"Welcome To My Party" is the fourteenth single by the Dutch girl group

Luv' Luv' were a Dutch girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe (Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Finland) as well as Israel, South Africa, Rhodesia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada ...

, released in the autumn of 1989 by

Dureco Dureco is a Dutch independent record label based in the Netherlands. Over the years many artists and groups such as the Amboina Serenaders, Judy Cheeks, Jules de Corte, De Dijk, Jef Elbers, Gotcha!, Samantha Jones, Ming Luhulima, the Mena Moeri ...

/High Fashion records. This song appears on the 1989 EP ''For You'' and is the group's comeback record since their 1981 single

Tingalingaling "Tingalingaling" (also credited as Tingeling) is the thirteenth single by the Dutch girl group Luv', released in the summer of 1981 by CNR/Carrere Records. The song appears on the Forever Yours (Luv' Album), Forever Yours album and the Goodbye Luv ...

. It was recorded by a line-up consisting of

Marga Scheide Margareth "Marga" Scheide (born 15 February 1954 in Amsterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch singer and former Model (person), model. She was a member of the girl group Luv'. Alongside Patty Brard and José Hoebee, she scored a string of international ...

(the only original

singer) and two new members, Michelle Gold and

Diana van Berlo Diana van Berlo (born 6 January 1966 in Helmond, Netherlands) is a Dutch pop female singer. She was a member of the girl group Luv' from 1989 to 1992. She scored with the female formation a Dutch and Flemish Top 30 hit with the single " Wel ...

Background

In late October 1988, the original Luv' girls (

José Hoebee Josina van de Wijdeven (born 29 March 1954), known as José Hoebee, is a Dutch pop singer. She was a member of Luv', a famous Dutch girl group in the late 1970s and early 1980s that scored hits in more than 15 countries. In late 1981, she went ...

and

Patty Brard A patty or burger (in British English) is a flattened, usually round, serving of ground meat and/or legumes, grains, vegetables, or meat alternatives. Patties are found in multiple cuisines throughout the world. In British and American Eng ...

) reunited for the Dutch TV charity show "Samen" (hosted by

Mies Bouwman Maria Antoinette "Mies" Bouwman (31 December 1929 – 26 February 2018) was a Dutch television presenter. Career Born in Amsterdam, she started her career on the very first broadcasting evening of the Dutch broadcasting association KRO (Catholi ...

) to perform their

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

You're the Greatest Lover "You're the Greatest Lover" is a single by the Dutch girl group Luv'. It was first released in July 1978 by Philips/Phonogram Records. It appears on the 1978 debut album With Luv' and on compilations ( Luv' Gold, 25 Jaar Na Waldolala, Complete ...

. This reunion was unexpected and provoked an enthusiastic reaction among the trio's fans.

planned to record new material. The famous British "Hit machine"

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considered ...

were announced to produce it. However, this project never materialized. In April 1989,

refused to be involved in a comeback due to family reasons. She was replaced by the 23-year-old

. In early August 1989, Patty Brard suddenly left Luv' as she signed a contract with the newly created RTL Véronique TV channel. A replacement had to be found. Marga recruited 28-year-old English vocalist Michelle Gold (born Rachelle Gold). The 1989 Luv' trio had a record deal with

/High Hashion Music.

Hans van Hemert Hans van Hemert (born 7 April 1945 in Voorburg, Netherlands) is a Dutch ASCAP award-winning record producer and songwriter. Mouth & MacNeal and Luv' are among the pop acts he produced. He also composed three songs for the Eurovision Song Contest ...

and

Piet Souer Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Souer (born 29 March 1948, Eindhoven) is a Dutch record producer, songwriter and arranger. His collaboration with acts (such as Luv', Mouth & MacNeal, Liesbeth List, Ramses Shaffy, American Gypsy, and Champagne) made him ga ...

, who originally conceived the

concept, did not collaborate with the renewed line-up of the female formation. With the help of Marga's partner, Jacques Zwart (aka E. Mergency), a new musical direction was chosen and the British producer Nigel Wright was hired to supervise new recordings. Wright was a veteran of the English dance scene thanks to the hits he produced for

Shakatak Shakatak is an English jazz-funk band founded in 1980 by Nigel Wright and former Wigan Casino DJ Kev Roberts. Following an initial white label release 'Steppin', the band's name was derived from a record store in Soho, London Record Shack. I ...

