A hard rock group
featuring a number of dyed-in-the-wool musicians: Shel Schellekens (drums, ex-Big
Wheel), the young Frank van der Kloot (guitar, ex-Bobby's
Children), Ulli Grün (organ, ex-After Tea,
left Drama in 1972) and leader Polle Eduard (ex-After Tea, Steptrack), who put this band together following the
breakup of After Tea; Drama
mainly featured his vocals and compositions. The single 'Mary's Mama'
did not fit into their repertoire, but it turned out to be a mega hit for them. Drama
existed from 1971 till 1973. Frank founded Fontessa and took
Shel with him, while Polle
went solo.
For more than a year now people have been talking and writing about the group Drama.
The band comprised a number of individuals who had already made their marks in the past in
several different bands: Polle Eduard
(Tee Set, After
Tea), drummer Ton 'Shell' Schellekens (In Crowd, Big
Wheel), Ulli Grün (Boots, After
Tea), and the young guitar virtuoso Frank van der Kloot
(Bobby's Children and soon to play on the
new Barry Hay album, 'Only Parrots, Frogs And Angels').
Twenty five years ago, it was Harrie Knipschild, Holland's best-known blues expert, who
started penning his praise for the band Drama in the Veronica Television
Magazine. Drama started after splitting of the band After Tea (trio: Ulli, Shell and myself). We needed a
new challenge, and with the addition of guitarist Frank van der Kloot
we grew into a band
with, what's the word, balls. Record companies quickly became interested and we were even
given studio time without even having written anything. We used the studio to write and
rehearse, and because we all had the same blood group, we all knew that it would only be a
matter of time before the material came rolling out.
Now, on the 23rd of July 1997, with the help of a dog-eared scrapbook and a somewhat
scanty memory, I'm trying to write a foreword for the soon to be appearing Drama
CD. Initially I was pleased that this was happening, even though our friend and Drama
producer Hans Van Oosterhout won't be able to enjoy it. Hans slipped peacefully into an
eternal sleep on the 4th of May 1995, but I know he would have been proud that this was
happening. Apart from the fact that Hans was also Supersister's producer, he was also
responsible for a large part of the Drama sound. By this I don't mean the
sound on 'Mary's Mama' (produced by Peter Koelewijn).
Phonogram had spent a lot of money on Drama by that time, and after the
tiring creation of the album, a hit was most welcome. Koelewijn came, and Drama
had themselves a hit which they subsequently refused to play live. It wasn't particularly
a 'drama', but it was quite difficult trying to explain that to irate venue owners after
our gigs. We were quite often involved in hassles after our shows, but never had any
trouble with our real fans who had already bought the album anyway.
Drama came and went quite quickly. After Ulli had gone back to Germany
and we'd once more become a trio, we no longer had a recording deal, and couldn't find
much work. Quite good reasons to call it a day. I can't really think of anything else to
say at the moment except that this should have been a double CD with one 'studio' disc and
one 'live' disc to give you a good picture of what Drama were really
about. Because live, without leaving a trace of modesty, we were something else.
Polle Eduard
Taken from the CD reissue of 'Drama', Pseudonym CDP1046DD, 1997
1971 Down/Hard to believe Philips 6075129
Daddy won't let me/Everywhere 6075133
1972 Mary's Mama/Mademoiselle 6012228
LP Drama (w/o their hit) 6413021
LP Drama (w/ the hit) 6413028
1973 Stop that now/Bring back the money 6012315
Dutch Charts:
[24-06-1972]^20*5 MARY'S MAMA drama
In 1973, guitarist Frank van der Kloot
formed Fontessa together with Shel Schellekens (drums, ex-Drama),
Paul Heppener (bass, ex-Centaur) and
keyboardist Otto Cooymans (ex-Jug Session Group). Shel was replaced by,
respectively, Mels Bol (ex-Crusade, later to Red White & Blue)
and Jan Pijnenburg, who formed the Otger Dice Band in 1975 together with Cooymans
and Heppener, after Fontessa disbanded.
Van der Kloot recorded another LP in 1976 under the name Fontessa.
1974 LP Fontessa Pink Elephant PE 877055
1975 A look in your eyes/Where have you been Polydor 2050373
Started out as the guitarist in Bobby's
Children (1968), later joined Drama (1971). Founded
his own group Fontessa in 1973, which existed
'til 1975; this was followed up by Frank's own solo LP.
1976 LP Fontessa Park PO 1005
Submitted by: Adri Verhoef (a3@a3.xs4all.nl-removespam)
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