Romanian singer, Alexandra Stan, conquered the world when her single ‘Mr. Saxobeat’ became an instant hit in 2011.
Mr.Saxobeat become the first Romanian single to sell a million copies; it helped Alexandra Stan win Best Romanian Act at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards, as well as the European Border Breakers Award.
But what was Mr. Saxobeat’s secret formula besides Alexandra’s sly vocals? Well, the sexy and addictive saxophone accompaniment of course. The saxophone has seemingly been revived, due to Mr. Saxobeat’s success.
While some may have a grand distaste for repetitive instrumental hooks, the majority of radio listeners seem to be enjoying the saxophone taste.
Let’s go down the line of saxophone loop songs that became worldwide hits, after the major success of Mr. Saxobeat took place:
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ Thrift Shop (2012)
‘Thrift Shop’ is the song that basically propelled Macklemore to stardom. With a grand hip-hop jazz influence, ‘Thrift Shop’ has easily become a memorable staple this decade so far.
Jason Derulo’s ‘Talk Dirty’ (2013/2014)
Even before ‘Talk Dirty’, Derulo had already amassed great success. ‘Talk Dirty’ just catapulted his name more onto the European audience, which is great since it can be hard for some American artists to cross over in other countries.
Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea ‘Problem’ (2014)
Ariana’s collaboration with Iggy along with the saxophone loop made this song three times better. Imagine ‘Problem’ with no saxophone loop or Iggy Azalea? It was a collaboration meant to happen and it ended up helping both Grande and Azalea in terms of sales and artist popularity around the globe.
Fifth Harmony’s ‘Worth It’ (2015)
Girl power is back and Fifth Harmony showed us that through their song ‘Worth It’ off their new album “Reflection”. It’s multi-platinum status speaks for itself and while the loop sounds eerily similar to ‘Talk Dirty’, the saxophone influence might have come from the string of saxophone hits starting from the one and only, ‘Mr. Saxobeat’.
Still, while all these songs do contain a looped instrumental, they all have their own distinctive melody.
More different saxophone (and instrumental) loops please!
Wanna groove out to ‘Mr. Saxobeat’? Be our guest! We’ll even join in with you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAhHNCfA7NI