“Strand” (1967) – Boudewijn De Groot * Written by Boudewijn De Groot and Lennaert Nijgh * Netherlands 45: “Strand” / “Referein Voor…” * Label: Decca
A Dutch singer-songwriter with a successful 50+ year career, Boudewijn de Groot’s first single appeared in 1964. It’s called “the beach” and enumerates, in rapid-fire fashion, all the memorable things that can happen there: sunburn, fights, poker, hanky panky, crosswords, car crashes, french fries, keggers, arrests, and if translations are reliable, swimming “like a rat.” The Beach Boys this ain’t.