Group 1850 -

Group 1850 was a Dutch psych-rock band from Den Haag that released five singles on GTB and Philips between 1966 and 1968, culminating with the album Agemo’s Trip to Mother Earth on Discofoon. A second album and two further singles appeared over the subsequent two-year period, after which the nameplate was benched until a pair of 1974/76 live releases and the 1975 album Polyandri on Rubber Records.

Members: Peter Sjardin (flute, organ, vocals), Beer Klaasse (drums), Daniel van Bergen (guitar, piano), Ruud van Buuren (bass), Nippy Noya (percussion)

Background

Group 1850 evolved from The Klits, a Hague Nederbeat group formed in 1964 by singer–keyboardist Peter Sjardin. By 1965, the group featured bassist Chris Zieck, drummer Caspar Kiebert, and guitarists Jacques de Jong and Trevor Dirksen.

On January 1, 1966, The Klits rebranded as Groep 1850. In the revised band, Sjardin juggled flute and organ, joined by guitarist–pianist Daniel van Bergen, bassist Ruud van Buuren, and drummer Beer Klaasse. Rob de Rijke also entered the circle on bass and flute after work with The Subterraneans.

Yep issued “Misty Night” (b/w “Look Around”) in 1966 as the band’s first single. Philips then signed the group and issued “I Want More” (b/w “I Know (La Pensée)”) in 1967.

Philips issued “Mother No-Head” (b/w “Ever Ever Green”) later in 1967. “Mother No-Head” reached No. 24 in the Netherlands and became the group’s only Dutch Top 40 entry.

The band’s live activity expanded across 1967 with Dutch and foreign dates. Group 1850 appeared at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in September 1967 on a bill with the Mothers of Invention, then cut “Zero” (b/w “Frozen Mind”) for Philips in 1968.

Agemo’s Trip to Mother Earth

Group 1850 released their debut album, Agemo’s Trip to Mother Earth, in 1968 on Philips.

Agemo’s alternates compact song forms with long interior breaks, spoken passages, and staged sound effects. “Steel Sings” opens on light percussion, distant vocals, and stray electronic tones before the arrangement thickens around guitar. “Little Fly” uses a door-creak effect, female speech, male vocal entry, and repeated vocal themes over a guitar-and-organ finish. “I Put My Hands on Your Shoulder” starts with slow vocal lines, increases tempo within the first section, then diverts into Dutch speech, phased drums, and a late guitar-led return before thunder closes the sequence.

“You Did It Too Hard” sets comic vocal turns against a clipped rhythm and saxophone. “A Point in This Life” starts with harpsichord, flute, and percussion, then drops into narrated speech, silence, bass entry, and a rising guitar break. “Refound” narrows the arrangement to flute, clean guitar, organ, and restrained vocal placement. “Reborn” closes with female voices, soft guitar figures, and bird sounds at the fade.

A1. “Steel Sings” (3:03) — Daniël van Bergen, Peter Sjardin
A2. “Little Fly” (4:29) — Van Bergen, Sjardin
A3. “I Put My Hands on Your Shoulder” (13:26) — Van Bergen, Sjardin

B1. “You Did It Too Hard” (2:10) — Van Bergen, Sjardin
B2. “A Point in This Life” (5:03) — Van Bergen, Sjardin
B3. “Refound” (3:12) — Van Bergen, Sjardin
B4. “Reborn” (3:22) — Van Bergen, Sjardin

Group 1850 recorded Agemo’s Trip to Mother Earth with producer Hans van Hemert and engineer Gerard Beckers. Hans Schulz supplied the cover drawing, and Ton Giesbergen handled the sleeve design. Original Dutch copies used a 3D cover with red-and-green glasses.

“Little Fly” appeared simultaneously behind “We Love Life (Like We Love You),” a non-album Philips a-side.

Paradise Now

Group 1850 released their second album, Paradise Now, in December 1969 on Discofoon.

Sjardin retained Daniël van Bergen in a new lineup with guitarist Dave Duba, bassist Dolf Geldof, and drummer–percussionist Martin van Duynhoven. The album favors slow builds, reverb-heavy vocal placement, percussive nuance, and long guitar-led sections.

“Paradise Now” starts with spoken words and organ haze before the band locks into a measured bass-heavy pulse. “Friday I’m Free” uses a fast tempo, treated vocals, and hard guitar accents over a forward rhythm. “Hunger” breaks its flow with sound bursts, pause-and-release phrasing, and raw wah-wah guitar. “Circle” compresses the pace into a short uptempo instrumental. “Lonelyness” draws the vocal and keyboard lines through eastern-scaled turns.

“Martin En Peter” strips the texture to hand percussion and flute. “?!” builds from clean rhythm guitar into organ-led minor-key motion and extended guitar color. “Purple Sky” closes with a slow heavy pulse, spoken vocal entry, dual-guitar echo, a drum-solo break, and a late return to electric-bass drive.

A1. “Paradise Now” (5:27) — Dave Duba, Peter Sjardin
A2. “Friday I’m Free” (2:53) — Duba, Sjardin
A3. “Hunger” (4:56) — Daniël van Bergen, Sjardin
A4. “Circle” (1:08) — Duba, Sjardin
A5. “Loneliness” (2:17) — Duba, Van Bergen, Sjardin

B1. “Martin & Peter” (1:55) — Martin van Duynhoven, Sjardin
B2. “?!” (7:08) — Duba, Sjardin
B3. “Purple Sky” (10:57) — Duba, Van Bergen, Sjardin

Group 1850 recorded Paradise Now with in late October 1969 with engineer Luc Ludolph. Discofoon issued the album under catalog number VD 7063.

