Dutch country and pop music group
Musical artist
Pussycat was a Dutch country and pop group led by the three Veldpaus-sisters: Toni, Betty, and Marianne.[1] Other members of the band were guitarists Lou Willé (Toni's then-husband), Theo Wetzels, Theo Coumans, and John Theunissen. Their song "Mississippi" was a #1 hit in most European countries, including the UK, in 1975/76.
Career
Prior to forming the band, the three sisters were telephone operators in Limburg, whilst Theunissen, Wetzles, and Coumans were in a group called Scum.[2] Lou Willé played in a group called Ricky Rendall and His Centurions until he married Toni, and created the group Sweet Reaction that eventually became known as Pussycat.[1]
In 1975 they scored a big European hit with the song "Mississippi". However they had to wait a further year for the single to make the British charts when it climbed to number one in the UK Singles Chart in October 1976.[3] Penned by Werner Theunissen, who had been the sisters' guitar teacher, it is estimated that "Mississippi" sold over five million copies worldwide. It was followed by "Smile" in 1976, and "Hey Joe" in 1978. Other hits were "If You Ever Come to Amsterdam", "Georgie", "Wet Day in September" and "My Broken Souvenirs". Their career in Europe spanned more than a decade and included some seventeen albums.[1] By 1978 Hans Lutjens had replaced Coumans on drums, as the band continued to release albums and tour, travelling as far afield as South Africa.[1] They made regular appearances on the West German TV series, Musikladen, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In the following years, the sisters did perform again, however, this time under the name Anycat. In 1999 they decided to make a comeback under their old name Pussycat. It was the same year in which Doe Maar also got back together for a short time, unrelated. Initially, the only intention was to perform, although for a while there were thoughts of releasing new material to be written by Werner Theunissen. However, new records were not released. They still performed as Pussycat through 2001.[4][5][6][7]
In 2001, 25 years after the success with Mississippi, the compilation album 25 Years After Mississippi was released and reached the charts. It was listed in the Album Top 100 for seven weeks. This year saw several more reunion performances. In 2004, they released the box set The complete collection which consisted of three CDs and a DVD.[4]
In 2005 they recorded the single Somewhere someone with the Dutch country band Major Dundee, which was also included on Major Dundee's album Young gods. In 2007, they gave their background vocals to the Dutch language reggae cover of Mississippi by Dennis Jones.[8] In June 2023 there was an album released with previous unreleased song demos of the band from the year 1983,with the title Unreleased Demos 1983. Available on YouTube and various music streaming platforms [9]
