Minny Pops -

Minny Pops were a Dutch coldwave/art-punk band from Amsterdam that issued the single “Nervous” and the album Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement on self-press Plurex Records in 1979, followed by three further albums on Factory, Boudisque, and Prime between 1982 and 1985.

Members: Wally van Middendorp (vocals, drum machine), Frans Hagenaars (bass), Pieter Mulder (guitar), Dennis Duchhart (guitar), Stephen Emmer (guitar), Willem [Wim] Dekker (keyboards)

Background

Minny Pops formed in September 1978 in Amsterdam when vocalist and rhythm-box player Wally van Middendorp assembled bassist Frans Hagenaars, guitarist Peter Mertens, and two dancers, including older brother Rob van Middendorp.

Earlier in 1978, Wally van Middendorp partnered with RAF record-store employee Sam Tjioe in Tits, which released “Daddy Is My Pusher” (b/w “We’re So Glad Elvis Is Dead”) after Phonogram declined the record. Van Middendorp and Tjioe created Plurex to press and distribute the single. Rob van Middendorp designed the sleeve, and Wally met prospective band members through the Amsterdam art-school circle around his brother.

Wally van Middendorp conceived Minny Pops as a three-concert project with an EP and named the group after the Korg Mini Pops rhythm box. Minny Pops played the first concert on Dec. 12 at Brakke Grond in Amsterdam with a static presentation built around rhythm box, bass, guitar, and two dancers. The group issued “Footsteps,” “Nervous,” and “Kojak” through Plurex in March 1979 as the first Minny Pops record. Minny Pops shared an April bill at the Melkweg in Amsterdam with Red Crayola and Scritti Politti.

Stephen Emmer was born Jan. 28, 1958, in Amsterdam and spent part of his childhood on international trips with his ballerina mother. He learned wind instruments in India, percussion in the Caribbean, and guitar in Suriname, then formed a school band with Mathilde Santing after returning to Amsterdam. Mertens left Minny Pops by June, when guitarists Dennis Duchhart and Emmer joined van Middendorp and Hagenaars in the recording lineup. Minny Pops then recorded the self-produced Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement with van Middendorp, Hagenaars, Duchhart, and Emmer as the first-album quartet.

Discography: