Bonnie & José's Herinnering (2020 edition): officially out today and media coverage!!!

Today is the day! The 2020 edition of Herinnering, the 1985 iconic album by Bonnie St. Claire and José Hoebee (including ABBA songs performed in Dutch) is officially out today!! Click here for details about the tracklist of the CD and DVD. 

Many thanks to Franklin van Liempt, the initiator of a successful crowdfunding campaign which made this reissue possible via the voordekunst.nl site as well as all the fans who took part in this project. Among the Facebook pages that also supported this initiative: Herinnering - Bonnie & José, José Hoebee Fan Page, Official Luv', José Hoebee Mijn Idool and Fan site Bonnie St. Claire

Franklin van Liempt would like to thank:

* Marc Bijlsma for remastering the original master tapes.

* Marinus de Graaf for the design (cover, booklet, DVD menu and the crowdfunding video).

* Stany Van Wymeersch for writing the booklet. Previously he published the books "Let's Talk About ABBA" and "We ALL Love ABBA".

* Casper Janssen for supporting this project thanks to his long experience in the music industry.

* Karin Wolters who launched a Facebook page (Herinnering - Bonnie & José) to promote this initiative.

* Govert de Roos who photographed Bonnie & José for this album.

To buy a copy, please visit http://www.cd-licious.com/releases/ 

You can even buy it on the website of ABBA Fan Club Shop: https://bit.ly/3fgpfdH

The majority of the people who took part in the crowdfunding campaign (mostly Dutch) already received the new edition of Herinnering at home. 

This masterpiece is also listed on the Discogs database: https://bit.ly/2UGzZsq

Back cover of the CD/DVD

Herinnering was also mentioned in the media.

I) Press

* AD/ED/BN de Stem

Photo by Govert de Roos

Journalist Frank van den Muijsenberg wrote an article which appeared in Dutch newspapers:

Eindhovens Dagblad: https://bit.ly/3flzNIr - posted on November 18th, 2020

Algemeen Dagblad: https://bit.ly/3lSloWA - posted on November 20th, 2020

BN DeStem: https://bit.ly/3kOOW6r - posted on November 20th, 2020

Translation of an excerpt from the article in English:

José Hoebee told Van den Muijsenberg how her collaboration with Bonnie St. Claire started during her winter sports holidays in Austria. She explained: "We were in a pleasant guest house. Suddenly we sang ABBA's song "The Way Old Friends Do". It was a nice moment and nothing more. Initially, our intention was not to record it. But then my husband (record producer Will Hoebee) said: "Your voices are a perfect match. Maybe we should consider recording an album with ABBA songs".

"ABBA were so good. At that time nobody wanted to cover their songs. But we dared to do it," José added.

Will Hoebee only produced material known for its artistic excellence. José asserted: "When he received a song that he didn't like, he refused to record it. He wanted something classy. That's what you can listen on this album. It's a record with beautiful arrangements and good lyrics. It's not just an "I-Love-You-and-I-Will-Be-Yours-Forever" kind of LP. What's so funny is that I sang the parts originally performed by the blonde Agnetha Fältskog. Bonnie sang the parts performed by the dark-haired Frida Lyngstad. In terms of hair colour, it should have been the opposite. Frida is my favourite ABBA singer due to her warm voice even if Agnetha is also fantastic."

The Eindhoven-based conductor and music arranger Harry van Hoof was in charge of the arrangement on this album and assisted by the best Dutch session musicians. The lyrics in Dutch were written by pop icons Hans Vermeulen en Edward Reekers, who also recorded background vocals. Alexander Curly and  Benny Neyman also contributed to this ambitious project. Neyman even wrote the lyrics of the Dutch version of Cassandra dealing with the Argentinian "Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo" (see article posted on May 2nd, 2017). 

The team which supervised this album chose consciously to cover lesser-known ABBA songs, except the hit song "Chiquitita". "The track entitled "Is ‘t zo bedoeld’ (‘I Let The Music Speak’)" is almost a classic. It is not well known by the general public but it is so beautiful," José told. 

Three tracks taken from the LP reached the singles charts: "Cassandra", "Zoals Vrienden Doen" and "Waarom". The album is reissued for the first time on CD thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign. It is a Deluxe edition featuring bonus tracks and a DVD (including a TV special for the NCRV taped in Sweden). Even Björn Ulvaeus appeared on the special. "The director asked Björn if he wanted to react on the album. He said: "First I wanted to listen to the music. Otherwise, I don't want to comment". He was positive about it. It was such a great compliment to us," José explained. 

Bonnie St. Claire was also interviewed by Frank van den Muijsenberg. "These songs and the recordings are unforgettable. It was such a big party. The collaboration with José was so nice. Our voices matched so well," Bonnie said.  When asked if such top production would be possible in 2020 in the Netherlands, St. Claire answered with a big "No". "Nowadays rappers dominate the music business and there are fewer possibilities to record songs with such a musical potential. That's why this CD is so unique," she declared.

* ABBA Intermezzo (International ABBA Fan Club)

ABBA Intermezzo magazine (Autumn 2020 - 30th anniversary issue) mentions Herinnering (2020 edition):

II) Radio 

NPO Radio 5/NPO Sterren NL posted an article about the long-awaited reissue. Click here to read it.

Moreover, a special radio show to celebrate Herinnering 2020 will be broadcast as part of the Maandag Middag Matinee program on Omroep Helmond on November 23rd between 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm. Anton van Stekelenborg-Poirters will interview Franklin van Liempt about his ambitious project.

Source: CD-Licious, Facebook, ED, AD, BN de Stem, ABBA Intermezzo, NPO Radio 5...