The Ro-d-ys
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1966-67) - Berend Groen (RIP 2003) -- drums, percussion, guitar - Joop Hulzebos (RIP 1996) -- keyboards - Wigger Kenter (RIP 2025) -- bass, trumpet and vibraphone - Harry Rijnbergen -- vocals, guitar
line up 2 (1967) NEW - Dick Beekman -- drums, percussion (replaced Berend Groen) - Joop Hulzebos (RIP 1996) -- keyboards - Wigger Kenter (RIP 2025) -- bass, trumpet and vibraphone - Harry Rijnbergen -- vocals, guitar
line up 3 (1967-69) - Joop Hulzebos (RIP 1996) -- keyboards - Wigger Kenter (RIP 2025) -- bass, trumpet and vibraphone - Harry Rijnbergen -- vocals, guitar NEW - Wim van Meegen -- drums, percussion (replaced Dick Beekman)
line up 4 (1969) NEW - Annet Hesterman -- vocals - Joop Hulzebos (RIP 1996) -- keyboards - Wigger Kenter (RIP 2025) -- bass, trumpet and vibraphone - Harry Rijnbergen -- vocals, guitar - Wim van Meegen -- drums, percussion
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- Big Rock Revival (Dick Beekman) - Cuby and the Blizzards (Dick Beekman) - Harley Jay (Harry Rijnbergen) - Annet Hesterman (solo efforts) - Jackie en de Wild Boys (Annet Hesterman) - Just Me (Wim van Meegen) - Terry Lee's Rock Revival (Dick Beekman) - Livin' Blues (Dick Beekman) - Phill and Company (Annet Hesterman) - The Popular Pipers Boys Band - The Rene Five (Dick Beekman) - Harry Rijnbergen (solo efforts) - Rocking Strings (Dick Beekman) - Sacha and Paul (Annet Hesterman) - Zen (Ben Groen and Harry Rijnbergen)
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Genre: rock Rating: 4 stars **** Title: Just Fancy Company: Philips Catalog: XPY 855 034 Year: 1967 Country/State: Oude Pekela, Groningen, Holland Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: Dutch pressing; name in ink on back cover; minor edge wear Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $140.00
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This short-lived Dutch band remains totally unknown to American audiences. That's unfortunate since their two LPs and a handful of singles are all pretty entertaining.
While attending school in the small Dutch town of Oude Pekela, drummer Berend Groen, keyboardist Joop Hulzebos and bassist Wigger Kenter started their professional careers as members of The Popular Pipers Boys Band. Essentially a cover band, in 1966 the trio added former De Sputniks singer/guitarist Harry Rijnbergen to the line-up. Opting for a somewhat cooler name tag, the group started playing as The Rodijs (think "Rowdies"), but quickly discovered they were being confused with a host of similarly named outfits. That led to another name change - in this case the somewhat clumsy The Ro-d-ys.
Finding a mentor in the form of manager Wim Zomer, they were signed by Philips, making their recording debut with the 1966 single:
- 1966's "You'd Better Take Care of Yourself" b/w "Wheels Wheels Wheels" (Philips catalog number JF 333645).
While the debut didn't chart, Philips executives agreed to release a sophomore 45 which did hit the Dutch charts:
- 1967's "Take Her Home" b/w "Only One Week" (Philips catalog number JF 333830).
On the heels of their second single's commercial breakthrough Philips green-lighted an album. With Dick Beekman replacing original drummer Berend Groen, the result was 1967's Hans van Hemert produced "Just Fancy". Frequently categorized as a beat effort, that's only partial correct. With Rijnbergen responsible for penning all twelve songs, tracks like "Hitch Hiking" and "My Woman Has Get Loose" were clearly beat influenced. And while those performances were good, they just scratched the surface. "Bad Babe" and "Waiting For a Cloud Burst" demonstrated The Ro-d-ys had been listening to and mastered American garage rock. Elsewhere the title track, "Gods of Evil" (sporting a distinctive Procol Harum influence), and "Destination" found the band exploring a more sophisticated, mildly psych-influenced sound\. As lead singer Rijnbergen had an engaging voice with a very light accent (you'd be hard pressed to identify the band as being Dutch). He was also an overlooked guitarist - check out his solo on "When You Hear This Song". Admittedly the band's English lyrics were occasionally a little garbled ... 'just like a cow you're a hitch hiking baby'. Of course you could say the same for scores of English and American bands. Highlights abounded, but personal favorites included the rocker "Just Go On", the Dylan-and-Hendrix styled rocker "Waiting For a Cloud Burst" and the Kinks-meets-Motown closer "Wrong Shoe". Maybe a little bit on the musically diverse side, but thoroughly enjoyable and easily as good as many of their better known US and English competitors. This one's well worth grabbing if you can find it.
