Wouter Van Belle is a Belgian musician and producer. He is known for his work with Flip Kowlier, Gorki, Noordkaap, Arno, Axelle Red, Yevgueni, Novastar and Racoon. He scored as producer four number-one albums in Flanders and one in the Netherlands, and had top three singles in Flanders, France and the Netherlands. He is also the keyboard player for Dead Man Ray.
One of his first productions was Gorky, the debut album of Belgian band Gorki. Van Belle was responsible for much of the sound and melody of the song Mia, which he turned from a punkrock song into a piano ballad.[1] Despite never being released as a single, it became a classic which was voted the best song ever by the listeners of Studio Brussel[2] and best Belgian song ever by the listeners of Radio 1.[3] Van Belle not only produced the album, but also created the piano melody for the song.[4] The number 2 song in the above mentioned list of best Belgian songs ever, Als ze lacht by Yevgueni, was also produced by Van Belle.[3] In the 2005 version of that all-time Flemish songs list, he was involved as producer, mixer, writer and/or musician with 18 of the 100 songs.[5]
He created his own label "Petrol" in 2000, to release an album he produced for Flip Kowlier which was then rejected by his original label. Ocharme ik reached #18 in the Flemish charts, and Van Belle would continue to release music on his own label, not only by Kowlier but also by Yevgueni and Gabriel Rios. In 2006 he released a solo album, Wow/Flutter.[5]
In 2011 he was one of the four judges on Idool, the Flemish version of British TV show Pop Idol.[6]
In 2020, he was inducted into the "Eregalerij" (Hall of Fame) of Radio 2, the largest radio station in Flanders, for his "large influence on Belgian music"[6] The Hall of Fame lauded his work as a producer and as talent developer with e.g. Axelle Red and Flip Kowlier.[7]
Charted singles
As writer or composer
Arno, Vive ma liberté (1993), reached #48 in the Flemish charts[8]
Margriet Hermans, Alle mooie mannen zijn zo lelijk... (als ik je zie) (1990), #53 on the Dutch charts[9]
Flip Kowlier is a Belgian singer-songwriter. He sings in a distinct West Flemish dialect. He is an MC with the hip hop group, 't Hof van Commerce. And in his solo work he sings and plays guitar, with Karel De Backer and Joost Van den Broeck on drums, Peter Lesage on keyboards and Pieter Van Buyten on bass guitar.
Marktrock is a music festival held each year around 15 August, in the heart of the university town of Leuven, Belgium. There is also a smaller Marktrock festival in Poperinge, which is held on the last Saturday of August.
't Hof van Commerce is a Belgian hip hop crew from Izegem in the province West Flanders in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. Their name means 'commercial court' in their local dialect. Almost all their raps/lyrics are in West Flemish, the Dutch dialect of the province of West Flanders, with the exception of some lines sung in Limburgish by DJ 4T4 or a mix between those two dialects.
Natalia Willy Druyts, known mononymously as Natalia, is a Belgian singer. She became known in Flanders during the VTM program Idool 2003, in which she finished in second place. She is currently a coach in Flemish TV-programs The Voice van Vlaanderen, The Voice Kids and The Voice Senior.
Novastar is a Belgian rock band led by Dutch-born singer-songwriter and guitarist/pianist Joost Zweegers. They are known for their emotional ballads, and the high pitch of Zweegers's voice. Zweegers has also released solo material under the name Novastar.
Fabienne Demal, better known by her stage name Axelle Red, is a Belgian singer-songwriter. She has released 12 albums, including Sans plus attendre, À Tâtons, Toujours Moi and Jardin Secret. She is best known for her 1993 single "Sensualité", a hit in France in 1994.
Con Solo Pensarlo is a 1998 album by the Belgian singer Axelle Red. The albums contains Spanish versions of French songs that appeared on Axelle Red's two previous albums, Sans Plus Attendre and À Tâtons.
Sans Plus Attendre is the debut album by Belgian singer Axelle Red, released in 1993.
À Tâtons is the second album by the Belgian singer Axelle Red. It was released in 1996.
French Soul is a 2004 "best of" album by Belgian pop singer Axelle Red.
Dead Man Ray is a Belgian alternative rock band formed in 1996, originating from Berchem near Antwerp. Among its members are Daan Stuyven, Rudy Trouvé, Elko Blijweert, Wouter Van Belle, and Herman Houbrechts, who was later replaced by drummer Karel De Backer. Their debut Berchem was released in 1998, including the singles "Chemical" and "Beegee". In 1999 Dead Man Ray wrote partly a new soundtrack for the movie At the Drop of A Head, starring singer-songwriter Bobbejaan Schoepen. They did a sell out tour with this movie in Belgium and the Netherlands. The second album, Trap, was released in 2000 and contains some songs of this project. The album Cago was recorded in 2002 in Chicago and produced by Steve Albini.
The Zamu Music Awards was an annual awards show in Flanders (Belgium), where the most outstanding Flemish and international musicians of the past year were honored.
Gorki was a Belgian rock group, in its most recent line-up consisting of Luc De Vos, Luc Heyvaerts, Erik Van Biesen, Thomas Vanelslander (guitarist) and Bert Huysentruyt (drums). Three songs by Gorki were number one hits in the Studio Brussel alternative hitlist De Afrekening in Belgium: 'Lieve kleine piranha', 'Schaduw in de schemering and 'Joerie' in 2006. Luc De Vos died on 29 November 2014.
Luc De Vos was a Belgian musician and writer, best known as the lead singer of the Dutch-language alternative rock formation Gorki and as a guest in multiple television shows. He also voiced VW bus in the Flemish version of the Disney movie Cars. He died of acute organ failure on the 29 November 2014 in his working apartment in Ghent.
Arthur Achiel Albert, Knight Blanckaert, known by his stage name Will Tura, is a Belgian artist considered as the most successful Flemish-speaking singer of the 20th century. Famous in Flanders and the Netherlands, Tura is a singer, musician, composer and songwriter. Nicknamed the Emperor of the Flemish Song, he released hundreds of singles and albums that cover a wide array of styles, and continued to tour into the 2010s.
Noordkaap is a Belgian rock band, led by singer Stijn Meuris. Their best-known songs include "Ik Hou Van U" and "Satelliet S.U.Z.Y."
"Sensualité" is a song recorded by Belgian singer-songwriter Axelle Red. It is the third single from her debut album, Sans plus attendre, released on 10 October 1993. It is however her first single released in France. In 1994, the song was very successful in France and is generally considered to be Axelle Red's signature song. It was also the first single of the singer released under her pseudonym of Axelle Red.
Isolde Lasoen is a Belgian (Flemish) drummer and singer.
Joris Van Rossem, known artistically as Metejoor, is a Belgian pop singer who sings in Dutch. He topped the Ultratop charts in Flanders with the singles "1 op een miljoen" and "Dit is wat mijn mama zei", from his self-titled debut album that topped the respective album chart.
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