Bojoura, born Raina Gerardina Bojoura van Melzen (15 April 1947), is a folk and pop vocalist, whose greatest success came in the late 1960s and 1970s.

Life and career

Bojoura was born in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to Bulgarian opera singer Dany Zonewa. Bojoura was discovered by

George Kooymans George Jan Kooymans (born 11 March 1948) is a Dutch retired guitarist and vocalist. He is best known for his work with the Dutch group Golden Earring. Kooymans wrote " Twilight Zone", the group's only top 10 entry on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 10 ...

of the rock band

Golden Earring Golden Earring were a Dutch rock music, rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Tornados. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch chart, reached the top ...

, who went on to write and produce many of her songs. Bojoura scored her first hit in June 1967 with the Kooymans ballad "Everybody's Day" which reached top 20 due to heavy airplay on

Radio Veronica Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and was on air for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands, to stimulate the sales of ra ...

. She released her album ''Night Flight Night Sight'' in 1968, which was not commercially successful. In 1969, she charted once more in Europe with her version of the song "Frank Mills" from the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musical ''Hair''. It was through this song that she connected with

Thijs van Leer Thijs van Leer (; born 31 March 1948) is a Dutch singer and keyboardist, best known as the founding member of the rock band Focus as its primary vocalist, keyboardist, and flautist. Born and raised in Amsterdam among a musical family, van Leer ...

, whose band (which later became the

Focus Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...

) performed in a Dutch production of the musical. Van Leer wrote songs for Bojoura for her third album, ''The Beauty of Bojoura''. She also had a minor success with the title track of

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium ''If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium'' is a 1969 American romantic comedy film made by Wolper Pictures and released by United Artists and made in DeLuxe Color. Directed by Mel Stuart, the movie was filmed on location throughout Europe, an ...

, a song that later inspired the opening lines of the song "Chura Liya Hai Tumne" from the 1973 Indian film ''

Yaadon Ki Baaraat ''Yaadon Ki Baaraat'' () is a 1973 Indian Hindi-language masala film, directed by Nasir Hussain and written by Salim–Javed ( Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar). It featured an ensemble cast, starring Dharmendra, Vijay Arora, Tariq Khan, Zeena ...

''. Through the mid-1970s she had some success in the Netherlands; in 1974, her cover of " The Letter" reached the top 20 on the Dutch charts. After 1980, she concentrated on her family life and helped run her husband's drumming school. Bojoura was married to the Dutch drummer Hans Cleuver, who died in March 2018. Cleuver was a founding member of the progressive rock band

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Discography

Albums

*1967 - Kunst voor Kinderen (for terre des hommes) *1968 - Nightflight Nightsight *1970 - The Beauty of Bojoura (with Focus) *1972 - The Best of Bojoura *1973 - Jesus Christ Superstar *2001 - Everybody's Day

Singles

References

External links

Bojoura Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bojoura 1947 births Living people Dutch women pop singers Dutch pop singers Musicians from The Hague English-language singers from the Netherlands