2 Unlimited
Encyclopedia
2 Unlimited is a Dutch Eurodance
/Hi-NRG
act formed in 1991. The project was the brainchild of Belgian producers Jean-Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde, and was fronted by a Dutch duo, rapper
Ray Slijngaard
and singer Anita Doth. During five years of enormous worldwide popularity, the act scored 16 chart hits, including "Get Ready for This
", "Twilight Zone
", "No Limit" and "Tribal Dance
". During their career, they have sold more than 18 million records worldwide.
On 11 April 2009, Slijngaard and Doth performed together for the first time in 13 years at the "I Love The 90s" concert in Hasselt
, Belgium. In January 2010, they released a new single together called "In Da Name Of Love
", under the name of Ray & Anita
. It has become a top 5 hit in the Netherlands.
, the single "Don't Miss The Party Line", was a substantial hit across Europe, including in the United Kingdom where it reached no. 7 in the national singles chart
in April 1990. Its success came as a great surprise to the duo and encouraged them to continue working together.
In early 1991, a 19-year-old Ray Slijngaard was working as a chef
at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam
. Ray was a friend of Quadrophonia
rapper Marvin D, and whilst attending one of their gigs he took a microphone and started to rap in order to hype up the unenthusiastic crowd. Marvin was impressed and introduced him to DeCoster and Wilde, who got him to record a rap for "Money Money", a track that was being planned as a future Bizz Nizz single. Meanwhile, Anita Doth (Dels is her stage name), also 19, was an administrator in the parking ticket division of an Amsterdam police station. In her spare time she performed in a female rap group called Trouble Sisters and she was spotted by Marvin, who asked her to be a backing singer for him. Ray and Anita became good friends, and some people believe they had a relationship.
DeCoster and Wilde created an instrumental track called "Get Ready For This
" and they decided that it needed some vocals. They asked Ray for his input and he duly recorded a rap for it. The band was initially meant to be a solo project with Ray fronting the act but then he added female vocals from Anita. They were so pleased with the result that they agreed to work with them as a duo, and thus 2 Unlimited was born.
(Belgium) and were licensed to many other record labels, including PWL Continental
in the UK, run by Pete Waterman
of Stock, Aitken & Waterman
fame, who had produced dozens of hits for the likes of Kylie Minogue
and Rick Astley
. However Waterman, deciding that the rap was unsuitable for the UK market, where instrumental rave music
had become extremely popular, removed most of the vocals from the track except for the line "y'all ready for this?", which was sampled from The D.O.C.
's "It's Funky Enough". "Get Ready For This" was an instant hit, peaking at no. 2 in the chart and was the twelfth best-selling single of 1991, earning a silver sales certificate. It went on to reach no. 4 in Belgium, no. 10 in the Netherlands and no. 2 in Australia. It also worked its way up to no. 7 on the Billboard
Hot Dance Club Play
chart.
A follow-up single, "Twilight Zone
", followed in January 1992 also reached no. 2 in the UK, selling 234,000 copies. It topped the chart in the duo's homeland and was certified gold, and it was also a hit in the United States where it charted at #49 on the Hot 100 (and #5 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart). To capitalise on this success, the album Get Ready!
, featuring the two singles and seven other brand new tracks including two ballads, was released on 24 February. Two further singles were released, "Workaholic
" and "The Magic Friend
", which helped the album go on to sell 2.6 million copies worldwide.
, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia
, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and in the United Kingdom where it sold 532,000 copies and ended up the fourth best-seller of 1993.
"Tribal Dance
" was released as a single shortly before the album No Limits hit stores in May. Three further singles were issued: "Faces
", which was considerably different in pace to previous releases, "Maximum Overdrive
" and a re-recorded version of "Let The Beat Control Your Body
", which was changed to "Let The Bass Control Your Body" in France to avoid any confusion with the slang word "bite" (meaning "penis"). "Throw The Groove Down" was released after this, but not as a full single release. Alternatively, the American label Radikal Records issued a limited edition titled "The U.S. Remixes
".
But despite the phenomenal success that the duo were enjoying, they were criticised heavily by the music industry and the British press dubbed them "2 Untalented". Ray and Anita were dismissed as "puppets" and the lyrical depth of their songs was questioned. However, it should be noted that both performers took an active part in writing their material and Ray's raps were cut from the UK album release, being once again deemed, in Jean-Paul DeCoster's words, "too clumsy for the British market". Whilst some dance music
fans also expressed dislike for the commerciality of their sound and the banality of their lyrics, others, such as one music critic in Melody Maker
wrote that whilst they were "juvenile" and "puerile", on the other hand "2 Unlimited stand for energy and excitement. And if you're not thrilled by the lobotomising insistence of 'Workaholic', 'Contrast' and the rest you're either dead from the toes up, or too grown-up for your own good."
It was also noted by the band's manager Michel Maartens that 2 Unlimited were launched at a time when "many parents feared that house and techno would damage their children. It was associated with pills and nightly escapades. But Ray and Anita proved to be the acceptable faces of techno. When Mum and Dad saw they were harmless pop stars, all mistrust was over." The band's image and sound were at the same time responsible for both their popularity with the public and their unpopularity with critics, with Melody Maker describing them as "a crude, bastardized assault on tasteful dance standards."
The No Limits album was even more successful than the first, selling in excess of 3 million copies. At the MIDEM
convention, 2 Unlimited were presented with 80 platinum and gold awards from 26 different countries, as well as winning "World's Best-Selling Benelux Act" at the World Music Awards 1993
.
/CD in 1994 called "Beyond Limits" (Phillips 819 1021), which preceded the Real Things album. The CDi part of the disc was an early attempt to capture live concert clips of Tribal Dance and No One, promotional videos of No Limit, Tribal Dance, Faces, Maximum Overdrive and Let The Beat Control Your Body as well as features on Anita and Ray. The CD portion of the disc was a mini Greatest Hits containing:
Get Ready For This,
Twilight Zone,
Workaholic,
The Magic Friend,
No Limit,
Tribal Dance,
Let The Beat Control Your Body,
The Real Thing
" was released and it proved that their fans were still interested as they sent the single to no. 1 in the Netherlands and no. 6 in the UK. The title was aimed as a dig at the several other similar sounding eurodance acts who had appeared to copy the 2 Unlimited sound. Their third album, called Real Things, was instantly certified gold in the UK and 2 Unlimited became the first dance act to achieve two number one albums. Only two continental European acts have had more UK number one albums - Pavarotti and ABBA
. Real Things was their first album that PWL made no changes to, perhaps because by then rap in dance records had become more common and accepted. "No One
" surprised many fans by being a straight-forward pop record and was picked as the second single.
