Ten Sharp
| Ten Sharp | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Genres | Synth pop, pop rock, sophisti-pop |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | Columbia, Epic |
| Website | http://www.tensharp.com/ |
| Members |
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Ten Sharp is a Dutch band, sometimes labeled as a one-hit wonder group, because they're best known for its early 1990s hit song "You", a hit in some European countries in 1991 and in others (such as the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 10) in 1992. The two band members are Marcel Kapteijn (vocals) and Niels Hermes (keyboards).
Niels Hermes also worked with Attie Bauw on the first single by Esther Amadea.
Streets was a local band formed in the beginning 1982, when the two rival bands Prizoner and Pin-Up came together in the same room. Influenced by Thin Lizzy, they started writing symphonic rocksongs and played mainly in Purmerend and around. The first gig was at the Hutspop festival on March 3, 1982. The band at this stage was Marcel Kapteijn on vocals and guitar, Niels Hermes on keyboards, Martin Boers on leadguitar, Ton Groen on bass and Joop van de Berg played the drums. In the summer of '82, Joop van de Berg was replaced by Wil Bouwes from Neon Graffiti. This would be the line-up until the break-up in 1987.
In October 1982, the group was invited to record three songs at Vara's Popkrant, which resulted in national airplay. In April 1983 they played live at KRO Rocktempel which brought them to several record companies, but no one seemed to be interested. Around the summer of 1983, Niels Hermes' good old Fender Rhodes and ARP monophonic synthesizer were stolen. This resulted in buying the polyphonic Roland JX-3P and Yamaha DX7 synthesizers which caused a big change in sound. Driven by this new impulse, they locked themselves in Fort Spijkerboor to write new songs to impress the record companies. When they got out in February 1984 with a brand-new demo, finally there was interest at CBS Records. In September 1984 they recorded three songs in Studio Spitsbergen with Michiel Hoogenboezem including a demo-version of "When The Snow Falls". The plans were there to release the first single, until the record company found out there was already another band in the USA called Streets. The band had to change its name in October 1984. Ten Sharp was chosen because of the sound of the name.
"When The Snow Falls" was the first single, released in January 1985. The song ended up in the Tip-parade and Vara's Verrukkelijke 15. It gave the band a lot of attention on radio and television. The second single "Japanese Lovesong" ended up in the charts (number 30) in July 1985, while having a busy schedule with live-performances through the club-circuit in the Netherlands. The next single "Last Words" failed to hit the charts and ended up in the Tip-parade in January 1986. The band shot their first video for the song. After a year of recording demo's and touring through The Netherlands they recorded their fourth single "Way Of The West" in February 1987. A guitar-heavy rocksong which failed immediately. CBS Records was not happy with the song and dropped the band. On October 17, 1987 they played their last show in Hazerswoude as a 5-piece band.
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