2 Brothers on the 4th Floor are a Dutch duet created in 1990 by brothers Martin and Bobby Boer. The group has had success in many countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Czech Republic, Norway, Finland, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, Israel, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The most recent members of 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor are Martin and Bobby Boer, Dutch singer , and rapper D-Rock.

Early career, 1990–1991

The Boer brothers had already been experimenting with music in a small bedroom when they finally gained note in 1990, when their single ''Can't Help Myself'' was picked up by Dutch radio stations and became an international hit. The brothers then brought together rapper Da Smooth Baron MC and singers Peggy "The Duchess" and Gale Robinson to form their stage act. The release of their next single, ''Turn Da Music Up'' was somewhat less successful, but helped the band to gain name recognition. 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor made two hit singles together before separating. Martin Boer moved into a new professional studio and started making remixes under the name Dancability Productions as well as making remixes for artists such as Becky Bell,

Twenty 4 Seven Twenty 4 Seven is a Dutch Eurodance group formed in 1989 by Dutch producer Ruud van Rijen. The project is best known in Europe for the hit singles "I Can't Stand It" (Twenty 4 Seven song), I Can't Stand It", "Are You Dreaming?", "Slave to the Mu ...

and

Luv' Luv' were a Dutch girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe (Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Finland) as well as Israel, South Africa, Rhodesia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada ...

(for their Megamix '93), while Bobby Boer designed record covers and CD inlays for other artists.

1993–1994: Revival and ''Dreams''

2 Brothers on the 4th Floor was revived by the Boer brothers in 1993. Bobby joined Martin in his studio and, after some time, released the single '' Never Alone''. This single was the first to be launched with rapper D-Rock (René Philips) and singer Desirée Manders (stage name: Des'Ray). The song ''

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

'', which is the title song of the band's first album, was a song that captured the essence of

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

. Due to the genre's popularity when the song was released in 1994, the song became a hit both nationally and internationally. The band's renewed style and concept was accepted well by

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

audience. '' Never Alone'' topped the charts for weeks and went gold. ''Dreams'', the band's subsequent single, went straight to number one and remained on the charts for weeks (as well as reaching the top 30 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

's''

Hot Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart in the United States) and ''

Let Me Be Free "Let Me Be Free" is a song by Dutch Eurodance group 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor are a Dutch duet created in 1990 by brothers Martin and Bobby Boer. The group has had success in many countries including the Netherl ...

'', its successor, remained in the top ten nationally for some time.

1995–1997: ''2''

In 1995 and 1996, 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor further widened their success with the singles ''

Fly (Through the Starry Night) "Fly (Through the Starry Night)" is a song by Dutch Eurodance group 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor featuring rapper D-Rock and singer Des'Ray. It was released in 1995 as the first single from their second album, ''2'' (1996). In Europe, it peaked at ...

'', ''

Come Take My Hand "Come Take My Hand" is a song by Dutch Eurodance group 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor featuring rapper D-Rock and singer Des'Ray. It was released in 1995 by Lowland Records, CNR Music and Central Station as the second single from the group's second ...

'' and '' Fairytales'', changing their style to

happy hardcore Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or " hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990 ...

. These singles topped the charts in various

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an countries. At the end of 1996, the band released the single ''There's a Key'' and its second album, ''2''. After ''2'', the band shifted styles and first recorded the single ''One Day'', an R&B track that departed from their typical

style. Afterwards, they returned to their previous Eurodance style with the single ''I'm Thinkin' of U''.

1998–2001: Single releases

In March 1998, 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor released the single ''Do U Know'', a mid to low tempo pop track. At the beginning of autumn 1998, the single ''The Sun Will Be Shining'' was released. It contains remixes by Mark van Dale & Enrico,

Dance Therapy Dance/movement therapy (DMT) in USA/ Australia or dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) in the UK is the psychotherapeutic use of movement and dance to support intellectual, emotional, and motor functions of the body. As a modality of the creativ ...

and the Dub Foundation. Packaged with ''The Sun Will Be Shining'' was a

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both com ...

featuring the videos of "The Sun Will Be Shining" and "The Making Of". On 5 February 1999 the single ''Heaven Is Here'' was released. 29 October that year saw the release of the single ''Living In Cyberspace''. On 16 June 2000 the single "Wonderful Feeling" was released. On 29 June 2001 the single "Stand Up And Live" was released.

2002–present: Hiatus and return

The duo had never released its third album due to problems with record companies. Currently, the band is touring, with performances planned for 2018. The group released "The Very Best of" in April 2016. In addition to their duties with 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor, Des'Ray has a solo career, and D-Rock is working with the rapper/MC E-Life.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2 Brothers on the 4th Floor Dutch duets Dutch house music groups Dutch Eurodance groups Electronic dance music duos Musical groups established in 1990 1990 establishments in the Netherlands