Artist Thumbnail
Scatman John
By adding traditional jazz scat singing to infectious Euro-dance rhythms, Scatman John became one of the most unlikely pop stars of the '90s, if not all time. While he was unmistakably a novelty artist, few novelty artists had a more fascinating life story. John Larkin, born in El Monte, California in 1942, had suffered from severe stuttering since childhood. He started playing piano at the age of 12, and became interested in scat singing after hearing recordings by classic jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and especially Louis Armstrong, his primary influence. As he battled with his speech disabilities, he expressed himself artistically through his piano playing, and he became a professional jazz pianist during the 1970s. He performed at numerous clubs throughout Los Angeles, and his debut album, John Larkin, was released in 1986. After moving to Berlin in 1990, he began singing for the first time, and his performances of jazz standards began receiving standing ovations. Manfred Zähringer, owner of Danish label Iceberg Records, caught one of Larkin's performances, and came up with the idea of him scatting over modern dance-pop. Larkin was hesitant at first, but after some encouragement from his wife and Zähringer, he wrote "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)," a highly energetic, catchy song about how he overcame stuttering. Released in late 1994, the song became a worldwide smash the following year, eventually selling over six million copies.

Songs

See All
1
thumbnail
Scatman (ski-ba-bop-ba-dop-bop)
Scatman John
2
thumbnail
Scatman's World
Scatman John
3
thumbnail
Scatman & Hatman
Scatman John
4
thumbnail
I'm a Scatman
Alex Christensen
5
thumbnail
Everybody Jam! (Single Jam)
Scatman John

Albums

thumbnail

Take Your Time

1999
thumbnail

Everybody Jam!

1996
thumbnail

Scatman's World

1995

Singles & EPs

See All
thumbnail

I'm a Scatman

Single • 2025
thumbnail

Ska-ba-bop-ba-dop-bop DJ Kadozer MIX

Single • 2003
thumbnail

Everybody Jam!

Single • 1996
thumbnail

Can You Hear Me

Single • 2025
thumbnail

Ichi Ni San….Go

Single • 1999
thumbnail

Popstar

Single • 1996
thumbnail

Scatman & Hatman (DJ Skællig Clubmix)

Single • 2019
thumbnail

Take Your Time

Single • 1999
thumbnail

Scatman & Hatman

Single • 2019
thumbnail

Scatmambo (Patricia)

Single • 1998

Videos

See All
thumbnail

Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)

Scatman John • 262M views

Featured on

thumbnail

'90s Workout

Playlist • YouTube Music
thumbnail

'90s Dance Hits

Playlist • YouTube Music
thumbnail

Don't Worry Be Happy

Playlist • YouTube Music
thumbnail

'90s One-Hit Wonders

Playlist • YouTube Music
thumbnail

'90s Dance

Playlist • YouTube Music

Playlists by Scatman John

Fans might also like

thumbnail

Smile.dk

22.4K subscribers
thumbnail

Aqua

252M monthly audience
thumbnail

Ace of Base

75.3M monthly audience
thumbnail

E-Rotic

19.7K subscribers
thumbnail

Safri Duo

11.1M monthly audience
thumbnail

Paradisio

5.34M monthly audience
thumbnail

Mr. President

74.8K subscribers
thumbnail

O-Zone

70.7K subscribers
thumbnail

Darude

16.4M monthly audience
thumbnail

Alice DJ

20.3M monthly audience