Vengaboys
Encyclopedia
Vengaboys are a Eurodance
pop group
based in Amsterdam
. The brainchild of two Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen
and Dennis van den Driesschen (Danski and Delmundo), they enjoyed commercial success in the late 1990s. They are best known for their two UK
number one singles
, "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!
" and "We're Going to Ibiza
" and their U.S.
Top 40 hit
, "We Like to Party
." The group consists of lead vocalist Kim Sasabone and backing vocalists Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa who replaced Roy den Burger after their 2001 hiatus. They have sold an estimated 15 million records worldwide and are renowned for being one of the most influential Eurodance pop groups of the early 21st century. On 2 May 2001, The World Music Awards
awarded Vengaboys with the award for best selling dance group of the year.
The group recorded several single tracks, some of which were released as singles before the release of the tracks as a debut album titled The Party Album (known as Up and Down, The Party Album! in the Netherlands). After two small Benelux hits with "Parada De Tettas" and "To Brazil", they entered the UK chart at number 4 with "Up and Down" in November 1998. The follow-up "We Like to Party
" peaked at number 3 on both the Irish and UK charts, and also reached number 26 on the Billboard
Hot 100
. In June 1999, they scored their first number 1 with "Boom Boom Boom Boom
", when it topped the charts in the UK, New Zealand
and the Netherlands
. "We Like to Party" was used in a Six Flags
advertisement campaign in America, featuring an elderly gent dancing to the tune and picking up passengers.
"The Party Album!" soared to the top of the charts in over 20 countries including the U.K., Germany, Benelux, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, Poland, Australia and Mexico.
"We're Going to Ibiza
", a reworking of Typically Tropical
's 1975 number 1 hit "Barbados", also reached the top slot in September 1999. Their debut LP spent 30 consecutive weeks on the U.S. Billboard 200
and was certified gold
(500,000 units) in November 1999. "The Party Album!" was once again released under a new name, this time known as "Greatest Hits - Part 1", which featured five new songs.
The Remix Album
was released in late 1999, featuring new dance remixes of the songs from the Vengaboys' debut record.
was released in early 2000, which saw continued success for the group.
More UK Top 10 hits followed: "Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine)
", "Shalala Lala
" and "Uncle John from Jamaica
" all charted, with the former going to number one on the Irish Charts. For their fourth single the group got a fifth member, the computer-animated Cheekah. The single "Cheekah Bow Bow (That Computer Song)
" was not as successful as their previous singles. They released their single "Forever as One
" in February 2001 with little promotion. The single charted at 28 in the UK, making it their worst performing single. Shortly after this release, the group disbanded for several years.
student union
clubs in the UK and Ireland, most notably the UCD 2010 Ball, with an estimated 9000 attendees.
Throughout 2008 and 2009, the group continued to tour on a small scale, while various rumors of new tracks including "Partylife" in 2008 and a re-release of old material in 2009 generated publicity but never came to be. In late 2009, the group began to get a large following online through their official website, and their official pages on social networking sites Twitter
and Facebook
and video sharing site YouTube
which has seen a large demand for the group's music videos.
In the spring of 2010 The Vengaboys confirmed via their website, Twitter and at their live gigs that their comeback single will be called "Rocket To Uranus
" and features singer-songwriter Pete Burns
and American celebrity Perez Hilton
, who co-wrote the song. It was only released in their home country the Netherlands, as a single in June 2010. Release dates for other countries have yet to be set. The world premiere was confirmed via the bands Twitter account, announcing the premiere on friday June 4, on the Dutch radio station "Radio 538." The video premiered on sunday June 6 at the Dutch tv station TMF and in 2D and 3D formats on their own website and YouTube channel.
They are due to release a best of in Australia
on 9th December 2011.
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...
pop group
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
based in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. The brainchild of two Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen
Wessel van Diepen
Wessel van Diepen , was a Dutch radio host for Radio 538 and is the most successful dance-pop music producer in Dutch history....
and Dennis van den Driesschen (Danski and Delmundo), they enjoyed commercial success in the late 1990s. They are best known for their two UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
number one singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!
Boom Boom Boom Boom
"Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" is a song by the Dutch Eurodance group Vengaboys. It was released as a single on 14 June 1999. It topped the UK Singles Chart on 26 June 1999. The song is not based on Paul Lekakis's "Boom Boom ", from 1987, despite similar lyrics.In the UK, the song is the Vengaboys'...
" and "We're Going to Ibiza
We're Going to Ibiza
"We're Going to Ibiza", a single by the Vengaboys released on 30 August, 1999, was one of the Vengaboys' most successful singles. The song was based on Typically Tropical's 1975 number one hit "Barbados," with modified lyrics...
" and their U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Top 40 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, "We Like to Party
We Like to Party
"We Like to Party" is a popular 1998 electronica dance song by Dutch music group Vengaboys. It is played in A-flat major. The song became their biggest hit in the United States, peaking at #26 in the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100 and selling 405,000 copies....
." The group consists of lead vocalist Kim Sasabone and backing vocalists Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa who replaced Roy den Burger after their 2001 hiatus. They have sold an estimated 15 million records worldwide and are renowned for being one of the most influential Eurodance pop groups of the early 21st century. On 2 May 2001, The World Music Awards
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international awards show founded in 1989 that annually honors recording artists based on worldwide sales figures provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . John Martinotti is an executive producer and co-founder of the show...
awarded Vengaboys with the award for best selling dance group of the year.
Group formation, Up and Down, The Party Album! and commercial success
Dutch producers Danski and Delmundo initially found success organizing illegal beach parties during the summers. Danski and Delmundo recruited Rachael Carpenter, Olivia Overington, Robin Pors and Roy den Burger to form a group In 1997. The name Vengaboys was thought up during a recording session for another of Danski and Delmundo's projects, called Nakatomi.The group recorded several single tracks, some of which were released as singles before the release of the tracks as a debut album titled The Party Album (known as Up and Down, The Party Album! in the Netherlands). After two small Benelux hits with "Parada De Tettas" and "To Brazil", they entered the UK chart at number 4 with "Up and Down" in November 1998. The follow-up "We Like to Party
We Like to Party
"We Like to Party" is a popular 1998 electronica dance song by Dutch music group Vengaboys. It is played in A-flat major. The song became their biggest hit in the United States, peaking at #26 in the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100 and selling 405,000 copies....
" peaked at number 3 on both the Irish and UK charts, and also reached number 26 on the 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...
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...
. In June 1999, they scored their first number 1 with "Boom Boom Boom Boom
Boom Boom Boom Boom
"Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" is a song by the Dutch Eurodance group Vengaboys. It was released as a single on 14 June 1999. It topped the UK Singles Chart on 26 June 1999. The song is not based on Paul Lekakis's "Boom Boom ", from 1987, despite similar lyrics.In the UK, the song is the Vengaboys'...
", when it topped the charts in the UK, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and the Netherlands
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...
. "We Like to Party" was used in a Six Flags
Six Flags
Six Flags Entertainment Corp. is the world's largest amusement park corporation based on quantity of properties and the fifth most popular in terms of attendance. The company maintains 14 properties located throughout North America, including theme parks, thrill parks, water parks and family...
advertisement campaign in America, featuring an elderly gent dancing to the tune and picking up passengers.
"The Party Album!" soared to the top of the charts in over 20 countries including the U.K., Germany, Benelux, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, Poland, Australia and Mexico.
"We're Going to Ibiza
We're Going to Ibiza
"We're Going to Ibiza", a single by the Vengaboys released on 30 August, 1999, was one of the Vengaboys' most successful singles. The song was based on Typically Tropical's 1975 number one hit "Barbados," with modified lyrics...
", a reworking of Typically Tropical
Typically Tropical
Typically Tropical are a British band. They are best known for the song "Barbados".The band was actually a duo comprising Geraint Wyn Hughes and Jeffrey Calvert, who had met through Hughes' band, Quasar. They wrote and recorded songs at Morgan Studios, where Calvert worked with his father, when...
's 1975 number 1 hit "Barbados", also reached the top slot in September 1999. Their debut LP spent 30 consecutive weeks on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and was certified gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
(500,000 units) in November 1999. "The Party Album!" was once again released under a new name, this time known as "Greatest Hits - Part 1", which featured five new songs.
The Remix Album
The Remix Album (Vengaboys album)
The Remix Album is an album released by techno/electronica group, the Vengaboys in 2000.-Track listing:#"We're Going to Ibiza! "#"We Like to Party "#"Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! "#"Up and Down "...
was released in late 1999, featuring new dance remixes of the songs from the Vengaboys' debut record.
The Platinum Album and group hiatus
Shortly before the release of their second album, Robin Pors left the group to pursue a solo career and was replaced by dolphin trainer Yorick Bakker. The Platinum AlbumThe Platinum Album
The Platinum Album is the second studio album by the Vengaboys.-Track listing:# "Shalala Lala" - 3:35# "24/7 in My 911" - 3:11# "Kiss " - 3:30# "Uncle John from Jamaica" - 3:08...
was released in early 2000, which saw continued success for the group.
More UK Top 10 hits followed: "Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine)
Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine)
"Kiss " is a single by the Vengaboys released in November, 1999.The song title and words in the chorus are often misinterpreted as "Kiss Where the Sun Don't Shine"...
", "Shalala Lala
Shalala Lala (Vengaboys song)
"Shalala Lala" is a single by the Dutch eurodance group Vengaboys released in 2000. It is a cover of the song "Sha-La-La-La-La" from 1973 by Danish glam rock band The Walkers. The song reached number one in New Zealand for three weeks, number four in Australia, and number five in the United...
" and "Uncle John from Jamaica
Uncle John from Jamaica
"Uncle John from Jamaica" is a single by Vengaboys released in 2000 as the third single from their album The Platinum Album.-Track listing:#"Uncle John from Jamaica "#"Uncle John from Jamaica "...
" all charted, with the former going to number one on the Irish Charts. For their fourth single the group got a fifth member, the computer-animated Cheekah. The single "Cheekah Bow Bow (That Computer Song)
Cheekah Bow Bow (That Computer Song)
"Cheekah Bow Bow " is a song by Dutch Eurodance-Pop group the Vengaboys. It was released as their eighth United Kingdom single, and their ninth overall. The song charted at number 19 in the United Kingdom, making it, at the time, their worst-performing single.The single was officially credited to...
" was not as successful as their previous singles. They released their single "Forever as One
Forever as One (Vengaboys song)
"Forever as One" is a single by the Vengaboys released in 2001. It charted at number 28 in the UK Singles Chart, making it their worst performing single...
" in February 2001 with little promotion. The single charted at 28 in the UK, making it their worst performing single. Shortly after this release, the group disbanded for several years.
Return to the stage and new material
In 2007 they returned to the club scene, with new member Donny Latupeirissa, a.k.a. Ma'Donny, replacing Roy den Burger and Robin Pors returning to the group. They have most recently been touring universityUniversity
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
student union
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
clubs in the UK and Ireland, most notably the UCD 2010 Ball, with an estimated 9000 attendees.
Throughout 2008 and 2009, the group continued to tour on a small scale, while various rumors of new tracks including "Partylife" in 2008 and a re-release of old material in 2009 generated publicity but never came to be. In late 2009, the group began to get a large following online through their official website, and their official pages on social networking sites Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and video sharing site YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
which has seen a large demand for the group's music videos.
In the spring of 2010 The Vengaboys confirmed via their website, Twitter and at their live gigs that their comeback single will be called "Rocket To Uranus
Rocket To Uranus (song)
Rocket To Uranus is the 2010 comeback eurodisc song for Dutch eurodance group Vengaboys.It's due for release in May in their home country The Netherlands, and dates for other countries are expected to be set soon....
" and features singer-songwriter Pete Burns
Pete Burns
Pete Burns is an English singer-songwriter, author and television personality who founded the band Dead or Alive in 1980, for which he acted as the vocalist and songwriter, and which rose to mainstream success with their 1985 single "You Spin Me Round "...
and American celebrity Perez Hilton
Perez Hilton
Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. , better known as Perez Hilton , is an American blogger and television personality. His blog, Perezhilton.com , is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities...
, who co-wrote the song. It was only released in their home country the Netherlands, as a single in June 2010. Release dates for other countries have yet to be set. The world premiere was confirmed via the bands Twitter account, announcing the premiere on friday June 4, on the Dutch radio station "Radio 538." The video premiered on sunday June 6 at the Dutch tv station TMF and in 2D and 3D formats on their own website and YouTube channel.
They are due to release a best of in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on 9th December 2011.
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart