Centerfold was a Dutch female pop trio that scored a string of hit records in 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 ...

during the mid to late 1980s. The original line-up consisted of

Laura Fygi Laura Fygi (born 27 August 1955) is a Dutch jazz singer. Fygi's father was a Dutch businessman, a director of Philips, and her mother an Egyptian belly dancer. She was raised in Uruguay, until her father's death in the late 1960s, when she mo ...

, Rowan Moore and Cecilia de la Rie.

Biography

Debut single and Playboy shoot

Their first single ''Bad Boy'' was accompanied by a spicy photoshoot for the Dutch ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' in 1984. The ladies performed their song naked in the popular TV-show

TopPop ''TopPop'' was a Dutch television programme. It was the first regular dedicated pop music television series in the Dutch language area. The Netherlands broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly from 22 September 1970 to 27 June 1988. Presenter ...

, and soon Centerfold became a household name through their sex kitten image.

Breakthrough

The single ''

Dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

'' marked the breakthrough of the group and reached Number 6 in the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore radio, offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" ...

and Number 19 in the Belgium

Top 30 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top ...

. Also other European countries showed interest, and Centerfold performed the song for the German TV show WWF Club. More hits followed, such as ''Up and Coming'' and a cover of the

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 ...

classic ''

Radar Love "Radar Love" is a song by the Dutch Rock music, rock band Golden Earring. The single (music), single version of "Radar Love" reached No. 9 on the ''Record World '' chart, No. 10 on ''Cash Box'', and No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Ho ...

''.

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...

and

Benny Anderson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma Mia!'' For the ...

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

fame wrote a follow-up single for the girls, ''Bitch When I See Red''. In 1987, a debut album titled ''Man's Ruin'' saw the light of release, which fared reasonably well in the Dutch album charts.

New line-up

In 1988, Cecilia de la Rie decided to leave the group and was replaced by Sandra Noach. In this new line-up, they released a single in April 1989, ''Play the Game''. Shortly after the release, Noach committed suicide, which ended the group indefinitely. The already recorded second album ''Whistling at the Wolves'' was canceled by the record company.

Life after Centerfold

Rowan Moore and Laura Fygi founded The Backlot and made one album called ''The Backlot'' and two singles: ''Tower of Love'' (#76 in the Dutch Single Top 100) and ''The Goodbye''. Cecilia de la Rie started a new group called Red Cinder and released a mini-album in 1992. Both bands did not live a long life. Red Bullet Records released a ''Best Of'' CD of the group in 1992.

went on to become a highly acclaimed jazz singer. Rowan Moore made her debut as a television moderator for Dutch broadcasting association

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...

and commercial TV.

Discography

Singles

*1984 ''Bad Boy'' (Netherlands #41) *1984 ''Pump It Up'' *1985 ''Rough'' *1985 ''Sexual Wonder Land EP'' (Japanese release) *1986 ''Dictator'' (Belgium #19 / Netherlands #6 / Netherlands Dance Charts #3) *1986 ''Up and Coming'' (Belgium #30 / Netherlands #28) *1986 ''Radar Love'' (Belgium #11 / Netherlands #14) *1987 ''Bitch When I See Red'' *1987 ''S.O.S. Mozambique'' (Netherlands #18 - Dutch Artists Sing for Mozambique) *1987 ''Intimate Climate'' (Netherlands #36) *1988 ''Money'' (Netherlands #50) *1989 ''Play the Game'' (Netherlands #35)

Albums

*1987 ''Man's Ruin'' (Netherlands #67) *1989 ''Whistling at the Wolves'' (canceled) *1992 ''Best of Centerfold'' *1998 ''Man's Ruin (incl. bonus tracks)'' (reissue)

References

External links

Unofficial tribute site

Centerfold at Discogs
{{authority control Dutch dance music groups Dutch girl groups Dutch disco groups Eurodisco groups