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Andy Tielman (May 30, 1936 – November 10, 2011) was an influential Indo (Eurasian) artist. Nicknamed the "Godfather of Indorock", he was the iconic frontman of the music style called Indorock and is considered one of the most important figures in Dutch Pop music.
He was known for his wide vocal range (5 octaves) and virtuoso guitar playing as well as his spectacular showmanship. Many Dutch musicians such as Jan Akkerman (Focus) and Barry Hay (Golden Earring) have cited him as an important inspiration.
He has been acknowledged as having made the first Dutch Rock and Roll single in 1958 and leading the first Dutch rock band with international appeal. He was the band leader of the Timor Brothers, the Four T's, the Tielman Brothers and Andy Tielman and the Tielman Brothers. His career spans from the 1950s to the present day.
During Andy Tielman's heyday in the 1950s and 1960s his band was hailed as the best live act in Europe, cashing in the highest wages for live bands of the time.
In 2005 he was awarded a Royal decoration in the Order of Orange Nassau. He died in Rijswijk, Netherlands.
ndy Tielman was born in Makassar on the island of Celebes in the Dutch East Indies. His father, a KNIL captain, was Herman Tielman (born 02-09-1904, Menado and died 14-05-1979, The Hague) and his mother was Flora Laurentine Hess (born 24-04-1901, Madiun and died: 27-07-1991, Purworejo), both were Indo-European. They had 5 children: Reggy (born 22-05-1933, Surabaya); Phonton (born 04-08-1934, Surabaya); Andy (born 30-05-1936, Makassar); Loulou (Lawrence) (born 30-10-1938, Surabaya); and Jane (Janette Loraine) (born 17-08-1940). Tielman had a carefree childhood until the Japanese invasion, when his father was imprisoned and his mother was left behind to take care of 5 little children. "When war came the world was broken. My whole world just fell apart."
His father, a professional soldier, survived Japanese imprisonment as a POW during World War II. When the family was reunited after the war in 1945 the young Andy, his brothers and sister already started performing complex Jazz standards at private functions. Herman Tielman, a gifted musician, had taught Andy Tielman and his siblings to play music. Within half a year they were performing throughout the Dutch East Indies. Their repertoire included novel American and traditional Indonesian music.
When Indonesia gained formal independence from the Netherlands in 1949 they had already become a household name and even performed for president Sukarno at the presidential palace in Jakarta. In 1951 they were introduced to the song ‘Guitar Boogie’ by Arthur Smith. In an interview Andy Tielman recalls: ”This was the first song which my brothers and I converted into rock ‘n roll by adding drums to it.” The band started playing rock and roll music by Les Paul, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Bill Haley, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Gene Vincent. Next to the family band Andy Tielman also played with the Dolf de Vries band ‘The Starlights’ in Jakarta and Freddy Wehner’s Hawaiian band in Sumatra.
In the late 1950s anti-Dutch rules and regulations increased leading up to an escalation of the Dutch New Guinea conflict and possible recurrence of the Bersiap violence. Dutch businesses and other properties were appropriated, Dutch social services were stopped, Dutch schools were banned and the last Dutch nationals were expelled. Anti-Dutch sentiments also affected Indo celebrities like the Tielman brothers and when they were pressured into forgoing their Dutch nationality the family repatriated to the Netherlands.
In 1957 the Tielman family first moved to a boarding house in Breda, and later to The Hague in the Netherlands. The initial years in the Netherlands were hard. Tielman called their first boarding house "really sad" and said music was the only thing that kept them going. When he and his brothers first went into a music shop to replace his busted guitar, the owner forbid him to touch anything, until Tielman actually played a guitar and the owners family came down to the shop to listen. The brothers played some rocking Elvis tunes, after which Tielman got his guitar at a discount and with only a small downpayment.
After getting geared up Tielman and his brothers started playing gigs in a hotel for only 2,50 guilders a week. Slowly their raw and spectacular Rock and Roll performances were getting a hardcore fanbase among the rebelious youth, along with the associated bad press. While Dutch youngsters and musicians were in awe, conservative Dutch establishment shot them down. On national radio and television influential opinion makers like Mies Bouwman and Willem Duys criticised and dismissed the brothers music.
After a dazzling show at the World Exhibition in Brussels, Belgium, in 1958, his band, the Tielman Brothers, was signed by a Belgian company to record the first Dutch rock 'n' roll single named: ‘Rock Little Baby Of Mine’. The bands flamboyant showmanship, acrobatic stage antics and rowdy sound were unseen and unheard of in the Netherlands and the band soon moved their show abroad. Andy Tielman recalls: "In the Netherlands we did not feel accepted. It seemed like Rock and Roll was forbidden here. On television we were totally torn apart publicly . They called us music rapists."
In Germany the band enjoyed huge popularity and even recorded songs in the German language. Particularly in Hamburg, with its big live music scene and large number of American GI’s, Indorock bands played many live venues in the famous Reeperbahn area. Andy Tielman made an impression on both the German and British musicians playing there. In a later interview with Rolling Stone magazine George Harrison (The Beatles) reflects on his Hamburg period, enthousiastically referring to “Andy, the Indo man”. Andy Tielman and his band enjoy a successful musical career throughout Europe until the emergence of British Beat music headed by The Beatles.
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