hit that's impossible not to shake down to. It has the Euro flavour of hits like Culture Beat's "Mr Vain" (which Tony had a hand in) with a powered-up rap beginning. Then it grows to its hypnotic vocal chant — "I find you're a little impossible" - which is packed full of attitude. Expect it to chart very high."[4]

Chart performance

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"Impossible" was a notable hit on the charts in Europe, entering the top 10 in Denmark (9),[5] Finland (6),[6] Portugal (3),[7] Spain (9),[8] and Sweden (4),[9] as well as on MTV's European Top 20. Additionally, the single was a top-20 hit in Austria (15), Germany (12), Lithuania, the Netherlands (14) and Switzerland (18). On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Impossible" debuted at number 37 in November 1993, after charting in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.[10] It peaked at number 20 in December,[11] as well as number three on the European Dance Radio Chart.[12] In the United Kingdom, the single reached number 29 in its first week at the UK Singles Chart, on 6 February,[13] but fared better on the UK Music Week Dance Singles chart, peaking at number 14.[14] Outside Europe, "Impossible" was a top-10 hit in Israel, peaking at number nine.

Music video

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The music video for "Impossible" was directed by Apollon[15] and did for unknown reasons not feature Kim Sanders, but German singer Petra Spiegl. The video was later made available on Altra Moda Music's official YouTube channel in 2017, having generated almost ten million views as of early 2024.[16]

Track listings

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  • 12-inch single (1993)
  1. "Impossible" (New Extended Version) – 6:10
  2. "Impossible" (Bumpy Version) – 7:56
  • CD single (1993)
  1. "Impossible" (Radio Edit) – 4:14
  2. "Impossible" (New Extended Version) – 6:10
  • CD maxi 1 (September 1993)
  1. "Impossible" (Radio Edit) – 4:14
  2. "Impossible" (New Extended Version) – 6:10
  3. "Impossible" (Bumpy Version) – 7:56
  • CD maxi 2 (January 1994)
  1. "Impossible" (Red Jerry Mix) – 6:49
  2. "Impossible" (Red Jerry Dub) – 6:09
  3. "Impossible" (Kamo Flage Mix) – 6:22
  4. "All I Want" ('94 Club Mix) – 5:56

Charts

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Release history

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Release history for "Impossible"
Region Date Format(s) Label(s)
Europe 1 October 1993 —
  • Blow Up
  • Intercord
United Kingdom[31] 24 January 1994
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Pulse-8

References

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  1. ^ Flick, Larry (3 July 1993). "Dance Trax: Captain Hollywood Transcends Singles Format" (PDF). Billboard. p. 29. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  2. ^ Masterton, James (30 January 1994). "Week Ending February 5th 1994". Chart Watch UK. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  3. ^ Hamilton, James (5 February 1994). "Dj directory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). p. 7. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  4. ^ Cross, Tony (2 February 1994). "New Singles". Smash Hits. p. 50. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 10. 5 March 1994. p. 13. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  6. ^ a b Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 9789511210535.
  7. ^ a b "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 50. 11 December 1993. p. 24. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  8. ^ a b Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  9. ^ a b "Captain Hollywood Project – Impossible". Singles Top 100.
  10. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 48. 27 November 1993. p. 17. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Eurochart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 51/52. 18 December 1993. p. 31. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  12. ^ a b "European Dance Radio" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 6. 5 February 1994. p. 28. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100 06 February 1994 - 12 February 1994". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 5 February 1994. p. 30. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Captain Hollywood Project - Impossible". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Captain Hollywood Project - Impossible (Official Video)". YouTube. 3 March 2017. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Captain Hollywood Project – Impossible" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  18. ^ "Captain Hollywood Project – Impossible" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  19. ^ Belgian peak Archived 9 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ "Charts-Surfer: Search through the Music-Charts". charts-surfer.de. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Captain Hollywood Project – Impossible" (in French). Les classement single.
  22. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie Archived 2 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  23. ^ "M-1 Top 40". M-1.fm. 30 January 1994. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2022. See LW column.
  24. ^ "Captain Hollywood Project – Impossible" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  25. ^ "Captain Hollywood Project – Impossible". Swiss Singles Chart.
  26. ^ "Impossible", UK Singles Chart Official Charts Company (Retrieved 25 June 2009)
  27. ^ "The RM Club Chart 31.1.94" (PDF). Music Week, in RM (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). 29 January 1994. p. 8. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  28. ^ "Jaarlijsten 1993" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  29. ^ "1994 Year-End Sales Charts: Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 52. 24 December 1994. p. 12. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  30. ^ "Årslista Singlar, 1994" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  31. ^ "Single Releases". Music Week. 22 January 1994. p. 21.
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