Patty Brard's book: what the ungrateful diva really tells about Luv'...

The recent publication of Patty Brard's biography (written by Michel van Egmond and Antoinnette Scheulderman) caused a sensation in the Dutch media. The SBS6 star mentioned many celebrities (including ex-husbands Ron Brandsteder, Carlo Nasi and René Muthert, colleagues from the showbiz (Ralf Inbar, Bridget Maasland, André Hazes, Patricia Paay, Gordon...), ex-lovers (like Eric Peute who was the reason for her bankruptcy in the 1990s), international music legends (Freddy Mercury, Steve Strange...).

Even if many Luv' fans are not on good terms with La Brard (especially after the incident about Peter Boonstra's photo book in 2015), they have been waiting for what the ungrateful media personality said about the girl group that made her a household name. 

Patty will never admit that she would never have been the star she is today without Luv'. Luv' was her breakthrough. On the one hand, she always uses her strong influence in the Dutch media to destroy Luv' instead of ignoring the group and its fan base. But on the other hand, she always sings Luv's classic hits during her solo live performances. She took part in three comebacks with Marga Scheide and José Hoebee every time her career on television (her main source of income) was in danger. 

Here are the passages of the book related to Luv' translated into English. In red: my remarks and fact-checking elements as Patty sometimes transforms the facts.

Michel van Egmond followed the diva for 15 months and wrote the in-between paragraphs. His partner Antoinnette Scheulderman interviewed Patty one-on-one. 

Antoinnette: Did you really change Johnny De Mol diapers? [Dutch TV host and actor Johnny de Mol is the son of TV mogul John de Mol (conceiver of reality shows like Big Brother and The Voice) and singer Willeke Alberti]

Patty: Sure. We travelled with Luv' to Spain to tape a TV special for TROS  [Actually it was not for TROS but for NCRV. This Is True Luv' TV special was taped in Benalmadena, Spain and broadcast on March 28th, 1980. 

Limburgsch dagblad - March 28th, 1980]. 

I think it was in 1980. Marga and I came back from Spain with John de Mol and Henny Budie. [Henny Budie directed the This Is True Luv' TV special and dated Patty Brard as Ron Brandsteder was her husband]. I was officially married to Ron Brandsteder, and Marga's partner was a kitchen designer. Because our belongings were still in our men's homes, we stole the cutlery from the Concorde that we used to travel half of the world [Luv' flew a limited number of times by Concorde, probably only twice (a return ticket "Paris-Mexico City" in May 1980; However, the ladies had a private jet to travel through Europe for TV shows]; we didn't possess virtually anything. Marga and I rented a house on the Dalweg Nr. 10 in Hilversum. It was not a good choice because Henny lived just around the corner, and Willeke Alberti (who was still married to John) was also close to us. When Willeke found out what was going on, she was so furious that she came to us with little Johnny and his dirty diaper. "Well, if you want my man, you also have to change my son's diapers," she said...

This is where you can find a part of Patty's old showbiz wardrobe...."This is just a small part of what I used to have. The majority of the stuff disappeared," she said. "Years after Luv's break-up, girls at a bar came to me. They wore white leather fringe jackets. [Apparently, the Casanova costumes from 1979] "They belonged to you," they said. I saw that there was a P. for Patty on the label. These outfits were auctioned after my bankruptcy". 

Antoinnette: Are you still in touch with Marga of Luv'?

Patty: No.

Antoinnette: Why not?

Patty: I'm not interested in that.

