Franciscus Johannes Maria (Frank) Boeijen (born 27 November 1957 in

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

) is a Dutch singer and guitarist. His best known songs are ''Kronenburg Park (Ga die Wereld Uit)'' about a prostitute, ''Zwart Wit'' about the racial murder of Kerwin Duinmeijer 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 ...

and ''Twee gezichten'' about a split personality. Having been in the music business for 25 years, he received the

Edison award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

for his career achievements in 2005.

Biography

Frank Boeijen Groep

Boeijen grew up in a family of ten children; his older brothers introduced him to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

. In 1979 Boeijen released his first album, a joint effort with Wout Pennings produced by singer

Rob de Nijs Rob de Nijs (born 26 December 1942) is a Dutch singer and actor, active since the 1960s. Biography 1962–1968 De Nijs, backed by The Lords, won a talent-contest in 1962 and released his first single in 1962, " Ritme van de Regen". In 1965 D ...

; Henk Wanders (drums) and Nels Busch (bass) were recruited as backing-musicians. Pennings left due to artistic differences; Will Theunissen (guitar) replaced him, and in November 1979 Frank Boeijen Groep played their first gig. In 1981 FBG released their self-titled debut album to critical acclaim; ''OOR'' magazine was impressed by Boeijen's Herman van Veen-type voice. Leading single ''Transport uit Bangkok'' was about a prostitute from Thailand whose name translates as ''Goldflower'' (Dutch: ''"Gouden Bloem"''). B-side ''Verjaardagsfeest'', telling that birthday-parties can be boring, received more airplay. In 1982 the band released the aptly-titled second album ''Twee''; keyboard-player Jos Haagmans expanded the line-up. The breakthrough came in 1983 with the album ''1001 Hotel'', featuring the Motown-inspired singles ''Het antwoord'' en ''Linda''; the latter reached top 10. 1984 began with the release of ''Zwart Wit'', originally intended to chronicle a white Romeo/black Juliet-relationship it became a statement against the racist murder of Kerwin Duinmeijer. Theunissen left afterwards and was replaced by

Maarten Peters Maarten (IPA: �maːrtə(n) is a Dutch language male given name. It is a cognate to and the standardized Dutch form of Martin, as in for example Sint Maarten (named after Martin of Tours). People with the name * Geert-Maarten Mol, Dutch One D ...

for 1985's ''Foto van een mooie dag''. Second single was ''Kronenburg Park'' on which Boeijen revisited the prostitute-subject; R&B girl group

Mai Tai The Mai Tai is a cocktail made of rum, Curaçao liqueur, orgeat syrup, and lime juice. It is one of the characteristic cocktails in Tiki culture. History Victor J. Bergeron claimed to have invented the Mai Tai in 1944 at his restaurant, Trader ...

supplied backing-vocals and released their own version twenty years later. ''Kronenburg Park'' (inspired by the

Kronenburgerpark The Kronenburgerpark is a park in the center of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. It is close to the Central Railway Station and the Lange Hezelstraat. Where the park touches the Parkweg are the remains of the medieval walls with the Kruittoren (powder ...

) was also released in English as ''Round Midnight'' with lyrics by

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 ...

-frontman

Barry Hay Barry Andrew Hay (born 16 August 1948) is an Indian-born Dutch musician; he was the lead vocalist and frontman of Dutch rock band Golden Earring from 1967 until their disbandment in 2021. Biography Hay was born in Faizabad, India, to a Dutch- ...

(''"You've always been the mistress of bad luck, making love for another lousy buck"''). In 1986 FBG released ''In Natura'', the first in a trilogy of ''In''-albums. Joined by new guitarist Ger Hoeijmakers, FBG went back to basics by using less synthesizers and adding the occasional sax and percussion to the mix. They also traded clubs for theatres, which was unusual at the time. The trilogy was completed by ''Welkom in Utopia'' and ''Dans In Slow Motion''. 1990 began with the chart-success of ''Zeg Me Dat Het Niet Zo Is'', a ballad about (not) coping with the loss of a beloved one. The same year FBG celebrated their 10th anniversary by releasing ''Hier komt de storm'', a live-retrospective with the added bonus of new studio-tracks including the Bob Dylan-tribute ''Robert Zimmerman''. A major tour followed which lasted till March 30, 1991. FBG disbanded afterwards, as Boeijen felt that the group had reached the end of its potential.

Solo career

Boeijen became a solo-artist; he continued to work with Hoeijmakers and recruited drummer Norman Bonink (now playing for

BLØF BLØF is a Dutch rock band from Vlissingen, Zeeland, founded in 1992 by Peter Slager. Current members are Peter Slager (bass), Paskal Jakobsen (lead vocals and guitar), Bas Kennis (keyboards), and Norman Bonink (drums). Former members are Henk ...

) among others. He staged successful tours in both the Netherlands and Belgium. His 26th album was released in 2017.

Personal life

Frank Boeijen has been married to

Amanda Redington Amanda Redington (born January 1962) is a British presenter and actress. She has been a presenter for cable and satellite TV channels such as Music Box and Sky Channel, during the mid and late 1980s, on GMTV in 1993 and on ''The Warehouse'' on A ...

between 1990 and 1994.

External links

* 1957 births Dutch male singers Dutch pop singers Living people People from Nijmegen {{Netherlands-singer-stub