Gruppo Sportivo

Affectionate parodies of pop music and occasional humorous cultural commentary gave the Dutch new wave band Gruppo Sportivo a cult following in the early 1980s. The group debuted in 1977 with 10 Mistakes, an album that featured the nucleus of vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Hans Vandenburg, keyboardist Peter Calicher, drummer Max Mollinger, and additional vocalists the Grupettes: Josee Van Iersel and Meike Touw. 10 Mistakes and its follow-up, Back to '78, featured the hits Rock ’n Roll, Beep Beep Love, Hey Girl and Tokyo. Follow-up single Disco Really Made It (1979) entered the Dutch Top 10. 1980's Copy Copy – which introduced a three-piece horn section – and 1981's Pop! Goes the Brain paved the way for extensive touring in Europe. By 1982's Design Moderne, featuring radio hit Happily Unemployed, and Sombrero Times (1984) the Grupettes had become more of a free-floating addition. After a break and the release of best-of album Back To 19 Mistakes with single Mexican Radio, a steady stream of albums followed: Sucker of the Century (1989), Young & Out (1992) and Sing Sing (live, 1994). With Grupettes Lies Schilp and Inge Bonthond a.k.a. the Bombitas, the band returned in the 2000s with Topless 16 (2004), the semi-acoustic The Secret Of Success (2011) and the acclaimed Great (2018), which saw the band return to the album charts. Successful tours and mini-albums Back To Nature Vol. I & Back to Nature, Vol. 2 followed in 2024 and 2025. – Special thanks to Steve Huey, Rovi