Piet Souer
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| Piet Souer | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Netherlands |
| Genre(s) | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | songwriter, producer, arranger. |
| Years active | 1969-present |
| Associated acts | Luv', Mouth & McNeal |
| Website | http://www.pietsouer.nl/ |
Piet Souer is a Dutch music producer, songwriter and arranger. His collaboration with famous pop acts (like Luv', Mouth & MacNeal, Liesbith List, Ramses Shaffy, American Gypsy, Champagne...) made him gain twenty two gold and platinum records, two Conamus Export Prizes and one Outstanding Song Award thanks to his composition Too Young To Know performed by Anita Meyer at World Popular Song Festival in Japan in 1981.[1].
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[edit] Debut
Piet Souer (a guitar and keyboard player) started his career as a member of The Valiants, a band from Eindhoven. His breakthrough happened when he played guitar on De Troubadour, a track which won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1969 and performed by Lenny Kuhr.
[edit] A successful producer, arranger and songwriter
In the early 1970s, he scored, as a songwriter and an arranger, moderate hits with I'm The Grand Pretender and Keep On Dancing (performed by Cardinal Point) and Angel Eyes (performed by American Gypsy) and successful chart toppers in Holland Te Veel Te Vaak (by Liesbeth List) and Samen (by Liesbeth List & Ramses Shaffy). Then, he produced/composed/collaborated with popular Dutch acts such as Champagne (1977 Export Award), Doris D. & The Pins, Vanessa, American Gypsy, Mouth & MacNeal, Maywood, Conquistador and international artists such as Vicky Leandros, Helen Shapiro and Kathy Kissoon.
In 1982, the chanteuse Sylvie Vartan sang one of his composition (La Sortie de Secours), which was released as a single and was a French cover version of I'm So Sorry (originally performed by José Hoebee). The same year, the British group Tight Fit covered Fantasy Island (one of his songs originally performed by The Millionaires) which became a UK Top 5 hit and a European Top 10 hit.
[edit] Luv'
In 1976, he teamed up with the producer Hans van Hemert and the manager Han Meijer (later replaced by Pim Ter Linde) to form a female pop trio: Luv'. Van Hemert and him wrote songs for the girl group (under the pseudonym Janschen & Janschens). In the late 1970s, Luv' had popular chart toppers (like You're The Greatest Lover, Trojan Horse or Casanova) in Benelux, in German-speaking countries, in Denmark, in Poland, in Spain, in France, in South Africa and in Mexico. This international success made Luv' win a The Conamus Export Prize in 1979[2]. Until 1981, this formation sold seven million records (singles and albums)[3].
[edit] The Eurovision Song Contest
Souer composed two songs for the Eurovision Song Contest: Sing Me A Song by Bernadette (in 1983) and De Eerste Keer by Maxine & Franklin Brown (in 1996). Both of them reached the 7th position.
[edit] References
- ^ page about the 1981 World Popular Song Festival
- ^ [1] - List of the Conamus Export Prize winners; Conamus (currently: Buma Cultuur) is an organisation which promotes Dutch music artists abroad. Every year, since 1972, this foundation has presented an Export Prize to reward the best selling Export acts from the Netherlands.
- ^ Total record sales mentionned at page 10 of CD booklet of 25 Jaar Na Waldolala written by Skip Voogd
[edit] External links
- [2] - Piet Souer Official Site
- [3] - informations about Souer's career on the Nationaal Pop Instituut website (in Dutch)
