Well,
since no other live circles of the other Bopcats came in, I'll be
the one to start off with my story. It all started about 22 years
ago on march the 9th 1979. That night Joke and I “as usual” went to
the Zaaier in the Roothaanhuis on the Rozengracht in Amsterdam. Most
of the time we went there to warm up for our tour round the disco's
and bars around the Leidseplein area. That Night ,the 3rd of March,
a couple of rockers suddenly entered the Zaaier. Bopper, Philip, Paul
Teyema, Bull etc. anyway they were nice boys and before we knew it,
they talked us in to going with them downstairs to the wedding of
a couple of friends of them (Willem and Alma). We had our doubts at
first, you don't walk into someone's wedding without them knowing
you or being invited, but the guys assured us that it was no problem
and everybody was welcome. after so much persuasion we were easily
turned . Joke and I went downstairs with the gentlemen and were introduced
to the bride and groom. When I met them I started laughing and said
“You….. are you the groom ???? I don't believe it!! In my (then still
naïve) imagination a groom must look something else than a guy with
greased hair and a silly long coat with coloured reveres, but he really
was the groom and I must say, we had the night of our live. We soon
made an appointment to go to Ko, the Rock 'n Roll bar, the next night.
Joke and me kept on saying to each other” all right, were going with
them but we stay ourselves, were not going to wear a petticoat, the
guys will have to take us as we are!”
Well
before a week was over we were both wearing petticoats, over that
a wide black skirt a white sweater, white socks and white tennis shoes.
Back then it was the only thing you could wear as a rock 'n roll girl
, and so all the girls did. There wasn't really a boy I fancied, but
big Fonz was nice looking in that time (I haven't seen him a while
so I don't know how he looks now hahaha) So the first couple of month's
I stayed single and having a great time. Then I dated big Fonz for
a short period but it didn't last long so I was single again and still
enjoying it. Soon I was at home in the Rock& Roll music and bought
a lot of records, Doowop was my favourite so most of my records were
Doowop. Joke started dating Philip and we all had a great time because
if you were going steady or not didn't matter, we were all one big
family and went everywhere together. Gigs from "The Real Fifty's Band",
"Peewee and The Specials" and "The Red Hot Peppers", but also a lot
of foreign bands like: Crazy Cavan , Riot Rockers,…. we followed them
all through Holland. Also our first Rock&Roll weekender in England
was 1 big party, we didn't believe our eyes, hundreds/thousands of
rockers together in a big hall dancing and all. A great sight. A big
fight drew something of a shadow over things, Mods against Rockers
with as a result the Kid from Eindhoven beaten up badly by a couple
of Mods.
Meanwhile
the Bopcats started there dancing lessons at Amsrock, with mixed results
for some of us, but most of us were dancing the stars out of the skies
and after that we where asked for demonstrations and televisions programs
and things like that. In that time Gonzo also was with the Bopcats
but I didn't like that guy, because all he could do was nag about
stupid punks and stealing there badges. I was really someone (and
still am) who loads violence and think like “live and let live” But
anyway, passing time I started to like him more and more, he became
a little milder (gonzo will tell you that I became more wilder) He
started a band with Willem, Alma and Dirk named “Mr Bigfeet and the
Donuts” and of course we followed them everywhere. We both liked each
other but neither of us wanted to make the first move. All Bopcats
saw what was happening and everybody was trying to bring us together
but nothing much happened between us. The turnaround came at Ed Schellings
birthday the 20th of june 1980, we had a great party with all the
Bopcats dancing in the streets, BBQing and having lots of fun. On
the way home Gonzo and I were sitting in the back of Dirks car and
YES we started kissing and couldn't stop either. From that moment
on we were going together ,according to Willem's mom you were only
going steady after going to bed with each other but that didn't happen
till later. Two months after that, through my work at Boebies Jeans
Shop ,I was offered an appartment. My boss said we had to take it
illegal (with his approval) But we had to go in that night, otherwise
somebody else would. As said as done Gonzo and I moved in a 3 room
appartment in the Ferdinand Bolstraat, Marc helped us move in an old
rebuild citröen duck pickup. Deep in my heart we didn't really have
a relation for live but I would see.
As
things went well, things went well and we had a lot of fun together
which was the most important part . But… after a while we had to move
out but within a week I was offered a second apartment a couple of
houses further and a flight up. A little smaller but in better state.
This one looked more like a home (with real furniture and so ;-) but
we were still living there illegal. Live was still one big party;
work in the daytime coming home at 6 order a pizza or a Shoarma, changing
clothes (or not, most of the time I was wearing petticoats at work
as well) and of to some gig somewhere in the country, going to bed
late and of to work again. Birthdays of Bopcats where also big fun
with new Bopcats coming in (with someone) or sometimes suddenly being
there (and suddenly disappearing like that as well) Gonzo started
driving a Taxi and was working irregular times, Ko stopped the Rock&roll
cafe and the Bopcats were looking for a new Homecafe, First we went
to Utrecht a while to "The Boys", we just partied on there in the
weekends. Until someone came up with “la Barca”. La Barca was a youth
bar in the east of Amsterdam, going through some bad times. Coincidental
la Barca was also part of the NSOJ of which de Zaaier from the beginning
of this story was also a part. Within a couple of months we took over
la Barca since there was only a drumband rehearsing there and in the
weekends there was hardly anybody in the bar at all. We had to change
the name to something more rock&roll-like and after a night of arguing
we came up with “Cruise Inn” and we all started to live the place
up with buckets of paint hammers and saws to make the place “our home”.
And it was a big success from the start, Rockers from all over Holland
came to the Cruise Inn for a great Rock&Roll party. Gonzo and I moved
in our third house (with a garden) in Amsterdam west. Buy then we
were 7 years further and we never came to the point of having children,
we kept on saying to each other “next year we start with children”,
by then I knew for a while that Gonzo was (and still is) “the one”
I wasn't pregnant right away and life went on, parties and all. Even
when I became pregnant we didn't stop going out, I even went on giving
dancing lessons in the Cruise inn with Norma. We had a lovely boy
and named him Dion of course after Dion and the Bellmonts. We bought
a house in Geuzenveld and Gonzo bought his own Taxi number (first
together with taxi-Marcel and later alone)
Six
years after Dion we had a daughter named Donna (after a song from
Dion & the Bellmonts) A short while ago the Cruise Inn had to leave
the Zeeburgerdijk because houses were being build there. From local
authority we were giving a new place at the Valentijnskade, but Bopcats
wouldn't be Bopcats if we didn't leave the old Cruise in a proper
way. Well we did !!!! (check: Photo-album/Demolitionparty) Chainsaws,
sledgehammers, everything was done to give our old place (witch we
build up over the last 17 years) a proper farewell. By now the kids
are 13 and 8 years old and there were a couple of years when we didn't
go to the Cruise so often. But we never stopped going completely,
also because we saw a lot of Bopcats besides the Cruise Inn. Also
we kept going to the rock&roll weekenders in Hemsby. Strange enough
we find out that at the moment we are going to more and more gigs
and performances and we notice this with the other “diehards” as well.
When I look back on all these years with the Bopcats I can only say:”
what a outrageous time we had together, forever friends and the things
we did together, we could write books about that. We were and still
are a unique group of friends.
Well
this was my story, of course how I relived it in my memories. I'm
looking forward to the other stories .
José
Eggerding
Translation:
André Kolthek
