Aha, I love that search engine. Yes it was the drummer, Neils:

http://surfguitar101.com/profile/view/nielsjansen/

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

Looks like Marcel has added another song that it doesn't appear was released on an album or single. Some cool live performance footage sprinkled in for good measure. Woot! Woot!

Fady

El Mirage @ ReverbNation

@holy moses: ripping song? Ha, cool version indeed, but the original As proud as I am of being Dutch like the Treble Spankers, I'm more ashamed of the origine of that last song.
It was a big international hit by a pophouse duo called 2Unlimited.

Why I'm ashamed? Well.... see video below, and don't blame me!

www.alohasluts.com
Aloha Sluts on BandCamp
www.arnyzona.com (my photography)
Aloha Fest on facebook

Last edited: Feb 25, 2013 12:00:58

Hi guys,

I bumped into this thread for the first time today and since Phantom Frank is the not the type of public guy that will join SG101 I will let you know some ins and outs.

I was not in the Treble Spankers myself but working with Frank for ten years now I have heard all the stories about those days. Back then I was a very good friend of Kruup´s longtime girlfriend (now ex). Through her I got to know Kruup very well and remember listening to the new album together with them when it was just mixed.

I saw somewhere between 10 and 15 shows of The Treble Spankers, from their very early days to their very last shows ranging from small pubs to big festivals. One of the highlights was definitely their show on the biggest festival in The Netherlands; Pinkpop. They played in a totally packed tent with about 10.000 people jumping to "Red Hot Navigator", an absolut goosebumps moment. I was on the side of the stage together with the guys from Fun Lovin´ Criminals who were blown away by their show just like me (after Pinkpop they started doing Malaguena at their live shows and in an interview later that day with Nieuwe Revu they named The Treble Spankers as their favourite band). After (or before) the show on Pinkpop the Spankers did a show for national TV backstage in a hangar, I was there as well. http://youtu.be/sgM6N2t7SGU
All in all this was an absolute key moment for The Treble Spankers and helped them sell 25.000 albums.

I believe the major reason why it was shelved was that Phantom Frank developed some really bad tendonitis problems in one of his hands and had to basically stop playing live, at which point the band was finished. With no chance of promotion of the album, Polydor killed it. It's the Treble Spankers, so it goes without saying that it's a good album, but I gotta say that I think it wasn't nearly as good as Hasheeda or even Araban.

After Pinkpop they did 5 to 10 shows a week and sometimes 3 festivals on one day, obviously too much for Frank since this started his Repetitive Strain Injury problems. Due to the many shows Frank had to give his arm rest but he also was under pressure for writing new material for a follow up to Hasheeda. There was simply not enough time to write a full album of strong compositions and give them time to mature during live shows.

During the long recording process in an expensive studio most bandmembers (that smoked pot on a daily basis) were stoned (except for Frank). This did not help with the overall performance and tightness. When listening to the material Frank was not pleased with the result. It was not nearly as good as Hasheeda and did not even match up to Araban. They had a meeting with Polydor (who obviously prefered to release the album and cash in on the success) and it was decided not to release the album. The band agreed with each other never to publish or share the recordings with others, something which was not respected by Kruup. Lots of people were sent tapes of the album and since last year half the album is up on Youtube.

I really hope Marcel posts more of them. (How cool of him to post all these unreleased tracks, BTW! Thumbs Up )

I fully understand that for the fans of The Treble Spankers it is great that this collectable material is popping up but I can tell you Frank is "not amused at all". The third album do not meet his standards by far. The "mix is not good", "the performance is sloppy" and "some of the compositions are weak" (his words, not mine). He wants people to remember The Treble Spankers for their two albums "Araban" and "Hasheeda", IMHO two legendary and groundbreaking instrumental albums.

The Treble Spankers were an amazing band with a great group of musicians but when it came down to songwriting Phantom Frank wrote 99% of the material. So basically Frank "was" the Treble Spankers just as Frank "is" The Phantom Four today, a new band with a different dynamic and approach, both musically and personally. For Frank The Phantom Four is "a step forward" from The Treble Spankers and he does not like to look back. So for those waiting for a reunion, it is safe to say there will never be one. The closest you will get is when The Phantom Four play an old Treble Spankers track like Dilmohammed, which we often do.

Niels Jansen
Program Director
North Sea Surf Radio

To submit your surf music to North Sea Surf Radio send the tracks as .mp3 in 320kbps bitrate with correct tags to playlist@northseasurfradio.com via Dropbox.

North Sea Surf Radio: Website- Facebook - Twitter
North Sea Surf Festival: Website - Facebook - Twitter
The Phantom Four: Website - Facebook - Twitter

Last edited: Dec 11, 2013 07:08:26

Yesm, thanks Niels! I'm not surprised by Frank's concern about releasing the album. He's a real artist and sets the bar for the rest of us. We should all strive to only put out what we think is the highest quality music, otherwise it dilutes the overall quality of the genre IMHO.

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

Also, I was just thinking.
It's posts like Neils above that proves
Why this forum is way better than Facebook.
Of course FB is important for promoting and
Networking.
But the historic documenting of stuff that is important
Part of keeping this in people's minds.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

The songs are really good tunes, maybe not so good in Phantom Frank's standards, but I think the record captures the spirit of the band and I like them a lot (even more now that I know the background). I always like to listen to demo tracks and stuff like that ... it is kinda saying "like you in the good days and also in the bad ones". Hope Phantom Frank decides to record them right in the near future!

As Jeff says the forum is THE info source.
Have you ever tried to look for a previous FB post?

When you have to shoot ... shoot! Don't talk.
"Los Grainders" www.facebook.com/losgrainders
"Planeta Reverb" www.facebook.com/planetareverb

Last edited: Dec 11, 2013 13:52:43

Amazing. Very inspiring. So much dedication and devotion to music. I hope Frank's found the right balance that lets him play this music he so clearly loves for many more decades.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: Dec 11, 2013 17:28:56

Thanks for the great back story and information Niels. Please let Frank know how many fans he has here on SG101!

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

bigtikidude wrote:

Also, I was just thinking.
It's posts like Neils above that proves
Why this forum is way better than Facebook.
Of course FB is important for promoting and
Networking.
But the historic documenting of stuff that is important
Part of keeping this in people's minds.

very much!! Well put, Jeff! To hell with Facebook!

Niels, thanks for the full story with Frank's injury. I am so glad to hear that he is able to manage it. What a terrible thing for a dedicated guitarist to have to deal with, though. Anyway, may I say that I think Frank is really being too tough on the material from the third Treble Spankers album. There are a lot of really good songs on there, and to my ears the performances sound very good, though maybe lacking some of the fire that was evident on the first two records. But it's definitely not an album to be ashamed of by any stretch of imagination. It seems like Frank is really not the kind of a guy to look back very much, but I think if he gave it a fair hearing after all these many years, he might find it's much better than he remembers it to be. As a huge fan of Frank's, I very much hope it sees the official light of day at some point. It definitely deserves it.

Ivan
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