Het maakt me niks meer uit (Het grote lied van onverschilligheid) - Dingetje

Although Dingetje was always good in making parodies of wellknown pop songs in Dutch, this single is almost a direct translation of Bob Geldof's 'Great song of indifference', and that works less well. Entitled 'Het maakt me niks meer uit' ('It doesn't matter to me'), Dingetje released this single within weeks of the release of Bob Geldof's original.

The B-side is basically the sequel: the singer of the A-side tells the listener how he ended up doing this song in a rather longwinded way (similar to old age pensioners, who always end up repeating themselves) and demands to get the 500 guilders he earned from the job from the producer, named Joop van den Ende (the wellknown Dutch TV programme director).

My collection: 7" single no. 4586
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, February 26, 2010
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Het maakt me niks meer uit (Het grote lied van onverschilligheid)' / 'Ende'

Een nacht in Mokum - Dingetje

At his best, Dingetje can be called the Weird Al Yankovic of the Netherlands. And this single represents one of his best parodies, which I have to admit didn't know existed. 'Een nacht in Mokum' translates as 'One night in Amsterdam', and is a parody of the Murray Head single 'One night in Bangkok', written by Tim Rice with Benny and Bjorn of Abba.

Dingetje describes a night out in the capital of the Netherlands in his version, using some elements from the original lyric, such as 'the massage parlours'. The single did not chart - and I have to say I've never seen it before.

My collection: 7" single no. 4585
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, February 26, 2010
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Een nacht in Mokum' / 'Sukke heb ze'

Dit is de zender van illegale Joop - Dingetje

If all the visitors of this blog would start sending me free singles, I would be a very happy man indeed. But in fact, one visitor did today: I received this single from Puck. Many thanks for that. (And to everyone else: follow his great example!)

'Dit is de zender van illegale Joop' ('This is illegal Joop broadcasting') was released in 1980, when the practice of setting up small radio stations with the aid of a so-called 27MC was very popular in the Netherlands. Most people used the 27MC to exchange inane rantings, something which is demonstrated quite skillfully on this track. The single became quite popular too: it reached number 27 in the Dutch Top 40 in the spring of 1980.

My collection: 7" single no. 4422
Found: Sassenheim / Den Haag, January 12, 2009
Cost: - (present)
Tracks: 'Dit is de zender van illegale Joop' / 'Dit is de zender van illegale Joop (part 2)'

De man van het journaal (Goeienavond) - Dingetje

Dingetje is the alias of Frank Paardekoper. His career in music started in 1977 with a parody of 'Cokane in my brain' (Dillinger), entitled 'Ik ga weg Leen' ('I'm going away Leen'). Four years later he recorded 'Houtochdiekop', a parody of Joe Dolce's 'Shaddap your face'.

Contrary to a lot of his material, 'De man van het journaal' ('The man of the news') is an original track. It features funny paragraphs performed like a news bulletin on music that resembles the tune of the TV news in the Netherlands at the time. Released in 1985, the single didn't chart. Backing vocals on this track were performed by Esther Tuely.

My collection: 7" single no. 355
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1985
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'De man van het journaal (Goeienavond)' / '2 saté'