Norbert from the facebook LOVE FOR MUSIC wrote sad news. It is about Dutch Eurovision composer HANS VAN HEMERT who passed away. Continue reading DUTCH EUROVISION COMPOSER HANS VAN HEMERT PASSED AWAY
Tag Archives: Luv
GIRL GROUPS FROM THE NETHERLANDS PART 2
Luv’ is a Dutch girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe (Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Denmark) as well as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Mexico in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original members were Patty Brard, José Hoebee and Marga Scheide. In 1979, Luv’ was “Holland’s best export act” and thus received the “Conamus Export Prize”. The band sold more than seven million records worldwide (singles and albums). Among their greatest hits were: U.O.Me (Welcome To Waldolala), You’re the Greatest Lover, Trojan Horse, Casanova and Ooh, Yes I Do. The formation went through line-up changes and the original singers reunited several times. They had a hectic schedule between 2006 and 2008. They gave a farewell performance on August 11, 2012 in Spaarnwoude at the Dutch Valley Festival. Two members of the pop act have had a successful solo career in their homeland: Patty as a TV personality and José as a vocalist. In 2016, Marga, José and Ria Thielsch (who already replaced Patty in 1980) decided to relaunch Luv’. The You’re the Greatest Lover single was their international breakthrough in 1978 and sold one million copies. Apart from their homeland, Luv’ entered the music charts in Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Mexico. The follow-up singles (Trojan Horse (another million seller), Casanova, Ooh, Yes I Do…) were also successful. In 1978-1979, Luv’ was Holland’s best export act and received for their entire oeuvre the Export award from Conamus, a foundation dedicated to the promotion and support of Dutch music abroad. In Germany, the trio was often invited on two popular TV programs: Disco and Musikladen. You’re the Greatest Lover (which sold 500.000 copies in Goethe’s country and earned a gold certification) was also used for the soundtrack of an episode of Derrick TV series. Two decades later, a dance music oriented cover version of this track by Loona renamed Latino Lover was a hit single in German speaking countries (#6 and gold single (250 000 units sold) in Germany, #9 in Austria and #6 in Switzerland in 2000). Some tracks were recorded in Spanish. Eres Mi Mejor Amante (a.k.a. You’re the Greatest Lover) was a minor hit in Spain and Si, Que Si (a.k.a. Ooh, Yes I Do) reached the gold status in Mexico. Their songs were also popular behind the Iron Curtain, especially in East Germany, Poland and Hungary. However, records distribution was limited in the Eastern Bloc. Sales were indeed difficult to evaluate in this part of the world. Their song CASANOVA would have been a perfect Eurovision entry.
GIRL GROUPS FROM THE NETHERLANDS PART 1
With the selection of a all girl group O’G3NE to represent the Netherlands at the 2017 Eurovision song contest in Kiev, we will look over the next weeks at other girl groups that came from this country. First up is BABE
Babe was designed after Luv’, another very famous Dutch girl-pop band, mostly performing bubblegum pop. The trio was formed by producer and performer Peter Koelewijn, and he produced all of their records. The only exception was the single Tick-a-thumps my heart which was produced by Hans van Hemert, the producer behind Luv’. Koelewijn had made this decision because he felt a change in sound was needed for the trio. However, fans did not appreciate the new sound, which was very much like Luv’ because it no longer featured the recognizable solo vocals by Gemma Van Eck, but instead was sung in harmony by all three singers, so Koelewijn decided to take production back. Initially the group consisted of Gemma van Eck, Rita van Rooy en Monique Hagemeyer. Hagemeyer was replaced in 1980 by Margot van der Ven, Van Eck decided to leave the trio in 1981 and was replaced by Marga Bult. Although very popular at the time, Babe is considered the band in the Netherlands that had the most Top 40 hits without ever having a single placing within the top 10.One of their singles, The Drunken Sailor was an old Irish sailor song, transformed into a bubblegum tune by Koelewijn. It was a big hit in South Africa. In 1980 the trio participated in a famous songfestival in Korea, performed for the Dutch Military in Lebanon, toured extensively through Indonesia, and made appearances in several TV-shows in then Eastern-Germany and Poland. The trio finally disbanded in 1986 after their fame had gotten less and their music did not find many fans any longer. Marga Bult continued with a fairly successful solo career, which included her entry to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1987, where she performed “Rechtop in the wind” under the pseudonym Marcha. With 83 points she finished in a respectful 5th place in a field of 22 entries. My favourite Babe song is EXPLOSIVE. This would have been a perfect Eurovision entry.