"Vengaboys" are a Eurodance band that came to prominence in 1997. Some of their most successful singles include "Uncle John from Jamaica", "We're Going to Ibiza", "Boom Boom Boom Boom" and "We Like to Party". Like in Spanish, the V is pronounced with a soft B sound, as such- "Bengaboys". A guest-singer from Spain, for the producer's previous project Nakatomi, kept repeatedly singing ''Venga'' in their songs, which means ''come'' in Spanish. This led to the name 'Vengaboys' as their following project.
Never critically acclaimed, the group continued making records that were distinctly "Eurobeat", following in the footsteps of previous Dutch-Dance sensations 2 Unlimited. The ploy worked and by the beginning of the year 2000, the group had achieved 4 top 10 entries, including 2 number ones (''Boom Boom Boom Boom'' and ''We're Going to Ibiza''). The group's success continued throughout the beginning of the 21st century, with the "Platinum Album" (their third album release) going top 10, spawning 3 big hits (''Kiss'', ''Shala Lala'' and ''Uncle John From Jamaica'') and 2 lesser known tracks (''Cheekah Bow-Bow'', which included their fifth cyber-member Cheekah, and the ballad ''Forever As One'', which gained more notoriety for its video, which was banned after the group used unlicensed pictures of them meeting pop group Westlife). By mid-2001, after nearly 10 top 10 hits, the group partly disbanded and went back to working on the club scene.
Members
* Robin Pors (Sailor outfit) (1997-1999)
* Kim Sasabone (1997-2004)
* Roy Darman (Cowboy outfit) (1997-2004)
* Denise van Rijswijk (1997-2002)
* Yorick Bakker (Sailor outfit) (1999-2002)
* Mark (2002-2004)
* Lilly (2002-2004)
* Travis McQueen (2000-2001)
* Wessel van Diepen ("Delmundo"), producer (1997-2004)
* Dennis van den Driesschen ("Danski"), producer (1997-2004)
The band was produced by the two producers Dennis van den Driesschen and Wessel van Diepen who called themselves DJs Danski and Delmundo. In autumn 1996, The Vengaboys were formed with Kim, Robin, Roy and Denice, who were originally dancers for the two DJs. They now fronted and sang the music produced by Danski and Delmundo. (More Info) In 1999, Robin left the band to pursue a solo career and his place was taken by his friend Yorick, a former dolphin trainer. In early 2002, Denice and Yorick left to pursue solo careers, and Mark and Lilly joined in their place. (More Info) On February 9, 2004, Vengaboys gave a final collective performance, with all members, past and present, getting together to perform for a small audience.
On July 15 2006, 3 members (Denice, Kim & Yorick) and a new venga-cowboy, Todd Eastwood, reformed Vengaboys for a Revival Show, and performed at London's G-A-Y club.
On Friday 22nd September, 2006, Vengaboys performed live at the University of Sheffield's 'Octagon Centre' to an estimated crowd of over 1,500. The setlist included all of Vengaboys' biggest hits, including an encore performance of 'Vengabus' ("We like to party").
The Vengaboys are scheduled to make an appearance at the University of Strathclyde's "Fresher's Week" in Glasgow in September 2006. They will also be appearing at the "Freshers' Ball" in Swansea University.
The Vengaboys will be performing at Ireland's largest gay venue and nightclub in Belfast; "The Kremlin" on September 30th 2006. The vengaboys turned up to the venue, thus fulfilling their commitment, but due to the club exceeding capacity, decided that the security risk was too great to perform on stage. The official word however was "technicial difficulties". The unofficial word (and likely the truth) is that the stage was "too small" for them to perform on. But the Vengabus will return to this venue (due to confirmation) on 25th November 2006 where they really will be performing live on stage.
On 2nd October 2006 the Venga boys performed live at the new underground club "Sub Zero" at the University of Essex freshers week.
The Vengaboys will perform at York University Fresher's week in mid-October.
The rumor that a track named 'City Lights Shining' is going to be the new single has been "rejected" by official sources. "The rumor is not true". The Revival Show contains the old Vengasongs.
The rumor may have started as an unreleased Venga song has been discovered 'Take Me To The City'. It was recorded for the Charlie's Angels Soundtrack but was decided to be used on their forthcoming album (which never was to be as the act split before any more recording was done). 'Forever as One' was the acts final single.
Discography
Albums
* ''Vengaboys'' (1998) * ''The Best Of'' (1999) * ''The Remix Album'' (1999) * ''The Platinum Album'' (2000) * ''Greatest Hits US Release: * ''The Party Album'' (1999) US Peak: #86, US Sales: 500,000 (RIAA Gold Certification)
Singles
* "Parade des Tettas" (1997) * "Brazil" (1998) * "Up & Down" (1998) #4 UK * "We Like to Party!" (1998) #3 UK #7 AUS (1999 release) * "Boom Boom Boom Boom!" (1998) #1 UK #6 AUS (1999 release) * "We're Going to Ibiza" (1999) #1 UK #27 AUS * "Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine)" (1999) #3 UK #17 AUS * "Shalala Lala" (2000) #5 UK #4 AUS # 1 BRA * "Uncle John from Jamaica" (2000) #6 UK * "Megamix" (2000) * "Cheekah Bow Bow (That Computer Song)" (featuring Cheekah) (2000) #19 UK * "Forever as One" (2000) #28 UK (2001)
Media occurrences
*The beat from the song ''We Like to Party'' was played in numerous ads for Six Flags. *The song "Boom Boom Boom Boom" was the main song of Jeux Sans Frontieres 1999.
