Van Helden was born in Boston on February 17, 1970 to a Dutch-Indonesian father and a French-Lebanese mother, but travelled around the world as a child spending time in the Netherlands, Turkey and Italy, as his father was a member of the US Air Force. At the age of thirteen, he bought a drum machine and started DJing two years later.
He returned to Boston in 1988 but also moonlighted as a DJ in Boston clubs. He attended Boston University. He quit his legal review job in 1989 to work as a remixer/producer for Mega-Mixx Productions DJ Remix Service (co-founded by his long time manager, Neil Petricone) where he reworked and re-edited a number of club records for the DJ-only service, including Shawn Christopher's "Another Sleepless Night." He also took up an occupancy at 'The Loft', Boston's leading nightclub.
Mega-Mixx's success was short lived. Mismanagement brought the company to a halt in early 1991. Later that year, he and Petricone, along with founding A&R coordinator, Tony Zeoli, launched X-Mix Productions, a similar DJ Remix service, which still exists today (http://www.xmix.com). Catching the attention of legendary Strictly Rhythm and Nervous Records A&R guru, Glady Pizarro, in 1992 Van Helden released his first official single "Stay On My Mind" under the psuedonym Deep Creed, through Nervous Records.
He released "Move It To the Left" (credited to Sultans of Swing) in 1992 on the Strictly Rhythm label, which became a moderate club hit. His first track to make the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart was "Witch Doktor" which made the top 5 in 1994.
The success of "Witch Doktor" led to opportunities to remix acts such as The Real McCoy ("Another Night", New Order ("Bizarre Love Triangle"), Blondie ("Atomic), Capella ("U Got To Know"), Lightning Seeds ("Jackie Lucky"), Deep Forest ("Marta's Song"), Jimmy Somerville ("Heartbeat"), Deee-Lite ("Dewdrops In The Garden") and Faithless ("Insomnia"). However, it was the "Professional Widow" remix that established him and became a dance hit around the world as well as a number one hit in the UK. Unfortunately, Van Helden did not receive a penny for this mix as he presented it uncommissioned, and thus was not entitled to compensation. However, it led to work remixing The Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and Puff Daddy as well as Daft Punk and the Sneaker Pimps, and adding to his reputation as one of the world's top house musicians.
Within dance music circles, Van Helden is widely credited for the introduction of the U.K. bred Speed Garage sound to the U.S. club scene with incredible set of remixes. The sound, identifiable by its deep bass subtones, long melodic breaks, and devestatingly hard hitting beats are exemplified in the following remixes beginning in 1995 with Jimmy Somerville "Heartbeat"; CJ Bolland's "Sugar Is Sweeter"; Faithless "Insomnia"; Tori Amos "Professional Widow"; Apollo 440 "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Dub"; and Sneaker Pimps "Spin, Spin, Sugar."
"Cha Cha" was another top ten dance hit from his first album Old School Junkies released in 1996, along with "The Funk Phenomena". A greatest hits album appeared the next year followed by a breakbeat album later in 1997. "U Don't Know Me," a collaboration with vocalist Duane Harden from the album, "2 Futur 4 U," was a number two hit on the Billboard dance chart, a Number one in the UK and a top 20 single on the pop charts in Australia and Canada.
In 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, Armand Van Helden explained, "You Don't Know Me was a perfect example of putting 2 simple things together, the beats from Jaydee's Plastic Dreams and a disco loop from Carrie Lucas."
Van Helden released the Killing Puritans album in 2000 which contained the dance hit "Koochy". His single "Why Can't You Spend Some Time" made the number 34 in the UK in 2001. His New York: A Mix Odyssey album released in 2004 produced two hits:
* "Hear my Name" reached number 7 on the Billboard dance chart, was top 30 on world and internet charts, made number 34 in the UK, and reached the top 40 in Australia; and
* "My My My" reached number 4 on the world internet charts, number 5 in the Belgian and Dutch charts, number 6 in Australia, number 15 in the UK and top 30 in the world dance charts.
In 2010 Van Helden teamed with A-Trak to form the duo Duck Sauce. They had an international smash hit with "Barbra Streisand," which used an ingenious sample from Boney M.
Alienz
Armand van Helden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They're ruling to tell us...
Us...us...us...us...us...us...us...us...us...us...us
Alienz (4x)
Alienz
Alienz
They're ruling to tell us
Alienz
Alienz
Alienz
Alienz
Wrack...from...animos (????)
Alienz
Alienz
Alienz
Alienz
Alienz (16x)
The lyrics of Armand van Helden's song Alienz suggest that the government may be keeping secrets from the people they rule. The repetition of the phrase "Does the government know more" indicates a suspicion that there may be unknown information being withheld from the public. The use of the word "ruling" suggests that the government has control over what is shared with society. The repetition of "us" emphasizes the idea that it is the people of society that are being potentially kept in the dark.
The repetition of "Alienz" throughout the song adds a mysterious and eerie element. It is unclear what exactly the word means in the context of the song, but it adds to the idea of the unknown and secrets being kept. The line "Wrack...from...animos" is unclear and is open to interpretation. It is possible that it is a made-up word or phrase that adds to the overall mysterious vibe of the song.
Overall, the lyrics of Armand van Helden's Alienz suggest a skepticism towards the government and what they may be holding back from the public. The repetition of "Alienz" adds to the mysterious feeling of the song and leaves the interpretation open to the listener's imagination.
Line by Line Meaning
Does the government know more
Are there things the government knows that they are not telling us?
They're ruling to tell us...
The government has the power to control what information they share with the public.
Us...us...us...us...us...us...us...us...us...us...us
Emphasizing that the government's ruling affects all of us.
Alienz (4x)
Repeating the title of the song.
Wrack...from...animos (????)
Unknown and possibly nonsensical words that do not contribute to the meaning of the song.
Alienz (16x)
Repeating the title of the song again.
Contributed by Addison F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@josipmickovic2572
I love this song, makes you just want to do it, dance
@quarkgluonplasma3614
the tune