Soulsister

SoulSister
Origin Belgium
Genres Pop, pop rock, blue-eyed soul
Years active 1986–1995, 2007–present
Labels EMI
Website soulsister.be
Members Jan Leyers
Paul Michiels

Soulsister is a Belgian music band consisting of Jan Leyers and Paul Michiels[1] that initially existed from 1986 to 1995 and after a split, reunited in 2007. Soulsister is often designated as SoulSister, the Soul Sisters or Leyers, Michiels, and SoulSister.

Jan Leyers had previous experience in the rock group Beri-Beri, while Paul had experience in the British rock group Octopus and as a solo artist.[1]

History

The group formed in 1985 after Jan and Paul met each other in Paul's hometown of Heist-op-den-Berg (Jan, for his part, is a native of Wilrijk). They debuted that year under the name the Soul Sisters with a single titled "You Get to Me." Later on, they also released the singles "Talk About It" and "Like a Mountain." They had a huge hit with 1989's "The Way To Your Heart", a Motown-sounding song that reached the 41st position of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States while also achieving success in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. In 1988, the group changed its name to SoulSister and their first official album, "It Takes Two," was released, with Paul on the keyboards and Jan on the guitar, with various men on back-up. EMI signs the deal and publishes the album.

In 1990, the band underwent another change in name, this time to Leyers, Michiels, and SoulSister. Later that same year, they released Heat, which includes hit singles "Through Before We Started," "Sweet Dreamer," and "Well Well Well." Some of the songs on the album allowed Jan Leyers, who was admittedly more into rock than soul, show off his skills on the electric guitar.

The group started a triple run in 1992. That year, they released the album Simple Rule, which included a hit title track, as well as "Broken" and "Ain't That Simple." The following year the group released a live album, Live Savings. In the meantime, Jan was asked to co-write "That's As Close as I Get To...", a song sung by American country singer Aaron Tippin.

In 1994, the group begins its final chapter with the album "Swinging Like Big Dogs." Popular tracks from this album are "Wild Love Affair," "If This is Love," "Tell Me What it Takes," and "I Need Some Time." By this time, the group had gone back to being known simply as SoulSister.

In 1995, SoulSister split. Two years later, EMI releases a "Very Best Of" compilation album. Meanwhile, both men went their separate ways. Paul Michiels went solo performing the same soulful, Motown-sounding music that made SoulSister a success, while Jan Leyers joined with Filip Cauwelier and Joost Van den Broek to play rock in the band My Velma (named after a character in the Raymond Chandler novel Farewell, My Lovely).

Jan and Paul teamed up again in 2000 to record individual songs for the Jan Verheyen movie Team Spirit. Jan performed a track titled "Only Your Love Will Do" while Paul recorded an Alphaville cover "Forever Young".[2]

The duo reunited in 2007 after an incidental studio session in the summer of 2006. In March 2008, Soulsister performed three concerts in Sportpaleis in Antwerp. Autumn 2011 the band starting touring again in Belgium.[3]

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Houbrechts, Dirk. "Soulsister". The Belgian Pop & Rock Archives. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  2. ↑ "Team Spirit O.S.T. - CD-review". Belgian Pop&Rock Archives (in Dutch). Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  3. ↑ "Nieuws". Retrieved 2012-05-06.

External links