Gruppo Sportivo

Gruppo Sportivo are a Dutch pop band, from The Hague, formed in 1976, who enjoyed some measure of international success in the late 1970s and 1980s. They're known for songs such as Hey Girl, Beep Beep Love, Tokyo (I'm On My Way), Disco Really Made It and Rock 'n' Roll. The frontman of the band, and writer of the material, is Hans Vandenburg.

Their first single was Out There In The Jungle (Polydor 1976), but the height of their career came with the two albums 10 Mistakes (1977) and Back to '78 (1978). They came to popularity just after the height of punk rock, but were regarded as more post-punk, veering more towards the mainstream pop. Their track Dreamin' from Mistakes received much college radio airplay in the US. They were admired for their live performances, which had great humour and slapstick. Their best known song is Beep Beep Love (from the album Ten Mistakes), which enjoyed some success both in the UK and US. The UK's Radio & Records voted them "Top Newcomer '78".

Other classics originating from the milestone albums include Tokyo, Hey Girl, I Said No, Lasting Forever, Shave, Rock 'n' Roll and Mission à Paris. The albums were produced by Robert Jan Stips (Supersister, Golden Earring, The Nits). After releasing single Sleeping Bag Hans Vandenburg disbanded Gruppo Sportivo at the height of their popularity. He got the band back together for Copy Copy in 1980, after the release of his solo debut album Buddy Odor Is a Gas (1979). Only Calicher and Mollinger remained from the original line-up.

From 1980 to 1993 the band released such albums as Copy Copy (1980, with Deaf School's Bette Bright on vocals), Pop! Goes the Brain (1981), Designe Moderne (1982), Sombrero Times (1984), compilation album Back to 19 Mistakes (1988, including Wall of Voodoo cover Mexican Radio), Sucker of the Century (1989), Young & Out (1992, featuring radiohit She Was Pretty) and live album Sing Sing (1993).

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