Gertrude "Getty" Kaspers (born 5 March 1948) is an

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 ...

n-born

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 ...

singer. She was the lead vocalist of the Dutch band

Teach-In A teach-in is similar to a general educational forum on any complicated issue, usually an issue involving current political affairs. The main difference between a teach-in and a seminar is the refusal to limit the discussion to a specific time fr ...

, with which she won the

Eurovision Song Contest 1975 The Eurovision Song Contest 1975 was the 20th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song " Waterloo" by ABBA. Organised by the European Broadcasting Un ...

with the song "

Ding-a-dong "Ding-a-dong" (original Dutch title: "Ding dinge dong", as it was introduced in the titles when broadcast) was the title of the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975. It was sung by Teach-In, representing the , and was written by Di ...

Career

Early career

Kaspers joined the band

in 1971. In 1974, the band had three Top 15 hits in 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 ...

. The band also had a number of international successes. One of these, "In The Summernight", reached number 5 in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

for 13 weeks and also peaked at number 3 in the Dutch and

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

charts for 10 and 9 weeks respectively.

Eurovision Song Contest

Teach-In participated in the Nationaal Songfestival 1975, the Dutch national final for the

. The competition was held in the

Jaarbeurs The Jaarbeurs (; Dutch for 'Yearly Fair') is an exhibition and convention centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Noted events include the former Space '86, the Hobby Computer Club Days (''HCC Dagen''), and the Mega Record & CD Fair. The venue is a ...

convention centre in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

, and for the first time since 1970, the act had not been preselected by broadcaster NOS, but was selected in a two-stage process. Teach-In were required to perform their song "

" in the first round to select the song that would represent the Netherlands. A five-member international jury selected the winning song 4 votes to 1 over the songs "Ik heb geen geld voor de trein" from Albert West and "Circus" from Debbie (Dutch versions of Teach-In songs "Tennessee Town" and "The Circus Show"). With the song "Ding-a-dong" winning the first round, all three performers were required to sing this song in the second round to decide the winning artist. The final vote would consist of a public vote resulting in Teach-In winning the

Nationaal Songfestival (; ) was an annual music competition, which was originally organised by the Dutch public broadcaster (NTS), and later by the (NOS) and (TROS). It was staged almost every year between 1956 and 2012 to determine the country's entry for the Eu ...

with 56 points, compared to 33 points for Albert West and 11 points for Debbie. As the lead vocalist of Teach-In, Kaspers opened the

held in Stockholm, Sweden, and went on to win the contest with 152 points. After their Eurovision victory, the band entered the charts in nearly every European country. "Ding-a-dong" reached third place in the Top 40 of the National Hit Parade in the Netherlands and reached place thirteen in the

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charts. Later that year, Teach-In released the single "Goodbye Love", which also made the Top 10, peaking at number 5 for 7 weeks. In 1976, Kaspers returned to the Eurovision Song Contest to give

Brotherhood of Man Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with " Save Your Kisses for Me". Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initi ...

, the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, their prizes.

Solo career

Teach-In toured Europe for the next two years, but the disappointing sale of the album "Get On Board" and the song "Rose Valley" caused the band to break apart in 1978. Whilst Ruud Nijhuis and Koos Versteeg decided to reform the band in 1979 with two new female singers, Kaspers decided to continue her music career as a solo artist under the stage name Getty, recording a couple of discs including the Getty Album, featuring such songs as "Mademoiselle", "Love Me" and "De Eerste Liefde is Een Feest", originally " The Queen of Hearts" by

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...

in Swedish and English. Her vocals can also be heard on

Rick van der Linden Rick van der Linden (5 August 1946, Badhoevedorp, North Holland - 22 January 2006, Groningen) was a Dutch composer and keyboardist. Van der Linden first gained fame as a member of Ekseption, but he played in several other bands including most no ...

's "Cum Laude" album and on recordings made by

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 ...

. In 1978, she joined her bandmate John Gaasbeek with Wilma van Diepen and formed the Balloon trio, recording a few songs such as "All You Need Is The Music" and "Summerparty", featuring cameos of well known songs. After little success, the trio broke apart in 1980.

Later appearances and Teach-In revival

Kaspers was present as a jury member in the 1978, 1982 and 2009 Dutch national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. She also featured in the 2005 Eurovision documentary "Tour d'Eurovision", highlighting some of the best performances of Eurovision. In 1997, it was announced that the original line-up of Teach-In, including Kaspers, had re-recorded some of their old hits and had plans to tour again. The band reunited to sing "Ding-a-dong" at a show in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

on 31 August 2007. Kaspers also performed with the group in the original line-up at the opening of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, singing classics such as "Ding-a-dong" and "I'm Alone". In 2009, Teach-In re-released a combined album titled "Festival/Get On Board". The following year, the band released the "Best Of Teach-In" album, featuring their greatest hits. Kaspers was present at the 2012 Dutch national final for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Personal life

Kaspers was born in Graz,

on 5 March 1948. to a Dutch mother and an Austrian father. She is fluent in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. In 2011, Kaspers' husband died of ALS. In April 2019, Luitingh-Sijthoff published a book about the illustrious life of Kaspers. In "Een leven lang geleden" Kaspers tells that her life has not always been a fairy tale. Her youth was dominated by the aftermath of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and also life after "Dinge-dong" went with many ups and downs. Kasper's biography was written by Dave Boomkens, a Dutch writer who is known from books such as "Liesbeth List, de dochter van de vuurtorenwachter" and "Het Grote Songfestivalboek".

Discography

Singles

Albums

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaspers, Getty 1948 births Living people Dutch women singers Dutch pop singers Eurovision Song Contest winners People from Weiz District Dutch people of Austrian descent