Legendary BZN SA tour heads for Carnival

BZN will be crisscrossing the country, taking their music to their fans and ending off their tour at Carnival City’s Big Top Arena on November 7 and 8.

According to Anny Schilder and Jan Keizer, lead singers of BZN, they can’t wait to perform in South Africa again.

“South Africa has always been good to us. We love the country and its people,” said Anny.

Anny and Jan both grew up in the small Dutch town of Volendam and the duo started singing together 40 years ago just as BZN released their first major hit, Mon Amour.

“Those days, every family in Volendam made music. So even when Mon Amour became a hit, we knew the pressure was on,” said Jan.

BZN has managed to survive for so many years because they have never been too busy or too tired for their fans. “Without our fans we are nothing,” said Jan.

To make sure they reach all their South African fans this time around, Jan and Anny and a six-piece orchestra will be performing in Kimberley, Klerksdorp, Nelspruit, George, Bloemfontein, Paarl and other small towns.

“Our fans told us last time they want to hear our hits. Well, that’s exactly what we’ll be giving them ­– a show jam-packed with all the BZN hits that topped the charts in South Africa in the eighties,” said Jan.

The song list include classics such as Yeppa, Tonight, Wheels on Fire, Le Legionnaire, Waltzing Maria and of course, Mon Amour.

“Can you believe it would be 40 years next year since we became an overnight success with Mon Amour?” said Jan.

The two can’t help but smile when they talk about those early years.

BZN was looking for a female singer and they held auditions. Anny, a friend of Jan’s sister, got the job.

“We didn’t really like each other in the beginning,” said Anny. “But our voices sounded fantastic together,” said Jan.

Mon Amour was Anny’s first song she sang with the band.

The song was recorded and at the Volendam Carnival, one of the highlights on the town calendar, one could hear the song in every pub and restaurant.

Little did the band know that a well-known Dutch radio celebrity attended the carnival. He loved the song and decided to add it to his ‘songs of the week’ playlist on Radio Veronica, a regional radio station in the Netherlands.

Within a week the song went from the number 10 spot to number one where it remained for five weeks. This was the start of a remarkable career.

BZN has had over 50 hits on the Dutch music charts to date, and is the only musical act to have had top 40 hit singles for 26 consecutive years from 1973 to 1998.

They recorded more than 30 albums and received countless awards and accolades.

Band Zonder Naam has truly stood the test of time.