I
Seventies

The start of the seventies sees a difference between single oriented pop and rockmusic made for albums. Groups in the last category are Cuby + Blizzards (blues), Group 1850 (psychedelica), Swinging Soul Machine (soul), Brainbox (rock), Ccc Inc. (folkrock) and the symfonic rockgroups Supersister , Kayak , Alquin en Solution . Shocking Blue scores a international hit in 1970 with Venus. In the slipstream come artists and groups like Sandy Coast , Mouth & Macneal , Earth And Fire , Dizzy Man's Band , Greenfield & Cook , Ekseption , Focus , Catapult and the Golden Earring who score with Radar Love. But it is the youth culture that mainly carries this music. Odd one out is the group Normaal who rebuild the Hoempa genre with rock and sing in the local dialect of the Dutch region the Achterhoek. On the left wing socialist movement the folk-rock band Bots gains popularity with political protestsongs in Dutch. The band would get big succes in (East) Germany later in their career.

The Dutch hitparade is ruled by the Levenslied in the wake of the success Pierre Kartner had in 69. As Vader Abraham he starts singing himself in 1971 and has a huge hit with the Smurf song. Other popular artists are Heintje, Wilma and Jacques Herb. The success of Kartner also sees the restating of the Hoempa genre in the so called Carnavalshit. These songs were specially written for the Dutch Carnival, usually had absurd lyrics and an easy to remember refrain. Most famous for his carnival’s hit is Dutch comedian Andre van Duin.

Another popular radio genre was palingpop. This genre originated in the village Volendam and is a mixture between the Levenslied, country and western music and Italian music. The harmonics in singing are the signature feature for the genre. Groups like BZN, the Cats and singer George Baker became national stars. New Kleinkunst and cabaret artists were Herman van Veen, Neerlands Hoop and Robert Long. Artists in the Levenslied and Kleinkunst genre tend to have a second career in Germany either in the Schlager or in the Liedermacher segment.

In august 1974 the Dutch government ends the broadcasts of the pirate radio stations and in doing so gives a blow to the local youth culture. Public radio tried to fill the gap with a mix of Levenslied, Kleinkunst middle of the road. Groups like Pussycat and Lucifer, and singers like Patricia Paay, Lee Towers and Anita Meyer fitted the profile. It also sees the birth of Dutch disco for lack of a better word. A mixture of the Hoempa rhythms with that of disco delivered a rather monotone but very popular variety. Groups like Luv’, Stars on 45 and Babe were popular with this music.

Youthculture did flourish in the live circuit of venues like the Paradiso, Paard van Troje and Melkweg. Artists like Herman Brood and his wild Romance, Gruppo Sportivo and Vitesse did numerous local tours.