Dance Nation (dance group)

Dance Nation is a Dutch Electronic Dance Music formation founded in 2001 by songwriters, producers and DJs Rob Janssen & Brad Grobler. Dutch singers and performers Sean & Kim are the live act fronting Dance Nation since their first and highly successful single "Sunshine".

Dance Nation
Also known asDouble Nation, R.I.P., Sean & Kim
OriginNetherlands
GenresTrance, House music
Years active2001 - present
LabelsIn Trance We Trust (Black Hole Recordings), Noculan Music, Purple Eye Entertainment, Avex Productions
MembersRob Janssen, Bradon John Grobler
Websitefacebook.com/dancenationlive

Their debut single, Sunshine, was especially successful, blending trance and house influences with catchy vocals. The group’s live performances are fronted by singers Sean and Kim, who have been part of Dance Nation since the beginning, bringing energy and charisma to the stage.

Biography

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Early years (2001-2003)

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Dance Nation released their debut single 'Sunshine' in 2001. This was followed by singles such as "Dance", "Words", and "You Take Me Away". In 2004, they switched to the name "Double Nation" due to legal proceedings.

In 2003, they also collaborated with The Lovestern Galaktika Project for the single "My First Love".

2003-2005

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In this period, following the label crisis Noculan Music (after inglobed into Jamie Lewis by his Purple Eye Entertainment), that struck not only Dance Nation, but also other trance artists such as Noémi and 666 and the general mutation of the music genres in Europe, going House, Hard House and Elektro, lead Dance Nation to land in Japan, where they still have a great deal of success and their production focused in the last years. From this moment on, the group had a sort of split life, releasing Trance projects for Japanese market and House ones for the European one. In this climate born singles like "Beachtime" in Japan and "I'm Gonna Get You" and the House/Elektro track "Move Your Love" in Europe.

It's because their production are more Asian based than European, that it is difficult to find their releases outside Japan, both in online and retail stores and it's because of that too that no one knows about the release of two albums and a compilation. Titles are Trance Champion, released in 2005 by the Japanese label Avex Productions, containing all the past-released singles, including "Celebrate Your Life", that, listening to some people, should have been the next single; One Nation in 2007 always by the same label; and Christmas Trance in winter 2006, including a lot of popular Christmas melodies rearranged in Trance style, like Dance Nation always did.

2006 - 2021

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Just before summer 2006 Dance Nation released their single "Ridin' High", which confirmed a general move towards House music sounds of the European market. An album was going to be produced too, with an undisclosed release date, containing some remixes of their first single, "Sunshine". Remixes were being collected from their numerous fans all over the world but sadly such a remix Lp never happened. Continuing the house music sound in 2007 they released the single 'Move Your Love', a collaborative rework of the popular year 2000 released 'On The Move' by Barthezz. It was not until two years later that new material were published in the form of the two compilation albums 'Vocal Trance Years 2001-2004 // 2004-2009'. Compilations containing the early singles, 'Move Your Love' as well as additional singles in the form of 'Celebrate Your Life', 'Reach For The Light' and 'I'm Gonna Get You'. In addition popular tracks such as 'Fired Up', 'Lovin Arms' and 'Summer Rain'.

2010 saw the release of the two House singles 'Surround Me' and 'Great Divide', while their collaborative track with dance-project R.I.O. 'Miss Sunshine' was released with great success in 2011. 'Storm' followed in 2015. The following six years no new original material was released, although a string of remixes/reworks of their most popular track 'Sunshine' were published throughout those years.

Rise & Shine (2002/2022)

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The Dance Nation track 'Rise & Shine' was originally written and produced back in year 2002. It was written as a potential second single following 'Sunshine', but 'Dance!' was eventually chosen. While the 'Ralphie B Tech Mix' of 'Rise & Shine' was included on the 2002 vinyl 'Dance/Rise & Shine', released by Black Hole Recordings (In Trance We Trust), the additional mixes in the 2022 released digital package have never been published before. Dutch producer & DJ Ralph Barendse (Ralphie B) did a 'Ralphie B's Tech Edit' for the digital release.

Actual situation 2022

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The two main writers and producers of Dance Nation - Rob Janssen and Brad Grobler - are still very much active in own as well as collaborative projects, writing and producing for various artists. 2022 saw the very early Dance Nation singles made digital available - 'Sunshine', 'Dance!', 'Words' and 'You Take Me Away'. In addition 'My First Love' and the never before released 2002 single 'Rise & Shine'. The Dance Nation producer team are currently discussing new releases and in which direction to go sound wise. In addition Brad and Rob still perform live as part of a Dance Nation live formation.

Discography

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Singles

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  • 2001 - "Sunshine"
  • 2002 - "Dance"
  • 2002 - "Words"
  • 2003 - "My First Love" (Lovestern Galaktika Project Meets Dance Nation)
  • 2003 - "You Take Me Away"
  • 2005 - "I'm Gonna Get You"
  • 2005 - "Stop the Seasons in the Sun"
  • 2005 - "Beachtime"
  • 2006 - "Reach for the Light"
  • 2006 - "Move Your Love"
  • 2007 - "Ridin' High"
  • 2008 - "Apologize"
  • 2009 - "Sunshine 2009" (vs Shaun Baker)
  • 2010 - "Great Divide"
  • 2010 - "Surround Me"
  • 2012 - "Storm"
  • 2022 - "Rise & Shine" (Ralphie B remix released on vinyl only in 2002. The additional mixes of Rise & Shine date from the same time period and have never been published before)

Albums

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  • 2005 - Trance Champion
  • 2007 - One Nation
  • 2008 - Around the world

Compilations

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  • 2006 - Christmas Trance
  • 2009 - Vocal Trance Years 2001-2004
  • 2009 - Vocal Trance Years 2005-2009

Extra

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  • 2002 - "Joy to the World" (lately added in the Christmas Trance compilation)
  • 2002 - "Merry X-Mas (War is Over)" (lately added in the Christmas Trance compilation)
  • 2004 - "Beethoven's 9th Symphony" (never added to an official release)

Track listing

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Singles

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Sunshine (2001)
  1. Sunshine (Original Vocal Radio Edit)
  2. Sunshine (Original Vocal Mix)
  3. Sunshine (Wippenberg Remix)
  4. Sunshine (Kevin C. Cox Remix)
  5. Sunshine (Alien Factory Remix)
  6. Sunshine (Bradski & Jenski Mix)
Dance (2002)
  1. Dance (Radio Mix)
  2. Dance (Extended Mix)
  3. Dance (Original Mix)
  4. Dance (DJ Team Trance Mix)
  5. Dance (Fire & Ice Remix)
  6. Dance (Magik Muzik Remix)
Words (2002)
  1. Original Radio Edit
  2. Bradski & Jenski Radio Edit
  3. Album Version
  4. Original Extended Mix
  5. Bradski & Jenski Extended Mix
  6. Noémi Remix
  7. Magik Muzik Remix
  8. You (Bonus Track)
My First Love (2003)
  1. Single Edit
  2. Extended Version
  3. Axel Coon Remix
  4. Bradsky & Jensky Remix
You Take Me Away (2003)
  1. Radio Edit
  2. Video Edit
  3. Original Extended Mix
  4. Bradski & Jenski Dub Mix
  5. Flashrider Remix
  6. Master Blaster Remix
  7. Blair Bitch Remix
Stop the Seasons in the Sun (2005)
  1. Radio Edit
  2. Extended Mix
I'm Gonna Get You (2005)
  1. Radio Edit
  2. Extended Vocal Mix
  3. Bradski & Jenski Remix
  4. DJ Zany Remix
  5. Chew Fu Phat Remix
Beachtime (2005)
  1. Radio Edit
  2. Extended Mix
Move Your Love (2005)
  1. Move Your Love Radio Mix
  2. Inspiration Vibes Radio Mix
  3. Extended Radio Mix
  4. Inspiration Vibes Extended Mix
  5. Dance Nation DJ Extended Mix
  6. Schampoo Remix
  7. Beholder & Ballistic Remix
Reach for the Light (2006)
  1. Dance Nation Radio Mix
  2. Dance Nation Extended Mix
  3. HardStyle Remix
Ridin' High (2007)
  1. Radio Edit
  2. Original Extended Mix
  3. Hi_Tack Remix
Great Divide (2010)
  1. Radio Edit
  2. Radio Extended Mix
  3. Frontier Remix
  4. Dub Extended
  5. Manox Radio Edit
  6. Manox Extended Remix
  7. Sun Kidz Radio Cut
  8. Sun Kidz Extended Mix
  9. Mauricio Black Remix
Storm (2012)
  1. Storm (Vocal Extended)
  2. Storm (Extended Yaroon Remix)
  3. Storm (Vocal Extended Ryan Watts Remix)
  4. Storm (Frontier Extended Mix)
  5. Storm (Radio Edit)
Rise & Shine (2022)
  1. Rise & Shine (Original Radio Edit)
  2. Rise & Shine (Vocal Trance Radio Edit)
  3. Rise & Shine (Ralphie B's Tech Edit)
  4. Rise & Shine (DJ Team Edit)
  5. Rise & Shine (Vocal Extended Mix)
  6. Rise & Shine (Bradski & Jenski Vocal Trance Mix)
  7. Rise & Shine (Ralphie B's Tech Mix)