By the end of 1994 they had sold another 322,000 singles in the UK alone and they were still winning more awards than they had room for on their mantelpiece
, as they were presented with Smash Hits' "Best Dance Act" award for the second year running, and the Popprijs award for their services to Dutch music. They were also still performing to huge crowds at Wembley Arena
in London and to 450,000 people at the Parkpop Festival in the Netherlands. At the height of their career, Ray and Anita were thought to be performing around 200 shows a year.
In March 1995, "Here I Go" was another top 5 hit in their homeland but by charting at no. 22 it broke the duo's run of eleven consecutive UK top 20 hits. The fourth and final single was the ballad "Nothing Like the Rain
" which was not quite as successful and did not even receive a UK release.
Whilst they were very popular all around the world, major success continued to elude 2 Unlimited in the United States. Three years after it was originally released, "Get Ready For This" started getting major radio support and charted at no. 83 on the Hot 100 in October 1994, eventually peaking at number 38. This helped first album Get Ready! make its way to the 500,000 mark, earning it a gold certificate despite never climbing higher than no. 197 on the chart. The track has become a firm favourite at arena-based sporting events and has featured on several Hollywood movie soundtrack
s such as Space Jam
, Flubber and Bring It On
. It also featured famously in the Friends
TV series episode where the group played an acrimonious game of Thanksgiving American Football.
, prompting rumours that they were about to split up. The single "Do What's Good For Me
" was another top 20 hit and their 27th appearance on Top Of The Pops
. The song was also re-recorded as "Kids Like You And Me" to promote awareness about homeless youth in the Netherlands. Following the surprise belated success of "Get Ready For This" in the USA, the "best of" was heavily promoted there but only managed no. 107 on the Billboard 200
, with the single reaching no. 33 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. The rumours continued when Pete Waterman announced that Ray and Anita had split up when in fact they hadn't, and Ray expressed his aspirations to be a record producer. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival
(Spanish: Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar) in Chile
, topping the bill alongside Ace of Base
. Despite their insistence that they were planning a world tour, in April 1996, shortly after the release of the single "Jump for Joy
", both Ray and Anita announced that 2 Unlimited was over.
It later emerged that after having spent so much time together they were no longer getting on as well as they once had, and there was disagreement about the future sound of 2 Unlimited. They had asked for more creative input and they also felt that they were not getting a fair share of the huge amount of money being earned by the project. As no agreement was reached, they each went their separate ways before a final single ("Spread Your Love
") was released in June 1996. Jean-Paul DeCoster went on to sue Anita for breaking her contract, but he lost the case as it was considered that he had not paid Anita enough and was ordered to give her the same amount of money he had demanded of her.
Anita went on to DJ for Dutch radio station Radio 538
, recorded a single with reggae artist Mad Cobra
and in 2000 released a solo album called Reality. Ray created his own label called X-Ray Records, which scored a Top 10 hit in the Netherlands with T.O.F.'s "Funk It Up". He also released two solo singles in 1997 which failed to chart but found more success in 1999 with the group V.I.P. Allstars. Ray now lives in Monte Carlo
with his wife and his son Rayvano, and Anita continues to tour clubs as part of the group Divas of Dance
. An Internet petition to reunite Ray, Anita, Jean-Paul and Phil in 2005 was unsuccessful.
" did well in the Netherlands, reaching no. 10 and the single, which was remixed by Sash!
for UK release, reached number 38.
The album II
, was released in April 1998. It was not as successful as previous studio albums, nor were the subsequent singles "Edge Of Heaven" and "Never Surrender". In 1999, both Romy and Marjon left 2 Unlimited.
series, specifically its Speed
sub-series, with their song "Twilight Zone"'s "B4 Za Beat Mix".
In 2001, Byte finally released it "Greatest Hits Remixes
" featuring many new remixes. Some of the remixes from the stolen master tapes released in Russia were not included. The album was released solely in Japan.
In 2002, Trance Remixes: Special Edition
was released in Japan featuring many more new remixes not included in the previous compilation.
In recent years, many "best of" compilations have been released in various territories, often with new remixes. Most notably, ZYX Records in 2003 released "No Limit 2.3", and it was a moderate hit, reaching no. 41 in the German singles chart. It was promoted by a new duo, Débora Remagen and James Giscombe they were being lined up as a 2 Unlimited "version 3". They still perform, mainly in Eastern Europe, although are not allowed to use their own voices. This due to copyright
issues.
A new CD and DVD set containing all the duo's video-clips called The Complete History
was released in 2004 along with a single, "Tribal Dance 2.4" (originally released on 12" vinyl in November 2003 as Tribal Dance 2.3). 2005 saw the release of "The Refreshed Album" in Mexico featuring stunning artwork, but the same remixes found on previous remix albums. In 2006, the DVD was re-packaged with a different CD Greatest Remix Hits
, which was released in Australia. The following years would see this package re-released in Argentina
, Denmark, Sweden, Asia and South Africa.
, Belgium. According to a radio interview with Ray, Jean-Paul DeCoster did not give permission for the duo to perform under the name 2 Unlimited; however Phil Wilde attended the gig and provided help with preparing backing tracks.
On 30 April, Ray and Anita performed five songs at the Radio 538
Queen's Day concert at Museumplein in Amsterdam. On 8 June, they were awarded "Most Popular Act of the 1990s", based on number of weeks in the Dutch Top 40, and on 25 September, they performed as a support act for Milk Inc at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp.
During an interview on Dutch television in 2009, both Ray and Anita admitted they had a relationship with each other during the era of 2 Unlimited.
