Doe Maar

my favourite band of all time

I think it was around the ending of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, when my mom introduced me to
what would become my favourite band ever, Doe Maar. Doe Maar is a Dutch Pop/Ska/Reggae band that
was initially formed in 1978, but back then my favourite member (Henny Vrienten) wasn't part of
the band yet, so I don't really care much for their first album, Doe Maar (self titled)
1979. The initial band consisted of Ernst Jansz (keyboardist, lead singer, basically any instrument
you want), Jan Hendriks (guitarist) and Carel Copier (drummer). After their first album, Henny
Vrienten joined, who played the bass and became the other lead singer. during the band's lifetime,
the drummers shuffled around a bit (Copier replaced by René van Collem, who was then replaced by
Jan Pijnenburg) and occasionally they got a visit from Joost Belinfante.

With the band now complete they released a bunch of other albums, that became very popular, unlike
the first album which nobody really cared about. There really was a kind of Beatlemania around them,
with girls so excited to be at their concerts that they would faint. in 1981 they released Skunk, which
had a few really big hits, like Sinds 1 dag of 2 (32 jaar) ('since a day or two') which is a cute little
love song, and Nederwiet, which is literally just a detailed explanation of how to cultivate weed set
to music. This quickly brought them a lot of fame, and in 1982 they released Doris Day en andere stukken,
which also became a huge hit. This album had a few really famous songs too, like Is dit Alles (which
I think is kind of overrated honestly) and Doris Day. At this point they were getting so famous that
they were getting kind of sick of it all--they released De Bom, a more serious song about the cold war,
and it was received as a fun little pop tune for children to sing along to. The band didn't really like
this. They released one last album, 4US (in 1983, pronounced virus in Dutch), that became their biggest
hit of all time, and then they broke up.




Then, in the year 2000, they returned for one last reunion album, called Klaar (literally, 'Done'). After
this they occasionally did reunion tours, until 2022, when Henny Vrienten died of lung cancer.

my connection to the band

As I said, I got into the band around the beginning of 2019. At first, I only listened to the hits,
but eventually started to listen to full albums, because they've all (except self-titled) only got
good songs on them. I started listening to Henny Vrienten's solo work (Jansz's seemed a bit too
pretentious, Bob Dylan covers and whatnot). Followed Henny Vrienten on Instagram. I drew him fanart once,
of an album cover he'd released way back before Doe Maar days, when he was still trying to break into
the English market. He liked my drawing and commented on it! "Mooi Gedaan" (well done) he said. I was
so insanely happy I kept calling people on the phone (like some kind of ancient insect) to tell them.
Because of their connection to Doe Maar, I got into Herman Brood (RIP). I got into Nina Hagen, and
into the rapper Extince, who was such good friends with Henny Vrienten it was once mentioned in a diss
track about him.




Henny released a new album, containing a really pretty song called Carnaval, about how when he died, he
wouldn't want people to be sad, he just wanted them to be happy that they were still alive. Doe Maar
was going on tour again, and I got a ticket. Finally, I was going to see them. But then, the concert
was delayed, and then delayed again, and then, well...

I was upstairs in my room at my grandma's house when she heard the news on the radio. She was quite
sick by then, so she preferred not to go up the stairs if it wasn't necessary. But up she came, all slow
and careful. I think I knew it already, then. She told me Henny Vrienten had just passed away. And
that was that. If you've read my website before, you might know how strangely common it has been for
me the past few years to have people I love die, mainly of cancer. My grandma, my great-aunt's best
friend. My mom's friend, and then a few years later, her best friend, too. My aunt, also got cancer
during this time, though she was happy about it so I suppose that doesn't really count. And now Henny.
Sometimes I fear that it was his association to me that did it. The irrationality of this fear does
not make it go away.

Even with Henny gone, it's still my favourite band, and I listen to them a lot. My favourite album is
Klaar, I think, because I really love the way everyone's voices matured, and how some of the songs are
more serious when compared to their earlier works. But I really like all their albums. Even their self
titled album has a few good songs. I'm mature enough to admit to that, now. (lol)

how to start listening

are you interested in listening to Doe Maar? (would be weird if you weren't!) then I suggest you first
listen to their most famous single, De Bom. if you like that, I recommend listening to their album 4US.
if you like that, well, just listen to everything they've ever made. There's some really good stuff in
there. Henny Vrienten's solo work is great as well. My favourite Doe Maar song of all time is Het Beste.

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