The Softs

From my hometown Amsterdam came this one (no)hit wonder. For the record company Omega they released in ‘66 there only magnificent single Kassie Kijken/ Paarse broek. Translated In English: Watching telly/Purple trousers.

 It became a much sought after Nederbeat single and my absolute favorite. Its  one of the few Pop-art records which were made in that period. Complete with bizarre lyrics, weird sound effects and beating drums. Only about 500 copies were released. They did have plans for an English sung record, but for reasons unknown to me it remained just an idea. 

The Softs had started out as the Softenons. Named after a drug which was prescripted to pregnant women. Some of the children who became known as Softenon kids were born with sever handicaps. Because the name was thought to be to provocative the changed it to the nicer sounding The Softs. Despite of the minimal sales figures of their record they draw large crowds to their gigs. An exciting performance on stage and good looks did the trick.

A small but fanatic group of longhaired scum followed them around. But when the musical trend shifted to a demand for more technical capable musicians their audience and career faded. 

"Ik heb een paarse broek. Die ligt nu in de hoek. Want als ik hem draag. Dan wordt mijn pa heel kwaad. Paaaaaaaaaaars" .

"   

 

 N.V. Groep ‘65

The singer off this band Warner Landkroon was somewhat of a celebrity in Amsterdam. This was mainly attributed to his strange appearance due to his Ultra long hair and beard.  In the unofficial contest of longhaired man he claimed to be the man with the longest hair in town, although there were several beatniks who disputed his claim.

  In 1965 and ‘66 the band played regularly in and around Amsterdam. They toured the same places like dutchbeat icons The Oudsiders such as The Rembrandtpleintheater and at the Double Wow club organized by the Hitweek magazine. One band member Tom Krabbedam who left the band in 65 would later join The Outsiders as guitarist player.

  In  65 they released to singles at the Deltalabel, Dankzij de Heer/Tanger and Pipe and you like it/Lost. Both are pretty weird anthems. The first Danzij de heer (With the help of the Lord) wasn’t supposed to blasphemous, on the contrary, but the Christian society didn’t see it that way and they protested strongly.

  The hippie singer avant la lettre tried to show his softer side by turning up for a photo session with his parents for Hitweek Magazine. But another interest of the band would eventually case its collapse. In the summer of ’66 Warner Landkroon was arrested for the possession of mind-blowing substances.