Johnny Jordaan
| Johnny Jordaan | |
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Johnny Jordaan in 1971
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Johannes Hendricus van Musscher |
| Also known as | De Parel van de Jordaan ("The pearl of the Jordaan") |
| Born | 7 February 1924 |
| Origin | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | 8 January 1989 (aged 64) |
| Genres | Popular music, levenslied |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1954–1989 |
Johnny Jordaan was the pseudonym for Johannes Hendricus van Musscher (7 February 1924 – 8 January 1989), a Dutch singer of popular music, in particular the genre known as levenslied, a Dutch variety of the French chanson. He was well known for his songs about the city of Amsterdam, especially the Jordaan district (the genre dedicated to the neighborhood is known as the Jordaanlied), which he sang in a typical "hiccuping Mokum vibrato", "Mokum" being the Hebrew-derived nickname for the Amsterdam inner city area. In the 1950s, Johnny Jordaan rose almost instantly to the level of national celebrity and became the "uncrowned king of the Jordaanlied", and his hit song "Geef mij maar Amsterdam" is one of the songs Amsterdammers identify with most.
Jordaan was born the son of a roofer, and grew up within sight of the Westertoren, on the corner of the Lijnbaansgracht and the Rozengracht, the edge of the Jordaan—by then an impoverished working-class neighborhood. He was the oldest of two brothers in a Roman Catholic workers' family. He started singing in the streets at age 8, with his cousin Carel Verbrugge (Willy Alberti), to help provide for his family. He lost an eye during a fight with Verbrugge, at age 9. He started using the name "Johnny Jordaan" when he was 14, and after vocational school began working various odd jobs and singing in bars. Despite already having discovered his homosexuality, he married in 1943. After the Second World War, he got a steady job as a singer in the Amsterdam cafe De Kuil.
In 1955, he won a singing competition, the "Jordaan festival", organized by the record company Bovema in collaboration with singer and composer Louis Noiret; the aim was to find the best voices from the Jordaan. His lifelong friend Tante Leen, a notable Jordaan singer in her own right, finished second in the same competition. His first single contained two Noiret compositions, "De Parel van de Jordaan" and "Bij ons in de Jordaan". After being played on an AVRO radio program the single was an instant hit record, propelling Johnny and his Jordaan to national fame—the entire neighborhood, which had been poor and deprived since the 19th century, suddenly became popular due to the success of Johnny Jordaan and others. Cabaret artist and historian Jacques Klöters referred to 1955 as "the year of Johnny Jordaan": he sold hundreds of thousands of records within months, got to perform in the Concertgebouw with Tante Leen, and helped popularize the "uncivilized" Jordaan dialect.
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