On 29 December, it was announced that the duo would release a new single in 2010 called "In Da Name Of Love", as Ray & Anita
. It was released as a CD single in the Netherlands through Spinnin' Records on 22 January 2010. It has so far reached number 4 on the official singles sales chart.
In addition, Romy and Marjon, the singers of the second incarnation of the band, will also release a new single at around the same time called "" Wonder why" under the guise of "2".
On 11 January, it was announced that Anita has breast cancer
. She is currently undergoing treatment but has decided to continue working as much as possible.
On 13 March 2010 2 Unlimited was featured on MTV Russia
's Superdiscoteka 90s (Супердискотека 90-х) nostalgia open-air live show. All former members appeared. They performed No Limit and Tribal Dance.
On 30 April 2010, a new single was presented during the Dutch Queensday called "Still Unlimited" (still under Ray & Anita
)
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...
/Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
act formed in 1991. The project was the brainchild of Belgian producers Jean-Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde, and was fronted by a Dutch duo, rapper
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
Ray Slijngaard
Ray Slijngaard
Ray Slijngaard was a member of the original line-up of the Dutch techno-dance band, 2 Unlimited, along with vocalist Anita Doth, and producers, Jean-Paul De Coster and Phil Wilde...
and singer Anita Doth. During five years of enormous worldwide popularity, the act scored 16 chart hits, including "Get Ready for This
Get Ready for This
"Get Ready for This" was later remixed and re-released for 2 Unlimited's compilation album Greatest Hits Remixes.-Dancemania:The song has appeared on the eurodance compilation Dancemania series albums, including Dancemania Super Techno II , Dancemania Speed 6 and Dancemania Super Techno Best...
", "Twilight Zone
Twilight Zone (2 Unlimited song)
"Twilight Zone" is a 1992 single released by the Belgian-Dutch Eurodance group 2 Unlimited. It reached #2 in the UK and #5 on the U.S. Dance chart, thus becoming their biggest hit on that chart. The UK release of the single was the first 2 Unlimited single in that country to include the vocals by...
", "No Limit" and "Tribal Dance
Tribal Dance
"Tribal Dance" was the second single to be released by the band 2 Unlimited from their second album No Limits.The song was released in the UK in May 1993 and peaked at #4 for 2 weeks and spent a total of 11 weeks in the UK Singles Chart....
". During their career, they have sold more than 18 million records worldwide.
On 11 April 2009, Slijngaard and Doth performed together for the first time in 13 years at the "I Love The 90s" concert in Hasselt
Hasselt
Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital of the Flemish province of Limburg...
, Belgium. In January 2010, they released a new single together called "In Da Name Of Love
In da Name of Love
In Da Name Of Love is a dance song released and written by Ray Slijngaard, Anita Doth, Robin Morssink & Jan van der Toorn. It is their first song released under the name Ray & Anita, having previously, most famously been the vocalists for the eurodance band 2 Unlimited. It premiered on Radio 538 on...
", under the name of Ray & Anita
Ray & Anita
Ray & Anita is a Dutch Eurodance duo formed in 2009, comprising rapper Ray Slijngaard and singer Anita Doth. They both rose to fame in the early 1990s fronting the act 2 Unlimited, which was the creation of Belgian producers Jean-Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde...
. It has become a top 5 hit in the Netherlands.
Formation
Jean-Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde met in their hometown of Antwerp, Belgium, and their first collaboration under the name of Bizz NizzBizz Nizz
Bizz Nizz was a Belgian dance act formed in 1989 by Jean-Paul de Coster, of Antwerp.The dancefloor filling single's, "We're Gonna Catch You!" and "Don't Miss the Party Line" were both substantional hits across Europe, including in the United Kingdom where "Don't Miss The Partyline" reached number...
, the single "Don't Miss The Party Line", was a substantial hit across Europe, including in the United Kingdom where it reached no. 7 in the national singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in April 1990. Its success came as a great surprise to the duo and encouraged them to continue working together.
In early 1991, a 19-year-old Ray Slijngaard was working as a chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
at Schiphol Airport 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...
. Ray was a friend of Quadrophonia
Quadrophonia
Quadrophonia were a Dutch dance act, formed by Olivier Abbeloos and Lucien Foort in the late 1980s, with several of their tracks performed by Marvin D ....
rapper Marvin D, and whilst attending one of their gigs he took a microphone and started to rap in order to hype up the unenthusiastic crowd. Marvin was impressed and introduced him to DeCoster and Wilde, who got him to record a rap for "Money Money", a track that was being planned as a future Bizz Nizz single. Meanwhile, Anita Doth (Dels is her stage name), also 19, was an administrator in the parking ticket division of an Amsterdam police station. In her spare time she performed in a female rap group called Trouble Sisters and she was spotted by Marvin, who asked her to be a backing singer for him. Ray and Anita became good friends, and some people believe they had a relationship.
DeCoster and Wilde created an instrumental track called "Get Ready For This
Get Ready for This
"Get Ready for This" was later remixed and re-released for 2 Unlimited's compilation album Greatest Hits Remixes.-Dancemania:The song has appeared on the eurodance compilation Dancemania series albums, including Dancemania Super Techno II , Dancemania Speed 6 and Dancemania Super Techno Best...
" and they decided that it needed some vocals. They asked Ray for his input and he duly recorded a rap for it. The band was initially meant to be a solo project with Ray fronting the act but then he added female vocals from Anita. They were so pleased with the result that they agreed to work with them as a duo, and thus 2 Unlimited was born.
Get Ready! (1991–1992)
They were signed to Byte RecordsByte Records
Byte Records is a Belgian based independent music label specialized into dance music. The company was founded by DJ Jean-Paul De Coster in 1988 and is named after his former record store in Antwerp...
(Belgium) and were licensed to many other record labels, including PWL Continental
PWL
Pete Waterman Entertainment is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label, originally PWL, is most famous for being the home of hit record producers Stock Aitken Waterman....
in the UK, run by Pete Waterman
Pete Waterman
Peter Alan Waterman OBE is an English record producer, occasional songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman songwriting team he wrote and produced many hit singles...
of Stock, Aitken & Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman, sometimes known as SAW, were a UK songwriting and record producing trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. They had great success during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s...
fame, who had produced dozens of hits for the likes of Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
and Rick Astley
Rick Astley
Richard Paul "Rick" Astley is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries...
