A few years ago, yes that's how long we've all been on this great platform, I posted a post about the Top Pop program. Top Pop is a cultural heritage within the Dutch music programmes. A bit comparable to Top of the Pops in England.
Yesterday I watched a program on television with my wife about the history of Top Pop in which Dutch artists commented on the music and clips of that time. Very entertaining to watch, especially because all that old music came back, music that my children now say: "That you listened to that".
In addition to showing the music from that time, anecdotes were also told. The story goes that Julio Iglesias (a womanizer pur sang) did his best to conquer Penny de Jager, she is the dancer in the clip below and was the regular choreographer for Top Pop. only Penny indicated in the interview that she wasn't into that sort of thing at all and was only focused on dancing. If you look closely at the clip you can also see that Julio is attracted to her :). Turns out he did have some nice moments with another dancer from her team.
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The program excelled in energetic performances by world stars. When necessary, the Top Pop crew also traveled all over the world to film a performance. That was exceptional for the time.
Sometimes it was only Penny de Jager's ballet that stole the show. See here for example I Wish by Stevie Wonder.
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There was also a lot of attention for national artists, I myself have the idea that there were many more national artists then (with hits) than there is now. The nice thing is that I know a lot of music well because my parents played it a lot.
The song below is Big City by Tol Hansse. This is a cheerful song about Amsterdam where he sings about the qualities of Amsterdam in a fun way.
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Hans de Booij had a big hit with "Annabel", here he sings about love at first sight, Annabel. He goes after her, have a one night stand but he wants more... I love the lyrics and the monotonous way of singing makes it a catchy song.
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Maywood was a duo of two sisters, in the Netherlands. They have had several hits and have often been to Top Pop. After their musical career they got into a fight and haven't spoken for years. From what I understood, that was reconciled at some point and they even performed together again. By the way, that's what you see a lot, musicians from then who perform now, I love them.
Another musical trio that stirred the Netherlands for a long time was Luv. Luv consisted of 3 ladies, Patty, Marga and Jose. They have had a number of hits in the Netherlands but have actually become most famous for the fight they eventually got into. They wiped each other out in the press. Good thing there was no social media then, otherwise it would have been a bit worse than it already was.
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Anita Meyer is a singer who became famous partly through Top Pop. She was allowed to sing her first single there and that immediately became a big hit. Why tell me why is also a big hit which stands on number one in the Dutch charts for 7 weeks.
She still sings and still has that great voice.
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I close with a band that became known worldwide with their hit "Venus", Shocking Blue with Mariska Veres as lead singer. Even now, when you listen to this song it sounds so American, if not Dutch. Still a great band. Unfortunately Mariska is no longer alive.
Later I saw her live again at a Jazz Festival in Apeldoorn. Nice voice.
Did you also have such a television program
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Groet,
Peter
