1976 - 2021: José Hoebee's 45th anniversary as a recording artist!!!

Special thanks to Jos Theuns & Co Rnz for the photos

Montage by Co Rnz

45 years ago, in the Spring of 1976, José Hoebee released her first single with her sisters. The songstress is the only member of Luv' who had experience in the music business prior to the formation of Holland's greatest girl trio. Let's celebrate the 45th anniversary of José's debut record produced by her Pygmalion Piet Souer...

Background

Josina (José) van de Wijdeven was born on March 29th, 1954 in Best, a village in the south of the Netherlands. 

At age 15, she made her debut in a folk & country band (Young Tradition) with her two sisters (Marijke and Yvonne) and her best friend Ad van Genechten. This group toured the folk circuit in North Brabant. 

Young Tradition covered folk classics originally performed by Bob Dylan, Donovan, Joan Baez and Leonard Cohen. 

In 1971, the quartet was discovered by record producer Piet Souer on a talent show "Het cabaret der onbekenden" (the cabaret of the unknowns) in Eindhoven. 

Around the same time, they also performed on Ted de Braak's popular radio show "Van twaalf tot twee" on KRO. 

Young Tradition in the early 1970s

On August 19th, 1972, Young Tradition took part in the final of the TV talent show "Nieuwe Oogst" (New Harvest) as part of the Drieluik program on AVRO channel and finished second. 

Leeuwarder courant - August 18th, 1972 - Article about the final of Nieuwe Oogst (Drieluik) on AVRO/Nederland 1 broadcast the following day

Click here to read the article online

In addition to her musical career, José did odd jobs for a living. One of them was posing as a teen photo model for the Gervaise clothing store in Uden.

In 1976, José, Marijke and Yvonne formed a new group named after the first single they recorded with Piet Souer: "Elongi". It was a cover version of a Makossa and World Music classic initially performed by Cameroonian singer Ekambi Brillant in 1975.

Piet Souer was a well-established record producer thanks to his collaboration with household names in the Dutch music scene (Lenny Kuhr, Mouth & MacNeal, Cardinal Point, Liesbeth List, American Gypsy, Saskia & Serge...). He teamed up in the 1970s with another great producer Hans van Hemert. Souer and Van Hemert later formed the duo Janschen & Janschens that produced hits for Veronica Unlimited, Champagne, Luv', Conquistador and Doris D. & The Pins.

José, Marijke & Yvonne 

French record sleeve of "Elongi" by Ekambi Brillant (1975) - released by Fiesta Records

Elongi by Ekambi Brillant (1975)

"Elongi" was covered by several African and European artists. Click here to see all the versions of this classic song.

Demis Roussos' version entitled "Kyrila" came out the same year as José's one and was produced by Leo Leandros (father of the iconic singer Vicky Leandros). The German edition of Kyrila peaked at #40 in Germany in early 1977. The English version (featuring Piet Souer in the credits) reached #33 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1977.

German record sleeve of "Kyrila" by Demis Roussos released by Phonogram/Philips Records in 1976

British record sleeve of "Kyrila" by Demis Roussos released by Phonogram/Philips Records in 1976

Kyrila - Demis Roussos

Legendary afro-funk saxophonist Manu Dibango rendered it several times including in 1981 for his LP entitled "Piano Solo, Mélodies Africaines Volume 1" and in 1995 for his album entitled "Lamastabastani".

Elongi by Manu Dibango (1995)

Release

There is little information about Elongi by José and her siblings. The record was released by Philips Records in 1976 with the catalog number 6012 626. According to the Discogs.com database that lists the Philips back catalog, Elongi came out between two big hits in the Netherlands: 

• Ik Krijg Een Heel Apart Gevoel Van Binnen by Corry Konings (cat. number 6012 625 - #6 on the Dutch Top 40 and #7 on the Nationale Hitparade in 1976)

• Rocky by Don Mercedes (cat. number 6012 629 - #1 on the Dutch Top 40 and the Nationale Hitparade in 1976 - A cover version of a track previously performed by several artists including Austin Roberts, Dickey Lee and Frank Farian - Will Hoebee (who would marry José in 1981) co-produced the Dutch version with Peter Koelewijn). 

Montage by Co Rnz

Click on the image to enlarge it:

To sum up: Elongi was released after Corry's hit and before Don Mercedes' signature song. To estimate Elongi's date of release, we can consider the dates of entry of Corry and Don's records on the Dutch Tipparade (the Bubbling Under Top 40 chart that lists recently released singles). On May 15th, 1976, Rocky entered the Tipparade at #23. One week later, Corry's song entered this chart at #24. It means that these records came out in April or early May 1976. By extension, we can guess that Philips put out Elongi around the time of the release of the two above-mentioned hits.

Elongi's version recorded by the Van de Wijdeven sisters had English lyrics written by Piet Souer. Unfortunately, it flopped. The song was included on José's CD compilation "Alle Hits & Unieke Bonustracks" in 2005. 

Elongi by José, Yvonne and Marijke (1976)

In late 1976, Souer asked José to join a girl group he was forming with Hans van Hemert: Luv'. The rest is history...

Track listing

Elongi by Elongi

Vinyl, 7" Single, 45 RPM

Released by Philips Records in April or May 1976

Written by Ekambi Brillant and Piet Souer

Produced by Piet Souer

Vocals by José, Yvonne and Marijke van de Wijdeven

A side: Elongi - 3:22

B side: Elongi (Instrumental) - 3:22

Source: Facebook (Jos Theuns - José Hoebee Mijn Idool & José Hoebee's Fan Page), Discogs.com, YouTube, Luv' weblog archives, Dutchcharts.nl, Top40.nl