The Vengaboys, sometimes written "Venga Boys", are Kim, Denise, Yorick and Donny, a eurodance group from the Netherlands, who incorporated a bubblegum sound into many of their songs. Although they are best described as being europop or eurodance, we have included the Vengaboys at Bubblegum Dancer because much of their music will appeal to bubblegum dance fans. Formed in 1992, the Vengaboys came to prominence in 1997, and were produced by Wessel van Diepen & Dennis van den Driesschen.

Vengaboys are well-known throughout the world, and throughout the 90s their music was played non-stop at parties and on the radio. 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". They released two albums, "The Party Album!" (1998), and "The Platinum Album" (2000), as well as Greatest Hits compilations and "The Remix Album" (1999).

The current members of Vengaboys are: Kim Sasabone, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Yorick Bakker, and Donny Latupeirissa.

Brief Biography
The Vengaboys were formed from DJ Danski and DJ Delmondo, Dutch, who toured Spain and Ibiza in a bus between 1992 and 1997, bringing "provocative grooves and sexy lyrics" to beaches for impromptu and illegal dance and beach parties. During 1995-96, four dancers/singers (Roy, Denice, Kim and Robin) - who had been regular guests at the beach parties - were added and the enlarged troupe toured beaches throughout Europe. Initially the new foursome worked as dancers to 'spice up' the DJ sets.

The act's first single "Up & Down" was released in March 1997 in selected countries (Germany, France, Italy, Scandinavia and Israel), becoming a huge success in Europe (e.g. making the top 5 in The Netherlands, Denmark, France and Spain), before making its way over to America. The UK really caught the 'Venga bug', with combined sales of the act's first 4 singles - "Boom Boom Boom Boom" (reached #1); "We're Going To Ibiza" (#1); "Up & Down" (#3) and "We Like To Party" making nearly 2 Million. "We Like to Party!" is used in a Six Flags ad campaign featuring an old man dancing to the tune and picking up passengers. With global sales of over 10 Million singles, and 5 Million copies of their first album, Vengaboys have proved to be the most commercially successful Dutch group in history.

One of the band's particularity was that they were always wearing a special outfit. The front lady Kim Sasabone (April 1st 1974 from Salvador) always appeared wearing a sexy camouflage outfit. Roy Olivero-Den Burger (aka Roy Darman, born 31 July 1975, coming from Trinidad), then later his replacement Donny Latupeirissa, were dressed as a cowboy. Denise Van Rijswijk (born October 20th 1978, dancer from the Netherlands) wore a disco outfit. Robin Pors (born January 1st 1978) then Yorick Bakker (born July 10th 1976) played the role of a sailor.

Members (Past & Present)
Below is a list of members of the Vengaboys, past and present.

• Kim Sasabone (1997-Present)
• Denise Post-Van Rijswijk (1997-Present)
• Yorick Bakker (Sailor outfit) (1999-Present)
• Donny Latupeirissa (2007-Present)
  
  
• Robin Pors (Sailor outfit) (1997-1999)
• Mojarra Liallemann (founder and still alive)
• Roy Darman (Cowboy outfit) (1997-2004)
• Winand Slingenberg (Bee outfit) (1997-Present)
• 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)
• Cheekah (the character from the song "Cheeka-Bow-Bow (That Computer Song)")

Continued Success
Never critically acclaimed, the group continued making records that were distinctly eurodance (the music video of "Kiss" even features one of the dancers from ParaParaAllstars performing a Para Para dance), 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 four top 10 entries, including two number-one hits ("Boom Boom Boom Boom" and "We're Going to Ibiza").

The group's success continued throughout the beginning of the 21st century, with the "The Platinum Album " (their second album release) selling over 1,000,000 copies, spawning three big hits "Kiss (When the Sun...)", "Shala Lala" and "Uncle John From Jamaica") and two 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 ten top 10 hits, the group partly disbanded and went back to working on the club scene.

Name Meaning
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. So yes, Vengaboys actually means "Comeboys."

Aliases
Vengaboys has a number of aliases on the music scene, many of which are experiments set up by the producers. They include:

• Nakatomi (set up before the Vengaboys)
• Danski & DJ Delmundo
• E-Motion
• Serpent

2007 Return
In 2007 the Vengaboys returned to the club scene, performing at a number of clubs around Europe. They have most recently been touring university student union clubs in the UK. It has been rumoured that they will be releasing a new single called "Partylife" later on in 2008, but this has not been officially confirmed.

Discography
Below is the complete discography of the Vengaboys.

ALBUMS:

THE PARTY ALBUM! (1998)

Note: There was many versions of The Party Album! released. The following, originally released on Cassette in 1998, is the most basic version of the album. We Like To Party! (The Vengabus) (3:42) Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! (3:22) Up And Down (3:59) Ho Ho Vengaboys! (3:41) To Brazil (3:07) We're Going To Ibiza (3:38) Vengababes From Outer Space (3:26) Superfly Slick (5:21) Movin' Around (3:48) The Vengabeat (4:09) You And Me (5:24) Paradise... (7:07)

UP & DOWN - THE PARTY ALBUM! (1998)

Note: Two versions of this album was released, the first in 1998 under the label Urban, and the second (shown below) under the new label Breakin' Records (NL). We Like To Party! (3:41) Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom! (3:21) Ho Ho Vengaboys! (3:40) Up & Down (4:02) We're Going To Ibiza (3:08) Parada De Tettas (4:03) To Brazi! (Medium Radio) (3:06) Movin' Around (3:47) Overwhelm Yourself (4:26) You And Me (5:23) The Vengabeat (4:08) Paradise... (7:05) Superfly Slick Dick (5:20) All Night Passion (3:41) 24 Hours (6:39) To The Rhythm (6:12)

UP & DOWN - THE PARTY ALBUM! (1998)

Note: This rare version of The Party Album contains 7 remotely unknown songs, which were previously unreleased. To this day the songs remain quite unknown and rare. Up & Down (More Airplay) (3:58) To Brazil (Medium Radio) (3:20) Parada De Tettas (4:02) 24 Hours (6:39) We Like To Party! (4:04) Funky Speed (4:05) Cookies (4:50) I Like The Music Pumpin' (7:00) Get Down! (5:30) I Love What Y'r Doing To Me (4:09) You And Me (5:25) All Night Passion (3:41) Better World (5:00) PDT RMX (3:59)

GREATEST HITS (PART 1) (1998)

Note: This release is practically identical to "Up & Down - The Party Album!" (see above). Part 2 of this "series" was never released. We Like To Party! (3:41) Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! (3:21) Ho Ho Vengaboys! (3:40) Up & Down (4:02) We're Going To Ibiza (Album Version) (3:08) Parada De Tettas (4:03) To Brazil! (Medium Radio) (3:06) Movin' Around (3:47) Overwhelm Yourself (4:26) You And Me (5:23) The Vengabeat (4:08) Paradise... (7:05) Superfly Slick Dick (5:20) All Night Passion (3:41) 24 Hours (6:39) To The Rhythm (6:12)

THE PARTY ALBUM! (1999)

Note: In 1999 the album was re-released with extra bonus features, such as remixes and music videos. The following edition was released on 13 Apr 1999, and contains two bonus remixes. We Like To Party! (The Vengabus) (3:42) Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! (3:22) Up And Down (3:59) Ho Ho Vengaboys! (3:41) To Brazil (3:07) We're Going To Ibiza (3:38) Vengababes From Outer Space (3:26) Superfly Slick (5:21) Movin' Around (3:48) The Vengabeat (4:09) You And Me (5:24) Paradise... (7:07) We Like To Party (Extended) (5:48) Up And Down (Extended) (5:24)

THE PARTY ALBUM! (1999)

Note: This version of the album features two discs, one with the music album, and the other with 5 bonus music videos. We Like To Party! (3:41) Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! (3:22) Ho Ho Vengaboys! (3:40) Up & Down (4:03) We're Going To Ibiza (3:09) Parada De Tettas (4:03) To Brazil! (Medium Radio) (3:07) Movin' Around (3:48) Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! (Video) Up & Down (Video) We Like To Party! (Video) To Brazil! (Video) Parada De Tettas (Video) Overwhelm Yourself (4:26) You And Me (5:24) The Vengabeat (4:09) Paradise... (7:06) Superfly Slick Dick (5:20) All Night Passion (3:42) 24 Hours (6:39) To The Rhythm (6:14)

THE REMIX ALBUM! (1999)

Note: The Remix Album! contains 15 popular remixes from the CDMs of previously released songs. We're Going To Ibiza! (Hitclub Airplay) (3:27) We Like To Party! (More Airplay) (5:49) Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! (XXL Version) (5:22) Up & Down (Video Mix) (3:39) Ho Ho Vengaboys (XXL Version) (5:14) To Brazil! (XXL) (4:31) Vengababes From Outer Space (3:26) We're Going To Ibiza! (Hit Radio Mix) (3:39) Parada De Tettas (Radio XL) (5:31) Vengaboys Megamix '99 (Edit) (5:09) We Like To Party! (Jason Nevins Remix) (6:59) Up And Down (Airplay XXL) (5:53) We're Going To Ibiza! (Hitclub Extended Mix) (5:07) We Like To Party! (DJ Vanhaze Hitmix) (7:03) Vengaboys Megamix '99 (Full Length Version) (7:12)

THE PLATINUM ALBUM (2000)

Note: Released in 2000, the album contains 10 tracks and two bonus videos. There was also a basic release of the album, without the music videos. Shala Lala (3:35) 24/7 In My 911 (3:11) Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine) (3:30) Uncle John From Jamaica (3:08) Cheekah Bow Bow (That Computer Song) (3:02) 48 Hours (4:20) Your Place Or Mine? (4:07) Skinnydippin' (3:30) Forever As One (3:30) Opus 3 D# (7:13) Video1 Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine) - The Making Of Video2 Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine) - Video

SINGLES:

Click here for more details on track listings.

• Parade des Tettas (1997)
• Brazil (1998)
• Up & Down (1998)
• We Like to Party (1998)
• Boom Boom Boom Boom (1998)
• We're Going to Ibiza (1999)
• Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine) (1999)
• Shalala Lala (2000)
• Uncle John from Jamaica (2000)
• Megamix (2000)
• Cheekah Bow Bow (That Computer Song) (2000)
• Forever as One (2001)
• Partylife (Rumoured for 2008)
• Take Me To The City (written for Charlie's Angels soundtrack)

Press Attention
The Vengaboys have found many ways to draw the attention of the press. During a concert in Barcelona, they threw $10,000 in cash into the audience, with the motto "Music for the people, money for the people". As a promotion for their 1999 single "Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine)" they set up the record for the world's Longest Kiss. They have also been arrested numerous times, most notably at the airport due to the dangerous looking "bullet-belt' singer Kim usually wore.

During an autograph session in a warehouse in Tokyo, an immense amount of fans literally tore down the store, and so the signing had to be stopped. In Bombay, they only just survived a plane crash, and the group made headline news when they refused the Dutch Export Prize, saying that they only accepted prizes awarded from the public.