Buy Off The Bar

Here comes another Richard Dutch musical-soccer/football special!
Buy Off The Bar consisted of Michel, Marcel, Paul, and Loetje. 
The band emerged from the squatter's world of Amsterdam, but contrary to some, they did not have a militant musical punk style. 
Neither did they conform to the leather-heavy guitar rockers of those days. Their main inspiration was John Peel. 
So when they thought they were good enough, they made John Peel an offer he could not refuse. 
At this point, I might say that they put a dead animal's head in his bed, but they are such nice people that the offer was one John Peel simply could not refuse.
They offered to paint his house for free. So they did, and the first of the four Peel Sessions was a fact.

Their first release was a tape "Billy At The Bar", and a split 7” with Golden Strings. 
On their first album "It’s Up To Billy" there is a song Guitar Maffia and I’ll quote a few lines: 
Guitar Maffia of Amsterdamn, they feel important ‘cause they play in a band 
Imitating poses of Hendrix, Flower Power in 1986 
Oh what a mess we can do it better 
oh oh what a mess we don’t need any leather…… 
And that’s the true spirit “we have the fun, they have the fame” 
During their career they toured the UK a lot. It resulted in them obtaining a demo from The Buzzcocks of their unfinished song In The Back, which was promptly done by Buy Off The Bar for their 2nd Peel Session. This being the first and only Peel Session they officially released. And The Buzzcocks released their version of In The Back much later, in the 2000s.
Thus, which is the cover? 
Anyway this is a brilliant version.
Buy Off The Bar did a few other covers. The best thing they did was keeping them On Stage and Off The Records. 
From various live performances I have selected The Fall- That Man, TV Personalities – Part Time Punks, The Tights – Cracked. The latter being included on a compilation album "Pluralism D". 
Evolving in the next years, their second and last album bears influences of Bog Shed, and other great UK indie bands. 
Early 90s they quit. 
Paul, Michel and Loetje, I have no real idea how life went for them. As for 'Cil: there grew a career in DJing and writing, mostly about Ajax, the legendary footballclub from the Dutch Capital. A club where the great Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luis Suarez, Swart, Seedorf, Bergkamp, van der Sar, Vertongen, etc., etc., had a career. 

We ('Cil and I) joked about football. Then Ajax and (my team) PSV were at the same height. 'Cil said that PSV had all the money, to which I replied:

'Ajax can buy players but it takes PSV to make a team.' Or something like that, it was over 30 years ago.

Anyway, at time of writing Ajax keeps losing to PSV.

Cheers 'Cil.

Four One & Only's: Four Is The Onliest Number

Richard writes: Four One & Only's were a band from Breda, The Netherlands. Founded in 1984 by Marthy with Marcel, Rob, Bart and Felix. From those only Rob had previously been in bands, namely The Mirandas and La Valse. The music of Four One & Only's originated from their love for Television Personalities, Jonathan Richman, Punk in General, D.I.Y. Optimism and Absurdism with a hint of Cynicism, and always lots of beer. 

In DIY tradition, the first single and lp were released on their own label, Noet Lachten. The name came from an incident during the Grand Prix of Dutch Pop/Rock, mid-eighties organised to stimulate new bands. The Four One & Only's appeared once and the jury's report was so badly written that one could only laugh at the rejection. (The Jury could Noet Lachten (not laugh) with this band). 

A second album was released on the national label Megadisc, and did not catch on. After We Love You, Bart and later Felix left, and Hans and Richie came. At the same time the five Four One & Only's became six with the arrival of Stephan, an accomplished musician who could make the accordion sound like the great keyboard it is. Transcending musical styles, the band made a third album (Fairy Tale) and a CD (Sticker). It wasn't called Sticker, but it had ten stickers with it so you could choose your own title. Halfway through the nineties Hans and Stephan left and were replaced by Andy and Peter, and not long after the 1996 release Holy the band split up.

After that, Marthy continued a while as Alexandra and The Princess of Orange but that did not take off. Marthy started a successful record store, and made/makes albums with his daughters as The Van Cooths. He also made a CD as The Oers.

Triskaphilia

 

Blame The Damned. "Neat Neat Neat", Damned Damned Damned and "Noise Noise Noise" are probably the root of my fascination with song titles that repeat the same word three times.  

Today's packet of three includes Bier Bier Bier (Dutch music), Blah Blah Blah (punk rock),  and Repetition Repetition Repetition (80's new wave and post-punk).  The Dutch one does include "Na Na Na" by The Shoes (as requested), and the 80's comp includes Richard's beloved BowWowWow as well as "Bow Wow Wow Wow", a track by Was (Not Was).

Thanks again to Stinky and Richard.  Stinky turned me on to music of the Lambrini Girls. Richard scoured the Brought To Life compilations for suitable titles.  One band that caught my interest was Turbo Hy-Dramatics, a group of New Yorkers who performed and recorded in Germany.  It was drummer Vinnie Signorelli's debut as a recording artist.  I really dig "Knock Knock Knock", and I recommend "We Are Mad And We Are Taking No Shit" -- a song as relevant today as it was in 1984.

Speaking of The Damned, the band will tour the US in May.  The lineup is Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies and Paul Gray.  Opening bands are The BellRays (May 1-14) and The Adverts (May 16-31).  Looking forward to some noise, noise, noise when The Damned come to town.  

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  Stinky's amazing Brian James post, Koen's post on Dutch pirate radio, and Lisa Kekaula of The BellRays.

Plurex Records: Singles and EP's (1977-1980)

Plurex was a record label based in Amsterdam which existed from 1977 to 1983. 

Richard writes: "In 1977 everything became No Future. And as Johnny Rotten explained, there is no future unless you make it yourself. D.I.Y. That simple and elegant credo was overtaken by the newspapers who forced Punk upon us. Everywhere from even the smallest countries bands, fanzines, art, experiments grew. 

"In Amsterdam, Sam Tjioe and Wally Van Middendorp started Plurex: a label to release their own independent music and release other like-minded acts. The diversity of the acts grew as more acts released music on the label."

Around the same time that Plurex began, Hanje Joustra started the label No Fun.  I Don't Care (The No Fun And Plurex Singles) is a compilation released in 2015, with a wonderful cover image by Joost Swarte (see above). In 2024, From Punk To Ultra: The Plurex Story was released on LP and CD.  Some of the early Plurex releases are available on Bandcamp from the Smikkelbaard label.  Minny Pops' albums (including their 2019 comeback LP, Stockholm 1974) are also on Bandcamp via the Blowpipe label.  

Richard's compilation is unique in that it contains all of the singles and EP's released by Plurex from 1977 to 1980. "All early singles and epees are here collected and ordered according to catalogue numbers. A few catalogue numbers were used for albums, and Plurex 0015 is unissued." Otherwise the collection is complete from PLUREX 0001 through 0019.

Having compiled singles discographies from several record labels of the same era, I find Plurex similar in spirit to Rough Trade and Subterranean.  These labels were started to release early independent punk singles, and they quickly embraced a wide range of adventurous music. Many thanks to Richard for sharing the early Plurex catalog.  With the exception of Minny Pops, all of these artists were new to me.

Metropole Orchestra 60 Years!

Two years ago I went on a trip to the Netherlands, visiting family & friends as usual, but also walking & cycling around, plus taking loads of photos. Less time was spent in secondhand stores looking for music, partly due to the amount of CDs I already have and the space they occupy I guess.

But one purchase stood out, a beautiful hardcover book titled Metropole Orkest 60 Jaar!
Over the years I had seen the name of this Dutch Orchestra passing by, but couldn’t recall much, which was a bit awkward… As the book looked interesting, it had plenty of photos, discography, and a DVD, I couldn’t resist.
This book hit the spot, besides providing intriguing details about the post WW2 Dutch ‘light music’ scene, it was a pleasure to read as it became clear to me that I had been exposed to their music since my youth!
Over the years the Orkest has proved itself to be flexible enough to work with all kinds of artists, such as Bill Evans, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Jarreau, New York Voices, Tori Amos, Bono, Brian Eno, Hardwell, Elvis Costello, Within Temptation, Snarky Puppy, Marcus Miller, Todd Rundgren, Jacob Collier, Markus Stockhausen, Louis Cole, Triptykon, Cory Wong, Cory Henry, Basement Jaxx, Pat Metheny, Adrian Belew, and Robbie Williams.

 

As the Orkest has released many albums over the years it was difficult to make a selection for a single CD, but I included a few tracks from the 60 Years DVD plus a sampling of recent works. It seemed fitting that I ended with their cover of the Dutch rock classic “Hocus Pocus” (Focus!) from a long time ago…

Question: Please let us your favorite Orchestra or perhaps an orchestral cover of a song...

ETON CROP: EC=God

[A pleasant surprise from Richard was this compilation of his favorite tracks by Dutch band Eton Crop.  They were contemporaries of The Fall, The Nightingales, The Three Johns, and The Membranes.  Richard's compilation was accompanied by these words.  Take it away, Richard!]

Musicians (I'd say four guys, but they are not four and not all guys) originating from the famous town of Kudelstaart, in the Netherlands. They started somewhere end 70s early 80s. They made some tapes and d.i.y singles and evolved from The Fall-ish punk through doom and free-form to a point in 85 when they recorded It's My Dog, Maestro. They found their form. 

Over the next few years they went and did highly regarded Peel Sessions, recorded a few (mini)albums and by the year 1990 it was all different again. Techno came, and after a Get Real! album and another few singles, they became EC Groove Society.

I include only from their 80s music the things I really love.  As you go through the titles, you'll find the obvious covers (Paraffin Brain from The Nightingales, and February 6th from Buy Off The Bar) as well as a lot of songs fit for various theme compilations.

Sexy Politicians (get your name out of my face), Coca-Colonization (get your brand name out of my face), Boy Meets Tractor (car trouble) The Modified Martingale ((yet to be released) Mad/Meth-a-Amatica). And what's more, they have songs about Chess. Not the musical, but the actual Glorious Game, chess. Wow indeed.

Now all you have to do is listen, and when you reach the penultimate track, you too will sing along with Bloody Hell, It's A Lovesong (This all I ever need, this is all I ever wanted, this is all I ever need in my life).  What more do you want? They have it all, Trumpets, Violins and Toy instruments.

[Eton Crop's music from the 80's is available for streaming and name-your-price download at Bandcamp.  Thanks again to Richard for introducing our ears to this excellent band.]

Dutch Pirate Stations and Nederbeat

Koen recently celebrated a vinyl-only evening with two old friends.  On his own blog, Koen writes: My generation grew up with vinyl records; 45s, eps, and lps, a.k.a singles, extended plays, and long-play albums. Two Dutch radio pirate stations, Veronica and Noordzee, were of utmost importance as they were often first playing new exciting rock and pop songs.

Dutch TV only had 2 channels and there wasn’t that much shown regarding ‘pop’ music… Fast forward to 2024 when we are literally swamped with instant access to streaming music courtesy of the internet, forget about cassettes, CDs, or even mp3s.

The first to be played from my vinyl collection that evening was Dank U!, a 1970 lp of Dutch artists under the banner of Radio Veronica (a well-known pirate station in those days), which was released for two purposes: the 10th anniversary of the station & raising funds for charity.

Later I realized that it gives an excellent (though short) overview of the Dutch Nederbeat at that time, from The Tee-Set to Golden Earring!

And since this lp was never released on CD, I decided to make a digital version of it for your listening pleasure!  The zipfile also includes a history of Radio Veronica and a detailed pdf with background info on this album and the artists.  

And for a bonus share, since we missed two days of posting this week, 12 Jaar Radio Veronica is (as you may have guessed) more Nederbeat gems compiled to celebrate the pirate station's 12th anniversary.

PREVIOUSLY ON JONDERBLOG: jonder reminisces about Q-Wave, a Milwaukee radio show that introduced a lot of punk and New Wave music to an impressionable teen.

Eurovision: Only Mr. Koen Knows Why

This is a sad moment in the history of Jonderblog [writes Koen, our far-flung correspondent]. For the first time since March 5, 2018, we must start a post with a disclaimer!

WARNING: although the article is outrageously funny, the music isn’t! Therefore, we strongly advise you NOT to download the music or click on the YouTube links. If you still insist on doing so, prepare yourself with a large bucket and a lot of tranquilizers before listening to any of the tunes or watching the videos. Once you have puked your guts out, you’ll need the meds to recover a bit, although the damage is already done: you have opened an aural and visual Lovecraftian Pandora’s Box…

Earlier this year, the 68th Eurovision Song Contest was held in Malmö, something which I normally would ignore if it hadn’t been for the controversy around the disqualification of the Dutch candidate Joost Klein… His song ‘Europapa’ was considered a potential winner, and I made the huge mistake of actually checking it out.

After watching with open mouth for about 10 seconds I wanted to smash my desktop to pieces… Too late, its lyrics are still causing me massive headaches:

Europe, let's come together (Euro-pa-pa, Euro-pa-pa)

It's now or never, I love you all (Euro-pa-pa, Euro-pa-pa)

(Welcome to Europe, stay here until I die)

Welkom in Europa, blijf hier tot ik doodga, Europa-pa, Europa-pa

(Visit my friends in France or run to Vienna)

Bezoek m'n friends in France of neem de benen naar Wenen

(I want to leave the Netherlands, but my passport has disappeared)

Ik wil weg uit Netherlands, maar m'n paspoort is verdwenen (Etc.)

Painful indeed, but it did trigger some dusty memories of the late 60s and early 70s when the whole family was clustered around the (black & white!) television faithfully watching each year’s contest. And even when we considered the Dutch candidate awful, we would still secretly root for him/her/them, blame it on misguided nationalism!

Probably as a result I got so severely traumatized that I live now on the other side of the world… [And has your passport disappeared? -- jonder]

Anyway, I managed to forget (more or less) about the Europapa travesty until last week… The New Yorker reposted a 2010 article written by Anthony Lane about Eurovision’s origins and wacky songs/performers, which had me in stitches.

In a moment of madness, I decided to share it with Jonder and Stinky and mentioned that ‘perhaps it would be fun to add the music to this article for a new post, but then we will be sued to death’. To my horror both of them thought it was a great idea and the result you are reading now...

I still consider this a crime against humanity, but I’m giving you a choice! You can either download the PDF article + an additional PDF listing all 58 songs with YouTube links, in order to 'enjoy' the visuals, or...

Download all 39 songs from the 2010 Contest, a double CD in fact.  Of course you’re free to download both, but you might as well slash your wrists right now…

P.S. Strangely enough an old Jona Lewie song (Hallelujah Europa from 1975) should have been submitted by the United Kingdom, but as far as I know nobody ever even thought about it.