Albums

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Trance Champion (2005)
  1. Sunshine (Japanese Live Mix)
  2. Seasons in the Sun (Japanese Live Mix)
  3. Beachtime (Japanese Live Mix)
  4. Wa Is Not
  5. Livin' on a Prayer
  6. You Take Me Away
  7. Move Your Love
  8. Please Don't Go
  9. I'm Gonna Get You
  10. Rise and Shine
  11. Dance
  12. Celebrate Your Life
  13. Words
  14. Falling for You
  15. Move Your Love (Sham-Poo Remix)
  16. Sunshine (Wippenberg Remix)
  17. Oh Summer Vacation (Extended Mix)
One Nation (2007)
  1. Zip
  2. Sunshine 2006 (Shohei Matsumoto Remix)
  3. Reach for the Light
  4. Ridin' High
  5. Everybody's Free
  6. In the Summertime
  7. Pump This Party
  8. Higher than Love
  9. Let Love Shine
  10. You Lift Me Up
  11. Fired Up
  12. Bring Back Your Love
  13. Move Your Love (Sham-Poo Remix)
  14. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
  15. Livin' on a Prayer
  16. Ridin' High (Hi_Tack Remix)
  17. Footloose
Around the world (2008)
  1. Sunshine (Dance Nation DJ team Radio edit)
  2. Superstar
  3. Set me free
  4. Mobe your love
  5. Sunlight
  6. Beautiful
  7. Rush
  8. V.I.P.
  9. Take me
  10. I believe
  11. Feel the power
  12. Reach for you
  13. One million reasons
  14. Sunlight (hyper trance mix)
  15. Move your love (Shohei Matsumoto Remix)
  16. Real thing (DJ Tora Remix)

Compilations

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Christmas Trance (2006)
  1. Sean & Kim - Winter Snow(Intro)
  2. Castalia feat. Kim - All I Want for Christmas Is You
  3. Cyber X feat. Ray Parker - Last Christmas
  4. Watergate - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Heart of Asia)
  5. D-Nation feat. Kim - Happy XMas (War Is Over)
  6. Hiver & Hammer feat. Karyn White - Wonderful Christmastime
  7. Orion Too feat. Caitlin - White Christmas
  8. Castalia - Jingle Bells
  9. Plasticman - Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
  10. Celtic Dreamer feat. Dorothy - Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
  11. Cyber Nation feat. Ho! Ho! Ho! - Joy to the World
  12. Cyber X feat. Jody Watley - My Love, Santa Claus
  13. Merry X-Mas & Minimalistix - Winter Wonderland
  14. Cyber Nation feat. Sean & Kim - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
  15. Orion Too feat. Caitlin - First of May
  16. Cyber X feat. SWANK (members from Rockapella) - It's Christmas Carols I Hear
  17. Cyber X feat. Taylor Dayne - Promise
  18. Sunshine Girl - Amazing Grace
  19. Angels - Ave Maria
  20. Cyber X feat. Jody Watley - Silent Night
  21. Merry X-Mas & Minimalistix - O Holy Night

Bonuses

  1. S.T.F. feat. Keen - You fill me up
  2. Samantha Fox - A Question of Honour

References

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