2 UNLIMITED

Belgo-Dutch "bubblegumhouse" sensational hitmachine of the nineties.

Formed by Belgian producers Jean-Paul De Coster and Phil Wilde, together with the Amsterdam-based "faces" of the group Anita Doth and Ray Slijngaard. The Belgians are the writers and producers behind the scenes, the Dutch are the eye-catchers to the public (but they write their own raps).

As it is stated in Oor's Popmusicencyclopedia : "The catchy dance-music of 2 Unlimited is characterized by a high degree of childfriendlyness and simple melodies that hook themselves in your brain. The group has about as big a hit-potential as ABBA in it's glory days. Artistically very flimsy and without aspirations, but everything they touch changes into gold, platinum or more. ... From Australia to Argentina and from the pole to Cape Horn everybody falls for these classic pop-songs in a techno coat. ...
Many artists mirror themselves to the Dutch example : Culture Beat, Cappela, Maxxx, Magic Affair, 2 brothers on the 4th floor, La Bouche. But the group also has it's ancestors : Technotronic and Snap!."

The hits seem to keep on comin', although the music does only evolve very slightly. Wilde and De Coster didn't agree in an interview with Knack Magazine in 1994 : "Three years ago we were the first to pick things from the underground and managed to translate them to a broad audience. And ever since we were one step ahead of the competition if it comes to include new trends in techno. ... Of course we take into account what's popular in the clubs when we produce a new record. We never denied we've learned a lot from certain things which we analyzed very thoroughly. I've always had a lot of respect for Stock, Aitken and Waterman ... Will our music stand the test of time? If you listen to tunes that survive, you'll see these numbers have a solid song underneath the sound of the day. 2 Unlimited and other dance acts lack that. Still there are some tracks - Pump up the jam, Rhythm is a dancer and, maybe, No Limit, that might survive. They play them at wedding parties nowadays, if that can be an indication."

In 1995, Anita Doth leaves the group and a short while afterwards also Ray Slijngaard seems to grow tired of the success. Phil & Jean-Paul start looking for new faces to continue the 2 Unlimited success-story. "They were only 19 when they joined the band," said Phil DeWilde in Het Nieuwsblad in 1998, "and it's very difficult to stay unmoved having a mega-success at that age. Everywhere they went, they were 'great' and 'fantastic'. But back in the recording studio, they dìd hear a critical note, from us. They couldn't cope with that criticism. They wanted to go solo. Well, it ain't easy to keep both feet on the ground.".

1998 finally sees the group resurfacing. Wilde & Decoster have found two new Dutch faces for the group in an audition : Romy & Marion.
A single is released called "Wanna get up".
The two producers are still very ambitious : "We want to prove we can provide continuity. That 2 Unlimited can become as big as it was before. We have written history by staying 5 weeks at the n° 1 spot in England. We even have our own page in the Encarta Encyclopedia".
The secret of their success : "Hi-energy, power. You hàve to get on the dancefloor. Although nowadays we also take the risk of heading in different directions. Wanna Get Up for example is a pop song that could also be played on guitar or piano. That would've been impossible a few years ago."
At the end of April, the album "II" is released (announcing the second life of 2 Unlimited). The second single of the album is "The edge of heaven".

Band members :
- Phil (de)Wilde
- Jean-Paul De Coster
- Anita Doth / Ray Slijngaard (eerste generatie)
- Romy Van Ooyen / Marion van Iwaarden.

Buy CD's of this band at

Albums :
- Get ready! (Byte - 1992)
- No Limits (Byte - 1993)
- Real Things (Byte - 1994) (also on CDi)
- II (Byte - 1998)
Compilatie :
- Hits Unlimited (Byte - 1995)

Websites :
- Byte-records, their record company.
- 2 Unlimited page by CJ Pelupessy

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