Anka Wolbert (also Anke Wolbert, born 10 June 1963) is a Dutch musician, singer, songwriter and

web developer A web developer is a programmer who develops World Wide Web applications using a client–server model. The applications typically use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in the client, and any general-purpose programming language in the server. is used f ...

, best known for her work with

Clan of Xymox Clan of Xymox, also known as simply Xymox, are a Dutch rock band from Nijmegen formed in 1981 best known as pioneers of darkwave music. Clan of Xymox featured a trio of singers and songwriters – Ronny Moorings, Anka Wolbert, and Pieter Noot ...

Music career

Xymox, Clan of Xymox

Anka Wolbert co-founded the band

Xymox Clan of Xymox, also known as simply Xymox, are a Dutch rock band from Nijmegen formed in 1981 best known as pioneers of darkwave music. Clan of Xymox featured a trio of singers and songwriters – Ronny Moorings, Anka Wolbert, and Pieter Nooten ...

with Ronny Moorings in 1981, self-publishing their first mini-album '' Subsequent Pleasures'' in 1983.

Pieter Nooten Pieter Nooten (born 22 January 1961 in Oss) is a Dutch musician and composer best known for his work with Clan of Xymox. Music career Nooten's musical career began in the late 1970s. Starting out as the drummer in a local symphonic rock band, h ...

joined the band as third songwriter shortly after this release. With the name Xymox lengthened to

, they signed a recording contract with independent UK label 4AD and released their eponymous debut album ''

'' in 1985. The track ''7th Time'', with Anka Wolbert on lead vocals, was picked up by

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

, leading to the band recording twice at the legendary Peel Sessions at the BBC, in June and November 1985. Peel referred to the band's dark and melancholic sound as

darkwave Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...

. In 1986, Clan of Xymox released their second album ''

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

'' on 4AD. The album was described by

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

as 'an overriding achievement … every track sounds like the finale to a brooding epic overture' with the track ''Masquerade'' (written and sung by Wolbert) acclaimed as 'an elegant ballad with her bass high in the mix and scored with strings'. Wolbert and Moorings moved to London and the band toured the United States and Europe. As US success grew, Clan of Xymox left 4AD and signed to New York-based label

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

. Abbreviated to Xymox again, the band's third album ''

Twist of Shadows ''Twist of Shadows'' is Xymox's third full-length album, released in 1989 on Wing Records (PolyGram) and produced by Peter Walsh (acclaimed producer of Simple Minds's New Gold Dream album). The album captured Billboard's "Hot Shot Debut" hono ...

'' was released on

in 1989. In the United States, this album created a cult following for the band with much support from college radio stations and sold out venues on live tours. Two singles taken from the Twist of Shadows album, ''Blind Hearts'' and ''Obsession'' reached the US Billboard charts. The album's third single ''Imagination'', written and sung by Anka Wolbert, brought the band the most mainstream attention, charting at No. 85 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100, generating Top 40 radio airplay and MTV rotation of the ''Imagination'' video. Shortly after the release of their fourth album ''

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

'' on PolyGram in 1991, Wolbert moved from London to NYC, home to Polygram's headquarters. Wolbert left Xymox in 1992.

Solo and collaborative career

In 1993, Wolbert collaborated with

Toni Halliday Antoinette "Toni" Halliday (born 5 July 1964) is an English musician best known as the lead vocalist, lyricist, and occasional guitarist of the alternative rock band Curve, along with Dean Garcia. She was also a member of the bands Photofitz, ...

(from the band

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line (geometry), line, but that does not have to be Linearity, straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point (ge ...

) on a new album under the band name of Bud. Wolbert got signed by Dave Stewart of

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...

to the publishing side of his label,

Anxious Records Anxious Records (sometimes typeset as AnXious) was a record label set up by David A. Stewart of Eurythmics, and overseen by Stewart with Infectious Music's Korda Marshall (when Marshall was at BMG/RCA Records). Originally set up as a BMG label, ...

. While the Bud album didn't see its release, material written for this album was taken to a new band started by Wolbert called Vaselyn in 1994. Wolbert returned to 4AD signing a development deal with the label in 1994. Pieter Nooten joined Vaselyn as co-writer and musician in 1995. In 1996, Vaselyn signed a worldwide deal to a subsidiary of

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Music, The Enclave, in NYC. In 1997, EMI folded the label into

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

which left many artists in limbo, Vaselyn one of them, and Wolbert decided to take a break from the music industry. Wolbert recorded and released her first solo album ''Cocoon Time'', co-produced by

, on I-Rain Records in 2006. ''Slug Magazine'' reviewed the album as exotic, atmospheric pop with an edge and 'a triumphant return'. ''Textura Magazine'' proclaimed the album 'impresses as a splendid and oft-intoxicating collection of classic songwriting, romantic mood-sculpting, and earthy vocalizing.' Dutch music magazine ''

OOR ''OOR'' is the oldest currently published music magazine in the Netherlands. ''Oor'' is the Dutch word for ear. Until 1984 it was published as ''Muziekkrant Oor''. History The magazine was first published on 1 April 1971, being founded by Ba ...

'' classified the album as 'sincere pop' and 'full of strong melodies, striking textual depth full of sincerity about love, rock & roll life, sex, addictions and being on the run'. ''Chain D.L.K.'' called it 'a hypnotic masterpiece. Anka's songwriting skills have proven to be the best even since the Xymox-era of what she had to display.' In the same year, Wolbert co-produced Pieter's solo album ''Ourspace'' on I-Rain Records. Wolbert and Nooten also co-produced Sophie Zeyl's album ''Running Two Ways'' on I-Rain Records in 2006. Anka Wolbert lives in London and now works as a web developer.

Discography

With Clan of Xymox

Studio albums *''

'' (4AD, 1985) *''

'' (4AD, 1986) *''

'' (

Wing Records Wing Records was a record label subsidiary of Mercury Records founded in 1955, that found its greatest success during the late 1950s. In 1986, the label was revived by Mercury's parent company, PolyGram and the label had brief success with R&B ...

/Polydor, 1989) *''

'' (

/PolydorNYC, 1991) Singles/EPs *'' Subsequent Pleasures'' (vinyl 12", self-released, 1983; re-released Dark Entries Records, 2014) *"A Day" (12", 4AD, 1986) *"A Day/Stranger" (12", 4AD, 1985) *"Louise" (7", Megadisc, 1986) *"Muscoviet Musquito" (promotional 7", Virgin France 1986) *"Blind Hearts" (12", 4AD/Rough Trade, 1987) *"Blind Hearts" (12",

, 1989) *"Obsession" (12", PolyGram, 1989) *"Imagination" (12" and CD-single, PolyGram, 1989) *"Phoenix" (CD and LP, Wing/Polydor, 1991) *"Phoenix of My Heart" (Maxi CD and 12", Wing/Polydor, 1991) *"At the End of the Day" (Maxi CD and 12", Wing/Polydor, 1991)

As Anka Wolbert

Studio album *''Cocoon Time'' (I-Rain, 2006)

References

External links

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*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolbert, Anka 1963 births Dutch bass guitarists Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom Dutch electronic musicians Dutch graphic designers Dutch keyboardists Women bass guitarists Women new wave singers Lesbian musicians LGBT singers from the Netherlands Living people Dutch new wave musicians Musicians from Amsterdam Post-punk musicians 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Women in punk