Ten Sharp is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 band

Band (music)

In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

 best known for its early 1990s hit song "You

You (Ten Sharp song)

"You" is the name of a 1991 song recorded by the Dutch band Ten Sharp. It was released in 1991 as their debut single from the album Under the Water-Line and became a hit in many countries, including France, Norway and Sweden, where it reached number one on the charts.-Background and writing:"You"...

", a hit in some Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an countries in 1991 and in others (such as the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, where it peaked at number 10) in 1992. The two band members are Marcel Kapteijn (vocals) and Niels Hermes (keyboards

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

).

Niels Hermes also worked with Attie Bauw on the first single by Esther Amadea.

Formation

Streets was a local band formed in the beginning 1982, when the two rival bands Prizoner and Pin-Up came together in the same room. Influenced by Thin Lizzy, they started writing symphonic rocksongs and played mainly in Purmerend and around. The first gig was at the Hutspop festival on March 3, 1982. The band at this stage was Marcel Kapteijn on vocals and guitar, Niels Hermes on keyboards, Martin Boers on leadguitar, Ton Groen on bass and Joop van de Berg played the drums. In the summer of '82, Joop van de Berg was replaced by Wil Bouwes from Neon Graffitti. This would be the line-up until the break-up in 1987.

Streets

In October 1982, the group was invited to record three songs at Vara's Popkrant, which resulted in national airplay. In April 1983 they played live at KRO Rocktempel which brought them to several record companies, but no one seemed to be interested. Around the summer of 1983, Niels Hermes' good old Fender Rhodes and ARP monophonic synthesizer were stolen. This resulted in buying the polyphonic Roland JX-3P and Yamaha DX7 synthesizers which caused a big change in sound. Driven by this new impulse, they locked themselves in Fort Spijkerboor to write new songs to impress the record companies. When they got out in February 1984 with a brand-new demo, finally there was interest at CBS Records. In September 1984 they recorded three songs in Studio Spitsbergen with Michiel Hoogenboezem including a demo-version of "When The Snow Falls". The plans were there to release the first single, until the record company found out there was already another band in the USA called Streets. The band had to change its name in October 1984. Ten Sharp was chosen because of the sound of the name.

First singles as Ten Sharp

"When The Snow Falls" was the first single, released in January 1985. The song ended up in the Tip-parade and Vara's Verrukkelijke 15. It gave the band a lot of attention on radio and television. The second single "Japanese Lovesong" ended up in the charts (number 30) in July 1985, while having a busy schedule with live-performances through the club-circuit in Holland. The next single "Last Words" failed to hit the charts and ended up in the Tip-parade in January 1986. The band shot their first video for the song. After a year of recording demo's and touring through The Netherlands they recorded their fourth single "Way Of The West" in February 1987. A guitar-heavy rocksong which failed immediately. CBS Records was not happy with the song and dropped the band. On October 17, 1987 they played their last show in Hazerswoude as a 5-piece band.

Songwriters

Niels Hermes and Ton Groen did continue writing songs for other artists. In 1989 they contributed two songs for the National Songcontest, without success, and Niels played in the band of Conny Vandenbos. After two years of songwriting, they asked Marcel Kapteijn to sing on the demos that already included "You" and "Ain't My Beating Heart". When Sony Music heard the demos they were very interested in the songs sung by Marcel, who was still fed up with the music business. Ten Sharp would be Marcel Kapteijn on vocals, Niels Hermes on keys and songwriting, and Ton Groen who provided the lyrics.

Under The Water-Line

It was the end of 1990 when they recorded 6 songs for "Under The Water-Line" at Studio Spitsbergen with producer Michiel Hoogenboezem. The name "Under The Water-Line" was chosen because of the way they liked to work: in the background. The album was released in March 1991 together with the single "You". The song became a national hit rapidly, and so did the album. By the time the single "Ain't My Beating Heart" was released, the 7-track album was expanded to a 10-track full album. Also for release in other countries. After the singles "When The Spirit Slips Away" and the re-release of "When The Snow Falls" they released the song "Rich Man" in March 1992, which resulted in their third hit from the album.

