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Maggie MacNeal was born on May 5 1950 in Tilburg as Sjoukje Lucie van 't Spijker. Sjoukje grew up in a family with two brothers and was still very young when she started training in classical music. In 1971 she recorded her first single 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ under the name Maggie MacNeal, with producer Hans van Hemert. She also appeared on the television program 'Eddy Ready Go'.
The single was not a hit, but later that year she teamed up with singer Willem Duyn, marking the start of the duo Mouth & MacNeal. In Holland they had 9 hits, 2 of which reached Number 1: 'How Do You Do' and 'Hello-A'. They enjoyed success all over Europe and even in America where 'How Do You Do' reached Number 8 position in the charts. Mouth & MacNeal represented Holland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, coming third with 'I See A Star'. The song subsequently became a big hit in Europe and also reached the Number 8 position in England. After many silver, gold and platinum records, and various International Awards, the duo broke up at the end of 1974.
Following the split, in 1975 Sjoukje formed her own group, including with husband and drummer Frans Smit. The first single, 'Nothing Else To Do', became a hit in Holland and was released in many countries including Japan. The next single, 'When You're Gone', reached Number 3 in the Dutch charts and her debut LP 'Maggie MacNeal went Gold.
In 1976, the single 'Terug Naar de Kust' ('Back To the Coast') also reached the Dutch Top 10 and in 1977 Maggie entered the National Song Contest where she came third with the song, 'Jij Alleen' ('Only You'). In the meantime, 'When You're Gone' reached the Number 1 position in Brazil leading to Sjoukje and Frans touring that country. They returned to Holland with a Gold Record. At the end of that year the LP 'Fools Together' was released and in Italy the song 'Winter in Berlin' was recorded for the soundtrack of the movie, 'The Great Battle', starring Henry Fonda.
At the beginning of 1978 the song 'The One and Only' was recorded in Los Angeles for the soundtrack of the movie with the same name starring Henry Winkler. In America, this single reached Number 101 in the Billboard Top 100. Back in Holland, Maggie received the 'Gouden Notenkraker' (Golden Nutcracker) award and for the LP 'Fools Together' she received an Edison award.
In 1979, Maggie traveled again to Los Angeles, this time to record the LP 'Night-time' with producer Michael Lloyd. In 1980 she represented Holland in the Eurovision Song Contest where she came fifth with the song 'Amsterdam' and in 1983 sang the title track for the Dutch movie 'Moord in Extase' ('Murder in Ecstasy'). A year later she gave birth to a daughter, Sanne.
After a few quiet years, together with husband Frans, Sjoukje wrote 'Heel Verliefd' ('Quite in Love') for Dutch singer Gerard Joling, which he performed at the National Song Contest. In 1988, she recorded an LP in the Dutch language called 'Leuk Voor Later' ('Nice for Later').
Sjoukje proved that her talents extended beyond singing when she presented the TROS television program 'Winnen of Wegwezen' ('Win or Go') in 1992 and later 42 episodes of the 'Karaoke Show'. After several further years, she released the single 'Only You' in 1997, and in 1999 recorded the song 'Old Friend' with Katrina Leskanich (winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1997).
In May 2000, Maggie joined with ex-Babe singer Marga Bult and Sandra Reemer to form the Dutch Divas. Since februari 2006 the Dutch Divas is a duo: Marga Bult and Maggie MacNeal.
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