Started out in the nineties under the name "Vibes Ahead Alliance"
as an epigone of the "Jazz-dance"-genre (Gilles Peterson, Young Disciples,
US3, Jamiroquay, Guru ...). The core Wizards are Wim Tops and Peter Revalk, who
used to play in obscure small disco-funk bands, engaging in house, techno and
raggamuffin experiments. In 1992 a jazzy-song demo was received well by their
record company Creastars Europe, who immediately decided to invest in a recording
studio for Tops and Revalk. Their debut is the October '92 EP "The Bone", which
has become a classic since. The instrumental title track was a club hit in the
Benelux and Great Britain, and appeared on compilation albums in many European
countries, including "Totally Wired 10" of the London record label Acid Jazz.
Due to copyright reasons, the band had to change it's name in '93. The backbone
of the band remains the same, but is extended with a few extra men (who had joined
the band for the live gigs as the Vibes Ahead Allstars).
Some time after that, they debut as the Wizards of Ooze with the album "The
Dipster". The record turns out to be more varied than the genre, as it includes
soul, fusion, and psychedelica, all backed up by monumental Moog and Hammond organs.
Other trademarks of their music include the high-pitched voices of the two front-men,
the unpredictable changes of pitch and tempo and moronic lyrics, which they publish
as "A horse, a bucket and a spoon". Some examples :
Fuzzball :
Fuzzball, You're my Taj Mahal,
'cos you got it all, Fuzzball
Fuzzball, You're my baby doll,
And now I've got it all, Fuzzball
Big Mama : Big Fat Mama, Big fat brother,
Big fat daddy, And they all love each other
Big mama don't need me, Big mama is fine,
She's a big killer lady, with a big black behind
Big love allmighty, And she knows what it is,
I would die, for a Big Mama kiss
Zambeezy :
The dipster is back in full zambeezy outfit
She dipped and dived and has arrived
Superzam, hyperbam the main beezy operator
And together we'll be zambofied
Hail zambeezy queen of the dipsters mother of zambo
Thy mud will be molded and thy dip will be mine
And forever we'll dip and dive
"Trippin'" and "Fuzzball" become radio-hits in 1994 and
the following year they tour all over Europe. In 1996, they release their second
album "Bambee!".
The album is even more varied than the first one and includes guest-vocalist
Marie Daulne & Sabine Kabongo (of Zap Mama, for
which band members Luk Michiels and Bruno Meeus had contributed to their album
"Seven"). The album is less also less instrumental than the first one.
Some reviews : "What to expect : take the best fusion group of all times
(Chick Corea's Return to Forever), the funk of James Brown, synthesizer-fun à
la Tangerine Dream and even a touch of hardrock, and you'll be close. This is
Flemish Zappa : cool, nervous, funny, sad, difficult, easy ... in short, not a
record for those who like traditional songs and probably as uncommercial as the
plague."
Or : "More than ever, the phenomenal "Bambee!" proves that versatility
comes natural to the two-headed Wizards brain and it's definitely more original
and creative than its predecessor "The Dipster". The dark melancholic pearl "Dusty
Pieces", the first single of the album, floats on a heavy, lingering beat and
takes away the unsuspecting listener's breath with a surprise offensive of violins
that slash like a knife. In the sparkling, wayward "Patrice" Zap Mama leadsinger
Marie Daulne reaches true vocal depths. Her band co-member Sabine Kabongo's priceless
vocal cords are supreme in the sentimental ballad "Bright Day" and Dutch
singer Trijntje Oosterhuis is "vitality incarnate" on the partyfunk
track "Hifi". The Wizards also flirt with hardrock and metal on the "Buttgrabba"
opening track. And the 'reinforced concrete' grooves of the "Sunnycruisers" and
"Phaser" tracks really hit your ears."
In 1997 they go on an extended tour again. In 1998 they are recording again
and appear occasionally on the summer festivals (e.g. Jazz Bilzen Revival).
In 1999 they released a new single "Big
Red Balloon". In September of that same year, the third album "Almost
... Bikini" got put out. Is is their most "poppy" album, filled
with delightful melodies and funny solo's, cheezy lyrics and wonderful outbursts.
On the last days of 2000, sad news arrived: Wizards of Ooze are splitting.
The band will do a club-tour in March, April and May of 2001, but then will call
it a day and stop existing ...
"We had already made the decision a long time ago that when the third
CD wouldn't put us in a more comfortable position we would stop. "Almost
... Bikini" hasn't reached the sales we hoped for, and the German company
we were in business with has gone broke." said Wim Tops.
It's already clear that the end of the Wizard of Ooze will not necessarily mean
that the cooperation between the tandem Peter Revalk-Wim Tops will end, as they
are already plotting future plans in their home-studio "Weird shit again",
said Tops about this.
The farewell club-tour starts on March 3 in Merelbeke, then travels to Kortrijk
(De Kreun, April 12), Turnhout (Wollewei, April 19), Ieper (JOC, April 21), Leuven
(Stuc, April 25), Gent (Vooruit-café, April 26), Hasselt (Muziek-o-droom,
April 27), Brussel (AB-club on May 3rd) and finally Antwerp (Monty, May 6th).
Band members (op "The Dipster") :
- Wim Tops : Fender Rhodes, clavinet, Moog, vocals
- Peter Revalk : Hammond, guitar, Wurlitzer, synths, vocals
- Hugo Bogaerts : saxophones, flute
- Luk Van Tilborgh : Trumpet, trombones, vibes
- Bruno Meeus : drums
- Luk Michiels : bass, double bass
Buy CD's of this band at
Albums (Wizards of Ooze) :
- Big mama (Maxi, 1993)
- Gravitude (Maxi, 1994)
- The Dipster (CD or 2LP, Backbone Records, 1994)
- Bambee (CD, Backbone Records, 1996)
- Almost ... Bikini (CD, Backbone Records / CNR, 1999) Albums (Vibes Ahead Alliance) :
- The Bone (Maxi - EMI, 1992)
- Psychovibes (Maxi - Vba, 1993)
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