Like any successful pop groups that broke up due to a feud [Luv' went on without Patty and with other line-ups. The original trio reunited in 1988, 1993 and 2005. The last break-up happened in February 2020 due to José's illness long after Patty's involvement], the members of Luv' have been telling for decades their version of the group's story. There have been many versions, impressions, memories, opinions about what really happened. According to Patty, everything started when record producer Hans van Hemert was watching the German TV show Musikladen and suddenly had an idea. He wanted to form a group consisting of three girls: a blonde one, a dark-skinned one and a red-haired one. Although Patty never performed on stage before, she suddenly became a singer recruited by Van Hemert. "I worked at an advertising agency as an accountant-assistant for brands like Colgate and Whiskas. One day, music manager Han Meijer entered the office. I was working at the reception. He said: "You don't belong here. Because of your look, you should not work in an office". He put me in touch with Hans van Hemert, a record producer at Phonogram. I started officially as an executive secretary in his office, but I immediately went to Luv's auditions. Later there was some confusion about who discovered me and who the real founder of Luv' was. There was also a lawsuit. Han Meijer became the group manager, but rapidly there were some tensions because Pim ter Linde (Ciska Peters husband) replaced him. Han later claimed that he was the owner of Luv', Hans thought the same, but in my opinion, Piet Souer, the arranger, was also very important to Luv's success. Without Piet, the songs would have been different. Because Marga wanted the best for the group, she trademarked Luv's name [Marga indeed trademarked the group's name in November 1989 after Patty let her down in August 1989. Marga and Patty wanted to relaunch Luv' with Diana van Berlo (who replaced José) in the summer of 1989. Suddenly, as the trio had already recorded new material, Patty left Luv' because she signed a contract with the first Dutch commercial TV channel: RTL Veronique (currently RTL 4). Marga was obliged to look for a replacement. British singer Michelle Gold was chosen to replace Patty. It's funny how Patty presents the facts without mentioning the actual context. She gives the readers the impression that this trademark issue happened during Luv's glorious years (1977 - 1980) ]. She didn't want the best for the group, but she wanted to take advantage of the group. People with limited talent are always interested in power. That's how they compensate for their lack of creativity. [Limited talent? Power? Lack of creativity? Isn't Patty describing herself? Gossip columnist and journalist Wilma Nanninga said about her on the TV program "Profiel: De Formule Brard" (broadcast on June 26th, 2008): "Patty has no specific talent. She is just Patty, and that's good enough to be on TV"]. This problem was the group's downfall. The great Hans van Hemert forgot to trademark Luv's name [On the one hand, Hans made a terrible mistake. Marga stole his invention indeed. On the other hand, Luv' fans are grateful to her. Otherwise, several Luv' line-ups would be performing simultaneously. Boney M., Village People, Baccara and other pop-disco groups from the 70s and 80s go on tour with different formations. The public is often misled.] 

Tricked by the blonde and cold one of the group. By "the blonde and cold one", Patty means Marga Scheide, a former Miss Holland contestant who took part in an advertising campaign to promote the Bintje (a potato variety) in the 1970s. She is the blonde of the trio. The last member to be recruited was José van de Wijdeven, later named José Andreoli and José Hoebee, who despite her exotic last name, came from Best, North Brabant. As a provincial girl, she didn't match with the two other ladies from the Randstad, and her hair was not red, but the group needed someone who had performed previously and could sing a bit [Actually, without José's vocal contribution, there would be no Luv' sound. She recorded the majority of the lead vocals and many other vocal lines in the studio. Patty once admitted it on the TV special "Terug naar Luv" on AT5 in 1996. Every listener (even if they don't appreciate Luv's music and are not sound engineers) recognizes José's voice in a lot of the group's recordings. Marga and Patty might have been prettier, but their vocal range was limited in comparison with José. Don't forget that José started her singing career in 1969 at age 15 with her two sisters (Yvonne and Marijke) and her best friend (Ad van Genechten) in a folk and country group called "Young Tradition". They toured the folk circuit in North Brabant, were discovered by Piet Souer and took part in talent shows (on stage and on TV (Nieuwe Oogst in 1972 on AVRO channel (they finished second). In 1976, José and her sisters recorded a single (entitled Elongi and produced by Souer), which flopped. When the authors of Patty's book write "someone who could sing a bit" referring to José, it's very reductive. After Luv's first break-up in 1981, José had a successful solo musical career in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium) for several years].  

The first single of the trio was entitled "My Man" and was released in May 1977...The lyrics of the song dealt with the death of a railroad man. It was a bad coincidence as a train hijacking took place in De Punt, Netherlands. The single was boycotted on the radio. My Man peaked at #12 on the Dutch Top 40. A follow-up single rapidly came out but didn't enter the charts. [The authors didn't mention the title of the record: Dream, Dream, which was released in November 1977] It seemed that Luv' was about to disappear in anonymity. 

Luv' performing My Man on AVRO's TopPop (1977)

The third try was "U.O.Me (You Owe Me)". The Netherlands had to get used to the "girl groups" phenomenon at the time. In the press, Luv' looks were discussed, and their vocal talent was questioned. The ladies were also accused of lip-syncing at the beginning of their career, whereas, in fact, they trained their inexperienced vocal cords in provincial banquet halls and clubs. Sometimes they gave three shows per evening, in three different venues. They sang in cafés, even the smallest ones and in villages they never heard of. "Sometimes, we had to perform in faraway locations where only 12 people were present. We toured Germany by bus (a small and orange one) with many small bags of liquorice and a chauffeur who was also our sound technician. I was always the one who made sure we were paid after the show. Nine times out of ten, the owners of these venues told us: "I can't pay you. There's not enough audience". I hated these moments. Patty remembers tough times when a man waved banknotes with one hand and simulated masturbation with the other hand. [Patty is absolutely right. José also told these bad moments in the columns she wrote between 2003 and 2006 on the now-defunct muziekmaken.nl site]. 

Antoinnette: What did you do professionally before Luv's formation?

Patty: "Well, a lot of things, but there were always crazy things going on. For example, I worked as a freelance stylist via a temporary employment agency for a while. I was hired to work for film producer Dino de Laurentiis in the South of France. This man worked with Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Ridley Scott, Stephen King and won an Oscar...

Antoinnette: So you accepted his offer?

Patty: Yes, immediately. On my first day, his daughter Raffaella came in. "Do you speak foreign languages?" she asked. "Cause we're going to take you to the film festivals in Cannes and Milan". That's how I started to do some PR work on the remake of King Kong. I was introduced to the most incredible people. The De Laurentiis family showed me all of the Côte d'Azur. It felt like: "Look how good life is here". Meanwhile, Hans van Hemert wanted me for Luv'. I had to choose. They wanted me so badly for this group that I agreed to join it. I also had the feeling that the world was always at my feet. I realized much later that this situation was not everlasting. 

Luv's breakthrough happened fast and unexpectedly in the late 1970s. VPRO needed a theme for a new and experimental TV show "Het is weer zo laat". Van Hemert proposed the Luv' ladies as an opening act. It was a wonderful opportunity. The group became rapidly famous in the Netherlands thanks to its appearance on the TV program during six Sunday evenings and despite the controversial content of the series. "José didn't want to be part of Waldolala because the man on this show often talked about fucking. And she was a singer. She really took it seriously. That's why she didn't want to attend dance classes; she wasn't a dancer. That's why we had to perform easy dance routines so everybody in the audience could also do them. Our choreography was mediocre but also very accessible to everybody. If I was in charge of the routines, it would have been different. But now, people in the Netherlands still remember our routines, so it was a good choice. 

Luv' on Het Is Weer Zo Laat (aka Waldolala) - 1978

Thanks to Luv' success, other Dutch girl groups were launched: Dolly Dots, Babe, Doris D. & The Pins, Maywood...but none of them reached the commercial success of Luv'. The tabloid press became interested in the three singers. In the early days, De Telegraaf [Holland's most-read newspaper] described them as "the girls", "the beauties", "the sweethearts", "the sexy singers". Their first names (Patty, Marga and José) became rapidly known. Het Algemeen Dagblad [one of Holland's most popular newspapers] followed them one day during their debut period and described a live performance (charged 3.500 Dutch guilders). It was before the real breakthrough, and the journalist gave the impression it was a hysterical tour in hot venues with a young Patty Brard vomiting due to exhaustion. The headline said: "They perform, and they go away". It was the summer of 1978. In Breda, the ladies sang before an audience of 20.000 crazy fans. It was before the real international breakthrough: Greatest Lover. It was their first single that sold more than 1 million copies. From then on, Luv' became a hit group officially. There are shivery images from this time. You can see the three singers in the craziest costumes performing the craziest routines. Luv' posters from Hitkrant, Popfoto or Mix were hanging everywhere in the Netherlands...

Patty has no talent for nostalgia. And especially when it comes to Luv'. "When Hans told us that "Greatest Lover" would be our new single, we thought: "Oh no, it's a horrible track. And most of all: how are we going to tell our friends about it? I wanted to be cool, but this song wasn't cool". 

Leidsch Dagblad - September 20th, 1978 (Luv' about their success)

Antoinnette: When you read old articles about Luv', it gives the impression you had a hectic life. Vomiting in a plane, three live shows per day, travelling from one country to the other.

Patty: Meanwhile, Pim ter Linde was smoking a cigar at home, and Hans van Hemert was drinking whisky - I can't believe that they couldn't understand why we argued so often. Well, maybe it was the exhaustion. Driving very fast from Groningen to Zeeland for shows. Marga woke up, sweating in a leather Carla V. dress, and we couldn't take off her dress. These dresses felt like they were made of cardboard. [Carla van der Vorst aka Carla V. was a successful fashion designer who worked with many Dutch pop singers and bands, including Luv', Shocking Blue, Jerney Kaagman, Dolly Dots, Candy Dulfer and Anouk. Diana Ross was one of her clients. Carla died in 2010]. Then Marga fell asleep again, and when we arrived somewhere she shouted: "Please no more, please no more!". "Yes, one more time," I told her. 

Antoinnette: What happened when "My Man" entered the Top 40 for the first time?

Patty: From then on, we got 7500 Dutch guilders per show. As for live performances planned before our success on the charts, we were paid 1500 guilders. Some shows took place in mediocre party tents in faraway villages. It was horrible. Suddenly, we were European pop stars, and we had to perform in those peasant locations. [Patty forgets that these peasants made her the star she is today. Like many celebrities, she is arrogant and seems to forget who paid for  her houses in Amstelveen and Ibiza. As a TV personality on SBS6, she wants to give the impression she is close to the public. Actually, she is not. All that matters is money and the spotlight]. Everything was decided before we became successful. This is a bit how Priscilla [Patty's daughter] must have felt after the bankruptcy. [What? Patty is comparing Luv's shows in small venues in the early days with her highly-covered bankruptcy from 1993. Another example of her disrespect]. On the one hand, you can use daddy's credit card, and on the other hand, your mother hasn't got a single penny. You don't know where you belong. 

Antoinnette: To what extent did fame affect you?

Patty: Everything changed very fast. My life was a big party. My friend Carla van der Vorst from The Hague designed all the Luv' outfits. I helped her cut strings. Years later, she was named Carla V. She thought it was chic to be called like that. But to me, she remained "Mrs Strings". We often went together to the South of France. There was always something going on. One day on a plane, we met Connie Breukhoven [aka Vanessa, a famous Dutch 80s pop star and now considered a diva and celebrity in the Netherlands]. She had a Bo Derek haircut. She told me: "Hey, I want to be in the show business. How can I do it?". "Well, if you look like that, tomorrow, you'll sign a record deal," I answered. Indeed: Connie was chauffeured by Rolls Royce and the day after she had a contract. She became famous during that flight. On the same evening, we had dinner with her. Actually, with them. I remember how she came in, Connie and her boobs. One day later, as Carla and I were sunbathing on the private beach of Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, a big boat was sailing with Connie singing Shalalalila on a megaphone. At this time, it was not really sex, drugs and rock'n roll. It was very spontaneous. With a lot of champagne.

Later in 1978, Luv' also became a household name abroad. First Belgium, then West Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France. It was another era. Music TV channel MTV didn't exist. No one had heard of music videos. If you wanted to promote your record, you had to travel a lot. TV directors really appreciated Luv' because what they did was new: a girl group whose visual appearance mattered as much as the vocal talent. Together, they produced what was called the "Happy Sound of Luv'". They gave a lot of TV performances throughout Europe. They often met the same colleagues in the dressing room. "There were often ABBA, and Boney M. We constantly met Village People. And The Bee Gees [This is wrong information. Luv' never met The Bee Gees, but they used to hang out with their younger brother, Andy Gibb. Patty already made up this anecdote about Luv's meeting with The Bee Gees on RTL 4's retrotainment game show "Oh, Wat Een Jaar!" (see news posted on December 3rd, 2020). At the time, José contradicted Patty's story with the Gibb brothers on her Facebook page]. Marga even dated Andy Gibb. We went to Paris where he rented two floors of the Hôtel George V. The first time Marga was in the hall, she became nervous. "Help, there is a man with a gun at the door!", she said. It was just the bodyguard. Little Andy Gibb was standing in the middle of a mountain of coke. This mountain was bigger than himself. On the next day, we went by limo to buy his children presents. That's the life we had back then. At the time, we officially had someone home waiting for us. I also dated a Swiss man for a while. Udo Jürgens' musical director: Pepe Lienhard [Patty dated him twice: a first time in 1980 and a second time in 2005. Her reunion with Pepe was shown on Patty's reality show "Pat's Life". 

Patty & Pepe in 2005]. 

He slid golden Rolex watches under my hotel door. Did I accept them? Well, they were there, so yes I accepted them.

Luv' with Andy Gibb and Ellen Folley in early 1980

After the breakthrough of "Greatest Lover", everything went fast for Luv'. In the Netherlands, the ladies couldn't walk normally in the streets without being incognito. During events related to the promotion of their singles, switchboards were getting out of hand. Their live performances went crazy (also in terms of security). Patty, Marga and José often took part in autograph sessions in shopping centers which ended up in a mess. Hordes of schoolgirls were screaming and running after them. The ladies had to escape during these crazy moments. The Netherlands were too small for Luv', and Europe too. Producer Hans van Hemert and manager Pim ter Linde were in charge of the group's daily management. They made them leave the record label Phonogram and were considering other plans than a simple performance on TopPop [TopPop was a successful music TV show on AVRO in the 1970s and 1980s. It was the Dutch equivalent to BBC's Top Of The Pops as many national and international pop stars sang on this program (Boney M, David Bowie, Queen, ABBA..)]. When the ladies reached international success, they signed a deal with an international record company [In October 1979, the Luv' members and their team Hans van Hemert, Piet Souer and Pim ter Linde signed a 750.000 Dutch guilders deal with French label Carrere through its Dutch partner CNR. De Telegraaf considered it as "the showbiz transfer of the year":

 

De Telegraaf, October 8th, 1979]. 

This is a big goal. The trio was invited to TV shows in Mexico. They wanted to experience a Che Guevara syndrome: first, they had to conquer South America and then the rest of the world. Performances in Japan and Russia were also booked. Meanwhile, 1.5 million records were sold abroad in a couple of months. 

Antoinnette: Can you tell how you considered Marga and José back then?

Patty: Marga always thought she was Luv' on her own. Whereas she was the worse vocally by far. José agreed on that too. José preferred to sing with me. [Marga and José have always been on good terms. Patty wants to divide them. She is probably jealous of their relationship]. The real problem in Luv' was the feud between Marga and Patty. And José suffered from this situation. In the meantime, Marga trademarked Luv's name behind our back [Marga indeed trademarked the group's name, but she did it in November 1989 when Patty and José didn't want to be part of Luv' anymore. Marga didn't do it during the heyday of the trio (1977 - 1981). At that time, Patty was hosting the hidden camera show "Gaan Met Die Banaan" on RTL Veronique, and José focused on the education of her son, Tim. Marga relaunched Luv' with two other singers: Diana van Berlo and Michelle Gold (later replaced by Carina Lemoine). So Patty forgets to tell the real context of the situation]. She also thought she could be our boss. Hans van Hemert regretted this situation; now he says: "It's the coldest one from the group who stole the name" [Hans van Hemert has often expressed his frustration about the fact that Marga owns Luv's name. However, recently, Marga allowed him to use the group's name for a Luv' musical project (see news posted on March 28th, 2020)]. She wasn't the one who represented Luv'. Luv' stood for nice, warm and normal girls. But Marga was a manipulative aunty and was always busy with manoeuvres. José was the eternal victim.

Antoinnette: Were these Luv' years also nice?

Patty: Of course, it's great to be successful. We really enjoyed it. We were every day on television. We were weekly in papers and magazines. Until I realized that something happened behind our back. Marga claimed that she was in charge of Luv's styling, whereas I flew to Paris to look for outfits. We argued about how big our shoulder pads should be. As for Luv' sweaters, I thought we all had to wear them. José disagreed. Singing was all that mattered to her. However, I felt that our success was also based on other things. 

Antoinnette: Why didn't the members of the group become rich whereas Luv' was so successful?

Patty: Because you can't get rich rapidly with such a group. The same thing happened to the Dolly Dots. The ones who got rich were the ones who wrote the songs. Live performances generate money. That's why Hans van Hemert wanted to have a percentage of our fees. So he thought I would perform in faraway places to be paid for nothing, whereas he was chilling somewhere else. From then on, I called him Hans van Hebberd (Greedy Hans). 

Antoinnette: Did you enjoy live shows, except the ones when people were throwing beer to you? 

Patty: Marga and José really liked them, I didn't. Well, when we had to fly by Concorde and when we had to perform on television, I liked it. But in Germany, we performed from one location to the other, without knowing what kind of audience would come. We were always hoping to play to a full house. So it was always a stressful situation. I couldn't stand it. My stomach hurts just to think about the theater tour: what will happen if it's not full? [Patty doesn't have to worry about her theater tour because it was cancelled (see news posted on October 6th, 2019). Officially it was due to her hectic schedule on television. I suspect that it was due to poor ticket sales. I'm sure that she would have changed her TV plans if the ticket sales of her tour were successful. Patty is an all-around entertainer. When something fails in one of her businesses (television, music, acting...), she can move to another business].

In the late 1970s, Patty didn't have to worry about empty venues. The Luv' ladies sold millions of records and were treated like pop stars. After they landed in airports, three limousines were waiting for them. They flew by private jet (with a Luv' logo on it). Patty: "One of the few moments I saw Marga had humour was when we flew first class. A baby came under the curtain and was crawling. She told him with disgust: "Eew! An economy baby!". In these years, Luv' sometimes visited four countries in a day, and after their landing, they found out where they exactly arrived. It was a crazy life. Trojan Horse sold 100.000 copies in one day, and they got radio airplay in more than 50 countries. When they arrived at hotels, Dutch flags were hanging on the roofs, as if it was a state visit. Peter Koelewijn [a legendary Dutch record producer who launched the rival girl trio Babe in 1979, inspired by Luv's success] once said that the problem with girl groups was that they consisted of girls. Maybe he was right. Fame caused tensions within Luv'. There were more and more struggles for attention between the ladies and Patty had difficulties in accepting the strict rules of the group. "It has always been the same within pop groups: there were tensions because one was more in the spotlight than the others. I was more interviewed, and I often appeared on the covers of magazines on my own.  The others forbade me a lot of things: no interviews, no solo photographs, no solo TV appearances, no sponsorship contracts. It brought a lot of irritations within the trio. They could not stand the fact I was asked to audition for Paul Verhoeven's movie Spetters [Even if Patty was not part of the cast, one scene of Spetters featured Trojan Horse as background music]. They counted the number of times I was on magazines' covers, and they thought I was too much in the spotlight. [One of the reasons why Patty was more present in the media than her colleagues was due to her marriage with Dutch quizmaster Ron Brandsteder in 1979. They were the "showbiz couple" of the year in the Netherlands]. I have to admit that Marga and José preserved the image of the group. They had the same haircut for 300 years, whereas I had a red David Bowie hairdo when I was 14 to be hip. They had this conventional look that suited Luv'. The atmosphere worsened. Pim ter Linde sent us to Sicily for sensitivity training, but it was too late. In a TV interview,  Hans van Hemert later said: "The girls lost control. I saw Patty changing from a grateful girl into an irritating celebrity". 

The Luv' ladies were under pressure due to the media, particularly the King of the Dutch tabloid press Henk van der Meyden whose magazine "Privé" sold 600.000 copies a week in the Netherlands. He was informed about Patty and Marga's affairs with Henny Budie and John de Mol in Spain. He knew that their marriages were in danger. However, after asking Luv's management and the ladies themselves, he was told that these affairs were rumours. The problem was that they were real. After Van der Meyden found out that they were lies, he organized a week-long campaign against Marga and Patty in the Privé page [entertainment news section] of De Telegraaf. One of his headlines said: "Romance and innocence give way to nastiness". [The authors of the book refer to the articles published in May 1980 in De Telegraaf: 

De Telegraaf - May 3rd, 1980]. 

And the icing on the cake: at the top of their fame, when another million-guilders contract was ready to be signed in the headquarters of the record label Carrere, Patty left the group all of a sudden. 

Antoinnette: Hans van Hemert was furious when you went away.

Patty: He still blames me for that, and I understand him. At this time, the stakes were high. Hans had just secured a lucrative royalty contract with Carrere for a couple of million Dutch guilders, but it was only valid for the group's original line-up. So Hans lost a lot of money due to my departure and became very angry.  

Antoinette: He felt that you let him down. 

Patty: It was also the case. But I couldn't stand these women anymore. After we went to Sicily with Pim and Hans, we were on good terms at the Schipol airport. But three days later, the problems started again. 

Antoinette: You had an affair with Hans van Hemert at the time.

Patty: Hans had affairs with everybody. He was this charming man from Het Gooi [Holland's richest area due to the presence of the entertainment industry in Hilversum] with his curly hair. Even if he was married to an older woman. But she didn't blame him for his behaviour. Later, I formed a group, PattyCash, for the TV program "Extreem" to show that a girl group could be launched in five days. All the girls we chose still have musical careers, particularly Carolina Dijkhuizen and Mindy Broeren. At the time, they recorded a track entitled "Sisters in Love" and produced by Hans.  [Patty is not really accurate. PattyCash was indeed launched during the Spice Girls craze in 1997 by Patty Brard. Hans van Hemert produced their debut single "Do You Wanna Fly". Shortly after, PattyCash changed into V Alive that sang "Sisters in Love" (released in 1998, but Hans and Patty had nothing to do with this record).

PattyCash - Do You Wanna Fly (1997)

V Alive - Sisters In Love (1998)

Credits for Sisters In Love by V ALive (previously PattyCash) - Hans doesn't appear in the credits]. 

We dated again [Patty is right when she says that she dated Hans twice: a first time during Luv's debut in 1976-1977 and a second time in 1997]. Hans was just an old flirt. If I had to list all the biggest love stories in my life, I would not consider him as a great love story. 

Antoinnette: What happened when you left Luv'?

Patty: I decided to get rid of my royalties and other rights as long as I could leave the group. But Marga and José still earn royalties to this day [That's true, but they receive a tiny amount of money every year as they didn't write and publish the songs. Patty doesn't have to complain about her countless deals on television since 1983]. Years later, in 2006, when I came up with the idea of performing together as a surprise act at De Toppers concerts and I let a TV crew film the preparations of our comeback [Patty is mentioning the reality show "Back In Luv" broadcast on RTL 5 in Holland and on VTM in Flanders (Belgium) in 2006], I produced the TV program. I shared all the profits with them, including those from Back In Luv'. In return, they didn't share anything with me [Yes, but who chose to leave Luv' at the peak of their popularity in 1980? And who is using her power in the media to constantly destroy Luv'?]

Antoinnette: Why did you accept this comeback after all these problems with them?
[Finally, a good question asked by Antoinnette]

Patty: I don't remember why. [Every Luv' fan can tell Michel van Egmond and Antoinette Scheulderman exactly why Patty chose to take part in comebacks with Luv':
- In 1989, Patty intended to record new material with Marga and José. In April 1989, José decided to quit because of family duties and was replaced by Diana van Berlo. In August 1989, Patty let Marga and Diana down because she signed a contract with RTL Veronique. She was replaced by Michelle Gold.
- In 1993, Patty (who had no work on TV and was experiencing financial problems with Eric Peute) decided to bury the hatchet with Marga and José to promote the Luv' Gold compilation (which spent 18 weeks on the Dutch charts and sold 40.000 copies in Benelux). Luv' and she went on a promo tour in Benelux, German-speaking countries and Denmark. They also toured the nostalgia circuit in Holland and Belgium. After she went bankrupt in late 1993 and early 1994, Luv' gave sporadically shows until 1996.
- In 2006, as Patty's career was in danger in RTL Nederland, she came back to Luv'. It was a win-win situation: Patty used her influence to conceive the reality show 'Back In Luv''. The Luv' ladies were invited on national television again. The fans were thankful for Patty at the time. In return, Patty could tour the nostalgia circuit with Marga and José again. 30-minute shows were charged between €9.000 to €15.000 at the time. In late 2006, Patty was happy to have Luv' after her contract with RTL was not renewed. In 2007, after her funny participation in SBS6's figure skating competition "Sterren Dansen Op Het Ijs", Patty's TV career was relaunched, and she needed Luv' less. Indeed, live performances with Marga and José became sporadic until August 2012 when Luv' broke up.]. Then I knew what went wrong.

Antoinnette: But you received money after you left Luv'?
[Once again, Antoinnette thank you for asking another good question. Indeed if you hadn't asked it, Patty as always would have not mentioned that the so-called cruel Luv' ladies and their so-called greedy producer gave her money through their InterLUV' limited company].

Patty: Yes, a half-million guilders [Not bad for someone who caused so much chaos around her]...Many boy and girl groups decide to come back because that's the only thing they can do. That's why I'm happy with my TV contract.

Antoinnette: Are you still in touch with Marga and José?

