Spin -

Spin was a Dutch jazz-rock band that made the 1976/77 Ariola albums Spin and Whirlwind and scored an international hit with the instrumental “Grasshopper.”

Members: Rein van den Broek (trumpet, flugelhorn), Jan Vennik (flute, oboe, clarinet), Hans Jansen (keyboards), Hans Hollestelle (keyboards, guitar), Jan Hollestelle (bass, keyboards, cello), Cees Kranenburg (drums, percussion)

Background

Spin was formed in 1974 by four members of the Bingo lineup of Ekseption: trumpeter Rein van den Broek, reedist Jan Vennik, keyboardist Hans Jansen, and guitarist/keyboardist Hans Hollestelle, whose brother, Jan Hollestelle, joined on bass.

Jan played on numerous local sessions by Dutch, English, and American acts, including albums by Mike Tingley, Robin Lent, Supersister, and Golden Earring frontman Barry Hay. Spin settled as a six-piece with another veteran sessionist, drummer Cees Kranenburg.

Spin

Spin released their self-titled debut album in March 1976 on Ariola.

The album contains two compositions by Jan Hollestelle (“Spinning,” “Sunday Afternoon’s Dream”) and three by Hans Hollestelle, plus one each by Jan Vennik (“Excenter”) and Hans Jansen (“Beautiful Queenie”), who co-wrote “Grasshopper.”

Jan Hollestelle multi-tasks on bass, piano, and violincello. He doubles on synthesizer with his guitarist brother.

Spin merges brassy jazz-rock dynamics with textural synth passages and shifting rhythmic patterns. Tracks like “Grasshopper” and “Flat Tyre” highlight their command of horn-driven propulsion and taut funk pacing, while “Excenter” and “Spinning” showcase layered interplay between Rhodes, guitar, and lyricon. “Sunday Afternoon’s Dream” and “Beautiful Queenie” reveal the band’s atmospheric side, offsetting the record’s angular energy with luminous, slow-burning passages.

A1. “Grasshopper” (4:39) grasshopper field sounds signal the onslaught of foreboding bass, Hammond organ and wah-wah sustain. Brassy fanfare cuts to the verse pattern: a closed-cadence mid-tempo romp of deep bass and trumpet/sax interplay (in G7), cut by an ARP-noodling bridge (in C minor). Second verse: organ and clipped guitar interjections amid greater horn prominence. Third verse: piercing lyrican solo, followed with clapping outro.
A2. “Spinning” (4:02) Leslied organ-riff opener heralds tentative bassline (in C minor) with faint crickety keyboard sounds, later overlaid with lyricon, then searing lead guitar, then talk-box-filtered organ
A3. “Excenter” (5:16) uptempo (in B), intense shredder guitar figure, marimba-laced refrain (in D), sunny bridge with flute and Fender Rhodes trade-offs, lucid middle, aggressive hi-hat driven outro
A4. “Sea and Seasons” (5:01)

B1. “Little Bitch” (5:50)
B2. “Sunday Afternoon’s Dream” (4:59) somber piano intro (modulating from C minor), interlaced with oboe, then flute
B3. “Flat Tyre” (3:39) funky bassline (in C7) on stately beat, flanked with trumpet and crickety clavinet, chordal plunges through the lyrical guitar-lick bridge (F→G) and hi-hat-sliding refrain (D minor)
B4. “Beautiful Queenie” (4:34) down-tempo Rhodes/bass pattern (in A sharp 7) with sunset vibes, ala Lonnie Liston Smith; radiant Moog-lined bridge with sparkling Rhodes accents; synth-treated guitar break.

Sessions occurred at the Dutch Music Center in Baarns, where John Sonneveld produced Spin in sequence with 1975/76 albums by Earth & Fire, Livin’ Blues, and Limousine.

Spin sports a watercolor painting by Chris Duinmeijer, whose image depicts frozen figures (athlete, ballerina) displaced along a park trail, overlaid with spiraling repetitions of the band’s name. He placed the image inside a circle, a common Seventies framework.

