Ton (1952) got his first piano lessons from his aunt at the age of six. He wasn't very eager to learn and play by the book. Instead, he preferred to improvise and play his own stuff. At the age of seventeen he left school to study classical double bass at the Hilversum Academy of Music. At that time he and Pim had already started playing in some local popular bands together, in which Ton played piano and bass guitar. With one of these bands, called High Tide Formation, he recorded his first single in 1970 (‘Fluffy’, with his own song ‘White Walls’ on the B-side). From 1972 till 1982 Ton was the keyboard player and main composer of Kayak. When Kayak broke up in 1982, Ton started another band, Europe (not to be confused with the Swedish group with the same name), together with guitarist Johan Slager and bass player Bert Veldkamp. They released one album. Lack of success caused the band to break up within a year. In 1983 Ton became the keyboard player of the British group Camel. After 1985 Ton still made a few contributions to the albums of that band, but he quitted touring until he was asked, in 2003, for the band’s European Farewell Tour. In Holland, Ton became more and more involved with all sorts of theatre projects like writing the music for cabaret performer Youp van 't Hek (a long lasting collaboration), as well as several other theatre companies like the Youth Theatre in Rotterdam and Opus One in Amsterdam. He made a stable career ‘behind the scene’, in which he wrote more music than he had ever done before with Kayak. Much of the music Ton wrote for theatre (musicals and ballet music) has been released on CD.

Pim (1953) profits from the musical talent that runs in the family. His father was a classical percussionist in the Radio Chamber Orchestra, and became, unsurprisingly, Pim’s first musical teacher. Pim soon developed as a real multi-instrumentalist, because besides being an excellent drummer he is a fine piano- and guitar player as well. From 1967 to 1976 his and Ton Scherpenzeel’s musical careers ran parallel. Pim and Ton both played in bands like Balderdash and High Tide Formation, and both wrote the music for these bands. In 1972 they founded Kayak. Four years later Pim had to leave the band due to health problems and a manager related allergy. He got offered a job as record producer by Kayak’s former record company EMI, and he produced giant hits for them with artists such as Maywood and Pussycat. In 1979 he emerged with a new band called Diesel, that had a hit single in the USA with ‘Sausalito Summernight’. Another project of Pim’s that eventually took on the form of a band was called The President (1983-1985). Some more recent remarkable productions were albums for Robbie Valentine and Valensia, an act that not only made it to #1 in Holland, but was also very succesful in Japan. Pim also recorded a new CD with the re-emerged Diesel in the summer of 2000. Today Pim still works as a record producer (recently the very succesful Petra Berger albums that went gold in Holland) and lends his voice to many film productions.

Bert (1953) joined Kayak in 2000. He is perhaps best known as the lead singer of legendary Dutch hardrock band Vandenberg, that had great succes worldwide (‘Burning Heart’), especially in America, but in Holland he also had enormous succes with a tune from a tv-commercial by beerbrewer Heineken (‘Juli July’), for which he had been asked to lend his powerful voice. When Kayak decided to go on tour to promote the new album ‘Close To The Fire’, Ton and Pim were looking for someone who could not only perform the songs that former lead singer Edward Reekers used to sing, but who could also add some rock feel to the tunes without losing the original sensitivity. Furthermore, the band needed someone who could allow Max Werner to expand his percussive abilities on stage by taking over some of the lead and harmony vocal duties without losing the characteristics of the old Kayak sound. The combination worked like magic: the two voices appeared to blend excellently. After Max Werner left the band, Bert proved to do a very good job as Kayak’s main singer during the 2000 tour and remained Kayak’s front man until the end of 2005.

When it became clear that the rock opera ‘Nostradamus – The Fate of Man’ would not be continuated, Bert concluded that Kayak would not be needing him anymore, and he left the band to concentrate on his solo career.

Rob (1950) joined Kayak when in the autumn of 2000 guitarist Rob Winter had other commitments that did not allow him to do the whole concert tour. Rob Vunderink, who also works as an editor/journalist for newspaper De Gelderlander, had been playing with Pim Koopman in Diesel. They scored several minor hits in Holland. Rob co-wrote Diesel’s 1981 US hit ‘Sausalito Summernight', which peaked at #25 in the Billboard Hot 100, but was picked up and played by US radio stations as if it were a # 1 hit. The single made it to #1 in Canada. The album ‘Watts in a Tank’ made it into the charts too. In the early seventies Rob had played in a band called Cobra, based in The Hague, and in The Hammer, then working with the same management as Kayak.

