The following article is an overview of the career of Dutch multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and conductor Frans de Kok. The main source of information is an interview with Mr De Kok, conducted by Bas Tukker in 2006. The article below is subdivided into two main parts; a general career overview (part 3) and a part dedicated to Frans de Kok's Eurovision involvement (part 4).
All material below: © Bas Tukker / 2006 & 2010
Contents
- Passport
- Short Eurovision record
- Biography
- Eurovision Song Contest
- Other artists about Frans de Kok
- Eurovision involvement year by year
- Sources & links
PASSPORT
Born: January 18th, 1924, Tilburg (Netherlands)
Died: May 4th, 2011, Mol (Belgium)
Nationality: Dutch
SHORT EUROVISION RECORD
Frans de Kok took part once in the contest, for the Netherlands in 1969, when the regular Dutch conductor of those days, Dolf van der Linden, declined going to Madrid. The song conducted by De Kok, ‘De troubadour’, won the contest – although it had to tie for first place with the entries from Spain, France and the United Kingdom.
BIOGRAPHY
Frans de Kok was born into a merchant family. He quit secondary education at sixteen and turned to a merchant training-school. In 1943, he was forced into hard labour in Germany, but managed to escape Cologne when it was bombed by the Allies. The remainder of the war, he spent in hiding. During those days, he taught himself to play the accordion. Later, he mastered the guitar and the double-bass as well.
After World War II, he found employment in the jazz orchestra of Joe Andy, in which he played the double-bass and was the principal arranger. The orchestra toured the continent, mostly playing for American troops stationed in Europe.
In the late 1950s, he earned himself a contract as an arranger for De Zaaiers, the orchestra of one of the Dutch broadcasters, AVRO. In 1962, although without any conducting experience, he was promoted to the post of conductor of this ensemble.
Second from left, playing double-bass in Jo Andy's dance orchestra on a tour in Switzerland (late 1940s)
Soon after, however, he got the opportunity to work with one of the rising stars of Dutch TV, Rudi Carrell, who, at that time, was show presenter at VARA, another broadcaster. For VARA, De Kok worked on a host of different television shows with his own orchestra. With Rudi Carrell, he won the Silver Rose of Montreux for the ‘Robinson Crusoe Show’, which, apart from Carrell, also featured Esther Ofarim (another former participant in the contest, for Switzerland in 1963) as a mermaid. In 1965, he conducted the Grand Gala du Disque, a very prestigious award show which was broadcasted live on Dutch national TV. Frans de Kok’s friendly character earned him the epithet ‘Father of crying singers’.
Because of his close involvement in Dutch television, De Kok did not work in the recording studio very often. Occasionally, he arranged and/or conducted studio orchestras for Dutch artists, amongst which, in 1965, the widely acclaimed and highly successful first album of Boudewijn de Groot, one of the Netherlands most acclaimed singer-songwriters.
In 1967, he made a striking career move, opening a record store in his native Tilburg. Slowly but steadily, he withdrew from working for Dutch TV. Conducting the Dutch preliminaries for Eurovision in 1969 and accompanying Lenny Kuhr in Madrid was one of his last TV commissions.
In a short amount of time, Frans de Kok succeeded in building up a chain of highly profitable record stores in the south of the Netherlands. In 1980, he sold all his stores and set up a computer software company. It was only in 1998 that he retired. Until his passing in 2011, he lived in Balen-Wezel, Belgium.
Conducting a TV orchestra, mid-1960s
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
In 1969, De Kok was asked by producer Warry van Kampen to substitute Dolf van der Linden, conductor of the Metropole Orchestra and regular at Eurovision in those days, who, for reasons that remain unclear, declined to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest that year. Some suggest Van der Linden, because of his experiences during World War II, had such contempt for the Franco regime in Spain that he refused to travel to Madrid. Frans de Kok compiled an orchestra with which he accompanied the Dutch national final in Scheveningen, from which ‘De troubadour’, sung by young singer-songwriter Lenny Kuhr, emerged as the winner. He travelled to Madrid with Kuhr and guitarist Piet Souer, himself a future Eurovision arranger and conductor.
The arrangement to the Dutch entry ‘De troubadour’ was penned by Bert Paige, a Flemish trumpet-player and a much sought-after arranger in the 1960s, who wrote the orchestration to no less than eleven Netherlands Eurovision songs; Frans de Kok made some minor changes to it, the most important one being that he left out the accordion that featured in the record version and substituted it for an organ. During the first rehearsal, it came about that the orchestration which had been sent to Madrid from the Netherlands had not arrived yet. It took until two days before the actual broadcast, when Frans de Kok was on the verge of starting to work on a new arrangement himself, that the original score was found in a drawer of a Spanish custom-house.
Frans de Kok turned his Eurovision participation into a personal success as well. He widely advertised in local newspapers for his record store with slogans such as, “From Madrid too, we provide the music. Watch the Eurovision Song Contest tonight!” He claims his participation in the contest gave a considerable boost to his business.
Rehearsing with Lenny Kuhr and Piet Souer in Madrid
OTHER ARTISTS ABOUT FRANS DE KOK
Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer-songwriter, “My producer Tony Vos asked Frans to be the conductor for my first album. Unlike most of the arrangers and conductors that worked in the recording business at that time, Frans’ style was really ‘swinging’. I wish I had had the opportunity to work with Frans more often.” (2006)
Milly Scott (who performed in the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands) worked with De Kok on several jazz music programmes on Dutch TV, “I held him in high esteem – and I was not the only one. He was a gentleman-conductor. My conductor for Eurovision was Dolf van der Linden, who was a great professional, yet slightly distant and not very accessible. Frans, however, was someone whom you could talk to without any trouble: you simply made an appointment at his place to talk through all kinds of things. He was not a man prone on furthering his career.” (2006)
Piet Souer, guitarist backing up Lenny Kuhr's performance of 'De troubadour' in Madrid, “During the Eurovision week in Madrid, he invited Lenny and myself twice to his hotel room, because he wanted to check the score and acquaint himself thoroughly with it. I remember his always being well-dressed. When I myself started working as an arranger, Frans gave me advice during a performance in Tilburg for which I had written a string arrangement; Frans checked it for me.” (2006)
Lenny Kuhr, composer and performer of 'De troubadour', “Frans was not just my conductor for the contest; he also inspired me a great deal. When the first rehearsal in Madrid was about to commence and it turned out that there were no arrangements, Frans remained perfectly calm. On the third day he said, "When the score will not have arrived by tomorrow, I will write an arrangement myself." I remember the three of us sitting together working on the piano part of the new score. All that time he kept on smiling, which made me understand that things would turn out well. His smile became even more expressive when the arrangements turned up the following day. It was with that same quiet, friendly smile that he looked up at me at that big moment when we played the first tones of ‘De troubadour’ during the live broadcast of the contest.” (2006)
With Lenny Kuhr and Piet Souer - Madrid, Eurovision 1969
EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR
1969 Madrid
Country – Netherlands
Song title – “De troubadour”
Rendition – Lenny Kuhr (feat. Piet Souer, guitarist)
Lyrics – David Hartsema
Composition – Lenny Kuhr
Studio arrangement – Bert Paige
Live orchestration – Bert Paige / Frans de Kok
Conductor – Frans de Kok
Score – 1st place (18 votes)
SOURCES & LINKS
- Bas Tukker did an interview with Frans de Kok, previously published in EA-Nieuws (2006-2007, no. 3/4)
- Photos courtesy of Frans de Kok Snr. & Jnr.
- Thanks to Boudewijn de Groot, Milly Scott, Piet Souer and Lenny Kuhr for sharing with us their memories of working with Frans de Kok
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