There were two things I was known for back in high school in the late 1990’s at good ol’ Oakcrest High School in Mays Landing, New Jersey. First, I was known for my Beavis and Butt-Head impressions. I will always be Oakcrest’s Great Cornholio!
But more than that, I was known for forming and running the Unlimited Too Fan Club, the US-based, internet fan club for Dutch eurodance group 2 Unlimited.
If you don’t recognize the name, surely you recognize Get Ready (formerly Get Ready for This). That and Twilight Zone were their two most successful singles here. Their fame lives on over at SiriusXM. Get Ready is played often on ’90s on 9, which, as you might imagine is a ’90’s based channel on….you know what channel.
Just a little bit ago as I drove home from work, I blasted it. But, just like the last time, they showed inaccurate information about that song. That simply won’t do!
The artist information was correct, but little else was correct. To be specific, they played the radio single from 1992, when they debuted here in the States (1991 for Europe). They put the year as 1995. That’s a big problem!
The artwork they displayed was cover art for their 1992 album Get Ready (the artwork for that is shown above), which is technically true, but they should have shown 1992’s single cover art from the US, which you can see to the left.
I do see that they seem to display the cover art from albums, but they should use the single’s artwork. But that’s another rant for another time.
The bigger problem is that they said it was from 1995. Big problem! It is true that, in 1995, Get Ready the single (known back then by its full title as opposed to today’s shortened version due to royalties issues) was re-released in the United States following an out-of-nowhere re-appearance on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart, all thanks to a radio DJ in Chicago.
However, there was a completely new radio edit, rush-released by their US record labels, Radikal Records and Critique Records. And I do mean rushed. No one was ready, ready, ready for that and the labels were caught off guard so they had to move fast. I get that. But they moved way too fast.
The new radio edit, with a shorter run time and with the rapper’s vocals edited out, was an embarrassment. It’s so bad that you can hear the edit marks. The music video is an atrocity as well, hastily put together using concert footage.
As their fan club 
president, I was mortified and I told my contacts at both labels that they screwed up big time, something that one of them admitted.
The artwork for 1995’s version (to the left) is laughable at best. It too is an embarrassment, even to this day.
Anyway, it would have been accurate if SiriusXM had listed 1992 since they played that year’s single. But no, they listed 1995 and used 1992. The 1995 single had completely new artwork.
The re-release was well-received thanks to its use in NBA games. It did so well that it peaked at #38 on the Hot 100 chart, forever making them a top 40 act here in the States.
While it’s great to see 2 Unlimited live on over at SiriusXM, it would be nice if the people there did their research, something that no one seems to have done before preparing the song for airplay.
Even though the song is now referred to as Get Ready, it is accurate for them to use the song’s full title because that’s what it was known as back then. Why the title change? That’s a whole different discussion, but the short answer involves sampling and crediting issues with the original radio and album edits. Current versions removed that problem.
I have reached out to SiriusXM and it will be interesting to see what their response and/or excuse is. I will admit to blasting the song today, to the point of me being able to see my back window vibrate. But there is no excuse for inaccurate information.
Given that I did spot-on impressions of Beavis and Butt-Head back then, I should note that the crazy duo commented on the 1995 single.
I have reached out to the channel and we’ll see if I get a response. I’ve also reached out to Radikal Records (yes, I spelled it correctly) in regard to the crap edit and video. I would also contact Critique Records, but they ceased operations many years ago whereas Radikal is thriving and surviving.
For shame, SiriusXM!