De lachende scheerkwast - Clous van Mechelen 1

Clous van Mechelen (born Jacob Philip (Jack) van Mechelen; 12 March 1941 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch musician, arranger, and actor. Van Mechelen scored a minor hit in 1969 with his band The Butlers, and became widely known through the radio and television shows written and directed by Wim T. Schippers (he is referred to as his "house composer"), in which he played the character Jan Vos and wrote songs for the various characters (including Barend Servet and Sjef van Oekel).

Biography

Van Mechelen has been playing jazz since the 1950s; Hans Dulfer played in his band. He collaborated with a number of writers and artists associated with the Amsterdam daily newspaper '' Het Parool'' in the cabaret show ''De Inktvis'', including

Annie M. G. Schmidt Anna Maria Geertruida "Annie" Schmidt (20 May 1911 – 21 May 1995) was a Dutch writer. She is called the mother of the Dutch theatrical song, and the queen of Dutch children's literature, praised for her "delicious Dutch idiom," and considered o ...

. He had considerable success writing music for commercials, notably for the Grolsch Brewery (the "jazzy music" for the "Vakmanschap is Meesterschap" commercials), for Nationale Nederlanden, and for chicken. He wrote for film (with Theo van Gogh), and recorded with

Tol Hansse Tol Hansse (born Johannes Adrianus "Hans" van Tol, 3 April 1940, Laren - 29 April 2002) was a Dutch singer and musician. He was the son of cabaret artist . Because of his father's history of collaboration during World War II he changed his name. ...

, for whom he wrote the music for his greatest hit, "Big City" (earlier, Hansse and van Mechelen were members of a rock band, The Sharks). With his band, Het Nieuwe Trio, he plays 1950s/1960s style music. With Schippers (Ernie) and Paul Haenen (Bert) he recorded music for a number of Bert and Ernie albums, and for Haenen's character Margreet Dolman. In ''

Opzoek naar Yolanda ''Opzoek naar Yolanda'' was a Dutch dramady television show by Wim T. Schippers, consisting of six episodes aired by the VPRO from October to December 1984. The show (a parody of sitcoms and soap operas, like most of Schippers' shows) was a cont ...

'' (1984) he is the musician and producer for the (fictional) hit song "Smoke, Gammon and Spinach", and "Ik ben Jan Vos" ("I am Jan Vos") is song penned by (fictional) Jacques Plafond-penned in his honor. Van Mechelen's first on-screen performance in a Schippers show was in ''

Barend is weer bezig ''Barend is weer bezig'' (''Barend Does it Again'') was a Dutch television show written and directed by Wim T. Schippers with Wim van der Linden, Gied Jaspars, and Ruud van Hemert and broadcast by the VPRO in 1972-1973. The show was produced by El ...

'', in the 1974 Christmas special ''Waar heb dat nou weer voor nodig''. He also appeared in ''

De lachende scheerkwast ''De lachende scheerkwast'' ("The laughing shave brush") is a Dutch television show written and directed by Wim T. Schippers, who also plays one of the lead characters, Jacques Plafond. It ran on VPRO television for six episodes in 1981 before bei ...

'' (1981–1982), ''

'' (1984), ''

Plafond over de vloer ''Plafond over de vloer'' is a Dutch television show in nine episodes, aired in 1986 by the VPRO and written and directed by Wim T. Schippers. It derives from the radio show ''Ronflonflon'', and its main character is that show's host, Jacques Pl ...

'' (1986), and '' We zijn weer thuis'' (1989–1994), shows for which he also was the composer and musical director. He appeared on stage in 1992 in a musical comedy, ''Tataboulou/In volle vaart'', with Neel van der Elst, who played Etna Vesuvia in the Schippers radio show '' Ronflonflon'', and in 1995 in ''Alleen (met z'n vieren)''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mechelen, Clous van 1942 births Living people Dutch jazz saxophonists Male saxophonists Dutch male television actors Dutch male songwriters Musicians from Amsterdam Wim T. Schippers 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century Dutch male musicians 21st-century Dutch songwriters Male jazz musicians