. However Waterman, deciding that the rap was unsuitable for the UK market, where instrumental rave music
Rave music
Rave music may either refer the late 1980s genre or any genre of electronic dance music that may be played at an electronic dance party such as a rave. Very rarely, the term is used to refer to less electronic related genres glam, powerpop, psychedelic rock and dub music parties...
had become extremely popular, removed most of the vocals from the track except for the line "y'all ready for this?", which was sampled from The D.O.C.
The D.O.C.
Tracy Lynn Curry , primarily known by his stage name The D.O.C., is an American rapper from Dallas, Texas. In addition to a solo career, he was a member of the hip hop group Fila Fresh Crew, and a creative force behind the gangsta rap group N.W.A, where he co-wrote many of their releases. He has...
's "It's Funky Enough". "Get Ready For This" was an instant hit, peaking at no. 2 in the chart and was the twelfth best-selling single of 1991, earning a silver sales certificate. It went on to reach no. 4 in Belgium, no. 10 in the Netherlands and no. 2 in Australia. It also worked its way up to no. 7 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 Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
chart.
A follow-up single, "Twilight Zone
Twilight Zone (2 Unlimited song)
"Twilight Zone" is a 1992 single released by the Belgian-Dutch Eurodance group 2 Unlimited. It reached #2 in the UK and #5 on the U.S. Dance chart, thus becoming their biggest hit on that chart. The UK release of the single was the first 2 Unlimited single in that country to include the vocals by...
", followed in January 1992 also reached no. 2 in the UK, selling 234,000 copies. It topped the chart in the duo's homeland and was certified gold, and it was also a hit in the United States where it charted at #49 on the Hot 100 (and #5 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart). To capitalise on this success, the album Get Ready!
Get Ready!
Get Ready! was the first album released by 2 Unlimited. The album reached #17 in the Netherlands and #37 in the UK. Despite the moderate chart success, 2 Unlimited was one of the few Dutch bands which set out to conquer the world and even gained access to the difficult American market...
, featuring the two singles and seven other brand new tracks including two ballads, was released on 24 February. Two further singles were released, "Workaholic
Workaholic (song)
"Workaholic" was the third single released by Dutch act 2 Unlimited from their album Get Ready!. The song differed from the album version by virtue of it not being an instrumental track. It was a Top 30 U.S...
" and "The Magic Friend
The Magic Friend
"The Magic Friend" was the fourth and last single released by Dutch group 2 Unlimited from their debut album Get Ready!.-Track listings:CD maxi# "The Magic Friend" # "The Magic Friend"...
", which helped the album go on to sell 2.6 million copies worldwide.
No Limits (1993–1994)
Although Ray and Anita were sceptical about the track DeCoster and Wilde wanted to push as the lead single from the act's second album, "No Limit" was released in January 1993 and the repetitive nature of the song helped it become their most successful single ever, and by far the best remembered by the general public even now. The single topped the charts in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech RepublicCzech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and in the United Kingdom where it sold 532,000 copies and ended up the fourth best-seller of 1993.
"Tribal Dance
Tribal Dance
"Tribal Dance" was the second single to be released by the band 2 Unlimited from their second album No Limits.The song was released in the UK in May 1993 and peaked at #4 for 2 weeks and spent a total of 11 weeks in the UK Singles Chart....
" was released as a single shortly before the album No Limits hit stores in May. Three further singles were issued: "Faces
Faces (2 Unlimited song)
"Faces" is a single released by Dutch dance act 2 Unlimited, released in 1993. The single was the third to be released from their second album No Limits and reached #8 on the UK charts...
", which was considerably different in pace to previous releases, "Maximum Overdrive
Maximum Overdrive (song)
"Maximum Overdrive" was the fourth single taken from the 2 Unlimited album No Limits. The single reached #15 in the UK.-Track listings:-Charts:...
" and a re-recorded version of "Let The Beat Control Your Body
Let The Beat Control Your Body
"Let the Beat Control Your Body" is the fifth and final single taken from Dutch group 2 Unlimited's second album No Limits.The single reached #6 in the UK and was markedly different from the album version, which in no doubt helped its success. The album version was largely instrumental and...
", which was changed to "Let The Bass Control Your Body" in France to avoid any confusion with the slang word "bite" (meaning "penis"). "Throw The Groove Down" was released after this, but not as a full single release. Alternatively, the American label Radikal Records issued a limited edition titled "The U.S. Remixes
The U.S. Remixes
Released only in the U.S.A as a limited edition 12" quadrapack, this release contains exclusive remixes of "Throw The Groove Down" and "No Limit" taken from 2 Unlimited's second album "No Limits"...
".
But despite the phenomenal success that the duo were enjoying, they were criticised heavily by the music industry and the British press dubbed them "2 Untalented". Ray and Anita were dismissed as "puppets" and the lyrical depth of their songs was questioned. However, it should be noted that both performers took an active part in writing their material and Ray's raps were cut from the UK album release, being once again deemed, in Jean-Paul DeCoster's words, "too clumsy for the British market". Whilst some dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
fans also expressed dislike for the commerciality of their sound and the banality of their lyrics, others, such as one music critic in Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
wrote that whilst they were "juvenile" and "puerile", on the other hand "2 Unlimited stand for energy and excitement. And if you're not thrilled by the lobotomising insistence of 'Workaholic', 'Contrast' and the rest you're either dead from the toes up, or too grown-up for your own good."
It was also noted by the band's manager Michel Maartens that 2 Unlimited were launched at a time when "many parents feared that house and techno would damage their children. It was associated with pills and nightly escapades. But Ray and Anita proved to be the acceptable faces of techno. When Mum and Dad saw they were harmless pop stars, all mistrust was over." The band's image and sound were at the same time responsible for both their popularity with the public and their unpopularity with critics, with Melody Maker describing them as "a crude, bastardized assault on tasteful dance standards."
The No Limits album was even more successful than the first, selling in excess of 3 million copies. At the MIDEM
Midem
-MIDEM:Short for Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale, MIDEM is the world's largest music industry trade fair, which has been held annually at and around the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, since 1967...
convention, 2 Unlimited were presented with 80 platinum and gold awards from 26 different countries, as well as winning "World's Best-Selling Benelux Act" at the World Music Awards 1993
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...
