Armand Van Helden is a house music artist and music remixer whose biggest c… Read Full Bio ↴Armand Van Helden is a house music artist and music remixer whose biggest commercial successes came from his remixes of the 1996 Tori Amos song "Professional Widow", which reached the top of the UK singles chart, and his own track "You Don't Know Me" which was Number 1 in the UK in January 1999.

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.

To be a Freak
Armand van Helden Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Freak, shake, freak, shake
Freak, shake, freak, shake
Freak, shake, freak, shake
Freak, shake, freak, shake

Get down
Get down
Get down

Get down

I've so many ways of loving you
But you gotta to be a freak
I've so many ways of loving you, girl
But you gotta to be a freak

I've so many ways of loving you
But you gotta to be a freak
I've so many ways of loving you, girl
But you gotta to be a freak

Get down
Get down
Get down
Get down

I've so many ways of loving you
But you gotta to be a freak
I've so many ways of loving you, girl
But you gotta to be a freak

I've so many ways of loving you
But you gotta to be a freak
I've so many ways of loving you, girl
But you gotta to be a freak

Get down
Get down
Get down

Freak the party, shake your body
Freak the party, shake your body
Freak the party, shake your body
Freak the party, shake your body

Now I want you to extend your mind
Beyond your thoughts and beliefs, we're only just freaks
We gotta couple of terms, what makes you freaky
'Cause it's so really hard

A keen desire is to be different
To be more then crazy
To go beyond the dream of just living
I want you to feel what I'm about to tell you

Get down
Get down
Get down

I've so many ways of loving you
But you gotta to be a freak
I've so many ways of loving you, girl
But you gotta to be a freak

I've so many ways of loving you
But you gotta to be a freak
I've so many ways of loving you, girl
But you gotta to be a freak

Get down
Get down

Get down
Get down

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Armand Van Helden George Llanes's song "To Be a Freak" is about embracing one's individuality and inner weirdness. The repetition of "freak, shake" in the chorus alongside the various attempts to convince someone to be a "freak" illustrates how one can have so many ways of loving another person, but they need to embrace their weirdness to fully connect with the singer. The song implores listeners to let go of their inhibitions and move to the beat of the music. The lines "Now I want you to extend your mind beyond your thoughts and beliefs, we're only just freaks" represent how society often tries to conform people into fitting certain molds, but in reality, everyone is unique and should embrace their quirks.

The song has a dance party vibe, encouraging people to let loose and have fun. The phrase "freak the party, shake your body" is repeated throughout the song, creating a fun and catchy hook. The lines "A keen desire is to be different, to be more than crazy, to go beyond the dream of just living" further emphasize the importance of individuality and breaking free from societal norms.

Line by Line Meaning

Freak, shake, freak, shake
The repetition of 'freak, shake' is a call to action to let go and dance.

Get down
An instruction to start moving your body in response to the music.

I've so many ways of loving you
I have many different ways to show you love and affection.

But you gotta to be a freak
But you need to be open-minded and willing to try new, unconventional things.

I've so many ways of loving you, girl
I have many different ways to show you love and affection, my dear.