Bernthøler was a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

avant garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

band formed in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium, active between 1981 and 1985.

History

Originally just a "musical experiment" named after a line in a Virna Lindt song, the band found surprise success with their single "My Suitor"/"Emotions", recorded in August 1983. Championed in the UK by DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

and appearing in his

Festive Fifty The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

for 1984, the group signed to the UK label

Blanco y Negro Blanco y Negro Records (Spanish: "White and Black"), a subsidiary of WEA Records Ltd., was established in 1983 by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records and Mike Alway of él Records. Michel Duval of Les Disques du Crépuscule was also involve ...

. The band released one more record, a long version of "My Suitor" with additional parts by

Wim Mertens Wim Mertens (; born 14 May 1953) is a Flemish Belgian composer, countertenor vocalist, pianist, guitarist, and musicologist. Life and work Mertens was born in Neerpelt, Belgium. He studied social and political science at the University of Leu ...

and Drita Kotaji and, despite occasional gigs, disbanded in 1985. In 1999, radio station

Studio Brussel Studio Brussel is a Dutch-speaking radio station in Belgium, owned by the VRT. The music played is considered more alternative than the other big radio stations, and is aimed mainly at a youth audience. The channel is an initiative of the Fle ...

chose "My Suitor" for its Bass-tard remix competition, won by

Buscemi Buscemi (; or ) is an Italian town and (municipality) of 968 inhabitants of the free municipal consortium of Syracuse, in Sicily. Etymology The name is from the Arabic (), a phrase reported in 1154 by the Hammudite geographer Muhammad al ...

- who later released his version as a single and on the album ''Our Girl in Havana'' - and the song was nominated by DJ Chantal Pattyn as "one of the classics of Belgian new wave". The song was also covered by Kahimi Karie on her 2001 album of the same name. In 1997, Simon Rigot put together a compilation of studio, live and other tracks covering the group's whole career, ''A History of Bernthøler 1981-1985'', issued as a limited release. An official issue was published in 2004 by LTM. A 12" vinyl issue was published in 2015 by Starman Records including the UK EP, the first single, demos from 1984 and the never-before released song "Heartbeat" from 1983. Several other artists have covered "My Suitor", including the following: *1998:

Figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ...

on ''Moshi Moshi'' compilation *1999:

on ''Our Girl in Havana'' *1999: Das Pop on ''Electronica for Lovers'' EP *2001: Kahimi Karie on '' My Suitor'' EP *2002: De Flandriens on ''De popklassiekers'' live CD *2011: The Arch on ''Engine in Void'' CD (with Drita Kotaji on vocals)

Post-breakup

Keyboard player Manuel Poutte later became a film director, winning the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

for a short film in 1992. Singer and writer Drita Kotaji is running a solo career and is also involved, amongst other projects, in the INK. duet. Composer, guitarist and keyboard player Simon Rigot played and recorded with many bands (

Les Cactus "Les Cactus" (, ) is the third single by French singer-songwriter Jacques Dutronc, released in 1967. It is the last from his self-titled debut album. It reached number 4 in the French singles chart in March 1967, selling over 400,000 copies.Miche ...

, Resurrection), learned the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

in the '90s and now plays

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

and

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from 1954 to 1983. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptually similar to ...

with Belgian band the Narcotic Daffodils. Bass player Pol Fourmois is working as an electro-technician at the cinema.

Discography

Albums

*''Merry Lines in the Sky'' CD (2004), LTM - 15 songs including ''My Suitor'' EP *''My Suitor'' Vinyl (2015), Starman Records - 12 songs including ''My Suitor'' EP

Singles and EPs

*"Japanese Garden/The Others" (1982), Putovsky *"My Suitor/Emotions" (1983), Blue Feather *''My Suitor'' EP ("My Suitor"/"Pardeon Up Here"/"Lunacies"/"Emotions") (1984), Blanco y Negro

Compilation appearances

*1992: ''Witlof from Belgium, Volume 4: 80's, Part 2'' - "My Suitor" *1998: ''Was Het Nu 70 of 80? Vol 7'' - "My Suitor", EVA *2005: Various - ''Bel 80 (Het Beste Uit De Belpop Van 1980-1989)'' - "My Suitor", Universal *2007: ''Les Inrockuptibles présentent: 100 trésors cachés: chansons rares & indispensables'' - "My Suitor", Les Inrockuptibles *2008: ''Expo 58 - De soundtrack'' - "My Suitor", ARS Entertainment *2010: ''Underground Belgian Wave Volume 2'' - "Toys", Walhalla Records *2011: ''Belpop. De eerste 50 jaar CD5'' - "My Suitor", EMI *2013: ''80s Compilation EP'' - "Images", EE Tapes *2014: ''Studio Brussel - Eigen Kweek - 30 jaar Studio Brussel'' - "My Suitor" *2014: ''Insane 80s V01>EV10' - "Images - Exterieur Nuit", EE Tapes *2015: ''100 Op 1 - De Beste Belgen (Radio 1)'' - "My Suitor", Warner *2016: ''Nostalgie - Belpop Classics'' - "My Suitor", Sony Music

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berntholer Belgian pop music groups Belgian new wave musical groups English-language musical groups from Belgium Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Blanco y Negro Records artists