Vitesse was a Dutch rock group founded by drummer and singer Herman van Boeyen, assisted by an assortment of other musicians including Herman Brood. The band was active from 1975 to 1994 and had a number of hit singles in the early 1980s. It built a reputation as a good live act.
History
Vitesse was founded in 1975 in Amsterdam by Herman van Boeyen, with Herman Brood, Rob ten Bokum, and Peter Smid. They signed with Reprise that same year and released an untitled debut album. At that time the band consisted of Van Boeyen, Brood, Jan-Piet den Tex, Gerrit Veen, and Ross Recardi; Brood left the band shortly thereafter and took Veen with him. A second album, Rendez Vous, was commercially unsuccessful, as was the third, Out in the Country, though it received positive reviews. Rock Invader was more successful, with two charting singles: "Rock & Roll Band" and "Whole lot of Travellin'". The band was more successful in Germany. After Herman Brood's Wild Romance dissolved, Van Boeyen tried again to collaborate with Brood, but this was not a success; this time Brood took bass player Peter van Straten with him when he left, though Van Straten returned a few days later. in 1980 the band released the albumLive as a trio: Van Boeyen, Van Straten, and Janvan derMeij. The latter two left soon and founded Powerplay. Vitesse finally began scoring hits in 1982, with a line-up that included Otto Cooymans, Ruud Englebert, and Carl Carlton. The singles "Rosalyn" and "Good lookin'" received significant attention, and the albums Live in Germany and Incomplete Works & Other Hits reached #19 and #15 on the album charts. The single "Julia" was #30 in 1983, but after a dispute with Van Boeyen Cooymans left the band, and took Englebert and Carlton with him. The next album, Vanity Island, and the single of the same name were flops and after another failed album the band lost its record contract. In subsequent years Van Boeyen kept trying, but without avail. He had moved to Germany, playing mostly with German musicians. The 1990 single "Ever since I met you" was a moderate success in Germany, but not in the Netherlands. In 1994, after the single "All of the time" was a flop, Van Boeyen dissolved the band.
