Dutch Vinyl: popculture in the Netherlands

In the 1960s and 70s, just like in other countries, Dutch society was characterized by a large group of “baby boomers” who established their own culture and were strongly influenced by English and American pop culture.
Pirate radio stations like Radio Veronica and Radio Noordzee not only promoted English and American music but were also important for the development of Nederbeat, the Dutch variant of pop music in the 1960s.
Most famous are Shocking Blue and the Golden Earring who in the seventies had great hits all around the world with “Venus” and “Radar Love”.
Other well known groups are Focus, Cuby + Blizzards, Brainbox and Ekseption.
Very important for Dutch pop culture was television with the famous program Toppop. For American and British artists the Netherlands often were a stepping stone to a career in the rest of Europe, and sometimes even in their own country or continent.
In the summer of 1974 the famous  pirate radio stations “Veronica” and “Noordzee” were shut down by the government thus depriving Dutch youth of their “very own” radiostations.
Youth culture did flourish however in the live circuit. The Netherlands had lots bigger and smaller venues like Paradiso in Amsterdam, Paard van Troje in den Haag, or Doornroosje in Nijmegen.
Artists like Herman Brood and his wild Romance toured all over the country and also played at famous festivals like Pinkpop and Parkpop.
Of course there has always been pop music in the Dutch language. Dutch singing artists were influenced by the French chanson and folk, rock, and blues. Very popular was the band “Doe Maar” playing reggae at the end of the seventies and early eighties.
With the arrival of the CD in the 80s second hand records soon could be bought very cheap at second hand markets. Now that vinyl is popular again also in the Netherlands we have many second hand record shops.