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.
Necessary Evil
Armand van Helden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He lives across the street
Sometimes he′ll call me up
When he wants to play with me, play with me, play with me
We play all kinds of games
We both play hide and seek
Sometimes he'll find me fast
Sometimes it takes him weeks
Too young to have a spouse
I like to try new things
I just like playing house
Although it′s make believe
I know what love's about
Don't need no diamond ring
I just like playing house
I′m not a little girl
He′s not a little boy
He comes into my world
And we share all our time, all, all our time, all, all our time
You look me in the eyes
And kiss me on the mouth
We both have separate lives
We're only playing house
Although it′s make believe
I know what love's about
Don′t need no diamond ring
I just like playing house
Ooh, but it feels like he loves me
When he's below or above me
If he ever sleeps away
I know he′s thinkin' of me
And it feels like I love him
When I'm below or above him
And if he ever sleeps away
I′ll have sweet memories of him
Don′t need no diamond ring
I just like playing house
The opening lines of Armand van Helden's "Necessary Evil" introduce us to the idea of a "special friend" who lives across the street. Through the lyrics, we explore the complicated and ambiguous relationship between the singer and her friend. Despite being too old for games and too young to have a spouse, they like to play house and try new things. While their games are make-believe, the singer knows what love is about and doesn't need a diamond ring to feel fulfilled.
The lyrics seem to hint at something more intimate than just a simple childhood game, with the friend coming into the singer's world and sharing all their time. As they look into each other's eyes and kiss, we see how their relationship blurs the lines between childhood friendship and romance, with the suggestion that they might even be sexually intimate. The lyrics are ambiguous, but the vibe of the song suggests a deep emotional and physical connection that's rooted in friendship and love.
Overall, "Necessary Evil" seems to explore the complex nature of relationships and how they can defy categorization. Through the lens of childhood games, the lyrics explore the idea of love as something that's not necessarily tied to conventional societal norms like marriage, engagement rings, or even age.
Line by Line Meaning
I have a special friend
I have a dear friend
He lives across the street
He resides nearby my house, across the street
Sometimes he′ll call me up
Sometimes he will phone me
When he wants to play with me, play with me, play with me
He contacts me to play games together
We play all kinds of games
We enjoy playing different types of games
We both play hide and seek
We take turns in playing hide and seek
Sometimes he'll find me fast
Sometimes, he is quick to find me in the game
Sometimes it takes him weeks
Sometimes, it takes weeks for him to find me
Am I bit too old for games?
Is it inappropriate for me to play games at my age?
Too young to have a spouse
I'm not old enough to have a life-partner yet
I like to try new things
I enjoy experimenting new things
I just like playing house
I am fond of pretending to have a house as a playful act
Although it′s make believe
Though it might not be real and just a fantasy
I know what love's about
I am aware of what love means
Don't need no diamond ring
I don't require a diamond ring to feel loved
I′m not a little girl
I am not a child anymore
He′s not a little boy
He's not a young boy anymore
He comes into my world
He joins my life
And we share all our time, all, all our time, all, all our time
We spend most of our time together
You look me in the eyes
You gaze into my eyes
And kiss me on the mouth
And plant a kiss on my lips
We both have separate lives
We have our individual lives besides our playful game
We're only playing house
We're just pretending to be life partners
Ooh, but it feels like he loves me
Though it might just be a game, it feels like he truly loves me
When he's below or above me
When he is either on top or underneath me
If he ever sleeps away
If he ever slumbers away
I know he′s thinkin' of me
I am sure he is thinking of me
And it feels like I love him
Similarly, I also feel like I'm in love with him
I′ll have sweet memories of him
I will cherish the pleasant memories of our game together
Don′t need no diamond ring
I don't need any expensive gifts to feel loved or happy
Writer(s): Armand Van Helden
Contributed by Annabelle V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
KugelKopf
Jo , check LoveParade2000.
Dr.Motte 20min-Set. After 3min hear u, why Loverparade is a another Sound! Techno is Techno.
But Loveparade-Techno...
the Dj,s want give u, for what all are come, want let the world to feel true Music. They will f'-'ck the crowd! B]
"Loveparade,
NineteenNinetyEight."
"One World,
One Future!!" ...^^D
djairrickOFFICIAL
I still got this on white label! packed the floors when it first came out
271chrissy
god... i just danced so hard to this.
Nathan Sanderson
271chrissy HELL YEAH! Me too :)
Bennie Stoltz
This song is in the mix on the Armand van helden - Live @ love nation set.
kukuricnepire
i have this record. it is brilliant :)
KugelKopf
Jo , check LoveParade2000.
Dr.Motte 20min-Set. After 3min hear u, why Loverparade is a another Sound! Techno is Techno.
But Loveparade-Techno...
the Dj,s want give u, for what all are come, want let the world to feel true Music. They will f'-'ck the crowd! B]
"Loveparade,
NineteenNinetyEight."
"One World,
One Future!!" ...^^D
Henry Boer
I first heared this track in an essential mix. I guess this was mixed by Leftfield back in 1999 (approx) but can't find back the set in the essential mix archives... Does anybody know the set?
Fergunism
Classic!
Dan Munar Oltra
very, very good. . .
Vorname Nachname
Verdammt geile Zeit gewesen, und gut das Ich es erlebt hab,jedoch auch gut den Absprung geschafft zu haben ... memories - famous Tune