The Motions

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Motions was a nederbeat band from The Hague, formed in 1964 by Henk Smitskamp on bass guitar, Robbie van Leeuwen on guitar, Rudy Bennett as singer and Sieb Warner on drums. Bennett and Van Leeuwen came from Ritchie & the Ricochets, who had played in August 1964 before the Rolling Stones at the Kurhaus in Scheveningen. The band existed until 1970 and is regarded as the first nederbeat group to reach the hit parade. That happened in early 1965 with the first single It's Gone, which reached number 39 in the Veronica Top 40.

Music and breakthrough

In 1965 came the first album, Introduction to the Motions, with eleven songs by Van Leeuwen, and the first big hit, Wasted Words. It was inspired by the protest song. In 1966 Why Don't You Take It, Every Step I Take and It's the Same Old Song followed, with the album Their Own Way. Bennett had a solo success in 1967 with How Can We Hang On to a Dream.

Influence

Van Leeuwen left in March 1967 and founded Shocking Blue, known for Venus. Gerard Romeijn took his place. With Impressions of Wonderful (1967) the band joined flower power, and the magazine Hitweek called the album the Dutch Sgt. Pepper's. In 1969 Electric Baby followed and a short trip to the United States, without a breakthrough. In 1970 the album Sensation was released, after which the group disbanded.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1965Introduction to the Motions
• 1966Their Own Way
• 1968Impressions of Wonderful
• 1969Electric Baby
• 1971Sensation