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PENDULUM : first Belgian countryband
Pendulum was a short-lived but successful Belgian country band from the early
seventies whose influences were The Everly Brothers, the Byrds and The Flying
Burrito’s . The band was founded in march 1970 by Serge Demol who had already
had some success with ‘Buddy & The Shamrocks’ back in '67. Their single 'What
kind of man / Paris for me' climbed to nr. 8 in the French charts. They played
folkrock-flavoured gigs all over Belgium from De Panne and Knokke to Arlon, at
the Palais des Congrès in Liège, the Casino's of Namur, Chimay and Saint-Malo (
Duinkerke, Nord Pas-de-Calais, France), and in Brussels 'à l'anglaise' for The
Kinks on their first European concert.
Pendulum's first single, 'It's a beautiful day' is said to have been “one of the
best all-time Belgian singles” (quote in “ Witlof from Belgium”, published in
1990, by two renowned music journalists, Gust De Coster and Geert De Bruycker).
The follow-up, 'Cajun Music', didn't come up to expectations and the band split
after a short Belgian tour with Fairport Convention. But the b-side "Early
morning rain" ( written by Gordon Lightfoot) was very successful on stage for
it's special arrangement. Pendulum was called " the Byrds of Flanders" for their
vocal qualities.
Band members Erik Van Neygen (guitars) and Misj Verbelen (bass) went on to play
with Raymond van het Groenewoud while Firmin Michiels (leadguitar) joined Kris
De Bruyne's band before following a career in the music business, is now
label-manager at Virgin Records. Songwriter and singer Serge Demol reformed
Pendulum in 1973, with Jelle Nachtergaele ( guitars and vocals), the British
bassist John Colston (ex- The Casuals / “Jesamine” ), Jan Schoevaerts drums,
Alain Cornet on bass, and Yvonne Smithies, vocals and tambourine. The only
Pendulum 2 single release, 'A song for you' (EMI), never made it into the charts.
Meanwhile Arthur Huysveld released the Decca single "Country trip" with a
studioband called Steel Machine, with original Pendulum member Michel Verbelen
on bass, Stoy Stoffelen on drums and Simon Shrimpton-Smith on guitars.
In 1975 Serge and Jelle formed “Transit” and with Michel De Smet on fiddle and
mandolin, Karel Foubert, guitars and vocals, and Alain Cornet on bass. They
released the nice folky single and radiohit "Come on sunshine", produced for
Phonogram by Paul Moens. In 1977 they recorded the country-rock album, 'First
Ride' for Universal Songs, with some success. Humo’s popjournalist Marc Didden
called the LP “The album Pendulum should have but never made”. In februari 1982
Pendulum played a very successful “dernière” concert at the well-known Brussels
Ancienne Belgique, organized bij the Dutch leading magazine “Country Gazette” .
The original 5-piece band came back together on May 1st 2011 for “ Erik 60 jaar”
, a unique concert at the superbvenue “Roma” in Antwerp, with Johan Verminnen
and Van het Groenewoud as guests. The gig broadcasted by Belgian VRT- Eén
television and on Ring TV.
The Pendulum Reunion Band, including members of the different Pendulum
formula’s, plays concerts every spring since may 2008. They had their grand
moment last January 8th 2016 in Machelen-Diegem where Brussels’ RingTV recorded
their “concert for Fairtrade” (gm)
Original Pendulum members:
- Firmin Michiels : banjo, country guitar
- Tuur Huysveld : pedal steel guitar
- Misj Verbelen (electric bass)
- Louis Van Oost (double bass)
- Serge Demol : lead-vocals, keyboards, harmonica
- Erik Van Neygen : vocals, fingerpicking-guitar
- Ton Derricks & Mike Desmedt : drums
- Anthony Aussems : acc.guitar, vocals
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Releases:
(only 45 rpm vinyl singles):
- It's a beautiful day / For you (Philips, 1971)
- Early morning rain / Cajun Music (CBS, 1972)
- A song for you/
Here we go again ( EMI 1974)
- Come on sunshine/ If I need you (Philips 1975)
- First Ride LP, album out in 1977, produced by formal member Firmin Michiels
- Release of EP-cd for the “60ieth Anniversary of Erik Van Neygen , May 1, 2011 :
- It's a Beautiful Day Sergius 2,28
- For You Erik Van Neygen 3,42
- Early Morning Rain Gordon Lightfoot 3,02
- Cajun Music Firmin Michiels - Sergius 2,14
- Country Trip Arthur Huysveld 2,17
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Pendulum biography by Simon Shrimpton-Smith
Pendulum
… was a short-lived but successful Belgian country band from the early seventies
whose influences were The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. The band was
founded by Serge Demol who had already had some local success with Buddy &the
Shamrocks. Their single ’What kind of man / Paris for me’ reached n° 8 in the
French charts and they supported The Kinks on their first European tour that
kicked-off in Brussels back in March 1966.
Pendulum's first single, ’It's a beautiful day’ (released in 1971) is
said to have been ‘one of the best all-time Belgian singles’ (quoted from the
music encyclopaediaWitlof from Belgium, published in 1990, by two renowned music
journalists, Gust De Coster and Geert De Bruycker). “It’s a beautiful day” was
released in Spain, the Netherlands and Japan, and received massive airplay and
hit the charts in the summer of 1971. The band went onto tour twice extensively
throughout Flanders.
Pendulum at that time comprised Serge Demol, leadvocals & piano, Erik Van Neygen,
guitar and vocals, Firmin Michiels ( guitar and banjo),Tuur Huysveltd (pedal
steel), Mapaule Deman (vocals and tinwhistle). Louis Van Oost (double bass) was
replaced by Michel Verbelen in july 1970. Drummer Mike Desmedt augmented the
band in 1971 and Anthony Aussems (guitar, vocals) joined in august 1972. They
recorded “Come to my house”, which was meant to be the follow-up of ‘Beautiful
day’ at the famous Kluger-studios ‘Madeleine’ in Brussels. The version on this
album is a remix made in august 2020.
The follow-up single“Cajun Music”/ “Early morning rain”, a Gordon Lightfoot
cover, didn't meet expectations and the band split after a Belgian tour with
Fairport Convention. Erik Van Neygen and MisjVerbelen went on to play with
Raymond van het Groenewoud while Firmin Michiels joined Kris De Bruyne's band
before following a successful career in the music business. Serge Demol reformed
Pendulum in 1973 with singer-songwriter Jelle Nachtergaele and Anthony Aussems
on guitars. The English bassist John Colston (ex-The Casuals)and his girlfriend
& vocalist Yvonne Smithies, along with Jan Schoevaerts on drums and in early
1974 the brothers Alain (bass) and Pic Cornet (electric guitars) completed the
new band. Their only single release, ‘A song for you’, with Koen De Bruyne on
piano, didn’t chart. In the meantime, former Pendulum pedal steel player Arthur
Huysveld released a single under the name Steel Machine, with Michel Verbelen on
bass, Stoy Stoffelen on drums and Simon Shrimpton-Smith on guitars.
In 1975 Serge (leadvocals & harmonica) and Jelle (guitars & vocals) made a new
start as Transit with Karel Foubert (guitar) Michel De Smet (fiddle) and Alain
Cornet on bass. They recorded the single ‘Come on sunshine/ If I need you’ in
the autumn with Firmin Timmermans on drums. It was followed by a successful
concerttour through Flanders and a n°3 in the ‘Moustique’ single charts. They
went on to release ’First Ride’ in 1977, produced by Firmin Michiels,
original Pendulum mate. An album which had excellent press reviews and was
followed with a Belgian tour. The band split in 1979 and Jelle joined the Triple
S Band with English guitarist-singer Simon Shrimpton-Smith, Luk Lantin on bass
and Marcel Schraepen, guitars and vocals.
In February 1982 Pendulum played a successful farewell concert in the Brussels’
topvenue Ancienne Belgique, organised by the leading Dutch music magazine
“Country Gazette”. In august Simon Shrimpton-Smith and Marcel Schraepen went on
to form White line fever, a highly successful pub rock/country band. Meanwhile
the Transit members reunited in 1987 for several occasions to play gigs in the
Brussels area.
In 1989 Erik Van Neygen, who had a successful solo career,teamed up with
singer SanneDenotté and scored a Belgian n°1with “Veel te Mooi”. They
pursued a successful career and are still performing today. In 1996 the original
Pendulum members reunited at the Tommenmolen in Grimbergen to commemorate the 25
years release of ‘It’s a beautiful day” that had now become an evergreen. A few
years’ later, sadly drummer Mike Desmedt and bassist John Colston passed away.
On turning 60, Erik Van Neygen (Pendulum 1) invited his former Pendulummates
along with Flemish top artists Johan Verminnen and Raymond van het Groenewoud
for a memorable concert in the well-known venue “Roma” in Antwerp for a
sold-out audience.
In 2008 seven former members of Pendulum, Transit and White Line Fevergot
together and formed The Pendulum Reunion band, with strong vocal harmonies and
instrumentation along with a respectful nod to The Byrds, The Eagles and CSN&Y,
among others, Michel Verbelen on bass. Marc Loos replaced Alain Cornet from 2011
to 2018. The highlights for the band have been several appearances for the
British ex-pats in Brussels at The GC De Kam in Wezembeek-Oppem, the Royal Yacht
Club, and annual concerts in Kasterlee and Toogenblik in Haren, Brussels. The
high point was in 2016 : their sold-out show for Fairtrade In Machelen-Diegem,
which was filmed and broadcast by RingTV Belgium. Luk Lantin is the actual
bassplayer. In fact Simon Shrimpton-Smith takes the vocals on “Galway Girl” and
Marcel Schraepen on”This Restless Heart of Mine”, written by the late Jelle
Nachtergaele, to conclude this album.
In 2018 they had their “10th anniversary concert’ in de GC De Linde in Haren,
Brussels, with support act Martin Clan & Friends, a Belgian/American band that
plays folk-style covers and self compo-sed gospel songs.
The Pendulum Reunion band, coupled with the release of a vinyl LP, will
be get-ting together again to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pendulum and
‘It’s a beautiful day’. The album will include the hit “It’s a beautiful day”
along with the best songs they’ve played throughout the intervening yearsand
which are still firm favourites on stage today.
This album is dedicated to the memory of Alain
Cornet who passed away in October 2020, our bass player from 1974 – 1979 and
from 2008 – 2011. He also made the album’s lay-out.
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