Claw Boys Claw are a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

band, formed in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. The core members of the band are Peter te Bos (vocals) and John Cameron (guitar). The band released eight full-length albums between 1983 and 1997. After some years of inactivity, the band started playing live again in 2007 and released an album, ''Pajama Day is on 13/07 every 2 years Claw Boys Claw established a reputation for its exuberant and energetic live shows—in the Dutch press, Te Bos is often referred to as a "stage beast." They never attained much commercial success, and a venture into the American market was unsuccessful, but many of their albums are critically acclaimed. They were called one of the most important Dutch bands of the 1980s, received one of the highest awards given to Dutch pop musicians (the BV Popprijs), and are still active as "one of the best Dutch bands."

Beginnings

Claw Boys Claw was founded in 1983 by guitarist Allard Jolles, at the time guitarist and singer of L'Attentat, though he played drums in his newly founded band. The original four members were Jolles, Peter Te Bos, John Cameron, and bassist Bobbie Rossini. Their "garage rock," as the Dutch termed it (a

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

mixture of

and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

), quickly gained popularity, and in 1984 the band releases their first album, ''Shocking Shades Of Claw Boys Claw'', containing among others a cover of the song "

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

" by

Shocking Blue Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in 1967 in The Hague. It was part of the music movement in the Netherlands that was generally known by the name Nederbeat. The band had a number of hits throughout the counterculture movement during ...

. The album was recorded in three hours and cost 500

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...

(some $250 at the time), money the band had won in a talent show. While not a commercial success at the time, the album (which was reissued in 2008) was later called one of the best records in the history of Dutch pop music by ''

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). ''Tr ...

''. Jolles leaves the band in May 1985 to focus on L'Attentat, and is replaced by Marius Schrader. The singles "So Mean" and "Indian Wallpaper" were successful in the

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

scene, but the 1986 album ''With Love From The Boys'', released by

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

, broke through to a broader audience, selling 8000 copies. That year the band played at

Pinkpop The Pinkpop Festival is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. ...

, the most important open air festival in the Netherlands, and under the pseudonym "The Hipcats" opened up for

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock music, rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its care ...

, playing mainly cover songs. They even released a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

single, "Blue Bells." In 1987 the Claw Boys Claw played at the

Roskilde Festival The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...

and released their third full-length album, ''Crack My Nut'', their last on Polydor. There was disagreement between the band and their label: Peter Te Bos, in an interview with the leading Dutch music magazine, ''

Muziekkrant OOR ''OOR'' is the oldest currently published music magazine in the Netherlands. ''Oor'' is the Dutch word for ear. Until 1984 it was published as ''Muziekkrant Oor''. History The magazine was first published on 1 April 1971, being founded by Ba ...

'', complained that they received no support from their label and that their records were not promoted at all. The band received the prestigious BV Popprijs from the

Christian-Democrat Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

minister of culture

Elco Brinkman Leendert Cornelis "Elco" Brinkman (born 5 February 1948) is a retired Dutch politician and businessman who served as Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture from 1982 to 1989 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in 1994. Career ...

, and Te Bos caused a stir by kissing the amazed Brinkman as he handed Te Bos the award; five years later the photograph was on the cover of André Nuchelman's study of the difficult relations between the Dutch government and popular music, ''"Dit gebonk dient tot het laatste toe te worden bestreden": Popmuziek en overheidsbeleid 1975–2001''. Hoping to reach a larger audience, the band performed at the

New Music Seminar The New Music Seminar (NMS) is a Music Conference and Festival held annually each June in New York City. The New Music Seminar originally ran from 1980 to 1995 and was relaunched in 2009. NMS features over 150 CEOs and other executives, presiden ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1988, but success in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

never came about. They met with

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

, who was interested in producing the band's next album. Despite having built a great reputation as live-artists, the band were dropped by Polydor because of disappointing sales. The band subsequently released the album ''Hitkillers'' on the Megadisc label, an album consisting of

Nederpop Nederpop or Dutch pop music is pop music made by Dutch bands and artists. The name is a play on the country's name in Dutch ''(Nederland)''. An English translation could be ''Netherpop''. Nederpop is a Dutch term invented by the mid-1970s to de ...

covers. In February 1989, Rossini and Schrader left the band and were replaced by Marc Lamb en Arno Kooy from The Agentz. Despite trouble with personnel and disappointing commercial success, the band's reputation seemed solid, and they were called one of the most prominent bands of the 1980s.

