Vinyl LP - Den Haag BeatCity

The Hague was the pop capital of the Netherlands in the 1960s. The Nederbeat arose from a unique combination of discriminated Indos, socially committed fathers and bluffers from The Hague. It would form the basis of Dutch pop culture. The Hague beat bands In the 1960s, the royal city of The Hague was the pop city par excellence. The city had no fewer than two thousand bands, many of which dominated the Dutch pop scene for many years. The Golden Earrings, Group 1850, the Motions, Q65, Shockin 'Blue, the Shoes and Tee Set were illustrious names. The chic The Hague was therefore nothing less than the Dutch Mecca of pop music. Journalist Sarah Verroen, born and raised in The Hague, points to the similarities between her hometown and the English port city of Liverpool, home of the so-called Merseybeat. In the 1960s hundreds of bands also emerged from the working class in that city, of which the Beatles are without doubt the best known.   The Hague had no fewer than two thousand bands, a number of which dominated the pop scene A big difference with Liverpool, however, is that the Hague beat bands came from the same neighborhood. That was the Zuiderparkbuurt, where mainly workers, office workers and tradespeople lived. "It's the classic story," says Verroen. "Those who wanted to flee the environment of their parents had the choice between a career in crime, as a footballer or in pop music." But workers' neighborhoods can be found everywhere in the Netherlands. Yet Amsterdam, Rotterdam or, for example, Oss, were no match for pop in The Hague. That this city played such a remarkable pioneering role is mainly due to the fact that so many 'Indos' had been established since the early 1950s. After independence from Indonesia, Indian returnees had come to live in large numbers in The Hague.   Indorock in the fifties Not a weekend passed or here and there in the halls Indian halls were held where music was made. Young people from India formed bands - or combos, as they were then called. They played a mixture of rock 'n' roll and traditional Indian krontjong music on electric Hawaiian guitars, with a special way of 'strumming', which would later be called 'Indorock'. The Nederbeat explosion of the 1960s was therefore preceded by an Indorock explosion in the 1950s.   The Nederbeat explosion of the 1960s was therefore preceded by an Indorock explosion One of the first and most famous Indorock bands were the Bellboys, later renamed the Black Dynamites. The Bellboys played rock and roll, a type of music that was completely unknown in the Netherlands. "We were ahead of the Dutch," says the now 71-year-old saxophonist-guitarist Harry Koster. "In Indonesia we listened to Australian radio, to the music of Les Paul, an innovator in the field of electric guitar music." Koster had been living in The Hague since 1952, and Indos who arrived after him had since become acquainted with the rock 'n' roll music of Little Richard, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. In the Netherlands, the light pop of Cliff Richard and the Shadows was the roughest thing you could hear on the radio at the time.   Bullen and Frogs However, Indian and white youth rarely met in the same cafés at that time. In The Hague, most hotel and restaurant operators pursued a downright racist policy, withholding Indos. In response, Indos in turn established clubs where white boys had no access. White girls were welcome. Moreover, The Hague was plagued by a number of youth gangs. White boys sat with the `Bullen ', denes with leather jackets and chill with the artistic` Frogs'. Indian boys formed the `Plu's'. Youth workers tried to put an end to mutual rivalry by bringing the groups together in clubs. The now deceased Black Dynamites drummer Henny did that, for example, by holding dance evenings in club Extase at the Groenmarkt in The Hague. A number of Catholic fathers were also very active. In parish halls scattered throughout The Hague, they organized youth boxes where Indian boys were allowed to play their diabolical rock and roll.   Youth workers tried to put an end to mutual rivalry by bringing the groups together in clubs "It was about making young people realize that they were worth something," says one of them, now 71-year-old Father Harry Kanters. "If they said they couldn't do anything, we asked," Can you whistle? Yes? Well, then you can still do something. "" Many people went on Wednesday afternoons in the Catholic youth center Don Bosco, located in a park in the neighboring municipality of Rijswijk, close to the border with The Hague's Laakkwartier. Here, many young people from The Hague met Indorock for the first time.