The Good Times: 35th anniversary of José's solo album!!!

Front cover of "The Good Times " by José

The release of José Hoebee's solo album "The Good Times" by CNR/Carrere Records exactly 35 years ago (on November 17th, 1982) was a milestone in the singer's career. To this day, this record is a must-have for any fan. This masterpiece of 1980s pop music featured five songs which came out as singles: 'I'm So Sorry", "I Will Follow Him", "Secret Love", "The Good Times" and "I Can Hear Music". 

Background

The fact that this LP was released came as no surprise. The early stages of José's solo career dated back to late December 1980. At the time, Luv' was at a complete standstill due to Marga Scheide's burn-out (see article posted on December 31st, 2015). José appeared alone on "Telebingo" (a TV show hosted by Mies Bouwman on AVRO) to sing "Mother of the hearts", a track from the "Forever Yours" LP penned by Hans van Hemert and dedicated to his mother. On January 16th, 1981 Dutch newspaper "Holtens Nieuwsblad" published an article entitled "José of Luv' solo?". The media speculated that José might go solo.

In early March 1981, after four hectic years, Luv' announced their (first) break-up (see article posted on March 4th, 2016). A few months later, the ladies gave a farewell performance on "Nederland Muziekland" (a popular TV show on Veronica channel) and put out a compilation entitled "Goodbye Luv" (see article posted on July 22nd, 2016). It seemed to be the end of a short and intense success story.

In the aftermath of the group's dissolution, the question was "which of the Luv' singers will have the most successful solo career?". Patty Brard was the first to release material. Her single "Hold on to Love" did quite well on the Dutch, Belgian and South African charts (see article posted on February 21st, 2016) but the follow-up records flopped. 

Meanwhile, Marga and José secretly provided vocals on "Tick-a-thumps my heart", a single by Babe (one of Luv's rivals) which reached the Top 20 in Belgium and the Netherlands in the summer of 1981. In October of that year, José and record producer Will Hoebee got married. The wedding reception took place in David Soul's villa in Los Angeles. Soul became world famous for his role in the TV series "Starsky & Hutch" in the late 1970s. Will produced his album "Best Days Of Our Lives" which came out in 1981 and which included a song entitled "That’s enough for me" (featuring José as a backup vocalist). 

Just before the launch of her solo career, José recorded the background vocals on the first album of Doris D. & The Pins produced by Piet Souer (who conceived the Luv' sound with Hans van Hemert). She was not credited on the record sleeve, which was common practice in the music industry at the time (it was before the Milli Vanilli scandal). This LP included the Top 10 hit "The Marvellous Marionettes".  

Late November 1981 saw the real start of José's solo career with the release of the single "I'm so sorry". The song was written by Piet Souer and produced by Pim Koopman (member of the legendary pop-rock band Kayak and producer of the sister duo Maywood). Moreover, José had a helping hand from Marga Scheide for her styling and her husband Will for musical expertise. Though the singer was surrounded by generous and devoted people, her debut record wasn't a mainstream success (see article posted on December 5th, 2016). It entered the Tipparade (a list of singles that didn't chart on the main hit parade) in early December 1981 and later peaked at #3. It failed to break into the Dutch Top 40 but reached #39 on the Nationale Hitparade (currently Single Top 100). 

Article published just after "I'm So Sorry" came out

José's solo career really took off with the two next singles (also produced by Pim Koopman). In the summer of 1982, her cover version of Peggy March's pop classic "I Will Follow Him" was a chart-topper in the Netherlands and Belgium (see article posted on July 3rd, 2017). The follow-up single "Secret Love" (a cover version of a Doris Day's song) was also popular on the singles charts:  #11 on the Dutch Top 40 and #3 on the Flemish BRT Top 30 (see article posted on September 18th, 2017). 

Marga was the last to try her luck musically outside of Luv' in September 1982 after Patty and José. She was the lead member of the short-lived girl group "Marga & Deuce" which recorded the unsuccessful single "One, two, three Bananas" (written and produced by Piet Souer)  (see article posted on September 24th, 2017). 

Recording and production

After José's two massive hits, the next step was to put out a full-length album. Once again, Pim Koopman supervised the recording sessions that took place at D.M.C Studios in Baarn, Holland and played all the instruments. He was assisted by sound engineers John Smit and John Sonneveld. In addition to four cover versions (Little Peggy March's I Will Follow Him, The Beach Boys' I Can Hear Music, Doris Day's Secret Love and The Hollies' Casualty), the LP featured six original tracks: two written by Piet Souer ("I'm So Sorry" and "The Good Times") as well as four written by Pim Koopman ("Say No More", "A Reason For Fallin' In Love", "If I Could Be Near You" and "Mr. Jones"). Pim used the pseudonym "W. Helmus" to write "Mr. Jones". 

Carine and Alice (of Maywood) were the backup singers on "I Will Follow Him" and "Casualty". Lucy Steymel provided backing vocals on "The Good Times", "I Can Hear Music" and "Say No More". Julie Forsyth (of the legendary British pop group "Guys 'n' Dolls") sang the background vocals on "Secret Love".

Back cover of "The Good Times"

Photography 


Govert de Roos (who photographed the Who's who of international pop and rock artists including John Lennon, The Jacksons, David Bowie, Grace Jones, Whitney Houston, Debbie Harry, Queen, Iggy Pop and ABBA ) took beautiful pictures of José for the cover of the album.

Montage by Co Rnz

Track listing

A side:

1. I WILL FOLLOW HIM - (Del Roma/Stole/Plante/Altman/Gimbel)
2. THE GOOD TIMES- (P. Souer)
3. I CAN HEAR MUSIC - (J. Barry/E. Greenwich/P. Spector)
4. SAY NO MORE - (P, Koopman)
5. A REASON FOR FALLIN' IN LOVE - (P. Koopman)

B side:

1. SECRET LOVE - (S. Fain/P. Webster)
2. CASUALTY - (P. Bliss/R. Demick)
3. IF I COULD BE NEAR YOU - (P. Koopman)
4. I'M SO SORRY - (P. Souer)
5. MR. JONES- (W. Helmus)

The Good Times released on cassette

Credits

José: lead vocals, backing vocals

Supported by:

Caren & Alice (Maywood): backing vocals on "I Will Follow Him" and "Casualty"
Lucy Steymel: backing vocals on "The Good Times", "I Can Hear Music" and "Say No More"
Julie Forsyth: backing vocals on "Secret Love"
Pim Koopman: backing vocals on "I Can Hear Music" and "I'm So Sorry"
All instruments played by Pim Koopman for Purple Eye Productions B.V
This album was recorded at D.M.C studios, Baarn, Holland
Engineered by John Smit and John Sonneveld
"I Will Follow Him" was recorded and mixed at Soundpush studios, Blaricum
"Casualty" was recorded at Soundpush studios and mixed at D.M.C studios
Engineer at Soundpush studios: Jan Schuurman
Instruments supplied by HVK Music
Special thanks to Jan Koelewijn, Will Hoebee, Piet Souer and all at D.M.C and Soundpush studios

Photography: Govert de Roos
Make-up: Frans Sam
Produced and arranged by Pim Koopman
Ⓟ + © CNR Records - Holland

Release  

CNR/Carrere Records organized a special event to launch the "Good Times" album. During the "Nacht van CNR" (Night of CNR) on November 16th, 1982 José helped to deliver copies of her LP to record stores in Rotterdam. The next day, the album was officially released on 33 1⁄3 rpm vinyl record and cassette formats in the Netherlands and Belgium. The Good Times was never released on CD although Fonos.nl (a now defunct service) sold digitized and restored copies online. The songs on the album (except "Say No More") appeared on the CD compilation "Alle Hits & Unieke Bonustracks" (released by WVS Music in 2005). "Say No More" was included in early 2006 on the CD single of "I Will Follow Him' (2005 version). 

To know more about José's first solo releases, please visit Karin's Facebook Page about "The Good Times" era (1982-1983): https://www.facebook.com/TheGoodTimesAlbum/

Thanks Co Rnz, José, Karin Angeleyes, Martin Vink and Jos Theuns for making this article possible!!!

The Good Times (album) - video uploaded by Karin Angeleyes to YouTube

Source: Wikipedia, Discogs.com, Dutchcharts, Facebook, PimKoopman.nl