Peter Slaghuis (; 21 August 1961 – 5 September 1991) was a Dutch DJ, record producer and

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

er, whose work was mostly released under the name Hithouse (a literal translation of his last name — ''slag'', a hit, a beat; and ''huis'', house).

Biography

Slaghuis was born in Rijswijk, Netherlands. Not much is known about his personal life, but he was a figure in the European dance music scene in the 1980s, producing popular remixes of various

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

(most notably the "Long Vocal Dutch Mix" of " I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz). Slaghuis stated "I hated that song so much... I just had to put a hook over it." With the arrival of

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

in Europe, Slaghuis took up the pseudonym Hithouse and began using his sampling techniques in this field. His best known work, "Jack to the Sound of the Underground", reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart in 1988 and number 57 in Australia. His next few works did not attain the same level of success, though "Jack to the Sound of the Underground" remained in public consciousness in the UK when used as the theme for both the radio and television versions of the BBC comedy show ''

The Mary Whitehouse Experience The ''Mary Whitehouse Experience'' was a British topical sketch comedy show produced by the BBC in association with Spitting Image Productions. It starred two comedy double acts, one being David Baddiel and Rob Newman, the other Steve Punt and ...

''. He was also known for being part of the Euro disco music project

VideoKids VideoKids were a 1980s Euro disco/Italo disco duo from the Netherlands, formed in 1984 and consisting of Peter Slaghuis (1961-1991) and Bianca Bonelli (1963-1995). The band's members also had solo careers on their own, such as Peter being a famous ...

, which released several hit songs such as "

Woodpeckers from Space "Woodpeckers from Space" is a song by the The Netherlands, Dutch Eurodisco/Italo disco duo VideoKids. A synth-pop cover of "Woody Woodpecker#The Woody Woodpecker Song, The Woody Woodpecker Song", it was released in 1984 by Boni Records through th ...

" and "Do the Rap", in 1985, featuring Slaghuis in the video alongside Bianca and Tico, the other member and the goofy cartoon mascot. The band only lasted up until his death. By the time 1988 came, the whole project was virtually gone, and there has not been any sales on their music since that period. Slaghuis also delivered remixes to the Disco Mix Club which published them on their monthly CDs and compilation CDs. One of his most famous mixes was

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's " La Isla Bonita". He also remixed Petula Clark's "Downtown" as "

Downtown '88 "Downtown" is a song written and produced by Tony Hatch. The 1964 version recorded by Petula Clark became an international hit, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. Hatch received the 1981 Ivo ...

" which hit the British top 10 in December 1988. He died in 1991 in a head-on car accident involving a tractor trailer truck while he was driving home from a concert.

References

External links

Memorial website operated by his mother
''(Dutch / English). This seems no longer active.''
Memorial website operated by his mother
''(Dutch / English). The last sep 11 2019 archived version of the above site on archive.org.''
Biography at DISCOGS.com
''(English)'' 1961 births 1991 deaths Dutch dance musicians Dutch DJs Dutch record producers People from Rijswijk Remixers Road incident deaths in the Netherlands {{Netherlands-bio-stub