The TWO - Has It Ever Sterted (1983)
80?s electronics-pop 

mp3 192 kbps

When their only album ?Has it ever started? was released in january 1983 (Dureco Benelux 88.057), the TWO (which stands for Terlaak - Wouters Orchestra, a name coined by their record company- originally they used the much more intriguing Rubberneck - Von Lutzau) called their music ?danceable filmmusic?. It consisted of the combination of more or less normal popsongs with an approach that belongs to the world of musique concrète, John Cage and avant-garde electronics.

A few years later this type of music would be called  ?house? and, in retrospect, one wonders how its reception would have been had this recording been released in, say,  1985. Although some music-magazines were enthousistic about it, an album that consisted of purely synths & percussion was clearly too much ahead of its time. A Dutch pop-encyclopaedia even wrote it off as ?toy-music? (indeed some childrens-toys are used in ?Blue Jeans?) and no promotion-singles of the album were released. However, despite an (official) sale of a mere 150 copies, ?Has It Ever Started? did have a growing influence on many musicians both of the eighties and afterwards, and over the years has gained the status of a hard-sought but rarely found collectors-item.

Bart Terlaak (drums) in 1982 already was a Dutch pop-icon, having played with bands like The Jumping Jewels, Island and Carlsberg. After The TWO he again picked up his commercial career with The Little Giants (De Gigantjes).
 
Hero Wouters (synths) was a composer of music for film and theatre and the owner of a small recording-studio in Amsterdam. Although he preferred to work as a solo-artist his other groups include Dada di Musica, Angelos Obscuros (with Legendary Pink Dots-singer Edward Ka-Spel), Panta Rhei and Nul Kelvin. 

Side 1:
01. Reflection in Time (3.40)
02. Love is not Enough (4.47)
03. Stray Girls (0.40)
04. Transparant Lovesong (2.23)
05. Women of Troy (3.33)
06. Women of this World (2.48)

Side 2:
07. Strassenheimer Street (3.53)
08. Loneliness is True (3.00)
09. Blue Jeans (1.43)
10. Regazzo di Mazzo (3.16)
11. Until Daylight (4.40)
12. Byzantium (2.39)

Bart Terlaak - drums, percussion, vocals
Hero Wouters - synthesizers, taperecorders, vocals
Neel Holst - vocals
J.C.Tans - saxsolo
Onno Kraft van Ermel - art direction
Nico van Stralen - illustration

All tracks recorded and mixed at Studio ?t Woud, Bergen, Holland except 5 and 12 recorded and mixed at Studio Brouwersgracht, Amsterdam. Enginered by Ide Min and Hero Wouters during the summer of 1982 and produced by The TWO for Forest Records. All songs composed by Hero Wouters ©1976-2006 biem stemra. 

The following synths were used: 
Hillwood rytmbox, Korg MS20, Korg Vocoder, Oberheim OB-X, Organ of unknown brand because bought second-hand with missing cover, could be a Wersi (see studio-photo), Siel string-ensemble.


Foundation of Composers Of Superfluous Music - Stichting Componisten van Overbodige Muziek  
www.stichting.com 
[email protected]

For more information on the music of Hero Wouters visit www.herowouters.nl 
See also torrent: Hero Wouters: Death of Komarov (avantgarde electronics)