Bolland

Brothers Rob and Ferdi Bolland have gone alternately by "Bolland" or "Bolland & Bolland." They started their career in the late '70s with a series of one-off singles before bursting onto the international charts with their debut album, The Domino Theory. A highly sophisticated concept album based around the Cold War, the album actually spurred a hit single by Status Quo (who covered "You're in the Army Now"). The album was a daringly grand overture, composed, produced, and performed by the Bolland brothers. Rob and Ferdi followed up with Silent Partners, not at all a concept album, but rather an attempt to jam as many hit singles into one album as they possibly could. Unfortunately, the Bollands were not successful, and the album disappointed both critically (in the wake of The Domino Theory's brilliance) and commercially. It did, however, catch the eye of Austrian singer Falco, who recruited the duo to write and produce his latest album -- after he'd been unable to shake the one-hit wonder status of "Der Kommissar." Falco 3 also essentially served as "Bolland 3," matching Falco's quirkiness with the one-stop hitmaking machine of the Bollands, who finally scored their biggest successes with "Rock Me Amadeus" and "Jeanny." Falco 3 would go on to huge success, with "Rock Me Amadeus" entering the pantheon of pop culture and saving Falco from his one-hit wonder status. A sleek, stylish record, Falco 3 would prove to be a great calling card for both the Austrian singer and his writing and production team. Rob and Ferdi continued their collaboration with Falco on his Emotional album, though none of those songs would see the success of "Rock Me Amadeus" or "Jeanny" again. After Falco's untimely death in an auto accident, the Bolland brothers released a posthumous collection of outtakes from their sessions together. In the wake of "Rock Me Amadeus," however, the Bollands were the hot writing and production team of note, creating hit singles for the likes of Samantha Fox and continuing to release concept albums throughout Europe. They continued to write, produce, and perform European hit albums of their own well into the '90s.
© Tomas Mureika /TiVo