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.
Flowerz
Armand van Helden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I told you I was, deep in love with you, girl
You said they were just words, and nothing more
When I said that I would, give you the world, baby
You just said that youβve heard it all before
Suddenly, it came to me
And I knew what to do
I knew itβd make you so happy
Itβd open up your heart
And I gave you flowerz
Flowers
Your eyes lit up the room, when I gave you flowerz
Flowerz
Flowerz
Your eyes lit up the room, when I gave you flowerz
A rose will make your day but a daphadille
-dβ wash your tears away, every time (babe0
when you walk through the flowerz, you get such a thrill
I canβt believe that was it, all this time.
Suddenly, it came to me
And I knew what to do
I knew itβd make you so happy
Itβd open up your heart
And I gave you flowerz
Flowers
Your eyes lit up the room, when I gave you flowerz
Flowerz
Flowerz
Your eyes lit up the room, when I gave you flowerz
babe
I remember when, I used to walk by your window
And Iβd see you walking by
And I wonder what was on your mind
I gave you everything, everything I thought you ever wanted
But, to no avail it didnβt work
But then oneday, one day I gave you
Flowerz
Flowerz
If you had run down the stairs and open the door and said
That was all you ever needed from me
I could have save myself so much money
If I gave you flowerz
If I gave you flowerz
If I gave you flowerz
The lyrics to Armand van Helden's song "Flowerz" describe a narrator who is deeply in love with a girl who is reluctant to believe his words or to accept his gestures of love. The singer tells this girl that he would give her the world, but all she does is brush off his words, telling him she's heard it all before. But suddenly, he has an epiphany and decides to give her flowers, which he knows will make her happy and open up her heart. When he gives her the flowers, her eyes light up the room, and he realizes that even though a rose may brighten her day, a bigger impact can be made by a daffodil, which can wipe away her tears. He cannot believe that something so simple was all that was needed all along.
The underlying message of "Flowerz" seems to be that sometimes grand gestures of love aren't as effective as simple acts of genuine love and kindness. The singer realizes that all the big promises he made were not enough to win over the girl's heart, but that a small token of appreciation for her was all she needed. The power of the flowers was enough to open up her heart and brighten up her day, and that, in turn, brought joy to him as well.
Line by Line Meaning
When I told you I was, deep in love with you, girl
I expressed my deep feelings of love to you.
You said they were just words, and nothing more
You dismissed my love confession as mere words.
When I said that I would, give you the world, baby
I promised to give you everything in the world.
You just said that youβve heard it all before
You claimed to have heard such promises before and hence they held no weight for you.
Suddenly, it came to me
An idea suddenly popped up in my mind.
And I knew what to do
I realized what action I needed to take.
I knew itβd make you so happy
I was certain it would bring you immense joy.
Itβd open up your heart
It would help you open up emotionally.
And I gave you flowerz
I presented you with beautiful flowers.
Flowers
Beautiful blossoms.
Your eyes lit up the room, when I gave you flowerz
Your face radiated with happiness when I gave you flowers.
A rose will make your day but a daphadille-dβ wash your tears away, every time (babe0
A rose can uplift your mood, while a daffodil can soothe and calm you in times of distress.
when you walk through the flowerz, you get such a thrill
The sight and fragrance of flowers brings immense happiness to you.
I canβt believe that was it, all this time.
I cannot believe that it took me so long to realize the power of simple flowers in making you happy.
I remember when, I used to walk by your window
I recall walking by your window in the past.
And Iβd see you walking by
I often saw you walking around.
And I wonder what was on your mind
I often wondered what was going on in your mind.
I gave you everything, everything I thought you ever wanted
I provided you with everything I deemed you would desire.
But, to no avail it didnβt work
Unfortunately, my efforts went in vain and did not yield any results.
But then one day, one day I gave you
However, one day I presented you with something different.
If you had run down the stairs and open the door and said
If you had burst open the door and exclaimed.
That was all you ever needed from me
If you had clarified that the simple gesture of flowers was all you ever required from me.
I could have save myself so much money
I could have avoided spending so much money on other pointless attempts to please you.
If I gave you flowerz
If I had just given you flowers.
Writer(s): Armand van Helden Copyright: Breakdancin' Bob Publishing
Contributed by Camden V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@euniquewatson3577
Itβs 2024 and Iβm living in London UKβ¦ Woke up feeling home sick missing crazy ass Jersey City and needed some πΊ πΉ πΈ ainβt nothing like JC house music. π wishing anyone reading this high vibrations and higher frequencies β€
@quniaransom2748
Im from Jersey City NJ, my mom loves house music, I grew up listening to this, cookouts, parties etc you name it. I just love house music.
@ajab2448
ayeπ₯
@paulenyce
King of house music right here . Big shout out to your mom for introducing u to real house music
@vinyl_soul9292
Born and raised in NYC and love House Music too ... Peace
@loobyloo2923
What's a cookout? :) (I'm from Manchester, UK)
@unstablegenius2325
I'm your mom , love π u.
@ripgeorgesmith9021
I was born in 88, grew up all over Essex County New Jersey #brickcity. This was the shit I've been looking for, this shit is embedded deep in my childhood. #ripmommy
@HappiSushi12
Shout out from Newark, NJ!
@colindinsdale251
George Smith old school... love it. this guy nd frankie knuckles wask and a few others