Back On The Vengabus

The lip sync song on episode 4 of Drag Race UK vs The World ('West End Wendys') was We Like To Party (The Vengabus) by The Vengaboys.  This was one of my favourite lip syncs of all time, for several reasons:  Pangina Heals completely slaying her performance with jaw-dropping choreography, guest judge Jonathan Bailey totally getting into the performance and looking as though he wanted to join the queens on stage and shots of Blu Hydrangea and Baga Chipz bopping along in the background.  But the energetic pop hit was also wonderfully nostalgic and took me back to my first year of university (yikes!) and dancing to the campy disco beat at clubs and parties.  

In 1999 The Vengaboys had somethin' to tell us, yes, they had news for us.  The Vengabus was comin' and everybody was jumpin'.  With the release of their first album, aptly named The Party Album! (with an exclamation point), Dutch Eurodance group did indeed deliver the happiness that was promised just around the corner.  The album was fun and camp, as were the group's vocalists, Kim Sasabone, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa.  The singles from the album, Up and Down (a perfect soundtrack for aerobics or squats at the gym), We Like To Party (which Larry Flick from Billboard described as an "infectious pop gem"), Boom Boom Boom Boom (a total earworm) and Going To Ibiza (which sounded more like "eat pizza" than the Spanish island known for its nightlife, often pronounced ee-bee-thah).  The latter two singles reached number 1 on the UK Singles Charts.

The accompanying music videos were equally entertaining.  In the video for We Like To Party, The Vengaboys members and tourists travel around Barcelona in their decorated Vengabus - and performing choreographed routines in late 90s club attire (see: sheer fabrics, brassieres as outerwear, halternecks, combat pants and metallic jackets) at each of their stops - before ending up in a nightclub.  You didn't care where they were going or that their bus seemed to break down a lot - you just wanted to be on that bus!
Check it out:  We Like To Party

Their follow-up album, The Platinum Album, was less successful; songs weren't quite as memorable and sounded like revised versions of those from the previous album - although four of the five singles were chart hits, the best being Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine).   After the final and worst-performing single, Forever As One, was released, two members left the group and they soon disbanded.  They later got back together, with some members, and continued to tour throughout Europe and Australia. Bizarrely, they released The X-mas Party Album in 2014 which includes their hits but with a Christmas flavour as well as the single Where Did My X-mas Tree Go.  In 2021 the band released a cover version Charli XCX's 1999, retitled 1999 (I Wanna Go Back).

Revisiting The Party Album! certainly had me wanting to put some wheels in motion and party like I was back in 1999.