Joost (1968) replaced guitarist Rob Winter in 2003. Before Joost had been a member of the Ilse de Lange Band. Joost currently has another band of his own, Heat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before Edward (1957) joined Kayak to replace Max Werner as the lead vocalist (one of the major events in the history of the band), he was a huge fan that had seen numerous concerts of the group. To be the new frontman of Kayak was a dream come true for the son of the mayor of Berkel-Rodenrijs, a small village near Rotterdam. When the ‘new’ band suddenly hit the jack pot with the hit single ‘Ruthless Queen’ and the album ‘Phantom of The Night’, the dream only continued to last. Edward’s voice can be heard on the last four albums before the band broke up in 1981. After Kayak’s demise Edward became a much wanted studio and backing vocalist, mainly for other artists, jingles and commercials. Edward released two solo albums. The last few years saw him developing as a voice director for movie synchronisations, like ‘Sesame Street’, ‘101 Dalmations’, ‘The King and I’ and ‘Barney’s Great Adventure’. Recently he did leadvocals on albums by Ayreon and Eric Norlander.

In 2003 Edward returned to Kayak as guest singer for ‘Merlin - Bard of the Unseen’, where he replaced both Bert and Rob when they were not able to perform their parts in the rock opera. As a result of this, Edward was asked to take part in the new Kayak project, ‘Nostradamus - The Fate of Man’, that will hit the stage in 2005, in which he will perform the role of the monk.

Monique first sang with Kayak in 2003, when she ‘doubled’ Cindy’s role as Morgan LeFay in ‘Merlin - Bard of the Unseen’, and has appeared with the band at regular gigs since then whenever possible. Her voice can be heard on an almost endless list of productions of albums, singles, film or tv and radio tunes. Monique will be performing the role of Catherine de Medici in Kayak’s new rock opera ‘Nostradamus - The Fate of Man’.

Monique has her own cabaret & theatre group called ‘Dan Maar Zo’.

 

Cindy has sung with many Dutch artists as a session singer. She first participated as guest singer on ‘Merlin - Bard of the Unseen’, specifically to perform the role of Morgan LeFay, Merlin’s counter part in the story on which the project is based, and she also joined Kayak on many of the ‘regular’ gigs. In ‘Nostradamus - The Fate of Man’she plays the astrologer’s second wife.

Early 2005 Jan van Olffen replaced bass player Bert Veldkamp just in time for the ‘Nostradamus’-tour. Jan has played with a long list of bands and artists, from rock to cabaret. To name a few: he has worked in Dutch theatre productions for people like Robert Long and Jenny Arean, and in various musicals such as The Lion King. Other acts that Jan has played with are The Greg Howard Band, Sister Sledge and Twarres.

 

 

 

Bert (1952) had played bass guitar in several local bands around the northern Dutch city of Groningen, for example Zoo and Kangaroo, until he was asked by Kayak to replace Cees van Leeuwen in 1974. Bert left Kayak at the end of 1976, shortly after drummer Pim Koopman had called it quits. After Kayak had split up to partly reform as Europe in 1981/82, Bert returned as the bass player of this shortlived group. After Europe, he went on to have several regular daytime jobs outside the music business, but also showed himself an able entrepeneur when he started a succesful CD-production company. By the time Kayak reformed again in 1999 Ton and Pim asked him to become the bass guitarist of the re-emerged band.

Rob (1960) officially joined Kayak in 1999, but he had already laid the groundwork when in 1995 the first demo recordings were made by Ton and Pim. When they were looking for musicians to participate in the then yet unnamed project (no one dared to call it Kayak yet) Pim suggested Rob Winter, the guitar player whose talent he was familiar with after producing albums by Valensia and Robbie Valentine. Rob Winter had been playing with these artists for some time. Rob immediately agreed to join in and the result of those early sessions can be heard on the new Kayak album ‘Close To The Fire’. In fact, the intro to the track Frozen Flame features a few guitar riffs that Rob, still in the dark about what had to be played to which chords, improvised at what later could be called the ‘audition’ - something it never really was, of course. Rob lead a hectic double musical life: he is also the guitarist in Dutch singer Marco Borsato’s band. In the past Rob Winter had also played in bands like Siberia and Toontje Lager. Another project he was involved in with the Memories Band, that released an album containing the Kayak song ‘First Signs of Spring’.

In autumn 2002 Rob left Kayak. He found he could no longer combine his work with Marco Borsato and Kayak - too many coinciding tour dates made it impossible for him to do both, and so he was forced to make a decision.

