True Luv': 40th anniversary

40 years ago, on December 15th, 1979, Luv's third album, True Luv', entered the Dutch charts. A wonderful collection of fresh and catchy pop songs.

History

In the summer of 1979, Luv' and their producers and songwriters, Hans van Hemert and Piet Souer, planned to leave Philips/Phonogram Records (the label which had released the group's records for two years). José Hoebee, Patty Brard, Marga Scheide and their team signed a 750.000 Dutch guilder contract with CNR/Carrere Records (see Chapter III of the group's biography). With this new deal considered by newspaper De Telegraaf as the "show business transfer of the year", Luv's challenge was to prove that after one year and a half of mainstream success the trio could still score hits.

The first album of the ladies released by CNR/Carrere was entitled True Luv'. It was recorded at the famous Wisseloord Studios. This opus was a mixture of Pop music, Disco, Latino sounds and Schlager.

Two songs from this LP were released as singles: "Ooh, Yes I Do" and "Ann-Maria" which were instant hits in several European countries. In order to conquer the Latin American market, Spanish versions of these tracks were recorded. This strategy paid off as "Si, que si" (Yes I Do) turned gold in Mexico.

Back cover

Photography 

Claude Vanheye (who photographed the Who's who of Dutch and international pop-rock  artists) took beautiful pictures of the girls for the cover of the album.

Luv' performing "Ooh, Yes I Do" on Dutch TV (1979)

Commercial response and chart performance

As a manufactured pop group that targeted youngsters, Luv' were more successful on the singles charts than on the albums charts. Indeed, 7" singles were popular among teenagers in the 1970s. True Luv' entered the Dutch hit parade on December 15th, 1979. It later peaked at #13 on the LP Top 50 and #7 on the Nationale Hitparade Top 50 in the Netherlands.  The album eventually reached the gold status in Holland (50.000 copies).

José and her Luv' colleagues received a gold record for "True Luv" (1980)

Review about True Luv'

Track listing

A side:

• "Ooh, Yes I Do" (Hans van Hemert) - 2:57
• "Ann-Maria" (Piet Souer) - 4:40
• "Rhythm 'n' Shoes" (Hans van Hemert) - 3:07
• "Flash" (Hans van Hemert) - 3:51
• "Boys Goodnight" (Piet Souer) - 2:40
• "Daddy, What A Life" (Piet Souer) - 3:08

B side:

• "Cloud Nr. 9" (Hans van Hemert) - 3:25
• "Wine, Women And Song" (Hans van Hemert) - 3:45
• "Getaway" (Piet Souer) - 3:03
• "Stop Me" (Piet Souer) - 3:09
• "My Guy" (Janschen & Janschens) - 3:49
• "Let There Be Love" (Janschen & Janschens) - 2:39

Album credits

José Hoebee - vocals

Marga Scheide - vocals

Patty Brard - vocals

Ernö Olah & Metropole Orkest - strings

Producer: Hans van Hemert

Arranger/conductor: Piet Souer

Recorded at Wisseloord and DMC Studios

Recording engineers: Pieter Boer and John Sonneveld

Mastering: www.pat-sound.nl

Photography: Claude Vanheye

Artwork: Myosotis - Baarn

Cover photography: Clouds Studio

Release

True Luv' came out in various editions.

Click here to know the details.

True Luv' (South African edition)

Reissues

True Luv' was reissued in 1980 with changes in the track listing:

"One More Little Kissie" (Janschen & Janschens) – 3:50

This song replaced "Cloud nr.9", initially track #1,  B side 

"I Win It" (Janschen & Janschens) – 3:05

This song replaced "Let there be love", initially track #6, B side 

True Luv' (1980 edition)

True Luv' was also remastered and reissued in 2006 as part of the Completely In Luv' box set with the original 1979 track listing and three bonus tracks:

• "Si, Que Si" (Alfred Garrido, Hans van Hemert) – 3:05

Spanish Version of Ooh, Yes I Do

• "Ann-Maria" (Alfred Garrido, Piet Souer) – 4:04

Spanish version

• "All You Need Is Luv' Jingle" (Janschen & Janschens)

In 2019, True Luv' became available on Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer. CNR Music B.V (under exclusive licence from Hans van Hemert Productions B.V) owns the copyright on this album.

Bibliography:

Albumdossier 1969-2002 by Johan van Slooten, publ: Becht's Uitgevers


Source: Luv' blog archives, Wikipedia, Discogs.com, Dutchcharts.nl...