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Toontje Lager

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

Toontje Lager is a Dutch-language pop group from Wageningen. The band began in 1977 under the shocking name Maandverband (Dutch for sanitary towel), founded by Bert Vermaas, Frits Raijmakers and Bert Hermelink. The first performance was in café Troost in Wageningen, with ten punk and rock songs in Dutch, which they played twice to fill the evening. In 1978 the group carried on in a new line-up as Toontje Lager. With the singer Vermaas the first album appeared in 1980. The song Kontaktrock was on the compilation Uitholling overdwars, which gave the revival of Dutch-language pop a considerable push.

Music and breakthrough

After Vermaas left, Erik Mesie became the singer. The keyboardist Bert Hermelink wrote by far the most songs. In the early 1980s the hits came: Stiekem gedanst, Zoveel te doen and Net als in de film. The albums Er op of er onder (1982) and Stiekem dansen (1983) were awarded gold. Listeners of the radio station Hilversum 3 chose In gedachten, the B-side of Ben jij ook zo bang, as B-side of the year. A passage from Zoveel te doen was for years the theme tune of the motoring programme De heilige koe. In 1983 the group received the Zilveren Harp, a Dutch music award.

Influence

Toontje Lager belonged to the wave of bands who made pop music in Dutch around 1980, together with Doe Maar, Het Goede Doel and the Frank Boeijen Groep, among others. In 1985 the group split up. Hermelink became a cabaret performer. Since 2019 Mesie has been performing again with a new line-up of Toontje Lager.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Stiekem gedanst. Notice how the keyboards and Erik Mesie's vocals together carry the melody, and how naturally Dutch lyrics sound here in a pop song from the early 1980s.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists