Wednesday, April 05, 2006

The Motions - Impressions Of Wonderful (1965-1967)



The Motions from The Hague were one of the bigger groups of the 1960s Dutch beat explosion. They were formed out of the remnants of Ritchie Clark and the Ricochets in 1964 and went on to become hitmakers for the next several years in the '60s. The Motions were much loved abroad, even in the USA. The Walker Brothers even recorded a song The Motions had written and helped in the production of the group's second LP; The Motions were also brought to the USA in 1968 and presented to the public as one of the world's top hit-making pop groups! The single, "Freedom", reached high in the American charts.

Although the group disbanded in 1971, the most imporant members have met each other again and again in new groups such as Crossroad, Greenhorn, Jupiter and Galaxy Lin.

From 1964 till 1967, the line-up remained the same: Rudy Bennett (i.r.l. Ruud van de Berg - vocals, earlier as Ritchie Clark and the Ricochets), Robbie van Leeuwen (guitar, ex-Atmospheres & Ricochets, later the founder of both Shocking Blue and Galaxy Lin), Henk Smitskamp (bass, ex-Willy & Giants, later to Livin' Blues) & Sieb Warner (drums, ex-Ricochets, later to Golden Earrings).

In 1967, Robbie left to form Shocking Blue and was replaced by Leo Bennink (ex-Mack); Henk was replaced by Gerard Romeyn (ex-Tee-Set, later with Nico Haak, Image), who, in turn, was replaced by Paul van Melzen (ex-Haigs, later in the Mailer McKenzie Band) after just six months. The last line-up of the group (up 'til 1971) was: Rudy, Leo, Jan Vennik (sax, flute & organ, ex-Jayjays, later to Rob Hoeke & Ekseption), Han Cooper (organ, bass & vocals, ex-Bobby Green Selection, later with Leo, to Fisher & Friends) and Bobby Green (drums, ex-Bobby Green Selection, also to Fisher & Friends).

After the breakup, Rudy Bennett, Bobby Green & Gerard Romeyn all released solo singles. Alex Giltin

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aaaaahh, I'm getting old... When I was at high school they were my idols, especially with their hit single "Wasted Words" - about the killing of Martin Luther King.

A year later the Who (pop-art !) and the Outsiders became more "my cup of tea", as well as Golden Earring.

I'm glad I didn't stay there (musical-wise), but kept moving on in the love of good music. :-))

Lisa Sinder said...

Hi Sam! But they are still great - don't you think so?

Anonymous said...

Naaah, not really. In that time they were, but since than I discovered that music can be so much more exiting and diverse.

When I'm not "on a trip through memory lane" I'm more into African music these days. Especialy music from Mali and Senegal is what I like now a lot.
When you listen to that a little more the music from the rich countries sounds mostly so dull.

People here should really try Salif Keita, Habib Koite, Mamadou Diabate, Lamine Konte and so on - that's really great music (and will still be after 20 years)!