Category: Music

Three ages of K3

K3 - the world\'s best pop music
Kristel Verbeke, Kathleen Aerts, Karen Damen

More with the best pop music group in the world today — K3. Here’s a good write-up on the group, written and not translated, in English. But it neglects to highlight how K3’s image was changed after they were picked up by Studio 100 in 2002.

Flemish vocal pop group K3 were brought together by producer Niels William, a former Belgian recording artist himself. Having auditioned and assembled Kathleen Aerts, Kristel Verbeke, and Karen Damen, choosing the band name K3 was the easy part.

With all three trio members having cut their teeth either in television or recording, it was not long before the ladies took to the studio. Their first single, “Wat Ik Wil” (What I Want), was well received, but did not turn the group into an overnight sensation as had been hoped. K3’s follow-up single, “Heya Mama,” fell short of the mark yet again, mocked by judges in pre-qualification for Eurosong in 1999, prior to its release. The group decided to release the track anyway, and scored a major hit. “Heya Mama” spent 30 weeks at the top of national charts, achieving gold record status.

K3’s debut album, entitled Parels (Pearls), featured the group’s previously published singles and went gold in presales alone. The band’s next record, Alle Kleuren, hit shelves in September of 2000, landing even more impressive sales than its predecessor. A merchandising frenzy ensued, including plans for a movie, TV series, clothing, and even K3 dolls. The band’s 2001 release, Tele-Romeo, and hit single by the same name reached new teen sugar pop heights, hitting double platinum in presales.

Though skeptics claimed that the market could never sustain the meteoric trajectory of the adolescent bubblegum trio, K3’s steady rise to international stardom continued with “Popstarr”, followed by “Kuma He”, which landed on Billboard’s European Top 100. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez, All Music Guide

Against the odds, K3 have gone from survivors to thrivers. Like the Eurovision judges, I’m not crazy about “Heya Mama”, but it was their big break-out hit. Let’s go back nearly ten years and see young K3 before they had their style figured out.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/OCT/K3HeyaMama1.flv 440 330]

The next video is after Studio 100 had gotten hold of them. The costumes match, but they’re still a bit young and not quite how I think of K3.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/OCT/K3HeyaMama2.flv 440 330]

Now this is K3! An amateur video from this past May.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/OCT/K3HeyaMama3.flv 440 330]

Bose Wave MP3 Test

You may recall that a while ago we had to replace our defective Bose Wave that broke after only six weeks of light use. It cost us $25 to ship it back, which bugged me, but so far the new one has been working all right. Yet I remain wary, because I’ve seen “disc error” flash a couple of times when ejecting a disc.

Until now I hadn’t tested the MP3 playback of the Wave. So I burned a data CD with five hours of high quality MP3 files. You’ll never guess what’s on it. 😉
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/OCT/BoseWaveMP3.flv 440 330]

The Petula Clark/Steve Ditko Connection

Was Petula Clark ever featured in an American comic book? Yes, but it wasn’t a very good one, and I’d be surprised if she even knew her picture had been used.

Charlton Go-Go, 1967

The comic was a short-lived title called Go-Go, and it was an attempt by bottom-rung comics publisher Charlton in 1966-1967 to do a humor comic. Charlton was where Steve Ditko, Spider-Man co-creator and artist, went after leaving Marvel Comics in 1966. Ditko had previously done work for Charlton, before joining the Mighty Marvel Bullpen.

Pet ‘n’ Chips

A release date has finally been announced for the DVD of Petula Clark’s 1969 film, Goodbye, Mr. Chips. It’s January 27, as noted on Pet Net and the Petula Blog.

I’ve posted a few clips of Chips, but it’s been — yow! — over a year since the last one. Here’s another sneak peek at the movie. You’ll see Sir Michael Redgrave, father of Vanessa and her sister, Pet’s friend Lynn.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/OCT/MrChips4.flv 448 252]

The scene with the tension created by the presence of a brash, younger woman in the midst of a boarding school, reminds me of the real-life story of C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman, as told by Brian Sibley in his book Shadowlands.

 

The missing piece vis Prudence Bury

I’ve used this photo of Prudence Bury-Fuchs before, but I’m so taken with it I’m posting it again.

Prudence Bury-Fuchs
Prudence Bury-Fuchs

On August 13, 1994, I posed a question on Usenet. “Who was girl with Patty [sic] Boyd?”

Newsgroups: rec.music.beatles
From: (Astrid)
Date: 19 Aug 1994 19:53:08 GMT
Local: Fri, Aug 19 1994 3:53 pm
Subject: Re: Who was girl with Patty Boyd?

(Douglas Pratt) writes:
>For obvious reasons, Patty Boyd has always been a part of the Beatles
>story. But I’ve always wanted to know who the brunette girl is who’s
>sitting across from her in the train in A HARD DAY’S NIGHT. She’s one of
>the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. Does anybody have any info on
>her?
>- Doug Pratt

Here was the first clue.

Astrid
Aug 19 1994, 5:02 pm
I didn’t post this earlier because I couldn’t remember where it was, but
I finally found it last night. In the Hunter Davies book, (p. 201 in my
1985 paperback version; It’s toward the beginning of Ch. 24: Britain and
Back to the U.S.A.) Pattie is quoted as saying that George “came into our
carriage later and talked to Pru and me. She was the other schoolgirl in
the film.” Well, there were really several other schoolgirls in the film,
but I would assume that she was talking about the one in that scene with her.
It’s not much, but at least it’s a name.
—
Leigh Meydrech

“Pru” was her name. Then on the 26th, there was the rest of the answer.

Newsgroups: rec.music.beatles
From: Katherine Hardy
Date: 26 Aug 1994 00:36:00 GMT
Subject: Girl with Patty Boyd

The girl with Patty Boyd in A Hard Day’s Night was Pru Hooper. Her husband
was the good looking baccarat dealer in the casino scene.

This is why, when I asked about lovely Prue back in May, I said I believed her name is Hooper. Here’s a short explanation from Terry Hooper.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/OCT/TerryHooper.flv 440 330]

“I had a wife” he says???? Excuse me??? He sounds as though he’s saying “I had a cat!” Frankly, I’m quite taken aback by his tone. No wonder Prue didn’t stay with him. But at least Hooper confirms what I was originally told.

For 14 years that was all I knew about Prudence Hooper, until Janis appeared this past August 4 with the missing piece of information — Pru’s present last name. Thank you again, Janis (Lia Pamina’s old Net handle).

Prudence has a LinkedIn listing. Who among ye is brave enough to contact her? If Prue and Pattie ever appear together in America, I’m sure they could name their price.