They said our music was just easy sounds and worthless lyrics, but now, a lot of those same people are, like, 'Oh! I love you, Vengaboys!'. 'When we started, almost 20 years ago, a lot of these people would sigh and roll their eyes and say they hated us. Consequently, the band is detested in some quarters, though Pors reckons 'the snobby people' have lightened up a bit in recent times. Ultimately, it's The Wiggles on stronger drugs, with a louder drum machine. Sexual innuendo abounds, of course, and at some point in every song, you will hear a play-by-numbers keyboard riff and a background chant of 'Oh, whoah. Set in more snowy winter climes, the video to Sha La La features busty German frauleins in lederhosen serving up steins of milk in an alpine bar, attended by gratuitous dwarves.Īnd the less said about Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine), the better. Ditto the steel-drum heavy Uncle John From Jamaica, whose video features sexy chamber maids dancing around a holiday resort in the tropics. We're Going To Ibiza is a globe-conquering slice of pallid Euro reggae. We Like To Party (The Vengabus) is a celebration of hedonistic urges and public transport, set to a cartoon techno beat. The audience goes out of their minds! When that song starts, I can't even hear myself anymore because of all the screaming, and everyone's iPhones come up to film it. 'Yes, and it's our favourite to do in a show. They've sold upwards of 25 million records to date, many of them in our own backyard.īesides the UK and their homeland in Holland, the only other place Boom Boom Boom Boom hit Number One was here in New Zealand. The Vengaboys are in the business of big dumb fun, and there's no shortage of takers. Musically, their beats and melodies do not send assorted cutting edge composers and producers lurching for the phone book, eager to engage copyright lawyers. Lyrically, The Vengaboys are no threat to Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan. I mean that we don't take ourselves too seriously.' I know the word 'cheesy' sounds a bit negative, but I mean it in a positive way.

People love our songs, even though they may be cheesy. 'I think we have been successful for so long because we are always festive, you know? We help people relieve some stress and have some fun. And the other bloke - initially Roy, later Donny - is a cowboy.

Pors is a sailor, complete with little nautical hat. Dancer Denise Van Rijswijk favours a disco jumpsuit. Lead singer Kim Sasabone generally wears some sort of crop-top and cargo-pants arrangement fashioned from teensy offcuts of army camouflage material. The band was strapped together in 1997 by Dutch DJ duo Danski and Delmundo, who then drafted in a crew of more photogenic youths to front their songs, each with their own trademark look. I've been doing this nearly 20 years now, and it's always as much fun as it was on my first day.' 'New Zealand will be a blast! We always love to make music to start a party for the lovely crowds, wherever we are. He speaks softly in heavily accented English, with an undertow of playful camp, as if he has one eyebrow permanently arched. 'Oh, I just cannot wait!' says founder-member Robin Pors, who just got back home after a whirlwind tour through India. Next stop: Hamilton, then Auckland, at the end of this month. Cowboy hat? Check! Bikini? Check! Party pills? Check! A few limes for those sunset mojitos? Check!Īnd they're off.

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