Interesting albums from the folk and roots music history, by Marius Roeting.
In the 1970s, Eindhoven was the epicentre of critical stage culture. There was a left-progressive music education theatre, Proloog (Listen to https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/disccover_713653/ ). But also in pop music there was a group with ties to folk music. They even made it to the charts in 1976 with ‘Zeven dagen lang’. The song was later covered by many peformers and it was often, let’s say, ‘misused’ as a party song, as the lyrics are much more significant. We are talking about, of course, Bots. Most people will only know Bots for that one song. But they were a unique group. Bonkie Bongaerts, Sjors van de Molengraft, Peter de Vries and Floris Teunissen van Manen were involved in the musical graduation project of lead singer-guitarist and main composer Hans Sanders at the Social Academy in Eindhoven.
Sanders had previously spent some time in the backing band of another well-known musician from Eindhoven, Peter Koelewijn. He also produced Bots’ first album ‘Van kwaad tot erger’ on the Fontana label. The music was a blend of catchy pop-rock and folk. Sanders was fond of folk music, especially from the Breton artist Ian Stivell. He adapted various traditional melodies he heard on Stivell’s records – a fellow artist on the Fontana label – with his own Dutch-language lyrics. These lyrics were socially critical. Their music expressed solidarity with the working class, young workers, and the migrant laborers of that time. Bots themselves referred to it as “struggle culture.” Bots’ debut album ‘Van kwaad tot erger’ is arguably the band’s most socially engaged album. Its successor, ‘Voor God en Vaderland’, became a bigger commercial success, largely due to the presence of ‘Zeven dagen lang’. However, the group is rarely mentioned as one of the most important Dutch pop groups, likely due to their radical viewpoints. The band gained more recognition in Germany. They had several hits there, including a German-language song protesting against the deployment of cruise missiles. By the mid-1980s, interest waned, but the group continued to perform and they still do, albeit sometimes on a limited scale. In the early 2000s, they decided to record a new album. However, it took a long time for this to materialize. Sanders was terminally ill and passed away at the end of 2007. Several tracks had already been recorded with him. The rest of the band completed the recordings, at a slow pace, entirely according to Sanders’ wishes. reton musician Alan Stivell, upon hearing the Dutch version of ‘Zeven dagen lang’, consistently includes his rendition of ‘Son ar chistr’ – the cider song – during performances in the Netherlands and Belgium, with a few verses featuring Sanders’ Dutch lyrics.
Bots – Voor God & Vaderland – Fontana 6474 009 01. Zeven Dagen Lang 5:21
Alan Stivell – Reflets – Fontana 6312.011
02. Son Ar Chistr (trad Breton) 2:26
Bots – Van Kwaad Tot Erger – Fontana 6474 008
03. De Man 5:01
04. Dokter 4:20
05. De Bevalling 1:59
06. Snotneus 9:31
07. Lied Van De Werkende Jeugd 3:35
08. Keesje 3:17
09. Wat Een Troep 2:46
10. Kreupel 4:14
11. Pro Deo Voor De EO 4:04
12. Kakafonie 2:31
Bots – Je Voelt Pas Nattigheid als je droog komt te staan – Fontana 6315 006
13. Je Voelt Pas Nattigheid als je droog komt te staan 4:22
Bots – Wie Zwijgt, Stemt Toe – Fontana 6315 005
14. Weet Waar Je Staat 2:12
15. Wie Zwijgt, Stemt Toe 1:20
All compositions: Hans Sanders, except for
track 1, 8: traditional Breton, lyrics Hans Sanders
track 5: traditional Welsh, lyrics Hans Sanders
track 10: H van de Vorst
track 13: music Hans Sanders, lyrics Otto Sciaroni
track 2: traditional Breton, arr. Alan Stivell
