Frank Boudewijn de Groot (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbʌu̯dəʋɛi̯n
dÉ™ ˈɣroË t], born 20 May 1944) is a Dutch singer-songwriter, known
for "Welterusten Meneer de President" (1966).Boudewijn de Groot was
born in wartime occupied Dutch East Indies in 1944 in a Japanese
concentration camp close to Batavia (today known as Jakarta) where his
mother died in June 1945. In 1946, he and his family returned to the
Netherlands. De Groot's father, however, was obliged to return to
Indonesia, so De Groot went to stay with his aunt in Haarlem. In 1951,
his father came back and in 1952, the family moved, with his new
stepmother, to Heemstede. De Groot lived in Heemstede in the same
street as one of his future lyricists, Lennaert Nijgh, who was a
friend of De Groot's stepbrother.In 1960, De Groot met Nijgh at the
Coornhert Lyceum in Haarlem. At that time, De Groot was already
singing in the style of Jaap Fischer and Jacques Brel. Lennaert Nijgh
wrote his lyrics. After their high school-period they both decided to
go to a film academy. In their last year, Nijgh made the short movie
"Feestje Bouwen", for which De Groot wrote two songs. During one of
the presentations of the movie, television journalist Ed Lautenslager
became impressed with De Groot's talent, and subsequently helped him
to get a contract with record label Philips. De Groot's first single,
"Strand", appeared in 1964 and led to some media attention. He
followed it up with "Elegie prenatale" and "De morgen", and his
recurring appearances in the television show "Kaberet Kroniek" made De
Groot a minor national celebrity. The single "Noordzee" in February
1964 was a much bigger hit, but the huge breakthrough came in 1966
with Lennaert Nijgh's adaptation of a song from Charles Aznavour's
"Une enfant de seize ans", retitled "Meisje van 16". This was De
Groot's first song to appear in a music chart. He soon quit his job to
become a full-time singer. After a while, his first album Boudewijn de
Groot, recorded with the Frans de Kok orchestra, was released by
record label Decca.Much of Nijgh's lyrics included social criticism,
so after the release of his first album in 1966 De Groot was labeled
as a protest singer, an image confirmed for the mainstream audience by
the success of his song Welterusten Meneer de President ("Goodnight,
Mister President") on the Vietnam War. De Groot's second album Voor de
overlevenden was released later in 1966. The arranger and conductor
for this album, Bert Paige, continued to work with De Groot until the
1970s. However, during carnival 1967, "Het Land van Maas en Waal" was
released and became De Groot's third hit. Under the name "Baldwin", an
English version of these songs appeared in the U.K. (The land at
rainbow's end). The next single, "Onder ons", just made it into the
charts. By this time, De Groot had already recorded songs like
"Verdronken vlinder", "Testament" and "Beneden alle peil", which would
later become successful but would never enter hit charts. De Groot and
Nijgh became influenced by the Flower Power movement during that time
and created the album Picknick. The songs sounded a lot like a mix of
George Harrison's work on The Beatles albums and their own work. The
album was well received, and the single "Picknick" was a hit. The duet
"Meester Prikkebeen" with Elly Nieman entered the charts two months
later. Two other songs, "Waterdrager" and "Als de rook om je hoofd is
verdwenen" were minor hits in 1968. Boudewijn de Groot Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter