Band
2 Unlimited > W

Original members include : - Phil Wilde (born in Belgium), synthesizer, sampler, and mixing board, - Jean Paul de Coster (born in Belgium), synthesizer, sampler, and mixing board, - Ray Slijngaard (born c. 1971, in Holland), vocals, - Anita Doth (born c. 1971, in Holland), vocals. Despite its name, 2 Unlimited is actually a quartet, comprised of two behind-the-scenes composer-producers, Phil Wilde and Jean Paul de Coster, and two lyricist-perfo ... rmers, Anita Doth and Ray Slijngaard. Belgian producers/songwriters Phil Wilde and Jean Paul de Coster, both from Antwerp, Belgium, created 2 Unlimited in their studio in Belgium, initially without any performers or vocalists. In 1991 they set down the instrumental dance track "Get Ready for This". When it became a club hit, they felt it needed some vocals and so later that year they decided to work with Dutch performers Ray Slijngaard and Anita Doth, both from Amsterdam, Netherlands, under the name '2 Unlimited'. They were signed by the Belgian record label Byte Records, that was actually owned by De Coster. The team quickly worked out a production routine. Wilde and de Coster composed the music, then carefully, deliberately designed the track on the mixing board. Meanwhile, Doth and Slijngaard worked up the lyrics; “Once we have the melody,” Wilde told Tony Horkins from Melody Maker in 1994, “I give them a cassette-one instrumental, and one with my piano melody… They write the lyrics and they come back to the studio.” Slijngaard and Doth fronted the act from 1991 to 1996. When they decided to each go their own way, 2 Unlimited continued with different performers Romy van Ooijenand Marjon van Iwaarden, but the popularity of 2 Unlimited went down as other bands were taking over the Eurodance-genre. From 2009 to 2012, Slijngaard and Doth came together again to perform under the name 'Ray & Anita'. They couldn't use the name 2 Unlimited, since the name was still owned by the original producers. In 2012, the original 2 Unlimited was revived until Doth left the band and was replaced by Kim Vergouwen in 2016. Currently (2021), Slijngaard and Vergouwen still perform as 2 Unlimited, under supervision of Jean Paul De Coster and Phil Wilde. See more [+]