N° 128 EVIL SUPERSTARS - SAD SAD PLANET

A quadrupple link this time. Haley was named after a comet, the name of Bill’s band, star in this band’s name and planet in the title.

A true Belgian rockband who, unfortunately as it is, doesn’t exist anymore. The split was pushed through by their record company A&M  because their second album Boogie Children R Us wasn’t the big commercial success as hoped. This is why they seized to exist after a 6 year legacy between 1992 and 1998 although they said afterwards the split was because of artistic disputes between the different band members.

In 2004 though they re-appeared on the scenes for a one time reunion. Apparantly Mauro Powlowski, the front man of the band, had told the press whe the band split up they would only be re-united to play Jerusalem by the doomrockband Sleep, whis is a legendary one hour during song. They did so at the La Belgique 666 Point festival in Brussels.

Fortunaley for music lovers we can still see Mauro perform since he joined dEus after the Evil Supersars split. Also Tim Vanhamel can still be seen on the music scenes since he’s a founding member of Eagles Of Death Metal (he quit after the first album though), Millionaire and Broken Glass Heroes. Tim joined the band after they won the 1994 Humo Rock Rally contest at the age of 15.

Evil Superstars won Humo’s Rock  rally in 1994 which meant the real start of their careers quickly followed by a first CD called Love Is Okay. The second and last CD was recorded in 1997 and released in 1998.

N°120 BALTHAZAR - FIFTEEN FLOORS

With an Ep, two early releases, one full album and a second on the way the Belgian rok band Balthazar has been quite busy the past few years. It all started in 2004.

When the band Lost And Found with Maarten Devoldere, Jinte Deprez and Patricia Vanneste wins the competition of Kunstbende (art gang) it was clear there was a lot of talent and chemistry available in the western part of Belgium. They renamed the band to Balthazar and in 2006 they are award with the audience price of that year’s Humo Rockrally. Time for them to create and release a first EP carrying the nme of the band. Early the following year they decide to switch drummer and bass and from that moment on the current formation of the band is complete. Apart from the earlier mentioned foudners there’s also Simon Casier and Christophe Claeys. New settings and they are invited to a few Belgian festivals where they give it their best. The first ever single ‘This Is A Flirt’ was already recorded and released with the complete band as it currently exists. In 2008 they’d release another single named Bathroom Lovin’ Situations’. More live invitations followed on the biggest Belgian festivals and Balthazar also made their way into the charts.

Yet they found the time right to record a first complete studio album. Awaiting the release of the album in 2010 Maarten and his gang decided to release the first track in December 2009. ‘Fifteen Floors’ got picked up on  the radio a bit and was a great way to promote the first album. Fifteen floors also knocked its way into my music link. When thinking about three doors down I immediately thought of an apartment building and a fifteen floor building seems big enough to fit the picture in my head.

Balthazar received a lot of applause from their fans at the early stage of the band and wanted to give back some by naming the first full album ‘Applause’. And more of that they got from critics all over the land. The album received well and scored the Album Of The Year award in the 2010 Belgian Music Industry Awards. Correct if you listen to songs as ‘The Boatman’ and ‘Hunger At The Door’. For this they were asked to do the warm up for dEus’ European tour.

Check the clip out I’d say and if you like it you just might buy their second album soon. Expectation date: October 15^th, 2012.

N°113 DIABLO BLVD. - BLACK HEART BLEED

Diablo Blvd. is actually a song from the metal band Corrocion of Conformity, one of the favourite bands  of Diablo Blvd. front man Alex Agnew. Founded about seven years ago in Antwerp building on the great foundations of guitar players TimBekaert (A Brand) and Andries Beckers (The Setup) and Dave Hubrechts. Also with a strong drummer named Kris Martens and off course Alex Agnew, the stand-up comedian lead singer frontman.

The Diablo Blvd. sounds is a mixture of metal with sometimes bluesy lyrics. It’s rock ‘n roll with howling guitars. It’s hard and good. Alex has roots in England so it’s obvious he has no problem writing the perfect lyrics and with such talented musicians around him, Diablo Blvd started to build a name and a huge amount of fans in Belgium and The Netherlands. And not only Alex Agnew, the comedian fans.

A firs demo was recorded in 2006 and named Scarred and Undefeated. It only had four songs with the title song and Sweet Enemy Mine and most eye catching lyrics. This demo would be a step up to a first full cd, although it took them three year to write and record it. This because of the other bands they all played in and with Alex’ comedy tours so free dates were hard to find to work on the full cd.

The Greater God would be released in 2009 and it blew everyone away. It held twelve great songs including the ones on the ep mentioned above. The other two never made the full cd. Second Coming and Outcast are regulars at their live sets nowadays. The success of this album made them want more and they saw themselves as Builders Of Empires and build a new cd in 2011 by that title. This album was mixed by Jens Bogren who worked for Amon Amarth and Opeth. Ten songs of which Black Heart Bleed is the first single. This album is harder than the first one and more metal than blues but hey we like metal.

I saw them play live last weekend by the way at Pukkelpop 2012 and Alex and his crew gave away a great performance. First song he immediately demanded a mosh pit and not even halfway the one hour set he asked for a wall of death and boobs. He got the wall, didn’t know if he saw them boobs since I stood in the back with my girlfriend enjoying his funny remarks in between songs. Even in Diablo Blvd. Alex still remains that little piece of a comedian when showing off on stage. I’d say: go watch them whenever they’re around because they’re worth it.

The colour black was the link by the way: Men in Black -> Black Heart Bleed.

N°104 GEIKE - ROPE DANCER

Let’s stick with the solo project of Geike Arnaert, stage name Geike, who left Hooverphonic in 2008. As mentioned in my previous post she wasn’t even eighteen when auditioning for Alex Callier’s band Hooverphonic. Her sweet soft voice won the heart of Alex and she became lead singer for Hooverphonic between 1997 and 2008 and started touring and recording with the band at a very young age. Later, when leaving the band for a solo career she stated she had a great time but looking back she missed a part of her youth. Also being settled in the music business and being rewarded several times for Best Female Belgian Singer over the years made her decide to try it on her own.

The same day she decided to leave the band her last Hooverphonic single was to be released called Mijn Leven. This single was released to raise funds for a patient suffering from terminal cancer. He also appeared on the single. A last good deed with and for the band that was.

The same as Hooverphonic it remained silent around Geike for a very long time. She took a three year break and worked on a first solo album as well on the soundtrack for the Belgian movie Adem (Breath). For this project she shook hands with Erik De Jong from the band Spinvis and when performing together they do it under the name Dorléac. Both of them state that Dorléac still exists but there’s no rush in composing new material quickly. They do perform from time to time in small clubs whenever the both of them find the time.

At the end of 2011 Geike released a first single Rope Dancer under her own name. This first single didn’t take a high flight although it’s not a bad song. Her second ‘Unlock’ and third single ‘Blinded’ also didn’t make it high in the charts. Again not bad songs but also for the Hooverphonic fans amongst us it’s not the same as before. When Hooverphonic found a new strong lead vocalist, Geike is a little bit struggling to make it by herself although I’m pretty sure she’s happy doing so. And you must admit that a result after a long hard fight is more rewarding than when success is simply thrown at you.

I normally don't stick with the same vocalist (although the Hooverphonic song at 103 was sung by another girl) but I needed the 'Rope' to bring you 3 very very very great bands and songs which will all be intertwined. That'll be something for next Friday or Saturday. See you then.

N°103 HOOVERPHONIC - 2 WICKY

Normally it takes a band a few good songs to be promoted as a movie’s title track but not so for Hooverphonic. Founded as just plain ‘Hoover’ they produced their first album in 1995 with a spinning title like A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular. 2 Wicky, one of the singles became a hit and got promoted as main theme for Bernardo Bertolucci’s movie Stealing Beauty. Right after the release of this album Hoover needed to change their name into Hooverphonic because of author rights on the name Hoover. Since then their climb up the international music ladder began.

At the moment Hooverphonic exists of musical genius and fifties and sixties lover Alex Callier, guitar player Raymond Geerts and a stunning Noémie Wolfs on vocals. Noémie is actually the band’s fifth female vocalist. After short periods with three singers Hooverphonic performed with Geike Arnaert between 1997 and 2008. She started with the band after auditioning at the age of seventeen. Later she’d say she had a great time with Alex and Hooverphonic but after ten intense years of success in the business she wanted to go her own way and went solo. It took Alex almost two whole years to find a decent replacement in the person of Noémie Wolfs. With the change Hooverphonic becomes less static on stage with the more extravert Noémie instead of the introvert performances of Geike.

In 2000 the band stands before it’s international breakthrough with the album The Magnificent Tree. It became successful throughout Europe and the USA also helped a hand with their performance during the opening ceremony at the European Football championships in Belgium and the Netherlands that summer. Best known song from that album is ‘Mad About You’. The Magnificent Tree got a pretty good follow up with Jackie Cane in 2002. The title track is also the biggest hit from that record and the album still is my favourite.

Since Alex always tries to re-invent himself their 2005 album (No) More Sweet Music was a bit special. This double album had the same songs twice on each CD but each with a different music style. From this moment on troubles began when they break up with their music company. Alex finds he’s being held ransom when Sony/BMG only wants to release the double CD if they sign up for two more albums. Alex refuses and the international release of No More Sweet Music is being stopped by Sony/BMG. Hooverphonic signs with PIAS and Alex keeps full creative autonomy about the band.

Again a style change for the band in 2007 with the album ‘President Of The LSD Club’ which is a more psychedelic pop album. It would be the last with Geike as lead vocalist. On this one I also have a favourite song called ‘Bohemian Laughter’. After the break up with Geike, Hooverphonic is silenced for quite a while until the release of a new single in October 2010. ‘The Night Before’ with Noémie Wolfs becomes a hit and so does Noémie who skyrockets to stardom. It took Alex two years he said because he wanted a vocalist as strong as Geike and someone who could reach the limit he always sets when performing or producing. It must be said that Noémie easily caries the old songs as well as the new ones into a new Hooverphonic era. Let’s hope she also stays with the band for at least 10 years so Hooverphonic remains a big band as it is now with appearances on CSI Miami, La Femme Nikita or Sex And The City.

If you read the text carefully then you'll know that 2 Wicky is not sung by Geike Arnaert or Noémie Wolfs. This song features one of the three elder vocalists Liesje Sadonius. Wicky by the way is the link with the Wickie The Viking song.

N°101 LUCY LOES - MIN ZEEKAPITING

Let’s stay in Ostend, Belgium and pick another one of their world famous artists: Lucy Loes. Who? Lucy Loes! She’s world famous in Ostend and a few miles abroad. She’s that famous she has a statue standing before the fisherman’s stairs at the Fisherman’s Quai in Ostend. She was a performer of old Belgian fisherman’s songs such as ‘t Visscherslief’, ‘Min Zeekapiting’ and ‘Onk ‘soavonds nor min bedje goan’. Translated: The Fisherman’s Song, My Sea Captain and If I Go to Bed Late at Night. I did say was a performer since the Lucy died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 82.

She started to gain interest in old fisherman’s songs because her father was an emergency sea captain and when she was a little girl she heard all the great stories he used to tell her. Yet she never produced a single or an album before the age of fifty. At fifty she took over a pub at the Belgian coast and started her career in the back room for all who wanted to listen to her songs. She sings in Dutch but is better known for her songs in her local dialect. She also had a brother who died at a young age at sea fishing.

In 1970 she had the opportunity to produce an LP with nothing but her most famous fisherman’s songs. She later would produce 3 more cd’s with her best songs and one with ambi music. Although she never got famous outside her home town and surroundings she did achieved to reach national television in 2000 after her song ‘Min Zeekapiting’ was sung on television by Betty Owcziarek, a contestant in the Belgian Big Brother series.

I’ll slip the curtain a little bit aside so you can take a peek into the next song. Off course it’ll have to be linked with the sea and sailors so the next song is about a Viking.