"Black Cat Europe" er Europas største og beste internetside om rock & roll og rockabilly. Her
er historien om siden og mannen bak den, Marijn Raaijmakers, i hans egne ord:
>Subject: BlackCat Rockabilly: BlackCat Rockabilly Europe - The Story
>Date: ma, 11 jul 2005 12:48:10 +0100
>
>NOTE: Chris Black & Black Cat will play at the 2nd Czech Rumble in
>Czech Republic (29 + 30 July, 2005) in Kralovstvi (near Rumburk).
>Read more: http://www.rockabillyeurope.com/rumburk/
>
>BLACKCAT ROCKABILLY EUROPE - THE STORY
>
>Quite often people from all over the world who visit my website and
>read my newsletters ask me why I am called "The BlackCat" and why the
>website is called "BlackCat Rockabilly Europe". Well, since you're
>obviously all quite curious, I thought I'd write down the story for
>you.
>
>It all started back in 1978. I had been a DJ for over 10 years then
>and I had my own Oldies Drive-In, I was a fan of what we called
>"oldies music", which included music from the 40s, 50s and early 60s.
>In a local pub in the small village of Schijndel, Netherlands, where
>I live we (my girlfriend and I) went to see a band named "Black Cat"
>from the UK. We had never heard of them before, so we figured we'd
>check 'em out. Wow, we were very impressed! From that day in 1978, I
>was a "rocker" and not just an oldies fan anymore.
>
>We got acquainted with the bandmembers Chris, Vic, Doug, Ricky and
>Terry and the next time they played in Holland, they all stayed over
>at our place and we became good friends. In 1981 my girlfriend and I
>got married and we went on our honeymoon in the UK, spending most of
>our time touring with the band. We stayed over at Doug's and Terry's
>house and we even spent a night in a tent in Chris' garden. We had
>the best honeymoon anyone could have wished for.
>
>Because I had become a big fan, I stitched "BLACK CAT" on the back of
>my leather jacket with huge letters. After a while people started
>calling ME the BlackCat, because of the letters on my back. I've kept
>the name ever since, I still have that jacket, and I still wear it
>with pride.
>
>In the mid en late 80s I knew more about rock 'n' roll and rockabilly
>than most, and I was also a fan of Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. I
>started writing down lyrics of their songs and fellow rockers asked
>me for copies, because at that time the lyrics to most rockabilly
>songs were not available anywhere. I got the idea of issuing lyrics
>books, the first two containing all of Gene Vincent's songs. They
>were home printed, and I could hardly keep up with the demand. I got
>more and more requests for other songs and by 1989 I had released 6
>booklets.
>
>1990 was the beginning of the digital age for me and I started a
>Bulletin Board System from my home. You could log in with a modem and
>download pictures and lyrics. Of course I needed a name for the
>system, and "BlackCat BBS" was the obvious choice. In 1993 the
>Internet became more accessible for home users and I moved my BBS to
>the Internet, renaming it to "The BlackCat Rockabilly Homepage" and
>later changed that to "BlackCat Rockabilly Europe".
>
>Now, 12 years on the move, I have several friends helping me out with
>writing reviews and lyrics and we have over 4000 pages on our website
>and over 2 million hits each month. That makes us the largest
>rockabilly website in Europe by far! I still work on it almost every
>day, and I still enjoy it very much.
>
>The band Black Cat unfortunatly broke up in the mid 80s, but we
>always stayed friends. Chris has constantly been active on the rock
>'n' roll scene as "Chris Black, The Fenderman". I was very thrilled
>to hear that a while back Chris and Ricky started a band again using
>the same name "Black Cat" and playing all the old favorites. Chris's
>"Ghostriders in the Sky" is still the very best rendition I ever
>heard.
>
>My friend and fellow reviewer Eric a.k.a. Uncle_B, I bet you have
>seen the name pop up many times reading our reviews, is organizing
>the Czech Rumble for the 2nd time this year, and like last last year,
>I'm hosting of the show. I am very proud to announce that "Black Cat"
>will be topping the bill. Who could have imagined that when we first
>met Black Cat 27 years ago in a small town pub in Holland!
>
>Also my good friend Wild Bob Burgos, the Sledgehammer of Rock 'n'
>Roll, will be playing at the festival. He will be co-hosting the
>event, so we will have a great time for sure! Hope you can all make
>it, you don't want to miss this unique opportunity!
>
>More information:
>http://rumburk.rockabillyeurope.com
>http://chrisblack.blackcat.nl
>http://www.wildbobburgos.co.uk
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>* BLACKCAT ROCKABILLY NEWSLETTER *
>
>Owner: Marijn Raaijmakers, Holland
>Email: blackcat@rockabilly.nl
>Uncle_B: uncle_b@rockabilly.nl
>http://www.rockabilly.nl
>http://www.rockabillyeurope.com