KATE'S KENNEL

Kate's Kennel was a folkrockband centered around the "flamboyant" singer Kate (Griet de Bock) at the end of the sixties / start of the seventies.

The band (in fact Dré Baekelandt and his wife) was one of the remnants of the well-known ballroomrockband Clee's Five. Soon the young keyboard-player from Zottegem called Jean Blaute (who was playing with "The Eagles", an orchestra that did the accompaniments of Marino Falco & the likes) was integrated in the band.

This extravagant and funny band came to the attention of the general public when they participated in the talent hunt Canzonissima (a contest in which the Flemish participant for the Eurovision Song Contest was selected). They were noted for their "sloppy" appearance between the glitzy acts, which caused some sort of a "scandal" in those conservative days. Kate in "de komplete kleinkunstgeschiedenis" about this : "we were provoking out of misery, because hardly anyone liked us. This made us say "To hell, now we ain't gonna try harder". In two hours time we made the songs for the next broadcast. We were "wayward", but to our surprise this waywardness gave us a certain success : as an anti-band, the underdog.".

Another quote that probably does give a good description of the band is from an introduction Rudy Vandendaele wrote for a Humo-interview with Jean Blaute : "I have known JB since the early seventies when he was playing with the hilaric popband Kate's Kennel speelde. I remember a little festival for peasant hippies in Wetteren, where Jean was producing some sort of kosmic zooming noise from his keyboard, completely in line with the spirit of the era, and said with a pinched voice as in the old American science-fictionfilms "This is the intergalactic pop group Kate's Kennel". After which the ensemble suddenly burst into a jolly march-song and sung "Drie grenadiers, pom pom pom pompiers."

After a album "Kate" on Rocco Granata's Cardinal label and a few singles (which includes a version of Wanda Jackson's "Let's Have a Party"), the members of Kate's Kennel threw themselves on the theatrical world, such as their performances in the plays of the Dutch Hans Polzer, aka Drs. P, as "Sursum Corda" and "Middelpracht & Eeuwse praal".

After the decease of Dré Baekelandt "Kate" went on in the theatrical world. She later got into a relation with Loet Hanekroot (another Flemish actor, best known for a role in the success series "De Collega's"), with whom she left Belgium for Italy in 1982, without leaving a single trace.
Jean Blaute went from the theater back to his keyboards (he has played with a large number of bands, such as Johan Verminnen, Raymond van het Groenewoud, The Radio's ...) and he had a short solo-career in the eighties and a blooming career as a producer (from Urbanus to The Pop Gun, from Roland to K's Choice, from Clouseau to Hennie Vrienten ...).

Band members :
- Griet De Bock / Kate (vocals)
- Dré Baekelandt (drums, guitar)
- Jean Blaute (keyboards)

Albums :
- Kate (Cardinal, 1970)
- de songs "popartiest", "lentewindje" en "de mensen" werden later heruitgebracht in de Cardinal Master Series in 1999 (Cardinal/CNR, 1999).
Singles :
- Mister no name / The News (Cardinal, 1970)
- Tchoo tchoo wang wang / My baby's gone (Biram, 1970)
- Let's have a party / See me now (Emi, 1972)
- Levenslied / In het huis der schande (Vogue, 1974)

Websites :
- none found.