Ton's theatre work

One of Ton Scherpenzeel's "most rewarding" (in various senses) jobs is his work as a composer for theatre companies and comedians. It started on a small scale, with the musical 'Playmate' (1982/83) for the Belgian theatre company Arena. But this side of his career got an enormous boost when he was approached by Dutch comedian Youp van 't Hek. In 1983, Ton worked with the still unknown Youp on an album. And in 1984 they had their first collaboration for Youp's live show. From that year on, Ton became Youp's main composer (and Youp became Holland's most famous comedian). Their collaboration is still intact, after more than 15 shows.

Another famous Dutch comedian (and writer of some extremely funny books) is Harrie Jekkers. With Harrie, Ton worked on some studio albums, the accompanying theatre shows, and two albums of childrens songs.

Ton also worked for two Dutch theatre companies: Opus One (since 1994) and Jeugdtheater Hofplein (more than 50 productions since 1990!). Some Hofplein-productions were written by Harrie Jekkers, and arranged by Ton. The songs of some Opus One and Hofplein-productions were available on CD, though only at the venues where they were performed. Nowadays, they are quite hard to find!

In october 1977, Mathilde Willink died. She was a flamboyant Dutch society figure, and 'living art object'. In 1978, singer Marjol Flore released the single 'Mathilde', as a tribute to Willink. The song (the single has a Dutch and a German version) was composed, arranged and produced by Ton.

On Ton's website, you can find a complete list of his theatre productions.

The President

The President was a short-lived, but quite successful project of Pim Koopman and singer/keyboardist Okkie Huysdens. In the period 1983-1985, this band recorded 2 albums ('By Appointment Of' and 'Muscles') and a couple of singles. The single "You're Gonna Like It" (1983) became their biggest hit.

The albums were released on CD, but are not easy to find. The first one can still be found sometimes, as it was released in Japan in large quantities. The second album is very rare!


For more info on The PresidenT: see www.pimkoopman.com

Maywood - One of Pim's biggest successes

The Dutch sisters Doetje and Aaltje de Vries (better known as Caren and Alice) deserve a special mention here. Why? Because they formed the duo Maywood in 1979. From the beginning until the end of the 1980's, Pim Koopman produced all their records. They scored many big hits in The Netherlands, but also across the world. The couple mostly wrote their songs themselves, but in the studio they were accompanied by members from Diesel, and of course Pim. On the album 'Different Worlds', Ton Scherpenzeel played keyboards. And the album 'Beside You' (1987) was partly produced by Pim, partly by Ton...

On the worldwide web, you can find many, many pictures of singles and albums by Maywood. Here are are just a couple... Want to find out more about Maywood? Check http://www.maywood-online.de/

Johan Slager

Johan Slager, Kayak-guitarist from 1972 until 1982, has also done quite a few things outside the band. As a solo artist, he released one single: the instrumental "Classical Gas", originally written and performed by Mason Williams. The b-side of this 1982 single was "Moments With You", a Slager-penned instrumental. The single was produced by the brothers Rob and Ferdi Bolland.

The Bolland brothers are famous for their work with Austrian singer Falco, and as writers of the song "In The Army Now", a hit for Status Quo. In the 1980's, the Bolland brothers hired Johan for quite a few of their projects. They produced dozens of singles and albums, and often under nicknames. And it is even more difficult to find out on which record Johan played, as he was not always credited properly...


In the 1990's, Johan had his own band, called Doreen. They released a CD in 1994 ("It's Got To Be Love"), on which Johan played guitar and drums (!), and co-wrote 9 songs.

Some other projects:

Frederic Fly and the Flies: Stop And Go/Flies Of the Universe (single, 1982). Johan plays guitar on this single, which was written by 'Songstone and Hammerstone', which in fact were -if memory serves me well- the Bolland Brothers.

Johan Doornenbal: Communion (CD, 2003). Singer-songwriter Johan Doornenbal was a big fan of Kayak. He asked Johan Slager and Max Werner to help him out on his album, and they did; Johan Slager played keyboards and additional guitar. Max Werner played drums, percussion, sax, clarinet and keyboards, and sang backing vocals. The album was produced, engineered and re-arranged by Max Werner and Johan Slager.

Johan played on 2 albums by Circus Custers, a Dutch duo that also scored some hits. Johan played on their LP "Romantisch Verbitterd" (1983, not on CD) and on their CD "Kop In De Wind" (1989), which also features Ton Scherpenzeel. Most Circus Custers songs can be found on their various Best Of-CD's.

Johan has been the member of the 'house band' of popchoir Da Capo. They released a couple of CDR's.

To be continued...

Max Werner Projects

For stories and pictures about Max Werner's collaborations, please visit http://maxwerlerofzoiets.blogspot.com/

Ton Scherpenzeel projects

Outside Kayak, Ton Scherpenzeel did not do that much in the rock/pop world. At least, not if you compare him to Pim Koopman. Of course, Ton played in Camel and Earth & Fire. But as a producer and writer, his focus was more on theatre productions (about which I may talk at a later date). Still, if you try hard, there are some -rather obscure- recordings to be found. Here are some examples...

Penny's Twisted Flavour: Sketches (CD, 2010). Ton plays the keyboard solo in the track 'A Way Out'.

In 2002, singer Anna Konings released an album called 'Wojtus - Songs Of Death, Hope And Love'. The album's theme is the loss of a child. Ton wrote the music for the track 'Isolement', and arranged or co-arranged a couple of songs.

As you can read in the 'Bert Veldkamp'-section, Ton produced the single "Portugal" by Frontpage. He did this together with Johan Slager, under the nicknames 'T. and J. Sands'.

Keller Bros.: Margarita/Blue Skies Of Love (single, 1989). Both songs written by Ton and Irene, co-produced by Ton.

In 1979, Ton produced the LP Holy Cat for Dutch band Sfinx. Three years later, Sfinx-vocalist John Philippo joined Ton in the band Europe.

David Ireland was an English singer/songwriter. He co-wrote the Kayaksong 'May'. In 1978, David released the single Zoo Games/Nuclear Love. Both tracks were produced by Ton, who also wrote the music for the a-side.

Red Next: How Many More Nights/Memories (single, 1986). The a-side was written by Ton and Irene. The b-side was written by Ton and René Nodelijk. Produced by Bert Ruiter (who played with Ton in Earth & Fire).

Yam: Magic (single, 1984?). The a-side was written by Ton and Irene. Produced by Ton and Bert Ruiter.

Yonne Heim: Do I (single, 1983). Written by Ton, produced by Kayak-producer Gerrit-Jan Leenders.

Youp van 't Hek and Nico Dinkgreve: Altijd Zaterdag (track on charity-CD 'Carrésterren Zingen Voor Kika', 2009). Music by Ton.