music.wikisort.org - Composition

"Castles in the Sky" is a song by Belgian music project Ian Van Dahl from their debut album, Ace (2002). The vocalist is Belgian singer Marsha, who also wrote the song.[1] The single was released in Europe in 2000 and the United Kingdom in 2001. The song was a modest success in mainland Europe and was a hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the Scottish Singles Chart for two weeks.

"Castles in the Sky"
Single by Ian Van Dahl featuring Marsha
from the album Ace
Released	2000 (2000)
Length	3:46
Label	Antler-Subway, NuLife
Songwriter(s)	Erik Vanspauwen, Christophe Chantzis, Martine Theeuwen (Marsha)
Producer(s)	Erik Vanspauwen, Christophe Chantzis
Ian Van Dahl singles chronology
"Castles in the Sky" (2000) "Will I?" (2001)

Background

Belgian singer-songwriter Martine D. J. Theeuwen, better known as Marsha, heard that brothers and musicians Erik and Geert Vanspauwen were looking for a vocalist with experience in dance music. After getting in touch, Marsha had a successful audition and began working with the brothers until Geert "felt he was no longer needed" and quit, leaving just Erik and Marsha. A year or so later, Christophe Chantzis joined the team and Marsha was given a demo that would ultimately become "Castles in the Sky". According to Marsha, "The vocal melody and the lyrics of 'Castles in the Sky' are mine. No co-writers, the lyrics were taken as I wrote them. Although Christophe hated the lyrics and the vocals of mine, which he thought interfered with the music too much (mind his Absolom remix without any vocals), A&S recordings took my version of 'Castles in the Sky' with my vocals and complete lyrics on it to MIDEM, the biggest European music conference held annually in Cannes, France. I immediately turned out to be a success as the song was signed for eight countries right then."[1]

Controversially, however, Marsha was axed from any live performances, as three dancers (including Cindy Mertens) took her place.[1] Later, Mertens and the dancers were also dropped, and Annemie Coenen became the frontwoman for the group. While initially lipsyncing to Marsha's vocals in live performances as well, a version of the song with Coenen's vocals was eventually released on the album Ace.^{[citation needed]}

Music video

There are two different videos for the song, both of which feature Cindy Mertens miming to Marsha's vocals. The first uses the regular radio edit, and shows a selection of dancers in an underground sewer. The second video uses the Peter Luts radio edit and features clips of an instrument being played amongst clips of the original video.

Track listings

Charts and certifications

References

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