Alquin -

Alquin was a Dutch band on Polydor that released the 1972–73 jazz-rock albums Marks and The Mountain Queen. With the addition of singer Michel van Dijk, they made the 1975–76 hard rock albums Nobody Can Wait Forever, Best Kept Secret, and Alquin on Tour.

Members: Dick Franssen (keyboards), Ferdinand Bakker (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Job Tarenskeen (vocals, saxophone, backing vocals, drums), Ronald Ottenhoff (flute, saxophone), Bart Terlaak (drums, 1971), Piet-Hein Strack van Schijndel (drums, 1971), Paul Weststrate (drums, 1971-75), Hein Mars (bass, vocals, 1971-75), Michel van Dijk (vocals, 1975-present), Rob ten Bokum (bass, 1975-76), Jan Visser (bass, 1976-77)

Background

Alquin had its roots in Threshold Fear, an R&B combo formed in 1969 at Delft University of Technology by keyboardist Dick Franssen and saxophonists Ronald Ottenhoff and Job Tarenskeen, who doubled as lead vocalist. Drummer Bart Terlaak rounded out the initial unit, which played university parties. By 1970, they on-boarded guitarist Ferdinand Bakker and bassist Hein Mars.

In 1971, Threshold Fear linked with the Dutch Negram label and made a single: “Sally Saddlepain” backed with “Thank Me Not.” The 7″ appeared in a sleeve with bold white letters and illustrated roses, backed with an advertisement for contemporary Negram titles by After Tea, Cosmic Dealer, Q’65, George Baker Selection, and Tee-Set; the last two scored transatlantic hits as part of the short-lived Nederbeat Invasion spearheaded by Shocking Blue.

In late 1971, they adopted the name Alquin: an appropriation of Alcuin, a former Delft monastery and orphanage — possibly named after Alcuin of York (735–804), an architect of the Carolingian Renaissance. Terlake cleared for drummer Paul Weststrate.

The rechristened band signed with Polydor, which included the Alquin cut “Herbie’s Turtle” (2:10) on 25 Hits from Holland, a 1972 comp with twenty-five tracks, including songs by The Motions and Sandy Coast.

Marks

Alquin released their debut album, Marks, in December 1972 on Polydor.

The album contains six compositions by Ferdinand Bakker, who plays guitar, piano, violin, and ARP synthesizer. He co-wrote “Soft Royce” with Ronald Ottenhoff, who plays flute, soprano saxophone, and splits alto and tenor sax with singer and sopraninoist Job Tarenskeen, who wrote “You Always Can Change.”

Marks features keyboardist Dick Franssen on organ, piano, and electric piano. Side A wraps with “Mr. Barnum Junior’s Magnificent & Fabulous City,” a group-written live number.

A1. “Oriental Journey” (4:22)
A2. “The Least You Could Do Is Send Me Some Flowers” (2:26)
A3. “Soft Royce” (6:57)
A4. “Mr. Barnum Junior’s Magnificent & Fabulous City” (5:36)

B1. “I Wish I Could” (11:47)
B2. “You Always Can Change” (3:05)
B3. “Marc’s Occasional Showers” (3:23)
B4. “Catherine’s Wig” (2:38)

Sessions occurred in September 1972 at studios in Hilversum (Phonogram) and The Hague (GTB). They recorded “Mr. Barnum” during a performance at Circustheater in Scheveningen.

Alquin recorded Marks with Polydor staffer Hans Van Oosterhout, a onetime musician (in Nederbeatsters The Kick) who produced recent singles by Big Wheel, Groep 1850, and the classic first two Supersister albums, Present From Nancy and To the Highe$t Bidder.

Alquin preceded Marks with “You Always Can Change,” an autumn single backed with “Hard Royce,” a non-album Ottenhoff/Tarenskeen number.

Marks appeared in a gatefold designed by Josien Mars, an ongoing visual relation through bassist Hein Mars. The outer gates show cut potatoes affixed with letters of the band’s name. Dutch Polydor photographer Frits Van Swoll took the monochrome inner-spread, which shows the hirsute sextet reclined on a hillside. UK copies appeared in a black single sleeve with a red fingerprint.

“You Always Can Change” appears on Greatest Hits Vol. 4, a 1973 Dutch Polydor comp with cuts by Earth and Fire (“Maybe Tomorrow, Maybe Tonight”), Golden Earring (“Radar Love”), and Greenfield & Cook (“Easy Boy”).

Festival Sets

In mid-August 1973, Alquin appeared in Belgium for the annual Jazz-Bilzen festival, which featured sets by Argent, Banzai, Barclay James Harvest, Beggars Opera, Man, Procol Harum, and Wizzard. Alquin performed on day three (Sunday the 19th) along with Colin Blunstone, Soft Machine, The Troggs, and American jazz soloists Archie Shepp and Cecil Taylor.

Five days later, Alquin appeared at the Richmond Athletic Ground in Reading, England, for the Thirteenth National Jazz, Blues, and Rock Festival, a three-day weekend event with sets by Ange, Caravan, Claire Hamill, Faces, Genesis, Jack the Lad, John Martyn, Lesley Duncan, Magma, Medicine Head, PFM, Riff Raff, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Stackridge, Status Quo, Strider, Tasavallan Presidentti, and Tempest. Alquin appeared on day one (Friday the 24th) along with Beckett, Capability Brown, Embryo, Greenslade, Stray Dog, and headliner Rory Gallagher.

The Mountain Queen

Alquin released their second album, The Mountain Queen, in November 1973 on Polydor. The album retains the sextet arrangement of its predecessor with two saxophonists (Job Tarenskeen, Ronald Ottenhoff), keyboardist Dick Franssen, multi-instrumentalist Ferdinand Bakker, and the rhythm section of Hein Mars and Paul Weststrate.

Side A contains the group-written “Convicts of the Air” and the lengthy opener “The Dance,” a co-write by Franssen and Bakker, who composed “Soft-Eyed Woman.” Tarenskeen penned all the lyrics.

Side B exceeds twenty-five minutes with the epic Bakker-composed title track and the studio prequel to “Mr. Barnum Jr.’s Magnificent and Fabulous City,” forwarded by “Don and Dewey,” a theme attributed to American country singer and radio host Don Bowman (not Don & Dewey, the Fifties R&B duo with Don “Sugarcane” Harris).

A1. “The Dance” (13:10)
A2. “Soft-Eyed Woman” (2:39)
A3. “Convicts of the Air” (4:32)

B1. “Mountain Queen” (15:04)
B2. “Don and Dewey” (1:26)
B3. “Mr. Barnum Jr.’s Magnificent and Fabulous City (Part One)” (8:35)

Sessions occurred in August 1973 at De Lane Lea Music Centre in Wembley, London, where Alquin recorded the album with Derek Lawrence, a longtime Deep Purple and Wishbone Ash soundman with recent credits behind Flash, Warm Dust, and Public Foot the Roman. De Lane staffer Dick Plant engineered The Mountain Queen in sequence with titles by Electric Light Orchestra (On the Third Day) and Renaissance (Ashes Are Burning).

The album appeared in a black gatefold co-designed by Rob Mori and Martijn Reeser, who later produced the comic strip PIM & Pien for Samsam, a Dutch children’s magazine. The Mountain Queen shows a cluster of thirty-four disembodied angels with the thirty-fifth beside the album title. The back cover shows six anonymous men (possibly government workers) beside an aged column marked for removal. The inner-gate displays monochrome member portrait pics and a motion-blurred group photo.

1974 Activity

On February 28, 1974, Alquin embarked on a nineteen-date UK tour as the opening act for Golden Earring. On May 5, Alquin and compatriots Kayak and Livin’ Blues played a multi-act bill with Gentle Giant and Snafu at the Het Turfschip Convention Center in Breda, Netherlands.

Alquin hired a seventh member, singer Michel van Dijk, the onetime frontman of Nederbeatsters Les Baroques with recent stints in Ekseption and Brainbox.

Nobody Can Wait Forever

Alquin released their third album, Nobody Can Wait Forever, in February 1975 on Polydor.

Musically, Nobody Can Wait Forever eschews the jazz-rock of its two predecessors for a soulful hard-rock approach marked by thick Hammond organ, Leslied guitars, and the belted, gravelly vocals of Michel van Dijk, who collaborated with Ferdinand Bakker on “Darling Superstar,” one of four lengthy tracks with extended jam sections.

Bakker and saxist/percussionist Job Tarenskeen co-wrote two short songs: “Farewell, Miss Barcelona” and “Wheelchair Groupie,” their second single. Side A contains “Mr. Widow,” co-written by bassist Hein Mars, keyboardist Dick Franssen, and reedist Ronald Ottenhoff. Nobody features three group-composed medleys: “New Guinea Sunrise,” “Stranger,” and the closing “Revolution’s Eve,” which concludes with the album’s title theme.

Bakker sticks to guitar and piano on Nobody, where Tarenskeen deputizes drummer Paul Weststrate on “You Might As Well Fall” and “Revolution’s Eve.” Select passages feature backing by The Thunderthighs, a female vocal trio famed for their contributions to songs by Lou Reed (“Walk On the Wild Side”) and Mott the Hoople (“Roll Away the Stone”).

A1. “New Guinea Sunrise”
— a. “Sunrise” (2:44)
— b. “Wake Me Up” (4:01)
A2. “Mr. Widow” (3:40)
A3. “Stranger”
— a. “Stranger” (2:32)
— b. “You Might As Well Fall” (4:11)

B1. “Darling Superstar” (8:06)
B2. “Farewell, Miss Barcelona” (2:58)
B3. “Wheelchair Groupie” (3:13)
B4. “Revolution’s Eve”
— a. “Revolution’s Theme” (5:06)
— b. “Nobody Can Wait Forever” (2:25)

Sessions occurred in December 1974 at Rockfield Studios, a state-of-the-art residential facility in Monmouth, Wales, used for recent albums by Budgie, Isotope, Headstone, Horslips, Nutz, Queen, and Peter Hammill. Alquin recorded Nobody Can Wait Forever with Rodger Bain, an early Black Sabbath soundman with credits on post-psych classics by Hannibal, Indian Summer, and Wild Turkey. He produced Nobody in sequence with titles by Arthur Brown, Dirty Tricks, and Judas Priest. The album was engineered by Vic “Bagus” Smith, a Sixties Decca soundman who worked most recently with Fox and Gravy Train.

Nobody Can Wait Forever appeared in a sleeve designed by Cream, the Dutch graphics firm behind contemporary covers for Gentle Giant (The Power and the Glory), Kayak (Royal Bed Bouncer), Stackridge (Extravaganza), and Erik Tagg (Smilin’ Memories). The cover depicts a neo-Thirties seated at the edge of a waterside station, rendered mannequin-like by endless waiting. Photographer Reinier Gerritsen took similar surreal liberties with public space on To the World of the Future, the 1975 fourth studio album by Earth and Fire.

The backside features bleak portrait shots of six members (minus Weststrate) by Gijsbert Hanekroot, also credited on the debut Lucifer album. Dutch copies came in a gatefold with an inner-spread photo of the seven-man band running to catch a train at Amsterdam Centraal Station. In the US, Nobody Can Wait Forever appeared on RCA Victor, which issued “Stranger” as a stateside promo single.

Alquin released “Wheelchair Groupie” as a single (b/w “Mr. Widow”). The song appears on multiple Dutch compilations, including the 1975 Polydor release 14 Internationale Hits, which also includes ABBA (“I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do”), Fox (“Only You Can”), Golden Earring (“Ce Soir”), Lynsey de Paul (“My Man and Me”), Randy Pie (“Highway Driver”), and Slade (“How Does It Feel?”).

Lineup Change

Between their third and fourth albums, Alquin reconfigured as a sextet with Michel van Dijk, bassist Jan Visser, and four original members: guitarist/pianist Ferdinand Bakker, multi-keyboardist Dick Franssen, reedist Ronald Ottenhoff, and former saxist Job Tarenskeen, who now assumed Weststrate’s vacated drum slot.

Visser hailed from the George Baker Selection, a stint that included their 1970 transatlantic hit “Little Green Bag.” He recently played in Beehive, a Pink Elephant singles act with American singer Eric Tagg (a future Medusa participant and Lee Ritenour sideman).

Best Kept Secret

Alquin released their fourth album, Best Kept Secret, in May 1976 on Polydor.

The album contains two group-written suites and four standard Ferdinand Bakker songs, co-written by Job Tarenskeen (“Central Station Hustle,” “L.A. Rendez-Vous”) and Michel van Dijk (“Amy,” “Take Any Road”). Side A wraps with “High Rockin’,” a four-way composition with saxist/flutist Ronald Ottenhoff.

Guitarist Bakker triples on piano and electric violin on Best Kept Secret, which features Dick Franssen on organ, piano, and the Wurlitzer electric piano.

Musically, the album continues the gritty soulful hard-rock approach of its predecessor. “Fool in the Mirror” features four guest hornists: trombonist Geoff Wright, trumpeter Martin Droner, and Riff Raff/Gonzalez saxophonists Bud Beadle and Steve Gregory. “One More Night” has accompaniment by the unidentified ‘Deadcenter Boys.’

A1. “Fool in the Mirror” (8:21)
— a. “Sham Fight”
— b. “Stars End”
A2. “Central Station Hustle” (4:59)
A3. “L.A. Rendez-Vous” (4:40)
A4. “High Rockin'” (5:27)

B1. “One More Night” (9:01)
— a. “Bootleg Ballet”
— b. “Laserlights”
— c. “Back at the Losing End“
B2. “Amy” (4:21)
B3. “Take Any Road” (5:49)

Sessions took place in England at Ridge Farm, a residential studio in Capal village, also used for 1975/76 albums by Automatic Fine Tuning, Back Street Crawler, and Supercharge. Further work occurred at the Manor, a Shipton-on-Cherwell mansion owned by Virgin Records co-founder Richard Branson. Alquin recorded the album with producer/engineer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, a onetime Skip Bifferty soundman with recent credits behind Vinegar Joe and Popol Ace.

Best Kept Secret appeared in a gatefold with colorized Frankenstein lab imagery conceived by Scottish designer Norman Moore, also credited with visuals on 1975/76 albums by Asha Puthli, Easy Street, Heatwave, and Starry Eyed and Laughing.

Polydor extracted the first parts of each suite for a Dutch 7″ single: “Fool in the Mirror (Sham Fight)” backed with “Bootleg Ballet.”

Alquin on Tour

In November 1976, Polydor issued Alquin on Tour, a document of the band’s recent Dutch tour.

Alquin on Tour features two numbers from Nobody Can Wait Forever (“Wheelchair Groupie” and “Sunrise / Wake Me Up,” listed without the “New Guinea” title) and two from their current Best Kept Secret (“L.A. Rendez Vous,” “High Rockin”’). A third Secret song, “Amy,” merges with the Marks piece “I Wish I Could.” Side A contains an extended rendition of their Mountain Queen epic “The Dance.”

After Alquin

Ferdinand Bakker and Job Tarenskeen formed The Meteors, a new wave band that released six singles and the 1979–82 albums Teenage Heart, Hunger, and Stormy Seas.

Discography: