The Buffoons from Enschede were, without a doubt, one of the best
Dutch 'vocal harmony' groups in a style that appeared to be particularly popular
in the Eastern part of the country with bands like Geebros and Honest
Men. They were heavily influenced by The Beach Boys and The Ivy
League.
The band evolved from The White Rockets and in 1967 their line-up was:
Ely van Tongeren (g/v), Gerard van Tongeren (v), Hilco ter Heide (v), Benny
(i.r.l. Bjinse) de Groot (kb/v), Maarten Assink (d/v) and Bob Luiten (b/v). The
band's first single "Tomorrow Is Another Day" (a cover of The Ivy
League) immediately reached the Top 10 and the follow-up "It's The End"
even made it to #4. The following singles sold less and less. In 1969, the first
of a number of line-up changes took place: de Groot was replaced by Jack van
Rossum (ex-Dick Scott & The Barons). The following year Maarten Assink
went to join Liberty and was replaced by Boy Brostowski (also ex-Dick
Scott & The Barons). Finally Luiten left to be replaced by Don Biesbroek (g,
ex-Pee White & The Magic Strangers) with Ely van Tongeren switching to
bass. Between 1973 and 1975, the line-up of Ely, Hilco, Gerard, Don, Boy and
Jack had a few hits including the biggest hit in the history of The Buffoons,
Ritchie Valens' "My Girl Donna" reaching #3.
Jack van Rossum left in 1975 to form Sweet Lake with Boy Brostowski.
Their replacements were Skip van Rooy (o, p, ex-Galaxy
Lin) and the reinstated Maarten Assink on drums. The latter stayed for
less than 2 years and in his place came Eelco-Jan 'Koos' Wiekenkamp.
Early 1979, the Buffoons called it a day. Hilco ter Heide went to study
English at a university. Skip van Rooy later recorded an instrumental solo album
and then became a teacher at the Rotterdam Conservatory. The brothers van
Tongeren continued playing in bands like Feeling and Albatross. In
1990, they decided to start a new band as The New Buffoons with Henk
Bruinewoud (d/v, ex-Honest Men and Topaz) and Joop Walkot (kb/v,
also ex-Topaz). In 1997, they dropped the "new" and became The
Buffoons again. Around that time, Don Biesbroek started joining them for the
bigger concerts. The next year, Koos Wiekenkamp returned as Henk Bruinewoud was
unfit to play the drums and effectively became lead singer. The band released a
few CDs through minor labels but had no hits.
In 2003, tragedy struck when during a tour with The Tremeloes and The
Fortunes Gerard van Tongeren suffered a stroke. He would never be able to
sing again. His replacement was Gerrit Visser. Line-up changes were frequent in
the new millennium with Gert Timmerman Jr., John Gaasbeek (ex-Teach
In), Harry Bartelink (ex-Honest Men) and Joop Kiewiet being
members at one point.
Early 2005, Ely van Tongeren was forced to leave the band due to a heart attack.
The remaining band members were allowed to continue using the name The
Buffoons, but a few months later, Ely van Tongeren revoked his permission
when the band sacked Don Biesbroek and started performing without any original
members. Ely and Don then approached all members of the succesful 1970s line-up
in order to blow life into the original Buffoons. Jack van Rossum and Boy
Brostowski agreed, but Hilco ter Heide declined. His place was taken by Fokke
Openty (v/g/b, ex-Free of "Keep In Touch" fame). In December 2006,
they were joined by Henk Hager (v/g, ex-Diesel).
The sextet started rehearsals, but just before the first concert in the Spring
of 2007, Jack van Rossum opted out. Ely van Tongeren then cancelled the whole
project, which was hampered by the existence of two Buffoons line-ups
fighting over the rights to the band name: Ely's "original" band and Henk
Bruinewoud's version that had evolved from The New Buffoons (who made
sure they were often photographed in the presence of retired Gerard van
Tongeren).
In November 2008, Ely van Tongeren, original lead singer Hilco ter Heide,
original drummer Maarten Assink and German Bo Moelker did a one-off performance
in their hometown of Enschede as a vocal quartet accompanied by a large
orchestra, performing "My Girl Donna"and "Tomorrow Is Another Day".
1967 Tomorrow is another day/My world fell down Imperial IH 744
1968 It's the end/Maria 777
Sister Theresa's east river orphanage/Sunday will never be the same 801
LP Looking ahead SALI 8007
Lovely Loretta/Here we go again IH 816
Goodbye my love/I can't go on loving you 835
1969 Radio song/Bye bye bye 861
Catharina baby/Nobody wants to be near me 5C 006-24043
The bus/Scarborough fair 24113
LP In perfect harmony 054-24051
1970 My world is empty/Memories of Melinda 006-24207
(with Seth Gaaikema) Een popzanger/De klokken van het dorp 24132
Wie ein Himmel voller Sterne/Deine Sorgen mochte ich haben
Columbia 5C 006-28744
LP Greatest Imperial 048-50649
LP Greatest Emidisc 50652
1971 Unga ueboyeh/Pretty madonna Imperial 006-24804
1972 The secret of you and I/Stickalee CBS 7744
All good gifts/By my side/Day by day (with Bojoura) 8176
1973 My girl Donna/Wait 8391
Arizona/I can't sleep 8577
Let it be me/In the evening of my lifetime 1831
It's the end/Tomorrow is another day/Sister Theresa Imperial 5C 006-24816
LP The best of the Buffoons CBS 65929
1974 To know you is to love you/Pack your bag 2168
I don't want to go on without you/Summertime has gone 2617
LP The hitsingles Embassey EMB 31089
1975 Listen to my song/Come on little honey Ariola AT 16007
Silver queen/Country wine 16535
1976 Barbara Ann/Disco kid 17055
1977 Because/Ma Belle Amour CNR 141397
1989 CD Original Hit Recordings (comp.) EMI cdm 7.92991.2
1999 CD Singles (comp.) BR Music BX 519-2
2004 CD Here we go again (comp.) EMI 5778222
Chart hits:
[14-10-1967]^8*12 TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY / MY WORLD FELL DOWN
buffoons
[10-02-1968]^4*11 IT'S THE END buffoons
[18-05-1968]^15*10 SISTER THERESA / SUNDAY WIL NEVER BE THE SAME
buffoons
[14-09-1968]^13*7 LOVELY LORETTA buffoons
[30-11-1968]^19*5 GOODBYE MY LOVE / I CAN'T GO ON LOVING YOU buffoons
[28-06-1969]^40*1 CATARINA BABY buffoons
24-6-72 tip THE SECRET OF YOU AND I
[10-03-1973]^3*10 MY GIRL DONNA the buffoons
[14-07-1973]^15*8 ARIZONA the buffoons
[03-11-1973]^11*6 LET IT BE ME the buffoons
1-6-74 tip TO KNOW YOU IS TO LOVE YOU
27-12-75 tip SILVER QUEEN
Please send corrections, additions and comments to: uheep2 at comcast dot net
To the Buffoons Web
Site
Back to Alex's Home Page
Back to the Nederpop index