BIOGRAPHY

Koos Alberts, born in Amsterdam's Jordaan district, began his artistic career singing in pubs and at weddings and parties. In addition, he earned a living as a bricklayer and as the owner of a snack bar in Sint Pancras.

Following a talent contest at Casa Rosso in late 1983, Koos Alberts came into contact with lyricist Peter de Wijn and producer Bart van der Post. He recorded "Ik verscheurde je foto" (literally translated as “I Tore Up Your Photo”) which is a song written by Peter de Wijn. Koos approached various record labels, his first meeting was with Willem van Kooten and shortly thereafter, he signed a contract with Van Kooten's record label CNR.

KOOS FIRST SINGLE

"Ik Verscheurde Je Foto" was released in February 1984 and was initially received with enthusiasm by pirate radio stations, primarily in the province of North Holland. It was only after the release of his second single titled "Gisteren Heeft Zij Mij Verlaten" (literally translated as “Yesterday She Left Me” and originally sung in Spanish by Julio Iglesias titled “Quierême Mucho”) that his release of "Ik Verscheurde Je Foto" also began to attract nationwide attention.

By late November 1984 both songs were in the Dutch charts, prompting the record label to quickly release a third single: "Waarom Ben Ik Met Kerstmis Zo Alleen?" (literally translated as “Why Am I So Alone At Christmas?”). This resulted in the unique situation of Koos Alberts having three songs in the top 10 of the ‘Nationale Hitparade’ simultaneously. It earned him an entry in the ‘Guinness Book Of Records’. He sold his snack bar and devoted himself fully to a career as a singer.

CAR ACCIDENT

Koos Alberts managed to continue his success seemingly effortlessly. But on October 29th 1987 a car accident gave a dramatic turn to his life. While returning from a performance that night, he fell asleep at the wheel. His car veered off the road and the consequences were severe; he was even pronounced clinically dead for a time.

Koos Alberts was left paralyzed from the waist down due to a spinal cord injury and was left with only one functioning vocal cord. Following rehabilitation at ‘Het Roessingh’ in Enschede he relied on a wheelchair from that point on.

MOST POPULAR ARTIST

Recording sessions for his new album had already been completed before the accident and the record became a huge success in 1988. He was also named the most popular Dutch artist at the ‘Veronica Awards’.

From that 1988 album “Het Leven Gaat Door” (literally translated as “Life Goes On”) the single “Zijn Het Je Ogen” was released in 1988. And it’s that song that my mum fell in love with instantly! As if the lyrics were written for my mum and her husband, my dad. My mum always said that it was as if the song was about how my mum & dad felt about each other. Mum immediately bought the vinyl single!

THIS REMIX - ITS SPECIAL MEANING - TRYING TO GET IT ON STREAMING PLATFORMS

And it’s that single “Zijn Het Je Ogen” which is written by Peter de Wijn using the pseudonym ‘P. Pruysenaere’ that I selected for the next remix in my project ‘Songs Sung In The Dutch Language’ because the song meant so much to my mum.

My mum passed away 20 years ago exactly this upcoming October 😢

As a tribute to both my mum and Koos Alberts, I wanted to try and get my remix production of “Zijn Het Je Ogen” released on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. So I managed to get in touch with Koos Alberts’ daughter Christa. What a lovely woman she is! 🫶🏻💛

Christa loved the idea and got me in touch with the writer and copyright holder of “Zijn Het Je Ogen” being Peter de Wijn, also a nice person! Peter also loved the idea, but unfortunately he and his ‘YaYa Music’ label don’t own the royalties of the song, therefore Peter de Wijn can’t release my remix on streaming platforms via his own label ‘YaYa Music’ 🤷🏼‍♂️

Peter told me the royalties are, as far as he knows, owned by ‘CTM Music’. So I contacted ‘CTM Music’ via email .. no response whatsoever! I waited over a week and emailed them again. No response!! The just don’t even have the decency to send a short rejection email .. apparently that’s even too much trouble. Such a shame as it really IS a fantastic remix!

Anyway .. Peter de Wijn said for me to share it on my own social media and that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m going to share it with you all that read this message. Go and have a listen and share the link on your own social media so we can all prove ‘CTM Music’ wrong! 🫶🏻💖

For more info & news on productions, go visit my Facebook page via the direct link below ⬇️

https://www.facebook.com/VrolijkEntertainmentProductions

To automatically keep up-2-date on new productions, like 👍🏼 or follow my Facebook page (or do both). I will not spam you with posts, but will only post something when there’s news.. thank you! 💝🫶🏻

Spread the wonderful music of Koos Alberts 💖💝🫶🏻👍🏼😘

Cheers!

Luciën Vrolijk (aka djlucien)