Vengaboys

The group formed in the Netherlands in the early 90s and hit commercial success in 1997. While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact time of of the Vengaboys’ formation it is widely recognized that the primitive stages of the group were set in motion around 1992. The two leading creative figures behind this act, Dennis van den Driesschen and Wessel van Diepen (better known as Dj Danski and DJ Delmondo respectively), were burgeoning dance producers who got their start touring around in a bus, which made stops at various Spanish beach parties.The duo extended their musical family to include background singers/ dancers Rachel Carpenter, Olivia Ovington, and Kim Sasabone (the latter fronted the group). By 1996 they adopted the name Vengaboys and shortly after were putting out singles such as “Parada De Tettas” and “To Brazil”.

Vengaboys issued their debut studio album “Up & Down - The Party Album” in April 1998 through the label Strictly Rhythm. This release featured the three hit songs “Up and Down” (charting at No.4 on the UK Singles chart), “We Like to Party” (topping the charts in Belgium) and “To Brazil” (making it to No. 23 on the Netherlands’ Single chart). This album also did immensely well on the US market entering the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 26.

Their 2nd album “The Party Album”, which came out the following year was an even greater success. Though it reused some of their previous hits, it featured two newly constructed singles that boosted the album’s sales tremendously, such as “Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom” and “We’re Going to Ibiza”. The album went on to sweep the charts in 20 different countries claiming the No.1 spot. Provided the number of hits the group was spitting out at this time, their debut album received extensive revisitation, specifically from the US where it spent 30 weeks on the US Billboard 200 and eventually hit gold in 1999.

Robin Pors who had been added as a member in 1997 was replaced by dolphin trainer Yorick Bakker in 1999. The next year the band went on to issue their 3rd studio album, “The Platinum Album”. This album was also a major commercial success and featured five hit singles including “Shalala Lala”, “Kiss (When the Sun don’t Shine)”, “Uncle John from Jamaica”, “Cheekah Bow Bow (The Computer Song)”, and “Forever as One”. Following this release the band went through another line up change, seeing Post-Van Rijswijk and Bakker being replaced by Lynn Allien and Mark Jong a Pin. This new reconfiguration failed to click, resulting in a stunt of original material and eventually the disbandment of the group.

Vengaboys returned in 2006, but only as a touring act. Most of the venues they visited were dance halls and university student union clubs. In 2010 they released a new single entitled “Rocket to Uranus”, which featured guest spots US icon Perez Hilton and musician Pete Burns.The group continued touring in the 2010s and released several cover songs, remixes and even a Christmas album “Xmas Party Album”.