Ria Thielsch (born 25 August 1951 in

Manokwari Manokwari is a coastal town and the capital of the Indonesian province of West Papua. It is one of only seven provincial capitals of Indonesia without a city status. It is also the administrative seat of Manokwari Regency. However, under pro ...

, Netherlands New Guinea) is a former model and an ex-member of the Dutch

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

Luv' Luv' were a Dutch girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe (Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Finland) as well as Israel, South Africa, Rhodesia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada ...

(who replaced

Patty Brard A patty or burger (in British English) is a flattened, usually round, serving of ground meat and/or legumes, grains, vegetables, or meat alternatives. Patties are found in multiple cuisines throughout the world. In British and American Eng ...

in 1980). She was officially introduced to the public with the release of the album Forever Yours and the single

My Number One "My Number One" is a song recorded by Greek-Swedish singer Helena Paparizou, written by Manos Psaltakis, Christos Dantis, Natalia Germanou and produced by Christos Dantis. It was the at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, held in Kyiv, awarding ...

(a Top 5 hit in Benelux). March 1981 saw Luv's first break-up. The trio went through lineup changes and made several comebacks. Between March 2016 and December 2018, Ria was active as a Luv' singer again. She is of Indo ( Dutch- Indonesian) descent.

Early years

Ria Thielsch started her career as a model in the late 1960s. In 1978, she was a limbo dancer and singer of the Ricardo & The Flames group which recorded a single, "Trinidad", that was produced by Roy Beltman (who collaborated with the band

BZN BZN (''Band Zonder Naam''; Dutch for "Band Without Name") was a Dutch pop group that had a string of hits from 1966 to 2007 on. BZN recorded mostly in English and French, but also had success with material in Dutch and German. History BZN star ...

) and flopped.

Luv'

In August 1980, after a couple of years of mainstream success,

experienced trouble as

suddenly left the formation. Hans van Hemert and

Piet Souer Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Souer (born 29 March 1948, Eindhoven) is a Dutch record producer, songwriter and arranger. His collaboration with acts (such as Luv', Mouth & MacNeal, Liesbeth List, Ramses Shaffy, American Gypsy, and Champagne) made him ga ...

, the group's producers, had already written new material for a next album. The girls had legal obligations. Brard's departure caused InterLUV' (Luv's limited company) to lose an estimated $75.000 as many performances were cancelled. Patty was replaced by Ria Thielsch who like her had Indonesian and New Guinean origins. Ria knew

Marga Scheide Margareth "Marga" Scheide (born 15 February 1954 in Amsterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch singer and former Model (person), model. She was a member of the girl group Luv'. Alongside Patty Brard and José Hoebee, she scored a string of international ...

, the blonde singer of Luv', from modelling agencies. She was selected from 200 applicants. Though she made some appearances by performing One More Little Kissie on stage and on TV, she was presented to the media when the album Forever Yours and the single

came out. These records were smash hits in Benelux. Then, Luv' was supposed to take part in the

Yamaha Music Festival The , also known as Yamaha Music Festival and unofficially as the "Oriental Eurovision", was an international song contest held from 1970 until 1989. It was organised by the Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo, Japan from 1970 until 1989. The first ed ...

(officially known as the 'World Popular Song Festival') in November 1980 with the song "Be My Lover Tonight". Instead of it, Luv' cancelled their participation to this competition and performed in the '' Musikladen'' TV show in Germany. Soon after,

became overworked which brought Luv' to a standstill. In March 1981, a statement announced Luv's break-up. The group made a farewell performance later, on 22 July 1981, on the ''Nederland Muziekland'' show on Veronica (TV channel) to promote the single "

Tingalingaling "Tingalingaling" (also credited as Tingeling) is the thirteenth single by the Dutch girl group Luv', released in the summer of 1981 by CNR/Carrere Records. The song appears on the Forever Yours (Luv' Album), Forever Yours album and the Goodbye Luv ...

". Finally, CNR/Carrere Records released the compilation ''

Goodbye Luv' ''Goodbye Luv is a compilation album by Dutch girl group Luv' released by CNR/Carrere Records in 1981 after the formation announced its break-up. It features hit singles taken from the studio albums ''True Luv (1979) and '' Forever Yours'' (1 ...

''. After Luv', Ria continued her modelling career until the early 1990s. She was in charge of Luv's styling in 1990 and 1991 when the group's lineup consisted of Marga Scheide,

Diana van Berlo Diana van Berlo (born 6 January 1966 in Helmond, Netherlands) is a Dutch pop female singer. She was a member of the girl group Luv' from 1989 to 1992. She scored with the female formation a Dutch and Flemish Top 30 hit with the single " Wel ...

and

Carina Lemoine Carina Lemoine (born 1969, Helmond, Netherlands) is a Dutch pop female singer. She was a member of the girl group Luv' from 1990 to 1992. She scored with the female formation a minor hit song: He's My Guy. After Luv' disbanded in 1992, she for ...

. In April 2003, she took part with

José Hoebee Josina van de Wijdeven (born 29 March 1954), known as José Hoebee, is a Dutch pop singer. She was a member of Luv', a famous Dutch girl group in the late 1970s and early 1980s that scored hits in more than 15 countries. In late 1981, she went ...

in a Luv' fan club day. Six months later, she attended with José and Hans van Hemert the release party of the compilation ''

25 Jaar Na Waldolala ''25 Jaar Na Waldolala'' is a compilation album of recordings by Dutch pop group Luv' released by Universal Music in the Netherlands in 2003. It features smash hits (such as " U.O.Me", "You're the Greatest Lover", "Casanova" or " Ooh, Yes I Do"), ...

''. In 2013, she was present at a meet'n greet party in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; en, The Telegraph) is the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, '' de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief s ...

'', and its sister magazine ''Privé''.

was not involved in this reunion. Ria and Luv' toured the nostalgia circuit in the Netherlands and Belgium until 2018. On 4 January 2019, the group announced an unexpected line-up change in the Dutch media: TV personality Chimène van Oosterhout replaced Ria

Discography

Single with Ricardo & The Flames * "Trinidad" (1979) Singles with Luv' * "

" (CNR/

Carrere Records Carrere Records (french: Disques Carrère, link=no, ) was a French record label which specialized in Euro disco and rock music. The record company was sold to Warner Music Group in the early 1990s. Early days Claude Carrere started working with ...

, 1980) * "

(CNR/Carrere Records, 1981)" Album with Luv' * '' Forever Yours'' (CNR/Carrere Records, 1980) Compilations with Luv' * ''

'' (CNR/Carrere Records, 1981) * ''

Luv' Gold Luv' Gold is a 1993 greatest hits album by Dutch girl group Luv' which features hit singles like "You're the Greatest Lover", "Trojan Horse", "Casanova, " Ooh, Yes I Do" and some album tracks from the formation's heyday (1977 – 1981). This com ...

'' (Arcade Records, 1993) * '' You're the Greatest LUVer'' (Mercury/PolyGram Germany, 1993) * '' Hollands Glorie: LUV'' (CNR, 2002) * ''

'' (Universal Music, 2003) * ''

Completely In Luv' ''Completely in Luv is a four-CD boxed set of four studio albums, ''With Luv (1978), ''Lots of Luv (1979), '' True Luv (1979) and '' Forever Yours'' (1980) recorded by Dutch girl group Luv' during their heyday in the late 1970s and earl ...

'' (Universal Music, 2006)

References

External links

Ria Thielsch's page on the Dutch Pop Institute Website

Blog in English about Luv'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thielsch, Ria 1951 births Living people Dutch female models Dutch pop singers Dutch women singers Dutch people of West Papuan descent Indo people People from Manokwari