Jo Bogaert (born 1956) is a Belgian musician, songwriter, and
record producer. Working under his own name and a long list of
pseudonyms (usually Thomas de Quincey or a variation thereof), he is the man behind
Technotronic and is considered to have been of the most successful artists in the
new beat genre.
Early life and career
Bogaert was born in 1956 in
Aalst, Belgium
Aalst (; french: Alost, ; Brabantian dialect, Brabantian: ''Oilsjt'') is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality on the Dender River, northwest from Brussels in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, ...
.
His father ran an electronics shop.
Bogaert studied philosophy and played in a number of bands in different genres, including
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
and
new wave. He released one album under his own name in 1984, ''None of Them Are Green''. In 1987, he wrote the soundtrack for the theatre production ''Riot 88''.
New beat and Technotronic
In 1989, Bogaert (credited as Thomas de Quincey) created the project Technotronic, with which he released the single "
Pump Up the Jam". The song eventually reached No. 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and on the UK charts, and No. 1 in
Flanders and Spain. The single sold 3.5 million copies worldwide.
The group released a further string of hit singles, ending in 1992 with "
Move This", which reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. They played as the opening act on
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
's
Blond Ambition World Tour.
During the same period, Bogaert was also behind a number of other
new beat bands, including
Nux Nemo and
Acts of Madmen.
Later career
Bogaert released ''Different Voices'', a more ambient-oriented album, under his own name in 1993, and in 1996, he led the project Millennium (with one song featuring vocals by
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...
), but this didn't prove successful. His main work over the following decades was as a producer, often for techno and EDM acts but also for completely different genres. He produced the 1995 album ''Monstertje'' by
Gorki Gorki may refer to:
* Gorki Águila (b. 1968), Cuban rock musician
* Gorki (band), a Belgian band of Luc De Vos
* Gorki (Kazan Metro), a station of the Kazan Metro, Kazan, Russia
* Gorki Ridge, a ridge in Antarctica
* Gorki, Russia, several inh ...
. In 2000, he produced ''Oude maan'', the first album in ten years by singer-songwriter
Jan De Wilde.
In 1999 and 2006, he worked with
An Pierlé
An Pierlé (born An Miel Mia Pierlé on 13 December 1974) is a Belgian pianist and singer-songwriter.
Career
She studied classical piano and enrolled at the age of 17 at the art school in Antwerp. In her third year there she made a solo progr ...
on her albums ''Mud Stories'' and ''White Velvet'', respectively. In 2004, he collaborated with
Gabriel Ríos on the album ''Ghostboy'' and again in 2007 on ''Angelhead''; this record reached #2 on the Flemish charts.
In 2015, Bogaert wrote ''Dag meneer De Wilde'', a biography of Jan De Wilde.
He also wrote two books about his hometown of Aalst
and a work on painter
Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck ( , ; – July 9, 1441) was a painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. Ac ...
.
Solo discography
* ''None of Them Are Green'' (1984)
* ''Riot 88'' (1987)
* ''Different Voices'' (1993)
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogaert, Jo
Living people
1956 births
People from Aalst, Belgium
Belgian record producers