Middle years

The Claw Boys Claw attempted a more accessible sound on ''Angelbite'' (1990). Rumors of a cooperation with John Cale had persisted, but ''Angelbite'' is produced by Steve Parker (who had worked with British band The Fall and Dutch singer

Mathilde Santing Mathilde Santing (born Mathilde Eleveld, 24 October 1958) is a Dutch singer. Santing was born in Amstelveen, Netherlands. She started receiving national attention in 1981 after she appeared in a Dutch television program called ''Sonja Op Maandag ...

), and recorded at ICP studios in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. They played

Parkpop The Parkpop festival is a free music festival held annually on the last Sunday of June in the city of The Hague, Netherlands. It was first held in 1981 and was attended by 35,000 visitors. Today up to 350,000 people visit the festival every yea ...

in 1991, and Kooy was replaced by Geert de Groot (formerly of the

Fatal Flowers Fatal Flowers were an Amsterdam blues rock band, active between 1984 and 1990. They were seen as one of the best Dutch bands of the 1980s. The use of blues and rock riffs set them apart from the punk and new wave bands of the time. History Fa ...

). The Dutch press considered ''$uga ' (1992) a highpoint for the band, and it established a style the band will follow on every album after, a circuitous and melodic "brooding swamp rock" The album was recorded at Orkater studios in Amsterdam and produced by Magic Stick (Michel Schoots, of the

Urban Dance Squad Urban Dance Squad was a Dutch rap rock band formed after what was originally intended as a one-time jam-session at a festival in Utrecht on December 20, 1986. The band consisted of a guitarist, bassist, drummer, rapper, and DJ. Urban Dance Squ ...

). The ballad "Rosie" was the band's first single to score in the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

, and the song is still their best-known. In 1993 they played Pinkpop again and opened for U2 three nights in a row in the Kuip, the largest crowd the band had ever played for, but after 1994's ''Nipple'', recorded in the band's own studio and produced by Luc Suèr, the band lost momentum. Te Bos returned to his old profession,

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

; the band released one more CD, ''Will-o-the-Wisp'' (recorded in Smecky Barrandov Studio in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, and produced by Henk Jonkers and Frank van der Weij), and played one more memorable show: in 1998, they played in Paradiso in Amsterdam, performing covers of

Iggy and the Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...

as part of the "Marlboro Flashback" series, which even gave the Claw Boys Claw the rare opportunity for a TV-special. The band stopped performing around 2000.

Rebirth, 25th anniversary

There were rumors in the spring of 2006 that the Claw Boys Claw were working on a new album and wanted to start touring again, and that Geert de Groot was replaced by Lya Spykstra. According to Te Bos, he and Cameron had written some seventy songs since 2002, some of which were released in February 2008 on ''Pajama Day'', on the Belgian label Play It Again Sam. The album was welcomed by critics, who hailed their lyrical maturity, honesty, and musical ability. Most critics noted that the Claw Boys Claw had dialed down the volume, but still praised the album—Belgian weekly ''HUMO'' said that the album contained the most exciting rock songs they had heard in years and gave it four out of five stars, and while the reviewer from ''De Recensent'' found only three worthwhile songs on the CD, the Dutch paper ''

De Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...

'' thought it a brooding and dark album containing "beautiful secrets." Dutch music magazine ''

'' concurred, calling the album "swamp rock" full of tension, and "a record to take to bed." Starting on November 16, 2007, the group played live shows again (with Marcus Bruystens instead of Spykstra on bass), and the Dutch music critics responded very positively, online music magazine ''LiveXS'' calling their performance at the January 2008 Noorderslag festival in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

"legendary." The "country's most legendary live band" played their first radio show in a decade in January 2008, for

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for , ) is a Dutch public broadcaster, which forms a part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. Founded in 1926 as a liberal Protestant broadcasting organization, it gradually became more soc ...

's 3VOOR12. They continued to play all around the country, 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 ...

on the night before the

Koninginnedag ''Koningsdag'' () or King's Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Celebrated on 27 April (26 April if the 27th is a Sunday), the date marks the birth of King Willem-Alexander. When the Dutch monarch is female, the holid ...

celebrations, for instance. Their most visible show in 2008 was probably at

Lowlands Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of p ...