Ariola lifted “Grasshopper” as a single (b/w “Little Bitch”). In the US, “Grasshopper” reached No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Whirlwind

Spin released their second album, Whirlwind, in March 1977 on Ariola.

The album contains four compositions by guitarist/synthesist Hans Hollestelle (“Dance of the Seagull,” “Telegraphcanyon-Roadrunner,” “Yellow Kites,” “T-Ford Two”) and four tracks co-written by keyboardist Hans Jansen and reedist Jan Vennick. They retained the same six-piece lineup with bassist Jan Hollestelle, drummer Cees Kranenburg, and trumpeter Rein van den Broek.

Side B includes “You’re a Clown,” a lilting jazz-vocal ballad with singers Sue Chaloner and Martha Pendleton. The song features musical guests Bart Van Lier (trombone) and Toots Thielemans (harmonica), both heard also on “Baby’s Delight.”

Whirlwind blends vibrant keyboard textures with intricate horn arrangements and shifting rhythmic layers. Side A emphasizes kinetic interplay, from the swirling pipe-Moog of “Tarantula” to the lurching, contrapuntal patterns of “Telegraphcanyon-Roadrunner.” Side B alternates brisk, brass-driven passages like “Super B” with tender, lyrically nuanced moments such as “You’re a Clown,” where harpsichord, sitar, and airy vocals converge. The album balances angular instrumental flourishes with measured, texturally rich passages that expand the band’s sonic palette.

A1. “Tarantula” (4:54) jovial piano notes (dropped 6th notes on the G) signal uptempo verses headed with swirling pipe-Moog (in Cmaj7) flanked with wah-wah licks, clipped horns, modulated turns, and Latin percussive breaks.
A2. “Baby’s Delight” (5:31)
A3. “Dance of the Seagull” (4:16)
A4. “Telegraphcanyon-Roadrunner” (4:09) lurching intro of deep bass, harmonic notes, and faint wah-wah (in E minor); overlaid with a guttural guitar figure, cut with spiraling double-tracked leads and countered with clipped and wavering horns.

B1. “Super B” (5:13) metronomic backbeat heralds a boogie-woogie piano riff (rooted in F sharp 7), mirrored with lively sax that crests on a fanfare. A spiraling Moog line overtakes the bassline, which backs subsequent brassy tradeoffs across the swaying, clapping cadence.
B2. “Yellow Kites” (4:01)
B3. “You’re a Clown” (5:50) balladic harpsichord/sitar intro (in Cmaj7); tender piano/vocal verses about a lovable offspring, delivered by Sue’s airy, lithe tone. Rousing chorus modulates through sharps and flats as she soars with poetic metaphors of the little one (“the weather text and the poet”). Harmonized rhythmic pauses fuel anticipation on the second verse, where Sue’s masterful held notes tower as Martha carries the second chorus. The third chorus yields to a harmonica break across roaming chords and trailing tom fills. The final minutes dart across key centers amid chorus repetitions, harmonized ad libs, and distant flowing waves of sax.
B4. “T-Ford Two” (5:31) a descending guitar/keyboard fugue (in F) bookends this mid-tempo vamp of stately horns and crafty low-end bass, cut by searing guitar refrains and a whistling Moog midsection. Faint use of clavinet and vibraphone color subsequent iterations of the main verse.

Chaloner sung beforehand in Spooky & Sue, a soul-pop vocal duo with ex-Swinging Soul Machine frontman Iwan Groeneveld. She receives a third-writer credit here on her balladic showcase. Pendleton cut two prior Ariola singles, including the 1976 blue-eyed soul belter “Money Honey.”

Whirlwind sessions occurred at the Dutch Music Center, where John Sonneveld produced the album in sequence with 1977 albums by Champagne and Daniel Sahuleka.

Whirlwind displays a second watercolor by Chris Duinmeijer, whose again places disparate characters (gypsy, Greek god) in a surreal setting (a tornado-plagued ocean jetty with skeletal shipwreck remains). Once again, the image uses Seventies circular framework.

