NEWSARCHIVE

Period : January 24-28 1999
In this issue : Zita Swoon, Bernthöler, Buscemi, Sandra Kim, Helmut Lotti, The Kids, Willy Willy's Moody Voodo, Noordkaap.

Wednesday January 28, 1999

ZITA SWOON
After dEUS (who were awarded the title "Cultural ambassador of Flanders) last year, Zita Swoon has also found the way to the money-vault. The group was awarded a grant under the new Flemish musicbill. The group from Antwerp will receive 1,5 million BEF, a reasonable amount (although the smallest for a group - only recorder-ensemble Carré receives less). Zita was the only "rock" group that handed in a claim.
Manager Teddy Hillaert reacted to the news of the government decision in Het Nieuwsblad "This is a mighty precedent : the members of the group realize that their responsability is huge. If they don't do well, other rock-groups won't receive a dime the next time round (in 2002). We have an obligation towards the others to make something out of it"
The goverment claims that the approved budget does mean a shift from "elitist" music to "popular" music : a number of rock-festivals have been approved, and a number of clubs get a grant (4AD, 5 voor 12, Ancienne Belgique, Cactus, De Kreun, De Media, De Zwerver, Democrazy, Jeugdhuis Nijdrop).
If you want to read the motives behind the decision, you can do so (in Dutch) at the website of the Flemish Government. And now when do I get such a "music education" subsidy ???

BERNTHÖLER

This year, Bassta, the Studio-Brussel show that airs daily between 19 and 21 hours, has chosen the song "My Suitor" of eighties new-wave band Bernthöler for its "Bass-tard"-contest. In this contest, a number of Belgian groups compete by making a personal remix of an existing song (last year the mission was to make a remix of "Zanna " by Luc Van Acker and Anna Domino).
The groups that have taken on the challenge this year are Buscemi (see yesterdays news), De Bossen, Vive La Fête (Danny Mommens, Els Pynoo and Piet Jorens), Cinérex, The Nothing Bastards (second in the Rockrally) and Das Pop (1ste in that same contest).

Wednesday January 27, 1999

BUSCEMI
Buscemi, the techo-tinkerer with a taste for fifties-visuals, announces the launch of an all new website.
Known in real life as Dirk Swartenbroeckx from Limburg, you might already know him for his contribution to the "Final De La Copa"-cd this summer, his remixes of the work of others (DAAU on "Gin & Tonic" or The Groove Cartel's "Rumba Luna" ) or his own quite varied dance recordings on Downsall (best known song "Désolé" from his summer '98 release "Mocho Supremo").
On the website (that downloads quite slowly due to some huge background sounds) you can also learn he's planning on a new12" "Angel of LA" in February, for which he has been recording together with a jazz-combo.

SANDRA KIM

The girl who rose to fame when she won the Eurosong-festival in 1986 with the horrible "J'aime J'aime la vie" at the age of only fourteen, is still alive an somewhat kicking. After a marriage, a television career (10 qu'on aime), a duet with all kinds of weird people (Luc Steeno, Frank Galan ...), Sandra Kim now has decided to go into musicals.
Gazet van Antwerpen reported that she has succesfully auditioned for the role of "Eponyme" in the musical "Les Misérables" that will be staged in Antwerp later on in the year. Most of the other cast (& decors ...) will come from the Dutch version that's currently playing.

Tuesday January 26, 1999

HELMUT LOTTI
Dana Winner in "Morgen Maandag" and a TV1-special ("unplugged", Sunday January 31st) ?? Then it's also allowed to have Helmut Lotti in the Belgian Pop & Rock Archives.
Turns out that young Helmut - an Elvis-impersonator who one day decided to "go classic" and has been hitting the jackpot ever since - is busy conquering the Amerika's at the moment. He is converting housewives into fans in a fast tempo (just look at the busy forum on his official website - Planet Internet's "de Mol-Forum" shrinks into oblivion). In the Flemish newspapers there was some enthousiastic quoting going on this weekend of a review Richard Dyer, cultural correspondent of the Boston Globe, wrote about the visit of Lotti to his town. Blessed are the internet-surfers, for they can follow a simple link and read the nice tongue-in-cheek article at The Boston Globe Online site. Wonderful end-conclusion btw : "Differently trained, Helmut Lotti might do very well singing Bach's Evangelists, or Dowland songs with lute accompaniment. It's not going to happen. Instead his future is going to be in arenas, outdoor pavilions, maybe in Vegas, and certainly in Swiss banks"

THE KIDS
Something else I read, this time in "Het Nieuwsblad" : The Kids are back from touring and they are doing to their own amazement - well eh - amazingly well in Eastern Germany. "There is a lot of demand for punks of the first generation over there. The sadder the surroundings, the better punkrock thrives", said singer Ludo Mariman.
The group has undergone some changes in personel : ex-Scabs Frankie Saenen now hits the drums, and young Pieter Van Buyten (see also Flip Kowlier, Chitlin' Fooks) handles the bass. Ludo Mariman and guitar-player Luk Van De Poel remain on their post. On March 13th, they will record a live-concert, of wich an EP will be released later in the year.

Sunday January 24, 1999

WILLY WILLY'S MOODY VOODOO
W. Lambregt, better known as Willy Willy, the former guitarist of The Scabs en co-founder of Vaya con Dios, who has been described in these archives as "the Keith Richards of Belgian Rock", has founded a new band. Together with one Marco on drums and Pip Vreede (ex-Red Zebra, ex-Wolf Banes) on the bass he now forms "Willy Willy's Moody Voodoo".
There is already an internet-site to spread the good news : http://voodoo.namahn.com. So far, there are no definite plans for any releases, but on the site you can already hear some bandwidthbreaking and wildly bluesrocking demos.

NOORDKAAP
Noordkaap has also a new cd in the making : the disc will carry the name "Massis" (could be a reference to the deceased Belgian strongman who had a face just about as ugly as singer Stijn Meuris) and will be available at the counter from the middle of March onwards. The producer was Jo Francken, who has worked with Zita Swoon (Sunrise), Cabbage (The miraculously winking Jesus), the Dutch group JD Kort etc ... before.
On February 17, the first single called "Pretentious, moi ?" will be released.

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