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.
When the Lights Go Down
Armand van Helden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the band begins to play,
You can feel the energy coming
From the people as they say
When the lights go down in your town,
And the band begins to play,
You can feel the energy coming
When the lights go down in your town,
And the band begins to play,
You can feel the energy coming
From the people as they say
When the lights go down in your town,
And the band begins to play,
You can feel the energy coming
From the people as they say
Everybody calls him wonderkid
Everybody calls him wonderkid
Everybody calls him wonderkid
Everybody calls him wonderkid
Everybody calls him wonderkid
He gets kicks from guitar licks
When the lights go down in your town,
And the band begins to play,
You can feel the energy coming
From the people as they say
When the lights go down in your town,
And the band begins to play,
You can feel the energy coming
From the people as they say
The lyrics to "When the Lights Go Down" by Armand van Helden speak to the power of music and the energy it brings to live performances. The opening lines set the scene for a concert or live music event, as the lights go down and the band takes the stage. The repetition of this refrain emphasizes the excitement and anticipation of the crowd as they wait for the music to begin.
As the song continues, a specific individual is referenced. Referred to as the "wonderkid," this person is someone who generates a lot of attention and popularity among the crowd, likely due to his impressive guitar skills. The repetition of the line "everybody calls him wonderkid" again emphasizes the excitement and energy of the crowd, as they respond to this person's performance.
Overall, the lyrics to "When the Lights Go Down" celebrate the power of music to bring people together and create a sense of community and shared experience. Whether it's the band on stage or a particular talented individual, the energy and excitement of live music is something that connects people and brings them together.
Line by Line Meaning
When the lights go down in your town,
As twilight sets in and the cityscape's luminosity fade,
and the band begins to play,
while the musicians make preparations to perform
you can feel the energy coming
one can sense the vibe that permeates through the crowd of onlookers
from the people as they say
as they chant, sing and shout out to the performing musicians
everybody calls him wonderkid
The prodigal musician is renowned amongst the masses
he gets kicks from guitar licks
he derives immense pleasure from playing the guitar that resonates with his audience
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: EDIE ARLISA BRICKELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ritchimoon7729
One of the best music from Armand Van Helden :-) Great song!!!!!
@Anthony-fz9ye
I almost forgot this song… somehow it became a core memory and it came back to me…
@xMarkuzx
Gotta love Cecile's voice. We need this shit in 4K.
@addy161
Been looking for this song since I was a toddler.
@SteffenRaknes
A great music video, so many great literary heroes
, how can you not like it?
@bdonovan13
creative video, catchy song and funny to watch. not to mention that the singer is absolutely stunning.
@arc27
I really like Armand Van Helden's stuff. It's never clichéd. It always has good beats.
@robpaprox
READING ROCKS! SO DOES VAN HELDEN! good stuff
@IlGiglioNero
It's true that reading rocks!!! * - ) Thanks for posting it, that's gorgeous!
@BadNenndorfBoy
yes you are right^^ it is good music and armand van helden is a good producer