Nederpop

Nederpop is a Dutch term that was invented by the mid-1970s to describe the Dutch pop music scene of the 1960s and 1970s that was gaining worldwide attention, exemplified by bands such as Shocking Blue, Golden Earring and Focus.

The name is a play on the country's name in Dutch (Nederland). An English translation could be Netherpop. Most of the Nederpop bands of this period had English-language songs or played only instrumentals, but some of the bands performed exclusively in the Dutch language. Many such were popular thanks to airplay over the offshore pirate radio stations targeting the Netherlands such as Mi Amigo, Veronica, Atlantis and Northsea International.

During the early 1980s, the Nederpop term was revived to name the sudden growth of Dutch language pop music from the Netherlands. The revived meaning came about because of the huge success of Doe Maar. This success helped other bands to sing in Dutch and/or get the spot light.

Sixties Nederpop bands

The Hague

The Hague (/ðə ˈheɪɡ/; Dutch: Den Haag pronounced [dɛnˈɦaːx] or 's-Gravenhage pronounced [ˈsxraːvə(n)ˌɦaːɣə]) is the seat of government in the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population of 515,880 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2015) and more than one million inhabitants including the suburbs, it is the third-largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 12th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation.

The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, together with Queen Máxima. Most foreign embassies in the Netherlands and 150 international organisations are located in the city, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, which makes The Hague one of the major cities hosting the United Nations, along with New York, Geneva, Vienna, Rome and Addis Ababa.

Johan Derksen

Johannes Gerrit "Johan" Derksen (born 31 January 1949) is a Dutch sports journalist and former football player. He played professional football between 1966 and 1978 for five clubs: Go Ahead Eagles, Cambuur Leeuwarden, BV Veendam, HFC Haarlem and MVV Maastricht. During and after his active career he became well known as a sports journalist, specialising in football. He was the editor-in-chief of Voetbal International from 2000 until his retirement at 1 August 2013, the country's most prominent football magazine. He is also a television football pundit on RTL7's Voetbal International.

Early life

Derksen was born in Heteren, Gelderland into a right wing Protestant Christian family. He describes his father as a very strict policeman, both professionally and at home. Ever since he was a child he wanted to become a drummer. Derksen, who was an only child, stated his father wanted him to become a footballer instead of choosing the uncertain life of a musician. He played for the local team SDOO Heteren at the time. His family moved to Drenthe when he was a teenager. There he played for amateur football clubs Nieuw-Buinen and Rolder Boys before moving to Deventer to join the youth academy of Go Ahead Eagles.

Golden Earring

Golden Earring is a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as the Golden Earrings (the "s" was dropped in 1969). They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch charts, reached the top ten in the UK and went to number thirteen on the US charts,"Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984. During their career they had nearly 30 top-ten singles on the Dutch charts; over the years they produced 25 studio albums. The band's lineup currently consists of co-founders Rinus Gerritsen (bass and keyboards) and George Kooymans (vocals and guitar), along with Barry Hay (vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone), and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums and percussion). All musicians in the present lineup of the band have been continuous members of the band since 1970, although other musicians have joined and left the band during the intervening years.

History

Early years (1961–1969)