Clouseau – Belgian band
"They really appeal to the teens with simple songs, but also lyrics in the form of 'She comes, she goes or she is'. No fuss about apartheid or nuclear missiles. Clean, cute, sometimes rocking, sometimes slowing, always charming melodies with innocent and easily recognizable love and dance stories."
Clouseau manager Hans Kusters
Belgian boy band Clouseau, not to be confused with the inspector, started off as a bunch of friends in 1984. Three years later they got public attention for the first time as they played at the Marktrock festival in Leuven and got a record deal for their first single Brandweer (Fire squad).
Band members (original line-up) :
In 1989 they participated in the pre-selection to determine the Belgian delegate to the Eurovision Song Festival. Clouseau finishes second, behind Ingeborg. The breakthrough comes immediately with the single Anne and their debut album Hoezo? (How so?). Clouseau is the type of band where screaming teenagers are all over the place, especially because of the looks of lead singer Koen Wauters. Smashed record sales in Belgium are the result. The Netherlands follow, where Daar Gaat Ze (There she goes) becomes a No. 1 hit. Their second album titled Of zo (Or so) also proves to be very successful.
In 1991 they do succeed in participating for Belgium in the Eurovision song contest. The result is a disappointing low ranking with the appropriate song Geef het op (Give it up). They record a CD in English called Close Encounters, mainly adaptations of their own Dutch songs. It's hardly a success, but Clouseau keep the faith and issue another English album called In every small town. It flops completely.
Lead singer Koen Wauters then starts a television career and races Paris-Dakar. He reorganises the band and refocuses on the Dutch market with Oker (Ochre) in 1995. The reorganisation is completed at the next album, Adrenaline,when only the two Wauters brothers remain. After chasing a female stalker out of his bathroom, he marries MTV veejay Carolijn Lillipally in 1999.
Clouseau discography:
- Hoezo (1989)
- Of Zo (1990)
- Clouseau Live (1991)
- Close Encounters (1991)
- Doorgaan (tot je niet meer op je benen kan staan) (1992)
- In Every Small Town (1993)
- Oker (1995)
- Adrenaline (1996)
- Clouseau 1987-1997 (1997)
- In Stereo (1999)