.
Beyond Limits (1994)
The popularity of the group saw an unusual hybrid release of a CDiCDI
- Science and technology :* Capacitive deionization, a water desalination technology based on the use of electrical field effects* Carbonyldiimidazole, a peptide coupling agent...
/CD in 1994 called "Beyond Limits" (Phillips 819 1021), which preceded the Real Things album. The CDi part of the disc was an early attempt to capture live concert clips of Tribal Dance and No One, promotional videos of No Limit, Tribal Dance, Faces, Maximum Overdrive and Let The Beat Control Your Body as well as features on Anita and Ray. The CD portion of the disc was a mini Greatest Hits containing:
Get Ready For This,
Twilight Zone,
Workaholic,
The Magic Friend,
No Limit,
Tribal Dance,
Let The Beat Control Your Body,
The Real Thing
Real Things (1994–1995)
In May 1994, the duo's tenth single "The Real ThingThe Real Thing (2 Unlimited song)
"The Real Thing" is a song by 2 Unlimited, released as the first single from their third album Real Things. It peaked at 6 in the UK. The track is based around Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor and it was noted at the time that this marked a change of direction for the band as they had moved away...
" was released and it proved that their fans were still interested as they sent the single to no. 1 in the Netherlands and no. 6 in the UK. The title was aimed as a dig at the several other similar sounding eurodance acts who had appeared to copy the 2 Unlimited sound. Their third album, called Real Things, was instantly certified gold in the UK and 2 Unlimited became the first dance act to achieve two number one albums. Only two continental European acts have had more UK number one albums - Pavarotti and ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
. Real Things was their first album that PWL made no changes to, perhaps because by then rap in dance records had become more common and accepted. "No One
No-One
"No One" is a song by 2 Unlimited, released as the second single from their third album Real Things. It peaked at 17 in the UK. It marked a rapid departure from the previous hits in the way that it was a much lighter, breezier, pop-reggae track...
" surprised many fans by being a straight-forward pop record and was picked as the second single.
By the end of 1994 they had sold another 322,000 singles in the UK alone and they were still winning more awards than they had room for on their mantelpiece
Fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and can include elaborate designs extending to the ceiling...
, as they were presented with Smash Hits' "Best Dance Act" award for the second year running, and the Popprijs award for their services to Dutch music. They were also still performing to huge crowds at Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena is an indoor arena, at Wembley, in the London Borough of Brent. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium.-History:...
in London and to 450,000 people at the Parkpop Festival in the Netherlands. At the height of their career, Ray and Anita were thought to be performing around 200 shows a year.
In March 1995, "Here I Go" was another top 5 hit in their homeland but by charting at no. 22 it broke the duo's run of eleven consecutive UK top 20 hits. The fourth and final single was the ballad "Nothing Like the Rain
Nothing Like the Rain
"Nothing Like the Rain" is a song by 2 Unlimited, released as the fourth and final single from their album Real Things. The single, written by Phil Wilde, Michael Leahy and Peter Bauwens, was not released in the UK and was the only ballad the band released as a single.-Charts:-External links:: an...
" which was not quite as successful and did not even receive a UK release.
Whilst they were very popular all around the world, major success continued to elude 2 Unlimited in the United States. Three years after it was originally released, "Get Ready For This" started getting major radio support and charted at no. 83 on the Hot 100 in October 1994, eventually peaking at number 38. This helped first album Get Ready! make its way to the 500,000 mark, earning it a gold certificate despite never climbing higher than no. 197 on the chart. The track has become a firm favourite at arena-based sporting events and has featured on several Hollywood movie soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s such as Space Jam
Space Jam
Aside from Jordan, a number of NBA players and coaches appeared in the film. Larry Bird portrays a friend of Jordan who joins him for a game of golf. When the Monstars steal the NBA players' talent, they invade a game between the Phoenix Suns and the New York Knicks, causing the Knicks' Patrick...
, Flubber and Bring It On
Bring It On (film)
Bring It On is a 2000 teen comedy film about two competing high school cheerleading squads, starring Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford, and Gabrielle Union...
. It also featured famously in the Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
TV series episode where the group played an acrimonious game of Thanksgiving American Football.
Hits Unlimited (1995–1996)
In October 1995, 2 Unlimited released their first compilation album Hits UnlimitedHits Unlimited
Hits Unlimited was the fourth album from 2 Unlimited and the last to feature Ray Slijngaard and Anita Doth. It was a greatest hits package featuring 16 songs: 13 previous singles and 3 new ones...
, prompting rumours that they were about to split up. The single "Do What's Good For Me
Do What's Good For Me
"Do What's Good For Me" is the name of a single by Dutch dance act 2 Unlimited, taken from their fourth album Hits Unlimited. It was the only song from the album to chart in the UK, peaking at #16.It also reached #33 on the U.S...
" was another top 20 hit and their 27th appearance on Top Of The Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
. The song was also re-recorded as "Kids Like You And Me" to promote awareness about homeless youth in the Netherlands. Following the surprise belated success of "Get Ready For This" in the USA, the "best of" was heavily promoted there but only managed no. 107 on the 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...
, with the single reaching no. 33 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. The rumours continued when Pete Waterman announced that Ray and Anita had split up when in fact they hadn't, and Ray expressed his aspirations to be a record producer. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival
Viña del Mar International Song Festival
The Viña del Mar International Song Festival is a music festival held annually during February since 1960 in Viña del Mar, Chile. It is considered the most important musical event in Latin America....
(Spanish: Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar) in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, topping the bill alongside Ace of Base
Ace of Base
Ace of Base is a pop band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Malin "Linn" Berggren and Jenny Berggren...
. Despite their insistence that they were planning a world tour, in April 1996, shortly after the release of the single "Jump for Joy
Jump For Joy (2 Unlimited song)
"Jump For Joy" is a song by 2 Unlimited, released as the second single from their fourth album, Hits Unlimited. It was the second single from the band to not be released in the UK after the comparative failure of the first hit from the album Do What's Good For Me...
", both Ray and Anita announced that 2 Unlimited was over.
