Rainbow Train -

Rainbow Train was a Dutch art-pop/harmony band behind the 1978 album Accompanied by… on Poker.

Members: Hans Vermeulen (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Okkie Huysdens (keyboards, vocals), Jan Vermeulen (bass), Hans Hollestelle (guitar), Shell Schellekens (drums), Jan Rietman (keyboards), Ferdinand Povel (saxophone), Anita Meyer (vocals), Dianne Marchal (vocals), Martha Pendleton (vocals), Julya Lo’ko (vocals), Suzanne Michaels (vocals)

Background

Rainbow Train formed in 1975 in Voorburg when guitarist-singer Hans Vermeulen assembled a Tuesday-night group at café De Barbaars. Bassist Jan Vermeulen proposed the residency to resurrect the club’s sparsely attended jazz nights. They assembled drummer Shell Schellekens, and singer-keyboardists Eric Tagg and Okkie Huysdens, plus four female singers: Dianne Marchal, Anita Meyer, Patricia Paay, and Yvonne Keely.

The Vermeulen brothers boarded Rainbow Train from Sandy Coast, a onetime psych powerhouse that folded with the 1974 album Stonewall. Schellekens drummed beforehand with Big Wheel and Brainbox. Huysdens played with Heart and then joined Limousine. The American-born Tagg moved to the Netherlands in 1973 and joined Beehive, then signed with EMI (as Erik Tagg) for the 1975 album Smilin’ Memories.

Meyer recorded early singles with her brother René as Joy and Go-Go. Paay, an established star, used Meyer as a backing singer. Meyer met Vermeulen through Dutch studio sessions in 1975, the year she joined Rainbow Train. Vermeulen fronted the 1975 Lucifer album As We Are with Tagg, Schellekens, and Jan Vermeulen.

Meyer signed with Poker for her 1976 single “The Alternative Way,” a Vermeulen-penned number co-billed to Rainbow Train, backed with the Marchal-written “You Showed Me How.” The single reached No. 1 on the Dutch Top 40 in late March. Rainbow Train backed Meyer on the corresponding album, In The Meantime I Will Sing.

The group also accompanied Hans Vermeulen on his 1976 album I Only Know My Name. In June 1977, five Rainbow Train singers—Vermeulen, Huysdens, Meyer, Marchal, and Martha Pendleton—performed the 1971 Michel Colombier album Wings at the Congresgebouw for the Holland Festival. Those singers performed with the Residentie Orkest, Voorburgs Jongerenkoor, and big band. Rainbow Train also backed Marchal on his 1977 Poker single “Sandy,” which reached No. 26 on the Dutch chart.

Rainbow Train later added pianist Jan Rietman, and guitarist Hans Hollestelle. Rietman came from Long Tall Ernie & the Shakers and Unit Gloria. Basart announced Rainbow Train as a nine-piece act in February 1978 and first scheduled a debut album for early May. The label arranged U.S. distribution through RSO and other international distribution through Polydor.

Poker issued “Heaven on Earth” (b/w “Here’s to the Business”) in 1978 with Hans Vermeulen as producer. Rainbow Train reached No. 19 on the Dutch Top 40 with “Heaven on Earth” and remained on the chart for six weeks. Rainbow Train entered November with that chart run and the Poker debut LP Accompanied By on the release schedule.

Discography:

Accompanied by… (1978)
Gentlemen Street (1979 • The Train)

Sources

Voorburg Popscene, Rainbow Train / Kan die herrie wat zachter!? — strongest source for the 1975 formation, De Barbaars Tuesday residency, founding personnel, female vocal group, and later additions. The account includes Hans Vermeulen’s recollection of the residency. (Voorburg Popscene 60-70)
Voorburg Popscene, Sandy Coast — places the Sandy Coast cessation in 1974 and identifies Hans and Jan Vermeulen as the members who continued with Rainbow Train. (Voorburg Popscene 60-70)
NPO Radio 5, Anita Meyer biography — Joy and Go-Go, Patricia Paay connection, Meyer’s 1975 meeting with Vermeulen, Rainbow Train membership, “The Alternative Way,” and the In The Meantime I Will Sing sessions. (NPO Radio 5)
Nederlandse Top 40, “The Alternative Way” — confirms the credit to Anita Meyer accompanied by The Rainbow Train, Hans Vermeulen as writer-producer, Dianne Marchal as B-side writer, and the number-one chart peak. (Top40)
uDiscover Music Netherlands, Lucifer / “House for Sale” — confirms Vermeulen’s production and the participation of Eric Tagg, Jan Vermeulen, and Shell Schellekens on Lucifer’s 1975 material. (uDiscover Music Holland)
Dutch Top 40 / Shell Schellekens profile; Nederlandse Discografie / Limousine and Eric Tagg — supports the Big Wheel–Brainbox background for Schellekens, the Heart–Limousine sequence for Huysdens, and Tagg’s move from the United States to the Netherlands and early solo activity. (Top40)
Holland Festival archive, June 3, 1977 — lists Anita Meyer, Dianne Marchal, Martha Pendleton, Hans Vermeulen, and Okkie Huysdens in the Michel Colombier program at the Congresgebouw. (Holland Festival)
Nederlandse Top 40, Dianne Marchal — “Sandy” — confirms the Rainbow Train accompaniment credit, Vermeulen production, Eric Tagg’s B-side composition, and the number-twenty-six peak. (Top40)
Jan Rietman official biography / Omroep MAX — confirms Rietman’s earlier membership in Long Tall Ernie & the Shakers and Unit Gloria. (Jan Rietman)
Billboard, February 11, 1978 — contemporaneous report identifying Rainbow Train as a nine-piece Basart act, with the debut LP then scheduled for May and distribution assigned to RSO and Polydor. (World Radio History)
Nederlandse Top 40, “Heaven on Earth” — confirms the 1978 single, Hans Vermeulen’s writing and production, “Here’s to the Business” as the B-side, and a number-nineteen peak over six chart weeks. (Top40)
Nederlandse Top 40, November 25, 1978 Tipparade issue — contains a contemporary Basart advertisement for Accompanied By, confirming the Poker LP in the November release campaign. (Top40)