A straightforward voice from 1970s Amsterdam who wrote about ordinary life and sometimes got in trouble for it.
For a good sense of his approach, try 'Zoek Het Maar Uit' or 'Laat Dit Nooit Overgaan' from his top songs. They have that direct, unadorned quality he was known for.
Vermeulen's songs connected because they felt genuine, not sentimental. 'Aardige Man' from the 1974 album 'Noordkaap' became his biggest hit by talking about ordinary decency in plain language. Other tracks like 'Achter de Rug' and 'Adem In En Adem Uit' showed the same knack for writing about everyday life without dressing it up.
He came up in Amsterdam in the early 1970s, forming a band under his own name in 1972 with Wim de Bie on bass and vocals and Huub van der Lubbe on drums. In 1979 he was convicted of blasphemy for a song called 'Godverdomme' that criticized religious hypocrisy, which became part of his story as someone who didn't shy away from saying what he thought.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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