Imagination Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

and other bands.

recorded the six-track mini-album For You. Most of the work was done at Wright's Skratch Studios in London while the vocals were recorded at Dureco studio in

Weesp Weesp () is a city, an urban area in the municipality of Amsterdam and a former municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It had a population of in . It lies on the river Vecht and next to the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal in an are ...

, the Netherlands. The girl group was inspired by the

PWL Pete Waterman Entertainment (PWE) is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by British pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label, originally PWL (Pete Waterman Limited), is most famous for being the home of hit record prod ...

sound that dominated European music production in the late 1980s. In early October 1989, Dureco/High Fashion Music decided to release the

Dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

single "Welcome to My Party" as a foretaste of For You. This track was written by John van Katwijk (who worked previously with

Patricia Paay Patricia Anglaia Margareth Paaij (born 7 April 1949), best known as Patricia Paay, is a Dutch singer, radio host, glamour model and television personality. In the Netherlands, she is well known for her musical career, which spans over four decade ...

), Marcel Schimscheimer (who collaborated with

René Froger René Froger (born 5 November 1960 in Amsterdam), is a Dutch singer. Froger was born, and spent his first years in the Jordaan, a neighbourhood in Amsterdam. His father, Bolle Jan, had a café where Froger started performing. He started his ...

) and Ronald Sommer. On September 29, 1989, "Welcome To My Party" premiered on the

TROS Tros or TROS may refer to: * 18281 Tros, an asteroid * Transformer read-only storage, a type of read-only memory * TROS, a Dutch broadcasting union, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting * Tros (mythology), a figure in Greek ...

TV program "Grote Club Show". The release of the single was announced on the November 11th, 1989 issue of the pan-European trade magazine

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

. On November 27, 1989,

trademarked the name

. This ruling is valid in Benelux until November 2029. What motivated Marga to take this decision was to prevent misuse of the name of the group. An example of what could have happened to Luv' is

Boney M. Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's o ...

A court verdict stated that

Liz Mitchell Liz is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's Promise". It is also a short form of Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Lisbeth, Lizanne, Liszbeth, Lizbeth, Lizabeth, Lyzbeth, Lisa, Lizette, Alyssa, and Eliza. People * Liz Balmaseda (born 1959), Pulit ...

Bobby Farrell Roberto Alfonso Farrell (6 October 1949 – 30 December 2010) was an Aruban dancer and singer. He was the male member of the 1970s pop and disco group Boney M. Biography Birth and early life Farrell was born and raised on the island of Ar ...

Marcia Barrett Marcia Barrett (born 14 October 1948) is a Jamaican-British singer and one of the original singers with the vocal group Boney M. Early years Barrett was born in Saint Catherine Parish, British Jamaica; her parents brought her to Croydon, Eng ...

and

Maizie Williams Maizie Ursula Williams (born 25 March 1951) is a British model, dancer and singer who became one of the original members of the successful 1970s disco music group Boney M. Though she did not sing on the studio recordings of their songs, she ...

were entitled to perform their own

shows separately with a line-up of their choice.

Commercial performance

The newly reformed Luv' trio was aiming to match its big Continental European success in the late 1970s when the group had a string of international hit singles (including

Trojan Horse The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...

and

Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

and Ooh, Yes I Do). "Welcome to My Party" reached the top 30 in the Netherlands and in Flanders (Belgium).

Track listings and formats

"Welcome to My Party" came out in four formats. * 7" vinyl single (version 1) #"Welcome to My Party" (single version) – 3:00 #"No Cure No Pay" – 3:39 * 7" vinyl single (Version 2) #"Welcome to My Party" (single version) – 3:00 #"Medley" – 5:16 *Maxi CD single #"Welcome to My Party" (single version) – 3:00 #"Welcome to My Party" (12-inch version) – 6:21 #"No Cure No Pay" – 3:39 *12-inch vinyl #"Welcome to My Party" (Party House Mix) - 6:01 / "Welcome to My Party" (Acapella) - 1:32 #"The Original Luv' Medley" (12-inch version) - 7:14

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs Luv' songs Dance-pop songs Dureco singles