Luv' biography - Chapter I

DEBUT 1976 - 1977

from left to right : Patty Brard, Marga Scheide & José Hoebee

In 1976, Dutch record producers, Hans van Hemert and Piet Souer, assisted by manager Han Meijer, twenty years before the Spice Girls phenomenon, decided to form a girl group, inspired by the German disco trio Silver Convention. They recruited three young and lovely women :

• José van de Wijdeven (a.k.a José Andreoli), born on March 29^th, 1954 in Best (a village near Eindhoven, Netherlands). She started her career in the early 1970's as a member of a folk & country band, Young Tradition, with her two sisters. This formation took part in talent shows, later changed its name to Elongi and recorded a single produced by Piet Souer.
• Marga Scheide, born on February 15^th, 1954 in Amsterdam. She was a model and was previously involved in many beauty pageants (including Miss Holland 1972, 1973 and 1977, Miss Young International 1972 and Miss Europe 1975). She graced the covers of various artist hit compilations and was chosen to promote the « bintje » (a potatoe variety) in an international advertising campaign.
• Patty Brard, born on March 25^th 1955 in Sorong, West Papua/Indonesia. She briefly worked as a secretary in the office of Hans van Hemert who offered her a career in the show business.

The group was named LUV' and was ready to conquer the charts.

Luv' performing « My Man » on Avro's TopPop

In May 1977, Philips/Phonogram Records released Luv's first single « My Man » written by Van Hemert and Souer as « Janschen & Janschens ». The lyrics of this ABBA-esque pop song dealt with the death of a railroad man and shocked the Netherlands because around the time of its release a taking of hostages occurred in a train in De Punt. Despite this controversy and a radio boycott, the record peaked at #12 in Holland and became a Top 10 hit in Belgium. What a promising debut!

Luv' singing "My man" on German TV show "Musikladen" (original broadcast date: August 13th, 1977)

The follow-up single « Dream, Dream » came out in November 1977. Once again, the music arrangements were inspired by the ABBA sound. Unfortunately, it flopped. Luv' was considered as a « one-hit wonder » and it seemed that they would not survive. However, 1978 would be a great year for the ladies.

Luv' performing "Dream, Dream" on "Dik Voormekaar Show"

To be continued......
Click here to read the next chapter.

Charts (peak positions)

Title	Dutch Top 40 (Netherlands)	Nationale Hit Parade (Netherlands)	BRT Top 30 (Belgium)	Europarade (Europe)
My Man	#12	#12	#10	#19

Records releases

7" Vinyl singles :

1. My Man
   Original release by Philips/Phonogram Records in May 1977
   

• A side : "My Man" (Janschen & Janschens) – 3:05
• B side : "Don't Let Me Down" (Janschen & Janschens) – 2:35

Original Dutch cover of « My Man »

German cover of « My Man »

2. Dream, Dream
   

Released by Philips/Phonogram Records in November 1977

• A side. "Dream, Dream" (Janschen & Janschens) – 3:30
• B side. "Hang On" (Janschen & Janschens) – 3:07

Original Dutch cover of « Dream, Dream »

Press clippings

Source: Wikipedia, Official Luv' Fan Club, Bibliography: "Top 40 Hitdossier 1956-2005 (9e editie), book by Johan van Slooten, Gottmer Bech Publishing, 2006