Batmobile is a Dutch psychobilly band from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

and Breda, formed in 1983. They were the first band not from the United Kingdom to perform at the influential psychobilly club,

Klub Foot Klub Foot was a London nightclub in the psychobilly scene of the early and mid-1980s. It started in the heyday of the psychobilly scene in 1982. It was hosted at the Ballroom of the Clarendon Hotel in Hammersmith until the venue was demolish ...

and are considered the seminal Dutch psychobilly band.

History

Early history

Batmobile was formed as a hobby in 1983. The band continues today with the founding lineup of Jeroen Haamers on vocals and guitar, Eric Haamers on bass, and Johnny Zuidhof on drums. The band played only covers of early

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

and rock and roll by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rockabilly and rock and roll. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, " Be-Bop-a-Lula ...

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

, and

Johnny Burnette John Joseph Burnette (March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter of rockabilly and pop music. In 1952, Johnny and his brother, Dorsey Burnette, and their mutual friend Paul Burlison formed the band that became ...

. The band is named after the

Batmobile The Batmobile is the fictional car driven by the superhero Batman. Housed in the Batcave, which it accesses through a hidden entrance, the Batmobile is both a heavily armored tactical assault vehicle and a personalized custom-built pursuit and ...

, the car driven by Batman. The name was suggested by Zuidhof who presented the idea for the name during band practice. The band began playing various gigs at bars and one time, while playing a bar in a rural area, the band received a bad response from farmers who were at the bar. The band began playing covers extra fast, in a punk rock style to get everyone's attention. Bar staff and some patrons enjoyed the music and the band started playing psychobilly shows. Their debut self-titled EP was released in 1985 on Rockhouse/Kix4U.

Breakthrough at Klub Foot

The band's first major gig outside of the Netherlands was at

in London in 1986. They were the first band not from the United Kingdom to play at the club. They played with

Demented Are Go Demented Are Go (DAG aka Demented Are Go!) are a Welsh psychobilly band that was formed around 1982 in Cardiff, Wales. They were one of the earliest in the initial wave of bands to mix punk rock with rockabilly, and as a result, are conside ...

and

Torment Torment may refer to: * The feeling of pain or suffering * Causing to suffer, torture Films * ''Torment'' (1924 film), a silent crime-drama * ''Torment'' (1944 film) (''Hets''), a Swedish film * ''Torment'' (1950 British film), a British thr ...

. That same year, Zuidhof and the band's sound engineer, Eddie, created Count Orlok records after a lawsuit with their then current label, Rockhouse/Kix4U. That label failed to pay the band royalties and Batmobile ended up suing the label. They won in court and their contract ended, hence the founding of Court Orlok. Count Orlok released the band's first full-length album, ''Bambooland'' in 1987. The band toured Switzerland,

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, England and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. In 1988, Batmobile released ''Buried Alive!'', a collection of concert and demo recordings. That same year, they released ''Bail Was Set at $6,000,000'' on

Nervous Records Nervous Records is a UK rockabilly music independent record label. It was formed in 1979 by Roy Williams, a DJ on the UK rock'n'roll scene. Nervous Records is credited by many as the leading record label behind the emergence of the British neo ...

. The album featured a cover of "

Ace of Spades The Ace of Spades (also known as the Spadille and Death Card) is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards in English-speaking countries. The actual value of the card varies from game to game. Design The orn ...

" by

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

. They returned to their own label, Count Orlok, to release ''Amazons from Outer Space'' in 1989. In 1990, they released an EP, ''Batmobile is Dynamite!'', and the following year, their sixth full-length album, '' Sex Starved''. The band went on hiatus in 1993 and re-emerged in 1995 for a tour of Japan. They released a live album from the tour in 1996. The following year, they released ''Welcome to Planet Cheese,'' in which the band abandoned their signature psychobilly style to perform songs in a style influenced by B movies. This is the only album where Eric Haamers does not play an

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

2000s and today

In 2000, the band went on a hiatus due to personal reasons. Their last concert, before their hiatus, was in New York City. A tribute album for the band was produced in Japan. The tribute featured 33 international bands and a song contributed by Batmobile, titled "Baby Go Back Home." They performed live again in 2003 after an invitation to play the Satanic Stomp festival in

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...

, Germany. They performed at the

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United States. The Knitting Factory gave its audience poetry readings, perform ...

in Los Angeles, California, in 2005. In 2007, a second tribute to Batmobile was released in Japan. In 2008, Batmobile did a split album with

Peter Pan Speedrock Peter Pan Speedrock (PPS or PPSR in short) was a Dutch rock band from Eindhoven, Netherlands. Background The band was founded in 1995 by guitarist Peter van Elderen. He was joined by drummer Bart Nederhand and bass player Bob Muileboom in maki ...

, in which Speedrock covered Batmobile songs and Batmobile covered Speedrock songs. The idea of the album was spawned at a party by the band and Speedrock. The band no longer does major tours, but, continues to perform at least once a month and at special events. On October 2, 2020 "Big Bat" Was released.

Side projects and collaborations

During the band's hiatus in the early 2000s, bassist Eric Haamers continued to perform. He played in The Gecko Brothers and Cactus Cowboy. In 2004, Jeroen Haamers started an Elvis Presley cover band called Triple Dynamite.

Music style and influences

"We didn't get into psychobilly, but that got into us." – Jeroen Haamers, Batmobile lead singer and guitar

The band originally started out playing covers of early American rockabilly and rock n' roll. The band wasn't originally interested in playing psychobilly music. The band was disinterested in

given the "boring and corny rockabilly bands" that were performing in the Netherlands in the 1980s. Eventually, the band took their love for early American rockabilly and blended with punk after experimenting at a concert. Singer and guitarist Jeroen Haamers is the lead songwriter. It takes him between "two minutes..to two days," to write a song, and that "Inspiration comes at the weirdest times..in bed, on the toilet, or in the shower." The band attempts to bring a new sound to each album they record. They often produce their own albums, with each band member producing a certain number of songs on each record.

Members

*Jeroen Haamers – lead vocals, guitar *Eric Haamers – double bass *Johnny Zuidhof – drums, vocals

Discography

Studio albums

*''Batmobile'' (Kix4U/Rockhouse 1985) *''Bambooland'' (Count Orlok, 1987) *''Buried Alive'' (Count Orlok, 1988) *''Bail Was Set at $6,000,000'' (Nervous Records, 1988) *''Amazons From Outer Space'' (Count Orlok, 1989) *''Is Dynamite'' (Count Orlok, 1990) *'' Sex Starved'' (Count Orlok, 1991) *''Hard Hammer Hits'' (Count Orlok, 1992) *''Blast From The Past'' (Count Orlok, 1993) *''Welcome to the Planet Cheese'' (Count Orlok, 1998) *''Cross Contamination'' Split album with Peter Pan Speedrock (Suburban/People Like You, 2008) *''Wow!'' Vinyl EP, 4 songs (Hands & Arms, 2011) *''Brand New Blisters'' (Butler, 2017) *''Big Bat'' (2020)

Live albums

*''Batmobile live at the KlubFoot 1986 (Anagram/Cherry Red, 2008)

Compilations

* Psycho attack over Europe 1 & 2 (Rockhouse 1986/1987) * Stomping at the Klubfoot 3&4 (Link 1987) * DVD Stomping at the Klubfoot (Anagram/Cherry Red) * A Fistful of pussies (1988) * Rock 'n Horreur (1989) * '' AMP-Magazine vol 5 Psychobilly'' (2006) * Go Cat Go; A Psychobilly Tribute to The Stray Cats (2006) * God Save the King; A Psychobilly Tribute to Elvis (2007)

References

{{authority control Psychobilly groups Dutch musical trios Dutch rock music groups Musical groups established in 1983