1970–73

Group 1850 continued with intermittent activity after Paradise Now. Action issued “Don’t Let It Be (We Have to Do It Now)” in 1970 with “Sun Is Coming (So We’re Calling You)” as a standalone single. Intertone also issued “Sun Is Coming” in 1970 with “We Change from Day to Day” as the non-album side.

In 1971, Polydor issued “Fire” as their seventh standalone single (b/w “Have You Ever Heard?”), their final release of the pre-comeback period. Group 1850 worked only sporadically from 1971 onward, with Peter Sjardin as the constant figure amid shifting personnel.

Group 1850 Live

In 1974, Orange Records issued Live, a document of Group 1850 from the time of their second studio album.

Live treats the 1969 stage recordings as extended ensemble pieces, with rough fidelity, heavy entries, long instrumental stretches, and sparse vocal intrusions. “Paradise Now” opens as a short, raw title-album reprise with dense force and little formal expansion. “Years in Every Day” rides a heavy pulse, then opens into wide organ tones, saxophone breaks, and a brief two-line vocal passage.

“Between Eighteen and Fifty Part VII” drives at an up-tempo clip, with conga accents under long organ-and-guitar solo sections. “Purple Sky” drops some of the blues weight of the Paradise Now take and recasts the song through a looser, echo-heavy arrangement. “Noyas Congas” suspends the set in an improvised percussion feature with a ritual pulse. “Verandering” closes outside the concert sequence as a Peter Sjardin Organiser piece, with homemade-electronic tones stretched into a stark soundscape.

A1. “Paradise Now” (2:04)
A2. “Years in Every Day” (5:23)
A3. “Between 18 and 50 Part VII” (15:11)

B1. “Purple Sky” (4:59)
B2. “Noyas Congas” (5:08)
B3. “Verandering” (15:51)

Group 1850 performed the set in late 1969 during the Paradise Now period. Orange issued the album as OP 1.

Polyandri

Group 1850 released their third studio album, Polyandri, in November 1975 on Rubber.

Sjardin rebuilt the group around a session-based lineup. Polyandri features three returning Paradise Now players (Duba, Geldof, van Duynhoven) intermixed with drummer Paul van Wageningen and guitarists Leo Bennink and Frank van der Kloot.

Group 1850 gives Polyandri a compact, mostly instrumental design built from echo effects, abrupt build-ups, low-end starts, and hard ensemble entries. “Jojo” works as a brief atmospheric prelude, with a grounded pulse under upper-register haze. “Between Eighteen and Fifty” expands from delayed sound effects into a rising pattern and a bright lead break. “Flower Garden” reduces the format to a spare vocal miniature. “Thousand Years Before” contrasts a heavy dramatic opening with a hushed spoken passage before a louder ensemble cadence. “Starfighter” uses echo and fast instrumental pressure for a short high-energy piece.

“Silver Earring” locks a dense mid-tempo pulse to a forward bass line and sharp upper-register color. “USSR Gossip” turns on a clipped beat, hand percussion, odd vocal tone, and brass accents. “Cages” develops from electronic effects and water sounds into a slow organ-heavy swell. “Avant Les Pericles” draws tension from echo, abrasive reed lines, and a midsection retreat before a renewed drum pulse. “Pumping Up the Rubber Trees” closes the heavier side with guitar-led force, urgent vocals, and a hard cadence.

A1. “Jojo” (1:34)
A2. “Between Eighteen and Fifty Part: 1850” (2:53)
A3. “Flower Garden” (0:32)
A4. “Thousand Years Before” (4:34)
A5. “Starfighter” (2:28)
A6. “Silver Earring” (4:11)

B1. “Patience” (2:47)
B2. “U.S.S.R. Gossip” (5:02)
B3. “Cages” (5:21)
B4. “Avant Les Pericles” (6:17)
B5. “Pumping Up the Rubber Trees” (6:00)

Group 1850 recorded Polyandri between January 1974 and early 1975. Rubber issued the album in 1975 under catalog number RR 1851.

Live on Tour

Group 1850 released Live on Tour in 1976 on Rubber and Orange Upstairs.

Peter Sjardin leads the set with guitarist Arthur Ebeling, keyboardist Hessel de Vries, percussionist Nippy Noya, and drummer Paul van Wageningen. The album divides the performance into five untitled food-course pieces, with electric piano, synthesizer, organ, guitar, congas, and drums spread across long-form ensemble passages.

A1. “Aperitive” (7:23)
A2. “Hors d’oevre” (7:19)
A3. “Main Dish” (8:13)

B1. “Side Dish” (24:05)
B2. “Dessert” (6:21)

Live on Tour came from a 1976 soundboard recording and appeared as a stereo LP under catalog number ROR 00001. The 2019 anthology Purple Sky: The Complete Works and More later restored the five-part set with additional 1975–76 live material.

Postlude

Group 1850 dissolved after the 1976 live phase. Sjardin kept the name adjacent to later projects, first through S.I.X. (Sjardin’s Invisible X-factor) and then through Sjardin’s Terrible Surprise, whose Live First album appeared in 1989 on Black Hole.

Martin van Duynhoven remained active in Dutch jazz and improvised music. His later work included the Martin van Duynhoven Percussion Ensemble, which appeared at North Sea Jazz in 1979, and a long-running trio with saxophonist–clarinetist Ab Baars and bassist Wilbert de Joode from 1989 onward.

Paul van Wageningen moved to New York in 1976 and continued as a drummer and percussionist.

Discography: