Alquin

Alquin - Live On Tour - 1976 - Polydor

Named after club-house Alcuin of the catholic student's corps Sanctus Virgilius, established in the St. Barbaraklooster in Delft. The group is from Delft and was called Threshold Fear until 1971. Members in 1971: Ferdinand Bakker (vocals, guitar, piano, violin ex-Py Set) Job Tarenskeen (vocals, drums, percussion), Ronald Ottenhof (sax, flute) Dick Franssen (piano, organ, Wurlitzer), Paul Westrate (drums). In 1974, Michel van Dijk (ex-Amsterdam) became the lead singer and Job replaced Paul on drums. From 1976 to 1977 (when the group disbanded), the line-up was: Job, Ronald, Ferdinand, Dick, Michel and on bass, at first (for a short while) Rob ten Bokum (ex-Vitesse) and after that Jan Visser (ex-Beehive). Bassist in the first years was Hein Mars, ex-Davies. Job and Ferdinand formed the rockgroup the Meteors in 1977.

A good blend of progressive rock, blues, and jazz, from the forgotten Dutch band, Alquin. These guys could really play, and were quite well known in the seventies, Alquin supported The Who, and Golden Earring, and made a few important TV appearances. They still have a loyal fan base. This is a 128 post, so no sonic miracles here, but sound quality is acceptable. Check out their 1972 "Marks" album.

TRACKS

1. New Guinea sunrise (5:75)
a) Sunrise - 2:35
b) Wake me up - 3:40
2. L.A. rendez-vous (3:30)
3. The dance (15:30)
4. High rockin' (5:45)
5. Amy (4:20) / I wish I could (10:20)
6. Wheelchair groupie (3:35)

BAND

Ferdinand Bakker / guitar, piano, vocals
Ronald Ottenhoff / saxophone, flute
Dick Franssen / organ, piano, wurlizter
Michel van Dijk / vocals
Jan Visser / bass
Job Tarenskeen / drums, percussion & vocals

SHORT BIO

Dutch band Alquin released four studio albums in the early to mid-'70s, initially playing prog-rock influenced by Pink Floyd and Roxy Music. However, by 1975's Nobody Can Wait Forever (the only Alquin album released in the U.S.), the band turned to a more varied style encompassing blues and hard rock. The original group comprised guitarist/vocalist Ferdinand Bakker, vocalist Job Tarenskeen, bassist Hein Mars, drummer Paul Weststrate, and horn player Ronald Ottenhoff; Michel Van Dyke joined the band as lead vocalist in 1975. A live album appeared in 1976, and the best-of Crash was released a year later. Strangely enough, Bakker and Tarenskeen later played in a punk band (the Meteors) later in the 1970s. © John Bush, allmusic.com

MORE ABOUT ALQUIN

Innovative early Dutch progressive band sounding little like contemporaries Earth and Fire or Focus, but showing elements of Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, various fusion bands. Alquin mixes many of these elements in a fascinating way and are a band that deserves to be reissued on CD... And evidently the first two are available on one CD! The Mountain Queen is the second album by this Dutch six-piece. The line-up consists of bass, drums, saxes/vocals/percussion, saxes/flute, guitar/electric violin/piano/vocals and keyboards. The songs have very long instrumental passages with prominent lead guitar, whirling Hammond organ, dual saxophones and (on "Mr. Barnum Jnr's. magnificent and fabulous city") electric violin. I can hear bits of Caravan, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music and Curved Air running through the album, but overall it's pretty original. The one drawback to this album is the vocals, mostly by Job Tarenskeen; they're remarkably wimpy and unconfident and there's no real vocal presence. Fortunately, the vocals are very incidental. Beyond the vocals, a fine and intensely rewarding album. Issued on CD only in tandem with the first album, Marks. For Nobody can wait forever, the band added full-time vocalist Michel van Dijk, who vocally resembles Rod Stewart a bit. The album adds more straight-ahead rock songs than its predecessor, ranging from blues-rock ("Mr. Widow," "Farewell, Miss Barcelona") to hard-rock. ("Wheelchair Groupie") The rest of the album has a more pronounced Roxy Music feel, thanks to the heavy sax-work, the Ferry-esque lyrics and the droning Moog synth on "Revolution's Eve." There's some fine soloing on this album, notably from Ferdinand Bakker on guitar and Ronald Ottenhoff on flute and sax. NOTE: Job Tarenskeen and Ferdinand Bakker from this band later appeared in a punk (!) band called the Meteors. This band started in 1970, most of the musicians were students in Delft, a prominent university city. Their first album was released in 1972 Marks, mainly instrumentals, a mixture of rock, jazz and classical music. The group quickly built up a following and in '73 the band went to the U.K.to perform in The Marquee and to appear on TV in the "Old Grey Whistle Test." Their second album The Mountain Queen was recorded in England and is one of the better progressive albums of the seventies. The music is similar to Marks and the album sold well. The band toured Germany and England together with Holland's top rock band, Golden Earring, and also toured France to support The Who. The band wanted to change their hippy image and add more rock 'n' roll to their music, with more emphasis on the vocals. One of Holland's best singers, Michel Van Dijk, is recruited and the third album is once again recorded in the U.K. This album, Nobody can wait forever, was also released in the States but a tour there was cancelled at the last minute. The album sold well and Alquin played lots of gigs, mainly on the European continent. In 1976, the last studio album Best Kept Secret was released, once again recorded in England. The style is similar to their third album, but with a slightly more funky sound. Another tour followed and a live album Alquin on Tour is released. In 1977 the band disbanded because of disagreements on musical style. Various members turned up in other groups, none of them progressive. Guitarist Ferdinand Bakker and drummer Job Tarenskeen formed The Meteors, a great new wave band. After the demise of Alquin the record company released Crash, a double album with some tracks from all of their albums. I can recommend this as a good overview, but their first two, Marks and The Mountain Queen will appeal most to the lover of progressive music. © Hans Van Dongen, www.gepr.net/aa.html