Klein Orkest was a Dutch musical group, founded in 1978. Klein Orkest emerged from a failed cabaret programme, Groot Orkest, and initially mainly performed at squatter parties. The lyrics were written by Harrie Jekkers and Koos Meinderts. Harrie Jekkers had a hit under the pseudonym Harry Klorkestein (an anagram of Klein Orkest) with O, o, Den Haag. Besides work for adults, Klein Orkest also produced an album of children's songs, Roltrap naar de maan. For this album, Klein Orkest received an Edison award in 1986. Some songs from the album were also performed in shows on Sesamstraat.
In 1982, the first single was released: Laat Mij Maar Alleen. They also made a Hague-themed outing with O,O, Den Haag. Jekkers wrote it for the 30th birthday of presenter Cees Grimbergen. Thanks to this song, the group got their first record contract, on the condition that it would appear on the first LP. The band was fundamentally opposed to this because the song had a completely different atmosphere than the rest of the songs. A compromise was reached: Oh Oh Den Haag was released, but as a single under the artist name 'Harry Klorkestein'. The surname is an anagram of Klein Orkest, the first name is that of the writer Harrie Jekkers, albeit spelled differently. Jekkers is also responsible for the vocals on the single. On television and at performances, sound engineer Henny de Jong took on the role of Klorkestein as a playback artist to keep the true artists anonymous. The song was quickly played to death on The Hague pirate stations. Later, Jekkers had difficulty proving that he was the true writer of Oh Oh Den Haag.
With Koos Werkeloos, a second hit single from Het Klein Orkest appeared in 1983. The song attracted attention due to its daring lyrical subject (that political Hague mafia that keeps cutting benefits for the minimum income. Well, let them pay themselves, because there's nothing to get from Koos. Sorry that I exist!). The song Over de muur was released in 1984. It was written at the height of Hollanditis, on the eve of the large peace demonstration on 29 October 1983 at the Malieveld in The Hague. The four band members never expected the song to be successful, but upon arrival at the demonstration, they were asked to play it on the main stage. It was also broadcast live on the radio. The single became the band's biggest hit and still appears annually among the last 100 songs in the Top 2000.
The group disbanded in 1985 but reunited between 2017 and 2019 for two theatre tours.
Source: Wikipedia
On 19 January 2020, "Later is al lang begonnen" was on the turntable during our Sunday Morning Classics.
