‘Slave to The Music’, ‘Is It Love’, ‘Take Me Away’, ‘I Can’t Stand It’…. all these hits and much more from Dutch dance act Twenty 4 Seven, soon in South Africa for a “once in a lifetime line up”. The dance group was formed in 1989 and sold more than 18 million sound carriers worldwide and achieved many gold and platinum records. Time for a chat with beautiful singer Nance Coolen!
How are you? And where do we find you in the world?
Nance Coolen – I am in the Netherlands at the moment, where I live and come from. I am performing with Twenty 4 Seven nearly every weekend for shows all over Europe. I am quite busy and feel very ok. We travel to Spain, Italy, the UK, Norway, Denmark and we are doing a lot of shows in The Netherlands and Belgium, the heart of the Euro Dance Sound. And soon in South Africa. The group can’t wait to be in Cape Town, January 7 and a week later in Pretoria, January 13, for the amazing 100% RETRO – THE PARTY.
Why the name Twenty 4 Seven?
Nance – It was made by our Dutch producer, Ruud Van Rijen. The story is that he was watching a movie, and someone said, ‘Yeah but I work 247’ and he really liked the way that it sounded and thought that it is a good name to call a band and that is why we are called ‘Twenty 4 Seven’.
Tell us about your personal journey in the entertainment industry?
Nance – When I was a little girl, I loved to dance and sing. I was reading the pop magazines and I saw the stories of Madonna, Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. I was said that ‘I wanted to be like that to and I want to be a singer and perform and be on stage’. Back then I lived in a small village in the Netherlands, and we had a lot of discos/ clubs over there. In one of the clubs, Ruud Van Rijen was a DJ, and he knew me. Ruud heard from other people that I love to sing. He had already made the song ‘I Can’t Stand It’ with a robot voice and he wanted to redo it with a female voice. Since he heard that I could sing, he said why not come to the studio and we can try it. So, I went to the studio, and I sang the song and that was it and I went back home and back to school. After a few months he called me and said the song is going to be a hit and he asked if I want to be in the video, and that was the beginning.
What were the next steps?
Nance – When ‘I can’t Stand it’ got big, there was a record company in Germany and a manager that was interested in working with us. I was already the singer, but we needed a new rapper and that is when they came with Captain Hollywood. Hanks and Jacks and Twenty 4 Seven began as a foursome. We made our first album at that time, called ‘Street Moves’ and you can find the songs ‘I Can’t Stand It’ and ‘Are You Dreaming?’ on the album, which was our biggest hits at that time. After a split with Captain Hollywood, we found a new rapper called Stay-C. Our first album was ‘Slave to The Music’.
What motivates you to still get up on stage and perform live?
Nance – It is a feeling that you cannot describe, it is so nice to walk on stage, see the crowd go crazy. It’s a kind of vibe that you cannot explain. You feel mighty, like ‘I am the boss now’. It is also nice to see the people singing along to the songs, and they know the lyrics and that is what you do it for.
As a final message what would you like to say?
Nance – Let music unite. Music is one thing that pulls us through difficult times. Somehow, I feel that the world is on fire at the moment and I hope that those people that are scared find a little bit of peace in music.
Nance, Hanks and Jacks from Twenty 4 Seven finally in South Africa, for 100% RETRO I THE PARTY. The show takes place in the DHL Stadium Cape Town (Jan 7) and SUNbet Arena Pretoria (Jan 13) with an A-list line-up that will strike an immediate chord with 80s and 90s music lovers and bring back some of the best memories of their tenure in that sublime musical era.
Performing live on stage and for one night only: Daisy Dee from Technotronic, Snap!, Dr Alban, Haddaway, Twenty4Seven ft. Nance, Jacks & Hanks, 2 Unlimited, Rozalla as well as SA`s popular singer Nádine and a host of international and local 90s DJs, including Barney Simon, Alex Jay, Ian F and Shawny B.
Tickets : www.itickets.co.za
All info : www.100percentretro.com
