Herman Brood

The recorded working language is Dutch. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are rock and roll. Places of work recorded in the authority are Arnhem, Groningen and Amsterdam. Work by Herman Brood is recorded in the collections of ASR art collection, Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Stichting Kunst in de Publieke Ruimte in Arnhem and Het Scheepvaartmuseum. Distinctions recorded are Golden Harp, Silver Harp and Popprijs.

• Name — Herman Brood • Birth Name — Hermanus Brood • Alias — Rock 'n' roll junkie • Born — 5 November 1946 • Birthplace — Zwolle, Netherlands • Died — 11 July 2001 • Place of death — Amsterdam, Netherlands • Genre — Rock • Occupation — Musician, painter, actor, poet • Instrument — Vocals, guitar, piano • Years Active — 1964–2001 • Label — RCA Records • Website — Official site

Herman Brood was born in Zwolle, and started playing the piano at age 12. He founded beat band The Moans in 1964, which would later become Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers. Brood was asked to play with Cuby and the Blizzards, but was removed by management when the record company discovered he used drugs. For a number of years Brood was in jail (for dealing LSD), or abroad, and had a number of short-term engagements (with The Studs, the Flash & Dance Band, Vitesse). In 1976, Brood started his own group, Herman Brood & His Wild Romance (and started working with photographer Anton Corbijn), initially with Ferdi Karmelk (guitar), Gerrit Veen (bass), Peter Walrecht (drums), and Ellen Piebes and Ria Ruiters (vocals). They played the club and bar circuit, first in Groningen (the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands). In 1977 the band released their first album, Street. • Illustration — Murals by Brood on a parking garage in Leidschendam • Illustration — Brood in 2000 • Illustration — Brood's grave at Zorgvlied They are still best known for their second album, Shpritsz—a play on the German word Spritze for syringe—from 1978. This album contained Brood anthems like "Dope Sucks," "Rock & Roll Junkie," and their first Dutch hit single, "Saturday Night." The band went through many personnel changes over the years; the best-known formation was Freddy Cavalli (bass), Dany Lademacher (guitar) (later replaced with David Hollestelle), and Cees 'Ani' Meerman (drums). A frequent contributor was Bertus Borgers (saxophone). Brood's outspoken statements in the press about sex and drug use brought him into the Dutch public arena even more than his music. He was romantically involved with the German singer Nina Hagen, with whom he appeared in the 1979 film Cha-Cha. He is reputed to be the subject of her song "Herrmann Hiess Er" (English title "Herrmann Was His Name") from the 1979 Unbehagen album, a song about a drug addict. Brood relished the media attention and became the most famous hard drug user in the Netherlands. "It is quite common for an artist to use drugs, but not for him to tell everybody. I admit that it scared me that my popularity could make people start using drugs," he once said in an interview. In the summer of 1979, Brood tried to enter the American market, with support from Ariola's US division, which was attempting to expand into rock music. Following on the success of Shpritsz, the band was booked as a support act for The Kinks and The Cars, playing in auditoriums; "Herman Brood and His Wild Romance Tour Cha Cha '79" headlined in New York's (Bottom Line) and Los Angeles' (Roxy). A re-recorded version of "Saturday Night" peaked at number 35 in the Billboard Hot 100, but the big break Brood hoped for didn't happen. When he returned to the Netherlands in October 1979, his band had begun to fall apart, and soon his popularity went downhill. Go Nutz, the album Brood had recorded while in the States, and the movie Cha-Cha, which finally premiered in December 1979, were considered artistic failures, even though Go Nutz produced three charting singles in the Netherlands and the Cha Cha soundtrack attained platinum status. The 1980 album Wait a Minute... was a minor success, but the follow-up albums Modern Times Revive (1981) and Frisz & Sympatisz (1982) failed to make the Dutch album charts. Brood continued to record throughout the 1980s and had a few hits—a top-10 single, "Als Je Wint" with Henny Vrienten, and a minor hit with a reggae song, "Tattoo Song," but he spent more and more time on his art work. At the end of the '80s he made a comeback of sorts; Yada Yada (1988), produced by George Kooymans, was well-received, and he toured Germany with a renewed Wild Romance (which saw the return of Dany Lademacher). In 1990, he won the BV Popprijs, one of the highest Dutch awards for popular music, and recorded Freeze with Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band and Tejano accordion player Flaco Jiménez. A live "best of" album, Saturday Night Live, appeared in 1992. His 50th birthday, in 1996, was celebrated with a show at the Paradiso music and cultural center in Amsterdam, and the album (of duets) was released the same year.

After his career in music, Brood turned to painting and became a well-known character in Amsterdam art circles. His art is best described as pop-art, often very colorful and graffiti-inspired screen prints, and he achieved some commercial success and notoriety by, for instance, creating murals in various public spaces in and around Amsterdam. He continued to remain in the public eye, by appearing in the media and by his cooperation with biographical films such as 1994's Rock'n Roll Junkie.

• Cha-Cha (1979) • Stadtrand (1987, German movie) • Zusje (1995) - Bovenbuurman / Upstairs neighbor • Total Love (2000, Israeli movie) - M.J • Rock 'N Roll Junkie (1994, documentary) • Live And More (2003, Concerts from Philipshalle, Düsseldorf 1978 & Musik Hall, Koln 1990 (3DVDBox)) • Wild Romance (2006, scenes from Herman Brood's life) • Herman Brood Uncut (2006, documentary) • Kunst begin drrr niet an (2015, 80 min. documentary by Gwen Jansen, DVD, 90% of all screenprints and paintings are made by Herman in the IQ studio between the late 80s until his passing in 2001. Compiled from over 70 hours of footage, produced by Ivo de Lange for iq.nl) • Unknown Brood (2016, documentary directed by Dennis Alink)

Herman Brood is recorded as having received Golden Harp, Silver Harp and Popprijs.