Captain Jack

History

Its members (since 2000) were Francisco Alejandro Gutierrez (stage name: Franky Gee), and Sunny. The original female vocalist on the group's debut in 1995 was Liza Da Costa, replaced in 1999 by Maria Lucia 'Maloy' Lozanes, who was replaced by Ilka-Anna-Antonia Traue (stage name: Illi Love) in 2001.

Captain Jack's music (and Franky Gee's persona) was stylized as a form of military training. Franky's costume consisted of a stylized military officer's uniform, with a red hat based on that of the US Marines. His other clothing was styled similarly to a US Army officers dress uniform. Franky chose this style because of his service in the United States Army, a career he despised but decided to follow when he was strapped for cash.^{[citation needed]} After ending his time in the US Army, Franky remained in Germany, where he was last stationed, and began a recording career under the name "Westside".

While recording music under that name, he proposed the idea of a dance track based on a drill routine. That idea became his style: songs about peace and love in the style of a military regime. The hat—a US Marines "barracks cover" hat, in the color scheme evoking the Soviet Red Army—further protests the idea of the military, while symbolizing the idea of national unity.

The group has earned 19 gold and platinum records throughout Europe. Fans of the Konami arcade game Dance Dance Revolution know them from the numerous songs that, through the Dancemania series of albums, have been used in the game series. The group's music was also featured in other Konami music games such as beatmania and Dance Maniax^[1].

Franky suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while walking with his son in Spain on October 17, 2005. Doctors predicted that the damage was fatal, and Franky Gee died on Saturday October 22, 2005, after spending five days in a coma.

Future proceeds on the sale of Captain Jack's Greatest Hits album, which was being planned prior to Franky Gee's death, will be given to his son and fellow rapper Franky Gutierrez Jr.

The Captain Jack name was recently revived, with a new lineup. The current incarnation is very unlike the original Captain Jack. The newest single, Turkish Bazaar, is of the dance-pop and hip hop genres, dropping the original lineup's eurodance roots^[2].