In '88 they have a small hit with "Alleen met Jou" (Only with you) and win the Baccara-trophy in the squad of Raymond Van Het Groenewoud.
In 1989 they participated in the preselection to determine the Belgian delegate to the Eurovision Song Festival. Clouseau finishes second (behind Ingeborg), but now has a foot in the door. The breakthrough comes immediately with the single "Anne" and an album "Hoezo ?" (How so?). Screaming teenagers all over the place and smashed record sales in Belgium are the consequence. The Netherlands follow, when "Daar Gaat Ze" (There she goes) becomes a big hit. The 2nd album "Of zo" (Or so) also proves to be very successful.
1990 is a year which can only be described as the year of "Clouseau-mania". Everything the boys touch turns to gold.
Manager Hans Kusters : "They really appeal to the teens. Simple songs, but also lyrics in the form of "She comes, she goes or she is". No fuss about apartheid or the nuclear missiles. Clean, cute, sometimes rocking, sometimes slowing, always charming melodies with innocent and easily recognizable love- and dance stories."
In 1991, the Benelux is getting too small for the group so they (or at least the record company) decide to try to storm the European market.
This time they are appointed to participating for Belgium in the Eurovisionsongcontest (where the finish very low with "Geef het op", despite the very high hopes Flanders was posing in them). They record a CD in English called "Close Encounters" (mainly consisting of adaptations of their own Dutch songs) of which they sell 200.000 copies in the slipstream of Roxette's European tour of 1992.
The 2nd English-language album "In every small town", however, is a complete commercial failure. Frontman Koen Wauters starts a career as a television presenter and race-pilot (Paris-Dakar), kicks a few old friends out of the band and refocuses on the Dutch market with the CD "Oker" (Ochre) in 1995.
On the album "Adrenaline", only the two Wauters' Brothers remain. The album shows a more adult Clouseau. They have successfully survived the hype and are starting to produce decent material again, without the necessity to "score" or match the sales figures of the 1989-1990 craze.
What about the band members that were left behind :
- Bob Savenberg has ventured to a successful solo career (e.g. the duet with Dutch singer Stef Bos in "Breek de stilte" and his solo CD "Vuur en Vlam"). He also presented "Ultratop" (the Belgian hitparade on VRT) and has a small company that builds websites. In 2001, he did the show "Popstars" for VT4.
- Tjenne Berghmans has played in about every other Belgian group (e.g. The Scabs, Betty Goes Green ...) since he left Clouseau.
- Karel Theys, formerly of the Employees, was at the base of another Kloot Per W project, de Lama's in 1993-94.
In 1997, they release a compilation album "Clouseau 1987-1997" and have a celebration on their 10 years of existence. Koen Wauters (although hard to recognize amidst all the publicity for Belgacom) finishes another Dakar at the beginning of 1997. He also continues his television career (Familieraad, Koen & The Gang, Wedden dat ...), and fights off a female stalker in his bathroom. In 1999, he marries Carolijn Lillipally (who was a VJ for MTV-Europe).
In 1999 Clouseau conquers Flanders for the umpteenth time, on this occasion with the new CD "In Stereo". In a production with a lot of violins by Jean Blaute (see RvhG, Kate's Kennel ..) and with songs that were written by people such as Frank van der Linden (of De Mens), Jan Leyers (of My Velma & Soulsister), Mark Vanhie (The Bet, Sarah) and others, and pulled by singles such as "Heb ik ooit gezegd" (a Van Morisson-cover) and "Altijd meer en meer" the group even makes it back again as a headliner at Marktrock (where it all had started). This leads them to a new live-album, simply called "Live", released in 2000.
In 2001 they opened with an album with nothing but slow songs for the Dutch market - entitled "Ballades" - but in recording their next album they deliberately stepped away from this trend in ever slower songs. En Dans - wrapped in a funny cover hand-drawn by Marcel Vanthilt, who also sings on one song - was released in November 2001, and contained much more uptempo songs, taking them back to the starting days of the band. Most striking track was certainly the title song "En Dans", Clouseau in an festive disco-outfit. However the first single that was taken from the album was a ballad "Ik Geef Me Over" (I surrender) with a video that caused some controversy due to the smoking habit of Koen. Through the usual visits to radio stations and a break-in into the BigBrother house, the CD certainly didn't miss it's start, as it deserved platinum for 30,000 copies in the presales, and entered the album-charts at n°1. On the live-front it remained fairly quiet, working towards two gigantic gigs in the Sportpaleis in Antwerp in the month of December.
The band released their latest CD Vonken & Vuur ("Sparks & Fire") in March 2007.
Band members (original line-up) :
- Koen Wauters (vocals)
- Kris Wauters (keyboard and guitar)
- Bob Savenberg (drums and backing vocals)
- Karel Theys (bass)
- Tjenne Berghmans (guitar).
Albums :
- Hoezo(Hans Kusters Music - 1989)
- Of Zo (Hans Kuster Music - 1990)
- Close Encounters (EMI - 1991)
- Doorgaan (tot je niet meer op je benen kan staan) (EMI- 1992)
- In Every Small Town (EMI - 1993)
- Oker (EMI - 1995)
- Adrenaline (EMI - 1996)
- In Stereo (EMI - 1999)
- En Dans (EMI - 2001)
- Live in het Sportpaleis DVD ("Live at the Sport Palace, Antwerp") (2003)
- Vanbinnen (2004)
- Clouseau in 't lang DVD ("Live at the Sport Palace, Antwerp") (2006)
- Vonken en Vuur (2007)
- Zij aan Zij (2009)
Compilations :
- Clouseau Live (Hans Kusters Music - 1991)
- Clouseau 1987-1997 (EMI, 1997)
- Live (EMI, 2000)
- Ballades (EMI, 2001)
Oh Ja
Clouseau Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
En jij ligt nog te dromen
Als ik zacht je lichaam streel
En ik zie de zon opkomen
Dan weet ik: ik zou liever blijven
Want bij jou voel ik me goed
Ja ik moet niet overdrijven
Want als ik weg moet gaan
Ver weg van jou vandaan
Dan zou ik alles doen om toch bij jou te blijven
Ik voel het als je lacht
Jij hebt me in je macht
Oh ja, jij bent hier vandaag
Oh ja, en ik zie je graag
Oh ja, jij bent mijn mevrouw
Oh ja, en ik hou van jou
Elke dag dan kijk ik rond
Naar alle andere vrouwen
Maar ik heb al last om zelfs
Hun voornaam te onthouden
Andere vrouwen zijn wel leuk
Leuk om naar te kijken
Maar er is geen kans dat ik voor
Hun charmes zou bezwijken
Want als ik jou zie staan
Loop ik bij hen vandaan
Als ik jou zie dan wil ik al de rest vergeten
Ik weet het als je lacht
Jij hebt me in je macht
Oh ja, ...
Jij en ik, dat klinkt perfekt
Dat weet ik zeker
Oh ja, oh ja
Ik blijf altijd hier bij jou
Want ik zei het al:
Elke dag dan kijk ik rond
Naar alle andere vrouwen
Maar ik heb al last om zelfs
Hun voornaam te onthouden
Want als ik jou zie staan
Loop ik bij hen vandaan
Als ik jou zie dan wil ik al de rest vergeten
Ik weet het als je lacht
Jij hebt me in je macht
Oh ja, ...
The song Oh Ja by Clouseau is a beautiful ode to love, passion and devotion. The song talks about the feelings of a man who is completely spellbound by the love of his life. He wakes up in the morning and finds his partner still sleeping beside him. He gently caresses her body and observes the first rays of sunlight that are breaking through the window. At that moment, he realizes that he wants to stay forever by her side, for she has an immense impact on his emotions, and he feels complete when he is with her. The singer confesses that he is completely under her spell and would do anything to stay close to her, even if that means leaving his other commitments behind. He is captivated by her laughter, and everything else just fades away when he is with her.
The song portrays the depth of the love that the man has for his partner. He acknowledges the beauty of other women but understands that nobody can ever compare to his true love. He feels that he has found perfection in the relationship that he shares with his partner, and hence would devote all his life to this love affair. This song is an excellent portrayal of the emotions that accompany true love and how it can overpower everything else in one's life.
Line by Line Meaning
Als ik 's ochtends naar je kijk
When I look at you in the morning
En jij ligt nog te dromen
And you are still dreaming
Als ik zacht je lichaam streel
When I gently stroke your body
En ik zie de zon opkomen
And I see the sun rising
Dan weet ik: ik zou liever blijven
Then I know: I would rather stay
Want bij jou voel ik me goed
Because I feel good with you
Ja ik moet niet overdrijven
Yes, I shouldn't exaggerate
Maar je werkt op mijn gemoed
But you work on my emotions
Want als ik weg moet gaan
Because when I have to leave
Ver weg van jou vandaan
Far away from you
Dan zou ik alles doen om toch bij jou te blijven
Then I would do anything to stay with you
Ik voel het als je lacht
I feel it when you laugh
Jij hebt me in je macht
You have me under your spell
Elke dag dan kijk ik rond
Every day I look around
Naar alle andere vrouwen
At all the other women
Maar ik heb al last om zelfs
But I already struggle to
Hun voornaam te onthouden
Remember their first names
Andere vrouwen zijn wel leuk
Other women are nice
Leuk om naar te kijken
Nice to look at
Maar er is geen kans dat ik voor
But there is no chance that I
Hun charmes zou bezwijken
Would succumb to their charms
Jij en ik, dat klinkt perfekt
You and I, that sounds perfect
Dat weet ik zeker
I know that for sure
Ik blijf altijd hier bij jou
I will always stay here with you
Want ik zei het al:
Because I already said it:
Jij bent hier vandaag
You are here today
En ik zie je graag
And I like to see you
Jij bent mijn mevrouw
You are my Mrs.
En ik hou van jou
And I love you
Want als ik jou zie staan
Because when I see you standing
Loop ik bij hen vandaan
I walk away from them
Als ik jou zie dan wil ik al de rest vergeten
When I see you, I want to forget everything else
Ik weet het als je lacht
I know it when you laugh
Jij hebt me in je macht
You have me under your spell
Contributed by Mason J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.