NIEUWSARCHIEF

Periode : 1-7 november 2000
In dit deel : Louis Neefs, Gorki, Debuutrock, Belpoptop november, Novastar, K's Choice, Eurosong, Jan De Wilde.

November 7, 2000

LOUIS NEEFS REMEMBERED
This year on Christmas day, it is 20 years ago that Louis Neefs & his wife had a terrible car-crash in which the popular 70's crooner found their death. Just as with that other "tragic death" in Flemish showbizz, Ann Christy, there are some nice initiatives being deployed to commemorate this event.
In the case of Louis Neefs, it's his son Gunther, the singing car salesman, that has asked a number of Belgian and Dutch singers to perform a song from the repertoire of his father (surprisingly, no one chose Jennifer Jennings, his biggest hit). The 12 contributions are now confined to a CD, "Louis Neefs 20 Jaar later". Most remarkeable track is a remake of the song "Laat ons een bloem", because it is a posthumous duet of the father and son, with the added value of Toots Thielemans on the harp. Other contributing artists are Rob De Nijs (Annelies Uit Sas Van Gent), Bart Peeters (Mijn Vriend Benjamin), René Froger (Oh, Oh, Ik Heb Zorgen), Connie Neefs (M'n Dorp In De Kempen), Stef Bos (Martine), Jo Lemaire (Wat Een Leven), Paul Michiels (Aan Het Strand Van Oostende), Raymond Van Het Groenewoud (Ach Margrietje), Helmut Lotti (Billy The Kid), Mama's Jasje (Zondagmiddag Lilian) and Voice Male with Gunther Neefs (Sixteen Tons). There'll be no single from the album as such, but there is currently a video in the making for "Laat ons een bloem".
The album was released today (with the "stunt" of all nationals radio-stations playing a track from the album at 8:15). Most of the artists present on the CD will also be performing on a tribute concert to Louis Neefs, which will be held on December 19. Tickets for this concert can be obtained at 070.345.345, info at 03.285.42.94.
Buy "Louis Neefs, 20 jaar later" at .

GIVE YOUR GUITARS TO SOUTH-AFRICA
In September, Luc De Vos & Gorki did a small tour in South-Africa (promoting "Eindelijk Vakantie", and doing some serious "cultural interchange"). On one occasion, Luc was invited to the Ujama Music School in Soweto, which was founded in 1998 by Big Voice Jack, who is teaching music to the children of the townships. The school
Overwhelmed by the gratitude for these instruments, and impressed by the enthusiasm in the project, the management of Gorki is now trying to turn this into a help-fund, to help the Ujama Music School with more musical instruments.
You can help by donating instruments (acoustic guitars, keyboards, drums, brass ...) or making a donation on a special bank-account 290-7648841-24 ("instrumenten Soweto"). More info about the fund can be obtained at Noelle Vanhelsuwe of agency Lipstick Notes.

November 6, 2000

THE BELPOPTOP
You've caused quite a shock, dear audience, in your votes on the Belpoptop of this month: 6 new songs have entered in the list, and not less than 5 songs received enough votes to go to the top of it.
But even with all these new ones, there are already a lot of new songs which would be quite pleased if you were to vote them into the list. The "suggestions du chef" for this month are:
- El Fish "Sonny Boy's Advice" : brand new single from the "Wisteria" album, toying around with Sonny Boy Williamson's voice samples.
- K's Choice "Busy" : second single of the "Almost Happy"-album, now that the European tour is well on the way.
- Janez Detd. "Summer's Gone" : another single of the hitalbum "Janez Detd." which won them a TMF-award.
- Angelico "Freak You Out" : single accompanying the release of their very first album "No Rest For The Wicked".
- Ghinzu "Dolly Fisher" : debut single (promo only) of a rather mysterious new band from Brussels.
- TC Matic "Putain Putain (insider remix)" . Remix of one of the most famous TC-Matic songs, to promote the release of the double compilation album Compil Complèt.
- Tom Helsen "When Marvin Calls" : fine single of the second album "Tom is Doing Great" by this talented singer-songwriter with the aid of Joost -Novastar- Zweegers.
- De Bossen : "Bones Bones Bones" . Have come to their senses and released the best song of their 2nd album as a (promo only) single.
- Stonedigger "Internet" . First sign of life of this Fence-like band from Sint-Truiden after a while, but they close to releasing their second album.
So go ahead and vote now ... You can even win a copy of Hooverphonic's latest CD "The Magnificent Tree" in doing so.

LAST CALL FOR DEBUUTROCK DEMO'S
If you play in a band or make music otherwise and want a shot at the eternal fame that is the Belgian Pop & Rock rostrum, you might just achieve that position by doing something nice at one of the major talent contests that are held regularly in this country. The main ones are of course Concours Circuit for the South and the Rock Rally in the North, but as a close third comes the yearly "Debuutrock" contest.
Debuutrock selects bands by having choosing about 40 bands from a demo-pool, and by visiting those band in the rehearsal room or during a gig. From these, 8 bands are chosen which become the "laureates" and get to perform at De Vooruit in Ghent on April 14, 2001. They also get to record a song for what will be become the Debuutrock 2001 CD.
To participate, you need to act really quick now : send your demo with 3 songs (and the best one better be the first) to Debuutrock (DR) 2001, Sint-Andrieslaan 1, 9960 ASSENEDE. Deadline = November 11. Don't forget to mention a contact, adress, phone and/or e-mail on the tap. More info can also be obtained at info@debuutrock.org, telephone 09/373.44.41.

NOVASTAR ON TOUR WITH K'S CHOICE
Novastar has gotten an offer they apparently couldn't refuse, since they have set off on a tour opening for K's Choice for about a month and a half, all over Europe (France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, actually). Meanwhile, he also has a new single (lost & blown away), a new video (where he gets lost & blown away pixel-wise), and a new drummer (Karel De Backer) for the band.
A number of concerts that were planned earlier, have been cancelled and set to later dates:
Stadsschouwburg van Leuven has been rescheduled to January 11, Ancienne Belgique in Brussels to January 14, Hof Ter Lo in Antwerp to January 18, Velinx in Tongeren to January 20, and the Soundstation in Liège to February 2nd.
The rest of the international tour schedule is at the KsChoice.com or Novastar.be websites.

BELGIUM CAN'T GO TO EUROSONG
Oh, woo is us. Belgium cannot participate in next years Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Denmark in 2001.
The main reason for this is of course that Nathalie Sorce didn't get nearly enough points for us last year to qualify us by right (in fact she didn't get nearly any points at all), but that was the case for us in previous years also. The second reason is that the Poles aren't giving their forfeit for the contest, which we were kind-of hoping on here. Rumours that Poles are really nice people had been going round during the last weeks, but the EBU (European Broadcasting Association) shattered all our hopes last week, by affirming that all 23 selected nations will come and thus leave no room for a Flemish contestant.
All this means Belgium won't be able to send a new representative to the contest until 2002. But we'll be back, with a vengeance... Hey, we might even send Pas de Deux again.

November 2, 2000

THE JAN DE WILDE REVIVAL
Jan De Wilde, one of the most laid-back character in todays flemish music scene, has risen back to the surface with a sudden blurt of activity: the man was monopolising the media today, with an appearance in about every Radio1 and VRT-programme available. But with good reason, because more than 10 years after the release of his latest and most succesful studio album Hé Hé, Jan de Wilde has finally put together a bunch of new songs which EMI is releasing as "Oude Maan" (Old Moon). The man that has always defended the "right to being lazy", has chosen 11 simple songs, with 3 of them being by others (Wij houden stand was written by Luc De Vos of Gorki, Pauvre Ruteboeuf was a originally a french song, in a translation by writer Johan Daisne). Raymond van het Groenewoud joins the singer on two songs, and the album was produced by Jo Bogaert (yes, the Technotronic guy).
The second activity is the news that he has compiled a book with (a selection of the) lyrics from his entire career. It's entitle "Niks aan dan vel" (nothin on but skin) and is published by Houtekiet.
And to top it all off, his manager has put together a website to promote all of this: Jan-de-Wilde.com, of course.
Buy "Oude Maan" or "Niks aan dan vel" at

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