"Mr. Vain" is a popular song by Culture Beat

Culture Beat

Culture Beat is a German Eurodance project formed in 1989 by Torsten Fenslau. The act has gone through a number of line-up changes over the years; they achieved the most success whilst fronted by singer Tania Evans and rapper Jay Supreme. Their 1993 single "Mr. Vain" was a No...

 from the album Serenity

Serenity (Culture Beat album)

Serenity was the second album by Culture Beat. The line up changes with Tania Evans becoming the new singer, Jay Supreme remains the rapper. Culture Beat's last hit single was "No Deeper Meaning" and after two years Culture Beat scores their next hit, "Mr. Vain" which topped the charts across...

. Released in 1993, the song achieved huge success worldwide.

Background and chart performances

Written by Steven Levis, Nosie Katzmann and Jay Supreme and produced by Torsten Fenslau and Peter Zweier, Mr. Vain was 1993's best-selling single across Europe. Typical of the Eurodance

Eurodance

Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...

 style of the time, the song first broke in Germany before breaking more widely through the summer, eventually topping the chart in twelve countries. It reached number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and earned a gold disc. "Mr. Vain also peaked at number two for two weeks on the American dance charts.

It first entered the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in late July 1993 at number 24 climbing to number one on the 28 August, at times it was selling twice as much its nearest challenger It Keeps Rainin'

It Keeps Rainin'

"It Keeps Rainin" is a song recorded by Fats Domino in 1961, and written by Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew and Bobby Charles. It was released in the US on Imperial 5753, and in the UK on London HLP-9374, as the B-side of "I Just Cry"....

 by Bitty McLean

Bitty McLean

Bitty McLean is a British/Jamaican reggae, lovers rock and ragga musician. He is best known for his three UK Top 10 hits in 1993 and 1994, including his debut offering "It Keeps Rainin' ".-Career:...

 during its 4 week reign at the top. It spent a total of 15 weeks on the chart and was the 9th biggest selling single in the UK in 1993.

It is notable in the UK as it was the first number one single not to be available as a 7" since the 1950s and heralded the demise of the 7" single as a mass market medium.

Covers and samples

• One of the song's original writers, Nosie Katzmann
  Nosie Katzmann
  Nosie Katzmann is one of the best-known music writer and producers of dance music from Germany.The dance acts for which he wrote lyrics are countless .-External links:*...
  
  , recorded a new country version of the tune.
• A lounge version was recorded by Axel Boys Quartet
  Axel Boys Quartet
  Axel Boys Quartet is an Easy listening group led by the Danish ex-TV-host Axel Boisen.They've made cover versions of numerous established hits like Me & My's "Dub-I-Dub" and Aqua's "Barbie Girl" . The former was featured as special bonus track on Dancemania's fourth issue, Dancemania 4, which sold...
  
  .
• Ray Hamilton recorded an instrumental version of the track.
• Premiere & Co. released a cover featuring Marquise in 1993.
• Australian rapper Nathan Jolly released a cover version in 1998 on his second studio album, Who Dat?
• The Pet Shop Boys
  Pet Shop Boys
  Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
  
   covered the song during a live performance in Rio de Janeiro, as part of their 1994 "Discovery" Tour. The cover was performed middle of "One in a million".
• Culture Beat released a new version of the song in 2003 which was renamed "Mr. Vain Recall".
• In 2011 Katerina Graham
  Katerina Graham
  Katerina Alexandre "Kat" Graham is an American actress, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and model. She has appeared in numerous television shows and film productions, as well as music videos...
  
   posted a cover of the track on her YouTube page.

Track listings

CD maxi-single (Germany, 1993) "Mr. Vain" (Vain Mix) – 6:35 "Mr. Vain" (Decent Mix) – 7:06 "Mr. Vain" (Special Radio Edit) – 4:17 CD maxi-single - Remix (Germany, 1993) "Mr. Vain" (Mr. House) – 6:18 "Mr. Vain" (Mr. Rave) – 6:42 "Mr. Vain" (Mr. Trance) – 6:20 "Mr. Vain" (Mr. Hardcore) – 6:37 CD maxi-single (USA, 1993) "Mr. Vain" (Radio Edit) – 4:17 "Mr. Vain" (Intense Radio Edit) – 3:52 "Mr. Vain" (Vain Mix) – 6:35 "Mr. Vain" (Mr. Intense) – 5:28 "Mr. Vain" (Mr. Hardcore) – 6:38

Vinyl 12" (USA, 1993) "Mr. Vain" (Vain Mix) – 6:35 "Mr. Vain" (Mr. Club) – 6:39 "Mr. Vain" (Mr. Intense) – 5:28 "Mr. Vain" (Mr. Liebrand) – 5:40 "Mr. Vain" (Mr. Hardcore) – 6:38 CD single – Promo (USA, 1993) "Mr. Vain" (Lone Star Edit) – 3:30 CD maxi-single – Remix (Japan, 1996) "Mr. Vain" (FM 802 Rock Kids 802 Mix) – 4:25 "Mr. Vain" (Hyper Rave Mix) – 5:32 "Mr. Vain" (Tribal Mix) – 4:47 "Anything" – 6:26 "Mr. Vain" (Album Version) – 5:39 "Culture Beat Mega Mix" – 6:38

Peak positions

Chart (1993)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	1
Austrian Singles Chart	1
Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	1
French SNEP Singles Chart	3
German Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	1
Italian Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	10
Norwegian Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	2
Swiss Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart1	10
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	17
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...	2
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	20
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	11

¹ Remix

End of year charts

End of year chart (1993)	Position
Australian Singles Chart	16
Austrian Singles Chart	10
Dutch Top 40	6
Swiss Singles Chart	11
UK Singles Chart	10
End of year chart (1994)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	76

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Dales certified
Austria	Gold	August 2, 1993	15,000
France	Silver	1993	125,000
Germany	Platinum	1993	500,000
Norway	Platinum	1993	10,000
Sweden	Gold	November 10, 1993	10,000
UK	Gold	September 1, 1993	400,000
U.S.	Gold	January 18, 1994	500,000

Chart successions