“You’re a Clown”

You’re a clown, you’re a comedy on a platform
laughing very loud, making me so proud
I knew you’re a wind, blowing in with all season,
glowing like the sun, all the freezing hasn’t won.

You’re the weather text and the poet,
birds of love to help you to show it.
Making love comes down like a curtain,
with the perfection of which you are certain.

You’re a belief that is purely rejecting or telling,
wearing with a friend, oh, you’re cut of gold and brilliant, baby,
You’re an ant, lost innocent of all that,
looking for success or a lady in distress.

You’re the weather text and the poet,
birds of love to help you to show it.
Making love comes down like a curtain,
with the perfection of which you are certain.

Oh now, you’re a knight, blessed in your suit of armor,
looking for success, for a lady in distress.

You’re the weather text and the poet,
birds of love to help you to show it.
Making love comes down like a curtain,
with the perfection of which you are certain.

Making love comes down like a curtain,
with the perfection of which you are certain.

You’re the weather text and the poet,
birds of love to help you to show it.
Making love comes down like a curtain,
with the perfection of which you are certain.

Making love to show, making love to show.
Making love to show, making love to show.

These lyrics appear to be a highly abstract and poetic exploration of a person’s multifaceted nature, seen through the eyes of an admiring observer or lover. The speaker is attempting to capture the essence of this “you” by assigning them a series of seemingly contradictory, yet ultimately complementary, identities and roles.

Here’s a breakdown of the themes and what the lyrics seem to be conveying:

Admiration and Pride: The repeated phrases like “making me so proud” indicate a deep affection and admiration for the subject.
Multifaceted and Contradictory Identity:
- “Clown… comedy on a platform” / “laughing very loud”: Suggests a public, perhaps performative, joyful, and entertaining persona.
- “Wind, blowing in with all season” / “glowing like the sun, all the freezing hasn’t won”: Implies a dynamic, free-spirited, resilient, and life-affirming presence that overcomes adversity.
- “Weather text and the poet”: This is a key line. “Weather text” suggests a factual, perhaps predictable or impactful, presence (like a forecast), while “the poet” implies creativity, depth, emotion, and an ability to articulate beauty or truth. This duality highlights a blend of the tangible/predictable and the artistic/expressive.
- “Belief that is purely rejecting or telling”: This is quite abstract, but could imply a strong conviction, a definitive stance, or someone who is very clear in their opinions, whether positive or negative.
- “Ant, lost innocent of all that”: A stark contrast to the previous grand images. “Ant” might suggest industriousness, humility, or even seeming insignificant at times. “Lost innocent” adds a layer of vulnerability or a disconnect from the grand roles previously assigned.
- “Knight, blessed in your suit of armor”: This brings a heroic, protective, noble, and perhaps idealistic quality.
- Seeking and Helping Others:
- “Looking for success or a lady in distress”: This phrase, repeated with both the “ant” and the “knight,” suggests a core motivation of the subject is to strive for achievement and to help others, particularly those in need. It gives them a purpose-driven character.
Love and Perfection:
- “Birds of love to help you to show it”: Suggests that love (or the capacity for love) is a fundamental aspect of who they are, guiding their expressions.
“Making love comes down like a curtain, with the perfection of which you are certain”: This is a powerful, recurring image. “Comes down like a curtain” could imply a natural, inevitable, or perhaps a grand and complete conclusion to an act of creation or connection. The “perfection of which you are certain” suggests that this person approaches love, or even life itself, with a profound sense of self-assurance and an expectation of ideal outcomes. It could also refer to the perfection they bring to the act of love or creation.

In summary, the lyrics paint a portrait of a complex individual who is both publicly joyful (“clown”) and deeply creative (“poet”), resilient (“wind,” “sun”) yet vulnerable (“ant”), and driven by a desire for success and to help others (“knight”). Underlying all these facets is a strong sense of purpose, self-assurance, and a profound connection to love, which they express with an almost theatrical “perfection.” The speaker is celebrating the many, sometimes seemingly contradictory, dimensions of this admired person.

Discography: