- Racoon (band)
:"This article is about the Dutch band Racoon. For the animal see "
Raccoon ". For other uses, see "Raccoon (disambiguation) ".Infobox musical artist
Name = Racoon
Background = group_or_band
Img_capt =
Origin =Zeeland ,Netherlands
Genre =Alternative rock
Occupation =
Years_active = 1997–present
Label =Roadrunner Records
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.racoon.nl www.racoon.nl]
Current_members =Bart van der Weide Dennis Huige Paul Bukkens Stefan De Kroon
Past_members =Racoon is a Dutch
rock band , formed in1997 . Their first big appearance was at the 1999 Noorderslagfestival. First albumTill Monkeys Fly appeared inJanuary 2000 , produced by Michael Schoots (Urban Dance Squad ). The first single,Feel Like Flying , became a hit and got a lot of rotations on the Dutch radiostation3FM . The band's biggest hit so far came in 2005, when its singleLove You More reached number three in the Dutch music charts.Members
*
Bart van der Weide - Lead vocals
*Stefan de Kroon - Bass
*Dennis Huige - Guitars
*Paul Bukkens - DrumsHistory
1997
Racoon starts as an acoustic duo: singer Bart van der Weide and guitarist Dennis Huige. They release three songs on the singer/songwriter compilation album 'Characters,' released by the Dutch Rock & Pop Institute.
1998
Van der Weide and Huige are joined by bassist Stefan de Kroon and drummer Paul Bukkens and the band moves to Utrecht. "Racoon" plays at the
Heineken X-pl'oor-festival in theMelkweg and inRotterdam . Their self-released demo 'It's An Ice Cream Day' earns them the attention of several record companies and many positive reviews from the Dutch press.1999
"Racoon" is opening act at the annual Noorderslag festival. They sign to Sony's S.M.A.R.T. label and at the end of this year they go into the studio to record their full-length debut.
2000
In January "Racoon" plays at the Eurosonic festival in Groningen. This month also sees the release of the long expected debut album 'Till Monkeys Fly', which was recorded at the ICP-studios in
Brussels . 'Till Monkees Fly' is produced by Michel "Magic Stick" Schoots from Urban Dance Squad; the end mix was done by Phil Nicolo (ZZ Top ,Aerosmith ,Urge Overkill ) and Bob Ludwig was responsible for the mastering of the album. The band is being touted as the next big thing and the single 'Feel Like Flying' is power played onRadio 3 FM . "Racoon" plays at the Parkpop andLowlands festivals . Michel Schoots2001
The singles 'Smoothly' and 'Eric's Bar' are released, the latter appears on "Racoon's" new album 'Here We Go, Stereo'.
2002
In February "Racoon" tours the country performing songs from
Faith No More for the 'Marlboro Flashback Tour'.2003
"Racoon" plays at the
Europe Day festival inKiev . Other bands on the bill includeAlphaville (Germany ),The Blueberries (Denmark ),K-System (Finland ) and bands fromPoland ,Lithuania , theCzech Republic and theUkraine . The festival is organised by theEuropean Union .2004
"Racoon" signs a recording deal with PIAS. Its song Feel Like Flying is runner up in the Top 100 Best Dutch Pop Songs. Voted by the listenership of public
Radio 3FM , it is trailing behind Van Dik Hout's Stil In Mij. Snippets of the track Reach are used in two Calvé TV ads.2005
"Racoon" releases its third album Another Day. The album turns out to be a major hit, with highly successful singles such as
Love You More ,Laugh About It , andBrother .2006
The band collaborate with
Armin van Buuren to create a trance version of their hit tune Love You More. The song goes big in the trance scene and is soon being played by numerous top name djs.2008
In March, the band's fourth album, Before You Leave, is released. Racoon is present at many Dutch Festivals and plays Pinkpop (60.000 visitors), Rockin Park (30.000) and Parkpop (250.000). In the fall of 2008 the successful tour in Dutch theaters of 2006 will be continued.
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