Patty: I performed a couple of months ago at the GelreDome during a Snollebollekes concert [see news posted on April 1st, 2019]. I was asked to perform "Greatest Lover". I immediately received a Whatsapp message from José who told me that I was singing their song and that my career without Luv' would have not been the same [Yes, that's true]. Later she spoke with Rob Kemps at Albert Hijn [Dutch supermarket] in Best [the small town where José currently lives]. Her son used to play football with him and could not stand the fact that Rob chose me instead of José for his Snollebollekes concert [What Patty didn't know when she was interviewed by Antoinnette at the time is that Luv' (José, Marga and Chimène) were supposed to appear with Snollebollekes and Roy Donders on stage at the Spring of 2020. But Luv' stopped in February 2010 due to José's illness. By the way, this concert was cancelled because of Covid-19. 

Poster of the cancelled show featuring Snollebollekes, Roy Donders and Luv'

In November 2019, José and Hans van Hemert met Rob in a café in Best (see news posted on November 9th, 2019).

Rob Kemps (Snollebollekes), José Hoebee, music publisher Robin Logjes and Hans van Hemert on November 4th, 2019 at Restaurant "Quatre Bras" in Best] 

So who cares? Why wouldn't I perform in 2019 before an audience of 50.000? It's so nice to do it. José knows it for sure: you drive to this venue, spend three hours in make-up, sing and act like a fool on stage, and three and half minutes later, you drive home and need to sleep twelve hours to recover. 

Antoinette: What about Marga?

Patty: Last summer, I received an email about a Luv' concert in Miami. I think Marga was looking for sponsors for their plane tickets [Patty refers to Luv' going to Miami to record a new single produced by Keith Morrison and Manuel Garrido in May 2019. D-Reizen sponsored their return tickets]. Antoine studied their press photo carefully: Marga like a queen in the middle, Ria Thielsch and Chimène van Oosterhout at her side [Luv' pictures have always been taken this way even when Patty was part of the group]. Marga cannot act without this fame. [Haha! I think Patty speaks about herself. She is not nicknamed La Brard for nothing. Now that José is in a very weak position because of her illness, Patty attacks Marga. Marga is very clever and is indeed strong financially without using Patty's manoeuvres. She knows how to use her money and doesn't need the approval of Hilversum's Media Park to live a discreet life. Patty forgot that she appeared in several reality shows in which she was the central figure. You can tell many things about Marga, but she is not ready to do anything for fame, unlike Patty and her splits on ice, her failed dives on television and her enema (klysma) shown on the small screen]. She and José act as if they were the same stars of 1978. It looks like the movie "Sunset Boulevard". 

Antoinnette: What's the story of this film?

Patty: It's about an actress from the 1920s who thinks she is still a star thirty years later. Her butler writes her letters, pretending they are from fans. This woman lives in a fantasy world just like Marga and José [It's Patty right to think that Marga and José live in a fantasy world, but they don't use their fame to diss other celebrities the way she does].

Antoinnette: Did this show in Miami take place?

Patty: No idea. I think it dealt with the recording of a single. But nowadays you can also do it via computer? [I think Patty is right this time. Luv' should have recorded new material that suited them more. The reggaeton single "With Him Tonight" was not that bad, but the Luv' fan base was expecting more a "Van Hemert/Souer 2.0" type of sound. Nowadays, unknown kids from nowhere produce music in their bedrooms, so why can't experienced ladies like Marga, José and Chimène do it? But now it's too late. José is ill, and there can't be Luv' without her]. A lot of duets were recorded this way. Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder never saw each other when they recorded "Ebony & Ivory" - well, it doesn't really matter in Stevie Wonder's case. Anyways...Marga wanted desperately to go to Miami for their single [Well, Marga and Luv' received an offer from Dutch media entrepreneur Henk Schorel to travel to Miami to record their single. So it was not Marga's initiative initially]. You know what? When I think about the current situation: I've heard lately that Marga Bult had debts, Patricia Paay receives money from Gordon to buy food, Chimène van Oosterhout tries to boost José and Connie Breukhoven is cheated by her ex. [Once again, La Brard shows her real nature and how unkind she is towards ex-colleagues. None of these ladies said bad things about her when she went bankrupt in 1993]. So my situation is not that bad, don't you think so? [Yes, professionally, Patty doesn't have to complain. Her husband Antoine is her Mister Right. But at least José, Chimène and Patricia are on very good terms with their children. Patty doesn't have this opportunity with her own daughter].

Source: "Patty: de negen levens van Patty Brard" (by Michel van Egmond and Antoinnette Scheulderman); Luv' weblog archives