The Hermes House Band is a Dutch pop band, established in 1982 by members of the Rotterdamsch Studenten Corps, a fraternity/sorority in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands. They have released more than 25 albums and singles.

History

The band rose to fame in 1994 in both the Netherlands and Belgium, with their

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Gaynor ( née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...

's hit single, "

I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 as the second single from her sixth album, '' Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. A top-selling song, it is a popular di ...

"; and as of 2018 over 1.5 million copies of the single has been sold. It was reported that when Gloria Gaynor first heard a crowd sing this version of the cover of her song while performing at a company party in the Netherlands she was "not amused". In 1998, the single became a hit in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and lead singer Judith Ansems was asked to promote the song there. That year it also reached number one in France, largely because it became the anthem of the national football team and that year France went on to win the FIFA World Cup. Today, in popular French culture, it is still associated with the 1998 World Cup victory. The band landed a local recording contract with

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

and alongside Ansems, former singers Jop Wijlacker and Robin Maas, the band was asked to record other covers, including "

Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver about West Virginia. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two ...

" and "

Que Sera Sera "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" is a song written by the team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans that was first published in 1955. Doris Day introduced it in the Alfred Hitchcock film '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956), singing it as ...

". These were issued in Germany under HHB International. Several of these singles were also released in the Netherlands. Their biggest hit in the United Kingdom was their cover of "Country Roads", released shortly before Christmas 2001. It peaked at No. 7 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and remained in the Top 10 for five weeks. It reached number 1 in the

Scottish Singles Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...

in December 2001 and again in January 2002. In 2002, the Hermes House Band joined forces with

DJ Ötzi Gerhard "Gerry" Friedle (born 7 January 1971), better known by his stage name DJ Ötzi (), is an Austrian pop and Schlager singer. Successful mainly in German-speaking countries, he is best known in the English-speaking world for his 2000 single ...

to cover "

Live Is Life "Live Is Life" is a 1984 song by Austrian pop rock band Opus. It was released as the first single from their first live album, ''Live Is Life'' (1984), and was also included on the US version of their fourth studio album, '' Up and Down'' (1984 ...

", originally by

Opus ''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.). Opus or OPUS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...

. This single reached No. 2 in the French chart, and No. 50 in the UK. In 2010, the former lead singer of the band,

Jaap van Reesema Jaap Siewertsz van Reesema (born 28 October 1984), professionally known as Jake Reese, is a Dutch singer-songwriter. After winning the Dutch ''X Factor'', Reesema collaborated with Hardwell on his singles "Run Wild" and "Mad World", for which h ...

, won the third series of the Dutch version of ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''. In 2018, the band reached No.1 in France again with their version of "I Will Survive" after the French football team repeated their winning performance in the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

Band members

Current members * Miss Sally – vocals * Mr. Jop – vocals * Bas Vegas – bass guitar * Sjoerd de Freeze – keyboards * Lex Flex – drums * Pelle Soontiëns – saxophone * Tropical Danny – guitar Former members * Judith Ansems – vocals *

Jaap Reesema Jaap Siewertsz van Reesema (born 28 October 1984), professionally known as Jake Reese, is a Dutch singer-songwriter. After winning the Dutch ''X Factor'', Reesema collaborated with Hardwell on his singles "Run Wild" and "Mad World", for which h ...

– vocals * Robin McMaas – vocals * Gerben Kline Willing – trumpet * Dirk Bates – trumpet

Discography

*''The Album'' (2002) # "

" # "

" # "Tonight's the Night" # "

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a 1969 song written and recorded by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer, attributed to a then-fictitious band they named "Steam". It was released under the Mercury subsidiary label Fontana and became a ...

" # "As novinha tão sensacional" # "Disco Samba, Pt. 2 (Back to Brasil)" # "Holiday Express (Kedeng Kedeng)" # "Don't You Cry (Bye, Bye)" # "

Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. It was recorded as a single by Frankie Valli. The song was among his biggest hits, earning a gold record and reaching No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for a w ...

" # "

" # Megamix: "I Will Survive"/"Nana Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye"/"Can't Take ..." *''Get Ready to Party'' (2004) # "All Over the World" # "

Those Were the Days Those Were the Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''Those Were the Days'' (Johnny Mathis album) (1968) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Cream album) (1997) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Dolly Parton album) (2005) * '' Those Were the Days – The Best of L ...

" # "Live is Life" # " Football's Coming Home (Three Lions)" # "Portugal" # "

Hit the Road Jack "Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by the rhythm and blues singer Percy Mayfield and recorded by Ray Charles. The song was a US number 1 hit in 1961, and won a Grammy award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording, becoming one of Charles' signat ...

" # "Suzanna" # "I Am What I Am" # "Everytime You Touch Me" # "Me ; Margarita" # "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" # "It's in the Way You Want Me" # "All Come Together" # "

Ain't No Mountain High Enough "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and ...

" # "Born to Rock and Roll" # "Never Give In" # "One More for the Road" # "

Happy Birthday Baby Happy Birthday Baby was a hit for Tony Christie in 1974. It was also a hit for Lee Towers in 1980. Tony Christie version The song was written by Barry Mason and Roger Greenaway. It was released in the UK on MCA MCA 157 in September 1974. The B ...

" # "Celebrate! The HHB Summermedley!" *''Rhythm of the Night'' (2008) # "The Rhythm of the Night" (Party mix) # "The Rhythm of the Night" (Extended mix) *''Greatest Hits'' (2006) # "Go West" # "I Will Survive 2006" # "(Is This The Way To) Amarillo" - Tony Christie # "Football's Coming Home 2006 (Three Lions)" # "Live is Life" # "Que Sera Sera" # "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" # "Country Roads" # "Those Were the Days" # "Hit the Road Jack" # "Suzanna" # "Friends Like You" # "Everytime You Touch Me" # "Me ; Margarita" # "All come together" # "Portugal" # "One More for the Road" # "I Will Survive" *''Rhythm of the Nineties'' (2009) # "The First the Last Eternity" # "The Rhythm of the Night" # "Saturday Night" # "I've Been Thinking About You" # "Party Polka" # "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" # "Rhythm is a Dancer" # "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" # "The Moment of Truth" # "What is Love" # "The Only Way is Up" # "No Limit" # "Please Don't Go (Don't You)" # "Come on Eileen" # "Don't Worry Be Happy" *''Champions - The Greatest Stadium Hits'' (2010) # "Chelsea Dagger" # "Football's Coming Home 2006 (Three Lions)" # "I Will Survive" # "Que Sera Sera" # "Country Roads" # "Seven Nation Army" # "Sweet Caroline" # "Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye" # "Hit The Road Jack" # "Go West" # "Those Were The Days" # "Live Is Life (JB Mix)" # "

Come On Eileen "Come On Eileen" is a song by the English group Dexys Midnight Runners (credited to Dexys Midnight Runners and the Emerald Express), released in the United Kingdom in June 1982 as a single from their second studio album '' Too-Rye-Ay''. It reach ...

" # "The Moment Of Truth" # "Please Don't Go" # "Football MegamiX (XXL Party Version)"

References

External links

Hermeshouseband.comHermeshouseband.nl
{{Authority control Musical groups from Rotterdam Musical groups established in 1982 Dutch Eurodance groups Dutch pop music groups 1982 establishments in the Netherlands