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Personal document with historical value
When I got my hands on the book 'Never Let the Night End' by music pioneer Eddy De Clercq and author Martijn Haas, I wondered if it could still contribute to the history of dance development. After all, we still have 'Dutch Dance' and 'Mary Goes Wild' on the coffee table. Both provide a fairly complete picture of the evolution of dance in the Netherlands and beyond. Yet, my answer to the above question is a resounding 'yes'.
‘Never Let the Night End’ is above all a personal document with historical value, provided by the ‘godfather of Dutch dance’, as he is often called. Drawing from diaries and his own memories, Belgian-born Eddy De Clercq paints a picture of his life as a child in the vicinity of Ghent – from his earliest childhood memories at the age of four in Wondelgem, where he grew up in a strict Flemish family, to the challenging relationship of his eventually divorced parents, and his cautious steps into the realm of romance.
Decadence
Without hesitation, he recounts the decadence of the 1970s in Parisian and Brussels clubs, where drugs were abundant and sexual escapades in the name of free love openly took place.
A unique club in the Flemish countryside, The Popcorn, holds a special place in his memories. The music style there was so innovative at the time that Eddy De Clercq still refers back to the unique blend of musical numbers sung by crooners, shuffling jive, obscure soul, jazz, raw rhythm & blues, ska, reggae, and Latin-boogaloo many years later during his performances. He tells of his first encounter with same-sex love and his meeting with his great love, Pieter Maarten Rood.
Extravagant interiors
Through Eddy’s personal narrative, we get an extensive glimpse into the music history of the 1970s and 1980s, also known as the “No Future” years due to the prevailing economic crisis, and of course, the 1990s. From disco to new wave, punk, and house. And from Eddy’s first real parties at the Brakke Grond on Amsterdam’s Nes to events at Miranda Bad, DOX, Marcanti Plaza, of course his legendary nights at RoXY, and his experiences at the world-famous Studio 54 in New York, they all come to life. The architecture and often extravagant interiors of all these past clubs are meticulously described. All these personal experiences support the description of the development of dance in Western Europe, specifically the Netherlands and Belgium. Up to the arrival of AIDS and the subsequent loss of his former party companions to the disease.
Lists
An unexpected surprise awaits at the end of the book. For each mentioned club, Eddy has compiled a fine Top Ten list. Starting from the 1980s, every track is a trip down memory lane for me – Eddy De Clercq and I belong to different musical generations. Nevertheless, I came across tracks from my youth that I hadn’t thought about in almost a quarter century and have now listened to them. Thank you, Eddy De Clercq!
All in all, this literary collaboration between Eddy De Clercq and Martijn Haas has resulted in a smooth and adventurous “coming of age” novel, but one based on reality. It’s autobiographical. The entertaining anecdotes are organically woven into the actively written account. The feeling that lingers after the last page is that Eddy has (had) a life that many of us can only dream of. Nowadays, the 59-year-old Eddy is engaged as a publisher, blogger, writer, and producer. His life continues to unfold daily like a dream. Not bad for a simple boy from a village near Ghent, Belgium.
