The Amazing Stroopwafels

On March 21, 1979, Wim Kerkhof and Fred Piek started working together. Because the song is sung in two languages, they decide to choose a bilingual name: The Amazing Stroopwafels are born. They play on the street, but also in halls, cafes, societies and clubs. The performances soon take off and in the autumn the duo decides to expand: in the new line-up, double bassist Wim Kerkhof plays keyboards, Arie van der Graaf is the electric guitarist, Koos Pakvis plays bass guitar and Louis Debij is the drummer. Multi-instrumentalist Rens van der Zalm regularly joins us.
In 1980, the Stroopwafels recorded their first LP, which was released by Universe. The A-side is in Dutch, the B-side contains English songs. This untitled debut contains songs such as Dievenwagen and Heb meelij Jet, the first single. The second single, Uncle Kobus, rose in the charts in the summer of 1981, until a boycott hit the song: the lyrics “Uncle Kobus has lost his left leg” are discriminatory against the disabled…
In 1981 Fred Piek left the group for a solo career. Wim Kerkhof makes a second LP, Beautiful Weather, with Arie van der Graaf, Koos Pakvis and Louis Debij. This more rock-oriented successor also includes the bilingual ballad Oude Maasweg. The song becomes a classic. Not that the melancholy song scores in the charts, but it is often played and appears on many compilation albums and CDs. In 1986, Mooi Weer was re-released as Oude Maasweg.
From the third LP In Fire and Flame, the emphasis shifts more to Dutch-language songs. Because The Amazing Stroopwafels are a real live act, sometimes with five performances in one day, a live LP was released in 1983: What a life! There are also some tours in Denmark.
At the beginning of 1984 the great Nederpop boom is over and the work for the four-man band becomes less. During this period, Kerkhof meets the street musician and artist Rien de Bruin, who plays the guitar and accordion. From that moment on, the two of them often perform. The Stroopwafels seem to have to continue as a duo when Arie van der Graaf leaves the band. Fortunately, the break is short-lived.
Another single can be made from the record company. It's going to be I'm going to France. The song hits like a bomb and it is decided to record a new LP: 5. Arie van der Graaf, Koos Pakvis and Louis Debij can also be heard on the successful album. The number of performances is skyrocketing again.
In 1986 the LP The Street Pays Off was released. 1,500 false thousand dollars are printed for the cover photo, much to the shock of the public prosecutor. Fortunately, the case was dropped. At the end of '86 they performed in Lee Towers' Gala of the Year in Ahoy. Arie van der Graaf returns 'live': the duo becomes a trio.
In 1987, Wim Kerkhof founded his own label: Quiko. All previous records and rights were bought back from the company and one year later the first CD was released, simply The Amazing Stroopwafels. This CD is a compilation of all singles up to that point and of songs that are most commonly played live. The English songs are missing from the CD. Many tens of thousands of copies are sold.
The successor Going too far will be released on both LP and CD. The CD edition contains some bonus tracks, songs from the LPs that did not make it onto the compilation CD. On the cover Wim and Rien can be seen in white costumes. A guitar and double bass are also spray-painted white for the occasion. Naturally, a broadcaster's request to perform in that clothing will not be accepted. Among other things, Voor de storm, the ballad about the flood disaster of 1953, can be found on this CD/LP. Many fans consider Going Too Far to be the band's best album.
The Waffles can be heard on the streets of Jakarta in Indonesia in 1989, after which they rush to Venice for the cover photo of Macaroni in the Night, their eighth LP and third CD. Like all previous singles, Zwart Nazareth does not reach the Top 40. The three gentlemen are only frustrated about the fact that they have never been in military service (all three were rejected), and the song I am not a man (because I am never been in service) from their army green CD Canoes and filled cakes.
The band is having a golden time in terms of performances, and the smaller the venue, the more they seem to enjoy it. In 1993 the CD Unlimited shelf life was released, and in 1994 two albums were even released: first Badmuts Mandatory, where all the Stroopwafel songs about the Rijnmond area were collected on one CD, and then Het Leven is eenfeest. No party for Santa Claus, at least, because the 'Fifth of December humorous' is made fun of in the song Santa Claus 'raus. The song even made it to the British and Canadian media.
The worldwide breakthrough is further enhanced by performances in war zones (Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina) and New York.
Stroopwafel special was published in 1996. Although the band has acquired a left-wing image due to its many performances for trade unions, strikes and the SP, the first signs of political incorrectness appear especially on Stroopwafel in a song of praise for the consequences of the greenhouse effect: Tropical Netherlands. A razor-sharp protest song against sport shakes the senseless movement of the Netherlands to its foundations. In 1999 an EP was even dedicated to politically incorrect songs. People advocate fast driving (Plankgas) and the consumption of pork.
In addition to an ode to the Maastunnel, the CD Happy camping (with modern women) (1998) contains the first Czech-Danish song in world history: a new translation of Oude Maasweg. The Stroopwafels are also way ahead of their time in the bilingual field!
Around the turn of the century, the period 1988-2000 ends with a new compilation album. Hard for little contains twenty singles, including the song Oranje spinach, released on the occasion of the European Football Championship.
Musically speaking, the emphasis shifts more and more to country music from the albums that follow, Eternal Flame (2001) and From the Street (2003). Lyrically, Kerkhof is reinventing himself with more and more narrative songs. Seemingly corny themes are not avoided.
In the meantime, a song from 1981, Oude Maasweg, continues to score higher and higher in lists compiled by listeners, especially Radio 2's Top 2000. In 2007 the song even reached sixteenth place in that list. The song, which never became a hit, gained recognition and acquired a place in the canon of Dutch pop music history.
Another song is also doing well: in 2005 I'm going to France entered the Top 2000, and in 2007 it reached 600. A few years in a row it was chosen second in an occasional hit race of Radio Tour de France.
The group will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2004. This is celebrated with special performances in the Library Theater in Rotterdam. Guests such as Joost Belinfante, Marjolein Meijers, Jan de Ligt and Arie van der Krogt strengthen the Stroopwafels. Koos Pakvis (bass guitar) also plays live again after a long time and Hans Greeve joins the drums.
The performances in the theater leave you wanting more and a real theater tour follows, again with Pakvis and Greeve. At the same time the first DVD is released: The Amazing Stroopwafels 25 Years. The DVD contains a performance at the Schiecentrale in Rotterdam, a short documentary by Huib Maaskant from 1992 and a number of clips from TV performances.
A second DVD will be released in the autumn of 2006, called Van Blankenburg tot Zwart Nazareth. Historical images, films and photos from, among others, the Rotterdam Municipal Archives combined with the text and music of The Amazing Stroopwafels. All songs have to do with the Rijnmond area.
The theater tour will be continued in 2007. The tour is named after the new album: Strooptocht. Once again, the Stroopwafels mainly play as a group of five to sold-out crowds, but they are increasingly joined by Johan Jansen on the pedal steel.
There was great surprise when the band ended up in sixteenth place in a 2008 study into Rotterdam's strong cultural brands, above renowned (and subsidized) theaters, cinemas and festivals. For many, The Amazing Stroopwafels are more Rotterdam than the Euromast.
In 2010, another CD was released, From Own Dough, and this too was accompanied by a theater tour. Kerkhof's nostalgia for the fifties is echoed in a song like Ford V8. In Ship in the Dijk, the heroic deed of Arie Evegroen is sung, who single-handedly ensured that South Holland's feet were kept dry by navigating his grain ship into a dike in February 1953. The CD receives rave reviews everywhere. According to Volkskrants' Patrick van den Hanenberg, Wim Kerkhof is “one of the most underrated composers/lyricists in the Netherlands, and The Amazing Stroopwafels is one of the most underrated bands.”
A new DVD will also be released based on the same concept as Van Blankenburg tot Zwart Nazareth. This time with a shorter name: 3. A sacred number for many, and also the third DVD of the trio.
The variety of play areas (still from the street to the living room, from café to theater) is very inspiring and the enthusiasm with which people make music remains unchanged. The Amazing Stroopwafels are still one of the most performing bands in the Netherlands. And if it were up to them, they would continue doing it long after they had dropped out.