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Thé Lau
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Thé Lau, in full Matheus Josephus Lau, was a Dutch singer, guitarist, lyricist and writer. He was born in 1952 in Bergen in North Holland and came from a family with a painter: his grandfather was also called Thé Lau. He played in various bands and was a member of Neerlands Hoop Express. In 1979 he founded The Scene, with himself as singer and guitarist. Their best-known songs are Blauw and Iedereen is van de wereld.
Music and breakthrough
With The Scene Lau made solid guitar rock with Dutch lyrics, at a time when Nederpop was becoming increasingly self-confident. In 2003 he left the group. He then toured the theatres with keyboardist Jan-Peter Bast and in 2006 began the tour Tempel der liefde, together with Bast and the tango string quartet Pavadita. In 2007 The Scene got back together with Lau and three former members. His solo albums include De God van Nederland from 2002, Tempel der liefde from 2006 and Platina blues from 2014. In 2010 he topped the Dutch charts with the rapper Lange Frans with Zing voor me. In 2005 he wrote In vrijheid, a song that has since been widely sung every year around Liberation Day.
Influence
Lau also wrote books. He made his debut in 2000 with the short story collection De sterren van de hemel, published his lyrics in 2003 and wrote the novel Hemelrijk in 2004. In 2013 he was diagnosed with throat cancer. He died in 2015 in Amsterdam. His lyrics, plain, direct and often poetic, helped Dutch-language song to be taken seriously as rock music.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
- 2002De God van Nederland
- 2006Tempel der liefde
- 2014Platina blues
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 11: NederpopNL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Iedereen is van de wereld Song
In 1990 Iedereen is van de wereld was released by The Scene, the band of singer Thé Lau.