Rank 1
Rank 1 is a Dutch trance group, formed in the Netherlands in 1997. Widely regarded as one of the originators of the Dutch trance sound, the group have produced a number of dancefloor hits since their conception. Although the two members of the group (Benno de Goeij and Piet Bervoets) had worked together before, Rank 1 (a name first used in 1999) was their first project with commercial success. History The first Rank 1 release was an EP containing "The Citrus Juicer" and "Black Snow". Their biggest hit commercially was the 1999 track that followed up to that EP called "Airwave", which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 25 in the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. This was later re-released by Rank 1 remixed with added vocals as "Breathing (Airwave 2003)", Rank 1 followed it up 11 years later with a modern style remix of Airwave in 2014 bringing the trance juggernaut into the 21st century. They also provided the base for a mash up with Donna Williams, as "True Love Never Dies", which was later vocally re-recorded using Kelly Llorenna, by Flip & Fill. In 2011, Airwave was voted the number 1 Trance Classic of all time in the Trance Top 1000 poll. In 2013, Airwave reached number 7. Later in 2021, Airwave was ranked #15 in the A State of Trance Top 1000 list. In September 2000, they performed the track "Many Miles Too Soon" live at Trance Energy as a tribute to the late Miles Stutterheim, younger brother to Duncan Stutterheim, one of the founders of the Dutch event organiser ID&T. A year later this track was released as "Such Is Life", with added vocals by Shanokee and chosen as the anthem of Sensation 2001, the first edition where visitors were asked to appear dressed in white. A year later they released "Awakening" as the single preceding their debut album "Symsonic". The album was released with a CD containing downtempo versions of Airwave and Such Is Life as well as a some brand new tracks including the title track, a short version of "The Citrus Juicer", "T.T.C.", "Passage To The Unknown", "Still In My Mind" and more. The album also included a DVD with a few videoclips of their singles up till then as well as their live performance at Trance Energy 2002. 2003 saw the re-release of Airwave with vocals by Aino Laos which were written by Jan Lochel. In a recorded interview, Benno explained that Breathing was released to back up the album release in Germany. By the end of the year, Rank 1 finally released their single Symsonic under the new title "It's Up To You", with added vocals by Shanokee. Unlike the classically inspired Album version, these mixes were produced in the more typical 4x4 driven uplifting Trance style, especially the "Instrumental Dub" and "Dub Vocal Mix". The next year saw the release of the Symsonic album sampler titled "Unreleased Tracks" which contained extended mixes of "Conspiracy",