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Article from De Telegraaf, 5th of January, 1999
Tension in the new formation of 2 Unlimited, which yielded success around the globe last year. Singer ROMY VAN OOIJEN, who revived the known name as a female duo, together with MARION VAN IWAARDEN, stepped out of the group. She says: "I wasn't satisfied anymore with the whole business with the record company." JEAN-PAUL DE COSTER of the Belgian record company BYTE RECORDS, which has the rights on the name 2 Unlimited and brought up this group with Ray Slijngaard en Anita Doth, has another opinion. "We as a record company didn't want to extend the option which we had in our contract with Romy." What is the reason for this decision? De Coster says: "For artistic and professional reasons we do not want to continue with Romy. We don't want to sling mud at someone, but that's the cause." ROMY has her own opinion about the split-up. She says: "I want to go solo now! I already have meetings with another record company in which I want to sing the songs I wrote myself - a mixture of popsoul and R & B. With 2 UNLIMITED I couldn't get a chance artistically. Furthermore, contractual agreements weren't always kept. I was disappointed in the co-operation. I expected more of it." Romy has followed, she says, a jazz education at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. "I actually had very different plans afterwards, but was asked for 2 UNLIMITED. I had to do auditions, but no prerounds. I was admitted immediately. It was a good way to get experience in showbiz and the world of records and I learned a lot from it", she says. "Apart from my artistic dissatisfaction I had a pleasant time. We travelled around the whole world. We proved to be very popular in Japan, where our records were selling good, we were in New York, in short it was very special." Dissatisfaction But why the dissatisfaction? Romy says: "I was promissed I could write my own songs, but in practice nothing came of it. I had as much as no say in the repertoire we sang and that's why I was having less fun doing my job." Befire she came to 2 UNLIMITED Romy had a contract for her own songs at BMC Publishing. "Byte Records bought me out at that time, and I thought I would be allowed to sing much of my own songs. But nothing came of it." Romy doesn't know whether 2Unlimited still will exist. "I have surely the impression that my collegue Marion wants to stop too next month." JEAN-PAUL DE COSTER of Byte Records says: "That is a new fact for me. Anyway, Marion cannot resign, she still has a contract with us. And I haven't heard anything about leaving. There are plans for a new cd, but first we have to decide how to continue, wat our strategy is." |
ROMY VAN OOIJEN (r) who built the formation 2 UNLIMITED together with MARION VAN IWAARDEN,
stepped out of the group. The record company doesn't want her anymore for professional and artistic reasons.