Mai Tai (band)

Mai Tai, now formed with Jetty Weels, Caroline de Windt and Eve L'Kay, is a Dutch group (named after a tropical cocktail) that formed in 1983, by the Dutch record producers Eric van Tijn and Jochem Fluitsma. With three former backing vocalists Jetty Weels, Mildred Douglas and Caroline de Windt, they created a Dutch soul, disco and pop act.

Career

Their debut single, "Keep On Dancin'" (1983) was only a hit in the Dutch nightclubs. In the summer of 1984 they released a second single, "What Goes On". It became their first hit in the Dutch Top 40, peaking at number 30. Following tracks like "Body And Soul" and "Am I Losing You Forever" also hit the charts, but never managed to reach the Top 20 in the Netherlands.

In 1984, they released their debut album, called Mai Tai, which won a Dutch Edison Award and a Silver Harp. Their international breakthrough came with "History" from the debut album. This song was successful all over Europe, and became a No. 8 hit in the UK Singles Chart[1] and reached the Top 30 in Germany. It was also a hit in New Zealand and Australia and entered the U.S. Billboard dance chart, peaking at #3 in 1985.

"Body and Soul" was re-released in the UK and became their second UK Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 9.[1] After their international breakthrough, Mai Tai also became more popular in the Netherlands.

In 1986 their song "Female Intuition" became a Top 40 hit across Europe, and made Top 10 in Denmark. The follow-up single, "Turn Your Love Around" from the second album, 1 Touch 2 Much, went straight into the Top 10 of the Dutch Top 40. Their third album, Cool Is The Rule, was released in 1987, but it and the singles "Bet That's What You Say" and "Fight Fire With Fire" were much less successful, and after releasing one last single, "Dance In The Light", and a Best Of compilation in 1988, the group broke up.

Jetty Weels released a few solo singles in 1989 and 1990 under the name Oscare, and Mildred Douglas released a solo album, Face One, in 1990.

In 1993, Weels and de Windt re-teamed with new member Lisa Noya, and they released several moderately successful eurohouse singles over the next few years, but broke up again in 1996.

Starting in 2001, they occasionally reformed for various performances, sometimes with Douglas. In 2004, with new member Marjorie Lammerts (later known as B-Yentl), they made an attempt to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest but they only reached the semi-finals of the Dutch selection process.[2] Nevertheless, as a result of this exposure they recorded and released several singles, both in English and Dutch, over the next couple of years, as well as the album Onder Voorbehoud in 2007. Again the singles were successful but they split up.

Mai Tai members pose for group photos in 2013

In 2010, Weels re-recorded and released a remix of "Body and Soul" and enlisted two new members, Maureen Pengel and Edna Proctor. They released a new version of The Pointer Sisters' "Automatic", and began touring in 2011. The song "History" was featured on Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (2009), which has an exclusive radio station called Vice City FM.

"Body and Soul" was remixed by the production duo 7th Heaven for a 2010 release.

In 2011, a comeback was made with the premiere at the Disco Legends festival.

Since the return of singer Carolien De Windt, there are again two of the three original singers in the group, united with a third singer Eve L'Kay.

Discography

Albuns

Compilations

Singles

References

  1. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 344. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. ↑ http://natfinals.50webs.com/90s_00s/Netherlands2004SF.html
  3. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/history/
  4. ↑ https://www.offiziellecharts.de/titel-details-1311

External links

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