Commercial success with "You"

At this time, "You" was just released across Europe, enjoying a lot of success. The band toured through Europe to promote the single on TV and radiostations. Because of the line-up, live performances were done only with piano and vocals, sometimes joined by Tom Barlage on saxophone. This continued until the fall of 1992.

The Fire Inside

The second album was recorded in the fall of 1992 in the Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum with Michiel Hoogenboezem producing together with Niels Hermes. The record became more intense and intimate than its predecessor. The album was released in May 1993, together with the single "Dreamhome (Dream On)" which entered the Dutch charts. The second single "Lines On Your Face" didn't. In March 1994, "Rumours In The City" was released. The song was inspired by a promotional trip to Argentina in 1992. The video got support from Amnesty International with footage out of the archives of Amnesty. The single did enter the charts.

Albums

• 1991: Under the Water-Line
  Under the Water-Line
  Under The Water-Line is the debut album from the Dutch band Ten Sharp and contains the hit singles "You", "Ain't My Beating Heart" and "Rich Man". The album was released in March 1991 with seven tracks, but by the time "You" became a national hit the album was expanded with three new songs to make...
  
  
• 1993: The Fire Inside
• 1995: Shop of Memories
• 1996: Roots Live
• 2000: Everything and More (Best Of)
• 2003: Stay

Singles

• 1985: "When the Snow Falls
  When the Snow Falls
  "When the Snow Falls" is the first single from the Dutch group Ten Sharp, released in January 1985. The song was written by the band and produced by Michiel Hoogenboezem. The single made it into the Vara's Verrukkelijke 15 charts and entered the Dutch Top 40 Tip-charts at the end of January 1985....
  
  "
• 1985: "Japanese Lovesong
  Japanese Lovesong
  "Japanese Lovesong" is the second single from the Dutch group Ten Sharp, released in June 1985. The song was written by the band and produced by Michiel Hoogenboezem. The single made it into the Dutch Top 40, reaching number 30. The song combines a reggae-feel with Eastern vocal lines and...
  
  "
• 1986: "Last Words
  Last Words (song)
  Last Words is the third single from the Dutch group Ten Sharp, released in January 1986. The song was written by the band and produced by Michiel Hoogenboezem. The single made it into the Dutch Top 40 Tip-charts. In March 1986, they shot a video for the song in "De Posthoorn" church in...
  
  "
• 1987: "Way of the West"
• 1991: "You
  You (Ten Sharp song)
  "You" is the name of a 1991 song recorded by the Dutch band Ten Sharp. It was released in 1991 as their debut single from the album Under the Water-Line and became a hit in many countries, including France, Norway and Sweden, where it reached number one on the charts.-Background and writing:"You"...
  
  "
• 1991: "Ain't My Beating Heart
  Ain't My Beating Heart
  "Ain't My Beating Heart" is the sixth single from the Dutch group Ten Sharp, released in June 1991 as the follow-up single to "You". The music is composed by Niels Hermes and the lyrics are written by Ton Groen...
  
  "
• 1991: "When the Spirit Slips Away
  When the Spirit Slips Away
  "When the Spirit Slips Away" is the seventh single from the Dutch group Ten Sharp, released in September 1991. The music is composed by Niels Hermes and the lyrics are written by Ton Groen. There was no official video shot for this single....
  
  "
• 1991: "When the Snow Falls
  When the Snow Falls
  "When the Snow Falls" is the first single from the Dutch group Ten Sharp, released in January 1985. The song was written by the band and produced by Michiel Hoogenboezem. The single made it into the Vara's Verrukkelijke 15 charts and entered the Dutch Top 40 Tip-charts at the end of January 1985....
  
  "
• 1992: "Rich Man
  Rich Man
  "Rich Man" is the ninth single from the Dutch group Ten Sharp, released in March 1992. The music is composed by Niels Hermes and the lyrics are written by Ton Groen...
  
  "
• 1993: "Dreamhome (Dream On)"
• 1993: "Lines on Your Face"
• 1994: "Rumours in the City"
• 1994: "After All the Love Has Gone"
• 1995: "Feel My Love"
• 1995: "Shop of Memories"
• 1996: "Whenever I Fall"
• 1996: "Old Town"
• 1996: "Howzat"
• 1997: "Harvest for the World"
• 2000: "Beautiful"
• 2000: "Everything"
• 2003: "One Love"