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.
Tainted Love
Armand van Helden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I've lost my light
For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Oh tainted love
Tainted love
Now I know I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
You don't really want it any more from me
To make things right
You need someone to hold you tight
And you'll think love is to pray
But I'm sorry I don't pray that way
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Oh tainted love
Tainted love
Don't touch me please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so
Now I'm going to pack my things and go
Tainted love, tainted love
Tainted love, tainted love
Touch me baby, tainted love
Touch me baby, tainted love
Tainted love
Tainted love
Tainted love
The song Tainted Love by Armand van Helden is a cover of a 1964 song by Gloria Jones. The lyrics convey a message of lost love, pain and hurt. The chorus, "Tainted love, tainted love," refers to the fact that the love between the singer and the person he is addressing has become corrupted and any attempts to repair or restore it are futile.
The first stanza describes the physical and emotional pain inflicted on the singer by the person he loves. He feels the need to run away and escape the negative emotions that are being driven into his heart. The second stanza reveals that the singer used to run towards this person, but now he is running away from them. He has given everything he could in the relationship, but the love he was given in return has been tainted. He is willing to leave and take his tears with him.
The third stanza shows the singer acknowledging that their relationship cannot be salvaged. He recognizes that the person he is addressing needs someone to hold them tight and think that love is a prayer. However, he cannot provide that. The last line of the song, "Don't touch me please, I cannot stand the way you tease," shows that the person he is addressing is still trying to hold on to him, but he cannot take the emotional abuse any longer.
Overall, the song Tainted Love is a powerful message about the destructive power of love when it is not reciprocated in a healthy way.
Line by Line Meaning
Sometimes I feel I've got to
At times, I experience the intense need to
Run away I've got to
Escape from this situation is a must
Get away
Distance myself
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
You're causing me unbearable emotional distress
The love we share
The affection we have for each other
Seems to go nowhere
Is unfulfilling and leads to nothing positive
And I've lost my light
It has dimmed my inner joy
For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night
I can't find peace and rest, even at night
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Previously, I came to you (quite literally)
Now I'll run from you
But now, I want to get away
This tainted love you've given
The love you're offering comes with negative baggage
I give you all a boy could give you
I have given you everything that a young man can offer
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
You have made me cry, and that isn't even the half of it
Oh tainted love
This love is corrupted and ruined
Now I know I've got to
I am now aware that I need to
You don't really want it any more from me
You're no longer interested in what I have to offer
To make things right
To fix what's wrong
You need someone to hold you tight
You want somebody to embrace you affectionately
And you'll think love is to pray
You believe that love is a form of worship
But I'm sorry I don't pray that way
Apologies, but I don't share your perspective on love
Don't touch me please
Please, don't touch me
I cannot stand the way you tease
I can't handle your playful torment anymore
I love you though you hurt me so
Despite the distress you've caused, I still have love for you
Now I'm going to pack my things and go
Therefore, I've decided to leave and take my belongings with me
Tainted love, tainted love
This love is dirty and corrupt
Touch me baby, tainted love
Physical affection is not something desirable anymore
Tainted love
This love is ruined
Tainted love
This love is corrupted
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mrjodoku
gr8 memories...ill tune....MARS
@doc6571
Love it ritzys portsmouth awsome time walk down that path anytime
@xXxsweet
1018, roseland, underground, red zone, sound factory when it was all house back in d days
@pikapcl
word, latinsunz!! dont forget about the sound factory too (when the tunnel line was too long)
@nesNYC
Tunnel NYC 1990 ...
@marcoa8631
biology 89..
@misspage5824
Factory x