Mr. Albert Show -

Mr. Albert Show was a Dutch sax-rock band that released a self-titled album on Philips in 1970, followed by Warm Motor in 1971.

Members: Bertus Borgers (saxophone, flute, vocals), Roeland “Broer” Boogaart (drums), Tom Fautu Bun (bass), Eric Lintermans (guitar, vocals), Bonkie Bongaerts (organ), Floortje Klomp [Fleur Colombe] (vocals)

Background

Mr. Albert Show formed after Moses and the Scouts and Dirty Underwear, two bands from Eindhoven, Netherlands, shared a bill in Mannheim, Germany, on August 30, 1969. Realizing their musical similarities, members of both camps — reedist Bertus Borgers, guitarist Eric Lintermans, organist Bonki Bongaerts, bassist Tom Fautubun, and drummer Broer Bogaart — formed a new band. Just prior to their first gig, the unnamed act chose Mr. Albert Show, a reference to a shy roadie in their entourage named Albert.

The band demoed material that Borgers pitched to Red Bullet Productions, which signed them to a four-year contract. Mr. Albert Show added singer Floortje Klomp, who cut two 1968 folk-pop singles (one as Fleur Colombe) on Polydor. Their self-titled album appeared on Philips in 1970.

Mr. Albert Show features nine originals written or co-written by Borgers, including “King Horse,” “Don’t Worry,” “Wild Sensation,” and “Revolver.” Co-writes include the Borgers/Lintermans “White” (with lyrics by one Van der Heyden) and two tracks co-written with pianist Cees Schrama: “Kings of Galaxy” and “There’s a Sad Song in the Air.” The opening number, “Act of Love,” has words by English poet Roger McGough.

Mr. Albert Show was recorded at GTB Studios, The Hague, by Peter Koelewijn, a popular Dutch singer who mostly produced pop acts (Bonny St. Claire, Ciska Peters). Original copies came in a gatefold sleeve with a band photo (back cover) that shows the members in caricature masks.

The album spawned two singles: “Wild Sensation” (b/w “Kings of Galaxy”) and “King Horse” (b/w the non-album Borgers/Schrama “I Can’t Help It”). Klomp departed soon after this release, leaving Mr. Albert Show as a five-piece.

“Kings of Galaxy” appeared that year on the multi-artist Philips compilation Twen Parade 3 along with cuts by Ekseption, Sandy Coast, Fairy Tale, and Zen. “Wild Sensation” appears on the 1979 Philips comp The Best Of with cuts by Earth and Fire, Kayak, Partner, Trace, and Water.

1971: Warm Motor

Mr. Albert Show returned with Koelewijn to GTB and recorded Warm Motor, released on Philips in 1971. It features three songs per side, including the lengthy book-ending numbers “Did You Really Find Somebody” (9:56) and “Woman” (11:27). Borgers composed everything aside from shared credits on “Electronic Baby,” a Bongaerts co-write with lyrics by outsider R. Sylvester. Cartoonist Joost Swarte did the colorful gatefold outspread, which shows a comic Grand Prix racer and a speech burst with the band name and title.

In Canada, Warm Motor was issued as Dutch Treat in an off-white sleeve with a Klomp-era photo of the band. She’s listed as a member, despite not performing. The back cover features liner notes, ostensibly by each band member but actually written by Red Bullet publicists.

In late 1971, Mr. Albert Show issued a non-album Philips single: “Show Me Your Tongue” (b/w “Not More Than a Sign”), both appended to later CD pressings of Warm Motor.

Conditions soured between band and company as the musical ambitions of Mr. Albert Show outgrew the commercial expectations of Red Bullet. The band road out the final two years of its contract as a live act. They played their final show at “de Effenaar” in Eindhoven on September 29, 1973. By then, their set contained roughly 40 minutes of new Borgers originals, including “Let It All Hang Out,” “Open Up,” “Hooked On You,” and the epics “Shoulder to Lean On” (9:58) and “Strange Story” (15:28). Those numbers, along with covers of The Rolling Stones (“Red Rooster,” “Jumping Jack Flash”), The Beatles (“Things We Said Today”), and Bob Dylan (“Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”) are included on the archival live disc Strange Story, recorded 9/29/73 and released in 2014 on the Dutch reissue label Pseudonym.

Later Activity

Borgers cut a solo album with Bongaerts and Boogaart, plus keyboardist Robert Jan Stips (Supersister), Eelco Gelling (Cuby + Blizzards), and the Paay sisters. In 1980, the recording was issued as Demo ’74 on Ariola Benelux-subsidiary Bubble. Borgers also played on the 1973–75 Golden Earring albums Moontan and Switch. (Stips and Gelling joined Earring for that latter release and stayed for the 1976 albums To the Hilt and Contraband.) Borgers and Stips subsequently teamed in the rock combos Stars & Stips and Sweet d’Buster.

Starting in 1975, Bongaerts cut a string of albums in the Nederpop quintet Bots. Bogaart did stints with Arti Kraaijeveld and The Spiderz before joining Bots in 1981.

Since 2000, Mr. Albert Show and Warm Motor have been reissued on CD by archivists PROG (Russia, 2000), Long Hair (Germany, 2002), PAO (Russia, 2003), and twice on Mercury (Netherlands, 2014; Russia, 2016). In 2013, both got a Dutch vinyl reissue on Pseudonym.

Discography: