If you go through the conveniently categorized K3 posts, it’s obvious there are two different acts — one primarily for kids, and another for their parents. Here’s an example of the latter. According to Google, “Een Rustige Ouwe Dag” translates into “A Quiet Old Day.” A while ago I linked to another take of this video on YouTube, but the audio cuts out in places. This copy is OK. Does it sound to you as though they’re singing “Tom Hanks”?
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/OCT/K3EenRustigeOudeDag.flv 440 330]
This is how the studio version sounds. Very nice.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/OCT/K3EenRustigeOudeDag.mp3]I’ve always been fascinated by what works and doesn’t work in popular music, but somewhere along the way, after getting out of the radio business, I stopped keeping up with much of anything new. A few bands caught my attention, including REM and Green Day (Eric can’t stand Green Day!), but for the most part I continued to enjoy the old stuff. Carol got me listening to Steve Earle and Lucina Williams, along with a local singer-songwriter here in Massachusetts named Lori McKenna, who’s had some national success.
Not that I feel the need to justify my appreciation of K3, but as a popular music act, I think they have it. The fact that I don’t understand Flemish is inconsequential.
Catchy songs and production values, with cute costumes and dances, aren’t enough. Thirty seconds of Wir3 performing a K3 song is proof of that. Karen Damen, Kathleen Aerts and Kristel Verbeke are why K3 has been successful for ten years, and seem to be more popular than ever.