The Top 2000 is a trip down to memory and if there's several songs in the list by the first ever band you loved, you can't help but dust off the albums (or in my case desperately trying to get more songs on MP3 and loud them to my walkman) and enjoy them all over again. In my case I've spent plenty of time on my bicycle listening to Doe Maar. The Netherlands' most popular band ever. They played a mix of ska, reggea, pop and a bit of punk and sang their critical, free-thinking, relationship, political songs in Dutch. The band introduced merchandising in the Netherlands. They produced such a demand for the band that they had to call it a day. And when they did I sat crying in front of the television. I was 8 years old but I can still see them in the dressing room. For a very long time I had a serious gap in my music history, apparently I said goodbye to music when they split (must have been the time I read every book about the weather our library had in stock). Doe Maar songs are a document of the early 80s in the Netherlands. I'm not here to give a national history lesson but we all know the phrase 'history repeats'. Their songs are relevant all over again. I could always relate to songs as 'Pa' (about how you're not like your dad wanted you to be) and 'Ruma Saja' (about how you're also a stranger in your father's country, I was able to tell this to the singer of the song, Ernst Jansz, earlier this year which was one of the best moments in my life), but songs such as 'Doe maar net alsof je neus bloed' (about closing your eyes for what's going on in the world) and 'De bom' (The bomb, chorus goes little as 'Come on drop it already, it's going to happen anyway, it doesn't matter if you run') are relevant again. They have timeless classics everyone older than 30 is able to sing along effortless. That's what makes a great band. I'm really not a fan of Dutch music, but Doe Maar, I have to admit this once and for all, is a part of me.
Here's 'De bom', a song that captures the main aspects of the band the best. Curiously it never appeared on an album.
