2 Brothers on the 4th Floor
Encyclopedia
2 Brothers on the 4th Floor is a 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...
band, consisting of the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
brothers Martin and Bobby Boer. Since their creation in 1990, the group has been fronted by Dutch singer Desire Claudette.
Early career, 1990-1993
The Boer brothers had already been experimenting with music in a small bedroom when they finally gained note in 1990, when their single Can't Help Myself was picked up by Dutch radio stations and became an international hit. The brothers then brought together rapper Da Smooth Baron MC and singers Peggy "The Duchess" and Gale Robinson to form their stage act. The release of their next single, Turn Da Music Up was somewhat less successful, but helped the band to gain name recognition.2 Brothers on the 4th Floor made two hit singles together before separating. Martin Boer moved into a new professional studio and started making remixes under the name Dancability Productions, making remixes for artists such as Becky Bell
Becky Bell
Rebecca "Becky" Suzanne Bell was an American teenage girl who died as a result of a back-alley abortion in 1988. She lived in Indianapolis, Indiana....
, Twenty 4 Seven
Twenty 4 Seven
Twenty 4 Seven is a Eurodance act, created by Dutch record producer Ruud van Rijen in 1989. Active sporadically ever since, the act has featured nine different vocalists, has performed across Europe and Africa, and as of 2010 is fronted by Li Ann and Stacey "Stay-C" Paton.One of the earliest...
and Luv'
Luv'
Luv is a Dutch pop girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe as well as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Mexico in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1979, Luv' was "Holland's best export act" and thus received the "Conamus Export Prize"...
(for their Megamix '93
Megamix '93
"Megamix '93" is the twenty sixth single by Dutch girl group Luv' released in 1993 by Arcade Records. This Megamix is the comeback record of the original group since their 1980 single One More Little Kissie. It appears on the compilation Luv' Gold...
), while Bobby Boer designed record covers and CD inlays for other artists.
1994
2 Brothers on the 4th Floor was revived by the Boer brothers in 1994. Bobby joined Martin in his studio and, after some time, released the single Never Alone. This single was the first to be launched with rapper D-Rock and singer Desirée Manders (stage name: Des'Ray). The song "Dreams", which the title song of the band's first album, was a song that captured the essence of EurodanceEurodance
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...
. Due to the genre's popularity when the song was released in 1994, the song became a hit both nationally and internationally. The band's renewed style and concept was accepted well by Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
audience. Never Alone topped the charts for weeks and went gold. Dreams, the band's subsequent single, went straight to number one and remained on the charts for weeks (as well as reaching the top 30 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Hot Dance Club Songs chart in the United States) and Let Me Be Free, its successor, remained in the top ten nationally for some time.
1995-1997
In 1995 and 1996, 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor further widened their success with the singles Fly (Through The Starry Night), Come Take My Hand and Fairytales, changing their genre in happy hardcoreHappy hardcore
Happy hardcore, also known as happycore, is a genre of music typified by a very fast tempo , often coupled with solo vocals and sentimental lyrics. Its characteristically 4/4 beat "happy" sound distinguishes it from most other forms of hardcore techno, which tend to be "darker". It is typically in...
. These singles topped the charts in various Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries. At the end of 1996, the band released the single There's a Key and its second album, 2.
After 2, the band shifted styles and first recorded the single One Day, an R&B track that departed from their typical 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, before going back to their previous Eurodance style with the single I'm Thinkin' of U.
1998-2001
In March 1998, 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor released the single Do U Know, a mid to low tempo pop track. At the beginning of the fall of 1998, the single The Sun Will Be Shining was released. It contains remixes by Mark van Dale & EnricoEnrico
Enrico is an Italian male given name, derived from Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry , Henri , Enrique , and Henrique .Enrico may refer to:* Enrico IV, a play...
, Dance Therapy
Dance therapy
Dance therapy, or dance movement therapy is the psychotherapeutic use of movement and dance for emotional, cognitive, social, behavioral and physical conditions. As a form of expressive therapy, DMT is founded on the basis that movement and emotion are directly related...
and the Dub Foundation. Packaged with The Sun Will Be Shining was a CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
featuring the videos of "The Sun Will Be Shining" and "The Making Of".
On February 5, 1999, the single Heaven Is Here was released. October 29 of that year saw the release of the single Living In Cyberspace. On June 16, 2000, the single "Wonderful Feeling" was released. On June 29, 2001, the single "Stand Up And Live" was released.
2002-2008
2 Brother on the 4th Floor never released its third album due to problems with, among other things, record companies. Currently, the band doesn't seem to exist anymore, although it is unclear whether they have split up. Des'Ray has a solo career, and D-Rock is working with the band E-LifeE-Life
E-Life is a rapper from Rotterdam, Netherlands. He is also a DJ for radio station Juize FM.E-Life started his music career with rap crew Dope Syndicate. DJ Raw Deal's move to the USA in 1995 prompted E-Life to go solo, touring through Europe. His first solo single, Stacked With Honors, came out a...
. 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor's most recent performance was in January 2006 at The Zenith, Venray
Venray
Venray is a municipality and a town in Limburg, Netherlands, 115 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam. Venray has about 43,000 inhabitants.- Population centres :...
(NL
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
).
2008 come back
2 Brothers on the 4th Floor announced a come back in 2008 with a first performance at I love the 90's - The party in Belgium, Hasselt on 12 April 2008 (http://www.ilovethe90s.be/), where they performed live in front of 21,500 people.Albums
Singles
| Year | Single | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Can't Help Myself" | Dreams |
| 1991 | "Turn da Music Up" | |
| 1993 | "Never Alone" | |
| 1994 | "Dreams (Will Come Alive)" | |
| "Let Me Be Free" | ||
| 1995 | "Fly (Through the Starry Night)" | 2 |
| "Come Take My Hand" | ||
| 1996 | "Fairytales" | |
| "Mirror of Love" | ||
| "There's a Key" | ||
| "Christmas Time" (Christmas version of "There Is a Key") | ||
| 1997 | "One Day" | |
| "I'm Thinkin' of U" | ||
| 1998 | "Do You Know?" | |
| "The Sun Will Be Shining | ||
| 1999 | "Heaven Is Here" | |
| "Living in Cyberspace" | ||
| 2000 | "Wonderful Feeling" | |
| 2001 | "Stand Up and Live" |