It later emerged that after having spent so much time together they were no longer getting on as well as they once had, and there was disagreement about the future sound of 2 Unlimited. They had asked for more creative input and they also felt that they were not getting a fair share of the huge amount of money being earned by the project. As no agreement was reached, they each went their separate ways before a final single ("Spread Your Love
Spread Your Love (2 Unlimited song)
"Spread Your Love" is a song by 2 Unlimited, their final single to feature Ray and Anita and the third to be taken from their album Hits Unlimited. It was only released in a few European territories and a studio video was not filmed for the track. Instead, footage of live performances fused with...
") was released in June 1996. Jean-Paul DeCoster went on to sue Anita for breaking her contract, but he lost the case as it was considered that he had not paid Anita enough and was ordered to give her the same amount of money he had demanded of her.
Anita went on to DJ for Dutch radio station Radio 538
Radio 538
Radio 538 is a Dutch commercial radio station aimed at young people. It has a broad format which includes Top 40, dance, R&B and recent hits...
, recorded a single with reggae artist Mad Cobra
Mad Cobra
Ewart Everton Brown , better known by his stage name of Mad Cobra or simply Cobra is a Jamaican reggae musician.-Biography:...
and in 2000 released a solo album called Reality. Ray created his own label called X-Ray Records, which scored a Top 10 hit in the Netherlands with T.O.F.'s "Funk It Up". He also released two solo singles in 1997 which failed to chart but found more success in 1999 with the group V.I.P. Allstars. Ray now lives in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
with his wife and his son Rayvano, and Anita continues to tour clubs as part of the group Divas of Dance
Divas of Dance
Divas of Dance is a dance act made up of Anita Doth , Linda Estelle and Desiree "Des'Ray" Manders .-Formation:...
. An Internet petition to reunite Ray, Anita, Jean-Paul and Phil in 2005 was unsuccessful.
II (1998–1999)
As they still owned the rights to the name "2 Unlimited", DeCoster and Wilde recruited two new (again Dutch) singers, Romy van Ooijen (b. 18 November 1971) and Marjon van Iwaarden (b. 18 June 1974), in order to capitalise on previous success. "Wanna Get UpWanna Get Up
"Wanna Get Up" is a song by 2 Unlimited, which was their first single to feature Romy van Oojen and Marjon van Iwaarden and the first to be taken from the act's fourth album II. It was the only single from the album to be given full release in the UK, where it charted at 38.The single was...
" did well in the Netherlands, reaching no. 10 and the single, which was remixed by Sash!
Sash!
SASH! is a German DJ / producer team, fronted by Sascha Lappessen , who works in the recording studio with Ralf Kappmeier and Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke. They have sold over 18 million albums worldwide and earned more than 65 Gold and Platinum awards.-History:Sascha Lappessen, Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke,...
for UK release, reached number 38.
The album II
II (2 Unlimited album)
II was the fourth and final non-compilation album for Dutch eurodance act 2 Unlimited. It was the only album to feature Romy and Marion as vocalists and was only released in certain European territories....
, was released in April 1998. It was not as successful as previous studio albums, nor were the subsequent singles "Edge Of Heaven" and "Never Surrender". In 1999, both Romy and Marjon left 2 Unlimited.
Remixes (2000–2006)
In 2000, Byte Records released the remix singles "No Limit (Millennium Remixes)" and "Twilight Zone (Millennium Remixes)". A remix album was to be released that year but some master tapes were stolen from Byte, and taken to Russia where they were released as a bootleg compilation. Also in this year, 2 Unlimited made their first appearance on the eurodance compilation DancemaniaDancemania
Dancemania is a series of remix compilation albums by i-DANCE. The series deals primarily with dance music, especially eurodance. Despite its tracks have been made by various musicians from all over the world mainly from the European continent, the albums have been released exclusively in Japan.The...
series, specifically its Speed
Dancemania Speed
Dancemania Speed is a sub-series of Toshiba EMI's Dancemania compilation series. This series features faster, further remixed versions of recordings from previously released Dancemania albums or faster remixed covers of various famous songs...
sub-series, with their song "Twilight Zone"'s "B4 Za Beat Mix".
In 2001, Byte finally released it "Greatest Hits Remixes
Greatest Hits Remixes
Greatest Hits Remixes was a remix album by 2 Unlimited that was released in Japan in 2001. It is the only remix album by the band to feature a remix of a non-single: Delight from 1992's Get Ready!.-Track listing:# No Limit...
" featuring many new remixes. Some of the remixes from the stolen master tapes released in Russia were not included. The album was released solely in Japan.
In 2002, Trance Remixes: Special Edition
Trance Remixes (Special Edition)
Trance Remixes was a remix album by 2 Unlimited that was released in Japan in 2003.-Track listing:1 No Limit 2 Twilight Zone 3 Tribal Dance...
was released in Japan featuring many more new remixes not included in the previous compilation.
In recent years, many "best of" compilations have been released in various territories, often with new remixes. Most notably, ZYX Records in 2003 released "No Limit 2.3", and it was a moderate hit, reaching no. 41 in the German singles chart. It was promoted by a new duo, Débora Remagen and James Giscombe they were being lined up as a 2 Unlimited "version 3". They still perform, mainly in Eastern Europe, although are not allowed to use their own voices. This due to copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
issues.
A new CD and DVD set containing all the duo's video-clips called The Complete History
The Complete History (2 Unlimited album)
The Complete History was an album released by 2 Unlimited in 2004. This was released in two formats: as a single CD edition, and as a CD/DVD packaged in a DVD case...
was released in 2004 along with a single, "Tribal Dance 2.4" (originally released on 12" vinyl in November 2003 as Tribal Dance 2.3). 2005 saw the release of "The Refreshed Album" in Mexico featuring stunning artwork, but the same remixes found on previous remix albums. In 2006, the DVD was re-packaged with a different CD Greatest Remix Hits
Greatest Remix Hits
Greatest Remix Hits is a remix album by Dutch dance act 2 Unlimited, released in 2006. It includes remixes of their most successful singles and a DVD featuring their music videos .This compilation has been re-released in several countries around the world since the Australian release...
