Peter Blanker

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Peter Blanker (born 11 June 1939 in Delfshaven) is a Dutch singer and Artist. Blanker sings and writes in the Levenslied genre, a somewhat sentimental popular genre, and teaches the writing of such songs. Many of his songs dealt with his birthplace (Delfshaven) and his later domicile (Rotterdam). He scored a minor hit in 1981 with a translation of a Mac Davis song, and for eleven years had a radio show dedicated to the Levenslied.

Biography[]

Blanker began a career as a singer in 1961, after working as a sailor, grape picker, and journalist.[1] He was inspired by the French chansonnier Georges Brassens and his Dutch counterpart Jules de Corte.[2]

In the 1960s Blanker worked in Cabaret, and from 1975 to 1978 acted and sang in the children's television show , which aired on AVRO television, working with , , and , under the musical direction of Tonny Eyk.[citation needed] Another television show he performed in was 't Oproer kraait, in which he sang the Boris Vian song "Le Déserteur", a song about a conscientious objector; censorship by the record company is blamed for the song not being included in a compilation of the show.[3]

Many of his own songs celebrated Delfshaven and Rotterdam. He scored an unexpected hit in 1981 with the song "'t Is moeilijk bescheiden te blijven", a translation of Mac Davis's "It's Hard to Be Humble",[4] and became so tired of it that he refused to sing it, or any other cover.[2] In 1987 he released the single "Alles heeft een einde (maar een worst wel twee)", a Peter Koelewijn translation of the German song "Alles hat ein Ende nur die Wurst hat zwei" ("Everything has an end, but a sausage has two") by Stephan Remmler.[5]

He wrote and produced a number of songs for Kinderen voor Kinderen,[citation needed] and for eleven years did a radio show on the Levenslied for the KRO, Levenslief en levensleed. He also taught songwriting in the genre, teaching his students to be wary of cliches and to work toward a generalizing moral in (typically) the third stanza.[2] In the early 1990s he directed a writer's collective which ended up producing a musical, . In 2003 his fortieth anniversary in show business was celebrated with a national tour,[citation needed] and in that same year he retired from performing; he moved to the Shetland Islands, where he led a sea shanty choir.[4]

Award[]

  • The city of Rotterdam awarded Blanker in 2003 with the .

References[]

  1. ^ Popinstituut.nl: Peter Blanker
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Rosenberg, Esther (21 December 2000). "Poëzie, maar dan op muziek". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  3. ^ Delrue, Dries. "Boris Vian, Le déserteur". New Folk Sounds (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Vonk, Roland (4 April 2014). "Vondst van Vonk: Peter Blanker" (in Dutch). RTV Rijnmond. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  5. ^ "Alles heeft een einde" (in Dutch). Peterkoelewijn.nl. Retrieved 26 October 2014.

External links[]

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