Article from Hitkrant No 32, 8 August 1998

It's almost three years ago that 2 Unlimited ended. So we thought. But look, the first single of 2 Unlimited 'new style', Wanna Get Up, became another hit and it goes the same way with the second single, The Edge of Heaven. There's really nothing changed, because in Japan Romy and Marion simply continue where Ray and Anita stopped in 1996. So Romy and Marion went to the land of the rising sun. And of course Hitkrant can't stay behind...

Live in a department store
Romy: That was the first live meeting with the Japanese audience. At the beginning the people we're kind of shy. That was a bit odd. But that's because they look more up to artists here. I've noticed that in the streets, litteraly their knees begin to shiver. They're very nervous and giggle the whole time. They really love it when they may hug you or something, and when you take a picture with you and them on, they really go nuts.
Marion: It's very different here comparing to Holland. When you go off stage in the Netherlands, you're being stormed immediately. That's not the case over here. They keep distance and wait until you're finished to give autographs. Then you see all those girls being impressed and giggleing. And when you make a photo with them, they're really going nuts. That was very striking.

Going out
Marion: We've done that pretty much, didn't we? We love doing crazy and we don't get ashamed of anything. Here we are in a club, going crazy. I'm not always doing it, but when I start dancing, I'll never stop.

Kimonos
Romy: What I thought of Tokio? Particularly a very active city. Furthermore, a lot of very high skyscrapers and only Japanese in the streets. I've noticed that you almost don't see any foreigners here.
Marion: Especially for these photos we've bought these kimonos. When we were walking down the streets this way, we attracted a great deal of attention. Especially when we arrived at Club Velfarre like this - we had to perform over there - they looked their eyes out.

It's studio-time!
Romy: Japanese are very polite. They absolutely don't dare to ask where Ray and Anita are. They're way too polite for that. You don't have to explain anything. In itself that's easy of course. But it's also very hard, because everyone asks the same questions again and again. But not so hard as in Sweden - we had to do twenty interviews on one day and telling the same story twenty times.
Marion: Here we are at a radio station. Someting like The Box, but than a radio version. Over there, we went on picture with all the girls who worked over there. They were really excited, that they saw us and really touch us. They always do that peace sign in front of a photographer.
Romy: In Japan everything is perfectly taken care of. Also with television. Everyone knows exactly what to happen As a result, everything goes fast and smooth.

Nice, barbecue!
Romy: Not bear repeating. Very unusual though. Oysters boiled in sake. Looks awful. And some kind of giant cockle. Really wasn't nice. I didn't want to spit it out (almost), but I didn't think: oh yummy yummy.
Marion: That barbecue stuff yeah, that wasn't so special. But nice to try it once. That little cockle looked awful. And I didn't like that oyster. I liked only the sushi, especially with tuna fish.

The house was thrilled!
Marion: This was our first real performance in Japan. It didn't entirely go perfect. The sound wasn't optimal and at some moment a song was started that we didn't expect to start. That was a little panicky, ha ha. But eventually the whole house was very excited. Yes, this was really the height of our trip to Japan.

Text: Cors v.d. Berg - Translation: Erik Jan Meijer - Photos: Michel Linssen