All About LUV' (past, present, future and more): Summer of 1980: Ria Thielsch to Luv's rescue!

40 years ago exactly, Ria Thielsch gave her first performance with Luv' as a replacement for Patty Brard. Despite this promising start with Marga Scheide and José Hoebee, it took several weeks before Ria became a permanent member of the group.

When Patty left Luv' unexpectedly in July 1980, there was a dark cloud on the horizon. The Dutch press and the fans didn't understand the reason for this departure. On the surface, Patty, Marga and José seemed happy. They had been so successful since 1978. But tensions appeared between the ladies behind the scenes (see article posted on July 26th, 2020). Actually, Patty was romantically involved with Italian record producer Carlo Nasi who lived and worked in Los Angeles, CA (far away from Europe where the group was active and popular). She was fed up with Luv's hectic schedule which was very hard to combine with her private life. She only communicated with the other girls and her manager through her lawyer. Because she suffered from stress, her doctor decided that she had to be on sick leave for a month. This sad news was terrible for Luv' as the trio had big plans for the future (including a promo tour in the USSR, a participation in the Yamaha Music Festival in Japan and the filming of a TV series). All of a sudden, these projects had to be cancelled.

When it became clear that Patty would not come back, a replacement had to be found. The owner of a club in Zevenhuizen, the Netherlands threatened Luv' to start legal action if the ladies did not perform. The group might pay 50.000 Dutch guilders if they didn't sing. To avoid this penalty, a new girl had to be recruited. Photo model Ria Thielsch (29 years old at the time) was chosen. Marga Scheide knew her when she was modelling before Luv'. Like Patty, Ria had Indonesian and New Guinean origins and looked the same. She started to rehearse with her new colleagues shortly after Patty's defection. Meanwhile, record producer Hans van Hemert and manager Pim ter Linde confirmed to the press that Luv' would go on whatever the line-up. In an interview published in De Telegraaf on August 19th, Van Hemert explained that five singles (recorded with Patty) were scheduled for release and that her illness caused Luv' to lose thousands of guilders. So the end of the group was out of the question.

At first, Luv's team was reluctant to Ria's recruitment due to her resemblance to Patty. Her performance in Zevenhuizen on August 22nd was supposed to be a one-off. One day after this show, the press mentioned Patty's replacement and even misspelt her name (Ria Thiel, Ria Tiel or Ria Tiels instead of Ria Thielsch).

Ria Thielsch's first show with Luv' on August 22nd, 1980 in Zevenhuizen, the Netherlands

Here's what Pim ter Linde told De Telegraaf in its August 30th, 1980 edition: "In mid-September, we will make a decision about Luv's future. We will go on anyways. Luv' will keep on singing and it will happen with Patty or with another girl we are still looking for". In the same article, it was announced that Patty Brard had a meeting with record executive Bart van der Laar (who was launching a new label called TTR at the time with his business partner, Ruud Wijnants). Previously, Van der Laar and Wijnants worked at CNR (a record company affiliated with Carrere) and signed a lucrative deal with Luv' in October 1979. The fact that Patty met Van der Laar implied that she might work with him on a solo project. But it didn't happen. Patty went solo in early 1981 without Van der Laar. The flamboyant record producer died tragically months later. His death caused a sensation in Holland and led to one of the most famous cases in Dutch judicial history (see article posted on July 20th, 2020).

Despite Ria's promising show with Luv', auditions with 200 other applicants were held but none of them could compete with her. Finally, she was allowed to be a member of Luv' in September 1980 after Patty's lawyer announced that her client left the trio definitively. But that's another story.....

Press clippings:

Click on the images to enlarge them:

De Telegraaf - August 21st, 1980: The owner of a club wants to sue Luv' if the group doesn't perform in his venue - Click here to read the article online

Nieuwsblad van het Noorden - August 22nd, 1980: Luv' will be performing in Zevenhuizen with a replacement for Patty