"Just
Fancy" track listing: 1.) Just Fancy (Harry Rijnbergen) - 2:59 rating: ***** stars Besides being seriously infectious and radio-friendly, the pounding "Just Fancy" had nifty "timepiece" lyrics, an interesting arrangement and cool chord progressions. Always loved Harry Rijnbergen's dry, slightly accented vocals. Easy to see why the song was tapped as a single. YouTube has a rather nonsensical black and white promotional clip for the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDVYtboIqb0 Part of the Let the 60s Roll Concert, YouTube also had a 1989 live performance of the song. Not sure the reggae rework added much to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQnKtk_k4Mo
- 1967's "Just Fancy" b/w "Gods of Evil" (Philips catalog number JF 333855)
"Hitch
Hiking" offered up a nice slice of garage rock with Dick Beekman's
pounding drums and Rijnbergen's grungy guitar serving
as the icing on the cake. The oboe backing was quirky, but interesting. Okay,
they'd clearly been listening to lots of garage band acts, which made
"Bad Babe" a treasure trove for people who like to play "spot the
influences". Even though it scored virtually nothing on the originality
scale, the performance was certainly energetic and fun. Once again
extra points for Rijnbergen's
grungy guitar solo and Dick Beekman's frenetic drumming. Opening
up with Joop Hulzebos's Hammond B3, the slightly ominous "Gods of
Evil" bore more than a passing resemblance to Gary Brooker and Procol Harum.
Rijnbergen's lyrics were surprisingly poignant.
Hard to imagine an American or British band writing and performing something
as impressive in Dutch. Though it would have made a great
single the song was relegated to the flip side to their "Just
Fancy" 45. Powered by Hulzebos's organ fills, the breezy rocker "My Woman Has Got Loose" was one of their more mainstream tunes and introduced some punchy horns to the mix, Another track that would have made a nice single. 6.) Waiting For a Cloud Burst (Harry Rijnbergen) - 2:37 rating: **** stars Geez,
"Waiting For a
Cloud Burst" found The Ro-d-ys get infected with electric Dylan ...
Rijnbergen doing
his best to slap some Hendrix fills in the mix. And the results
were
surprisingly enjoyable. (side
2) With
Wigger Kenter on trumpet, "When You Hear This Song"
sported a Paul McCartney-styled music hall vibe. Maybe a little Ray
Davies and the Kinks in the mix ... It's a musical niche you love, or
can do without. I'm in the latter category. Hulzebos's
opening organ fills always reminded me of a seventh inning baseball
stretch. It's actually a nice comparison for this bouncy garage
rocker. Great melody and refrain that's hard to shake once you've
heard it and Rijnbergen turns in one of his best
guitar solos. The
pretty and highly orchestrated ballad "Destination" demonstrated
the band could easily handle "Baroque pop". Bringing
the horns back, the frolicking "I Still Got You"
also introduced a touch on Motown into their sound. Loved the give and
take vocals exchanges. No
doubt about it but Dick Beekman's
pounding drums make "Let's Try" one of the album's most propulsive
performances. It also happens to be one of the most commercial
performances making you wonder why it wasn't tapped as a single. Powered by Rijnbergen's snarling vocals, "Wrong Shoe" has always reminded me of a mash-up of Motown and The Kinks. Yeah; that sounds like a strange comparison but the results made for one of the album's standout performances. My only complaint was the song was too short fading out just when it seemed like the band was launching into another verse..
There was also a non-LP single:
- 1967's "Nothing To Change a Mind" b/w "Stop Looking On a Deadlock" (Philips catalog number JF 333885)
Unless you read Dutch you'll have to use the translation feature, but for anyone interested in the band, there's a nice Ro-d-ys website located at: http://www.ro-d-ys.nl/
© Scott R. Blackerby October 2025
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