Herman Brood & His Wild Romance

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Herman Brood & His Wild Romance
Herman Brood and his Wild Romance.jpg
L to R: Ani Meerman, Freddie Cavalli, Herman Brood and Dany Lademacher (1979)
Background information
Years active1976 - ?
LabelsBubble, Ariola, Sky, CBS, Columbia, BMG, Aves, Avon, Coach Music
Past members Herman Brood
Anna Dekkers (Dee Dee)
Ferdi Karmelk
Dany Lademacher
Cees "Ani" Meerman
Ellen Piebes
Ria Ruiter
Monica Tjen-a-Kwoei
Gerrit Veen
Peter Walrech

Wild Romance, also known as The Wild Romance, but best known as Herman Brood & His Wild Romance [1] was the backing band of Dutch singer-pianist Herman Brood.

Contents

While labeled as a new wave band, the director of Wild Romance's record label, Ariola, disputed this categorization when first promoting the band to the American audience in 1979, saying it came about "because he [Brood]'s a European artist". [1]

Background

The best known lineup of the band, which lasted between November 1977 and October 1979, was:[ citation needed ]

Following this a number of musicians, including Bertus Borgers on saxophone, joined, left and rejoined the band, however the success of the late 1970s was never repeated.

Career

The band was formed in 1976 in Groningen and had various lineups. The band got its name from the lyric "...and I lost my mind in a wild romance" which they heard on the American jazz and blues singer, Mose Allison’s 1957 recording of the song Lost Mind, which was written by Percy Mayfield in 1951; both Brood and manager Koos van Dijk were fans of Allison.[ citation needed ]

The band recorded their Go Nutz album which was produced by Tim O'Brien, and released on Ariola OL1500 in 1980. A Recommended LP, it had a positive review in the 14 June 1980 issue of Billboard. With the reviewer pointing out that Brood had attracted attention the previous year with his US debut, the similarity between Bruce Springsteen and Graham Parker was noted. The r&b laced rock that Brood had on the album was done well. The remakes of "I'll Be Doggone" and "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep", both r&b standards were said to work well. The reviewer's picks were, "I Love You Like I Love Myself", "I'll Be Doggone" "Easy Pick Up", "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep", and "Born Before My Time". [2]

Band personnel

The major incarnations of the band were:-

Initial lineup

The first incarnation of the band was:

Shpritsz

In 1978, at around the time of the Shpritsz tour, the lineup was:

This incarnation of Herman Brood & his Wild Romance scored the hits "Saturday Night", "Still Believe" (with Bertus Borgers on saxophone), "Never Be Clever" and "I Love You Like I Love Myself". Albums Shpritsz and Cha Cha from 1978 were certified gold and platinum respectively, with the platinum disc for Cha Cha being presented to Brood by celebrity bank robber Aage Meinesz.

Meerman was replaced in October 1979 by Peter Walrecht. In 1981 Lademacher was replaced by Erwin Java, who was in turn replaced by David Hollestelle. In 1983 Renee Lopez joined the band as the new bassist.

Circa 1986

1986 saw the return of Lademacher and the lineup at this time was:

Last incarnation

The last incarnation of the band from 1993 to 2001 consisted of:

The band in 1997 Herman Brood Winterswijk.JPG
The band in 1997

In 1982 Cees "Ani" Meerman and Fred Van Kampen formed the band "The Managers".

In 2010 former band members, Dany Lademacher and Ruud Englebert, formed a band using the name "Lost in Romance", in mid-2011 this was simplified to just "The Romance". The lineup in 2010 was:

Discography

Albums

DVDs

DVDs Chart position in the Dutch DVD Top 30YearChartedHighest chart positionTotal number of weeksNotes
Live at Rockpalast 1978 + 19902012May 4, 2012155with Herman Brood

References

  1. 1 2 Cary Darling (28 July 1979). "Ariola Move: Label Plans Extensive Promotion To Launch Debut Into Rock Field". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 30. ISSN   0006-2510.
  2. Billboard, June 14, 1980 - Page 66 Billboard's Top Album Picks, Billboard's Recommended LPs,
    pop, HERMAN BROOD AND HIS WILD ROMANCE -Go Nutz, Ariola OL1500 (Arista). Produced by Tim O'Brien.