(alongside, for instance, the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

), a festival for which Te Bos also designed the logo and all other objects, even the gate to the festival grounds. The band's dynamic live performances were honored with the 2008 "Iron Stage Beast", the VNPF LiveXS Award for best show; ''LiveXS'' called the band "better than ever" in a review of a show in the

Melkweg Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way") is a popular music venue and cultural centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is located on Lijnbaansgracht, near Leidseplein, a prime nightlife square of Amsterdam. It is housed in a former dairy and is divided into ...

in December 2008. In honor of their 25th anniversary, on June 2, 2008, HipCat/PIAS Benelux released ''Shocking Shades Of Claw Boys Claw'' on CD, remastered with five additional tracks. Also reissued were ''$uga ', with two additional tracks, ''Nipple'', with three additional tracks, and ''Will-O-The-Wisp'', with five additional tracks, all by EMI/Msi Music/Super D. The band continued to tour and played a festival in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

around

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

2009. A new album, ''Hammer'', was released March 1, 2013.

Songwriting

In a 2019 interview with Hester Aalberts, Te Bos gave some insight on their songwriting process. Usually he and Cameron get together every week to make music, at Cameron's house in

Amsterdam-Oost Amsterdam-Oost () is a borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands, established in May 2010 after a merger of the former boroughs of Zeeburg and Oost-Watergraafsmeer. In 2013, the borough had almost 123,000 inhabitants. History Amsterdam-Oost is the bor ...

. Cameron plays guitar while Te Bos "blabbers" sounds that he later turns into real lyrics. They then decide which songs to play for drummer Jeroen Kleijn and bassist Marcus Bruystens, who get to leave their own mark on the songs; the goal is for everyone to like what they're playing.

Members

Current members

* Peter te Bos - vocals (1983-now) * John Cameron - guitar (1983-now) * Jeroen Kleijn - drums (2012-now) * Marcus Bruystens - bass (2007-now)

Past members

* Allard Jolles - drums (1983–1985) * Bobbie Rossini - bass (1983–1989) * Marius Schrader - drums (1985–1989) * Arno Kooy - bass (1989–1991) * Geert de Groot - bass (1991-ca. 2000) * Marc Lamb - Drums (1989-2010)

Discography

Albums

* '' Shocking Shades of Claw Boys Claw'' ( LP, Hipcat, 1984; LP,

, 1987; CD, Hipcat/PIAS 2008) * ''Now!'' (live EP, 1985) * '' With Love From The Boys'' (LP, Polydor, 1986) * ''

Claw Boys Claw 3 in 1 ''Claw Boys Claw 3 in 1'' (also known as ''Claw Boys Claw'' or as ''3 in 1'') is a compilation album by the Dutch rock and roll band Claw Boys Claw. The album, released on LP by Polydor, combined songs from the ''Indian Wallpaper'' 12-inch singl ...

'' (compilation; LP, Polydor, 1987) * ''

Crack My Nut ''Crack My Nut'' is the third studio album by Dutch rock and roll band Claw Boys Claw. This was their last album on Polydor, which terminated the band's record deal the next year, citing disappointing sales. The album was recorded when the band's ...

'' (LP/CD, Polydor, 1987) * ''Hitkillers'' (LP, Megadisc, 1988) * ''

Hitkillers/The Beast Of Claw Boys Claw ''Hitkillers/The Beast of Claw Boys Claw'' is a compilation album by Dutch rock and roll band Claw Boys Claw. The album, released on CD only, combines their fourth studio album '' Hitkillers'' (released only on vinyl) and a selection of earlier so ...

'' (compilation; CD, Megadisc, 1988) * ''

Angelbite ''Angelbite'' is the fifth studio album by Dutch rock and roll band Claw Boys Claw. The album comes at a transitional time; the band had been let go by Polydor and the two albums released on Megadisc had not been very successful. This is their so ...

'' (LP/CD, Solid, 1990) * '' $uga(r)'' (CD,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, 1992) * ''

Nipple The nipple is a raised region of tissue on the surface of the breast from which, in females, milk leaves the breast through the lactiferous ducts to feed an infant. The milk can flow through the nipple passively or it can be ejected by smooth mu ...

'' (CD, EMI, 1994) * ''

Will-O-The-Wisp In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp or ''ignis fatuus'' (, plural ''ignes fatui''), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in English folk belief, ...

'' (CD, EMI, 1997) * ''

Pajama Day ''Pajama Day'' is a 2008 album by the Dutch rock band Claw Boys Claw, their first album since 1997's ''Will-O-The-Wisp''. Background After a long period of inactivity, there were rumors in the spring of 2006 that the Claw Boys Claw were working on ...

'' (CD, PIAS, 2008) * ''Hammer'' (CD, PIAS, 2013) * ''It's not me, The horse is not me - Part 1'' (CD/LP, 2018) *''Kite'' (LP/CD,

Excelsior Recordings Excelsior Recordings is an independent record label located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. History Excelsior was founded by Ferry Roseboom and Frans Hagenaars under the name "Nothing Sucks Like Electrolux", releasing a few limited-run seven inch si ...

, 2021)

References

External links

Official Claw Boys Claw websiteClaw Boys Claw illustrated discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claw Boys Claw Dutch culture Musical groups from Amsterdam Dutch rock music groups