Teach-In, one of the most popular Dutch bands, paticipated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975. They successfully won the contest that year and they became very popular with their strong pop ethics.
The group Teach-In was formed in 1969 in Enschede, Netherlands. The first members were Hilda Felix (vocals), Henk Westendorp (vocals), John Snuverink (vocals, guitar), Frans Schaddelee (bass), leader Koos Versteeg (vocals, keys) and Ruud Nijhuis (drums). The band was built around strong pop ethics.
In 1972, only Koos and Ruud remained in the group and the rest of the band comprised; Getty Kaspers (vocals), John Gaasbeek (guitar), Chris de Wolde (bass) and Ard Weeink. Hans Nijland (bass), Betty Vermeulen (vocals), Marianne Wolsink (vocals) also joined to the band .
The band’s career spanned nearly a decade, although they are best remembered for their stunning win in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975. After they had won the contest, they became more popular all around Europe and other continents. Prior to that however, the band was making very strong work at home.
In 1974, they released the "Roll Along" LP and the single "Fly Away" and the following year they showed their success with the "Festival" and "Get On" LPs. An impressive string of singles followed, including "Good Bye Love" and "In the Summernight".
In the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, despite strong competition from among others, the recently re-formed The Shadows, who were representing the United Kingdom, and France’s Nicole Rieu, they won with the song "Ding-a-Dong", which topped the voting and started a Teach-In mania all over Europe. The single reached 13th in the United Kingdom charts and it stayed in top 50 for about 2 months. After this success, Teach-In released in the United Kingdom the "Teach-In" LP.
It was not long before they were forgetten in Britain but they released a very strong and active schedule. In 1977, they released the single "Ride In The Night". In the following year, the single called "Dear John" followed, and they surprisingly reached the top 20 in the Swedish charts as Ding-A-Dong had never succeded there before.
They released those singles, songs or albums on Teach-In’s music life below:
1971 Spoke the Lord Creator/Darkness of Life (Singles)
Can’t Be so Bad/Take Me to the Water (Singles)
1972 So Easy to Sing/My Name is Honey (Singles)
1974 Fly Away/Bye Bye Bye (Singles)
In the Summernight/Old Friend Goodbye (Singles)
Tennessee Town/There Ain’t No Time (Singles)
Roll Along (Album)
1975 Ding-a-Dong/Ik Heb Geen Geld Voor de Trein (Singles)
Ding-a-Dong/The Circus Show (Singles)
Goodbye Love/Sailor Man (Singles)
Get on Board (Album)
Festival (Album)
1976 Rose Valley/Lala Love Song (Singles)
Upside Down/Please Come Home (Singles)
Teach-In (Album)
1977 A Ride in the Night/A Wonderful Feeling (Singles)
See the Sun/All Around (Singles)
My Rock & Roll Song/Our Story (Singles)
See the Sun (Album)
1978 Dear John/Instrumental John (Singles)
1979 The Robot/Well Comeback (Singles)
Greenpeace (Album)
1980 Regrets/Things We Say (Singles)
Bad Day/I Wish You All the Luck(Singles)
The year 1979 also brought the memorable "Robot" and Teach-In launched a new decade with "Bad Day" in 1980. The band faded after that, but of course, no Eurovision winner is ever wholly forgotten. "Ding- A- Dong" still appears on the greatest hits of Eurovision ever.