, which was released in Australia. The following years would see this package re-released in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Denmark, Sweden, Asia and South Africa.
Reunions (2009–present)
Having both continued to perform their old hits separately in nightclubs and university student unions around the world, the original performers Ray and Anita reunited on 11 April 2009, to perform together for the first time in 13 years at the "I Love The 90s" concert in HasseltHasselt
Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital of the Flemish province of Limburg...
, Belgium. According to a radio interview with Ray, Jean-Paul DeCoster did not give permission for the duo to perform under the name 2 Unlimited; however Phil Wilde attended the gig and provided help with preparing backing tracks.
On 30 April, Ray and Anita performed five songs at the Radio 538
Radio 538
Radio 538 is a Dutch commercial radio station aimed at young people. It has a broad format which includes Top 40, dance, R&B and recent hits...
Queen's Day concert at Museumplein in Amsterdam. On 8 June, they were awarded "Most Popular Act of the 1990s", based on number of weeks in the Dutch Top 40, and on 25 September, they performed as a support act for Milk Inc at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp.
During an interview on Dutch television in 2009, both Ray and Anita admitted they had a relationship with each other during the era of 2 Unlimited.
On 29 December, it was announced that the duo would release a new single in 2010 called "In Da Name Of Love", as Ray & Anita
Ray & Anita
Ray & Anita is a Dutch Eurodance duo formed in 2009, comprising rapper Ray Slijngaard and singer Anita Doth. They both rose to fame in the early 1990s fronting the act 2 Unlimited, which was the creation of Belgian producers Jean-Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde...
. It was released as a CD single in the Netherlands through Spinnin' Records on 22 January 2010. It has so far reached number 4 on the official singles sales chart.
In addition, Romy and Marjon, the singers of the second incarnation of the band, will also release a new single at around the same time called "" Wonder why" under the guise of "2".
On 11 January, it was announced that Anita has breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. She is currently undergoing treatment but has decided to continue working as much as possible.
On 13 March 2010 2 Unlimited was featured on MTV Russia
MTV Russia
MTV Russia is a Russian language free-to-air 24 hour entertainment and music service seen in 22 million households in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Omsk, Voronezh, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg, among other cities.-History:...
's Superdiscoteka 90s (Супердискотека 90-х) nostalgia open-air live show. All former members appeared. They performed No Limit and Tribal Dance.
On 30 April 2010, a new single was presented during the Dutch Queensday called "Still Unlimited" (still under Ray & Anita
Ray & Anita
Ray & Anita is a Dutch Eurodance duo formed in 2009, comprising rapper Ray Slijngaard and singer Anita Doth. They both rose to fame in the early 1990s fronting the act 2 Unlimited, which was the creation of Belgian producers Jean-Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde...
)
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDL |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
AUT |
GER Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
SWE Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
SWI Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
US 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... |
||||
| Get Ready Get Ready Get Ready may refer to:* "Get Ready" , a song by The Temptations, also covered by Rare Earth* "Get Ready", a song by Bubbel G* "Get Ready", a song by Mase from Double Up* "Get Ready", a song by Hed PE... |
|
12 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | 27 | 37 | 197 |
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : Gold |
|
| No Limits |
|
1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | — | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — |
|
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| Real Things |
|
1 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — |
|
|
| II II (2 Unlimited album) II was the fourth and final non-compilation album for Dutch eurodance act 2 Unlimited. It was the only album to feature Romy and Marion as vocalists and was only released in certain European territories.... |
|
55 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDL |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
AUT |
GER Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
SWE Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
SWI Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
US 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... |
||||
| Hits Unlimited Hits Unlimited Hits Unlimited was the fourth album from 2 Unlimited and the last to feature Ray Slijngaard and Anita Doth. It was a greatest hits package featuring 16 songs: 13 previous singles and 3 new ones... |
|
4 | — | — | — | 8 | 22 | — | — | 27 | 107 | ||
| The Complete History The Complete History (2 Unlimited album) The Complete History was an album released by 2 Unlimited in 2004. This was released in two formats: as a single CD edition, and as a CD/DVD packaged in a DVD case... |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDL Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
AUT Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
FRA Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
GER Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
SWE Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
SWI Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
US 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... |
||||
| "Get Ready For This Get Ready for This "Get Ready for This" was later remixed and re-released for 2 Unlimited's compilation album Greatest Hits Remixes.-Dancemania:The song has appeared on the eurodance compilation Dancemania series albums, including Dancemania Super Techno II , Dancemania Speed 6 and Dancemania Super Techno Best... " |
1991 | 10 | 2 | — | — | — | 50 | — | 36 | — | 2 | 38 | Get Ready! Get Ready! Get Ready! was the first album released by 2 Unlimited. The album reached #17 in the Netherlands and #37 in the UK. Despite the moderate chart success, 2 Unlimited was one of the few Dutch bands which set out to conquer the world and even gained access to the difficult American market... |
|
| "Twilight Zone Twilight Zone (2 Unlimited song) "Twilight Zone" is a 1992 single released by the Belgian-Dutch Eurodance group 2 Unlimited. It reached #2 in the UK and #5 on the U.S. Dance chart, thus becoming their biggest hit on that chart. The UK release of the single was the first 2 Unlimited single in that country to include the vocals by... " |
1992 | 1 | 11 | 10 | — | 20 | — | — | 9 | 15 | 2 | 49 | ||
| "Workaholic Workaholic (song) "Workaholic" was the third single released by Dutch act 2 Unlimited from their album Get Ready!. The song differed from the album version by virtue of it not being an instrumental track. It was a Top 30 U.S... " |
6 | 35 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 24 | — | 4 | ||||
| "The Magic Friend The Magic Friend "The Magic Friend" was the fourth and last single released by Dutch group 2 Unlimited from their debut album Get Ready!.-Track listings:CD maxi# "The Magic Friend" # "The Magic Friend"... " |
5 | 16 | 26 | — | 17 | — | — | 27 | — | 11 | ||||
| "No Limit" | 1993 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 40 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
|
No Limits | |
| "Tribal Dance Tribal Dance "Tribal Dance" was the second single to be released by the band 2 Unlimited from their second album No Limits.The song was released in the UK in May 1993 and peaked at #4 for 2 weeks and spent a total of 11 weeks in the UK Singles Chart.... " |
2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 38 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
|
|||
| "Faces Faces (2 Unlimited song) "Faces" is a single released by Dutch dance act 2 Unlimited, released in 1993. The single was the third to be released from their second album No Limits and reached #8 on the UK charts... " |
2 | — | 10 | 16 | 8 | — | — | 11 | 19 | 8 | ||||
| "Maximum Overdrive Maximum Overdrive (song) "Maximum Overdrive" was the fourth single taken from the 2 Unlimited album No Limits. The single reached #15 in the UK.-Track listings:-Charts:... " |
5 | 32 | 13 | 35 | 16 | — | — | 18 | 23 | 15 | ||||
| "Let the Beat Control Your Body Let The Beat Control Your Body "Let the Beat Control Your Body" is the fifth and final single taken from Dutch group 2 Unlimited's second album No Limits.The single reached #6 in the UK and was markedly different from the album version, which in no doubt helped its success. The album version was largely instrumental and... " |
1994 | 2 | 39 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 29 | — | 11 | 11 | 6 | |||
| "The Real Thing The Real Thing (2 Unlimited song) "The Real Thing" is a song by 2 Unlimited, released as the first single from their third album Real Things. It peaked at 6 in the UK. The track is based around Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor and it was noted at the time that this marked a change of direction for the band as they had moved away... " |
1 | 39 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... : Gold |
Real Things | ||
| "No One No-One "No One" is a song by 2 Unlimited, released as the second single from their third album Real Things. It peaked at 17 in the UK. It marked a rapid departure from the previous hits in the way that it was a much lighter, breezier, pop-reggae track... " |
2 | — | 14 | 19 | 18 | — | — | 15 | 15 | 17 | ||||
| "Here I Go" | 1995 | 5 | — | 17 | 25 | 22 | — | — | 20 | 38 | 22 | |||
| "Nothing Like the Rain Nothing Like the Rain "Nothing Like the Rain" is a song by 2 Unlimited, released as the fourth and final single from their album Real Things. The single, written by Phil Wilde, Michael Leahy and Peter Bauwens, was not released in the UK and was the only ballad the band released as a single.-Charts:-External links:: an... " |
6 | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Do What's Good For Me Do What's Good For Me "Do What's Good For Me" is the name of a single by Dutch dance act 2 Unlimited, taken from their fourth album Hits Unlimited. It was the only song from the album to chart in the UK, peaking at #16.It also reached #33 on the U.S... " |
13 | — | 29 | — | 50 | — | — | 35 | 41 | 16 | — | Hits Unlimited Hits Unlimited Hits Unlimited was the fourth album from 2 Unlimited and the last to feature Ray Slijngaard and Anita Doth. It was a greatest hits package featuring 16 songs: 13 previous singles and 3 new ones... |
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| "Jump for Joy Jump For Joy (2 Unlimited song) "Jump For Joy" is a song by 2 Unlimited, released as the second single from their fourth album, Hits Unlimited. It was the second single from the band to not be released in the UK after the comparative failure of the first hit from the album Do What's Good For Me... " |
1996 | 7 | — | 24 | — | 39 | — | — | 32 | — | — | |||
| "Spread Your Love Spread Your Love (2 Unlimited song) "Spread Your Love" is a song by 2 Unlimited, their final single to feature Ray and Anita and the third to be taken from their album Hits Unlimited. It was only released in a few European territories and a studio video was not filmed for the track. Instead, footage of live performances fused with... " |
17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 45 | — | — | ||||
| "Wanna Get Up Wanna Get Up "Wanna Get Up" is a song by 2 Unlimited, which was their first single to feature Romy van Oojen and Marjon van Iwaarden and the first to be taken from the act's fourth album II. It was the only single from the album to be given full release in the UK, where it charted at 38.The single was... " |
1998 | 10 | — | — | 70 | 88 | — | — | 58 | — | 38 | II II (2 Unlimited album) II was the fourth and final non-compilation album for Dutch eurodance act 2 Unlimited. It was the only album to feature Romy and Marion as vocalists and was only released in certain European territories.... |
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| "Edge Of Heaven" | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Never Surrender" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "No Limit 2.3" | 2003 | — | — | — | — | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | The Complete History The Complete History (2 Unlimited album) The Complete History was an album released by 2 Unlimited in 2004. This was released in two formats: as a single CD edition, and as a CD/DVD packaged in a DVD case... |
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| "Tribal Dance 2.4" | 2004 | — | — | 58 | — | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Remix Albums
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1993 | Power Tracks Power Tracks -Tracklisting:*01. Faces *02. Get Ready For This *03. Juliana's Global Dance Network Mix*04. Mysterious*05. No Limit *06. R.U.O.K.*07. The Magic Friend *08. The Power Age... |
| 2001 | Greatest Hits Remixes Greatest Hits Remixes Greatest Hits Remixes was a remix album by 2 Unlimited that was released in Japan in 2001. It is the only remix album by the band to feature a remix of a non-single: Delight from 1992's Get Ready!.-Track listing:# No Limit... |
| 2003 | Trance Remixes (Special Edition) Trance Remixes (Special Edition) Trance Remixes was a remix album by 2 Unlimited that was released in Japan in 2003.-Track listing:1 No Limit 2 Twilight Zone 3 Tribal Dance... |
| 2006 | Greatest Remix Hits Greatest Remix Hits Greatest Remix Hits is a remix album by Dutch dance act 2 Unlimited, released in 2006. It includes remixes of their most successful singles and a DVD featuring their music videos .This compilation has been re-released in several countries around the world since the Australian release... |
External links
- Ray & Anita - Official
- 2 unlimited - The Dutch Phenomenon
- Biography from The Eurodance Encyclopædia
- http://www.discogs.com/artist/2+Unlimited2 Unlimited on DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
] - http://music.hyperreal.org/library/publicity/2_unlimited/1995_bio2 Unlimited on HyperrealHyperrealHyperreal may refer to:* Hyperreal numbers, an extension of the real numbers in mathematics that are used in non-standard analysis* Hyperreality, a term used in semiotics and postmodern philosophy* Hyperrealism, a school of painting...
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