Dolly Dots
Encyclopedia
Dolly Dots were a popular Dutch
girl band in the 1980s. With their style of upbeat dance
/pop
, they scored many hits throughout Europe. The sextet consisted of Angela Groothuizen
, Angéla Kramers, Anita Heilker, Esther Oosterbeek, Patty Zomer and Ria Brieffies
.
, but they also scored hits in the rest of Europe. Their single "Radio" was a big hit in Japan. "P.S." was a Top 50 Billboard
Hot Dance Club Play
hit in 1981. They also enjoyed hits in Turkey, Lebanon, Iceland, and toured through Egypt.
At the peak of their success in 1984 the Dolly Dots had their own TV series, Barbie dolls, wallpaper and a number one hit, "Love Me Just a Little Bit More (Totally Hooked On You)". At the end of the following year, Anita Heilker left the group to have a daughter. She later became the Dutch voice of Donald Duck
. The rest of the band continued as a five-piece. Heilker had already launched her own career. In 1986 she released four solo singles ("You've Got Me Keyed Up", "Into The Night", "Dancing On The Moon" and "Don't Treat Me Like This), as well as a solo album (The Girl In Black).
Since the success of the TV series in 1984, there had been plans to record a Hollywood movie. In the summer of 1987 the five remaining Dolly Dots finally went to the US
to work with an unfinished script and made a movie called Dutch Treat, which was released later that same year. The movie as well as the soundtrack were a medium success in The Netherlands but were not released in the USA due to bad reviews. The group broke up in 1988. Their last single was an attempt to break into the UK market. The Dolly Dots teamed up with hit producers Stock Aitken Waterman
and released the song "What a Night". It reached number 18 in the Dutch charts, but was not successful in the UK.
On October 2, 1988 the Dolly Dots played a farewell show at the Amsterdam Escape. After more than nine years they felt the time was right to go their separate ways; as Ria Brieffies would later say, "There's more to life than being a Dolly Dot".
Angela Groothuizen teamed up with Ruud Mulder, former guitarist of disco/funk-contemporaries Spargo, to record as Angela & the Rude.
She also began a television hosting career for AVRO starting in 1990 with an adaptation of Challenge Anneka
; this was followed by "Sex with Angela" and "Who's the Mole ?
". Her contract expired in 2005 and was not renewed. Groothuizen has since moved to RTL 4 where she is a panel judge for X Factor
and The Voice of Holland
.
Patty Zomer became a fashion stylist for several well known Dutch artists and magazines. In the early 2000s she co-hosted "The Fashion Police
" with footballer's wife Nada van Nie.
On October 1, 1998 all six Dolly Dots were interviewed by Paul de Leeuw
and surprised everyone by singing a medley of three of their biggest hits. Two months later they reunited for a one-off concert to celebrate their 10th split anniversary, and the release of a compilation album of all their hits, called The Collection.
In 2003, Aad Ouberg, who was closely involved with the group, was responsible for getting a Dolly Dots musical off the ground. The musical Love Me Just a Little Bit More played at The Chassé Theatre in Breda
and around the Netherlands during 2004.
As result of renewed interest in the group after the musical, Warner Bros. Records
released a Dolly Dots greatest hits
compilation album
of the group as well as a DVD
. In 2007, all original six members reunited for a series of guest performances during Vrienden van Amstel Live. Their success there led to three concerts of their own in Ahoy Rotterdam. The DVD of those concerts reached gold status in Holland. In 2008 a tour followed, called 'Goodbye For Now'.
Ria Brieffies, who went on to pursue culinary interests, was diagnosed with cancer
in November 2008; she died on July 20, 2009. Angela Groothuizen announced that without Brieffies, the Dolly Dots would never perform again.
In 2011 Anita Heilker makes here comeback as a solo artist in a Dutch show called: The Winner Is...
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
girl band in the 1980s. With their style of upbeat dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
/pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, they scored many hits throughout Europe. The sextet consisted of Angela Groothuizen
Angela Groothuizen
Angela Groothuizen is a Dutch singer, artist and television personality.-Biography:Groothuizen rose to fame as a member of the Dutch Dance/Pop girl group Dolly Dots, which achieved popularity inside and outside the Netherlands, and scored hits between 1979 and 1988...
, Angéla Kramers, Anita Heilker, Esther Oosterbeek, Patty Zomer and Ria Brieffies
Ria Brieffies
Maria Petronella "Ria" Brieffies was a Dutch singer, best known as a member of 1980s girl group "Dolly Dots".-Life:...
.
Biography
The Dolly Dots had many hits between 1979 and 1988. They were most successful in the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, but they also scored hits in the rest of Europe. Their single "Radio" was a big hit in Japan. "P.S." was a Top 50 Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
hit in 1981. They also enjoyed hits in Turkey, Lebanon, Iceland, and toured through Egypt.
