Supersister - Wow (1975)

Supersister was a Dutch progressive rock band formed in The Hague, Netherlands in 1968, from the ashes of The Bulbs, who consisted of Robert Jan Stips on keyboards and vocals, Sacha van Geest on flute, Marco Vrolijk on drums, Ron van Eck on bass, along with Rib Douw and Daniel Denis. The Bulbs were together for about three years from 1965, but when Douw and Denis both left in 1968, the remaining members renamed themselves Supersister and carried on as a quartet. They released their debut single 'She Was Naked' in 1970, and it became their biggest hit, reaching the Netherlands Top 40, and gaining them a record deal with Polydor Records that same year. Their debut album, 'Present From Nancy' appeared later in 1970, and the next two years saw the release of 'To The Highest Bidder' in 1971, and 'Pudding En Gisteren' in 1972. Following the release of that third album, van Geest and Vrolijik both left the group, replaced by Charly Mariano and Herman van Boeyen, respectively, and by 1973 they had started to incorporate more jazz fusion elements into their music, as evidenced by their fourth album 'Iskander'. After its release in 1973, Mariano was replaced by Elton Dean, while Stips left to play keyboard in another Dutch group, Golden Earring. The band decided to split up after the release of their fifth album, 'Spiral Staircase', in 1974, citing diminishing interest in the band's jazz fusion direction, and lacklustre commercial reception. A 2000 reunion included the classic line-up of Stips, van Geest, Vrolijik, and van Eck, and they played Progfest in Los Angeles, later releasing their first official studio album in 26 years, with 'Memories Are New'. One thing that is particularly noticeable about Supersister is that they have never taken themselves too seriously, and this can be heard by listening to the b-sides of some of their singles, such as the spoken word 'Spiral Staircase' and 'The Groupies Of The Band', or their Bonzo's-inspired Elvis take-off single 'Fancy Nancy'. However, they also produced some outstanding progressive rock, and it is for this that they will be most remembered, so enjoy this collection of hard to find singles and b-sides from their classic period of 1970-1975. 

Track listing

01 She Was Naked (single 1970)
02 Spiral Staircase (b-side of 'She Was Naked')
03 Fancy Nancy (single 1970)
04 Gonna Take Easy (b-side of 'Fancy Nancy')
05 Girl Named You (single edit 1971)    
06 Missing Link (b-side of 'Girl Named You')
07 No Tree Will Grow (On Too High A Mountain) (single edit 1971)  
08 The Groupies Of The Band (b-side of 'No Tree Will Grow (On Too High A Mountain)')
09 Dead Dog (b-side of 'Radio' 1972)
10 Wow (single 1973)
11 Drs. D. (b-side of 'Wow')
12 Memories Are New (b-side of 'Bagoas' 1973)
13 Coconut Woman (single as Sweet Okay Supersister 1975)
14 Here Comes The Doctor (b-side of 'Coconut Woman')