Racoon

Acoustic rock quartet Racoon achieved one of the most enduring successes in Dutch chart history via the 2005 ballad “Love You More.” The group first assembled in Zeeland during 1997 when singer Bart van der Weide and guitarist Dennis Huige began working as a duo and placed three songs on the Dutch Rock & Pop Institute’s Characters compilation. Following their 1998 move to Utrecht, bassist Stefan de Kroon and drummer Paul Bukkens completed the lineup; the expanded quartet performed at the Heineken X-pl’oor Festival before issuing the self-released demo It’s an Ice Cream Day. The recording drew interest from multiple Dutch labels, and after an appearance at the 1999 Noorderslag Weekend the band signed with Sony’s S.M.A.R.T. imprint.

Their debut album, Till Monkeys Fly, arrived in 2000. Radio embraced the single “Feel Like Flying,” which heightened anticipation for the late-2001 follow-up Here We Go, Stereo!, whose success was furthered by the hit “Eric’s Bar.” Racoon then spent more than a year on the international touring circuit, concluding that stretch with a performance at the 2003 all-star Europe Day Festival held during Noorderslag Weekend.

Third album Another Day reached stores in 2005 and elevated the band to national superstardom, yielding the breakthrough smash “Love You More” along with “Laugh About It” and “Brother” en route to a number-two peak on the Dutch charts. The 2008 release Before You Leave sustained that momentum, aided by the hit singles “Lucky All My Life” and “Clean Again.” Liverpool Rain, issued in 2011, became Racoon’s first number-one album in the Netherlands on the strength of “No Mercy,” “Took a Hit,” “Don’t Give Up the Fight,” and the title track, remaining on the Dutch charts for nearly two years. The Singles Collection also debuted at number one upon its 2013 release, and sixth studio album All in Good Time, which appeared in early 2015, marked the band’s third consecutive chart-topping effort.