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Tuesday Tune – 2Unlimited’s No Limits

I was about 12 or 13, I had the latest Now album, Now That’s What I Call Music 24, the music scene was dominated by britpop and boyband pap. The alternative was turning to heavy metal or some heavy techno. Then, along came 2Unlimited, with a sound that was energetic and fun, easy to dance to and even acceptable to parents. For those of us who wanted a break from the Verve‘s depresso-pop or Noel Gallagher‘s nasal whine, we could turn to the dutch due, rapper Ray Slijngaard and singer Anita Doth.

Okay, I’m really over romaticising it. 2Unlimited were just another pop band. Their lyrics were nonsensical, their tunes were juvenile, but there is no doubting their appeal. With the release of their second album, No Limits, and in particular its title track, they solidified their place in music history.

Although Ray and Anita were sceptical about the track, producers Jean Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde wanted to push it as the lead single from the album. Released in January 1993, the repetitive nature of the song helped it become 2Unlimited‘s most successful single ever, and by far the best remembered by the public even now. Many a pub quiz have asked participants to name three 2Unlimited tracks. No Limits, having topped the charts in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and in the United Kingdom, was the easy one. Many people still recall Tribal Dance, but how many can remember Faces, Maximum Overdrive or the remixed-to-death Let The Beat Control Your Body?

Despite the huge success that the duo had, they were understandably slammed heavily by the critics. They were called puppets and attacked for having meaningless lyrics. Though both Anita and Ray took an active part in writing their material, the critics didn’t relent. The image they had as being puppets was not helped by DeCoster removing Ray‘s raps from many releases of No Limits. His contribution on the track I remember consisted of “techno techno techno” and “let me hear you say ‘yeah’”.

The No Limits album sold in excess of 3 million copies and 2 Unlimited were presented with no less than 80 platinum and gold awards from 26 different countries. Look, it’s not going to be remembered as an important, culture changing track, but damn! it had a lot of us up dancing. If ever I do one of the Soundchecks, I’ll definitely be playing this tune:

In two weeks time, Ray and Anita are set to perform together for the first time in 13 years at the “I Love The 90s” concert in Belgium. Do you think they’ll perform No Limits?