Rob Winter’s personal site

Max (1953) took his first (classical) percussion lessons with Pim Koopman’s father. He met Ton and Pim at the Hilversum School for Music, where the three of them started the foundation of what later would become Kayak. Although Max is a drummer/percussionist, his unique voice forced him into the role of lead singer for the band. When, in 1978, he got the chance to become Kayak’s drummer, he did not hesitate and took it. In 1981 he made a solo album called ‘Seasons’. The single ‘Rain In May’ was a massive success, not only in Holland but even bigger so in Germany, where it reached number one. After 1983 Max became a much asked background and studio singer for numerous artists, commercials and jingles. In the nineties, while still working as a professional singer and having made two more albums, he decided he did not want to be dependant of the uncertain and much demanding music business anymore and to everyone’s surprise he started working as a postman. But this appeared to be only a temporary job: in 1996 he lend his still unique voice to the demo’s Ton and Pim were recording, which ultimately led to the reborn Kayak and the album ‘Close To the Fire’. Max once again became the lead vocalist and frontman of the band, but this time on his own ‘free will’. Unfortunately, severe health problems kept him from maintaining this position very long. Before the autumn tour of 2000 Max definitely had to leave the band.

Johan (1946) started off as a guitarist with bands that were inspired by rock & roll icons such as Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers. In 1971 Johan joined Ton Scherpenzeel and Pim Koopman’s band High Tide Formation, and after a short absence he became a member of the first official line up of Kayak in 1972. In 1982, after the demise of Kayak, he continued with (among others) Ton and Bert Veldkamp in a band called Europe. After this short lived project he returned to his musical roots: rock and blues with bands like Ravage (with Michel van Dijk and Danny Lademacher) and Plus Doreen that played the music bars and rock cafe live circuit.

Cees van Leeuwen (1951) played bass guitar in the first official line up of Kayak from 1972 till 1974. He left Kayak to be able to fully concentrate on his university studies, though for pleasure he kept playing in several local bands around Leiden. He became a lawyer, where one of his specialties became, not surprisingly, the music business. In 2002 Cees was asked by the then Dutch gouverment party LPF to become their secretary of Culture and Media, an invitation he accepted.

Charles became the drummer to replace Pim Koopman in 1976. His participation in the band was only shortlived: hardly 18 months. In 1986 he and Ton were reunited for a short period, when both musicians went on tour with guitarist Harry Sacksioni. Charles Schouten is still active as a musician. His more recent activities comprise playing in a band called Elastiek.

Theo de Jong replaced bass player Bert Veldkamp in 1976. Just as in the case of Charles, his Kayak period lasted only 18 months. In 1978 Theo left the band. He worked and played with many bands afterwards and now lives in Antwerp, Belgium, teaching bass and still playing in several bands.

 

 

Peter (1954), Ton’s younger brother, often travelled with the band. First as a roadie, then he specialised to become the light engineer of the band. For a hobby he also played the bass guitar, being able to play a lot of the Kayak stuff already before he finally joined the band as their 5th (!) bassplayer, in 1978, replacing Theo de Jong. After Kayak broke up in 1981, he started an workshop in Amsterdam in which he manufactures and sells tiffany lamps and other stained glass objects. He continues to do so till this very day.

Peter Scherpenzeel’s site

Irene (1955) studied at the School for Journalism in Utrecht, when in 1975, as part of the study, she was writing an article about Kayak. The interview she then had with Ton Scherpenzeel eventually led to a relationship. Their marriage produced two children, Daphne and Emma. This relationship wasn’t just romantic, but lead to many other consequences defining Kayak’s future: Irene appeared to be an able lyricist, releasing Ton from the duty to write all his own lyrics to the songs while at the same time adding a new, story-telling dimension to his work. The collaboration even stretched to the point where, when in 1978 Kayak was looking for a new line-up, Ton suggested to include two female backing singers. One of these was Irene, who by then had become an important factor in the band. After Kayak broke up, in 1981, Irene kept writing many lyrics to mainly Ton’s songs, but she retired as a singer. She picked up her old job as a journalist, writing for music magazines such as Hitkrant, and worked for several TV and radio programs like Toppop Yeah and TROS Mega Top 50. When Kayak restarted in 1999, she and Ton took over the management for the band through their company Write On Productions. Irene’s entry here as ‘former member’ of Kayak is not quite accurate: she is in effect still part of the band’s creative team (with Ton Scherpenzeel and Pim Koopman), for she again co-wrote the lyrics for the band’s songs and developed the scripts for ‘Merlin - Bard of the Unseen’ and this year’s ‘Nostradamus - The Fate of Man’.

Katherine (1951) was born in the UK and as a British citizen she was the ‘foreigner’ in Kayak. She entered the band in 1978, when the new Kayak line-up was created to include two female backing singers, one of which she became, the other one being Irene Linders. Katherine was by then already bass player Peter Scherpenzeel’s wife. She also co-wrote several lyrics of Kayak songs. After Kayak broke up in 1981, Katherine left the music business.