Bojoura, born Raina Gerardina Bojoura van Melzen (15 April 1947), is a folk and pop vocalist, whose greatest success came in the late 1960s and 1970s.

Life and career

Bojoura was born in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to Bulgarian opera singer Dany Zonewa. Bojoura was discovered by

George Kooymans George Jan Kooymans (born 11 March 1948, The Hague, Netherlands) is a Dutch guitarist and vocalist. He is best known for his work with the Dutch group Golden Earring. Kooymans wrote "Twilight Zone (Golden Earring song), Twilight Zone", the group's ...

of the rock band

Golden Earring Golden Earring (originally known as The Tornados) was a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Golden Earrings. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on th ...

, who went on to write and produce many of her songs. Bojoura scored her first hit in June 1967 with the Kooymans ballad "Everybody's Day" which reached top 20 due to heavy airplay on

Radio Veronica Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales ...

. She released her album ''Night Flight Night Sight'' in 1968, which was not commercially successful. In 1969, she charted once more in Europe with her version of the song "Frank Mills" from the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

. It was through this song that she connected with

Thijs van Leer Thijs van Leer (pronounced: ; born 31 March 1948) is a Dutch singer and keyboardist, best known as the founding member of the rock band Focus as its primary vocalist, keyboardist, and flautist. Born and raised in Amsterdam among a musical famil ...

, whose band (which later became the

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

) performed in a Dutch production of the musical. Van Leer wrote songs for Bojoura for her third album, ''The Beauty of Bojoura''. She also had a minor success with the title track of

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium ''If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium'' is a 1969 American DeLuxe Color romantic comedy film made by Wolper Pictures and released by United Artists. It was directed by Mel Stuart, was filmed on location throughout Europe, and features many came ...

, a song that later inspired the opening lines of the song "Chura Liya Hai Tumne" from the 1973 Indian film ''

Yaadon Ki Baaraat ''Yaadon Ki Baaraat'' () is a 1973 Indian Hindi-language masala film, directed by Nasir Hussain and written by Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar). It featured an ensemble cast, starring Dharmendra, Vijay Arora, Tariq, Zeenat Aman, Nee ...

''. Through the mid-1970s she had some success in the Netherlands; in 1974, her cover of " The Letter" reached the top 20 on the Dutch charts. After 1980, she concentrated on her family life and helped run her husband's drumming school. Bojoura was married to the Dutch drummer Hans Cleuver, who died in March 2018. Cleuver was a founding member of the progressive rock band

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Discography

Albums

*1967 - Kunst voor Kinderen (for terre des hommes) *1968 - Nightflight Nightsight *1970 - The Beauty of Bojoura (with Focus) *1972 - The Best of Bojoura *1973 - Jesus Christ Superstar *2001 - Everybody's Day

Singles

References

External links

Bojoura Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bojoura 1947 births Living people Dutch women singers Dutch pop singers Musicians from The Hague