Getty Kaspers

Getty Kaspers
Getty Kaspers celebrating with members of Teach-In after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1975
Background information
Born	(1948-03-05) 5 March 1948 Weiz, Styria, Austria[1]
Origin	Netherlands
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer Songwriter Lead Vocals
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1971 - 75, 1976 - present[2][3]
Labels	CBS CNR EMI RCA CNR Philips A&R

Getty Kaspers (born 5 March 1948) is a Dutch singer. She was a singer and lead vocalist in the Dutch Band Teach-In.^[4]

Early career and breakthrough

Kaspers was born in Weiz, Austria on 5 March 1948.^[5] In 1971 she joined the Dutch band Teach-In.^[6] In 1974 the band had three Top 15 hits in the Netherlands. The band also featured international success with some songs. One such song, "In The Summernight", reached and held Number 5 in South Africa for 13 weeks and also peaked at Number 3 in the Dutch and Belgium Charts for 10 and 9 weeks respectively.^[7][8]

Teach-In attended the Dutch National Final for the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest in Jaarbeurs, Utrecht. The event was hosted by Willem Duys and for the first time since 1970, the Dutch performer had not been preselected by broadcaster NOS, but rather selected in a two-stage process. Teach-In were required to perform their song "Ding-a-dong" 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 (interestingly Dutch versions of Teach-In songs "Tennessee Town" and "The Circus Show").^[9][10][11]

With the song "Ding-a-dong" successful, all three performers were required to sing the winning song to decide the winning artist. The final vote would consist of a public vote resulting in Teach-In winning the National Final with 56 points, compared to 33 points for Albert West and 11 points for Debbie.

Kaspers with Teach-In at the 1975 Dutch National Final

Eurovision Song Contest

As Lead Vocals of Teach-In, Kaspers performed the opening song and won the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden receiving 152 points with the hit song "Ding-a-dong",^[12][13][14] written and composed by Dick Bakker^[15][16] and lyrics by Will Luikinga^[17][18] and Eddy Ouwens^{[19][20][21][22]} Teach-In broke Eurovision convention that favours songs performing later in the program by winning the contest despite performing first. This was a first for the competition and was repeated a year later by Brotherhood of Man in the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest.^[23] This feat has only been repeated by one further act; Herreys in 1984.

After their Eurovision success with the song "Ding-a-dong" in 1975, they featured in a chart entry in nearly every European country.^[24] "Ding-a-dong" came to place third in the Top 40 of the National Hit Parade of The Netherlands and also reached 13th place in the British Charts. Later that year, Teach-In released the single "Goodbye Love", which also made the Top 10, peaking at Number 5 for 7 weeks.^[25][26]

In 1976, Kaspers returned to the Eurovision Song Contest to present the winners of the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest, Brotherhood of Man, with the Grand Prix.

Kaspers presenting the prizes to Brotherhood of Man upon winning the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest

Later career and solo success

Teach-In toured Europe for the next two years, but the disappointing sale of the album "Get On Board"^[27] and the song "Rose Valley"^[28] 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 in Swedish and English. Her vocals can also be heard on Rick van der Linden's "Cum Laude" album and on recordings made by Radio Veronica.^[29][30]

In 1978, she joined her bandmate John Gaasbeek^[31] 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.^[32][33]

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.

Kaspers was featured in the 2005 Eurovision documentary "Tour d'Eurovision", highlighting some of the best performances of Eurovision.

In 1997, news came that the original line up, with Getty 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 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, 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".^[34] The following year, the band also released the "Best Of Teach-In" album, featuring their greatest hits.^[35]

Kaspers was present at the 2012 Dutch National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Personal life

Kaspers is fluent in English, Dutch and German.

Kaspers was romantically involved with band mate John Gaasbeek.

In 2011, Kaspers husband died of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.^[36]

Discography

Singles

Albums

See also

• Teach-In
• Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest

References

External links

• Teach-in on Pop Institute (Dutch) at the Wayback Machine (archived March 19, 2005)
• Getty on Pop Institute (Dutch) at the Wayback Machine (archived January 20, 2007)
• Balloon on Pop Institute (Dutch) at the Wayback Machine (archived December 24, 2004)