At the peak of their success in 1984 the Dolly Dots had their own TV series, Barbie dolls, wallpaper and a number one hit, "Love Me Just a Little Bit More (Totally Hooked On You)". At the end of the following year, Anita Heilker left the group to have a daughter. She later became the Dutch voice of Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
. The rest of the band continued as a five-piece. Heilker had already launched her own career. In 1986 she released four solo singles ("You've Got Me Keyed Up", "Into The Night", "Dancing On The Moon" and "Don't Treat Me Like This), as well as a solo album (The Girl In Black).
Since the success of the TV series in 1984, there had been plans to record a Hollywood movie. In the summer of 1987 the five remaining Dolly Dots finally went to the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to work with an unfinished script and made a movie called Dutch Treat, which was released later that same year. The movie as well as the soundtrack were a medium success in The Netherlands but were not released in the USA due to bad reviews. The group broke up in 1988. Their last single was an attempt to break into the UK market. The Dolly Dots teamed up with hit producers Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman, sometimes known as SAW, were a UK songwriting and record producing trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. They had great success during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s...
and released the song "What a Night". It reached number 18 in the Dutch charts, but was not successful in the UK.
On October 2, 1988 the Dolly Dots played a farewell show at the Amsterdam Escape. After more than nine years they felt the time was right to go their separate ways; as Ria Brieffies would later say, "There's more to life than being a Dolly Dot".
Solo careers
In 1989 Anita Heilker taped a sitcom with satirical duo Henk Spaan and Harry Vermeegen (Die 2) for early 1990 broadcast on Veronica.Angela Groothuizen teamed up with Ruud Mulder, former guitarist of disco/funk-contemporaries Spargo, to record as Angela & the Rude.
She also began a television hosting career for AVRO starting in 1990 with an adaptation of Challenge Anneka
Challenge Anneka
Challenge Anneka is a British television programme, produced by the independent production company Mentorn for the BBC, which aired on Friday, later Saturday evenings on BBC One between 8 September 1989 and 15 October 1995. It was announced in 2006 that the series is returning, but this time on...
; this was followed by "Sex with Angela" and "Who's the Mole ?
Wie is... de Mol?
Wie is... de Mol? is the Dutch version of the Belgian reality television game show The Mole. The first four seasons were regular seasons with unknown people. After the break in 2004, all participants in the following seasons were Dutch celebrities...
". Her contract expired in 2005 and was not renewed. Groothuizen has since moved to RTL 4 where she is a panel judge for X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
and The Voice of Holland
The Voice of Holland
The Voice of Holland is a Dutch reality singing competition, created by media tycoon John de Mol, and currently airing on RTL4 in the Netherlands. Hosted by Martijn Krabbé and Wendy van Dijk it is currently the number 1 show in the Netherlands, with increasing ratings from 1.6 to 3.0 million viewers...
.
Patty Zomer became a fashion stylist for several well known Dutch artists and magazines. In the early 2000s she co-hosted "The Fashion Police
What Not to Wear
What Not to Wear is a BAFTA Award-nominated makeover reality television show launched by the BBC in 2001. It was presented by Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine for five series, bringing the pair to national prominence...
" with footballer's wife Nada van Nie.
On October 1, 1998 all six Dolly Dots were interviewed by Paul de Leeuw
Paul de Leeuw
Paul Henri de Leeuw is a Dutch television comedian, singer and actor.De Leeuw gained national fame in the late eighties and early nineties with television shows for broadcasting company VARA...
and surprised everyone by singing a medley of three of their biggest hits. Two months later they reunited for a one-off concert to celebrate their 10th split anniversary, and the release of a compilation album of all their hits, called The Collection.
In 2003, Aad Ouberg, who was closely involved with the group, was responsible for getting a Dolly Dots musical off the ground. The musical Love Me Just a Little Bit More played at The Chassé Theatre in Breda
Breda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
and around the Netherlands during 2004.
As result of renewed interest in the group after the musical, Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
released a Dolly Dots greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of the group as well as a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. In 2007, all original six members reunited for a series of guest performances during Vrienden van Amstel Live. Their success there led to three concerts of their own in Ahoy Rotterdam. The DVD of those concerts reached gold status in Holland. In 2008 a tour followed, called 'Goodbye For Now'.
Ria Brieffies, who went on to pursue culinary interests, was diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in November 2008; she died on July 20, 2009. Angela Groothuizen announced that without Brieffies, the Dolly Dots would never perform again.
In 2011 Anita Heilker makes here comeback as a solo artist in a Dutch show called: The Winner Is...