I
Fréderique Spigt

About:

28 january 1957

Fréderique was born in Rotterdam as the youngest child of a family with four other kids. As a child of two working parenst Fré was an independent girl at an early age. In her youth she already started to give performances for the neighbourhood in the basement of her house called The Diamond Show. In it she let the dog do tricks while she performed as a magician. At the age of seventeen she saw Dutch rock artists Herman Brood perform and she decided she wanted to sing as well. She joined the band of her brother but was so stubborn that they soon kicked her out again. She studied graphic design at the Rotterdam Art academy.

In 1985 she meets Peter van Gameren with whom she starts the band ‘I've Got The Bullets’, a reference to the line spoken by James Dean in ‘Rebel Without A Cause’. Although the band suffers from the problem to keep hold of band members (amongst whom jazz trumpeter Eric Vloeimans) they do succeed in releasing two albums and even score a hit with the song ‘In The Middle Of The Night’ (1986). After disbanding the band in 1988 she starts the group‘A Girl Called Johnny’. Different to the rocksound of her former band the music of AGCJ is more kleinkunst like. The album Cry For The Moon (1993) had no succes.

After a few years of silence Frédérique starts a solo career in 1996 with the theatre program ‘Frédérique Spigt Con La Piccola Orchestra’. In 1998 she enters the Dutch pre selection of the Eurovision with the song ‘Mijn Hart Kan Dat Niet Aan’ written by Huub van der Lubbe of De Dijk. Being an atypical song for the contest she stands out but doesn’t win (to her own great relieve). The song does bring her Dutch sung material into the mainstream and means the breakthrough for her solo career. Soon the first solo album ‘Engel’ is released. The follow up album ‘Beest’ is honoured with an Edison award. In 2002 she starts the project ‘Beest’ which is released as a regular album as well as a DVD for the hearing impaired. For the 2004 album Mans Genoeg, an album containing duets with other Dutch artists, a documentary is made by Sonia Herman Dolz which premières at the Dutch Film Festival in Utrecht.

On the web:

- Frédérique ´s website: http://spigt.isprima.nl

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts

Jacques Higelin (France)

Arno (Belgium)

What do we think:

DB: Fréderique is an odd one on the Dutch pop scene but highly regarded amongst fellow artists. Her raspy voice give her music a blues feel but the arrangements are very European. The mixture of blues, Kleinkunst and French chanson becomes her well. Her music and albums are very sympathetic although I don’t play them very often. Her bisexuality gives her a great lesbian following.

PR: Fréderique Spigt has a great voice and has been around on the music scene for over 20 years. Although she can rely on a very dedicated and loyal following, she did not have huge commercial success. She releases high quality albums every few years and she frequently tours the Dutch theatre circuit. You won't find another female singer in the Benelux with more blues than Fréderique. She sings Dutch, Enlish and even some French and is in every perspective a representative of Europopmusic.

Albums:

I've Got The Bullets (with I've Got The Bullets) - 1986

♪♪ - Wounded (with I've Got The Bullets) - 1988

Cry for the moon (A girl called Johnny) - 1993

Con la piccola orchestra - 1996

♪♪♪ - Engel (Angel) - 1999

♪♪♪ - Droom (Dream) - 2000

♪♪ - Beest (Beast) - 2002

Mans Genoeg (Men enough) - 2004

Een kus (A kiss) - 2006

♪♪♪ - Vreemd (Strange) - 2008

- Land - 2011

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided