Picture (band)
Encyclopedia
Picture is a Dutch
heavy metal
band. They are noted for being the first band in the country to play heavy metal. Formed in 1979, they were especially popular in the Netherlands
, Germany
and Italy
for their live performances. They still have a huge fan base in South America
, Mexico
and Japan
.
Picture supported AC/DC
, Ted Nugent
and Saxon
in the Netherlands. With Saxon, they did a full European tour in 1981. Later on they toured with Rose Tattoo
in Germany and headlined tours in Italy
and Israel
.
and Laurens Bakker
originally got together in 1977 and started jamming with various musicians. It wasn’t until 1979 that the classic lineup of Rinus, Laurens, Jan Bechtum
, and Ronald van Prooijen
came together. Jan came first and as they auditioned singers, Ronald, who they all knew, decided to step in and audition. After one session, Jan, Rinus, and Laurens decided Ronald was the man, so the classic Picture was born.
Early on in Picture's career they teamed up with manager Henk van Antwerpen and signed to the label Warner Bros. Records
. However, Picture felt their label were trying to steer them in a pop
direction and quit the label to sign with Backdoor Records, a subsidiary of Phonogram Records
.
The original line-up recorded their debut album, Picture 1 and their second effort, Heavy Metal Ears in 1980 and 1981 respectively. To begin with, they gigged throughout the Netherlands
and nearby Germany
and built a following. In the meantime, they started composing their own music. Jan would usually come up with the riffs, then the other members would contribute their parts. After hashing and rehashing the songs, they became the titles that would appear on the first album, Picture I.
As a bunch of young kids, they didn’t know much about the realities of recording. When the album came out, none of them liked the sound quality. As they grew in popularity, they returned to the studio to record Heavy Metal Ears and it was much of the same sound quality. It wasn’t until they were a little older and wiser that they really got their sound in the studio with Diamond Dreamer
. However, by this time, Ronald had left for personal reasons and they found Israeli singer, Shmoulik Avigal. Not only was the recording done much better, but Shmoulik had a different, and some say, more powerful voice. Many consider Diamond Dreamer
as the band’s best album.
Touring was a hit-or-miss prospect. The record company did not want to put up enough money to really get behind the band, and some great opportunities were missed. Despite all, Picture developed a large fan base covering much of Europe
and South America
.
Band consensus confirms their best gigs were touring with Saxon
while the worst was when they played with Rose Tattoo
, during the Heavy Metal Ears period. They were not happy with the road crew, plus they were more popular in Germany than Rose Tattoo and some of the Picture guys felt they were sabotaged by the other band and its crew.
After recording and touring with Shmoluik for the Diamond Dreamer album, he suggested they add a second guitarist to fatten their live sound and Chris van Jaarsveld was brought in. Though he was a technically proficient guitarist, he just didn’t gel with Jan and things went downhill. Then Shmoulik got in a petty argument with their manager and was fired from the band. About this time, Jan had had enough and quit for personal reasons. To fill in the gaps, a new singer, Pete Lovell was recruited along with a second guitarist, Henry van Manen. They went into the studio to record Eternal Dark. This album was slicker than Diamond Dreamer and the two guitarists significantly altered the heavy sound of Jan Bechtum for a more technical groove that sort of worked, but started the trend for the final albums that veered away from the Picture sound. Around this time, Laurens could not take the rigors of touring or the stress of all their management troubles while supporting a wife and twins, so he called it a day.
From that point on, the only remaining original member was Rinus. He soldiered on for three more albums, Traitor, Marathon
, and Every Story Needs Another Picture. Many described them as going into hair metal, with very commercial and anonymous songs. Rinus is particularly disgusted with Every Story Needs Another Picture, as it was an album forced by the record contract, and it is rumored the whole album was recorded by studio musicians with minimal participation from him.
Though Rinus soldiered on long after the other original members had left, he was never able to steer the band back into a successful direction. He finally called it a day, and got a "real" job.
The original members tried a reunion in 1988 and the chemistry was still there. Unfortunately, management reared it’s ugly head and unknown to the band, their manager was asking an outrageous amount of money for them to play, so they never got any gigs after their one reunion concert. To have this happen after being burned by management the first go-around was just too much, and once again, they called it a day.
In 2007, the classic lineup reunited for rehearsals. They still had that spark, and planned to cut a CD in 2008 and play some gigs around the Netherlands and Germany. Though Ronald van Prooijen helped out, singer Shmoulik Avigal was asked to participate as well as Pete Lovell, the singer on the Eternal Dark album.
After the smoke cleared in 2008, a permanent lineup was established with Jan Bechtum
, Rinus Vreugdenhil
, Laurens Bakker
, Rob vanEnkhuizen, and Pete Lovell. They are currently playing throughout Europe
to very enthusiastic crowds. A limited edition live album was recorded at various venues and was released by the band. Plans are to release another album in 2009 with new songs, two of which have appeared on the limited edition CD.
The album Old Dogs, New Tricks was released on October 1, 2009 on the MarsMountains label. It contains 12 songs of all new material, released 30 years from when the band first formed.
On December 18, 2009, Jan Bechtum
announced his departure from the band. He is being replaced by Peter Bourbon.
In early 2010, Rob van Enkhuizen decided to leave Picture. His replacement is Gert Nijboer.
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...
heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band. They are noted for being the first band in the country to play heavy metal. Formed in 1979, they were especially popular in the Netherlands
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...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
for their live performances. They still have a huge fan base in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Picture supported AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
, Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
and Saxon
Saxon (band)
Saxon are an English heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. As front-runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, they had 8 UK Top 40 albums in the 1980s including 4 UK Top 10 albums. Saxon also had numerous singles in the Top 20 singles chart...
in the Netherlands. With Saxon, they did a full European tour in 1981. Later on they toured with Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo is an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life"...
in Germany and headlined tours in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Biography
Rinus VreugdenhilRinus Vreugdenhil
Rinus Vreugdenhil is the bass player and longest standing member of the Dutch heavy metal band Picture.Rinus started out in the band Lemming as the bass player and sound mixer. He chose bass because he liked the low sound. In 1977, he met up with Laurens Bakker and with various musicians, started...
and Laurens Bakker
Laurens Bakker
Laurens Bakker is the original drummer for the Dutch heavy metal band Picture.Laurens, known as "Bakkie," started playing drums in various bands including Fase 5 and then John Ridge and Coccoon. In 1977, he met up with Rinus Vreugdenhil and with various musicians, started Picture...
originally got together in 1977 and started jamming with various musicians. It wasn’t until 1979 that the classic lineup of Rinus, Laurens, Jan Bechtum
Jan Bechtum
Jan Bechtum is a Dutch guitarist and composer.Bechtum was the first lead guitarist of Picture. He was influenced by Deep Purple, , Yes and Genesis....
, and Ronald van Prooijen
Ronald van Prooijen
Ronald van Prooijen was the original singer of the Dutch heavy metal band Picture.Ronald started out in the band Fragma. He originally sang and played a little guitar but decided to stick to singing. He'd been hanging around with Laurens Bakker and Rinus Vreugdenhil as they went through various...
came together. Jan came first and as they auditioned singers, Ronald, who they all knew, decided to step in and audition. After one session, Jan, Rinus, and Laurens decided Ronald was the man, so the classic Picture was born.
Early on in Picture's career they teamed up with manager Henk van Antwerpen and signed to the label 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...
. However, Picture felt their label were trying to steer them in a 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...
direction and quit the label to sign with Backdoor Records, a subsidiary of Phonogram Records
Phonogram Records
Phonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In 1972, Phonogram was merged with Polydor Records into PolyGram....
.
The original line-up recorded their debut album, Picture 1 and their second effort, Heavy Metal Ears in 1980 and 1981 respectively. To begin with, they gigged throughout the Netherlands
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...
and nearby Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and built a following. In the meantime, they started composing their own music. Jan would usually come up with the riffs, then the other members would contribute their parts. After hashing and rehashing the songs, they became the titles that would appear on the first album, Picture I.
As a bunch of young kids, they didn’t know much about the realities of recording. When the album came out, none of them liked the sound quality. As they grew in popularity, they returned to the studio to record Heavy Metal Ears and it was much of the same sound quality. It wasn’t until they were a little older and wiser that they really got their sound in the studio with Diamond Dreamer
Diamond Dreamer
Diamond Dreamer is the third album by the metal group Picture, which was released in July 1982.In order to improve on the audio quality of their first two albums, Picture recorded Diamond Dreamer with the help of Saxon producer Pete Hinton....
. However, by this time, Ronald had left for personal reasons and they found Israeli singer, Shmoulik Avigal. Not only was the recording done much better, but Shmoulik had a different, and some say, more powerful voice. Many consider Diamond Dreamer
Diamond Dreamer
Diamond Dreamer is the third album by the metal group Picture, which was released in July 1982.In order to improve on the audio quality of their first two albums, Picture recorded Diamond Dreamer with the help of Saxon producer Pete Hinton....
as the band’s best album.
Touring was a hit-or-miss prospect. The record company did not want to put up enough money to really get behind the band, and some great opportunities were missed. Despite all, Picture developed a large fan base covering much of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
.
Band consensus confirms their best gigs were touring with Saxon
Saxon (band)
Saxon are an English heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. As front-runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, they had 8 UK Top 40 albums in the 1980s including 4 UK Top 10 albums. Saxon also had numerous singles in the Top 20 singles chart...
while the worst was when they played with Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo is an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life"...
, during the Heavy Metal Ears period. They were not happy with the road crew, plus they were more popular in Germany than Rose Tattoo and some of the Picture guys felt they were sabotaged by the other band and its crew.
After recording and touring with Shmoluik for the Diamond Dreamer album, he suggested they add a second guitarist to fatten their live sound and Chris van Jaarsveld was brought in. Though he was a technically proficient guitarist, he just didn’t gel with Jan and things went downhill. Then Shmoulik got in a petty argument with their manager and was fired from the band. About this time, Jan had had enough and quit for personal reasons. To fill in the gaps, a new singer, Pete Lovell was recruited along with a second guitarist, Henry van Manen. They went into the studio to record Eternal Dark. This album was slicker than Diamond Dreamer and the two guitarists significantly altered the heavy sound of Jan Bechtum for a more technical groove that sort of worked, but started the trend for the final albums that veered away from the Picture sound. Around this time, Laurens could not take the rigors of touring or the stress of all their management troubles while supporting a wife and twins, so he called it a day.
From that point on, the only remaining original member was Rinus. He soldiered on for three more albums, Traitor, Marathon
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
, and Every Story Needs Another Picture. Many described them as going into hair metal, with very commercial and anonymous songs. Rinus is particularly disgusted with Every Story Needs Another Picture, as it was an album forced by the record contract, and it is rumored the whole album was recorded by studio musicians with minimal participation from him.
Though Rinus soldiered on long after the other original members had left, he was never able to steer the band back into a successful direction. He finally called it a day, and got a "real" job.
The original members tried a reunion in 1988 and the chemistry was still there. Unfortunately, management reared it’s ugly head and unknown to the band, their manager was asking an outrageous amount of money for them to play, so they never got any gigs after their one reunion concert. To have this happen after being burned by management the first go-around was just too much, and once again, they called it a day.
In 2007, the classic lineup reunited for rehearsals. They still had that spark, and planned to cut a CD in 2008 and play some gigs around the Netherlands and Germany. Though Ronald van Prooijen helped out, singer Shmoulik Avigal was asked to participate as well as Pete Lovell, the singer on the Eternal Dark album.
After the smoke cleared in 2008, a permanent lineup was established with Jan Bechtum
Jan Bechtum
Jan Bechtum is a Dutch guitarist and composer.Bechtum was the first lead guitarist of Picture. He was influenced by Deep Purple, , Yes and Genesis....
, Rinus Vreugdenhil
Rinus Vreugdenhil
Rinus Vreugdenhil is the bass player and longest standing member of the Dutch heavy metal band Picture.Rinus started out in the band Lemming as the bass player and sound mixer. He chose bass because he liked the low sound. In 1977, he met up with Laurens Bakker and with various musicians, started...
, Laurens Bakker
Laurens Bakker
Laurens Bakker is the original drummer for the Dutch heavy metal band Picture.Laurens, known as "Bakkie," started playing drums in various bands including Fase 5 and then John Ridge and Coccoon. In 1977, he met up with Rinus Vreugdenhil and with various musicians, started Picture...
, Rob vanEnkhuizen, and Pete Lovell. They are currently playing throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to very enthusiastic crowds. A limited edition live album was recorded at various venues and was released by the band. Plans are to release another album in 2009 with new songs, two of which have appeared on the limited edition CD.
The album Old Dogs, New Tricks was released on October 1, 2009 on the MarsMountains label. It contains 12 songs of all new material, released 30 years from when the band first formed.
On December 18, 2009, Jan Bechtum
Jan Bechtum
Jan Bechtum is a Dutch guitarist and composer.Bechtum was the first lead guitarist of Picture. He was influenced by Deep Purple, , Yes and Genesis....
announced his departure from the band. He is being replaced by Peter Bourbon.
In early 2010, Rob van Enkhuizen decided to leave Picture. His replacement is Gert Nijboer.
Members
| 1979–1981 |
|
|---|---|
| 1982–1983 |
|
| 1984 |
|
| 1985 |
|
| 1986–1987 |
|
| 1988 Reunion |
|
| 1997–1999 |
|
| 2007–2009 |
|
| 2009–2010 |
|
| 2010–Present |
|
Current members
- Pete Lovell - vocals
- Peter Bourbon - guitar
- Rinus VreugdenhilRinus VreugdenhilRinus Vreugdenhil is the bass player and longest standing member of the Dutch heavy metal band Picture.Rinus started out in the band Lemming as the bass player and sound mixer. He chose bass because he liked the low sound. In 1977, he met up with Laurens Bakker and with various musicians, started...
- bass guitar - Laurens BakkerLaurens BakkerLaurens Bakker is the original drummer for the Dutch heavy metal band Picture.Laurens, known as "Bakkie," started playing drums in various bands including Fase 5 and then John Ridge and Coccoon. In 1977, he met up with Rinus Vreugdenhil and with various musicians, started Picture...
- drums - Gert Nijboer - guitars
Former members
- Rob van Enkhuizen - Guitars
- Jan BechtumJan BechtumJan Bechtum is a Dutch guitarist and composer.Bechtum was the first lead guitarist of Picture. He was influenced by Deep Purple, , Yes and Genesis....
- Guitars - Shmoulik Avigal - Vocals
- Bert Heerink - vocals
- Ronald van ProoijenRonald van ProoijenRonald van Prooijen was the original singer of the Dutch heavy metal band Picture.Ronald started out in the band Fragma. He originally sang and played a little guitar but decided to stick to singing. He'd been hanging around with Laurens Bakker and Rinus Vreugdenhil as they went through various...
- vocals - Chris van Jaarsveld - guitars
- Henry van Manen - guitars
- Harry Bruintjes - guitar
- Ronald de Grauw - keyboards
- Jacques van Oevelen - drums
Albums
- Picture 1 (1981)
- Heavy Metal Ears (1981)
- Diamond DreamerDiamond DreamerDiamond Dreamer is the third album by the metal group Picture, which was released in July 1982.In order to improve on the audio quality of their first two albums, Picture recorded Diamond Dreamer with the help of Saxon producer Pete Hinton....
(1982) - Eternal Dark (1983)
- Traitor (1984)
- Every Story Needs Another Picture (1986)
- Marathon (1987)
- Live 2008 (2008)
- Old Dogs, New Tricks (2009)
Other
- 80 Demo (demo, 1980)
- Eternal Dark/Into the Underworld (single, 1983)
- Limited Edition EP (EP, 1985)
- Fantasies/Traitor (single, 1985)
- "We Just Can't Lose" (single, 1987)