Meet Geo Dijkhuis, the versatile lead singer of Sympathy, Horizon, Backyard and.... GEO
Celebrating a career starting in the sixties and spanning decades
Older than 40? Good chance you have seen Geo live at many of his concerts in the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties. Geo Dijkhuis - or simply GEO - has been performing live gigs around the Netherlands for decades. From the famous Eksit and Parkzicht in Rotterdam, to the Gigant in Apeldoorn he has performed in allmost all of them. For decades he has played with various musicians which are mentioned on this page or via the website links. Geo Dijkhuis is a recording artist with many singles and albums to his name, some produced as a solo artist and some with his own GEO band. (see picture - live at Parkzicht in Rotterdam in 1985).
Sympathy - Dutch music history
GEO started his career in the 1960ties as leadsinger with well known Dutch bands such as Horizon and Backyard. With the band Sympathy he has released multiple singles through BASF Records including:
- 1972 - Ain't It Nice / Everyday's Someday (BASF 05 15076-8) & Music Music Music / Forever (BASF 05 15174-8)
- 1974 - Don't Press Your Nails In My Eyes / Good Man (BASF 05 15456-6)
- 1975 - Love you / Rock & Roll Man (BASF 05 15529-8)
Sympathy brought together musicians from The Hague:
- George Dijkhuis – Lead Vocals
- Wil Matla - Guitar
- Ruud van Seventer - Bass (1972- 1974)
- André Reynen - Bass (1974-1976)
- Jan-Pieter Boekhoorn – Keyboards
- Simon Matla - Drums
GEO performing solo (1976 - 1979)
In 1976 GEO went solo and recorded his first solo album titled "Isn't It Time To Change". Produced by Eddy Ouwens the album was released in 1979 through CNR Records. It featured well know Dutch musicians of the time including Mac Sell (guitar), Paul Vink (keyboard) and Jan Hollestelle (bass), Ton op't Hoff (drums). Picture shows them performing live in De Trucker Pijnacker in 1979. A remastered version of the album was released on Spotify in 2021.
The album produced four singles:
- 1976 - Hurry Boy / Everything Wrong or Right (EMI 5C 006-25545)
- 1977 - That's The Kind Of Love I've Got For You / Racing Cars and Moviestars (EMI 5C 006-25691)
- 1978 - My world is empty without you / We Both Grow Old (CNR 141 497)
- 1979 - Isn't It Time To Change / Singing My Blues Away (CNR 141 565)
Rock with the first GEO band (1980 - 1982)
In 1980 GEO started The GEO Band with the aim to achieve a more rock orientated sound. For two years the band toured and recorded multiple songs.
- George Dijkhuis – Lead Vocals
- Tjeerd van Zanen – Guitar
- Peter Hoogerbrugge – Bass
- Peter Kunst – Drums (1980-1981)
- Hans Greeve – Drums (1981-1982)
Afer their live gig in the Gigant in Apeldoorn in february 1981 the band signed a contract for a new album with Bert Vegter, owner of Pure Gold Records (sub-label of CBS).
The self produced album “Roll” was released later that year. Expectation is that 'Roll' will be made available on several streaming service sites soon.
The band released four singles:
- 1980 - Chanson / C'est Rock (CNR 141 680)
- 1981 - It's Raining In My Heart / Raining (A&R ANRA 1480)
- 1981 - She don't Need Me / Do The Roll (Pure Gold 1078)
- 1981 - Higher / I Know (Pure Gold 1550)
Great live performances with studio musicians (1982 - 1986)
In the eighties the GEO band became known for its great live performances starring a mix of some of the best recording musicians from the Netherlands. The band featured Hans Eijkenaar (drums), Koen van Baal (keyboard), Wilfried Roest (keyboard), Martin Verdonk (percussion) Tjeerd van Zanen (Guitar) and Michel van Schie (bass).
The band members contributed to the new repertoire which they perfected through live performances around the Netherlands. Surpisingly a new GEO album never materialized, although demos were recorded and recently some of these surfaced again. One of the higlights for the band was the live TV recording for the Music Box TV channel in Parkzicht Rotterdam on 21-7-1985.
Want to learn more about GEO? send us an email at info@shootthemoonmusic.nl
